hath made her self ready Psal 45. 9. Kings Daughters were among thy Honourable Women upon thy right hand did stand the Queen in Gold of Ophir ver 14. She shall be brought unto the King in Raiment of Needle Work It will be very Glorious Raiment That shall cause her to shine as the Sun in the Kingdom Mat. 13. 43. Seventhly There is great joy in the Marriage Chamber so will it be in this Spiritual Marriage as it resembles the Kingdom of Heaven Revel 19. 7. Let us rejoyce and be glad and give Honour to him for the Marriage of the Lamb is come No Tongue can express the Glorious rejoycing of that day the Heavenly Musick will then strike up Rev. 5. 8 9 10. Chap. 15. 3. 4. Now shall the Bride and Bridegroom solace themselves in each others love unspeakably beyond the Joy of any other Bride-Groom and Bride in all the World The third thing propounded is to note some things wherein this and other Marriages do not resemble each other As first All the appointing inviting preparing rejoycing compleating and finishing is all upon a natural account and the other all upon a Spiritual account as hath been already shown And as it is natural and not spiritual so also it is temporal and not perpetual First All other Wedding days have an end but this shall never end For those that dye before Christs comming shall be both caught up to meet the Lord in the Air and so shall be ever with the Lord These are words to comfort one another withal 1 Thes 4. 17 18. Secondly In other Weddings they put off their VVedding Apparel again but it is not so here Daniel 13. 3. They that be Wise shall shine as the brightness of the Firmament and those turn many to Righteousness as the Stars for ever and ever Thirdly In all other wedding feasts those that partake thereof will hunger again and thirst again but not so in this Spiritual Marriage Isa 49. read from ver 8. to ver 13. Rev. 7. 16 17. Fourthly In other Marriages the joy and the sound of the Musick ceases but in this Spiritual Marriage they shall sing the Song of Moses and the Lamb eternally Rev. 4. 8 9 10 11. Fifthly In other Marriages the beauty and comliness of the Bride decays in a little time but not so here in the Kingdom there shall be no withered faces nor eyes sunk in their holes no aking Backs nor feeble Limbs Zach. 12. 8 Sixthly All other Bridegrooms and their Brides must part again in a little time Oh how soon is their days of Feasting and joy turned into sorrow and mourning and those that did follow them to the VVedding in a little time follow them to the Grave This daily experience proves But this Heavenly Bridegroom never shall never will part with his lovely Bride No Death is now Conquer'd and were it not it could not seperate between the Bride-groom Christ and his Bride the Church no nor with any one Member of it Rom 8. 35. 36 37 38 39. Seventhly In other Marriages the Guests and the Bride are distinct but not so in this for every one that cometh to the Marriage upon the call or invitation shall be a Member of the Bride and shall enjoy full Communion with the Bridegroom 1 John 1. 3 4. That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you that ye also may have fellowship with us and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ These things Write we unto you that your joy may be full Psal 16. 11. In thy presence is fulness of Joy and at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore Fourthly The fourth thing and the last is to consider how we may improve this Parable to our own Advantage 1. Vse And first It shows us how we ought to admire the goodness of God in sending to invite us poor blind lame high-way Vagrants to come to the Glorious Marriage That we who were Children of Wrath by nature Eph. 2. 3. And had been long treasuring up Wrath against the day of Wrath and Revelation of the Righteous Judgment of God should be invited in Rom. 2. 5. Oh infinite mercy that we Who were dead in trespasses and sins should be quickned and that together with Christ and saved by Grace Oh that the Lord should pass by the wide VVorld and send his Gospel into this poor Island and plant it here and continue i◠here so long a time as he hath done notwithstanding all the opposition to the contrary nay notwithstanding the slight esteem of it and the little improvement that hath been made by this poor Nation of this so Rich a mercy Oh! how hath the Lord been sending his Servants among us raising them up and furnishing them with the Choice Gifts of his Spirit who have spent their time and strength to serve the Lord in the Ministry of the Gospel but Oh! How few have hearkened to the Call Do not most say with the Jew◠we cannot come we have other work to do and have