World and forced out by the Power and by the Glory of Christ Then shall be this Glorious Solemnity of the Marriage of Christ Rev. 19. 1 2. And so on in the Chapter And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in Heaven saying Allelujah Salvation and Glory and Honour and Power unto the Lordour God For true and righteous are his Judgments for he hath judged the Great Whore What is the Great Whore but only False Christianity called Babylon the Great that hath defiled the Doctrine and defiled the Worship and defiled the Holiness of Conversation and defiled the Spirituality of the Enjoyment of Christ That 's the meaning of the Great Whore When therefore you see Christianity is All Spirit is All Heaven is All Life is All Purity and Truth and Glory and Babylon destroyed when you see that then Immediately shall the Marriage-Supper of the Lamb follow As you shall find in the 7th Verse Let us be glad and rejoice and give honour to him for the Marriage of the Lamb is come and his Wife hath made her self ready And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine Linnen clean and white For the fine Linnen is the Righteousness of Saints And he saith unto me Write Blessed are they which are called unto the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me These are the true Sayings of God That you may not say as the World is ready to do even the Sober World even that which is the Professing World of Christians are ready to say these things are nothing but Whimsie nothing but Fancy it is said These are the true sayings of God To shew us that the things shall certainly and must needs come to pass And it shall be when Christianity shall be no longer in Form and it shall be no longer in Rites and Ceremonies when it shall be no longer in Humane Institutions and Commands and it shall be no longer in the shining Grandeur of the World For Men cannot see the Glory of Christianity because they see such a Glister of this World But all this must go off and what is Glorious indeed must come in its place It shall be all Spiritual Pure and Divine And If any of us can Love such a Jesus if we have such upright Hearts and are drawn with the Savour of His Good Oyntments and such a Name as His be to us as Oyntment poured forth It is certain our State is Good we are of those upright that do indeed Love Christ But If we say Here 's nothing of the Bravery of this World Here 's nothing of the Wit and of the Pass-time and of the Gaudery and of the Retinue and what the World is so pleased with and meeting together to talk of nothing that signifies any thing but shrivells into meer Emptiness and into perfect Vanity and Froth I say except we have these things we don't know what to make of this Jesus and of this Christianity VVhy then we are but Foolish Virgins that while we pretend we have nothing but a Lamp and our Lamp at the proper time for its shining in Glory will go out And so suitably and agreeably to this you may see and I desire you may take notice of it how Scriptures do agree and Breath the very same thing The Apostle John in the Revelation speaks as Solomon who lived many Hundred Years before John yet they both came into the very same Spirit and into the very same Representation For you see that which Solomon Celebrates under a Song of Marriage a Song of Love The Apostle John does in the very same manner Represent I saw saith he The New Jerusalem come down That is the State of Saints in this High and Pure and perfect Enjoyment of Christ I saw it come down as a Bride adorned for her Husband Chap. 22. 2. I saw the Holy City New Jerusalem Which is nothing but the Pure and Holy and Perfect and Happy State of Saints I saw it coming down from God out of Heaven as a Bride adorned for her Husband And now the earnestness of all our desires should be after it As it is said ver 17. The Spirit and the Bride say Come And let him that heareth say Come That is let them who hear say so as struck with a Symphony even as one Lute Answers another the Lute upon the Wall Answers that is struck and Tuned and Play'd upon So every Soul Tuned aright by Grace doth sound alike with the Spirit and with the Bride when he does but hear it say Come It immediately saith Come Thus I have shew'd you that this Allusion Representation and Figure is a Figure Representing this great thing Jesus Christ is the Bridegroom of the Church and every Particular Soul the Bride or Lambs Wife For it is a wild sort of Notion that some people have of a Church Who by it Principally mean a kind of Jurisdiction and Authority and Power and a sort and sett of Men who should enjoy it They mean this by the Church they speak so much of Whereas the Spirit of God means by the Church chiefly Real Christians sound sincere-hearted Professors of Jesus Christ and Lovers of him The upright Love thee This is the meaning of a Church by Christ and not a kind of Authority and Jurisdiction that looks more like a Train and a Court of this World than any thing of the Power of Christianity and the Power of the Gospel I shall therefore come in proceeding in this Discourse to open to you these two things First That there is a State of this Marriage-Relation to Christ understand every thing as I hope you do spiritually and of the Power of Holiness in our Hearts and of the free Communication of the Righteousness and Grace and Spirit of Christ Till all appears in Glory understanding it thus I say There are two great Spaces Two Great States of it one that is Here and then the other that shall be in the Glory of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ And it hath pleased God to take great care that both these should be Represented to us First of all the State of the Soul here It is like an Espousal it is like a Betrothing it is like that that we call among us a Contract of Marriage And according to Scripture there is a distance between it and the Solemnity and Compleating and Consummation of the Marriage And this is very necessary for us to consider that now is the time of preparing and fitting Souls for that Great Solemnity And therefore we read of a Virgin Betrothed to an Husband before the Solemnity of the Marriage upon which Account to the Jews it was appointed by Moses that there should be at least Thirty days between the one and the other And they looked upon it as a Breach and an Infraction upon the Mosaick-Law If there was not such a Time of Preparation And some very Conscientious Ministers of the Gospel have been
her and speak every way to her heart And then in the 19th Verse I 'll betroth thee unto me for ever Yea I 'll betroth thee unto me in Righteousness and in Judgment and in loving kindness and in mercies All this indeed hath a peculiar Relation to the Church of Israel But it is true of every Soul and of every Spirit that Christ speaks to and draws to love him as its Husband and Spouse He doth allure and speak to their Hearts He doth hedge up their way If God see that any of His love the World or Relations or any Thing better than himself He 'll hedge up their way They shall not find their way Thus you see there is a Time of Preparation wherein Christ is fitting and preparing and drawing the Soul to Himself 2. In the Second Particular I will enlarge a little further upon this Point of our Espousals and draw to a conclusion and therein shew you That we may all discern wherein and whereby the Soul is thus drawn to an Union with Jesus Christ to this Spiritual Union with him 1. In the first place It is by the Souls seeing and finding that it is in a miserable and a Lost and a Captivated condition without him When it comes to find it self in the Hands of Justice In the Hands of Divine Wrath and Indignation When it finds it self in all its Impurity and in all its Unholiness without Him it comes then to desire him to receive his offer to unite with him Now this is not onely by way as some it may be have insisted upon it by way of preparation but it runs throughout all the present State A true Christian is continually looking upon himself as a Captive It is not a thing of preparation onely But it flows out from the Efficacious Grace and Spirit of the Lord Jesus That every Soul that is thus united to Christ it finds it does not know what to do with it self without him Nor that it is onely drawn by fear but as I shall presently tell you tho very Briefly it is drawn by Love to him But I say because we are Captives because we are brought out of another Land a Land of Darkness a Land of Impurity a Land not suitable to the Land of Promise because we are brought out of that Therefore there must be a continual consideration of the necessity that lies upon us And it is not Derogatory to our Love of Christ or to the Grace of Christ that our first State being a Captivated State is known to us to be such a Captive State And therefore to be made Free by such Rich Grace as that the Great Prince and Lord of Life should have a desire to us that he should look upon that of his own Grace which is all the Beauty that is in any that God hath Loved them with an Everlasting Love the Beautiful Person is onely he that God hath from an Eternal free Love and Grace when we were all together lost and undone in our selves look'd upon and made his Time in the proper season of being brought home to him tho we are found in all our Impurities To be the Time of Love How great is it Now when any one of us is under this Grace of God Jesus Christ looks upon us He beholds the choice of God he beholds the Love of God upon us And such a one is as a Beautiful Person in his Eye And so he takes care to Shave the Head and to Pare the Nails and to change the Garments of Captivity and to bring him home to himself This I say it is not preparation Hammered out and Anvil'd by our own strength Povver or Consideration but it is a first Davvn of the Grace of Christ of the Love of Christ through the Election and Choice of God upon us Here is the very Beginning of the thing For as I read to you out of Ephes 5. Christ Loves the Church first of all and then he Sanctifies it and Washes it with the Water and with the Regeneration of his â—ord and of his Spirit He first of all Loves it Who Loved the Church and gave himself for it His Love is like the first Love of Espousals of drawing the Soul into a Condition and State of Espousals to himself And so he Sanctifies and Washes it with Water and Regenerates and Renews it and takes away the Prison-Garments the Captive-Garments Which it may be look Beautiful to those that are yet Ensnared They look upon all the Enjoyments and Pleasures of the World to be the greatest Bravery But now when Christ comes to shew them what their State is then they come to cry out at the first and so ever after as the Apostle Rom. 7. 24. O wretched Man that I am Who shalt deliver me from this Body of Death And you see he speaks of it in the very same Language ver 23. I see another Law in my Members warring against the Law of my mind and bringing me into Captivity to the Law of Sin which is in any Members It is a continuing sense on every Soul in Christ 2. The second thing wherein this is shewed It is in drawing the sincerest and Purest and Chastest Love of the Soul unto Jesus Christ When Christ by his Spirit in his word and by the Friend of the Bridegroom that is by the Preaching of the Word of Christ when he draws the entirest affections of Souls to himself Shewing his Love to them in the Pardon and Forgiveness of Sins he draws their hearts entirely and unitedly to himself He does therefore first of all as it were send the Soul the Wedding Garment of his own Righteousness He sends it a Robe a Vest from himself of his own Righteousness and of the sanctification of his own Spirit And this enkindles and enflames the Love of the Soul unto Jesus Christ The Apostle speaks in this Language in the 2 Cor. 11. 1. VVould to God you could bear with me a little c. For I am Jealous over you with a Godly Jealousie For I have Espoused you to one Husband that I may present you a chast Virgin to Christ The Preaching of the Gospel and the drawing of Souls it is the Espousal of them to one Husband and presenting them a Chast Virgin That is with undefiled and Inviolable affections to Jesus Christ When the Love of the Soul is thus drawn to him united to him The upright as I said to you before Love him And when once this Love of the Soul to Jesus Christ is indeed kindled where it is sincere and indeed kindled to him O how strong and how vehement is it It is true it is from the Love of Jesus Christ made known to it Even as you know Love draws and wins Love back again upon it self This is admirably set out to us in the eighth Chapter of the Song of Solomon Set me saith she as a Seal upon thine Heart as a Seal upon thine Arm. Let the Love
