THE MYSTICALL MATCH BETWEEN Christ and his Church BY The late learned and reverend Divine JOHN PRESTON Docter in Divinity Chaplain in Ordinary to his Majestie Master of Emanuel Colledge in Cambridge and sometimes Preacher at Lincolnes Inne The leading Sermon to that Treatise of his called The Churches Marriage CANT 63. I am my beloveds and my beloved is mine LONDON Printed for Francis Eaglesfield and are to be sold at the Marigold in S. Pauls Church-yard 1648. To the Christian Reader WHen the Sermons of this reverend Divine intituled the Churches Marriage were first published this Sermon was not come to the hands of those who were instrumentall in setting forth the work who yet were willing rather to send it so abroad then that so many excellent truths should be lost This Sermon since coming to my hands taken by a skilfull scribe from the Authors mouth I thought fit to adde it to the rest lest the work should seem a body without a head My pains is saved for speaking any thing concerning the worthy Author or his Works it is sufficiently done by those reverend Divines that have been the publishers of them therefore commending this to thee and thy self to Gods blessing I rest Thine in any Christian office T S. THE CHVRCHES MARRIAGE EPHES. 5. 32. This is a great mystery but I speake concerning Christ and concerning the Church THE poynt out of these words is this that There is a match between Christ and the Church and consequently betweene Christ and every particular man that is a member of the true body of Christ this is the great Mystery the Apostle tells us of in this place To open which let us consider wherein this match consisteth what similitude it hath with the ordinary marriage which is betweene a man and his wife here upon earth it consisteth in these five things First as in marriage there must bee consent of the parents so here the Father hath given his Sonne to us and likewise hee hath given us to the Sonne wherein wee are to consider the great mercy of God that hee would bestow his owne Sonne upon us which is the reason why the Apostle saith in Ephes. 1. Blessed be God even the Father of our Lord Iesus Christ that hath blessed us with all spirituall blessings in heavenly things in Christ that is that hath given us his owne Sonne and with him all things else and Him likewise for us when we were cast away men That thus he should give us to his Son and match us with him that is the first thing The second thing in marriage is the mutuall consent of the parties themselves that are to match together wherein wee are in the first place to consider the consent of the Sonne the Husband because wee know that the man is the suitor hee begins and if hee had not who could have knowne the minde of the LORD IESUS that he would match so lowe that hee would match with sinfull dust and ashes except himselfe had declared it his Church seekes not first to him not because modesty forbids it but because shee knew no such thing that there was such an Husband for her shee indeed had most neede to seeke because shee stood in neede of such an Husband Christ matches with her not for any neede he had of a wife but onely for the neede his wife had of him Now his Father from eternity had ordained this Wife for his Sonne and therefore hee must have her and he could have no other Therefore first see if the Sonne bee willing for this hee hath declared it plainely in his Word Wee are Ambassadors saith the Apostle 2 Cor. 5. beseeching you in Christs stead to bee reconciled to God and in Matth. 22. you see all were invited to the Marriage and all those speeches Goe preach the Gospell to every creature under heaven and Come unto me all ye that are weary and heavy laden and that in Revel 22. Let whosoever will come this I say declares the consent of the Sonne that he is willing Now secondly for our consent wee have that wrought by the holy Ghost by a double worke One is a worke of the holy Ghost discovering to us the thraldome and bondage the death and danger wherein wee are and also discovering to us our owne sinfulnesse which is necessary because a man is ready to bee conceited of himselfe and so is somewhat coy and unwilling to yeeld to the suit of Christ but when the holy Ghost hath shewed a man what hee is that he is such a one as hee never thought himselfe to be he then begins to think that hee is unworthy that the Lord should vouchsafe him so much favour he is ready to say as Abigail said to David when she was spoken to to bee his wife Lord what am I that thou shouldest so far respect mee Let thy handmaid wash the feete of my Lords servants I am worthy of no better office I say this is one worke of the holy Ghost thus to prepare us to this match The other is to present Christ unto us and to fit him above all the world for us in our apprehensions which is done by the work of the holy Ghost manifesting Christ and his beauty when Christ comes to joyne our love hee is faine to use his skill to joyne us and all that wee can doe to set him at is nothing except the holy Ghost shew you Iesus Christ and except withall hee make a secret impression upon the heart except there bee a secret instinct wrought in us causing us to long after Christ we shall never bring our hearts to consent to this Marriage Now therefore as there goes a secret vertue from the Load-stone that makes a secret impression upon the iron and when that is done the iron rests not but drawes neare to the Loade-stone so the holy Ghost that is sent from the Father makes an impression upon our spirits that wee have no rest till wee obtaine Christ. This is called in Scripture a Drawing to Christ None comes to me except the Father draw him that is except the Father worke powerfully upon him and make him willing to come for that is the meaning of drawing when the Lord turnes as it were the will of a Lion makes him a Lamb when he gives another will This consent must not bee mentall onely kept within the breast but there must bee an expression of this consent and it is in a mutuall covenant so then the third thing is the Covenant betweene Christ and us which is an everlasting covenant on both sides an everlasting covenant on Christs part to bee ours to bestow himselfe on us and all that is his whether salvation remission of sinnes sanctification glory his death obedience all hee did or is all is ours and againe a covenant on our part to give up our selves to him and this for ever and all that is ours as our