not many evil 〈…〉 them that have been sent unto them to say no worse of it but let those that fear the Lord and have been moderate to come in at the Call say let the Lord be praised seeing he hath left a great part of the world to worship the Devil a great part to worship Mahomet and a great part of the world to worship the Beast Rev. 13 8. All these are without the Gospel without any means to come to the right knowledge of God and Christ Nay they have that which is a great deal worse then nothing being deceived by those Impostures whose work it is to bewitch poor souls and to prevent them of good any good and make them seven fold more the Children of Wrath by their means But blessed be your Eyes that you see and your Ears that you hear Oh let it be the care of every one that hath tasted that the Lord is gracious to be by all means endeavouring to shew forth the praises of him that hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light 1 Pet. 2. 9 Secondly A second use to be made of this Parable is to examine whether we have hearkened to the invitation or no and to help herein the Scripture doth afford us many rules to try by I shall name some First Note As first If we have indeed hearkned to the Lords Call then your understanding is enlightned which before was dark Compare Eph. 1. 18. with the 4. 18. By this we come to know what is the riches of the Glory of his inheritance in the Saints and what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward that beleive which we understood not before by this new Light we come to see how miserable our estate was by nature and what necessity of being brought out of that state or else that eternal VVrath must have been our Portion By this we come to see an
in this is like those Men that are called Spirits that flatters Children with fair words and fine toyes to go with them till they have got them out of the reach of all relief and then and not till then they will let them see they are certainly Slaves past all Recovery Oh be not such Children as to be flatter'd with worldly toyes out of the hope of Heavenly joyes and so suffer your selves to be carried into endless woes For remember till you tack about you are nearer Hell every day and so consequently further off from God and Christ and Glory O â—emember whither you are going and turn again before it be too late Let not Christ say of you as of the Jews Ye will not come to me that you might have life John 5. 40. O that poor men and women would take Counsel of Wisdom crying after them Prov. 1. 20 21 22 23 24. Turn as my Reproof I will pour out my Spirit unto you I will make known my words unto you O harken before it be too late hear that your Souls may live Isa 55. 3. Let not Satan get you one step nearer Hell before you turn 3. Motive Those Souls that delay to return and come in upon the invitation will make their work more hard and difficult if ever they do reform First Because the longer they go on in sin the more hardned they will be in sin Heb. 3. 13. But exhort one another daily while it is called to day viz. While the day of Grace and opportunity last lest any of you be hardned by the deceitfulness of sin Sin is deceitful and the Devil is deceitful and mans heart is deceitful and these three agree in one Jer. 17. 9. Even to deceive poor Souls with the Golden Baits of worldly injoyments till Repentance be hid from their Eyes And so their Oyl be to seek when the Bride-groom comes and the door be shut Secondly It will be difficult to return after long delays because Custome is as it were a second nature Jer. 13. 25. Can the Ethiopian change his Skin or the Leopard his Spots then may ye also do good that are accustomed to do evil We know Old Ulcers are hardly hardly Clensed and Cured when an ease and speedy Cure may be made of a Green Wound Poyson when it is first taken may be expel'd but by continuance in the body till it have insected the Vitals the Cure will be very difficult and hazardous 3 ly The longer we go on in sin the more difficult will be our return because one sin draws on another and so we shall have more sins to repent of and the more work we have to do the more discouragement will be as to the undertaking of it Repentance is of necessity and seeing it is so it will be easier to repent of sin betime It is a kind of madness for a man to go on in a Trade that he knows he must repent that ever he medled with it and must throw it off or else it will utterly undo him every one will say The sooner the better Better to be rid of such an Imployment that a man loses by every day we lose by sin every day and treasure up wrath against the day of wrath If a fire kindle upon our House the way to quench it is not to add more fuel to it Now Sin sets Soul and Body on fire And the breath of the Lord as a stream of Brimstone doth kindle it Isa 30. 