The Best Match; Or, the Incomparable Marriage Between the Creator and the Creature
[This was delivered, in two discourses, at Culross: but
the precise time and occasion cannot be ascertained; only we see the first
edition was printed Anno 1722.]
"Thy Maker is thy Husband."
Isaiah 54:5
The prophet Isaiah having largely discoursed of the
sufferings of Christ, and the blessed fruits and effects of them; among which
one is, that he should have a numerous seed to believe on him; and that, when
the Jews reject him, the Gentiles should gladly receive him: and thus
foreseeing, by the spirit of prophecy, the glorious state of the Gentile
church, he breaks forth into a song of triumph in the beginning of this
chapter; where the prophet directs his speech to the church and spouse of God
in these words, "Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into
singing; and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are
the children of the desolate, than the children of the married wife, saith the
Lord."
Where we have a magnificent promise of the fertility and the
felicity of the Gentile church; and this is enlarged to the fifth verse, which
contains the words of our text; where we have the reason of her happiness and
fruitfulness who was formerly a barren widow, for "Thy Maker is thy Husband:"
he who made thee out of nothing, and therefore can easily fulfil all these
promises, how unlikely soever they seem to be; he who made thee a people, yea,
which is more, who made thee his people, he will take possession of thee as his
spouse, and act the part of an husband to thee.
I shall defer my further
introduction and exposition, and also whatever might be said concerning the
external relation betwixt Christ and the visible church, my chief design being
at this time, only to speak a little to that internal spiritual
marriage-relation betwixt Christ and the invisible church, or Christ and the
believer, as it is represented under the picture of a marriage: and what I
would offer upon this subject I lay before you in this doctrinal proposition.
That there is a marriage-relation betwixt Christ and believers, wherein he
supplies the place of a husband unto them, and they the place of a bride and
spouse to him.
In prosecuting whereof, I would essay these three things.
I. Prove, that there is such a marriage-relation betwixt Christ and
believers.
II. Speak to the nature of this marriage.
III. Give the
reasons, why Christ comes under such a relation to his people.
IV. Make
some application of the subject.
I. To confirm the doctrine, that there is
a marriage-relation betwixt Christ and believers. This will appear from these
two considerations.
1. From the compellations given to Christ with relation
to believers. How frequently doth the spouse call him her husband in the book
of the Song? "As the apple-tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved
among the sons. My beloved is mine, and I am his," Song 2:3,16. And, says the
apostle, 2 Cor. 11:2 "I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present
you as a chaste virgin unto Christ."
2. The marriage relation betwixt
Christ and believers appears from the designation given to believers in
scripture with respect to Christ. How frequently calls he her his love, his
spouse, in the book of the Song of Songs? "Thou hast ravished my heart, my
sister, my SPOUSE. How fair is thy love, my sister, my SPOUSE!" Song 4:9,10. In
Rev. 19:7, there the church, (or believers in the collective capacity) is
called the bride, the Lamb's wife: "The marriage of the Lamb is come, and the
bride hath made herself ready." We need not stand to prove that which is so
evident, we need say no more to confirm it, than to repeat the text, "thy maker
is thy husband." Therefore I come,
II. To speak of the nature of this
marriage: and here we would briefly consider, 1. The parties married. 2. The
terms of the marriage. 3. The properties of the marriage. 4. The effects of it.
5. How the match is carried on. 6. How it is concluded. (1.) I say, let us
consider the parties married; who is the Bridegroom, and who is the Bride.
1. Then, the bridegroom is the wisdom of God; and all the treasures of
wisdom and knowledge are found in him: he knows all the needs of the bride, and
is ready to supply them.On the other hand, the bride, before her matching with
him, is the most notorious fool out of hell: her folly is shown by continuing
to refuse to match with him; to refuse to give her consent to this heavenly
bridegroom.
2. The bridegroom is the eternal Son of God; the King's only
Son: "The King made a marriage for his Son:" He is the blood-royal of heaven.On
the other hand, What is the bride's pedigree? She needs not boast of her
descent; "Thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother an Hittite," Ezek. 16:3.
There is a vast difference here.
3. The bridegroom is the heir of all
things: he hath all riches,"the unsearchable riches of Christ."?But what is the
bride worth before he match with her? She is worse than nothing, poverty
itself; and not only a beggar, but in debt, and Christ is willing to pay her
debt.
4. The bridegroom is comely and glorious. All the seraphims and
cherubims above, all the sons of men in the world, all the crowned heads on
earth, in all the circumstances of glory, are but like black pieces of earth
compared with this glorious bridegroom.On the other hand, What is the bride
before he match with her? Even as black as the devil can make her. Not only a
leopard, spotted here and there, but wholly black and ugly. When she is cast
forth in the open field to the loathing of her person, she is a spectacle of
horror and misery; yet then it is a marriage-day and a time of love.
(2.)