all his Attributes and how that the Lord himselfe will become thine consider the infinite wisedome of Christ his Almighty power consider his eternity consider whatsoever is in him and thinke with thy selfe that all this is in Him who offers himselfe to bee my husband and all this shall be mine all this is for my use and advantage this is a great motive to winne us to match with him as you know in earthly marriages the excellency of a husband the parts that are in him those that are inherent in his very person is the greatest motive of all other thinke therfore of all Christs excellencies draw to your selves some Idea of him and thinke all these are mine for my use as his wisedome to give me direction his power and strength for my protection upon all occasions whatsoever is in him is mine hee himselfe is become my portion this is a great motive to us Besides this consider that thou hast not onely the person of Christ alone with all his Attributes but how much comes with him which adde to this as the immunity thou hast by matching with Christ that when thou art once matched with him thou art under covert thy debts are paid thou art out of all danger My beloved if it were but to bee freed from those injuries and wrongs that a woman is subject unto from potent enemies that are able to hurt her upon all occasions you know it is a great motive to move her to match Now Iesus Christ frees us from all those great enemies of our salvation as it is Luke 1. 74. That being delivered from the hands of all our enemies wee might serve him in holinesse and righteousnesse all the days of our lives This wee have by him that when Satan shall come to us and arrest us wee may say to him I am now under covert thou must goe to my husband hee is bound to pay my debts My beloved we consider not what a benefit this is what it is to have Iesus Christ at such a time when you come to dye when you shall be arrested by death now to have the Lord Iesus to undertake all your debts now to bee under covert it is a great matter as you know to expresse it to you a little what it is Iudas when hee had committed that great sinne he was indited and arrested hee had none to flee to Peter when he had committed a sinne hee had a covert to goe to and you all know the difference that was betweene their conditions in the events upon both Saul and David if you looke on them in their distresse David had a covert to goe to when he was in distresse for I speake not now of the debt of sinne but of all calamities in which you shall have a husband to bee a refuge for you I say David when hee was in distresse upon any occasion when his Citty was burned and his Wives taken hee had a covert to fly to but when Saul was in distresse hee had none hee went to the Lord but he had no answer I say it is a great matter to consider this that we have a covert that when the Lord shall raine downe fire and brimstone upon us when there is no rock to shelter us now for Iesus Christ to bee a covert to us We know the Aegyptians when they were in that deadly storme of haile the Israelites were in their houses under covert and look't out and saw the danger they were in and they then knew the benefit what it was to bee under shelter such is the condition of all those that are in Christ. Besides this immunity consider all those great priviledges that doe come by him for this is not all but when you have matched with him hee will make you rich hee will make you heires of all things all the precious promises belong to you which it may be you reckon a small matter but the promises of God are most precious and will make one rich as you know a man that hath nothing but bills and bonds and evidences may bee very rich though he have not a penny by him so to have all the promises belong to us now as soone as we were in Christ there is not a promise in all the booke of God but it belongs to us that is the misery of another man that is not in Christ there is not one promise his Therefore till thou have him thou hast nothing And besides the hope of the promises consider what you have for the present what dowry hee brings with him in 1 Cor. 3. Wherefore let no man rejoyce in men for all things are yours whether it be Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world c. all is yours and you are Christs Marke here is the expression of that dowry that Christ brings with him an Inventory of the wealth of a Christian saith he when once you are matched to Christ all that is his belongs to you Paul or Apollos or Cephas all his servants all are bestowed on you to wait upon the Spouse as it were hee hath given all to you all those gifts are bestowed on them for your sakes besides the world is yours that is as farre as it is good for you the world and all things in the world are so a Christians though hee have but little of it yet indeed the world is his other men are the worlds if wee speake properly the world is not said to bee any mans but onely a Christians for his use he is the master of it Indeed whilest a man is in his minority you know the heire doth not possesse his goods because it is the time of his education so it may bee thou hast not full possession It is dispensed to thee as the Lord sees meete because it is the time of thy nurture and education thou art in thy minority but yet the world is thine Then he goes on life or death that is all this life is bestowed on a Christian for his advantage to another man it is not so the longer hee lives it is the worse for him hee hath the further reckoning it doth but make his sinne ripe and but lay up a treasure of wrath for him so that all a mans life long hee doth but gather stickes to make a fire to consume him at the last day But now in the portion of a Christian this is one thing that Iesus Christ bestows upon him that all his life is for his advantage all the good workes he doth all those shall bee remembred all those shall goe along with him and bring a sure reward and then not onely life is his but death is also My beloved it is a strange thing that this should be reckoned among the dowries and commodities and priviledges that Christ bestowes on his Spouse to bring death with him yet this is a great priviledge that hee bestowes death on us for what were the condition