Application of it And I take it out of that 5th Chapter of Solomons-Song Here 's the great Difference that is between the one sort and the other sort Ver. 2. I Sleep saith she but my heart waketh That is there is a Principle within me there is a Spirit within me A Spirit within every Wise Virgin that keeps a watch even while it is in a Slumber As you know many Persons they have a wariness of things though they are in a sort of Slumber yet they are presently sensible if any thing comes either as to advantage or disadvantage So there is a Spirit in every true Christian that is aware of the Great Concernments of Eternity that knows the Excellency of Christ and that loves Jesus Christ and that knows the Vanity of this World and the things of it Even while they are in a Slumber their heart wakes concerning these things And then again you read They cannot be quiet they have such kind of Items and Intimations from Christ that they are presently aware That when Christ speaks presently the Beloved the Church of Christ the true Church answers him ver 4. Saith she My Beloved put in his hand by the hole of the Door and my bowels were moved for him Indeed she could not get quickly up Indeed saith she I have put off my Coat how shall I put it on That is I have set my self in a way of Religion that I hope will do and will be enough and it is as much as others do and as much as generally is to be found among Christians and as much as can suit with the present state of this World but Christ gave her an Intimation and Item from himself And presently saith she My Bowels were moved for him And I arose to open to my Beloved and then she went seeking up and down the City And the Watchmen said it is too much for you to take upon you they take away her Vail from her they impeach her Modesty as it were But she goes on I Charge you O Daughters of Jerusalem if ye find my Beloved that ye tell him I am sick of love There is an earnest and vehement and inward affection in the heart that is in every true sincere Christian in every wise Virgin Though they sleep yet their heart waketh There is a Principle and a Power that shall never be deserted and forsaken of God even in the midst of this inclination to Slumber God will bring it forth in Power and to Perfection and so you may Trace the thing along in your own souls Do you find that a little Intimation makes you very earnest and vehement after Christ Do you find that there is such a stable desire of Christ and his Grace and Spirit That you desire he should know that you are sick of love And that you declare to the World that you love him above all things else And so I shall proceed no further in this Discourse but only close with Application 1. In the first place It teaches us That we should not magnifie the present state of any Church or Churches whatsoever or their way for all of them come far short though one much shorter than another yet all come short And so we should see in our own state Alas it is but suitable to the Day or rather as I may say to the Night that is yet continuing and is not yet past off from us Though indeed God is exceedingly to be magnified and adored in all the good of the Gospel and Christianity that we see in the World I am far from putting a Blemish or Diminution upon what God hath done seeing there are so many Excellent Preachers of Christianity and so many Excellent Christians and such a great Light of the Gospel as we have That such as were heretofore would have wondred at the Goodness and Grace of God if there should have been such a freedom of Preaching his Word every where and gathering Souls to himself And that there are so many of his Servants have a desire towards his Name and towards the Remembrance of him And therefore I say I desire to fore-caution as to that part That I am not at all censorious but acknowledging of the Infinite Grace of God But yet I say still That I would not have you think we are at the Excellency of Christianity as it is in Publick or as it is in Particulars I make no doubt but he that fears God now shall fear him much more and he that loves Christ now shall love him much more and they that speak and think of his Name shall do it much more when this Slumber is taken off I tell you you cannot do now what you would do you cannot love God and Christ you cannot be so free and undistracted and retired in to the way of Christianity as you would be And therefore look upon it That the present Day is the Day of the Slumber of the Glory of Christianity and therefore let us bewail our selves that we can get up no higher awakened much more that we cannot shake off that Slumber that is so much upon us But still I say we must expect a clearer and lightsomer and a brighter Air of the Gospel and Sun-shine of it We must expect the Sun of Righteousness with healing in his Wings Do but consider how you come on upon a Duty and how you come off and how you lose what you would retain and how hard it is to gain and how quickly it is gone off Our souls should be in a constant posture in this World our Vessels for ordinary uses should be Holiness to Jehovah but if one Treats of this way or that way one finds that the Glory of it does not sparkle and glister as it should I speak not what I speak from my own spirit but what God will speedily make good to all those that shall live in that Time Then they shall say How hath the Glory of Christianity changed me We shall find the Vacancies and the Emptinesses and Blemishes that are upon us shall be fill'd up and taken off and we shall walk in a higher Power and Spirit of Christianity And therefore let no one boast in regard of this or that Church-State whatsoever it be For certainly All is under a Spirit of Slumber now and there shall come a far more excellent State upon the Churches of Christ and so it shall descend upon every particular Person And then 2. In the Second Place Let us earnestly aspire to this state in our selves as David says I will not give Sleep to my eyes nor Slumber to my Eye-lids till I make an Habitation for the God of Jacob So let us aspire now as high as we can and let us earnestly desire this Glory of the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ that shall awaken us as a Man is awakened out of sleep as the expression is in the Prophet For I am perswaded God will awaken all his Servants as
of Christ be to me so as if be set me as a Seal upon his Heart as a Seal upon his Arm. This is the greatest Indenture the strongest obligation and uniting of the Lord Jesus Christ to the Soul and of the Soul thereby to him again for then Love is as strong as Death and it is cruel as the Grave The coals thereof are coals of Fire which hath a most vehement Flame Many Waters cannot quench Love neither can the flouds drown it If a Man would give all the substance of his House for Love That is to buy that Love off from Christ That 's the meaning of it If a Man would give all the Substance of his House where Love is once fixed to draw it off It would utterly be contemned Now this we should look to whether we have such a chast and Inviolable Love to Jesus Christ That all the substance of the VVorld would be utterly contemned whether Christ hath Set us as a Seal upon his Heart and Arm It is impossible then it should ever be taken off 3. The third is this when once we come to be thus united to Christ in the Chastness and Purity of our Affections in the sense of his Love to us and our Love to him Immediately there follows and all along there follows a Self-Resignation and Obedience And it cannot be otherwise For Love from a worthy Person hath a great command over those that are Loved It hath a mighty command on the Persons Loved to engage to Love again So that they are willing to do any thing to give up themselves to the will of the Person that Loves and is Loved upon his Love first And this is most due indeed to our Lord Jesus Christ Because he is the most excellent of all that can be proposed to us And he Hath Loved us and Washed us in his Blood And he thus wins us to his own Holiness Eph. 5. Saith the Apostle the Church is Subject unto Christ as unto the Head the Saviour of the Body It is in a perfect complyance with the Holy will of God Object If you ll say But how can we say this We find many Imperfections in our Obedience many Motions in our Hearts that are disloyal to Jesus Christ and are not at all according to the Obligations that lie upon us Answ Because we are going on to perfection in this state and because we find that we are under a Degree of Captivity and not perfectly freed Therefore the Soul cries out earnestly for the coming of the Great Bridegroom I shall but make Two or Three Expressions of Application and so conclude this Point 1. In the First Place I beseech you that you would consider what your Christianity is If it be not so strict an Adherence of your Souls and Affections to Christ as every wise and prudent and good Husband requires and expects from his Wife I say if it be not so how is it possible that you can say That Christ is mine and I am his And therefore look well to it and have a Jealous Eye as the Apostle said I am Jealous over you with a Godly Jealousie So we should be All Jealous over our own Hearts and the Motions of our Eyes to see whether there be such a Faithfullness to Jesus Christ as ought to be VVhen the Church is Subject to Christ as the most Excellent and Virtuous VVoman and VVife is to the most Honourable and Worthy Husband There is not any thing then that can or ought or is possible to come between