my locks with the drops of the Night In these words Christ sheweth the reason why the Church shall receive all things by inheritance it is because his head is fill'd with dew and his locks with the drops of the Night By the head of Christ is meant his Divinity 1 Cor. 11. the head of Christ is God And by his locks understand his humanity And by the drops of the night his sufferings in the flesh And by the dew that his head is fill'd with the fulness of merit in the Godhead which made all the actions done in the manhood Meritorius and also the pouring out of the benefit thereof by pure and Heavenly Doctrine which is comfortable to poor sinners which Doctrine dropeth as the dew So that the obedience of God and man in one person Deut. 32. poured out in the Preaching of the Gospel and received by faith is the ground and foundation of all our comfort and joy For Christ by his obedience hath taken away the ground of all discomforts Col. 2.14 and nailed it to his Cross which being made known by the Gospel and received by faith setleth us in true peace and comfort This must teach us that when we are most of all oppressed with the drops of the night with the feeling of our sins or the fear of any cross or calamity to fly to the humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath suffered for us And stedfastly to believe that seeing the locks of our beloved were filled with the droppings of our present condition that he is not only sensible of our present misery but also knoweth how to succour us and help us And hath also taken away the curse from every condition of misery that possibly we may meet with in this miserable World if we believe Therefore when we feel the curse of the Law and the guilt of our sins and the fearful effects of Gods wrath in any kind whatsoever begin to fasten within us then must we learn by faith to behold them all to be nailed fast to the cross of Christ from whence they can never return if we stedfastly believe VERSE III. I have put off my Coat how shall I put it on THe Church understanding the benefits that come to her by the Gospel and the order in receiving of it says I have put off my Coat by which she meaneth the righteousness of the Law in point of justification This is the first thing taught in the Gospel Joh. 9.31 how to put off our old Coat And the first thing that Christ came to do was to put on our Coat upon himself whereby he became laden with our sins and also with our infirmities The coat being thus put on by Christ therefore the Church learneth to put him off by faith So that this place doth not shew any sluggishness in the Church as if she were in a bed of security with her coat off and as though she were loath to rise and go about the works of the Law but leadeth us into an higher matter how to attain to be righteous before God This wisdom must we also learn which we can never do unless we remove the cause for which we keep our coat on which is our false opinion of the Law Some when they treat of the Law and works do press it with that earnestness that they extol the righteousness thereof far beyond the righteousness of faith as if the principal cause of Christs coming into the world were to make us holy by the Law These with the Pharisee do button on the coat Others will have Christian righteousness to begin in us and perfected by Christâ— which is but to put a piece of new cloth in an old garment and make the rent worse Learn we then to put off our coat wholly But next the Church questioneth here how shall I put it on That is in life and conversation For the greatest and most necessary question of all others in matters of Divinity is rightly to understand these two things How to lay aside the Law totally in teaching the point of justification and how to teach the use and practise of the Law rightly in the life and conversation How to handle these two points aright that the Gospel may not destroy the use and practice of the Law 1 Tim. 1.9 nor the Law the use and practice of the Gospel is a point of great skill Therefore the Church maketh question as if she were something ignorant in this point how shall I put it on How shall I teach this point aright If the works of the Law ought not to be required but totally to be layed aside in teaching the way to justification according as it is written the Law is not made for a righteous man upon what ground then are they to be pressed at all All men have cause to complain of their ignorance in this point therefore it must be our desire to learn this heavenly skill Now to cloath our selves with the Law that the use and practice of it may not be lost and how to be unclothed of the Law that the Gospel may not be lost This is a point of great cunning and ought to be well studied of every Christian chiefly because the strongest hold of Satans Kingdom consisteth in the confounding of these two points one with another Therefore it is further added here I have washed my feet how shall I defile them Where by feet she meaneth the inward man and by washing the cleansing of the Soul through faith in Christ Joh. 1â— according to Christs saying he that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet but is clean every whit But then it is added how shall I defile them She had washed her feet by putting of her coat whereby she was cleansed from sin therefore she asketh the question how shall I defile them As much as to say how shall I press the works of the Law so as not to defile my feet again If I should urge a necessity of the Law then I should defile my feet or if I should totally cast it off because I am justified without the Law then I should also defile my feet again for then it would come to pass that in living without the use and practice of the Law my Conscience would have no more the feeling and apprehension of sin nor any sensible need of a Saviour So that in casting away of all fear and care of the Law I should at last contemn and cast away the Gospel also And the consequence of all would be this I should forsake my beloved lose my peace and comfort here and also everlasting life hereafter This sheweth us the practice of the Bride in all ages of the Church which is first to lay aside the Law next to live in the use and practice of the Law In receiving the Doctrine of justification she heareth no Law but in the life and conversation she abideth in the use and
