Righteousness satisfying both Gods Commanding and his Condemning Justice doing my services bearing my scourges Hence hee is called Jehovah Tsidkenu The Lord our Righteousness by Faith having communion with this Righteousness as if it were our own a Righteousness wrought by us Hence Job 33.26 God shall render to man his Righteousness that is the Righteousness of Christ which is called ours by Faith and is as much ours to justifie and save us as His to glorifie him Hence the Apostle Rom. 8.1 There is no condemnation to them that are in Christ that is to such as are Beleevers for they are all one And why no condemnation They are sinners as well as others It 's true they are And therefore the Apostle doth not say There is nothing worthy of condemnation in them But There is no condemnation Because Christ hath taken away the guilt and condemning power of sin hee hath answered all our debts canceld all Books satisfied for all our sins which did binde us over to condemnation and wrath of God So that wee may say There is no condemnation to such As for the Law it cannot condemn us because wee appeal from the law to the Gospel from the Court of Justice to the Court of Mercy So that the Law hath nothing to do with us And as for the Gospel that cannot condemn us because wee are Beleevers The Gospel doth not require what sinners wee have been what sins wee are guilty of but whether the appealer do beleeve whether wee bee Beleevers or no which being once cleared wee are justified You see this in the poor Publican Hee was dragged forth into the Court of Justice and was there cast Yet the sentence took no hold of him because of his appeal to the Throne of Grace the Court of Mercy where by Faith pleading nothing but Gods Mercy and his own misery God bee merciful to mee a sinner hee went away justified saith the Text Luk. 18.14 And this is the first Royalty of Faith It is an Heart-clearing-Grace which it doth by producing one who hath cleared all and by making us one with him in all hee hath done giving us an interest in all Second Royalty Second Royalty of Faith It s an Heart-cleansing-Grace 2. Faith is an Heart-cleansing-Grace An Heart-purifying and purging-Grace Hence Act. 15.9 it is said Their hearts were purified by Faith Faith opens a way for a stream of blood to run through the soul whereby the soul is washed not from the guilt of sin only but from the filth of sin also The Blood of Christ doth cleanse us from all sin not only from the guilt but from the filth of sin Hence the Apostle If the blood of Bulls and Goats and the ashes of an Heifer sprinkled upon the unclean did purifie the Flesh How much more shall the Blood of Christ who through the Eternal Spirit offered himself without spot purge and cleanse our Consciences from all dead works to serve the living God Heb. 9.13 14. And Faith doth cleanse the Heart 1. Argumentatively 2. Operatively 1. Argumentatively By way of Argument where in Faith takes up Arguments 1. From God 2. From our selves From God and that 1. From his Nature Hee is an holy God and therefore hee will have an holy People A pure God and therefore hee will have a pure People Hence Lev. 11.44 Ye shall be Holy for I am Holy I the Lord your God am Holy The like Lev. 19.2 And Peter urges the same 1 Pet. 1.15 16. As he which hath called you is Holy so be ye Holy in all manner of Conversation For it is written Bee yee Holy for I am Holy 2. From his Mercies 1. In Redeeming us 2. In calling us 3. In Justifying us 4. In promising to glorifie us 1. In Redeeming us Hath Christ dyed for mee and shall not I live to him Hath hee shed his Blood for mee that I should bee Holy and clean And shall I delight in uncleanness Pro me filius Dei jugulatus and filthiness was hee slain for mee and shall I delight in sin Hath hee suffered so much to purifie mee and shall I bee unclean still hath hee done so much to wash mee and shall I bee filthy stil 2. In calling us 1 Pet. 1 15 16. As hee which hath called you is Holy so bee you Holy in all manner of Conversation it is an holy Calling 2 Tim. 1.9 that calleth us to Holiness and Faith a purged ear that hearkeneth to that call 3. In Justifying us Hath hee freed mee from the damning Nature of sin and shall I delight in the defiling nature of sin hath he freed mee from the guilt of sin and shall I love the filth of sin Hath hee done so much to wash mee and shall I bee filthy still Hath hee suffered so much to purifie mee and shall I delight in uncleanness still Hath hee made mee a Member of Christ and shall I bee a filthy Member of so holy a Body Hath hee made mee a Branch and shall I be a polluted-Branch of so holy a Stock Hath hee lifted up the light of his Countenance on mee and shall I ever countenance sin hath hee smiled on mee and shall I ever smile upon sin 4. In Promises to glorifie us 2 Cor. 7.1 Having therefore