our Souls and Jesus Christ And If we cry out Alas We are not able hereunto we do not find this I shall after by the Grace and Assistance of God press upon you Every such Discovery of the remaining defection and falseness of our hearts It should make us cry out earnestly Come thou Beloved of my Soul That there may be an entire and a perfect Union between me and thee Betwixt thy self and my heart This it should make us weary of the World and weary of Life and weary of the present State We cannot find our hearts come up as we desire they should But in the mean time there is a True and a Real and a Substantial Faithfulness and Purity and Chastity of Affections towards Christ in every Soul that is His That tho there are things that do not look so Resigning to Christ as they should do and so perfectly complyant Yet the Spirit is United to him As the Apostle speaks by way of Allusion to this very thing in the 1 Cor. 6. latter end But he that is Joyned to the Lord is one Spirit That is in regard of the present State of Flesh and Blood there will be some Wandrings of Heart But the Spirit is Stedfast and Jealous over those Unholy and Impure motions towards Sin Flesh and the World and it gathers it self back and it humbles it self And it bewails it self in regard of the Trayterousness of the Flesh and corrupt part wherein it does any way behave it self unworthily towards Jesus Christ that Saviour of it self He is the Saviour of the Body and therefore the Church is Subject to him And then 2. In the Second Place It should teach us very vehemently to look and cry out for that Time of free and full Enjoyments of Christ I wonder we should not be earnestly desirous when I consider the Reason the necessity and the great obligation which lies upon us I wonder we are not more earnest to dye and to be with Christ we are apt to think there is a State of the World ordained wherein we should have such and such Enjoyments and bear up our selves for a Time While in the mean time we forget Jesus Christ But hereafter it will be endeavoured to be made plain in this Discourse that either to go out of the Body and to be with Jesus Christ in Spirit Or to have the whole frame of this VVorld unpinn'd and dis-joynted one part from another That there may come that Glorious Kingdom of Jesus Christ and that Marriage of the Lamb and coming down of that New-Jerusalem And our selves as a part of it as a Bride adorned for her Husband is the Inward Groan of every Saint These things should be sweet to us And we should not be Gulp'd down by the present Temptations of the World which have so much force because our hearts are not steady to Christ O Let us look earnestly for that Love which many Waters cannot quench nor the Flouds drown And If we find that we cannot be as we would be We should therefore cry out Make haste O Beloved And appear upon the Mountain of Spices That we may be for ever quiet and Pure and Un-interrupted in our Love unto thee and receiving thine upon us SERMON III. On Matth. XXV Ver. 1. and so on to Ver. 13. Then shall the Kingdom of Heaven be likened unto Ten Virgins which took their Lamps and went forth to meet the Bridegroom
Watch For ye know not the Time Yet I shall shew you That hath quite another sense And that it speaks that every one should look that they have the Truth of Grace and Oyl in the Vessel and the Wedding Garment This is the Watchfulness that the Spirit of God confines us to But in the mean time we ought to be upon our Watch-Tower and to know the Times appointed by God For it is great Hypocrisie However we may think it Great Modesty that we do not Discern the Signs of the Times To be Instructed in the Times from the Signs the Scripture hath given us from Time to Time That we may come to know when this Great Coming of the Kingdom of Christ shall be And that our Hearts may be greatly preparing and in a Readiness for that Great Day c. is one Branch of the great Duty of Waiting for his Appearance SERMON V. Near the Time of the Shaking in London c. On Matth. XXV Ver. 1. and so on to Ver. 13. Then shall the Kingdom of Heaven be likened unto Ten Virgins which took their Lamps and went forth to meet the Bridegroom THE Words that I shall place the present Discourse upon are those Viz. While the Bridegroom Tarried while the Bridegroom delayed While the Bridegroom Delayed his coming While He whiled out the Time As we in our English Language speak and as the Greek Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 properly signifys While the Bridegroom Delay'd or Tarried or spent Time They all Slumbred and Slept I have you know in this Parable shewn you the Great Intention of it That it Represents the Glory of that Nuptial Feast That Wedding That Marriage of the Lamb. And I have already opened the several Preparatory Particulars in it I shall now at this Time Discourse upon what I have proposed The Bridegroom Tarried And so I shall endeavour to lay this Foundation That the coming of Jesus Christ hath not been since He spoke this Parable Neither is it yet immediately to be The Bridegroom Tarried And therefore herein I shall endeavour to open to you First How strange it is according to Scripture-Discourse that the coming of Christ has been so long delay'd And I shall Answer to you the Objections that arise from it against the Truth of Scripture concerning the Bridegroom's coming And so how this delay and many Scriptures can be reconciled In the Second Place I shall give you the two Great Reasons especially why the Bridegroom 's coming is Delay'd And then In the Third Place I shall enquire the Signs when this Tarrying of the Bridegroom is like to be at an End And I shall endeavour so to Discourse this as to resolve you concerning the Present Face of the World That we are in a Time you know all very well of very great Commotions of the Nations and as the Scripture Expression is We hear of Wars and Rumours of Wars continually And you know God hath both in other Nations and in a part of this Nation the beyond the Sea given us Great Reason to consider that shaking of the Earth that was so dreadful in a part of our Nation tho beyond the Sea And that gentle Admonition that he hath given us of it so lately in this very place In this very City I would therefore Discourse that point to you how far we may look upon these as Signs of the near Coming of the Bridegroom And then I shall close up the whole in the Application of it I begin with the First And that is to Discourse to you how strange it may seem and disagreeable to Scripture that the Bridegroom hath so long Delayed his Coming And I shall remove the Objectons against the Truth and Verity of Scripture Notwithstanding the Delay of the coming First therefore it seems very strange that such an Evil State of the World should continue beyond the Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ Seeing there is such an Infinite Grace of God in a Mediator and that he pleased to give his own Son to Lost Man That whoever believes in him should not perish bat have Eternal Life It is no wonder we may be ready truly to say That the World continued till Christ came till He Dyed and Rose again and till there was an Universal Preaching of the Gospel in His Name But why should it last any longer So Great a Thing was done Then in the World that there can be no Expectation of such another And therefore sure there was nothing now to do but for Christ to have a Kingdom as Great and as Large and as Glorious as the Scripture assures he shall have For as I have noted to you and I desire that you would bear as I have said before That Scripture in your Mind Gal. 4. 4. When the Fullness of Time was come God sent forth his Son It is no wonder that Time should last till The Fullness of Time came But that it should last beyond is very strange God sent forth his Son made of a Woman made under the Law to redeem them that were under the Law that we might receive the Adoption of Children And God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son to all those that are his Children to cry Abba Father These were so Great Things that till this Fullness indeed it is no Wonder at all that God bore up the World because he had such a Great Discovery of his Love and of his Grace to make and by which Men had been Saved all along before even the Fathers in the Old Testament And by which Salvation is to be alone expected and received 'T was no Wonder therefore I say that God bore up the World to that Fullness of Time But now it is strange that it should last any longer than that It is Wonder there has not been a Kingdom of Redemption and of Glory ever since But now to Answer you in that Particular and by a Place of Scripture as Notable as this Fullness of Time is There is another far Greater Appearance of the Glory of the Redemption of Christ For you know All That was in Humiliation It was in an Incognito-State in a Disguise of the Son of God Humbling Himself into the Form of a Servant and to Death the Death of the Cross But All This is to Appear in Glory And as there was a Fullness of Time for that First Manifestation of Christ So there is Ephes 1. 10. a Dispensation of the Fullness of Times not only of Time but of Times or of All Time That he might gather together in One all things in Christ both which are in Heaven and which are in Earth even in Him Till that Date be come the Kingdom of Christ cannot be Let me therefore desire of you That you would keep these Two Places of Scripture always in your Thoughts with Relation to the First Coming of Christ and with Relation to his Second Glorious Coming and Appearance There is the Fullness of Time and
