in Pharaoh 's Chariots The Text affords us two Propositions 1 Prop. The Believing Soul is Christ's Associate or Companion his intimate Friend 2 Prop. That Christ hath likened such a Soul to a company of Horses in Pharaoh's Chariots I shall begin with the first of these The Believing Soul is Christ's Love his Friend his Fellow or intimate Associate The word signifieth all these There is a great deariness and friendly fellowship betwixt the Lord Jesus Christ and the Spouse whether by the Spouse we understand the Believing Soul or the Church which is made up of such Souls The word almost in this Form from the same root is translated fellow Judg. 11. 37. I and my fellows Psal 45. 14. The Virgins her Companions He had before called her the fairest amongst Women v. 8. to shew his value and estimate of her he here calls her his Love his Friend his Fellow or Companion It is a very sweet meditation a pleasant voice surely to hear him whom God calleth his fellow and who thought it no robbery to be equal with the Father stooping to Dust and Ashes and to the Worms of the Earth and calling them his Love his Friends his Fellows Surely it is good for us to stand here a little and understand the significancy and meaning of this expression inquiring 1. How Christ approveth himself his Spouses Companion and Fellow 2. How he who knoweth not how to complement like vain man by his influence upon and by his Communion with his Church and with the Believer declares her to be indeed his Love and himself to be her near and most intimate friend 1. Christ hath made himself our Fellow by his taking of our Nature upon him He was from all Eternity God the Father's Fellow God himself calleth him so Zech. 13. 7. Awake O Shepherd Awake O Sword against the Shepherd and against the man that is my Fellow Christ applieth that Text to himself Mat. 26. 31. The wise man telleth us Prov. 8. 30. that from Eternity He was by him as one brought up with him and was daily his delight And the Apostle tells us he thought it no robbery to be equal with the Father By his Incarnation he made himself our Fellow Heb. 2. 14. Forasmuch as the Children were partakers of flesh and blood he also took part with them And v. 11. Both he who sanctifieth and those who are sanctified are all of one wherefore he is not ashamed to call them Brethren But I shall not insist on this which amounteth to no more than a Fellowship in one and the same common Nature and thus though there be this peculiar in it that it was for the Spouse's sake that he took upon him Humane Nature for I take that to be a Romantick Fancy for which there is neither any Scripture or found Reason That if the World had not been to have been Redeemed yet God would have sent his Son to be Incarnate yet in this sense he is in a sense a Fellow to all the Sons and Daughters of Men. I shall therefore pass over this and come to shew you how Christ approveth himself as a Fellow or Companion to all those who are true Believers You read in holy Writ of Fellow-Citizens and Fellow-Heirs Eph. 2. 19. Eph. 3. 6. of Fellow-helpers and fellow-labourers 2 Cor. 8. 23. 1 Thes 3. 2. of fellow prisoners and fellow souldiers Col. 4. 10. Philemon 23. Phil. 2. 25. I think under one of these Heads I may reduce whatsoever I need say for the opening of this Notion 1. Christ is with his Saints a Fellow-Citizen in the City of their God The City of God signifieth either the Church of God or Heaven Take it in either Notion Christ is our Fellow-Citizen he is the Head of the Church Believers are the Members The Head of the Body and the other Members make up but one Body they are fellow-members of the same Body The Mayor of your City thô the most dignified Citizen yet is a Fellow-Citizen The Saints are all Fellow-Citizens Eph. 3. 6. Christ though their Head is their Fellow-Citizen he calls them Brethren Heb. 2. 11 12. saying I will declare thy Name unto my Brethren in the midst of the Church I will sing praise unto thee Do Fellow-Citizens dwell in a City compacted together Christ dwells in his Church He walks in the midst of the Golden Candlesticks He dwelleth in the Believing Soul his dwelling-place is in Zion in his holy Mountain Zech. 2. 11. I will dwell in the midst of thee He saith He will make his abode with the Soul that loveth him and keepeth his Commandments I in you and you in me saith he Joh. 15. He dwelleth in their hearts by Faith Eph. 3. 17. His Spirit dwells in them Rom. 8. 9. But the Notion of a Fellow-Citizen speaketh more than Cohabitation A Partnership in the same Rights and Priviledges So doth a Co-heirship speak a Partnership in the same Enjoyments Thus Christ is their Fellow-Citizen their Fellow-Heir they are Partners with Christ in the same Priviledges in the same Enjoyments Of his fulness they receive grace for grace And for the New Jerusalem the City of God which is above he hath willed them a Partnership with him in his glory Joh. 17. 22. And the glory which thou hast given me I have given them that they may be one even as we are one Only there is this observable difference Fellow-Citizens and Fellow-Heirs amongst men are Notions which denote an equality in Priviledges and Enjoyments but not so between Christ and us They are Heirs of the same Grace with Christ 1 Joh. 16. Of his fulness they receive grace for grace But with this difference the People of God have the Spirit given by measure to them To him the Spirit is not given by measure Joh. 3. 34. The People of God have different measures they have different measures of Faith Rom. 12. 3. There is a measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ Eph. 4. 13. This they ought to aim at but none in this life attains it they are Heirs of the same glory with Christ Joh. 17. 22. but not of the same degrees of glory His glory shall be the glory of the Sun their 's but as the glory of the Stars they shall be where he is they shall Reign with him but in the Throne he shall be greater than they are his glory shall be an excelling glory The Apostle calls them Heirs and Co-heirs with the Lord Jesus Christ Rom. 8. 17. In this sense the Lord approveth himself their Companion their Fellow 2. Christ and his Spouse are fellow-servants fellows in the same work What is the work of Believers but to glorifie God This is their great business Whether saith the Apostle you eat or drink or whatsoever you do let all be done to the glory of God What was the work of Christ while he was upon the Earth Joh. 17. 4. I have glorified thee on the Earth I have finished the