put into prison shall they then have an hundred fold in this life yes for their imprisonment is better then worldly mens liberty It is said that when Ioseph was put into prison that the Lord went in with him and was with him and therefore it was no prison for what is it that makes it a prison The Lords absence a man hath more joy in a prison wherein God is then in a Palace without God as you may see in Saul when the Lord was departed from him his Palace was but a prison to him Brethren if you beleeve this that you shall have more for the present if ye will accept of this match you will not any longer stand out But if you will not beleeve for all that I have said we have no more to say to you in briefe but this thou shalt have thy portion in this life as the Prodigall sonne he would have his portion presently well if you will have your portion ye shall have it as in that 17. Psal. 14. The men of this world who have their portions in this life You shall have your portions in this life thou shalt have thy belly filled with treasures but remember that terrible sentence Thou hast thy reward Therefore it is no marvell that worldlings live so contentedly with so much outward ease it is no marvell I say for their Father hath given them their portion Another impediment is when parents have provided a fit match for their children and come and propound it to their children then they are promised to another their hearts are set upon others and this is a great impediment in this and it is common Now the Lord comes to propound this match to thee but thou canst not forsake those things that thy affections are set upon thou hast made another choise thy heart is set upon these outward things thou hast promised thy love and delight to them and thou must now refuse the sute of the Kings Sonne This one day will lye heauy upon thy conscience when as this Christ that thou hast now rejected shall come to Iudgement and shall sit upon his glorious Throne and shall pronounce that heauy sentence Depart from me ye cursed and then thy conscience shall tell thee oh he was once a suter to mee but I had made another choice a worse choise which then thou findest though it seemed pleasant for the time yet indeed his service would have beene more pleasant and profitable for he would have thee live but according to the rule in temperance sobriety in diligence in thy calling and such like which would have kept thy body in health and preserved thy estate and now thou hast wasted thy body in fornication and uncleanenesse and hast wasted thy goods in drunkennesse and good-fellowship and all riotous living and so if we should stand to compare every particular service of each husband we should find that our obedience to our right husband is more pleasant then that we have now chosen nay wee should find that the worst actions that Christ commands are farre more pleasant then the best of the other as take sorrow for sinne that wee count the worst and the hardest duty yet even in that there goes along with it a secret sweetnesse and comfort those that have any experience in it know it to be true but when as thou yeeldest obedience to thy other husband even in the midst of thy carnall delights thy heart is sad there is a kinde of perplexity goes along with it this wee shall finde in all the actions wee doe to this wrong husband a secret griping and stinging of conscience and besides this wee shall at length be paid with death But in our obedience to our right husband more-over and above our comfort in his service he will give us wages and rewards eternall life and all the comforts appertaining thereunto But in briefe if you will not yeeld if you will not be ruled God will doe with you as parents doe with rebellious children if they are stubborne and match against their will when as neither promises nor perswasions will doe any good what will they doe Why they will disinherit them So if ye will be stubborne and neither perswasions nor promises will doe no good with you but notwithstanding all this you will not remove your affections from off your choice your Father shall disinherit you you shall loose your Kingdome you shall be damned if you will not cut off your right hands and cut out your right eyes that offend you ye shall keepe them but ye shall goe to hell with them If you will not beleeve us we have no more to say to you ye shall loose your birth-right Another impediment if so be we find we stand in need of an husband to pay our debts yet we are not disposed to marry yet But know if thou wilt not take the time before the time be past thou shalt sit long enough without suters Christ he is a suter by his Spirit and we are his friends to perswade you to match with him Now consider how that He onely must perswade we may perswade long enough if no other doe perswade you you will never be wonne but there is another the Lord himselfe he is his owne spokse-man and must be or else you will never be won And therefore take heede of deferring when thou findest the Holy Ghost a suter to thee and that Christ speakes to thy heart take heede of refusing his Spirit shall not alwayes strive with man if he knocke but once open to him perhaps he will knocke no more Take heed of delayes and puttings off bidding Christ come another time for we commonly say delayes are dangerous If thou dost thou maist loose thy suter and Christ may let thee sit all thy life time and never be a suter to thee againe There is indeed a time when all would match with Christ in their extremity at their deaths as the foolish Virgins they came when it proved too late the doores were shut When the arrest comes upon us then we would match with Christ but then it is too late then Christ will not match with thee then we may fly to the hornes of the Altar as Ioab did but then Christ will say as Solomon did of Ioab Goe fall upon him and kill him even there There is a refuge in the City but thou must be a Citizen there before the avenger of bloud comes Then is not a time to marry with Christ then is a time to call to mountaines to fall upon you and cover you and furthermore whereas thou sayest thou wilt hereafter match with Christ but not yet what knowest thou but that thy soule may presently be taken from thee and therefore you see what a deale of folly men shew in their puttings off Another impediment is When the parties are brought together to see one another many times they doe not like one another and