Christ was Revealed first in That as a Saerifice Dying for Sinners And there is the Fullness of Times of All Time wherein all things in Heaven and in Earth are to be gathered together in Him even in Him In which He is to appear without Sin to Salvation Heb. 9. Last A Second Thing that makes it seem very strange that God should continue the World so long even after This Fullness of Time is this Because the Heart of God as I have often said to you cannot be to this World Though He allows some kind of State and Condition to his Servants in it some Enjoyment some Supports some Presence of Himself and of his Glory and Grace in Christ Yet it is far short of what is to be Because This is a World that God cannot Love and therefore the Glory of Things shall not be in the Present State of the World Because I say it is a World that God cannot Love As Christ said My Kingdom is not of this World not meaning That it is not a Kingdom that shall Appear and be Visible in the Creation of God in Heaven and Earth standing in all the Order and Beauty of it That is not the meaning But My Kingdom is not of this World That is Not of this Present Corrupt State in it It must come to that That Time shall be no more as it is said Revel the 10th before the Kingdom of Christ can be There must be not only the Fullness of Time but Time must be no more of such a kind as it hath been And the Fullness of Times must come And Then the Kingdom of Chrsst shall appear But as yet it cannot For the Scripture witnesseth very plainly and evidently to us That though God gives his Servants Food and Rayment and Habitation and gives to many of them Great Conveniencies and Enjoyments of this World Yet it is not because he loves the World or likes their State and Condition in the World For saith the Apostle James Ye Adulterers and Adulteresses Know ye not that the Friendship of this World is Enmity with God Whosoever therefore will be a Friend of the World is the Enemy of God James 4. 4. You see what a Great Contest there is between God and the World And it can never be comprimised It can never be reconciled Whosoever will be a Friend of the World is the Enemy of God And therefore though we value the Things of the VVorld at so High a Rate and the Conveniencies of the VVorld we make so Choice of Yet if we believe This Great Oracle of Truth whoever will be a Friend of the World is the Enemy of God And the Friendship of this World is Enmity with God O that we could carry the Thoughts and Considerations of This always upon our Minds And so the Apostle John tells us the very same thing 1 John 2. 15. Love not the World neither the things that are in the World If any man love the World the Love of the Father is not in him For All that is in the World the Lust of the Flesh the Lust of the Eye and the Pride of Life It is not of the Father but it is of the World And because the VVorld is nothing but an Entertainment of Lust and that God cannot love it Therefore the World passeth away The World is continually in a Fleeting Condition It is passing away All this Form and State of things that we now see the Order and Manner of Things now is hastening away as fast as it can But you will say Why does it not make more haste when God doth not Love it and when it is Enmity to Him And when If any Man Love this World he is an Enemy to God and the Love of the Father is not in Him O why should we make it as if it were an Everlasting State when it is not But why is God pleased to continue it thus long To that the Answer is Because there is a Patience of God which is Exercised now in the World and he will Exercise that Patience to the very last of the Time he hath appointed to the World In regard of this It is as if God should say it is true I do not Love this World I do not Love to see Wicked Men Rolling and Tumbling in it in all the Pleasure Voluptuousness Enjoyment and Merriment wherein they live I do not Love to see my Servants so taken up about it and so apt to be Drawn and Tempted with it as they are And yet for all this Notwithstanding it I will let this World stand saith God that my patience may be known and understood As the Apostle Peter speaks 2 Pet. 2. 9. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise as some Men count slackness but is long suffering to us-ward Not willing that any should Perish but that all should come to Repentance The meaning of which Expression I cannot better expound to you than by examining it what a kind of patience it is that is intended For Wicked Men they are wicked still Notwithstanding the Patience of God and they will not Repent And God takes them away one by one as he sees Good And the VVorld continues very bad from one Generation to another And yet God Exercise his patience towards it You may understand it by comparing this Expression with the first part of the Chapter They say in ver 4. Where is the promise of his Coming For since the Fathers fell asleep All things continue as they were from the beginning of the Creation Since the Fathers fell asleep It is very Natural to understand it of those first Long-living Patriarchs before the Flood Since They fell asleep and the Floud came say these Scoffers There hath been no change of things here The VVorld hath stood just as it did from thence And herein is the Patience of God the VVorld was about One Thousand Six Hundred and Fifty Six Years when the Flood came Now in Every such Generation of the World Every Thousand Years of the World God hath had as Great Reason to Destroy the World as he had Then For Wickedness hath Grown to such an Heighth as it did then And yet for all this God Exercises the Patience and Long-Suffering that he doth not Destroy the World again and again and leave a few as he did then to people the World a-new But he continueth Summer and Winter and Harvest and the State of the World He hath not Destroyed Every Living Thing as He did then Though there have been Notable Judgments in All Times as I shall presently speak to you A Third Thing that should make us very much wonder That God should keep the World a-foot so long It is in Regard of the Great Insolence and Boldness of Wicked Men. What a Boldness is this That they should say Where is the Promise of his Coming And that they should find something or other to say It is nothing it is only a Thing
indeed we see in the very best to this day Therefore the Observation that I shall lay down and endeavour to open to you is this That Christianity in regard of the present state of Christians and as they have been since Ephesus Rev. 2. left its first love since there was a decay of the Glory and. Purity and presence of the Gospel from the Apostles Time Since then I say Christianity in the Power and Spirit of it though it hath not downright slept yet it hath been as in a slumber For indeed I have often said it and I cannot be in a remove from it That Christianity is not as it was intended by Christ it should be We have not seen the State and Glory of it And therefore I shall make it my business to represent to you by such Representations as the Scripture hath given us how the Power of Christianity hath faultred thus long and that it will come to its perfectly awakened State when the Kingdoms of this World are Proclaimed to be the Lord's and his Christ's And I shall date this failure especially to two Times and one of them will fall directly upon our selves First of all the Time when the Mystery of Iniquity was working in the Apostles days For you may plainly behold that by the very express words of the Apostle that in his own Time there was a working of the Mystery of Iniquity Then began the great decay and bringing down of the Glory of Christianity 2 Thes 2. 'T is a Scripture that I have often turned you to and therefore I hope you are acquainted with it I am perswaded the first Christians in the Apostles days needed as much to be restrained in thinking that the Day of Christ was at hand as we have need to be spurr'd on and to be provoked and to be earnestly perswaded to think that the Day of Christ is at hand For so the Apostle writes We beseech you saith he as if he was in a business of greatest earnestness and that he could not tell how he should prevail enough upon them to whom he wrote in it ver 1. We beseech you Brethren by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and by our gathering together unto him That ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled neither by Spirit nor by Word nor by Letter as from us as that the Day of Christ is at hand They were ready to think The Day of Christ was to come just then Therefore the Apostle makes this earnest entreaty of them that they would not expect it You see what a different posture we are in now It is a hard matter to perswade any one to take off their hearts from the World and from loving it too deep and from thinking here 's a security in this World and we may do as our Fathers have done before us for so many Hundred Years in the Profession of Christianity We may be buying and selling and getting Estates and laying a foundation in this World Who is it that doth not count it a sort of Madness to disswade them from such a thing But the Christians of that Time they needed as earnest a perswasion That they might not think that the Day of Christ was so near at hand And so Christ in the 19th of Luke speaks that Parable that they should not because they did think The Kingdom of Heaven was nigh at hand He spake a Parable on purpose to assure them that it was not so nigh But Alas we need strong perswasions to the contrary And I may say the contrary to the Christians of this Time I beseech you Brethren by the coming of our Lord Jesus and by our gathering together unto him that you would not be shaken in mind by the general way of Peoples Profession and Preaching and Hearing as if the Day of Christ were not at hand And as the Apostle saith Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that Man of Sin be revealed the Son of Perdition So I say to you That day is near approaching For that falling away that Apostacy from Christianity it hath been and it is now very near to its expiring And therefore the great reason why it could not be then it is now a reason why it must speedily be because the Apostacy hath been so long because the Time and the last Date by God and by Christ is almost run out and expired that is the Time Times and half Time Here therefore to speak and bring home the thing to the present purpose I am upon Since this Apostacy began to work since that very Time Christianity hath been in a slumber For in this second Chap. v. 7. saith the Apostle the Mystery of Iniquity doth already work Now as soon as ever the Mystery of Iniquity began to work immediately there began a slumber upon the Christian Religion And therefore one would wonder Indeed it is a place that one would wonder to read and to find in the Epistle to the Philippians what the Apostle speaks Chap. 2. 20. For I have no man saith he like-minded speaking of Timotheus who will naturally genuinely sincerely care for your state For saith he All seek their own not the things which are Jesus Christ's I speak of him as an extraordinary Person saith the Apostle By this we may plainly see it was a great variation from what you read in the second and third Chapters of the Acts where they minded nothing but only the Promotion of Christianity No one called any thing their own they minded nothing but Christianity it self But Christianity hath been in a slumber ever since or else we should be Christians of another Life of another Spirit of another Power I say were it not that Christianity hath been in a slumber so long And this is with a great deal of spiritual Wit if I may so speak and a great deal of spiritual Elegancy set out to us in the Song of Solomon I shall have occasion to make great recourse to the Description that is there given to us Sol. Song c. 5. v. 2. I sleep but my heart waketh it is the voice of my Beloved that knocketh saying open to me my Sister my Love my Dove my undefiled for my Head is filled with Dew and my Locks with the Drops of the Night What 's the meaning of this Indeed I know Men are ready to say That these things are only Imaginations and Whimsies and Apprehensions of ones own that speaks of them But I have found a clear Thread and Line drawn from David's time till the very Glorious Coming of Christ in this very Song of Solomon And I find that the Time when the Apostacy came in is just under the very description that we here have As therefore when after a clear Day a Sun-shiny-day at Night the Drops of Dew you know they fall thick upon the heads of those that are in the Air. So