Word strict in their walking ready to exhort to reprove and admonish such as walk disorderly and not as becometh the Gospel Hypocrites and false Brethren are no more able to bear this then they are able to obtain of themselves to do like them Hence are their censures of them as Persons that are righteous overmuch needlesly strict and severe hence their envy and reproaches and their watchings for their haltings and taking all advantages to blazon their infirmities and to make them as odious and to look as black as they can 3. Another reason of it lyeth in the looseness of their principles both their principles of Doctrine and Faith and their practical principles directing their lives and conversations False brethren are alwaies looser in one or both these sorts of principles then the sincere Christian is The study of the Hypocrite is to form his faith and to interpret the law of God into a consistency with his lusts that he may keep his lusts and yet protect himself from the checks and reverberations of his conscience and flatter himself with hopes of Eternal Salvation and also keep up his credit and reputation with the world The sincere Christian hath no other design then to form his faith according to the revelations of truth in the Word and his conversation to the rule of life in the Word of God the Word is a lamp to his feet and a lanthorn to his paths and from that he dares not start when the false Prophets told Micajah that the Prophets had all with one mouth prophesied good to Ahab and suited his humour Micajah answers them As the Lord liveth whatsoever the Lord bids me speak that will I speak The same is the language of every true Christian whatsoever Propositions of truth I find spoken by Holy Men that were inspired by God in his Word that â—nd nothing but that shall be an article of my faith What way soeâ—â—r God hath prescribed me in his Word to Worship him in and by that will I do neither adding thereunto nor yet diminishing therefrom whatsoever rules God hath given me for the order of his Church to them I will adhere whatsoever laws God hath given me to guide my conversation to the observation of them I will keep thus he is in all things tied up to a divine rule But now the false Professor hath looser principles He dare allow the judgment of his own natural reason in determining of truth as the object of his faith and of the Traditions and Practice and Precepts of men as the rule of his Worship and the will of men as to the order and government of the Church and from one of these three causes most ordinarily proceeds that opposition which is given to the strict Servants of God from the anger of their Mothers Children I come to the second Member of the Proposition 2. This opposition is one great cause of the Spouses appearing black Both the opposition which the particular Christian hath from his own impetuous lusts and motions to sin and which that part of the Church which is alone the Spouse of Christ hath from false Brethren and the opposition given her by them are a great cause of the Churches blackness or appearing blackness The grounds of it are 1. Partly that trouble and sadness which usually attends those conflicts in the Spirits of Christians The time of War is a time of sadness in that part of the world which is the seat of it and the hour of this Spiritual War and Conflict is a sad time in the Soul Paul cryeth out O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from this body of death Hence are Christians sad and heavy walkings which the World counteth blackness 2. Partly from the prevailings of sin sometimes in the Soul David complained under the Old Testament that Iniquities prevailed against him and Paul complaineth under the New Testament not only of a War but of a Victory in some Skirmishes that the law of his Members got against the law of his Mind so that he was brought into a captivity to the law of Sin which was in his Members Rom. 7. 23 Now sin is that which maketh the Soul really black and where any of the People of God in the view of the world so discoloureth himself the world needeth no provocation to call them black The Eye that is directed by a Soul full of malice envy and hatred spies the least miscarriages in the Soul that is hated and aggravates them with the highest aggravations And as this is true concerning that opposition which the particular Soul findeth from its inbred lusts and corruptions that makes the believer black so it is as true that the opposition which that part of the Church which is the true Spouse of Christ meets with from false Brethren will make the Church appear black This will appear from the several unlovely consequences of such opposition 1. From hence are Errors and Heresies Schisms and Contentions in the Church of Christ of these you read in the Episties to the Romans Carinthians Galatians then which nothing make a Church appear more black in the Eyes of the World and they are more especially the reproaches of the Church of Christ by how much the Gospel which is their rule in which they are instructed and to the rules of which they profess a submission is a Gospel of peace and Christ Jesus which is their head and the Author of the Gospel is the Prince of Peace Errors rise up in the Church from men of corrupt principles The Apostle tells us of perverse disputingâ— by men of corrupt minds 1 Tim. 6. 5. and 2 Tim. 3. 8. you have it again men of corrupt minds reprobate concerning the Faith Hence also are Schisms and Contentions Only by Pride saith Solomon cometh contention The cause of 〈◊〉 is generally some corruption in Churches and deviation from that Order which Christ hath set and established which that part of the Church which keeps close to the Word as its rule cannot bear with Indeed sometimes they are caused from mens corrupt principles as to the faith and love of preheminâ—â—ce their rashness and want of Judgment how far Christians ought to preserve unity but I say generally they are caused by such as are â—â—lse Brethren who if they be not those who divide yet are those who give the cause of the division 2. From hence are â—â—srepresentations of the Servants of God 〈◊〉 Pharâ—â—â—â—ical generation that say unto others stand far from us we are 〈◊〉 then you such as would be too pure and righteous ovâ—â— much that make a shew of more then indeed thâ—yâ—ard Hypocrites Precisions that are over-nice c. Such kind of charges and imputations as these proceed ordinarily from Mothers Children saâ—e Professors and Brethren such as have a form of Godliness and deny the power of it such as are Mâ—mbers oâ— the Church but their hearts are not perfect with God 3. From hence Thirdly are