the ground of faith be ever so well opened which is the first gate if the terms of the Law be not also opened and the signification made known no man can enter for the Law will be a stumbling block to his faith and keep him out But admit this gate be also opened if the third be shut the reason why Sacraments were instituted no man can pass into the City For if the Sacraments belong not to me before I am worthy then is the ground of my faith which is the first gate shut again then also is the first Commandment and the sense of the whole Law which is the second gate also shut Nay then are all the gates kept fast lock'd up that no passenger can pass into the holy City new Jerusalem for evermore but must remain without and suffer the loss of Eternal life and happiness Consider of these things with wisdom and see whether his mouth be not most sweet and whether he be not altogether lovely as the bride here singeth And when she saith this is my beloved and my friend she sheweth the Daughters what the true Preaching of the Gospel is and that where this order and method is not observed Christ is very little known or regarded Therefore she saith he that thus Preacheth the Gospel is my friend This is the beautiful person that bringeth the glad tidings of peace and good things This is the interpreter one of a thousand O ye Daughters of Jerusalem and the chiefest of ten thousand unto me for although I had ten thousand instructers yet this is the Doctrine which begetteth and preserveth me in Christ and in this Doctrine will I rejoyce CHAP. VI. VERSE I. Whither is thy beloved gone O thou fairest among women whither is thy beloved turned aside That we may seek him with thee AFTER the Bride had set forth the praises of her beloved in the former Chapter and the benefits that she receiveth from him through faith alone the Daughters in stead of receiving of him make this enquiry whether is thy beloved gone When the Kingdom of Heaven is brought near even to the very dores as it is wheresoever Christ is truly Preached yet the Daughters know not how to fasten upon him by faith alone but imagine to find him some other way In stead of embracing the true Christ which is present to faith they seek after an imaginary Christ which is to be found as they conceive in the works of the Law So great an enemy is carnal reason to faith that it cannot endure to receive any thing from God but still dreameth to bring something to him first thinking thereby to procure acceptance with him So that this question whether is thy beloved gone Sheweth their ignorance in the faith and knowledg of the Son of God And this is the misery of all men until God openeth the eyes of their understanding that when Christ is preached and nothing is wanting but only faith to receive him then to dream of a Christ that we think may be found in the Law Which is no better then to forsake that Doctrine and Religion which bindeth us to Christ that is come and to cast our selves under the prophecy of a Christ to come which Christ is no where to be found We must therefore believe that where the true Gospel is preached Christ is not gone but come there he is present and no where else to be found which must also quicken our understandings to seek him in the Gospel and stop our imaginations from seeking after him in the works of the Law Note also here that the daughters give the Bride the Title of the fairest among women and yet affirm that she is too seeking of her beloved which is a plain contradiction For if she be the fairest then it is because the righteousness of Christ is imputed to her whereby she is made fair but if she be yet too seeking of her beloved then she remaineth without the righteousness of Christ imputed and abideth in her filthiness under the Law and condemnation Therefore the Daughters when they call her the fairest amongst women affirm nothing less then that she is made so by faith alone the principal cause thereof to be her own rightousness the works of the Law It is agreed between them that it is the righteousness of Christ alone that maketh righteous persons in the sight of God but the difference lieth in this whether it be the righteousness of Christ inherent in himself and imputed to faith or the righteousness of Christ communicated whereby good works are wrought to become righteousness before God The Bride saith it is by his righteousness imputed and therefore in drawing the benefits of Christ into the Conscience she teacheth faith alone The Daughters say it is by his righteousness communicated therefore in teaching the Gospel they always reprove an idle faith and require a working faith The Daughters do not deny the righteousness of faith according as they define faith which is to believe the History of Christs sufferings and that there is an all sufficiency in them to satisfy Divine Justice if they make them their own but say they thou art yet wanting in this until thou findest some thing inherent in thy self which must evidence thy faith to be true Therefore thou must further seek after thy beloved to have an evidence from thy works to witness thy faith So that all they do upon the matter is but this to give her a name to live but by their principles they judg her to be dead For they tell her that she is not compleatly justified because the righteousness of Christ is but begun in her She wanteth the righteousness of the Law to make it perfect For whether is thy beloved gone say they Whether is thy beloved turn'd aside that we may seek him with thee Thou hast lost thy beloved by thy faith if thou definest faith after no other manner Therefore leave off thy strange definition of faith that we may seek him with thee and let us be unanimous in matters of love and good works and let such niceties alone in matters of faith So that the Daughters in this place do not only take away from the Bride the white raiment the pure righteousness of Christ whereby she is cloathed from the wrath of God and leave her in her own filthiness as in the day of her Nativity but also they take away from Christ his name his office and glory making of Christ in stead of a Justifier and Saviour nothing but a Minister of sin and condemnation According to St. Paul in his allegations against the false Apostles If while we seek to be made righteous by Christ we our selves are yet found sinners that is have need of the righteousness of the Law to evidence or perfect our faith without which evidence we remain yet sinners and unjustified then Christ is nothing to us but a Minister of sin for then have we no more by Christ then
