of the Scriptures The Silver pillars can never be made the golden bottom can never be laid the Church can never be covered with the purple covering the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ if there be not a right understanding of the Scriptures taught Those that are builders of the Lords Chariot and understand not the Scriptures in stead of making Silver pillars and laying the golden bottom they lay a foundation of wood and trash In stead of building with Gold and Silver and precious stones which will not decay they build with timber hay and stubble which will rot and consume And hence it comes to pass that in stead of cloathing the distressed Conscience with the righteousness of Christ and paving the way for the Soul to come to Christ and making of those Scriptures easy to be understood which seem to stand in direct opposition to faith it so falls out that the way to justification and life seems to be crooked rough and unpaved even to the builders themselves so that in the midst of their work they are many times at a stand and in stead of building fall at difference amongst themselves some build for Christ and others build for Antichrist and all this comes to pass for want of a right understanding of the Scriptures Not that there is a necessity of the understanding of all Scripture in building the Chariot but of the principal parts of the word such as are essential to a mans being and living in the state of grace Such Scriptures as concern the Doctrine of justification and life Eternal without the works and righteousness of man and of the behaviour of the Soul under the sight and feeling of sin and the apprehension of mercy by which Doctrine only the Church is built And there are two principal parts in the Scripture the Law and the promise both which in respect of their use and office are of great concernment Some when they make use of the Law do so interpret it that they take away the glory of mans Salvation from God and give it to men these interpret without a rule and for want of the rule to understand the Scripture by which is the Divine Testimony of the holy Ghost their building falls and all their labour is lost For all Scripture is given by Divine inspiration therefore seeing the holy Ghost is the inditer he ought also to be the interpreter No Scripture being of any private interpretation from which it follows that he that will be sure that the sence which he giveth is right must have his authority from the holy Ghost to warrant his exposition to be true To believe as the Church believes is not the rule to understand the Scriptures by for the Church may erre and when she erreth from the publick interpretation of the holy Ghost her interpretation is private and not to be received Now as in all Arts and Sciences the first principles are proving and not to be proved so in the Scriptures And as the first principle in Divinity is the Scripture So the first principle in the Scripture is the first Commandment Thou shalt have no other Gods but me Mar. 12.28 Hos 13.4 Esa 43.11 Thou shalt know no God but me for there is no Saviour besides me Which if thou understandest according to the Gospel it is this Thou shalt know no other love no other delight in nor depend upon any other righteousness but mine whereby to become righteous in the sight of God Which righteousness of God is not the righteousness of the Law perform'd in thine own person but the righteousness of faith which is manifested without the Law So that the first Commandment driveth thee from the Law Rom. 3.21 This seemeth to be the meaning also of Paul I through the Law am dead to the Law Gal. 2.19 Gen. 19.17 1 Sam. 20.38 He that will spiritually perform the Law must wholly renounce it in the matter of justification Esa 40. to seek for righteousness in Christ The Gospel calleth thee to come and the first Commandment biddeth thee begon It saith to thee as the Angels did unto Lot hast thee thither escape for thy life stay thou not in all the plain And as Jonathan said to David when Saul intended evil against him run make speed hast stay not the arrows are beyond thee By which thou mayest see that the Law notwithstanding it requireth of thee Active obedience before men yet it requireth thee to become passive and wholly to renounce it in thy obtaining Righteousness before God Wherefore if thou wilt be a builder of King Solomons Chariot to make the Sillver pillars and to lay the golden bottom learn thou by the first Commandment to pave the way to make the crooked places straight and the rough places plain that poor distressed Consciences may come to Christ that so when any stumbling block is cast into the way about the righteousness of the Law to hinder the distressed Conscience from closing with Christ thou mayest easily remove it by the proving principle Otherwise if thou drawest the Law into the matter of justification thou walkest contrary to the first Commandment and also sinnest