What are the terms of the marriage: the articles of it on his part and her
part? The terms on her part, though the whole belong to Christ, yet, to speak
of terms in an improper sense, he requires of her what he worketh in her;
namely,
1. That she be divorced from all other husbands, and give up with
all other lovers and idols; particularly, that she be divorced from the law,
that she may be married unto Christ: she must not obey the law from a principle
of her own strength; nor as a covenant of works, that, by obedience, she may
purchase a title to heaven; nor to gratify a natural conscience; nor merely to
escape hell, and make a righteousness of her obedience. She must be divorced
from that husband.
2. Upon her part it was required, that she be satisfied
with this husband alone as the great portion of the soul, that he may have no
rival, no competitor in her affections, none to sit on the throne with him: she
must keep the chief room for the son of God. Again, on his part, he contracts,
1. That he will make over himself to her; all he is, all he hath, all he hath
purchased, all he hath promised; he will make over to her all the blessings of
the everlasting covenant. O this is a sweet article! And a large charter
indeed! 2. He contracts to perform all the glorious offices of a husband to
her; to provide for her, protect her, direct her, pity her, clothe her, to
encourage and comfort her; and to do all for her she needs; this is the sum of
the contract; for, to speak properly, Christ is all, and does all in this
matter; and our part is done by him in us, Hos. 2:19,20. "I will betroth thee
unto me for ever: yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in
judgment, and in loving-kindness, and in mercies; I will even betroth thee unto
me in faithfulness, and thou shalt know the Lord." Christ signs the contract
for him and her both. "I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness;" I will
fulfill the law, and satisfy God's justice. "I will betroth thee unto me in
loving-kindness:" though there be nothing in thee to invite my love, but much
to challenge my aversion, yet I will overcome all my imperfections, and set my
love upon thee. "I will betroth thee unto me in mercies;" in pardoning mercy,
sanctifying mercy, supporting mercy, comforting mercy. But lest the bride
think, that whenever she sins there may be a divorce, she may break up and go
away, therefore it follows, "I will betroth thee unto me in faithfulness." He
pledges his veracity for fulfilling the articles on her part and his both.
But then, (3.) What are the properties of this marriage?
1. It is a
very mysterious marriage, that the Creator should take the work out of his
hands for a bride; not only when in its original and virgin integrity, as it
dropt out of his creating hands, but when polluted with the poison of the
devil, the venom of the serpent, that he should take her for his bride; "Thy
maker is thy husband." This is an astonishing union. If a glorious angel should
be matched with a creeping worm, and a king with a beggar, it would not be such
a wonder; but the maker to join himself to the work of his hands; there cannot
be a greater distance conceived betwixt any thing, than betwixt a Creator, and
that which is brought out from the barren womb of nothing, a creature; and yet
they are in a marriage-relation; "Thy maker is thy husband."
2. This
marriage is very difficult and hard. It is true, there is nothing too hard for
Omnipotence; yet the human nature of Christ had much to do with it; though he
was supported by the divine nature, yet he behoved to swim through the river of
his own blood, before he could get his bride. He satisfied the justice of God,
established a new covenant. All this must be done in order to this marriage.
3. This marriage is an indissolvable marriage; death dissolves other
relations, but it increases this intimate union: Nothing shall separate Christ
and the believer: "I am persuaded, saith Paul, that neither life, nor death,
nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to
come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate
us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord," Rom. 8:38,39.
(4.) What are the effects of this marriage?
1. The first and immediate
effect is a most close union betwixt Christ and the believer. This union,
though less than a personal union, although it be in some respect, yet it is
more than a political union, more than a moral union; it is a very close union.
The bridegroom, Christ, he gives his bride his own spirit; communicates vital
influences, from the glorious head, to her: and she cleaves, by faith and love,
close to him; and God promises that he will make the house of Israel cleave
close to him, as a girdle to the loins of a man, Jer. 13:11. He makes his
spouse in spite of all her folly, in spite of all her enmity, in spite of all
her enemies and temptations, to cleave close to him.
2. Another effect of
this union, is sweet communion, mutual fellowship: he feasts with them and they
with him: he blows upon her garden, quickens and animates her graces; and then
he comes and eats his pleasant fruits.
3. Another effect is, familiarity,
which is coincident with the former: he treats them not as strangers, but as
friends; and not as friends only, but as his own spouse: he communicates to
her, and speaks comfortably and kindly to her. It is a wonder what
condescension God will make sometimes: and the believer again can be more
familiar with God, than with the whole world; and can tell to God what he can
tell to none else. Thus you see some of the effects of this marriage.
(5.)
How was the match carried on? I answer in a word. On his part it was carried on
thus:
1. He gave the Father his hand, and engaged to him in the covenant of
redemption, from eternity, that he would do all things necessary for
accomplishing the marriage.
2. Because there must be an union of natures
betwixt the bridegroom and the bride; (it was not possible that we could be
matched with the divine nature;) therefore he becomes a man, and takes on our
nature, that there might be an union of natures.