but to hear and believe the voice of the Son of God The sum of all is this That the spiritual plants in the Lords Church do bring forth variety of excellent fruits in regard they grow and blosom after the similitude of an Orchard And the cause why they grow after this manner is because the workmen in Gods Orchard do plant and graft after the same form They do not plant and graft according to their own natural way of grafting to make men holy by works but in a way which is contrary to nature to make them righteous by faith Their business lies in compounding of ointments to make persons Holy In sprinkling perfuming spices made after the Art of the Apothecary that poor distressed consciences may become fruitful in faith and all good works Another cause is because the plants themselves are willing to become Passive after the manner of an Orchard They are willing when Gods time is come to be cut out of that Olive tree which is wild by nature and to be grafted contrary to nature into a right Olive tree They are willing to be planted in Gods Orchard where they must stand against every storm without fear of being shaken to pieces So that although the winds blow and the flouds come and the trees are shaken at the very roots yet they are willing to stand against every storm and after the similitude of an Orchard even then to receive the moisture and nourishment that floweth from the Gospel which is the ground wherein they stand Now because the planters plant after this form and also the plants themselves are willing to yield and conform to the same way of planting and grafting therefore it is that they are fill'd with sweet and most excellent fruit otherwise it could never be This sheweth us the reason why there are so many plants in Gods Orchard that grow not so as to bring forth any manner of choice fruit suitable to such an Orchard the reason is because they grow not after the same similitude They complain that they cannot master their sins nor perform their duties that they have not that understanding in the Scriptures that others have the reason is because they are not planted nor grafted according to the right form They work and toil they labour and take pains both the planters and the plants themselves to grow and increase in the opinion of works but bring forth none of these sweet and pleasant fruits because they are not willing to be cut and hewen down digg'd and prun'd and dressed after the similitude of an Orchard Therefore it is that when storms come they are not able to stand when calamities arise they are not able to endure but one runs one way another runs another way to look for help and succour because they have not learn'd to stand and receive the sap and moisture of the Gospel which is the ground from whence they grow after the similitude of an Orchard And hence it comes to pass that in stead of bringing forth Camphire Spiknard and Saffron which is sweet and pleasant fruit they sprout forth roots of bitterness gall and wormwood In stead of bearing the sweet Calamus and Cynamon to make the holy annointing oyl to make the spiritual Tabernacle and all the vessels thereof holy before the Lord and the sweet Frankincense Myrrhe and Aloes to make a most holy and sweet perfume they send forth a noisom fume of their own compounding which causeth them most horribly to stink in the presence of God So that the end of their labour and pains is but this the fruit which they think to be the only fruit that healeth the Nations when it is rightly tasted and the scent of it truly smelt and compar'd with the fruits that grow in the Orchard of the Lord it is found to be but of an evil savour fruit that withereth and comes to nothing So long as it is look'd upon by it self the scent pleaseth but when it is compar'd with the sweet Frankincense and other sweet and principal spices which are prepar'd to perfume the spiritual Tabernacle of the Lord and every vessel pertaining thereunto it is found to be nothing else but meat that perisheth fruit that withereth and the trees themselves that bear the fruit to be such that are marked out to be hewn down and cast into everlasting fire According to our Saviours saying Joh. 15. if a man abide not in me he is cast forth as a branch and is withered and men cast them into the fire and burn them And every plant that my heavenly Father hath not planted shall be rooted up Therefore seeing it is the commendation of the Church in this place in that she is like unto an Orchard of such sweet and pleasant fruits in that she receiveth her self and bringeth forth and as an instrument conveyeth the sweet and pleasant fruits of Christs death and Resurrection into the hearts and Consciences of others that they may be fill'd with all the chief spices and be so becensed and perfumed therewith as to become a sweet favour unto God in every place let us also endeavour to be fill'd with all these chief and principal spices that we may know what to do in the time of tribulation and great distress when we feel the terrors of the Almighty and begin to be sore afraid when we can see no way nor means of deliverance but the tree seems to be blasted and all hope of fruit to be lost yet then let us consider that we are plants in Gods Orchard where we must stand against every storm so that although the winds blow and storms come and we are even shaken at the very roots yet there must we stand and receive the sap and nourishment of the Gospel which speaketh comfortable words to the miserable Soul And not only so but also that we may be able to anoint and perfume distressed minds that a poor distressed Conscience may be comforted by us in a sad condition that the cluster of Camphire may appear in the Conscience that the scent of the Calamus and Cynamon may be smelt and the Spikenard Myrrhe and Frankincense may become as a Posey to refresh the spiritual senses under the apprehension of Sin and the wrath of God Then shall it become apparent that we are the trees of Frankincense here spoken of filled with the kernels of the Pomegranates and rightly planted in the Orchard of God VERSE XV. A Fountain of Gardens a well of living waters and streams from Lebanon IN the twelfth Verse of this Chapter the Church is said to be a fountain Sealed in this Verse she is said to be a Fountain of Gardens that is a fountain opened to water gardens When the Church is compar'd to a garden in the singular Number understand the universal Church but when she is compar'd to gardens as here it meaneth every particular Church and every particular member in each Church A fountain sealed Quest and a fountain