against the Gospel blockest up the way and shuttest fast the door of the Kingdom of Heaven Pro. 25.4 Learn therefore by thy Doctrine to separate the dross from the Silver so shall there proceed a vessel for the finer 2 Tim. 2.20 Then shalt thou make vessels of Gold and Silver even vessels of Honour Some stones in the building of the Temple were set for glittering stones 1 Cor. 29.2 to make a shining if thou receivest no other interpretation of any Scripture but what is agreeable to the first Commandment then shalt thou become a glittering stone in the Church of God then shall the house of God be magnifical 1 Chro. 22.5 and full of Fame and Dignity then shall thy Doctrine shine and make a great light Hitherto hath been shewed what the Chariot is and what is principally needful for the building of it now next it is shewed for whom the Chariot is made or why men are made so skilful by Christ to work in Gold and Silver and Purple and other curious works to cover the sinful Conscience from the wrath of God it is for the daughters of Jerusalem But why Jerusalem In all ages of the Church the people of God were to seek him where he had promised to be found And God made promise that where ever he should place the Ark there he would meet his people and bless them Which Ark of God was sometimes in Shiloh Exod. 25.22 sometimes in Zion the City of David but when Solomon had builded the Temple then it was brought by the Priests and Levites into the Temple at Jerusalem and then the promise was there And as God made promise to Solomon at the dedication of the Temple that his eyes and his heart should be there perpetually So the faithful in their prayers
were always to pray towards Jerusalem So that who ever he were that sought after God either to hear any thing from him or to receive any thing of him he must seek him in Jerusalem But now the corporal Jerusalem is destroyed the Ark is to be sought for in the new Jerusalem Which Ark is Baptism For as the promise of Gods presence then was where ever the Ark by Gods appointment was plac'd So the promise of Christs presence now is where Baptism is preserved aright Mat. 28. Baptism then is the Ark in the new Jerusalem Not a resting in the work done and corrupting the nature of it but where the true reason of its institution is taught and preserved Rev. 21.3 Therefore the Tabernacle of God is said to be with men and our bodies to be the visible Temples of the Holy Ghost Cor. 2.6 in regard of Baptism our Spiritual Ark. Wherefore the Chariot being made for the Daughters of Jerusalem it meaneth for those that are brought up under the Ark. For Jerusalem is the Mother because she abideth by the Ark she sticketh fast to the promises of God and instructeth all her Childeren in the same To those and to all those that are visible members of the Church is the word of God sent for although the blessing in the word be received but by a few yet the tender on Gods part is universal and must not be denied that those for whom it is prepared may receive it and they that refuse may be left without excuse Some will allow that all shall hear the word but deny their free admission to the Sacrament of the Lords-Supper But the Ark being the ground of Church-communion as aforesaid so long as the Ark remains right to the Lords Supper doth remain For nothing can cause the loss of any Church priviledg but the want of that which is Essential to its being now Baptism being Essential to all Church priveledges till Baptism be renounced right to all Church priviledges must remain Besides Heb. 11.4 Deut. 14.23 Rom. 15.8 all the Sacraments that ever were were incitements to faith and piety instituted on purpose to teach men to believe as is easy enough to be seen being all preparatives to faith and holiness and not effects therefore none must be debarr'd but all admitted Exod. 12.23 Else how shall the faith of the Church become Sacramental which faith was never wanting to the Church in any age And as the word belongs to the Children of the Ark and to all of them Joh. 1.31 Luk. 22.20 so it belongs to none but only them None can demonstrate that ever any people had a visible interest in the Scriptures Psal 147. Rom. 3. Acts 10.17.13 24. and to the interpretation thereof but only those people whom God first plac'd and also preserved under the external signs of his Covenant Jerusalem is the Mother because she bringeth forth Children under the Ark not in bringing forth Children before she cometh to the Ark So likewise they are not daughters of Jerusalem that count themselves holy and Saints before they come to the Ark all that teach that Doctrine pertain to another Mother and not to Jerusalem which is above the Mother of us all All those pertain to Sinai which is in bondage with her Children and not to the new Jerusalem the celestial and Heavenly City Therefore let us not despise the Riches of our beloved and lose so great a Treasure but seeing he is so bountiful unto us