23. 4. Though I walk through the shadow of death I shall fear none evill for thou art with me thy Rod and thy Staff comfort me 2. That done a Christian's next work is to look out the Promises which God hath made either such as are more general and respect his People under any Trial or such as are more special and relate to the People under any Trial or such as are more special and relate to the People of God under such particular pressures of Affliction that they lie under The Book of holy Scriptures is a great Store-house there is scarce any condition of Christians to which some Promises are not suited It is of great use for a Christian to know and understand and be acquainted with the Promises They are as the Jointure to the Wife all that she hath to live upon only with this difference the Woman liveth not upon the Jointure which her earthly Husband hath made her till he be dead Christ died once he dieth no more but ever lives but the Promises are what the Soul liveth upon when God seems as dead withdrawing himself from the support and protection of his People A good Christian ought not therefore to be a stranger to them 3. It is the duty of a Christian to betake himself to these shades to eye the Promises to commit himself unto them to hope in them these are acts and exercises of Faith Come my People saith God by his Prophet Isaiah Enter into the Chambers and hide thy self for a little time till the indignation be overpast Our coming is by Faith committing our selves unto God and trusting in him 1 Pet. 4. 19. Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their Souls unto him in well doing as unto a faithful Creator Christ is the primary object of our Faith the Promises are the proximate objects In such a time therefore let every good Christian call the Promises to his mind whet them upon his Soul offer his Soul to them call upon it to trust in them 4. It is the duty of a Christian at such a time to wait upon God with patience God ought to be trusted in regard of his Truth and Faithfulness his Power and Goodness He ought to be waited upon in regard of his Majesty and Greatness and Wisdom The Promises are oft-times made in general for help deliverance strength and the like without specifying the particular way and method which God will use and without limitations of time He that believeth maketh not hast 5. There must be a close walking with God though we be sore broken in the place of Dragons and covered with the shadow of death yet we must not forget the Name of our God our heart must not turn back from him we must not deal falsly in our Covenant with him nor suffer our steps to decline from his way Psal 44. The Promise Psal 37. 4. that we shall dwell in the Land and be certainly fed is prefaced with a Precept to trust in the Lord and to do good And the advice of the Apostle Peter is to commit our Souls in well doing unto God as to a faithful Creator 6. Lastly Prayer must be added the promises are Gods bonds by which he hath made himself a Debtor to his Creature Prayer is an action of ours by which we put these bonds in suit Sermon XLIII Cant. 1. 7. Tell me O thou whom my Soul loveth where thou feedest where thou makest thy flocks to rest at Noon for why should I be like one of them that turneth aside by the flocks of thy Companions I Am still upon the Spouses third Petition to her Beloved Tell me O thou whom my Soul loveth where thou feedest where thou makest thy flocks to rest at noon Methinks I could say with Peter when he was with his Master upon the Mount of Transfiguration It is good for us to be here let us build here two Tabernacles one for the Spouse another for her Beloved What she would have in this Petition clouded with Metaphors I have more fully before opened either a more full communion with Christ most free from interruptions Or his more special influence upon her in her hours of affliction and persecution I have spake something already to it in both these senses I have but one thing to add before I come to the words which are the reason of her Petition that is from the form of the words considered as a prayer so expressive both of her wants and desires a supply The Proposition I shall shortly speak to is this Prop. That though a Believer at all times fees a need of the presence and influence of the grace of Christ yet more especially in the time of afflictions and tryals Return unto me for I am married unto you saith the Lord was Gods language of old to his ancient Spouse the People of the Jews The Apostle largely pursueth the same metaphor Eph. 5. 32. This is a great mystery I speak concerning Christ and the Church so he concludeth his discourse the Wife desireth her Husbands presence at all times God hath made the Woman the weaker sex and the Wife stands in daily need of her Husband whom God hath made her head to guide and conduct her she is not only as a Vine for fruitfulness but for weakness and dependency also so is every believing Soul it hath alwaies need of that promise I will never leave you nor forsake you But as the Wife hath more especial need of the Influence and assistance of her Husband in times and matters of difficulty and distress so hath the believing Soul so that he at all times prayeth with David Psal 27. 9. Hide not thy face from me put not away thy Servant in anger thou hast been my help leave me not neither forsake me O God of my Salvation The Child of God knoweth what will follow at any time if the Sun of Righteousness doth not shine upon him all his protection strength life healing is in the shadow of his Wings But yet I say he or she seeth a more especial need of his presence and influence in the noon of sharp Trials and Afflictions Hence you shall observe that though the Servants of God have kept their daily courses of prayer yet at such times they have used themselves to more solemn addresses and applications to God of which you have plentiful instances in Scriptures in the solemn fasts and prayers put up to God in such times and their more special Petitions put up with reference to such times and dispensations of Providence Hence David cryeth out Psal 22. 11. Be not far from me for trouble is near for there is none to help me and again v. 19. Be not thou far from me O God make hast to help me so again Psal 35. 22. It was a time of great outward straights with David as you may see by reading all the former part of that Psalm v. 22.
