Saviour all people seek after every man maketh unto himself some God or other Exod. 1.32 Make us Gods to go before us say the people to Aaron but few there are that seek after the Saviour The Isralites sought after a Christ when they sought him in the works of the Law but could never find him Rom. 9.32 but the Gentiles which sought him by faith without the works of the Law found the Christ And in this sense it is said I was found of them that sought me not Now if the Queens and Concubines do bless and praise themselves as in heart they do in seeking after a Christ then they do also bless and praise the Bride in seeking after the Christ Also if it be good in them as in their opinion it is good to seek for a Christ then it is also good and very good in the bride to seek for the Christ which is the true Christ indeed They all agree in word It is the duty of all men to live in obedience to the Law but to seek for a Christ in the Law is to deny the Gospel that Jesus is the true Christ but the Question is how to seek him so as to find him The Queens and Concubines say thou must live in an active conformity to the Law of God then shalt thou have an evidence of thy faith in Christ but the Bride saith in the first place thou must seek him by faith without the Law otherwise thou must die in thy sins For so saith Christ to the Jews ye shall seek me and not find me Joh. 3. and shall die in your sins This sheweth us the reason why the Daughters the Queens and Concubines are so earnest in pressing the works of the Law why they require it of necessity under the penalty of Everlasting damnation and also why they are so rigid so severe and look so loftily upon those poor Creatures that have grosly broken the Law as if they themselves were made of purer metal the reason is because they seek for a Christ in the Law And also it sheweth us why the godly can submit give place to all do not count themselves for a rule for all men to conform unto in respect of their outward carriage but are willing to yeild to obey not to separate themselves from sinners but to equalize themselves with the worst to shew kindness and respect to all to friends and foes good and bad worthy and unworthy on purpose to gain their hearts and win their affections if it be possible to love and embrace the Gospel the reason is because they have found thee Christ the true Messias without the Law Hence it comes to pass that when the Daughters come to die for want of a right understanding in this point and sin begins to appear in the Conscience they know not how to fasten upon any one promise nor to pray with any manner of confidence but are even forc'd to cry out with those that had crucified the Lord of life Acts 2.37 men and brethren what shall we do to be saved All this comes to pass because they have spent all their time in seeking for a Christ a supposed an imaginary Christ but none for the Christ which is the true Christ indeed According to S. Paul The Gentiles which followed not righteousness have attained to righteousness even the righteousness of faith but Israel which followed after righteousness Rom. 9.30 have not attained to the law of righteousness because they sought it not by faith but in the works of the law Therefore seeing Christ saith here That the daughters blessed her also that the Queens and Concubines by their practise praised her in seeking after a Christ which they sought only in the works of the law and therefore they could not find him Let us learn rightly to seek after Christ by faith that so when we seek him we may not seek him in vain VERSE X. Who is she that looketh forth as the Morning BY looking forth as the morning Christ meaneth the preaching of the Gospel which is the light of the World for even as the Night is a time of darkness and while the darkness remains no man can tell whether he goeth So before the Gospel cometh there is nothing but abominable darkness blindness and blasphemy in the world And also as when the Morning cometh it expelleth darkness and bringeth light so the Gospel is that bright and morning Star that sendeth into the world the light of life The Gospel doth not find men holy but maketh them holy for the Morning doth not find men light but bringeth the light therefore the Gospel is not to be so preached to a people as if they were all Believers before only shewing them how they should walk in the world but so taught that it may make Believers Therefore Christ saith As long as I am in the world I am the light of the world which could not be if the Gospel did not teach us a certainty of our faith for how can that be a light unto me that only requireth certain things to be believed and done if it doth not also shew me a certain way how I may attain the same This Light we have by the Gospel which maketh a merry heart and a joyful conscience Let us learn then so to hear and understand the Gospel that we may come under this note of Admiration and also that by the shining light of that bright and Morning-Star we may learn to cast off the works of darkness and to put on the armour of light Fair as the Moon The Church is likened to the Moon because her brightness is by a borrowed light even from Christ the Sun of righteousness and Fountain of light And this light she preacheth in the World And also because as the Moon she shineth in the Night and is created to rule the Night For God set two great Lights in the Firmament of Heaven to give light upon the earth Gen. 1. the greater light to rule the Day and the lesser light to rule the night For although the Moon hath her defects and risings sometimes increaseth and is sometimes more obscure appearing in divers forms and figures in the Firmament yet is she a Planet created to rule the Night Therefore the Bride is here likened to the Moon because she is set to give light upon the Earth and because by the light that she giveth she is to rule the Night She giveth not her own light upon the earth which she hath naturally but a borrowed light which she receiveth from the Sun the Fountain of light which light she infuseth into the midst of darkness to expel the same for although for a time the light of the Moon may be hidden yet as soon as she appeareth the darkness expels Now in that the light of this heavenly Planet is from the Sun the Fountain of Light and that the light which she receiveth is to rule the Night