such precious promises let us cleanse our selves from all filthiness both of Flesh and Spirit perfecting holiness in the fear of God As if hee had said Seeing God hath been so mercifull and gracious to us to make us precious Promises let this put us on self-purging and self-purifying Thou look'st for an holy-Heaven and wilt thou not bee holy Thou hopest for Salvation and wilt thou not purifie thy self Hee that hath this Hope purifies himself as God is Pure 1 Joh. 3.3 Thus doth Faith take up Arguments from God his Nature his Mercies 2. It takes Arguments from our selves 1. From the necessity of being cleansed 2. From the conveniency thereof 1 From the Necessity Because otherwise wee can have no assurance of Justification They who are freed from the guilt of sin are freed from the filth of sin They who partake of the Blood of Christ for pardon partake of the water of Christ to purge Christ came by Water and Blood They who will have him a Redeemer must have him also a Refiner to take away their Swiniâ—h nature to wash them inwardly not outwardly for so may a Swine bee 2. Because otherwise wee can never have Assurance of Salvation They who look for new Heavens must have new hearts They who look for Glory must have Grace First Grace then Glory For without Holiness no man can see the Lord. No unclean thing shall enter into the Kingdome of Heaven hee that hath this hope will fit himself for the Place hee will labour to bee a pure person as hee desires to injoy a pure place Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God A pure God a pure Heaven a pure Place requires a pure
forgo all Sin where sin is forgiven there sin is forsaken 3. A Third sort are they Who seek a pardon of Sin without sense of Sin who seek forgiveness of Sin without remorse for sin Men who are never troubled with any sense with any compunction of heart for sin Would you not take it for a dallying with you if one had greatly offended you and should come to desire you your forgiveness without any sense or remorse of it What do you think God will do This is certain Without blood there is no Remission of Sin as the Apostle speaks Christ was wounded and thou must be wounded too before thou hast a pardon Christ did bleed and conscience must bleed before ever he give a pardon It was a speech of Bradford He never left a duty till c. Will a man in good earnest beg a pardon who was never attached for Treason or so much as throughly sensible that he is guilty of it 4. A Fourth sort are such as cry for Forgiveness but yet never look after their Prayers Would you not think it a slighting if a man who had offended you should come and beg a pardon and as soon as he had said a few words to you should turn his back and go away and never expect nor wait for an answer from you Why thus do you deal with God You put up prayers but look not after them He who begs in earnest Oh! he will Diligently observe what Answer what Return God makes He will observe what word of Comfort God le ts fall what intimations God will afford to his spirit and will be exceeding chary of them As you see Benhadads servants did 1 Kings 20.31 32 33. After they had put up their requests the Text saith The men did diligently observe whether any thing would come from Ahab and did hastily catch at it So should we do Come with sackcloath put up our prayers with remorse and when that is done when we have prayed our prayers let us wait our prayers to see what intimations we shall receive from heaven Thus David Psal 85.8 I will hear what God the Lord will speak for he will speak Peace to his people and to his Saints c. Psal 5.3 In the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee and I will look up 5. A Fift sort who dally with God are they who follow not their prayers with endeavors to get assurance that their Sins are pardoned Who search not into the Covenant of Grace acquaint not themselves with the Promises of Grace search not into the Word of Grace frequent not the Means of Grace These men dally who frequent not the Word Sacraments c. and such like Means for the Assurance of Pardon A TREATISE OF THE Loves of Christ TO HIS SPOUSE BY SAMVEL BOLTON D. D. And MASTER of C. C. C. LONDON Printed by Robert Ibbitson for Thomas Parkhurst and are to be sold at his Shop over against the Great Conduit in Cheapside 1656. A TREATISE OF THE LOVES OF CHRIST TO HIS SPOUSE CANT 4.9 Thou hast ravished my heart my Sister my Spouse Thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes with one chain about thy neck A Text which after wee have been some while in Heaven wee shall bee able to understand Certainly none can speak fully to this Text but they who have the full injoyments of this Love But things that are not possible to bee expressed are not totally to bee omitted and therefore wee will lanch into the main Ocean And when wee are not