3. Because the bride is a
slave, he pays her ransom, substitutes himself in her room, takes on her debt,
and pays all that she owed to justice, and then takes on with her. But, on our
part, just nothing at all; we had no hand in the covenant of redemption; no
hand in the contrivance of salvation; we knew nothing about the business; we
had no thoughts of a Redeemer; deserved nothing but pure wrath; we were lying,
with full contentment, in the devil's territories when Christ was carrying on
the match.
(6.) How is the marriage concluded upon his part?
1. He
sends forth his ambassadors to court for him, as Abraham did his servant for
Isaac: and there is a great work, indeed, to make her give her consent. Let
angels in heaven unite their powers of persuasion, they could not prevail with
one soul, if a converting day were not come: but they must always speak fair to
her. How rhetorical was Abraham's servant for his master? He hath but one
child, and that child hath great riches; he seeks no portion with Rebecca, only
her consent. Thus he rhetorizes and flourishes exceedingly, and persuades with
the greatest motives. But yet the ambassadors of Christ have a larger
commission, if our eyes were opened to see it; they are sent forth to make love
to the bride, and in his name to commend Christ.
2. He concludes the
marriage thus. The bride being wretchedly ignorant of her true happiness,
therefore his father distresses her with the debt which she owes to him; and
the wretched person is forced, for some time, to mount Sinai; and there God
descends in all the circumstances of terrible majesty; he thunders against her,
curses; "Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are
written in the book of the law to do them," Gal. 3:10. God exacts all the debt,
conscience roars, and the devils are let loose; she fears hell and wrath; and
God declares, in the gospel, that the wretched bankrupt shall go to prison, and
lie eternally in hell, if she do not take on with his son, marry him, and
believe on him. Thus the bride is forced to an extremity: some have more, some
have less of this law-work; but all are humbled and broken in some measure, who
are married to Christ: he sends forth his spirit and convinces the world of
sin. But this would not do either; and therefore,
3. The bridegroom sees
that nothing but condescension will do it; and so he appear in all his glory:
when the bride is full of fears, perplexities, and anxieties; when the terrors
of God are surrounding her, and the arrows of the Almighty drinking up her
spirits, and when she is crying out, What shall I do? Whether shall I go? Then
the bridegroom appears in all his excellency and glory, and says, "Behold me,
behold me;" and she gets a view of him that ravishes her heart, and enlarges
her soul; then it is that the spirit is sent to determine her to consent. The
manifestation of his glory does enlighten her mind and spirit; and immediately
grace, upon the will, draws out the whole heart after him: so that if the bride
could be grieved and pained upon the marriage day, it would be for her folly in
refusing him so long.
But what is done upon the bride's part, for
concluding the match; Nothing at all; but the whole soul is enabled to
acquiesce in a redeemer: and the believer is ready, at such a time, to say, he
is my Lord, my God, my strength, my all, and shall be for ever. Thus you have a
brief scheme of the nature and way of this marriage.
Having spoken but very
briefly to the former heads I shall here, before I proceed to the reasons of
the doctrine, offer a few remarks upon the time of this marriage-union betwixt
Christ and believers. We told you how this marriage was concluded and completed
by Christ, and now we say, there is a stated day and time for the concluding
thereof: and upon this head we may remark,
1st, That there is a
two-fold day we are to consider in this marriage, namely, the day of espousals
on earth, and the day of consummation in heaven; and we may compare these two
together in a few words.
1. The day of espousals here is ushered in with a
very dark morning or rather an evening, upon the bride's part, with the wrath
of God, and the law: as it was said, "The evening and the morning was the day:"
so, in this contract, the evening of legal terrors, at least some humiliation,
ushers in the morning: But as to the consummation, there is a great deal of
glory before its the soul being taken to heaven already, and the body sleeping
sweetly in the grave, a bed where the bridegroom lay three days before her.
2. In the day of espousals, when the person gets a victory, over
corruption, and finds little stirring of it, no sensible working of it, yet
there is a party within, at the same time, that opposes the match, and which
will afterwards get out its head, and will be still assaulting the believer,
while he is on earth: but in the day of consummation, there is no such thing;
no enemy, no sin, no corruption; but the whole soul goes out wholly upon the
bridegroom.
3. The espousals are carried on secretly; it may be the person
is sitting at your side, and you do not see, nor know when Christ is making up
the match; or, perhaps, on his knees at home, there is a secret transaction:
But the consummation will be before millions of angels, millions of saints, and
millions of spectators. Here is a great difference: after the day of espousals
is over, the bride may give many squint looks to her old lovers, looking back
to Egypt, departing from her husband, doubting of his love, distrusting his
word, fearing his dispensations: But after the consummation, no shadow of sin,
no shadow of jealousy, no shadow of mistakes, or fears, can overtake her for
ever; no cloud can intervene, for the sun of righteousness shall never be
eclipsed any more.