33. The Devil knows what he does in perswading Souls to delay their coming in at the first Call he knows that the work of returning will be more difficult If a Nail be but entred it may be easier pull'd out then if by continual knocking it is driven up to the head To add sin to sin is as to add to a burden to make it to be carried the more easily This is like what is said Deut. 29. 19. When the Curse of God is pronounced against sin and one say I shall have peace though I walk in the imaginations of my own heart to add Drunkerness to Thirst See what the Lord saith ver 20. The Lord will not spare him but his anger and his Jealousie shall smoak against him and all the Curses that are Written in this Book shall lye upon him O then take heed of delays for the work will be more difficult to morrow then it is to day O then while it is called to day harden not thy heart 4. Motive Come in quickly for else thou may'st not have so much time to serve the Lord as thou hast spent in serving the Devil who is thy deadly Enemy who intends nothing but thy eternal Ruine 5. Motive Consider thou hast run a great hazard all this while the Lord might have cut asunder the thred of thy life before now and thou mightest have dropt into Hell from whence there is no Redemption and wilt thou venture still if once he strike he will strike home 6. Motive Consider what thou losest by delays First Thou losest the presence of God the Communion of Saints the comfort of the Holy Spirit which although the wicked men count the Godly fools and think they live a mopish uncomfortable life yet is their joy as the joy of Harvest and as those that find a great spoil Isa 9. 3. see 1 Joh. 1. 4. Psal 16. 11. see 1 Pet. 1. 8. So that by delaying to come at the first although at last thou do come yet thou art a great loser in regard of that early joy which thou mightest have had by comming in sooner For the Lord doth not call upon thee to come and make thy condition worse than before It is a madness to think that the Devils service is more comfortable then Gods Secondly Thou losest the advantage of becomming famous in grace and holiness if a man be in a thriving way yet if he fall into it but a little before he dye he is not like to be very Rich. Oh therefore hearken to the Call betime that so thou may'st be rich in Grace rich in good Works and then thou shalt have a rich Reward in the Kingdom of Glory Thirdly By delayes thou may'st lose all and come as the Foolish Virgins did Mat. 25. When the Door was shut and as those Mat. 7. 22. That Prophesied in the Name of Christ and cast out Devils in his Name anâ— yet cannot be admitted When once the Master of the house is risen up and hath shut to the Door Luk. 13. 25. It will be then no boot 〈◊〉 knock and this is a loss indeed to lose the favour of God the love of Christ the fellowship of the Holy Spirit the Communion of all the blessed Angels and Saints thou losest Heaven and happiness and all the Glory and Felicity which was tendered to thee in the invitation But that is not all but those that lose God gain the Devil those that lose Heaven gain Hell which gain is a dreadful loss
hearts till they saw themselves lost by sin and obnoxious to the Wrath of God by reason thereof We will never go to the Physitians till we be sick Labour to affect thy heart with the filthy nature of sin it made Glorious Angels ugly Devils if man that was made after the Image of God more vile then a Toad or Serpent Yea one Sin brought a Curse upon the whole VVorld then consider what a World of Sins will do to one man Again consider that although thou have forgot most of thy sins which are without number God hath not forgot any of them but they are all charged in Gods Book till Repentance wipe out the Score Again consider That so long as thou continuest in thy sinful state thou art pleasing and serving the Devil instead of God and he is thy God though thou think not so it may be Again consider How little time thou hast for so great a work as to make thy Calling and Election sure and it may be a great deal less then thou art aware of Then again consider The infinite Grace and patience of God thou mightest have been in Hell stand and wonder thou art not O let mercy melt thee let Grace move thee let this love of Christ constrain thee he that dyed for sinners to save them from their sins and from the Wrath of God 1 Pet. 3. 18. 1 Thes 1. 