able to apprehend this love let us cast our selves in and let it comprehend us Some things in the General wee premise 1. For the Author or Penman it was Solomon inspired by the Spirit of God 2. For the Title of the Book it is called The Song of Songs or a most excellent Song So it is called for the excellency and sublimity The doubling of the words declare the excellency As when the Scripture speaks of base things by doubling the words they are more debased as it was said of Cham Gen. 9.25 A servant of servants shall hee bee that is a vile slave So when it speaks of good things by doubling the words it declares the excellency of the thing Deut. 10.17 The Lord your God is God of Gods and Lord of Lords Thus much for the Title 3. As concerning the Matter there is difference among Interpreters 1. Aben-Ezra a Jewish Rabbin thinks it to bee an History of the Church of God from Abraham to Christ 2. Another thinks it to bee an Hystory of the Church from Christ to the freedome of the Church by Constantine a Roman Emperour who lived in the beginning of the fourth Century 3. Another makes it contain a prophetical Hystory of the condition of the Church from David to the end of the World And divides the book into these two parts The Church 1. Under the Law 2. Under the Gospel 1. The Church under the Law from David to the death of Christ which is continued from the beginning of the Book to the sixth verse of the fourth Chapter 1. As it was from David to the Captivity which saith hee is contained in the first Chapter and the two first verses of the second Chapter 2. As it was in the Captivity from the second verse of the second Chapter to the fifteenth verse of the second Chapter 3. As it was after the Captivity till the death of Christ the abrogation of the Church under the Law which continues from the fifteenth verse of the second Chapter to the sixth verse of the fourth Chapter 2. And from that to the end of the Book is contained an Hystory of the Church Evangelical till Christs second comming Of this mind is Brightman But to leave this wee think and with us goes the stream of Orthodox Interpreters that the subject matter of this Book is a Parabolical Hystory of the mutual loves betwixt Christ and his Church set down under the persons of the Bridegroom and his Bride And thus much of the Book in general Wee will now draw neerer to our Text. In the former Chapter we read how the Church the Spouse of Christ doth declare her exceeding love to Christ and her high appretiations of him with her earnest desire to injoy him whom her soul saw so precious and that Christ might discover to her how kindly hee took her affection In this Chapter hee doth again enter into a singular commendation of the excellency of the Church declaring also his unfeigned love to her The whole Chapter contains these parts 1. A singular commendation of the Church by Christ which is set down allegorically from the first verse to the fifth and from the tenth to the fourteenth verse 2. A gracious profession of Christs love to his Church from the fifth verse to the tenth 3. The Churches reply with Christs answer again to her vers 15 16 17. In the Churches reply 1. A commendation of her head and
best friends they come in too to lay more weight more guilt more burden on him Every Prayer every Duty which hee hath done with an unsound heart is now a burden a weight upon his spirit yea and weighes heavier than all the rest Here is trouble out of expected comfort which is the greatest trouble And take this with you and remember it Whatever you do in the wayes of God if comfort flow not from it trouble will one day rise out of it If it bee not a bottome for Faith Satan will use it as an argument for Despair when time serves I say that duty that is done and cannot minister comfort by the sincerity of the heart in doing of it will one day create discouragement and strengthen Despair Despair ariseth from that where comfort should but doth not arise But I am too long upon this This is the second ground why Satan doth not disturb such men 3. It may stand yet further with Satans ends and therefore hee doth not disturb them because hee hopes to have some further good of them another day Hee knows full well that they who will serve God for their own ends will serve the Devil for their own ends too when hee once out-bids God and exceeds him in his tenders It is an easy thing to make him the Devils Priest who is Mammons Chaplain You see Demas hee was unsound served God for By-ends for worldly respects And the Devil doth but out-bid God tender more for his service and hee presently forsakes God and cleaves to the World Hee forsook the Faith of Christ and turned to bee an Idol-Priest at Thessalonica as Dorotheus reports of him This is a sure Rule Hee who serves God for the World will serve the Devil for the World Hee who