But then, 2. A second remark is, that the precise
time of the espousals is condescended on by the Bridegroom and his Father, from
all eternity; the very moment when the bride shall be made to sign the
contract, and flee to Christ, and pour out her whole soul upon him; that
precise moment is agreed upon betwixt the Father and the Son, in the covenant
of redemption, from eternity.
3. We remark, that the Bridegroom
waits patiently for that moment that is agreed upon betwixt the Father and the
Son: he longs for it, he desires it. The believer many times is ready to think,
O, Christ is not willing! I have set days apart, I have gone to my knees, I
have sought him in and about this and the other ordinance, and yet I could not
close with him: I have been almost dipt in hell with affliction, yet my heart
was never melted; surely Christ is not willing. O let us flee the borders of
blasphemy! The Lord Jesus is willing;, but the fulness of the time is not yet
come; there is a set moment for his coming to his people, and for this they are
to wait: yea, for this he waits himself, according to that scripture, which I
shall read to them that cannot get that in duties and ordinances which they
have been long looking for; Isa. 30:18,? "Therefore will the Lord wait, that he
may be gracious unto you; and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have
mercy upon you; for, the Lord is a God of judgment; blessed are all they that
wait for him." He will wait upon the very moment of time, for the day of
salvation; he knows the proper season. The crane, the swallow, and the stork
know their seasons, by the natural instinct God hath given them; and will he
not know his own season? Yea, he waits to be gracious.
4th Remark,
That when the time comes, then there is a sweet coming together of all
circumstances to conclude the work; all things work pleasantly together to
complete the match; conscience goes right to work, the word is made lively, the
Spirit acts powerfully and sweetly in the soul: there is an auspicious
conjunction of all favourable circumstances, for determining the bride, and
drawing out her heart.
5th Remark, That there are several signs and
characters of this day, by which it may be known. What are the signs of it? you
shall say. I shall not insist on this, only it is a day of light; great light
breaks in upon the mind; it is a day of love; much love is let in upon the
heart; it is a day of power, wherein the bride is persuaded and overcome;
difficulties are surmounted enemies conquered, and the bride's will is moulded
into a compliance; it is a day of amazement. O what an ecstasy of wonder is
raised in the person's heart! I was blind, now I see; I was dead, now I live; I
was weak, now I am strong; this morning, perhaps, I was under affliction, and
under the terrors of God, and now he hath ravished me with the consolations of
his Spirit: I was afraid of hell, now I have the hope of heaven and eternal
life. O what a day of wonder is it! Lastly, it is a day of vows; the soul will
be ready to break forth in such a day crying, What shall I speak for him? What
shall I suffer for him?
A sixth and last remark on this head is,
that in this stated day of espousals, the bridegroom manifests his glory to the
bride; when he intimates to the soul "thy Maker is thy Husband" he shews his
glory; his absolute glory, his comparative glory, his relative glory; they are
all one upon the matter, yet there is a formal different consideration of them.
1. His absolute glory is manifested. What does the soul see, that is
matched and married to Christ? Alas! Some see nothing but dreams and fantasies;
but when the believer is matched with Christ, so he deals with him as with
Moses, he makes all his glory to pass before him; the person gets a view of the
glorious attributes of the Son of God.
2. He manifests his comparative
glory; "Thou art more excellent than hills of prey: fairer than the sons of
men;" the bride, the believer sees him as the apple-tree among the trees of the
wood, every way incomparable. Whatever he be compared toy he excels it; if he
be a lily, he is the lily of the valley; if he be a rose, he is the rose of
Sharon; if he be a plant, he is the plant of renown; if he be a physician, he
is the physician of value; if an advocate, he is an advocate with the Father;
he is represented without any parallel.
3. His relative glory is
manifested: he is discovered as a glorious priest, a glorious prophet, a
glorious king, a glorious husband, a glorious redeemer and Saviour! And there
will be a sight of his glorious fulness in all these relations, and the
glorious fitness of that sufficiency and fulness, all suited for the soul: and
thus revealing himself, he removes all jealousies and mistakes from the bride,
supplies all her needs, heals all her diseases, and out-bids all her rivals,
who can offer nothing to allure the soul, while he can, and doth say, I am
all-sufficient to help thee.
III. I come now to the third thing proposed;
namely, To offer some reasons of the doctrine, why Christ comes under a
married-relation to believers. I answer,
1. His own sovereign will is the
best reason why he comes under a marriage-relation in this case; "Even so,
Father, for so it seems good in thy sight," Matth. 11:28. His actions are not
to be examined at the bar of our reason: "He hath mercy because he will have
mercy."
2. His love to them makes him come under such a relation to them;
"I have loved thee with an everlasting love; therefore with everlasting
kindness have I drawn thee." Love is the motive that engages him; love brought
him out of heaven for them; love nailed him to the cross for them; love laid
him in a grave for them; and love engages him to a marriage-relation with them.