your Souls an high estimate of Jesus Christ and the influences of his grace If saith Christ any man loveth me I will come to him and make my abode with him John 14. 21. The Soul that truly loveth Christ shall never be ignorant where to find him 4. Lastly Study holiness in all manner of conversation The Spouse saith that he feedeth among the Lillies the Lillies are white and fruitful Let your apprehension of Christs withdrawing the communications of himself to your Souls be no temptation to you to withhold the communications of your selves to him though you may find it more hard and difficult and that you cannot do your duty with so much ease yet do it If you cannot do what you would yet do what you can if as you think you do not you cannot overtake God yet let your Souls press hard after him But what shall be said to that Soul that is at loss and in such a state as that it doth not know where it s Beloved feedeth where he maketh his flocks to rest at Noon 1. Let such Souls look for him in the promise where it wants the sight of him in his Providences There David found him when he cryed out Remember thy Word in which thou hast caused me to hope The promises are Christs place when he returneth from a Soul he retreateth no further All the punishment that our tender Lord putteth his Spouse to suffer is to live by faith not by sight Christ in his Providences may appear to a Soul yea and nay sometimes a friend sometimes an Enemy But in his promises he is always yea and Amen the true and faithful one I have already shewed you that the Promises are those green pastures were Christ feeds his flocks in the Noon of trials and afflictions 2. Look for him in supporting influences when you cannot see him in comforting and quickening influences Christ communicateth himself variously to the Souls of his People not always in the same methods or influences see if thou doest not feel his strength when thou doest not find his consolatory manifestations you have heard that the communion of the believing Soul with Christ never ceaseth it is only our sense that fails or some particular Manifestations or the degrees of them may abate We ought therefore to look narrowly to see if we cannot find any influences of Christ upon our Souls when it may be we cannot discern those which our Eye is most upon 3. Thirdly Be as free as you can in your part of this communion when you cannot discern your Lord so free in his part You may rest upon this That Christ will never be in your debt nor be long wanting in his communications of his grace to that Soul that is ready to communicate it self unto him It may be I or another Soul may not see and discern it but Christ is never behind hand with the Soul as to acts of love Nay we could not be free in communication of our Souls to him without his first influencing our Souls with strength to such a liberty 4. Lastly take the advice of your beloved in the text Go your way by the footsteps of the flock And feed your kids by the Shepherds tents But that leadeth me to the last part of the Text which I called the Direction in answer to the petition Of that if God please in my next exercise Sermon XLVI Cant. 1. 8. If thou knowest not O thou fairest amongst Women Go thy way forth by the footsteps of the Flock and feed thy Kids by the Shepher ds Tents I am now come to the last part of the Text The Beloved's Direction What to do that she might find where her beloved fed his flocks where he made them to rest at Noon It is expressed in these words Go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock and seed thy kids by the Shepherds tents By the flocks when I opened the words more largely I told you was meant the Church the People of God often in Scripture compared to a flock I will gather the remnant of the flock Jer. 23. 2. The Lord hath visited his flock Zech. 10. 3. Fear not little flock it is your Fathers will to give you a Kingdom Luke 12. 32. Feed the flock of God 1 Pet. 5 2. So in many other Texts The word in the Hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 indifferently signifieth any company of lesser Cattel whether Sheep or Goats though it be most ordinarily applied to sheep as in 1 Sam. 15. 2. Jer 50. 6. Jer. 31. 19 c. The People of God are ordinarily the lesser sort of men and women in the world Not many noble not many wise but the poor of the World hath the Lord Chosen The great ones of the World for the most part are of the Herd not of the flock 1 A flock is a term of multitude Gods People are not the greatest number of the World but yet they are a great number God in the worst times which were those of Ahab had 7000 in Israel who had not bowed the knee to Baal nor kissed him with their lips St. John saw 144000 sealed Rev. 7. 4. There were two great breeders of Gods antient Flock Leah and Rachel these two did build up the house of God from these came threescore and ten Souls whom God sent to pasture in Egypt there they were killed up apace yet they multiplyed to an exceeding great number from thence they were led like a Flock through the Wilderness by the conduct of Moses and Aaron in Canaan they also increased till for their sins God let in Wolves upon them to destroy them It is true all were not Israel that were of Israel but yet they all constituted the visible Church of the Jews and doubtless there were a great number of them who were of the invisible Church of that little Flock to whom it was the Fathers will to give a Kingdom In Christs time the flock of God began to be gathered together in one and soon after his ascension into Heaven those other sheep mentioned John 10. who were not of the Jewish fold began to be added by vertue of his commission granted to 12 principal Shepherds under the great Shepherd and multitudes were added to this flock since that time the wild beasts of the field and forrest have broken in upon it seeding in several Countries and places But yet they are many 2. A flock is a term of unity The Church of Christ is many yet but one body united by one common faith and under on head All the true Members of it have one Shepherd one law and rule The true Church therefore is doubtless the flock which is here mentioned By the footsteps of the flock The footsteps you all know is the Print of the feet The course of boliness is in Scripture called The way of the Righteous The footsteps of the flock can signify nothing but the Examples of the holy Servants of God which have gone before
so it is a creature of a great spirit and courage He rusheth into the Battel and is not afraid Jer. 8. 6. God speaking to Job concerning the Horse giveth an excellent and elegant description of him Job 39. 19 20. where God asketh Job Hast thou clothed his neck with Thunder Canst thou make him afraid at a Grashopper The glory of his Nostrils is terrible He paweth in the Valley and rejoyceth in his strength He goeth on to meet the armed man he mocketh at fear and is not affrighted neither turneth he back from the Sword The Quiverrattleth against him the glittering Spear and the Shield he swalloweth the ground with fierceness and rage neither believeth he that it is the sound of the Trumpet He saith amongst the Trumpets Ha Ha and he smelleth the Battel afar off the Thunder of the Captains and the shoutings With respect of this Quality of the Horse I conceive it is that the Spouse is here compared to Horses War-like Horses full of spirit and courage I have likened thee to a company of Horses That is I have made thee bold couragious full of resolution to make a spiritual resistance to thy Enemies to bid a defiance to them no more to regard the reproaches and revilings the threats and rage and violences of wicked men that oppose thee and cause thy trouble than the Horse regardeth the ratlings of the Quiver or the sound of the Trumpet or the glittering Spear or Shield Fear not the rage and madness of thy Enemies I have made thee like to the Horses in Pharaoh's Chariots which are so bred and so spirited that they mock at fear and the more their Enemies rage and make a noise the more couragiously and with the more mettle they go on This I take to be the most proper and likely sense of the Metaphor in this Text accordingly I shall handle it 2. But it is not said To an Horse only but to a company of Horses Why to a company of Horses The term company denotes Multitude and Unity 1. It denotes Multitude The Church of Christ consists of many Individual Believers who in respect of their Innocency and feeding in the same Pastures are compared sometimes to a Flock of Sheep here in respect of that spirit of valour courage and fortitude which animates them all to a company of Horses 2. It is a term which denotes Unity not a numerical Unity but an Unity in some common work and in some accidents common to them all Thus the Apostle saith We being many are one body There is saith the Apostle Eph. 4. 