saith my beloved had with drawn himself and was gone This condition she fell into for the exercise and tryal of her faith after she had opened to her beloved and well understood the Gospel And this complaint she made in Song third Where she complaineth of the very same condition Which sheweth that such sort of tryals do often befal the godly in this miserable and wretched World when our beloved Christ will seem to hide himself and to cast off all care and regard of us when we are in misery that we shall have no sense or feeling at all of his love but will seem to be as a stranger that hath no relation to us even as one that hath forgotten all his promises And therefore she complaineth further in the next words My Soul failed when he spake I called upon him and he gave me no answer When he spake to me in his promises that no good thing should be wanting but that all my wants should be supplyed and bid me cast my care upon him because he cared for me my Soul did even fail and my confidence was even shaken and gone because I saw that all things were promised but nothing seem'd to be perform'd And further she saith I call'd upon him and he gave me no answer I prayed and humbled my self much before him and cryed aloud unto him in my sad condition and yet he gave me no answer By all which we see that it is no new way of excercising the faith of the Church when the godly are cast into poverty reproach and contempt of the world and when they see no way nor means appearing which way to get out In this condition therefore must we be content to live in and not to despaire of help whensoever it shall please our beloved to exercise us in it This great and sore affliction fell upon the Bride after she had done her duty faithfully and carefully for she had opened to her beloved and her hands had dropped the Myrrhe therefore it was for the tryal of her faith that she might learn by being exercised not to faint in a sad condition but to believe in the promises of God although nothing appeared to reason why she should believe the same According as it is said of Abraham that he believed in God who calleth things that are not as though they were Therefore I say this being mark'd out to be the condition of the Church many times no man must take offence at his beloved if he please to exercise his faith this way but quietly and patiently to depend upon him and call upon his name But mark we further what she complaineth of in this condition VERSE VII The watchmen that went about the City found me they smote me they wounded me VVE are not to understand by the watchmen the Ministers of the Gospel but such as continually watch to see the people of God in misery and to add affliction to the afflicted As is opened more at large in Song third Of these the Prophets David and Jeremy do often complain The Church says of these they smote her that is behind her back with words of reproach and wounded her in her name credit and reputation And this bitter temptation the godly shall be cast into by reason of the watchmen oftentimes of which sort of people let all that love God and their own peace and comfort learn in time to beware The keepers of the walls took my vail from me We are not to understand by the vail in this place Cor. 2.3 that which Paul speaketh of which is spread over the heart in the reading of Moses Nor yet such a vail as was wont to be worn by the Daughters of Zion for ornament Esa 2. she being here in the habit of a mourner But the vail here spoken of or rather the image of a vail is that reproach and infamy which was cast upon her by the watchmen whereby they thought to spoil her of her Title the Bride and to set her as much as in them lay in the shape and attire of an Harlot For even as it was the manner of Harlots to cover their faces with a vail Gen. 38.16 as is to be seen in Tamar that they might never afterwards be known or appear to be Harlots So it was the manner of the watchmen so to cover the Church with infamy and reproach that as much as in them lay she should never afterwards appear to be the Bride And this she calleth her vail And this the keepers of the walls took from her By the keepers Esa 62. understand the watchmen of the walls that do continually watch for the preservation of the spiritual City That do always help to preserve the Church in her faith and confidence lest she should be dismayed by the afflictions of the watchmen these do endeavour to build up the walls of Jerusalem and to pray day and night until she be made a praise in the Earth These keepers took off the vail of reproach Psal 59.6 that by reason of the watchmen was cast over the Bride They mentioned her condition at the Throne of grace comforted her in all her tribulations and endeavoured so to still the noise and smitings of the watchmen that at length all her reproach and infamy vanished and came to nothing This being the lot of the Church every one that is godly must expect that at some time or other in his life he shall be covered with this vail although he carry himself ever so exact and uprightly The watchmen are in every corner they go round about the City as David speaks and make a noise like a Dog which barketh sometimes at a very shadow sometimes because other Dogs bark but be it for what cause it will the least blemish that may be in the Bride sets them all a barking Therefore as we must expect the vail So we must beware of giving occasion Moreover as we must look to be in the condition of the Church so we must imitate the practice of the keepers that so when the afflictions of the Bride do become the musick of the wicked and when she is covered with great reproach when the Sons of Zion are esteemed but as earthen pitchers then we must begin to set to our Shoulder and take of the vail First by our prayers next by our endeavour to remove all the reproaches that are cast upon her and Lastly by comforts and consolations Then shall the breaches of the wall be repaired and the spiritual City preserved from those that desire her ruin VERSE VIII I charge you O Daughters of Jerusalem if ye finde my beloved that ye tell him that I am sick of love THe Churches vail being taken of by the keepers she is sick of love She finding so wonderful a deliverance out of so bitter a Temptation is even sick with joy and thankfulness to God And thus it is with us when God turneth our Captivity by his own