3. He does it for the glory of his own free grace, mercy, and love. As love
and mercy was his motive, so it was his purpose, that he might display and
reveal it to the utmost. This attribute is at its utmost degree. Infinite
wisdom could have contrived a thousand worlds, and infinite power could have
made them, but the love of God hath gone to its utmost height; it is not
possible for Christ to give a greater, demonstration of his love than he hath
done, in giving his life for the bride, and entering into a marriage-relation
with her.
4. He does it, that he may furnish work for the blessed company
in the higher house; for on the earth the contract is only drawn up: this is
only the day of espousals; heaven will be the day of the consummation of the
marriage: this is only a courting and wooing time; but the day will come when
the nuptial solemnity shall be celebrated, and that shall continue while the
day of eternity lasts. This shall suffice for the reasons of the doctrine.
IV. The fourth thing was, To make some application; and it may be, 1. For
Information. 2. Lamentation. 3. Examination. 4. Exhortation. Now of these in
their order.
(1.) For Information. Is it so, that there is a
marriage-relation betwixt Chirst and believers? 1. This informs us of the
infinite love of God towards lost sinners, in giving his own Son to be a
husband and redeemer unto them: "God so loved the world, that he gave his
only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him might not perish, but have
everlasting life," John 3:16. God so loved the world, as neither angels nor men
can tell.
2. This informs us of the infinite love of Christ, in
condescending to be a husband to such a bride. It could never have entered into
the heart of the wisest angel in heaven, that Christ the eternal Son of God,
should become man; and far less that he should take such a filthy and deformed
creature and bride by the hand, as sinners are: if he had given us our
deserving, he would have made his justice to ride in triumph over us, and hell
to resound with eternal shouts of praise to incensed justice; but, to the quite
contrary, he hath so ordered, that heaven shall resound with eternal
hallelujahs of praise to his gracious mercy and free grace, in choosing those
that were enemies, and admitting them to his blessed bosom.
3. This
doctrine informs us of the believer's safety. Having Christ for her husband,
who can hurt her? It is the duty of a husband, you know, to protect and defend
his spouse; and to be sure Christ will not be lacking in this to his bride: "He
will hide them in the secret of his presence from the pride of men: he will
keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues," Psalm 31:20.
"About all the glory he makes a defence," Isaiah 4:5. He covers them with the
mantle of his Spirit; sure then, the bride of Christ is in absolute safety: he
hath retiring chambers for her, to hide her in till the day of indignation be
overpast.
4. This doctrine lets us see that believers are no such lowly and
wretched persons as the world generally takes them to be; they are Christ's
bride, and he is their husband: and, O what an honour is it to be married to
the Son of God! Having him for an husband, they come to be related to all
Christ's relations; God is their Father, because he is his Father; angels are
their servants, because they are his servants; saints are their
fellow-brethren, because they are his members; heaven is their inheritance,
because it is the kingdom of their husband. In a word, whatever is his, is
theirs; "And all things are yours, for ye are Christ's, and Christ is God's," 2
Cor. 3:22,23.
(2.) For Lamentation. Is it so, that there is a
marriage-relation betwixt Christ and believers? This calls for deep lamentation
in these two particulars.
1. It calls us to lament that Christ should have
so few brides among us, though he be wooing and courting us, by the gospel,
crying, "Behold me, behold me," Isa. 65:1. Yet where is the man or woman that
is prevailed with to enter a match with this glorious bridegroom? Though he be
fairer than the sons of men, and condescends to offer marriage with sinners,
who are as black and ugly as hell itself, yet they set him at nought, and give
him just ground for that melancholy complaint, "My people would not hearken to
my voice, Israel would have none of me," Psalm 81:11. And may he not appeal to
the very immaterial creation, to judge of our folly as he did of old to Israel?
Jer. 2:12,13,? "Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; yea, be astonished and
horribly afraid, for my people have committed two great evils: they have
forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken
cisterns, that can hold no water."
2. This doctrine may afford us matter of
lamentation also, That believers, who are espoused to him, should walk so
unworthily of such a husband. You know a wife should conduct herself conform to
the character of her husband; and where her carriage is base and shameful, it
reflects a dishonour on him. O how unsuitable is it to see Christ's bride
blackened with the filth of hell! To see those who, have stricken hands with
Christ, in a marriage-covenant, joining hands with lusts and idols, and
defiling themselves with them!
(3) For Examination. Let us try if we be
thus married and related to Christ; whether he be our husband, and we his bride
and spouse. I shall offer a few marks whereby we may know whether or not we be
married unto this glorious Husband; and they may be drawn from the
consideration of the antecedents, the constituents, and the consequents of this
marriage. 1st. Try by the antecedents to the marriage-contract. Before
ever Christ did contract with thee, didst thou observe him courting thy soul
before this contract? Here is a courting. Now, how did Christ court you.