4 5. one Body one Spirit they are called in one Hope of their Calling they have one Lord one Faith one Baptism they have one God and Father of all The Spouse is not compared to a company of Horses in a field or in the streets but to a company of Horses in a Chariot where they draw together run together upon the Enemy Every Believer also hath a Company within himself the several powers and faculties of his Soul armed with the whole Armour of God These are like a company of Horses in Pharaoh 's Chariots 3. But why in Pharaoh's Chariots Pharaoh was a common name to the Kings of Egypt and a company of Horses in Pharaoh 's Chariots signifieth no more than a company of the best Egyptian Horses-Egypt at that time was one of the most famous places for Horses in the world Hence you read that Solomon had Horses brought out of Egypt 1 King 10. 28. And the King of Judah sent his Embassadors into Egypt that they might give him Horses Ezek. 17. 15. So Isa 31. 1. Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help and stay on Horses v. 3. Their Horses are flesh and not spirit So as I think they have but a feeble support from this Text who would make advantage of this Text to justify their notion that this Divine portion of holy Writ is no more but a Love-song betwixt Solomon and Pharaohs Daughter To all this I might add one thing more that the Horse by reason of those excellent qualities which the God of nature hath endued it with hath in all ages been in a very high esteem with men The vanity of some Persons in the expression of this hath been very great Historians tell us the Persians made solemn funerals for their Horses in other places they builded Pyramids over their Sepulchers Alexander the great built a City to the memory of his Horse Julius Caesar set up his Horse a marble effigies The Emperour Commodus would have his Horse buried in the Vatican Our age is more rational then to allow these vanities but yet it is vain enough many a man takes more care for the mangery of his Horse then for the Education of his Child and alloweth his Horses more attendance then his wife Which lets us see what a value men yet put upon this creature So as this sense may be put upon the Words of this Text thou art as dear to me and in as high esteem with me as the Horses in Pharaohs Chariots are to and with him The Proposition then of the Text amounteth to this Prop. That the Church of Christ and every particular believer in it is in Christs Eyes exceeding lovely and highly esteemed of by him and knowing that she is in the midst of Enemies he hath cloathed her with strength for the victory sufficient if she will make use of it he hath made her like to a Company of Horses in Pharaohs Charrots The proof of the Proposition then lyeth in the proof of these two things 1. That the Spouse of Christ is in his Eyes exceeding goodly and beautiful and highly esteemed of by him 2. That she is cloathed with sufficient strength and might to overcome her Enemies For the proof of the former I shall not insist upon it for besides the large discourse I have already spent upon that when I handled that phrase O thou fairest amongst women The expressions of Scripture are so obvious to every Eye where Christ setteth out his Love to and esteem of his Church and every particular believer that I need not spend time in giving you an account of them The latter is no less plain Immediately upon the fall God gave out this promise Gen. 3. 15. The seed of the woman shall break thine head and thou shalt bruise his heel The seed of the woman was Christ and his seed those that believe in him Conformable to this is that promise Rom. 16. 20. God shall bruise Sathan under your feet shortly It was an ancient promise made to Abraham and in him to all that walk in the steps of his faith Thy seed shall possess the gates of its Enemies God saith Zech. 10. 3. That he made his flock as a goodly Horse in the day of battel v. 5. And they shall be as mighty men which tread down the Enemies as mire in the streets in the battel they shall fight because the Lord
guilt of sin and cries out if I pine away in my iniquities how can I then live And faints at the apprehension of the wrath of God due to it for every single sin and much more for the numberless number of the sins which it hath committed It smells that of the Prophet Isa Ch. 53. v. 5 6. He was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities the Chastisement of our peace lay upon him and with his stripes we are healed v. 10. His Soul was made an offering for sin Or that of the Apostle Gal. 3. 13. Christ hath Redeemed us from the curse of the law being made a curse for us and this refresheth it I have deserved to dye saith the Soul but Christ hath died for me I have deserved to tread the wine press of my Fathers wrath but he hath trode the winepress of his Fathers wrath alone I was born a slave to lusts and corruptions but Christ by dying hath made me free Ah! what a bundle of Myrrh is a crucified Christ to the Soul Hence it smells Spiritual life even from his death for we have Remission of sins through his blood It smells Spiritual peace Who shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods elect it is Christ that died Ro. 8. 38. It smells an access unto God The holy of holies being Sprinkled with his blood and Heaven itself by it Sanctified and made accessible It smells Spiritual liberty For the blood of Christ saith the Apostle purgeth the Conscience from dead works to serve the living God It smells Spiritual strength For through the cross of Christ saith the Apostle my heart is crucified to the World Thus you see that in this action or suffering rather Christ is to the Soul a bundle of Myrrh 4. Look upon Christ as rising up from the dead He is a bundle of Myrrh there too the Soul from hence again smells Spiritual life Rom. 4. 25. He rose again for our justification Spiritual peace Rom. 8. 38. It is Christ that died yea rather that is risen again Spiritual strength and quickening Rom. 6. 4. 5. We shall rise with him to newness of life Col. 3. 1. If you be risen with Christ seek the things that are above It smells life from the dead This the Apostle proves 1 Cor. 15 Rom. 8. 11. He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies Nay it smells Eternal life from hence Joh. 14. 19. Because I live you shall live also 5. Look upon Christ as the men of Galilee Acts 1. 