Reformation Because Christ saith in the first Words Then shall the Kingdom of Heaven be likened unto Ten Virgins When Why it shall be at that Time as in the 24th of Matthew though we divide Chapters yet the sense is not divided nor our Saviour's Sermon divided but our Lord is still going on in his Discourse Mat. 24. 48 49 c. But and if that evil Servant shall say in his heart my Lord delayeth his coming and shall begin to smite his fellow-servants and to eat and drink with the drunken The Lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him and in an hour that he is not aware of and shall cut him in sunder and appoint him his portion with the Hypocrites There shall be weeping and gnashing of Teeth There was never a greater Hypocrisie in the World than the Papacy To which they say you know in Reverence Your Holiness as we say to Princes Your Majesty or Your Highness And they say Your Holiness a Blasphemous Assumption and therefore he shall appoint him his portion with the Hypocrites Because he hath been the Evil Servant that hath said My Lord delayeth his coming And so he begins to Eat and Drink with the Drunken and to Smite the Men-servants and Maid-servants That is to Persecute the true Servants of Jesus Christ and of the Gospel Then shall the Kingdom of Heaven be likned unto Ten Virgins which took their Lamps c. when that Judgment is So that the Time before the punishing of this Bad Servant and the cutting him off and Devoting him to the Wrath and Indignation of God Before this there falls such a Slumber as this Now therefore Having made the way I shall Endeavour to go on and to speak to these two things First To shew wherein as to our particular we are to observe a Spirit of Slumber and that the power of Christianity does take small hold of us And then In the Second place I shall Endeavour to shew you wherein the Wise and Foolish Virgins Differ though they are both in a Slumber and they Die alike they Sleep alike yet there is a very vast and great difference betwixt them In the First place This is a very great Argument that we are under the Slumber of Christianity That we are not really in a Holy Transport in all the Services and Enjoyments and Ordinances of Christianity Indeed we make a shift to pass through the Form to hold up the Form of Prayer and of Preaching and of the Lord's Supper and of good Discourse sometimes one with another But we have not that mighty Affection we are just like Persons in a Slumber You know they understand something of what you say to them and they make some kind of Answer But they are so low and so imperfect herein that we may be sure they are not in the Vigour of their Senses and of their Understanding and of their Reasoning and of their Discourse Surely If we were raised to the Power of Christianity we should have more of those High Elevations of mind that the Apostle speaks of and that the Holy Men of Old in former times speak of We should have such flaming Desires after God and after Christ that our hearts would be Ravished and we should be drawn as it were out of our selves in these things Whereas we do but Nod as I may so express it in our way of Christianity Or when we seem to do something we are presently in a kind of Slumber so that there wants the Power and Life of it When David saith How sweet is thy Word to my taste Sweeter than the Hony or the Hony Comb It was another State than we are in All the 119 Psalm is a perpetual Rapture and Extasie of Heart All that time he was awake So Whom have I in Heaven but Thee And there is none upon Earth that I desire beside Thee And My Heart and my Flesh Faileth but thou art the strength of my Heart and my Portion for ever My Soul breaketh for the longing that it hath unto thy Judgments at all times All our Converse with Christ and with the Holy Ordinances of Christ and all our Drawings nigh to God They would be with a Holy Transport So in the 42. Psalm saith David As the Hart panteth after the water-Brooks so panteth my Soul after thee O God You cannot really suppose but that if we were fully possest with Religion indeed we should be carried out of our selves in Love and Service and Thankfulness and Obedience and all the Powers of Holiness and Religion Whereas now If a Person be but Civil to Religion If he will but sit patiently and hear a Discourse of it Or if he can but endure to be called off from the World to God we look upon it as a great Attainment But I say If Christianity were not under Slumber in the Spirits of Men we should be in a high Transport That as the Apostle speaks in the 2 Cor 5. The love of Christ Constrains us because we thus judge The Word as the Learned Observe signifies such a kind of Transports as when Elijah was taken up by the Spirit and carried hither and thither So the love of Christ constrains us that is Transports us every way Ver. 14. Wherefore saith he henceforth know we no man after the Flesh Ver. 16. Yea though we have known Christ after the Flesh yet now henceforth know we him so no more Surely This is the Slumber of Christianity that we are taken so much with outward appearances with out-sides of men The Apostle observed the Slumber of Christianity upon this account in his Day James 2. 2. If there come into your Assembly a man with a Gold Ring in goodly Apparel c. Here Christianity began to be in a Slumber not but that due regard ought to be to the several Ranks of Men But in this regard we know Men too much after the flesh so that it argues Christianity much in a Slumber Do but read I beseech you don 't think I speak either vainly or without due consideration of what I say Do but read those places of Scripture that are so Eminent in setting out the Glory of Christianity While we look not saith the Apostle in 2 Cor. 4. 18 at the things which are seen but at the things which are not seen for the things which are seen are temporal but the things which are not seen are eternal Now I say who is it that loves thus to look upon the things that are seen as nothing and the things that are not seen as all So saith he We know that if our earthly house of this Tabernacle were dissolved chap. 5. 1. we have a building of God an house not made with hands eternal in the Heavens ver 2. For in this we groan earnestly saith the Apostle Who groans earnestly I do not speak at all to be censorious or to tax Men beyond Reason or any way to justifie my self
but only this I am clearly sensible of That the General Character of the Church of Sardis is fallen upon all the Protestant Churches and upon all Protestant Persons As David saith in another case There is no one that doth not Slumber I may say no not one Though there are some Christians more lively and more wakeful and more apprehensive than others yet there are none but Slumber for the General Character of any Church it falls upon particular persons in a very great measure Now I say those high Ecstasies of spirituality of Heavenliness of Holiness of Purity that are to be found in Scripture make it plain that the excellent and glorious and powerful Spirit of Christianity is in a Slumber as in us And hereby I would desire you to take notice That the Discourse of the Kingdom of Christ is not as if some sensual or Worldly Glory were to be brought in or that men were to be pleased with that For the thing that I expect when the Kingdoms of this World shall be proclaimed to be the Kingdoms of the Lord and of his Christ are quite of another nature That whoever of us are alive at that day whether I or you or any of us that truly love and fear him and love the Glory of his Kingdom I make no doubt but the Glory and Power of Christianity shall sprout out afresh upon them as the Psalmist saith Then the Lord awaked as one out of sleep and like a mighty Man that shouteth by reason of Wine Psal 78. 65 66. And he smote his enemies in the hinder parts he put them to a perpetual reproach So we shall be able to smite the Lusts and Corruptions and the power of Temptations that now so prevail upon us we shall be able to chase them and to put them to flight and to drive them before us We shall be able to love God and Christ and to be mortified to this World we shall be able to express our selves abundantly in the ways of holiness and to rejoice in God accordingly and it is no other Kingdom that I expect But all shall bring in this with its happy consequences I say we shall be able to lay off and aside from our selves all the Vanity Pride and Love of this World and all not only the Gross Sins that are in the World in regard of which men are scandalous and Christians evil spoken of every where But those Sins that the World doth colour and varnish over and speak very kindly and fairly of all the deadness in Hearing in Praying and Discoursing Alas our Discourse of Religion it is but a kind of Formality we don't retain any thing of it But when this Slumber is taken off of Christianity it shall be much otherwise In the second Place When the Slumber of Christianity is taken off we shall see much clearer Scripture-Truths and in the Salvation and Redemption of Christ All the Dispute and Anger about these things will go off for the clearness of things will be seen And then that Dispute that is upon us now concerning the Kingdom of Christ Some are utter Enemies to such Discourses of it even good persons and some are ready to scorn and laugh it out of Countenance and few there are that believe it and are in the Truth of it What is the Reason of this but because these Scriptures are not so cleared And so very many excellent and Eminent Servants of God they are afriad to Discourse of the Free Grace of God and the Righteousness of Christ without Works lest it should make men loose and make men licentious and therefore they are streightning and curbing and glancing all they can against such Discourses as these are The reason is because the Spirit of Slumber is so much upon Christians Isaiah 29. The Lord hath poured upon you the spirit of deep sleep and hath closed your eyes the Prophets and your Rulers the Seers hath he covered And the Vision of all is become unto you as the words of a Book that is sealed which Men deliver to one that is learned saying read this I pray thee and he saith I cannot for it is sealed And the Book is delivered to one that is not learned saying read this I pray thee and he saith I am not learned Now this Spirit of deep sleep I hope is taken off from us by the Reformation and by the clearness of the Gospel in that manner that we enjoy it in the main now in the Protestant Profession but there is a Slumber still remaining Or else Men would hear and learn with far greater ease and in another manner Discourse with one another It will be wonderful when the Tongue of the dumb shall sing as it is said in the Prophet I am verily perswaded That those that say least in Religion now there will be such a change in them by taking off the Spirit of Slumber That the Tongue of the dumb shall sing He that knows not how to speak and is afraid to speak of Religion because he thinks he has not knowledge enough his Tongue shall sing in Discourses of the ways of God That is he shall speak with great clearness and great acceptableness In the Third Place We shall have a greater value for the state of Glory that is to be revealed and a greater undervaluing of the present state of this World We shall not think we are undone if we have not of this World and of the things of it in such an abundance as we would have Or if we cannot lay such foundations of Estates for the time to come Men will begin to say That this present World is like a Cottage that is suddenly to be removed And if Men had foreknown in Jamaica some Days or Weeks before that their Houses should go down as one may say so quick into the Earth and be swallowed up and even the Earth it self so changed what value do you think they would have had for those Houses or Grounds and how many Years Purchace would they have valu'd all at as we ordinarily speak So I say when our present state is like a Cottage that is to be removed that great value and esteem we have of the World shall go off If you will say This is only a sort of Levelling Doctrine or Discourse I do not intend it should move any one as for the present but only to an expectation and to take off our hearts from the present evil World And I only desire to tell you what shall be when you shall see such a Glory and Light of this World to come appearing and shining out I do but desire that you would remember what hath been spoken to you out of the Word and in the Name of Jesus Christ what hath been spoken of these things that are to come to pass I 'll give you but a brief Account of the Difference between the one and the other the Wise and Foolish Virgins and so conclude in the