1.
Did he court you by the austerity of the law, as with fire and sword? Did he
court you by such a word as that, Thou art a cursed wretch: for, "Cursed is
every one that continueth not in all things that are written in the book of the
law to do them?" Gal. 2:16. Did he court you by such a word as that, Cursed is
every one that doth the work of the Lord negligently? Did he court you thus, by
the spirit of bondage, with the terrors of God, as clothed with vengeance,
telling thee thou art an heir of hell and wrath, a child of the devil? Did he
court thee so as thou wast surrounded with fear and trouble?
2. Did he
court thee as by the austerity of the law; so by the sweetness of the gospel,
when he saw thee cast down, when he saw thee a poor heavy laden sinner, like to
be crushed under thy weights? Did he then court you with such a word as that,
"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you
rest," Matth. 11:28; or with such a word as that, "Ho, every one that
thirsteth, come to the waters; he that hath no money, come; buy wine and milk,
without money and without price," Isa. 55:1. "Flee to your strongholds, ye
prisoners of hope." Did he thus court you with the gospel-offer?
3. Did he
court you by his love-letters? This is another antecedent of the contract. Got
you ever a love-letter sent from Christ out of heaven? But you will say, What
is the love-letter? Even the Bible: "Search the Scriptures, these are they that
testify of men" John 5:39. Here there are the declarations of the love of
Christ to thy soul: here there are love-promises in these letters, that shall
be yours. There is a love-covenant in these letters. Have you read and pondered
them? And can you say that Christ spake them into your heart? If it be a text
that was preached upon, or if it be a single word, O Christ drop that into my
heart! And I think it will go with me to my death-bed, it came with such life
and power. In a word, Got you any gifts before the marriage-contract, such as
the, gift of true conviction, such as the gift of heart-contrition, the gift of
real humiliation, the gift of self-denial, the gift of faith? These are given,
some before, some at the contract
2dly. Try by the constituents of
the marriage. 1. If this marriage be made up betwixt Christ and thee, then thou
hast put away all lovers besides Christ; the right hand will be cut off, the
right eye put out; you will be divorced from all other husbands, particularly
from the law; ye must be dead to the law, that ye may be married to another
husband, even to Christ. But you will say, What is it to be dead to the law? I
answer, It is not to lay it aside as the rule of obedience; for the law shall
still be the rule and standard of the believer's obedience, life, and
conversation but to be dead to the law, is to be sensible that the law cannot
save us as a covenant of works. It is to disclaim all hopes of being justified
by the law, or by our works or obedience to it. I see Christ, the glorious
husband, hath brought in an everlasting righteousness, answering the law fully:
this is the garment I must put on, and cast off my filthy rags.
2. Hast
thou given a cordial consent upon the contract-day? Can you say you was enabled
to take him, as the Psalmist, "O my soul, thou hast said unto the Lord, thou
art my Lord;" and thou art my God, my head, my husband? Have you given a
rational consent to it? Yea, a super-rational and supernatural consent? A
deliberate, chaste, stayed, solemn, unconditional consent? Did you say it with
faith, and with an heir of heaven, that he was yours, and shall be so forever?
It is true, persons may be matched to Christ who cannot condescend on the
precise time: the Spirit may work many times some way that we cannot know; yet
it is his ordinary way with his bride, after many tossings, to break in with
ravishing, conquering sweetness, to draw forth her soul to a solemn remarkable
closing with him, and consenting to him. Have you then been engaged to make
over yourself to the bridegroom, by an unreserved resignation of yourself to
him, that you will not only take him wholly, and for ever, for holiness and
happiness, for light and life, for grace and glory, but also make over yourself
to him, soul and body, whatever you are, whatever you have been? Have you been
thus made to yield yourselves unto the Lord? Are you one with him? Have you one
spirit with him? Are you of one faith with him, of one way with him,
endeavouring to walk as he walked? "He that is joined to the Lord is one
spirit," 1 Cor. 4:17.
3. Can you say, that upon the marriage-day, you got a
marriage-gift from the bridegroom? Among the Jews, the bridegroom was to give a
marriage-gift to his bride: Now, what gift did you receive on this
marriage-day? Can you say, indeed I got the wedding garment; he clothed me with
his righteousness, which he span out of his own bowels, weaved with his own
hands, and, dyed with his own blood; and thus all my guilt is covered, the
curse is done away? This is indeed what few get; yet some have been, and are
able to say, I am delivered from the wrath to come; and there is no
condemnation to me; and on such a time I got also an ornament of the graces
with the spirit, which I wear as jewels, that is to say, faith, love,
obedience, patience, humility;, and I got the promise of an hundred-fold here,
and I am expecting more gifts yet, before the marriage be consummated I am
expecting mare assurance, I live in the hope of glory; I expect a sealed pardon
of all my sins, and I look to get the earnest of the spirit, and more every
day.