11. Ascending up to Heaven Thus he is also a bundle of Myrrh he lives and from hence Job smelt that he should see him with his Eyes the Angels that stood to wait upon his ascension told the men of Galilee so much that as they had seen him ascend so they should see him coming again Hence the believing Soul smells that he shall ascend too for where Christ is there he must be The body is there the Eagles shall flee to it one day He is lifted up and every believer shall be drawn after him Our flesh and blood shall inherit the Kingdom of God For 't is in part there already Heaven is the place whither our forerunner is entred Heaven was an open City before the fall Adam and all his Posterity might have entred presently upon the fall it's gates were lockt up the flaming sword of divine Vengeance kept it but the Captain of our Salvation hath now entred and he keeps the gates from shutting any more till every believer be come In 6. Look upon Christ as sitting one the right hand of the Majesty on high So he is a bundle of Myrrh too Is it so saith the Soul Then he hath favour with God and power with God and what need I any more then for my God my Saviour he in whom I have believed to be in favour with the King of Kings and to have power with the Almighty Nay saith the Soul then I am half in Heaven For Eph. 2. 6. We sit together in Heavenly places in Christ Jesus Christ and I are one if he sits there I sit there too For he is flesh of my flesh 7. Lastly look upon Christ as interceding for us Rom. 8. Heb. 7. He is not there Idle his work is to plead for us to sollicit our business to act our part to do our work And thus he is a bundle of Myrrh to every believing Soul When the poor Soul sinks in the thoughts of its sins renewing after justification Christ is a bundle of Myrrh to it 1 Joh. 2 1. If we sin we have an advocate with the Father even Jesus Christ the righteous When the Soul again sinks at the thoughts of its imperfect duties to think that it cannot do a duty but with so many faults that it may fear the wrath of God for it What a bundle of Myrrh it is to the Soul to think well Christ is in Heaven and he will pick out every fault out of this Prayer this duty c. And so present it in the golden censer Incensed with his merits Thus now I have shewed you how Christ is to the believing Soul a bundle of Myrrh Considered as to his actions as our Redeemer It remains further to shew you that he is so also as to his Spiritual influeuces And Lastly in his Gospel institutions and Ordinances And then I shall come to the Application Sermon LIV. Canticles 1. 13. A bundle of Myrrh is my Beloved unto me he shall lie all night betwixt my Breasts I Proceed in opening the bundle or bag or box of Myrrh which makes my Text give a fragrant smell I have shewed that it is Christ who is thus resembled and have propounded to shew you the aptness of the comparison in five things I am yet upon the 4th He is to the believing Soul a bundle of Myrrh for sweetness I proposed to open this in three particulars shewing you that Christ is so 1. In his mediatory actions 2. In his Spiritual influences 3. In his Gospel Institutions and Ordinances I have done with the first and now proceed to the second To shew you the sweetness of Christ to the believing Soul 2. In his Spiritual influences When he ascended upon high saith the Apostle Eph. 4. he gave gifts unto men he gave gifts to his Church his Ordinances Of those the Apostle speaks but he gives other gifts likewise gifts even to the Rebellious Psal 68. All these are summed up under one head The gift of the Spirit This is that which he calls the promise of the Father He was the promise of the Father of old Ezek. 36. 27. It was his promise John 14. 16. I will pray the Father and he shall give you another 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Comforter and he shall abide with you for ever Even the Spirit of truth He is sent in Christs name 26. v. he is called the Spirit of Christ hence the
name O leave us not Sermon LXI Cant. 1. 17. The Beams of our house are Cedar and our Rafters of Fir. THe same Person speaks still which spake in the former verse she had there Commended her beloved and Commended her Bed ever since he came into it she now comes to Commend her and her beloveds house in the words of the Text The Beams of our house are Cedar and our rafters of Fir. The Chaldee Paraph thus glosseth Solomon the Prophet said how beautiful is the house of Lords Sanctuary builded by my hands of Cedar wood But the house of the Lords Sanctuary which is to be builded in the days of the Messias is more beautiful whose Beams are of those Cedars which are in the Paradise of pleasure and the Galleries thereof shall be of Fir Pine c. There are some difficult terms in the Text I must therefore halt a little in the explication of the letter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Beams of our houses The word is used two Kings 6. 2. 5. 2 Chron. 3. 7. where it is translated also a Beam Gen. 19. 8. it is translated a roof it comes from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which in Pihel signifies to lay the Beams of an house the Beams of an house are properly those pieces of timber which bear the whole weight of the building The Beams of our house are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cedar The word properly so signifies It is a word often used in Scripture to express that kind of wood which is called Cedar which with us is very rare with them very frequent and ordinary in building we shall by and by further inquire the nature of it The Common usage of the word in Scripture to express Cedars makes me a little wonder at Montanus his translation of it Larices which signifies a certain tree not known saith Vitruvius but to those that dwelt near the Adriatick sea a kind of wood very useful in buildings because in regard of the great bitterness of the sap it was neither subject to worms nor putrefaction nor to be burnt with fire but I know not whether it was known to the Jews or no nor can see any reason to depart from our translation It follows 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Our Rafters of fire some read our Galleries of Cypress some of Fir some of Pine The word translated rafters is used only in this sense in this place it is also used Gen. 30. 38. v. 41. Exod. 2. 16. but in those Texts it is translated gutters and wells And Cant. 7. 5. where it is translated Galleries Pagnine thinks it signifies the little Beams or pieces of timber in buildings These Rafters saith the Text are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a word which is no where used in Scripture saving only in this Text which hath given Interpreters a liberty to abound in several senses Hierom makes it Cypress so the LXX Vulg. Lat. Syr. Arab. Others Ash Others Fir. Aben Ezra Thinks it the same with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Fir our translators seem to follow that so doth Montanus and Pagnine The Caldee Paraph makes it to be the wood of the Brutine tree of which tree Pliny speaks and tells us that it is like a Cypress tree The boughs white the smell sweet And a great enemy to Poyson having thus far enquired the literal meaning of the terms let us enquire for the real sense we will first enquire 1. Qu. What is here meant by the house mentioned 2. What the Beams and Rafters of this house are 3. What the excellencies of these sorts of woods were Which maketh the Spouse chuse to compare her and her beloveds house to an house builded of these forts of wood 1. Qu. What is here meant by the house mentioned in the Text Our house Whoso considereth that the Beloved here mentioned is the King of glory the Lord of Heaven and Earth who dwells not in houses made with hands will easily conclude it is no fabrick of wood and stone Christ when he was upon the Earth had no such-place where to hide his head and now the Heaven of Heavens contain him that is here meant True it is that the Lord of old chose a particular house in which he was pleased more eminently to manifest his gracious presence in allusion to which his mystical Spiritual habitation may possibly be called his house But this is not it which is here intended The Chaldee Paraphrast makes Solomon in this a Prophet for foretelling an house of God to which Solomons in all its glory was not like The new Testament mentions a double house of God The first more publick viz. The Church 1. Tim. 3. 