it sheweth us what the proper Office of the Gospel is even to shine in our hearts and to comfort us in a dark condition This light is the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ who was born at Bethlem which Nativity is given unto us by our hearing and receiving the Gospel Therefore when thou feelest thy self to be in darkness and mightily oppressed with the shadows of the Night make hast into thy Closet and say Lord I am in great affliction and sore distress and have justly deserved by my sin to perish in the darkness I am in but seeing thou hast ordained that I shall live before thee by a borrowed light even by my Lord Jesus Christ who was born at Bethlem where the glad-tidings of great joy were published by the heavenly Angel grant therefore that I may believe the Message of the Angel that so I may receive the whole benefit At the very first time thou beginnest to practice after this manner and feelest thy heart any whit warmed with the apprehension of the blessed Babe that 's the very day and hour that Christ is born in thee Then art thou become fair as the Moon and yet thou hast the Moon under thy feet forasmuch as all thy defects and obscurities changes and alterations which made thee appear like the Moon in her weakest condition yet now being cloathed with the Sun thou despisest them all When once thou understandest these things aright then mayest thou arise and shine by thy borrowed light and shall experimentally feel that of Christ which thou thy self wilt say thou knewest not before Clear as the Sun This is meant in respect of her Doctrine which is said to be clear as Chrystal for as the Sun is the Fountain of Light natural so is Christ the Fountain of Light spiritual and Son of righteousness which being made known to the world maketh a great light By this light every man that believeth his Conscience is acquitted from the wrath of God and also is made to see the vanity of his ways and is delivered from a vain mind By this light he perceiveth wherein the errours of all men lie is made a Judge of all things yet he himself is judged of no man Terrible as an Army with Banners This Doctrine is terrible to the blind world and to the whole kingdom of Satan that it battereth all in pieces even as an Army doth with Banners For there is no Sect nor Heresie upon the face of the earth that can stand before the Gospel let the case be rightly stated and the true state of the business stuck unto on both sides and either he that opposeth it must fly or else he must turn and be converted Therefore it is said of the Day of the Lord that it shall burn as an Oven Mal. 4. and shall burn up all the proud of the earth and leave neither root nor branch The Gospel plucketh up the root of all Heresies and with the root the branch forasmuch as the principal matter whereupon all Hereticks and Sects build their confidence is the very first thing which the Gospel destroyeth Therefore the Gospel is a most terrible Doctrine to all the wicked of the earth but most sweet and pleasant to all those that conform unto it And therefore Christ says I came to send fire upon the earth and what is my desire but that it be kindled Therefore no man must be afraid to maintain the Gospel for fear of the displeasure of men for that is to deny Christ and flatter all men into Hell but every man according to his ability must endeavour to defend the same VERSE XI I went down into the Nut-garden to see the fruits of the Valley and to see whether the Vine flourish'd and the Pomegranates budded I Conceive these Words to be the Speech of the Church and the meaning to be this By Garden understand the publick assembling together of the Faithful to preach and hear the Word of God Call'd the Nut-garden Psal 19.10 Esa 40.4 Song 4.13 Joh. 15.1 because where the Word is rightly taught there are sweet Kernels found By the Valley is meant he that is made low in his own eyes through the sense and feeling of his sin The Pomegranates are the particular Members of the Church The Vine is Christ The flourishing of the Vine is when the Righteousness of Christ alone is taught for the raising up of dejected afflicted Consciences and in that the Church went down to see the fruits of the Valley The flourishing of the Vine and budding of the Pomegranates it meaneth to learn how to be afflicted for her sin and how to become low in her own eyes like the Valley and also how to be healed and exalted through the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ that she might rejoyce in the fruits of the Ministry The sum of the whole Verse I conceive is this That the main and principal business that concerns those that are Preachers and Hearers of the Word of God in frequenting publick Assemblies is to teach and to learn how to make and to heal again tender and afflicted consciences How to lay men low in their own eyes that they may lament in secret for their sins and how to bind them up and heal them with the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ For this cause the Bride went down into the Garden to learn this heavenly Art and divine Skill Where this learning is not taught little is said and where this is not heard little is learned If the conscience should be afflicted and not healed again it would fall into despair or if a Plaister should be provided where there is no sore no man would esteem it therefore the Church learneth both these points And the reason why this is the principal thing is because this manner of learning maketh persons new it maketh men righteous before God and also righteous before men It maketh the Tree good and his Fruit good otherwise where it is not taught it leaveth the Tree evil and his Fruit evil This sheweth us the reason why in many places the labour of the Ministry is so improfitable why there is so little good done by Preaching and so little benefit received by hearing but men go away from Church assemblies as cold and blockish as ever they were the reason is because the drift and scope of their manner of handling the word of God tendeth not to the making and healing again of tender and afflicted Consciences but bendeth quite another way Hence they all call for doing of the Law which neither maketh the wound nor healeth the sore And from this also it comes to pass that if any man comes into the Garden and desireth for a kernel he findeth but a shell and in stead of making valleys setting up of Mountains the reason is because the true way to life is hid which to think on aright may cause a Lamentation in that there is so little understood in this point