4. Another constituent of this marriage-contract is, the bride, on
that day, puts off one veil, and puts on another. This was the Jewish custom,
the brides put off the veil of bashfulness, and puts on the veil of subjection.
Christ's bride, before the marriage, cannot look the bridegroom in the face, is
ashamed to look upon him; but she is made to put off this veil in the presence
of her former lovers, and to take Christ by the hand, and then she puts on the
veil of subjection, whereby she promises in his strength, to subject herself to
her husband's will. Have we thus promised to be obedient to his commands, in
his own strength, whatever he enjoins us to do or suffer?
3dly, Try
by the consequents of this marriage. Would you know if there has been a
contract between Christ and you? Try then by the immediate consequents. 1. Did
you see the king in his beauty, and such a glory and excellency in him as could
not be paralleled by all the glory of ten thousand worlds?
2. What was your
converse with him on the contract-day? Can you say, he embraced me in his arms,
and I embraced him in my heart, and there was sweet communion and fellowship
betwixt him and me?
3. Wast thou crowned in the marriage-day, so as thou
wast known by others, as it were, to be the bride of Christ? The Jews, they not
only crowned the bridegroom, but the bride also. You see what the crown is that
Christ's bride should have, Rev. 12:1. "There appeared a great wonder in
heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her
head a crown of twelve stars." The bride of Christ is crowned with the doctrine
of the twelve apostles.
4. The bride of Christ keeps at home, and delights
in the bride-chamber. This is her delight all the days of her life, to dwell in
the house of the Lord, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his
temple, Ordinances will be sweet, being the galleries wherein the King is held.
II. Try by the qualities and duties of the bride, which are also the
consequents to this marriage. 1. If you be Christ's bride, then you will love
the bridegroom. Love is what every wife owes to her husband; much more doth the
believer owe it to Christ who hath expressed far more love to this bride than
ever a husband did to a wife; he loved her, and gave himself for her. He shed,
the hottest blood of his heart to save and redeem her. You will love him with a
love of desire; "With my soul have I desired thee in the night;" with a love of
delight; "My meditation of him shall be sweet;" with a love of benevolence,
wishing well to his interest; "If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand
forget her cunning; let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, if I prefer
not thee to my chiefest joy," Psal. 127:5,6. They that habitually love husband,
wife, children, riches, or any thing more than Christ, have no reason to think
that they are matched with him.
2. If we be married to Christ, we will
trust in and depend on our husband? In whom can a wife trust, if not in her
husband? The believer rests on Christ for grace and glory; and commits all to
him, ventures all on him, and expects all from him. The soul that is espoused
to Christ, looks on the infinite virtue of his blood, the infinite efficacy of
his spirit, the infinite fulness of his, grace, the infinite dimensions of his
love, the infinite faithfulness Of his promise: in all this he sees an infinite
ground of hope, and thereupon he ventures, and rolls all on him. Here, he says,
I will stay and rest, here I will build, here I am resolved to stay, here I am
resolved to live and die.
3. If we be married to Christ, we will have a
zeal for his glory. Some sacrifice Christ's interest to their own honour: but
the believer says, Let my master increase. Though my name should never be heard
of in the word, let Christ be exalted. O, says Christ's bride, I would have all
the world coming and adoring him! I would have all the world to love him! I
would have all the world to praise him! Especially when she is under any lively
influence, O then, says she, if the greatest enemies knew what were in our
Lord, they would come and join with him, as I have done!
4. The bride of
Christ cannot live without him. An honest wife will be hard put to it, to live
many years without her husband. O it is sometimes like a hell to her to miss
Christ in ordinances! O, the sore moans and heavy groans of the deserted soul,
that has had the experience of the sweetness of Christ! "O that I knew where I
might find him! that I might come even to his seat!" Job 23:3. "O that it were
with me as in months past!" 5. If you be Christ's bride you will be longing
sometimes for his second coming; less or more you will desire the day of
judgment, and long for his appearance. The epilogue of all the spouse's sweet
discourses is, "Make haste, my beloved, be thou like a roe, or a young hart, on
the mountains of Bether, till the day break and the shadows fly away." And the
conclusion of the whole Bible is, "Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly," Rev. 22:20.
Can you say you have longed for his coming? I see the devil reigns here,
corruption reigns here, and never will things be right till he come again in
the clouds and set heaven and earth in a flame, when these nuptial solemnities
shall begin to be celebrated, and the marriage solemnized while eternity lasts.
6. If there has been a marriage betwixt Christ and your souls, then readily
you have some of the love-tokens to present; I mean, some expressions of his
covenant love: you can tell, that, some time or other, he brought you to the
banqueting-house, and displayed a banner of love over you. Sometime he hath
enlarged your soul with ardent and longing desires after him, and satisfied you
with the fatness of his house. The soul that is really espoused to Christ, will
readily have some experiences of his love to tell of.