15. The second more private The Souls and bodies of believers The Apostle tells the Ephesians that they were become an habitation of God through the Spirit and the Apostle dissuades from the Sin of Fornication upon this argument because their bodies were the temples of the Holy Ghost 1 Cor. 6. 19. By the house here I find Interpreters generally understanding the aggregate body of Christians which we call the Church properly enough called the Lords house because as a man dwelleth in his house so the Lord is said to dwell in his Church 2 Cor. 6. 16. God hath said he will dwell amongst his People that he is in the midst amongst them that he walks in the midst of the golden Candlesticks c. So that by our house in the Text the Church is meant in which Christ dwells and the Saints dwell The 2d Question is What is here meant by the Beams and Rafters The Beams of a building you know are those Principal parts which sustain and uphold the building We must therefore inquire what those things or Persons are which do as it were uphold and bear up the Church some understand by these terms Persons others understand things those who understand Persons understand by the Beams the several sorts of Officers in the Church of God Apostles Prophets Evangelists Pastors Teachers By the rafters they understand particular Christians So Gregory Per tignacedrina praedicatores designamus per laquearia cupressina ipsos populos figuramus This seems to be conform to that of the Apostle Eph. 2. 20. you are built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets But Protestant Writers observe that the Apostle there doth not make the Apostles and Prophets the foundation but Christ Preached by them and their Doctrine And thus they interpret Chrysostom Oecumenius Theophylact Tertullian concluding that the Apostles and Prophets could not be called the foundation upon any other account then with respect to their Ministry and the Doctrine of the Gospel Preached by them For other foundation can none lay then what is already laid Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone Non enim respexit rei nomen sed rem nominis saith Chamier others therefore by the Beams and rafters of Christs house mentioned in the Text understand rather things
it are buried up in ruines It is the Word of God that is the Basis of the Church and the Basis of every individual Soul that is a Member of that Church 3. The Beams and Rafters of an House as they support the burthen and bear the weight of the Building so they also unite the parts and sides of it they are the Mediums of Union to it so is the Word and Ordinances to the Church The Word is the Foundation upon which the Church and every particular Soul is builded and the Doctrine of Faith and the Ordinances of God are the means of Union in it I do not think that an Explicit Covenant-Union is necessary to the constitution of a Church I think that Union which the whole Church hath in the Profession of the same Doctrine of Faith and in the practice of the same Ordinances Rules of Worship is sufficient to make up such an Union amongst all Gospel Professors as may justifie the denomination of a Catholick Church And again an agreement in the Profession of the same Faith and the practice of the same Ordinances in the same place is enough to make up a particular Church of God Look as in a Building let the walls be at never so many foot distance one from another yet the beams or dormans that go across the Building unite them together and make them all but one and the same Building So it is with the whole number of Professors scattered over the face of the whole Earth though part of them be in England part in France part in Germany part in other parts of the World yet the same Doctrine and Profession of Faith and the practice of the same Ordinances of Worship running through them all makes the whole but one Body one Church the House of the Living God 4. Look as it is with the Beams and Rafters the purer and stronger and more substantial they are and the more intire and homogeneous they are the stronger the House is So it is as to the Word and Ordinances of God the purer the Doctrine of Faith and Ordinances for Worship are the stronger and better the Church is If the Beams of an House be sappy or rotten or patched up of several heterogeneous pieces the weaker the House is and more subject to fall and to decay So it is with the Church which is the House of the Living God If the Doctrine of Faith owned and professed in it be as it were heart of Oke pure Doctrine taken out of the heart of the Written Word not sappy through the additions of Humane Inventions nor heterogeneous part of it the pure Word of God part of it the meer Fancies and Doctrines of men if the Ordinances for Worship practised in it be pure Ordinances if the Tabernacle be according to the Pattern of the Mount according to the form of sound words and pure Rule of the Gospel the Church is fair and glorious and strong the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it but if otherwise if the Doctrine of Faith professed in it be mingled with the Clay of Humane Fancies and Errours if the Ordinances of Worship practised in it be full of the sap of Traditions and Ceremonies the Church is a declining decaying Church and hath no strength in her The reason is because God will not continue with such a Church The Psalmist saith of the Church God is in the midst of her therefore she shall not fall now they must be golden Candlesticks in the midst of which God walketh But thus much may be sufficient to shew you the propriety of the Metaphor Let me shortly Apply this before I pass on to the other Proposition This in the first place commends unto us the Excellency of the Word of God and the Doctrine of Faith contained in it and the Excellency of Gospel Ordinances they are the Beams and Rafters of the House of God hewed out framed and fitted to the Building by him who was the Master-builder the Lord Jesus Christ and laid by him The Apostle 1 Cor. 3. 10 11. saith that as a wise Master-builder he had laid the Foundation and another builded thereon v. 11. Other Foundation could no man lay than that already laid which is Jesus Christ Christ is called the Church's Fundamentum its Foundation and he is the lapis angularis the corner stone as is contained in the Scripture Saith St. Peter 1 Pet. 2. 6. Behold I lay in Zion a chief corner stone eleâ—t and precious the head of the body Col. 1. 18. He from whom the whole body fitly joyned together and compacted by that which every joynt supplieth according to the effectual working in the measure of every part Eph. 4. 16. Our Divines say that Christ is the Foundation of the Church in a double sense 1. He is Fundamentum Salutis the Foundation of Salvation in the Church The Salvation of every Soul lieth upon his shoulders Act. 4. 