serves God for little will serve the Devil for more hee will easily bee brought upon higher tenders to change his Master I say men that have no minde to the Work nor love to the Master but the eye is only to the wages such men will quickly bee drawn upon greater offers to forsake their Master and their Work too and to joyn themselves to any where better wages may bee found And you must know There are no men whose service the Devil doth more desire than the service of such who have made profession And that upon diverse reasons 1. Hee knows They will bee the surest and most trusty servants to him of any None are more trusty souldiers than such who have forsaken the colours of the Lord and fled over to the Tents of Satan Such men hee never fears to loose again their Ears are boared in token of eternal subjection to this black Prince of darkness As wee say of the Angels If once they turn they never return There is no possibility of their repenting And this is one ground because their will hath sinned against such excellent clear and eminent light that they can never return again if all that light would not keep their desperate hearts from sinning it shall never prevail with them for returning when once they have sinned And God will never give a fuller a greater light and therefore they must needs bee fixt in their condition of sin So I may say of these in some degree They have sinned against so clear light such manifest evidence that if they turn sin wilfully Hardly do they return again It is no more but what the Apostle saith in that sixth and tenth to the Hebrews And therefore these must needs bee trusty servants to the Devil they are sure his They are his by choice And none surer his than they who are his by choice Now such men they have chosen him nay and not only chosen him but they have chosen him upon experience and dislike of their former Master If indeed a man should have chosen Satan before ever hee had tryed God then were there some hopes that his mind might bee altered hee might repent of his choice But when a man hath had a tryal of God and upon experience and dislike of God and his wayes chuseth Satan and the world these are sure Besides these men have sold themselves over to Satan Now none are more sure his than they who sell themselves over to him Indeed wee are all sold in Adam as the Apostle saith sold to sin But now when a man shall come and not only ratifie the bargain but make a new sale of himself This man is sure his It is not so much what the Father hath done but when the Son comes to age and shall ratifie what the Father hath done and make a new Sale Nay Satan doth not only know they are sure his but hee knows they will bee most usefull Instruments for him and by these things are they strengthened and prepared for his service and therefore hee will not disturb them Hee knows they will by this bee made better Engineers to work for him They will bee active instruments full of malice against God and his cause Who of all the Emperors was more mischievous than Julian who had once made profession of Christ Such men as these are set on fire of Hell Wee have a Proverb An English man Italianate Is a Devil Incarnate I may say the same A Professor Apostate Turns a Devil Incarnate There are none in the World have more of the Infernal Nature than they Their Head poisons their Heart poisons And the venome of Aspes is under their Tongue They are full of Hell There is some ingenuity in Nature fallen though never so bad But Nature once raised and after Devilized such men are all fury These are Satans Mogols Satans Champions the chiefest of that black band of Darkness Such men as these they have sinned away Light Conscience all natural remorse and tenderness And what can bee expected from them there is no mans sword more sharp and keen than theirs who have sharpened it upon the threshold of God No mans pen writes so bitterly against God his Cause and People than theirs who have dip'd their pen in the Blood of Conscience No man fails more desperately to Hell than such a man who hath made Shipwrack of Conscience And therefore seeing such men are so trusty so sure so active so malicious instruments when they are brought over to him and it is so easy a thing to bring them about no marvel if Satan will not disturb such men for a time but lets them go on till they bee fit for his work It will stand with the designs of his own Kingdome Thus I have shewed two things how it may stand 1. With Gods 2. With Satans ends 3. Now thirdly How it may stand with their own ends who having corrupt hearts yet should notwithstanding abound in duty 1. To answer the calls of Conscience Every man hath a Conscience And every mans Conscience doth call upon him for the performance of something And the further conscience is inlightened the further work it calls him out upon A man