7. The spouse of
Christ is a chaste spouse. Idols never get her heart as before; though now and
then she may give a squint look, yet idols never have that force and room in
her affections once they had; she is afraid of doing any thing that may be
displeasing and dishonouring to him: hence we will find the spouse of Christ
breathing out earnest desires and requests to God, to be kept and led in the
way of righteousness; "O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes,"
Psalm 119:5. Hence she groans up her case, "O wretched one that I am! who shall
deliver me from this body of sin and death!" Rom. 7:24. 8. If we be Christ's
bride, we will be a fruitful bride. Let us try; have we never a child of good
works, or of grace? "Thy belly," says Christ to the spouse, "is as an heap of
wheat," Song 7:2. You know wheat is very fruitful: the barren soul that never
loved, never mortified, never repented, never gave alms, never appeared for
God; that barren soul is not the spouse of Christ; for the spouse of Christ is
fruitful. This much by way of trial.
4thly, For exhortation. Is
there a spiritual marriage betwixt Christ and believers? O then! Shall we not
be persuaded to come and close with Christ for our husband, and take our Maker
for our husband, our God for our husband? If we be ambitious, here is the top
of our ambition, Jesus Christ; if we be covetous, here is the true riches;
whatever we are, whatever we have been, if we come to him, he will in no ways
cast us out: it is true, we cannot come of ourselves, but let us cry, Lord, if
I die, I shall be buried under the mercy-seat, praying, weeping, looking, as I
can, and go to hell with Christ in my heart as much as I can. Come to him, and
he will overcome your whole impotency; lay your case before him, saying, Lord,
I am a wretched one in the highest degree: Lord, here is a great offer made, I
have no heart to it; O, and give a discovery of a lost state, and of thy
excellent glory. O, draw out my heart, and let me die upon the spot, rather
than reject Christ for ever.
Many motives might be adduced; consider only,
1. The loveliness and beauty of Christ. His beauty is universal; he is lovely
in his person, lovely in his nature, lovely in his offices, lovely in his
estates of humiliation and exaltation, lovely in all his relations; his beauty
is transforming, it will make the bride comely also; it is communicative, the
bride is made comely through his comeliness. When we speak of the comeliness of
Christ, we should let angels and saints above, that have the more immediate
intuition of the radiant splendour of this blessed object, go forth to declare
his glory. Everything in him is lovely, and nothing is lovely without him,
nothing is lovely but what proceeds from him and goes to him; he is so lovely,
that he cannot possibly be otherwise: he is the primary, original, and
necessary loveliness.
2. Consider, as he is lovely so he is loving; his
love is infinite, eternal, free, distinguishing, effectual; never man loved
like him. O how many foldings are in this love, as can never be unfolded?
3. Consider, if we close with Christ we will give him a glad heart; his
heart is glad in that day, when he takes a poor sinner by the hand; the day of
his espousals is the day of the gladness of his heart. How many times have we,
grieved him by our hypocrisy, and formality, and backwardness? And would we now
give him a glad heart, for all the grieved hearts, we have given him? Then let
us embrace him as offered in the gospel, and then he will be glad. Why? Then he
will see the fruit of election, the fruit of redemption, the fruit of his
death, the fruit of his resurrection, the fruit of his ascension, the fruit of
his intercession: then he gets back the temple of the Holy Ghost; the lost
sheep is found again: then he gets back the member of his own body. I might
give something by way of direction. You may say, What shall I do then, that I
may be married unto Christ?
In one word, if you would have Christ for your
husband, O then, entertain his suit, and hearken to his wooing, and courting
motions! Is he darting light into your hearts, and letting you see the evil of
some sin that formerly ye delighted in? O do not resist his suit, by continuing
in sin after this! Is he strengthening that light so as to set conscience on
fire with the sense of sin, and apprehension of wrath? O quench not this fire
till you get water out of the wells of salvation! Otherwise ye reject his suit.
?Is he carrying his suit farther, and stirring up your affections to desire
after Christ! O quench not this motion! But cry to him to fasten the nail sure,
and carry on the work, till the marriage be completed.
Now, I might give a
word of exhortation also to them that are married and espoused to Christ. All I
shall say is this; O let Christ's bride live on him, and take all from him! As
a poor woman married to a rich man, she lives upon his riches. Many are ready
to say, that if Christ would call us his bride, we would live on ourselves; we
would pray, repent, believe, &c.; but the bride of Christ must get all
these things in him, and take all from him, and live wholly on him, and freely
on him. When Joseph's brethren did not know him, they were buying and selling
with him, they would have nothing from him without money; but when they knew
that he was a brother, for all the offences that they had done him, they were
content to come down every man of them, and take all from him for nothing; this
is the way you must do with Christ, when matched to him; we must not, with the
legalist, have repentance and duties of our own, we must take all from him, who
is the repository of all divine fulness, whereof the believer's part is, out of
that fulness to receive grace for grace.
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