riches of his Glory to be strengthned with might by his Spirit in the inner man That Christ may dwell in your hearts by Faith I look upon this to be Oyl in the Vessel It is Christ abiding in the heart For tho indeed the Vessel is not the Fountain yet it speaks the Vessel closely conjoyned with the Fountain and the Fountain continually springing into 't Another place of Scripture that I would give you You know Faith and Love they are much required and insisted on in the Gospel now observe what the Apostle saith in the 1 Tim. 1. 14. And the Grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with Faith and Love which is in Christ Jesus Where is the Treasure of Faith and Love It is in Christ Jesus it is never out of him the Spring of it is never out of him Faith and Love which is in Christ Jesus The Spring overflows to the Vessel with Faith and Love but the Spring and the Fountain is Christ himself And so 2 Tim. 2 1. Thou therefore my Son be strong in the Grace that is in Christ Jesus Be strong in the Grace that is in him It is never out of him though it flows to the Souls and Spirits of Believers yet it is never out of Christ So that here is the Oyl in the Treasure of it it is when the Soul is united to Christ the Fountain of it here is the Oyl that is able to bear up For in two things I think the comparison lies that our Lord intended in this Parable between Grace and Oyl First It must needs be of such an excellent quality that it can bear up with the Glory of that Day And then In the Second place It must be so abundant that it can last with the Glory of that Day For if the Oyl be not of the high and excellent kind it will presently go out As you know the higher Light of the Sun it puts out the lower Light of Fire or Tapers that we have below so the Glory of that Day will put out any Light but only the Light of the Righteousness and Grace that is in Jesus Christ and none else will last There 's no Spring of Light but only that which comes from him Heb. 7. 16. who is after the power of an endless life It is only Christ that is Oil in the Treasure Therefore take the most Excellent Grace That 's the Point that I would endeavour to carry out to you Take the most Excellent Grace if it be out of Christ if it be only in the Person himself it is a Lamp that will go out but if the Vessel be at the Fountain Head and is joined to the Fountain then it is able to supply to the Glory of that Day And I shall represent it to you therefore by a History of Scripture that may serve as an excellent Parallel to Expound the Parable that I am now upon In 2 Kings 4. 1. There cried a certain Woman of the Wives of the Sons of the Prophets unto Elisha saying Thy Servant my Husband is dead and thou knowest that thy Servant did fear the Lord and the Creditor is come to take unto him my two Sons to be Bond-men And Elisha said unto her What shall I do for thee Tell me What hast thou in the House And she said Thine Hand-Maid hath not any thing in the House save a Pot of Oil. Then he said Go Borrow thee Vessels abroad of all thy Neighbours even empty Vessels borrow not a few And when thou art come in thou shalt shut the Door upon thee and upon thy Sons and shall pour out into all those Vessels and thou shalt set aside that which is full So she went from him and shut the Door upon her and upon her Sons who brought the Vessels to her and she poured out And it came to pass when the Vessels were full that she said unto her Son bring me yet a Vessel And he said unto her There is not a Vessel more And the Oil stayed Now this is the thing only That I would represent to you That to us that are in a miserable and needy and wanting condition and in danger to be Bond-Men and Bond-Women to the Wrath and Justice of God for ever Here is the Oil multiplied The Oil multiplies from the Fountain from the Infinite Grace that is in Jesus Christ that we may stand at that Day And therefore That which I would advise and press upon every one of us from this very Point is That above all things we would mind our being in Christ I shall endeavour to free it from all Objections that you may be ready to make before I close the Point But to give you a Parable or a Representation that is nearer and does indeed intend this very thing If you look into the Prophet Zachary you shall see what it is to have Oil not only in the Lamp but in the Vessel that is to have a continual supply For though indeed this Parable seems to go no further than Oil in the Vessel yet when we come to enter into it we must needs find that it must be Oil from the Fountain alone that can do us good Zach. 4. 1 2. And the Angel that talked with me came again and waked me as a Man that is wakened out of his sleep And said unto me what Seest thou and I said I looked and behold a Candlestick all of Gold with a bowl upon the top of it and his Seven Lamps thereon and Seven Pipes to the Seven Lamps which were upon the top thereof And two Olive-Trees by it one upon the Right side of the Bowl and the other upon the Left side thereof And it came to that The Sons of oyl as they are called v. 12. through the Golden Pipes empty the Golden Oil out of themselves into the Golden Bowl Now What 's the Meaning of all this Not by Might nor by Power but by my Spirit saith the Lord that 's the Meaning of all They Empty the Golden Oil out of themselves That Golden Oil by which our Lamps will bear up and shine at that Day it must come from those Sons of Oyl That is From those Olive-branches Both which are only a Representation of Christ's Fulness in his Righteousness and in his Spirit So that here is that that alone can bear us up and bear up the Shining of our Lamps in that Day of the Glorious Solemnity of the Marriage of the Lamb That which alone can bear us up is the Righteousness and Spirit of Jesus Christ Which are always Connected and Joyned one with another And Proportionable hereunto are other Similitudes The Wedding-Garment that we read of Matt. 22. which a Man not having on when he came to the Wedding he was sound Speechless That is Nothing but the Garment of the Righteousness of our Lord Jesus Christ and of the Graces of his Spirit The King came in to see the Guests he saw there a Man which had not
of the true but into Heaven it self now to appear in the Presence of God for us We Translate it In the Presence of God but the Greek is much more Emphatical He Appears or is made apparent to the Face of God for us Now Christ is present with and makes himself appear to the very Face of God That Face that is Ten Thousand times Brighter than the Sun and that Dazles all Created Righteousness Christ appears to that very Face and he appears now in his own Blood to that very Face for us Herein is our great Comfort when we come before the Face of God Christ appears to that very Face in our Behalf It is further said Nor yet that he should offer himself often as the High-Priest Offer'd other Sacrifices For then must he often have Suffered since the Foundation of the World It may be you only read this with a General Thought of it and may not have considered the deep Sense and the Importance of it For I ask Why Christ must have Suffered often from the Foundation of the World if he had not been a Lamb slain once for All The Answer is If his Offering had not been an Offering once for All It must have arisen from the Insufficiency of it the Weakness and Imperfection of it to have done All at once and then he must as the Apostle says Have Suffer'd often since the Foundation of the World and not have Died only 1700 Years ago when the World was about 4000 Years old but he must have Suffer'd from the very Foundation of the World He must have begun there where the Sin of Man the Apostacy of Adam enter'd and he must still have been Suffering For the World could not have been born up but by the Efficacy of his Sacrifice and therefore it must still have been renew'd The World hath been variously divided the Old World before the Flood and then before the Law and since the Law till Christ It is capable of more Divisions but divide it as we can I do not see how any Division of it could have been without the Sacrifice of Christ nor how often each Division would have requir'd the Benefit of it if once Offering had not been for All but because once Offering of a Lamb without Spot by the Eternal Spirit doth Perfect and Consecrate for ever to the Enjoyment of God and Freedom from Wrath Them who are Sanctified from the Guilt and the Power of Sin And so it looks backward to all such before it as a Lamb slain from the Foundation of the World and forward to all who shall be to the Delivery up of the Kingdom to God All in All and even throughout Eternity supporting Saints in their Union to the Father and his Love by Himself Hence this Great High-Priest chose his Time in the End of the World shewing the Right of Christ to have put an end upon this Sunk Fallen Defiled World but that for Wisest and Holiest Purposes Vision and Prophesie in the Great Efficacy of his Redemption were Seal'd and now of necessity are near to be opened This was the Fulness of Time not far from the Fulness of Times or of all Time That is from the Kingdom of Christ Now on this Foundation of his Sacrifice for ever perfecting Them who are Sanctified we learn That as All is Deriv'd from Christ Wisdom Righteousness Sanctification Redemption So it is Conserv'd in him he hath for ever perfected as in himself For all still rests in him and depends upon Fresh Receivings from him as is most evident in this He went immediately into the Holy Places