as to let us hear his word to make us his Chariot that we might have communion with himself be saved from an evil Conscience and from his everlasting wrath and be brought to live in glory with him for ever hereafter let us thank and bless his holy name and joyfully embrace his favour And let us also learn so to understand his word that we may receive the Heavenly gift of God that is sent unto us and so to understand the Sacraments that thereby we may be drawn to faith and true repentance Which that we may learn we must diligently mark what here next follows VERSE XI Go forth ye Daughters of Zion and behold King Solomon with the Crown wherewith his Mother Crowned him in the day of his espousals and in the day of the gladness of his heart IN which words the Holy Ghost directeth the Daughter of Zion to a right behaviour of Soul in receiving that Doctrine wherewith the Chariot is made which is to go forth and behold By which words he rightly teacheth what the righteousness of the Gospel is not to rest in our selves but by faith to behold King Solomon with his Crown And also how the righteousness of Christ shall be received and kept even by going forth from depending upon our own inherent righteousness These are the two most Excellent and most useful points above all others and ought above all things to be preferred Which Doctrine we rightly learn when we submit our selves to the comdemnation of the Law and suffer our selves by faith to be divorced from the Law Else what doth it avail us to hear that the righteousness of Christ is ever so excellent a thing if we be not instructed by the Gospel how to be divorced from our own Now in this thing Christ differeth from all Teachers for the wisdom of man Teacheth after this sort if thou wilt attain to faith in Christ and be assured thereof do the Law keep the Commandments of God but the wisdom of the Holy Ghost saith the clean contrary go forth and behold King Solomon with his Crown For this Act of faith in going forth to behold is not to do the Law but wholly to depart from the Law So that rightly to behold King Solomon with his Crown is wholly to forget and lose the Law This place therefore teacheth us how the righteousness of the Ten Commandments may be attained not by our doing the works of the Law but by faith in Christ without the Law Even by beholding the Kingdom and victory of our Lord Jesus Christ to be given to us freely This matter concerneth the conscience and therefore it had need be well learned Therefore when thou feelest thy sin and fearest the wrath to come confess it to God and ask forgiveness for Christs sake with a believing heart then hast thou spiritually fulfill'd the Law forasmuch as the righteousness of Christ is given to thee as soon as thou feelest and confessest thy condemnation by the Law which thing thou oughtest to beleive it being the chief Corner-Stone in building the Kingdom of Christ in thy distressed Conscience Therefore who ever thou art that wouldest attain to righteousness before God and also to true peace and comfort in thy Conscience learn thou the way how to attain the same even by faith in Christ without the works of the Law to go forth and behold King Solomon with his Crown Now the Crown betokeneth the victory that Christ hath gotten over the
which is the only thing and foundation whereupon all our happiness doth depend Let all men therefore learn to humble themselves for their wants in this thing and earnestly beg of God that his word may be purely taught Where this knowledg is not little fruit appears in the Valley the Vine flourisheth not there but the miserable Conscience is shut up in Prison and darkness but where this spiritual skill is learn'd there and there only the Pomegranates do bud and a wonderful and suddain change is made according as it here followeth VERSE XII Or ever I was aware my Soul made me like the Chariots of Amminadib AMminadib as some think was the chiefest Chariot driver either in Solomons or in Pharaohs Chariot and which had the most Famous Horses which upon a suddain would be at the place desired This was the Churches condition as soon as she came into the Nut Garden she understood upon a suddain the right way to her beloved as soon as ever the nut was crack'd she began to tast of the kernel and or ever she was aware she became like the Chariots of Amminadib She met with that upon a suddain which she had long desired for And thus it is with us when ever we come into the garden of the Lord where nuts are plenty where the vine flourisheth aright or ever we are aware the Pomegranates begin to bud the fruits of the valley begin to appear within us and we are setled in peace and joy And in that she says my Soul made me It meaneth the understanding which being illuminated and sanctified filleth the will and affections with joy and Heavenly delight VERSE XIII Return return O Shulamite that we may look upon thee return return THese words are also the voice