10. He hath sent his Servants to compel thee to come in by Wooings beseechings intreatings then why wilt thou famish among the Swine seeing there is a plentiful Marrriage Feast prepared for thee if thou wilt but come and accept of it Come then without delay for all things are ready God hath given Christ Christ hath given himself he hath ascended up on high and given Gifts unto Men for the perfecting of the Saints for the work of the Ministry Eph. 4. And he hath made his Ministers willing to spend and be spent for the good of poor Souls in all Ages Many of which have witnessed a good Confession unto Death for the sake of poor Souls He hath given us his Laws his Ordinances his Scriptures Yea and will give us his Spirit also if we will but come and ask it Prov. 1. 22. Come therefore for all things are ready Prov. 9. 1 2 3 4. Quest But what must I do that I may be welcome when I do come Answ First Come willingly and cheerfully come as a hungry man goes to a Rich Dinner for such are invited Rev. 22. 17. Joh. 7. 37. Luke 1. 53. Such have the promise Mat. 5. 6. Secondly Come prepared with a Wedding Garment 1. Direct First Be sure put off all thy Old Rags of Sin and Ungodliness Isa 55. 6. 7. 2. Direct Secondly Put off all the Rags of thy Unrighteousness Isa 64. 6. For although thou must do good works to glorifie God and do good to men yet take heed of making this thy Wedding Garment for which thou would st be accepted Secondly Having put off thy old Rags put on the New Robe of Christs Righteousness that fine Linnin Rev. 19. 8. Put ye on the Lord Jesus Rom. 13. 14. 3. Direct Thirdly Take heed of defiling thy Garments for those that are careful in this Shall walk with the Bride groom in White in the Marriage Chamber Rev. 3. 4. We see among People a great care to have the body adorned but O the little care of keeping themselves unspotted of the World that is to be found among many When they are to go into the presence of the King to stand before him and to hear his voyce in the Ministry of his VVord I am afraid many professing Godliness take more care and spend more time to have their Garments fashionable and compleat and their Attire neatly set then they do to have their Souls trimmed for to come before the Bridegroom the time spent in Prayer is but little which many before they go before the Lord that they might be helped to serve God acceptably with Reverence and Godly fear as Heb. 12. 28. I desire that our fine fashionable People would Read conscionably 1 Pet. 3. 3. 4. 5. That they might lay aside their bables and learn of the Holy Women that trusted in God to adorn themselves I fear indeed that while so much care is taken for the Body to adorn it it is no other then the Fruit of a proud heart which renders a person more odious in the Eyes of the King of Heaven then the nastiest Begger with his Lousie Rags would be in the presence of an Earthly King Pride is not the only defiling sin there are more attending it for there must be Covetousness to maintain pride and as pride promotes Covetousness so also Uncharitableness is Prides Hand-maid But in a word every sin is a stain in the VVhite Linen O therefore watch against evil words with David 93. Psal 1. VVatch against thoughts Jer. 4. 14. VVatch against evil actions And in order hereunto labour against a Carnal frame a Dead frame a Backsliding frame and labour after Calebs frame Who followed the Lord fully and the Lord brought him unto the promised Land when others fell in the Wilderness Even so the Lord if thou follow him fully and faithfully will certainly bring thee into Eternal Rest with the Bride Croom when others are shut out among the Dogs see Rev. 21. 7 8. and Chap. 22. 14 15. Again As thou art careful to have admittance into the Marriage-Chamber to have a VVedding Garment and to have it clean so be careful of thy Family wouldst thou not be glad to have thy Friends and Relations admitted take heed thou do not promote sin nor countenance sin in any It is grievous to see how many Parents promote Pride in their Children dressing them up with toys which is as it was a watering of that Cursed Root You may observe how the Child will mince and jet when it is made more fine then ordinary And so by this means instead of bringing them up in the nurture and Admonition of the Lord They further them in the service of the Devil But I must close all Now therefore to that end thee and thine may not fail of entertainment in the Marriage Chamber pray often and earnestly not only publickly but also privately Hear the word of God constantly conscionably and diligently labour to retain it carefully prove what thou hearest knowingly and what thou findest to be the mind of God practice it faithfully bring duty into practice effectually and zealously and God shall make thee happy eternally FINIS