made without Hands there to appear in the Presence of God or according to the Force of the Greek there to be made Illustrious to the very Face of God for us So that notwithstanding what he hath done we could not dare to appear to the Face of God if he were not there for us appearing to that very Face receiving the Grace and Favour of it and Reflecting it on us And so in Sanctification in the strictest and most proper Sense of it It is continually Issuing from his Blood The Blood of the Everlasting Covenant sends forth the Efficacy of making perfect in every good Work working in us that which is well pleasing in his Sight Now then from hence arises a Necessity of continual Looking to Jesus the Author and Finisher of our Faith in both Justification and Sanctification Take then as in relation to the Point of Justification our Faith our Love our Repentance our Charity our Holiness our Obedience and separate these from the Satisfaction Righteousness of Jesus Christ and how can they stand before God on any account whatever even in the Sense of All that do at all acknowledge Christ But beyond this How pitiful are they compar'd with Everlasting Righteousness with Infinite Righteousness Nay so Imperfect and so Polluted are they that they cannot so much as enter into any the least Consideration in the Point of Righteousness or Justification but they must needs before a Righteous and Holy God Themselves and the Persons in whom they are fall under Condemnation And in point of Holiness if you divide them from Christ They are like a Beam or a Ray cut off from the Sun it immediately vanishes and comes to nothing As therefore The Conscience truly enlightned will say Alas I cannot come before God with this and that which looks like Godliness Holiness or what we call Religion as in Prayer or other Duties I must have the Infinite Righteousness of Jesus Christ else I know my Lamp will immediately go out So in point of Sanctification even that Holiness we receive from Christ all its Excellency and Life is in Union to Christ If it be separate from him it is like a Drop out of the Fountain A Drop in the Fountain is considerable while it is in it If you separate it from it it presently is lost and comes to nothing My Son says he unto Timothy be strong in the Grace that is in Jesus Christ it must be in him Conserv'd in him Else it is as a Ray wandring from the Sun or a Drop from the Fountain or to speak in the Language of the Parable as a Lamp from the Vessel or even the Vessel from the Son of Oil The Sum of all is our dependance is on Christ alone our Union and Communion with him He is the Fountain he is the Great Son of Oil All Lamps go out not so united In Jehovah shall one say Have I Righteousness and Strength strength of Holiness also In him shall all his Seed be Justified and Glory Thus far I have endeavoured to fix and establish this Point to you And from which I hope and am assur'd I shall never find Reason to depart That the Oil in the Vessel is the Heart united to Jesus Christ by Faith The Having the Son and so having Life For he is the Great Son of Oyl the Branch made strong even the
the sure Place nothing of Good can be expected But if you would hang even the least Vessel the Vessel of least Quantity any where hang it upon Christ Hang it upon the Nail in the sure Place And if any of you have any Troubled Thoughts or Contest of Mind about these Things I beseech you That you would go up to this Nail that is fastned in a sure Place For that Vessel that we hang any where else it shall certainly be cut down and the Nail we hang it upon will certainly be cut down or removed for the Lord hath spoken it All our Lamps that shine in their own Light they will go out in that Day at the Appearance of Christ like Sparks that we compass our selves with of our own kindling All that do so shall lie down in Sorrow The Last Objection is But how shall we know that we are in Christ Can we discern it any otherwise than by the Marks and Signs of Grace that we find in our Selves If therefore we find not Faith if we find not Repentance and all the Fruits of Holiness How can we think or dare we think that we are in Christ Now therefore To this I would give you this Twofold Answer First It is certain That the Supream Witness to any of our Souls it must be from the Spirit of Christ it must be from the Spirit of Adoption crying Abba Father He is called the Spirit of the Son I beseech you seriously consider it Gal. 4. 6. Because ye are Sons God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your Hearts crying Abba Father Why does he call it the Spirit of the Son But to shew that it is the Witness coming from Christ If therefore it comes from him The Great Witness of the Spirit is That we are in Christ It doth not come to us in our own Righteousness For then Why should it be called The Spirit of the Son No not in our own Sanctification does it come to us But it is The Spirit of the Son And It 's a sure Testimony of its Glorifying Christ in taking the Things that are Christ's and Giving to us even in its Testimony You may say This may Deceive us And we don't know Whether it is the Spirit or not Observe what the Apostle saith in 1 John 5. speaking of the Witness of the Spirit latter part of the 6th Verse And the Witness of the Spirit is Truth Why does he say The Witness of the Spirit is Truth but to meet with the Things that are in our Hearts that we are ready to say There are other Good Witnesses we dare not Believe the Spirit alone But we have other Good Witnesses and we must bring them in And if they say so too then we may Believe the Spirit or else not Now the Apostle saith The Witness of the Spirit is Truth To let us know there is a separate single Witness of the Spirit of God that is true I know no Reason at all That we should be afraid to Affirm this For If the Spirit of God dwells as Generally the Best and most Judicious Discoursers of these Things allow if the Spirit of God dwell in us Why should it be strange that the Spirit of God should whisper its Witness in this way And the Apostle speaks of this very Witness when he saith The Witness of the Spirit is True But then In the Second Place I do acknowledge this freely and abundantly That the Spirit of God doth make use of this or that particular Grace or Holiness in general in a Saint of Christ As he pleases sometimes he Witnesseth only by himself sometimes by such and such Graces And why Not because the Graces themselves are alone able to bear up the Witness That I plainly deny But then The Spirit Witnesseth not only of Grace of Faith of Repenâ—ance and Holiness c. but as they are in Christ Faith and Love in Christ Jesus And as they are made up of his Righteousness and flow from his Death Resurrection and Intercession And here is that that I said to you Christ takes any Grace of his Servants and shews it at the Day of Judgment Not as it is out of himself but as it is in himself and in his own Righteousness and by his Spirit He now shews to any of his Servants any of their Graces but not as out of Christ but as in Christ surrounded made up fill'd up with his Righteousness As I remember the Expression in the Book of Exodus where the Jewels that were in the Vrim and Thummim in the Breast-plate of the High-Priest Their setting is called Filling up They were filled up in the Gold the Receptacles and Lodgings of them were filled up Exod. 28. So I say In every Grace there 's the filling up of the Righteousness of Christ Take all the Graces of Paul and of Peter or any of the Servants of Christ And if they had not been Set in the Righteousness of Christ if there were not a Filling up by the Righteousness of Christ they would all come to nought And therefore they are filled up with his Righteousness And so I do acknowledge That it may be That the Spirit of God may give his Servants a Witness and a Testimony from their own Graces And so in 1 John 4. 17. Herein saith he is our Love made perfect That we may have Boldness in the Day of Judgment Because as he is so are we in this World There is no Fear in Love but perfect Love casteth out Fear He that feareth is not made perfect in Love Here the Apostle speaks of a Tormenting a Disturbing and Perplexing Fear The Power of Love to Christ drives it out Because as he was so are we in this World That is The more Christ is pleased to Sanctifie his People taking it still for a Sanctification in himself as he is made to us Wisdom in our Calling Righteousness in our Justification Holiness in our Sanctification and Eternal Glory stiled Redemption all in him and from him I shall therefore wind up This in these two Brief Applications The First is You see here as Solomon speaks in another Case When all is spoken that can be spoken We know saith he it is but Man It is nothing but Man That is speaking of the Weakness of Man All that can be said saith he you have nothing but Weak Frail Man And on the other side speaking of Christ There 's nothing to be said but this He is All All in All we are nothing Here 's the Sum of the Matter We are Nothing all that is in us is Nothing All that God or his Spirit hath wrought in us it is nothing if you could take it out of Christ it will be a Lamp put out in obscure Darkness Carry this constantly upon your Thoughts He that hath the Son hath Life And he that hath not the Son of God hath not Life We rest upon nothing when we rest upon our selves Let us
man that is look'd upon as a Religious Man and that makes a great Figure in the World and that God hath blest Now this Man living so sober in regard of all the Commandments in outward acts all these commandments have I kept from my youth up One would think it were not possible that such a Man should not go to Heaven And yet saith Christ Verily I say unto you with relation to this lovely young man it is a hard thing for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven Certainly he did not come up to that was properly the Virgin-state in the acknowledgment of Christ however he was of unspotted unblameable external conversation he had too an acknowledgment of Christ as a very Excelling man and a Great Master of Divine Knowledg but He had not a Sense of his Divine Glory nor the very power of Christianity so as to Grasp the Inside of it to Lay Hold upon the very Spirit and Life of it as in Christ and so to devest Himself of every thing for Chrst if Called to it Nay he was unwilling to Own and Follow Christ in the very Outward Profession and herein he came short of the Foolish Virgins who yet Fall short of Heaven and therefore Christ preaches upon him this General Doctrine How Hard is it for a Rich man to Enter into the Kingdom of Heaven In the Third place I might Name to you the men of Tradition the men of Superstition that look upon it as their Glory and Security for Heaven to add many things to the Commands of God and of Christ as if they either exceeded or made more perfect or more beautiful decent and honourable the Religion of Divine Institution by their own super-added observations but this needs not to be much insisted upon because Christ hath declared from the Word of God in the Old Testament by the Prophet Esay This People draw nigh to me with their Lips but their hearts are far from me But in vain do they worship me teaching for Doctrines the commandmens of men Matth. 