12. Neither is there Salvation in any other 2. He is Fundamentum Fidei Cultus the Foundation of Faith and Doctrine of Worship and Order the Foundation of Doctrine and Ordinances I say And as no man can lay any other Foundation of Salvation than Christ so neither can any lay any other Beams of Doctrine or Institutions for Worship but what Jesus Christ hath laid Christ by himself and by his Apostles laid these Foundations and Beams of Doctrine and Worship from the Gospel of Christ and the Writings of the Apostles must be drawn the Articles for the first and the Canons for the latter And the whole Building of the Church depends upon these Foundations and Beams Let the Word of Faith or the Purity of Worship fail from the Church or any part thereof it presently ceaseth to be a Church of God and turns into an Antichristian Synagogue Now I say this commends to every Christian the Doctrine of Faith and the Ordinances of God There is an Excellency in Entity or Being Hence whatsoever it be which gives Being to a thing and without which it would not be at least not such hath a great Excellency in it and the more noble the thing is to which Being is given the more Excellent is the Form by which it hath such Being The Soul of man gives Being to a man The Body without the Soul is but a lump of flesh a piece of Clay the Soul informeth and inliveneth and giveth an Humane Being to it separate that from it and the man is no more Some Philosophers have vainly dreamed of an Amma Mundi a general Soul of the World which should give Form Life Motion to every part of the World Now as the Soul of a man is more excellent than any Souls of Beasts because it is the Principle of a more Noble Being so doubtless if there were any such Universal Soul which gave Life Being Motion Form Union to all the World it would be a more excellent substance than any
particular Soul is But God himself supplieth that place Now The Word and Ordinances of the Gospel though they be not Anima Mundi the Soul of the World Yet they are Anima Eâ—clesiae as it were the Soul of the Church of God without which the Church would be no such thing as the Church of the Living God They are those things which make the Church to be a Church and the whole Church to be but one Church Let this therefore engage every Christian to prize the Word and to prize the Ordinances of the Gospel That 's the first Branch Hence in the second place you may observe what is a sad Symptom of a decaying Church and by this you may also discern a lame and imperfect Church Look as in a Building there are some more principal Beams and pieces of Timber without which there can be no House no Building Others that are integral parts without which the Building is not compleat yet the House may be an House though lame and imperfect So it is in this case without the Doctrine of Faith and some Ordinances of Worship the Church is no Church If any part of the Doctrine of Faith be wanting or corrupted in a Church the Church is however true yet lame and imperfect Suppose a Church wholly want some Ordinances as some do the Ordinances of Ecclesiastical Censures yet they are not by this made no Church if they have the Doctrine of Faith and some Ordinances of Worship much less ought a Church to be so censured for the temporary want or suspension of the Exercise of some Ordinances which was the case of the Jewish Church in the Wilderness as to Circumcision but yet the Church that wanteth such Ordinances is imperfect and lame And again I say this is a sad Symptom of a decaying Church when either the Doctrine of Faith or Ordinances of Worship are denied or corrupted in it for these are the Beams and Rafters of the House and every one grants that House to be a decaying declining House where the Beams and Rafters are rotten We need no further Evidence of this than what we have in God's Epistles to the seven Churches of Asia recorded by St. John in the second and third Chapters of the Revelation The Church of Smyrna was a decaying Church The Doctrine of Balaam and of the Nicolaitans was holden in it The Church of Thyatira was a decaying Church for the Woman Jezebel taught and seduced the Servants of God in it And but a while after these Rafters and Beams being decayed these Houses of God fell and to this very day lie in their rubbish From that time that Jeroboam set up the Calves at Dan and Bethel and the Kings of Judah set up Altars in Groves the Church of the Jews was a declining decaying Church and the Rulers of it and Members of it having no heart timely to repair and reform it the House fell It is true God raised it again after the Captivity but it decaying the second time fell and lies buried in its Ruines this day Thirdly From this Notion may be drawn a great argument both for unity and uniformity Vnity in matters of faith Vniformity in matters of practice The Doctrine of unity in the Church of the Gospel is exceedingly pressed in Scripture scarce is there any one of the Epistles of the Apostles in which it is not again and again pressed Be of one mind there is a double union which is our duty to labour after The first is unit as fidei the unity of faith as to the understanding The second is unit as Charit at is quoad affectum the unity of Love and Charity as to the affections The latter of these hath been highly pleaded for in these sinful and wofully divided times and indeed never more need of it but it hath not been duly considered that considering the corrupt state of man The former union must be the Mother of the latter For as all love is founded in some similitude so this love and affection where it hath any where grown up to its due heighth we shall find hath been founded in the similitude of understanding and de facto it is evident that amongst Christians of different persuasions in the things of God there hath seldom been an intireness of cordial affection Indeed these things ought not to be therefore I do not Commend them nor yet blame the exhortation of brethren of divided Principles to an union in affection forbearing one another where all things have not been alike revealed to all but such is the corruption of our natures that this is rather optandum then sperandum to be wished for rather than hoped for if there could be unity in Judgment and uniformity in practice which the Apostle calls a thinking and a speaking the same things the other union of affection would follow more readily O let us labour for this There is but one truth but one true rule of Worship This Doctrine these rules are contained in the Word of God these are the Beams and Rafters of the Church and if the same Beams and Rafters run through the whole Church and be upon every part of the roof we may expect that the building should be strong and durable on the other side the difference of these Beams and Rafters whiles one Church holds one thing in maâ—ter of faith another Church holdeth another thing nay whiles one particular Christian believes one thing another Christian believes another thing whiles this Church or this Christian Worships God after one way and order another Church or other Christians they Worship God after another way though indeed it is possible their differences may not be so great but they may yet agree in one and the same head the Lord Jesus Christ and so both parties differing may at lest be saved yea it may be their differences are not so great but there may be a just forbearing one of another provided all Christians were of equal understandings or that they rightly understood each other yet doubtless this breach of unity as to matters of Judgment in things relating to the Doctrine of Faith and breach of Vniformity as to matters of practice is a great weakening of the Church of God and much spoileth the beauty and glory of it O therefore study unity and study uniformity you strengthen the building by both these you weaken it by dividing or disagreeing at least to open notice It is to me very remarkable that St. Paul almost in every Epistle presseth these things and Phil. 4. 2. when but two women dissented he thought it worthy of his pains to persuade them to it I beseech Euodias and I beseech Syntyche that they be of the same mind in the Lord. Doest thou therefore O Christian differ from other Christians amongst whom thou livest in any matter of faith or in any matter of practice as to fellowship in Ordinances sit not down Satisfied but labour for this unity for