of the Church and by the Shulamite she meaneth a party in the Church which do dissent from her principles in matters of faith and life which she notwithstanding calleth the Shulamite being a general Title belonging to all in the visible Church from Shulamith which is peaceable so call'd being under a Covenant of peace and being the Daughter of Jerusalem Heb. 7. or Shalem which signifies peace and his Tabernacle is also said to be in Shalem To this Shulamite or contrary party in the Church she saith return return which words being so often doubled do shew that she is not only confident of her own Doctrine and way but also that she earnestly desireth the welfare of the Shulamite and a more near and Spiritual communion with her for she says return that we may look upon thee that is with delight and comfort for what inward and comfortable fellowship can there be so long as there remains a contrariety in points of Faith Therefore it is the longing desire of the Bride that they might dwell together in unity But mark we what followes What will ye see in the Shulamite as it were the Company of two Armies These words I conceive to be the voice of Christ and it is as much as to say that which thou wouldest see in the Shulamite thou canst not for in the Shulamite there are two Companies of Prophets are Preachers of the word and they band themselves one against the other like two Armies And the difference between them is the case being rightly stated about this one Question Which is the proving principle in the Scriptures Whether the Law must be expounded by the Gospel or the Gospel expounded so as it may accord with the Law The answering of this Question The extent of the principles of all Heriticks Sects and Seducers being rightly examined they will be found to clash against the Gospel in the Doctrine of justification endeth all controversies in the Church Forasmuch as all differences about Religion do Center in this point Hence it is that what is affirmed by the one overthrows the Law in the matter of justification and what is affirmed by the other overthrows the Gospel in the same point For when the Bride defineth faith to be a believing in Christ without works only because of God the promiser totally excluding the Law the Shulamite and all others that are enemies to the Gospel do define faith to be a believing in Christ by reason of works totally excluding the Gospel Now to decide this controversy it must be noted that the first principles as is shewed elsewhere in this Song are proving and therefore all other Scriptures must be expounded by them Song 3.10 And that as the first principle in Divinity is the Scriptures Hos 13.4 so the first principle in the Scriptures is the Gospel or the first Commandment which drives us to the Gospel which comes all to one for the first word of all is hear O Israel I am the Lord thy God Mark 12.29 which words are the Gospel Wherein God bindeth himself to us without any thing of ours then follows the first Commandment This point rightly understood draweth us into the practise of all good works because it unbindeth us from the rigour of the Law and filleth the mind and Conscience with the love of God which is the ground of all obedience which prohibites our dependance upon any other righteousness but the righteousness of God set before us in the Gospel And also forbids all such definitions of faith and all such interpretations of the Law which strengthen in man an opinion of the Law and works Now the Gospel being the first word and proving principle therefore such a sense must be found of all those Scriptures that promise justification to mans Active doing of the Law as may be suitable to the Gospel and mortify mans opinion of the Law and works But thou wilt say how shall I do that I answer doing in Divinity hath by reason of the Gospel a new signification which is to justify God and is not to be understood when justification is promised to it of a moral doing but of such a spiritual passive doing which is incomprehensible to mans reason whereby thou submittest to the wrath of the Law and flyest from it by faith to Christ who createth in thee a new opinion of the Law which is to walk in the works thereof without dependance upon them which obedience Paul teacheth thee to call a serving in newness of Spirit And thus mayest thou easily give an answer to all opposers of the Gospel Moreover this must also comfort us when we are in great tribulations when we are in doubt of his care and providence in respect of outward things or any way perplexed with the fear of Gods wrath For then will the Law begin to work in us after this manner these things thou hast done and thou canst not deny it and therefore thy judgment is just and nothing shall appear before thine eyes which way thy fears shall be prevented now in this condition if thou expoundest the Gospel according to the Law then shall thy faith be overwhelmed and only the Law shall reign