15 c. But now these Virgins as they hold the Truth so the purity of the Worship of the Gospel and were also of an unblameable outward Conversation as was before opened concerning the Virgin State From all this we may plainly perceive it is a very nice Case to distinguish either in Doctrine or in Practice between Virginity enlivened with Wisdom and Virginity that hath the dead Fly of Folly in it I come therefore to the Third Head of Discourse to give you the Reasons of this even Tremendous Dispensation of God That there should be Virgins and yet Foolish Virgins For to speak the very bottom and foundation of the matter This Resemblance of our Lords of the Case of Souls or Spirits not accepted by Christ compared with the Apostles Expression of presenting them as chast Virgins to Christ and yet that some Virgins presented to him he charges according to those expressions in Job with folly It seems to carry an Allusion in a spiritual sence to that Case Deut. 24. 1 c. Those that are espoused as Virgins to Christ and yet they are not clean in his sight they are for ever eternally separated from him even divorced from him He sends them a Renunciation a Bill of Divorcement from himself This is dreadfully stupendious These Two Accounts I would give hereof according to Scripture why there is such a severity of the Gospel towards those who are Virgins and are found foolish Virgins 1. Our Lord Jesus Christ would hereby Remonstrate to us the great Corruption and Depravation of Human Nature we do not enough apprehend what a Nature and what Hearts thereupon we carry about us Hearts deceitful above all things and desperately wicked who can know them It is strange so excellent so pure a thing as a Virgin State should be defiled and made wholly unacceptable to Christ by Folly our Lord therefore hereby calls upon us to be aware what Natures and Hearts we bear about with us since that very time that God made Man Vpright in Knowledge Wisdom Righteousness and true Holiness and he defiled his Nature with the folly of many inventions The Nature of Man Taints and defiles every thing even Virginity it self though not by a false Religion a false Worship or grosly polluted Conversation yet by the folly of insincerity and want of the Treasure of Grace standing in Union to Christ This should carry us to fear our own Hearts Blessed is the Man that feareth always but he that trusteth in his own heart is a Fool he deceiveth himself as the Apostle James saith Many ways seem right enough in our own Eyes but the issue and end thereof is death Let us therefore as the Apostle Peter warns Pass the time of our sojourning here in fear and as the Apostle Paul saith be jealous over our selves least while we think we present our selves as chast Virgins to Christ that we are Espoused to him there should be any corruption from the simplicity that is in Christ Jesus Christ is one most single simple Jesus without Multiplicity as in Doctrine and Worship so in our Union to him whoever misses him in that uncompounded Faith and undivided Affection defiles the Virgin-State and looses the Glory and Purity of it You may be Virgins as to the Chastity of Profession and outward Conversation and yet you may loose the Wisdom of Virginity if there be not a singleness of Eye and Heart to Christ which cannot be but in Union to himself from thence arises the simplicity that is in Christ and our conformity to it A Second Reason why so severe and dreadful a Dispensation is offered to you in this Parable that I shall now give you is That we might learn Three great Lessons from it it is not to discourage or beat you off from your Profession but that you may bow down your Ears and Hearts to these three things 1. That you may depend upon the Free Grace of Electing Love every one ought to humble himself ond to lie in the Dust before God in the sence of this It is not of him that willeth or of him that runneth but of God that sheweth Mercy And who art thou Oh Man that repliest against God All this speaks the necessity of lying low before God in the sence of this supream Grace And what can tend more thus to humble us that to consider Virgins may be Virgins and yet Foolish Virgins This should make us look to a Love and Grace above and beyond any thing in our selves or that is wrought in our selves we should keep our Eye on this The Apostle after the Description of the Antichristian Apostacy retires to Election God hath chosen us to Salvation This is not to draw off our minds from any of those Graces that are the fruits of Election but to carry up our Minds above them to the Fountain of them And there is no greater assurance of the Truth
such so Educated and Prepared yet to be a Preaching-Soul to our selves none can be scandalized or offended at that 4. In the Fourth Place Let us take heed and keep our selves from our Iniquity that there may be no Sin that we shall be found in at the coming of Christ that we give Indulgence to now no course of known sin or of the neglect of any known Duty Let us take care of this that we do not allow our selves in any way of sin that we search and try our ways continually that we may turn unto God Il'l give you two notable Scriptures to this very purpose though a great many more might be given I was also upright before him and kept my self from mine iniquity Psal 18. 23. That 's a very great Scripture though I have already spake of it that especially that I would direct you to now is in the 139th Psalm 23. 24. Search me O God and know my heart try me and know my thoughts and see if there be any wicked way in me and lead me in the way Everlasting You see here It is a very Difficult point For If a Virgin may be shut out for ever what Reason have we to lay our thoughts open before God and to say unto him Search me O God I know not how to Search my Self I am so Dark and Blind to my self in my own peculiar Iniquity That I know it not But do thou Search me and know my heart Try me and know my thoughts And see if there be any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting Any wicked way in me That is The way of living in any Sin or giving up my self to any Lust Let us be mighty Cautious very careful in This to lay our selves before God for Indeed If any one would say to me Which way shall I help my self You say That a Virgin may be a Foolish Virgin You say That Virginity is the Best State in the profession of Christianity And yet There may be such a Worm at the Root of it as may wither it all What then shall I do Does not this Discourage in the way of Religion If I may be so Mistaken and Deceived in it Were not the Foolish Virgins as likely in their own Eyes as the Wise Therefore I say No other way but to lie at the Foot of Christ and of the Spirit of Christ and Earnestly to pray Search me O God and know my heart Try me and know my thoughts and my Secret Retirements and see if there be any any Secret wickedness in me and lead me in the way Everlasting If we did continually This and if our hearts were fully Set upon it certainly God would bring forth our Righteousness as the Light and our Judgment as the Noon-Day Surely God will Discover This if we are Sincere It is the best counsel that can be given and the best Example that can be laid before us And so That of our Saviour I look upon as the peculiar duty in order to our waiting for the Kingdom of Jesus Christ I say I look upon it to be the very peculiar Duty Our Lord saith concerning this Let your Loins be girded about and your Lights burning Luke 12. 35. And so the Apostle Peter expounds this Scripture more fully to us and he directs it to this very Point of Looking to the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ 1 Pet. 1. 13. Wherefore gird up the Loins of your Mind be sober and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ Besides all the Grace of the Gospel at the present there is the Crowning-Grace There is the Triumphing-Grace that is to be brought to us at the appearing of Christ Gird up the loins of your mind be sober and hope to the end for that salvation You know the loins they are taken for those parts of Human Nature wherein is the Seat of Sensuality and Corruption most of all the Bodily-Lust that men are affected with And as the loins are girded a Man is the more expedite and ready for Motion So when all that superfluity of the Flesh and impure sensual affection is girt up and we hope perfectly for the Grace that is to be brought to us at the Revelation of Jesus Christ Let us earnestly therefore pray Keep back thy Servant from presumptuous sins that they may not have dominion over me Then shall we lift up our face clear as the Morning and we shall lift up our head without spot as Job If Pride if Lust if any inclination to the love of this World to sensual Pleasures and Delight if any of this we find to be our sin any immoderate Lust or Sin whatever it is Let us gird up the loins of our minds wherein we find any extravagant and impetuous Motion to evil prevail upon us 5. In the Fifth Place Let this be our great care to meditate much upon Death Judgment and Eternity Let those common and general Notions prevail upon us For my part I have always and desire always to Declare That I do not bind up any one to any particular apprehensions of my own in these things although I do fully believe such an appearance of the Glory and Kingdom of Christ Yet I say to every one Let those general and agreed Notions and Principles be strong upon your hearts And the less you can intend and encline to believe such an Appearance and Kingdom of Christ be the more Intent upon those Four Last Things as they are generally called that is Death Judgment Heaven and Hell Let those General and acknowledged and impressed Points be always upon your Minds O! What kind of persons should we be if we did but grow up to the acknowledged Points of Christianity Death Judgment Heaven and Hell Let us always take these into consideration and there is no Christian but owns them even Papists themselves those of them that have been more Devout than others have written very excellently and very notably upon these things these Principles that run so mightily into all the sence of Christianity God forbid that any thing should be said to take off the plain Consideration and the strong Apprehension and the close Meditation and the mighty influence of those Four Things from us For who can enough speak of them or consider them Take them in the plainest sence that you can And Oh that God would give you to feel even every one of us to feel the full work of them upon our hearts that they may have every one their perfect work upon our hearts That as I may allude the Chariots of our Souls may be always moving upon these Four Wheels and that our Chariots may never stand still but lift us up continually above the Earth It is my earnest Prayer for every one of us speaking and hearing That our Souls may be as the Chariots of Aminadab carried upon these Four Wheels of Death and