Selected quad for the lemma: soul_n
Text snippets containing the quad
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A64978
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Christ the best husband: or An invitation of young women unto Christ Delivered in a sermon to young women. By Thomas Vincent, minister sometime of Maudlins Milkstreet, London.
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Vincent, Thomas, 1634-1678.
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1672
(1672)
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Wing V428; ESTC R219230
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16,515
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32
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are indeed some spots in Christs Spouse but there is beauty too and they are growing on farther and farther towards perfection of beauty and hereafter they shall be made perfect in holiness and here they are perfect in their Head they have a covering for their spots I mean the perfect righteousness of Christ through which they are reputed by God as perfectly beautiful 5. That the Lord Jesus Christ doth exceedingly desire the beauty of such as are espoused unto him He greatly desireth to see it and enjoy it in his fellowship with them See this desire after his Spouses beauty Cant. 2. 14. O my dove thou art in the clefts of the rock in the secret places of the stairs let me see thy countenance let me hear thy voice for sweet is thy voice and thy countenance is comely See farther how he admireth the beauty of his Spouse chap. 4. 1. Behold thou art fair my love behold thou art fair He calleth his Spouse his Love being the dear object of his love and he admireth her loveliness he repeats it twice Thou art fair Thou art fair and that with a note of admiration Behold thou art fair and again Behold thou art fair and so he goeth on in the description of her beauty and in the 7th verse he telleth her Thou art all fair my love there is no spot in thee Through his own comliness which he had put upon her he saw nothing but beauty and no spot in her and in the 9th verse we have a wonderful expression of Christ to his Spouse Thou hast ravished my heart my Sister my Spouse thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes with one chain of thy neck The Original word signifieth thou hast un-hearted me or taken away my heart from me the Spouse had got away Christs heart with one of her eyes with her looks and glances of love upon him and he was excedingly taken with the chain of faith and other graces linked together about the neck of her Soul The Lord Jesus doth marvellously delight in the internal beauty of his people and he greatly desireth to see and enjoy it which he doth when they are brought near into the most intimate communion with him The APPLICATION Use 1. For Examination DOth the Lord Jesus Christ the King of Glory invite all the children of men and particularly the daughters of men to be his Spouse and is he so greatly desirous of the beauty of such as are joyned unto him This then should put all of you upon the enquiry whether you are espoused unto Jesus Christ You have been called hereunto have you hearkened You have had great proffers made to you have you considered You have been invited again and again and many arguments have been used with you to prevail with you to come and joyn your selves to the Lord Jesus but have you inclined Have you been perswaded Is the match indeed made up between Christ and your souls If you are espoused unto Christ then 1. You are disjoyned from sin Is the cursed league broken which is naturally between sin and your hearts Before you come to be espoused unto Christ you are as it were espoused and married to sin sin is your Husband and you are tied in its bonds sin doth inhabit with you and dwell in the embracements of your dearest love and delight you care for the things of sin how you may please your flesh and gratifie your inordinate desires and whilst this husband and beloved of your hearts liveth you are not at liberty to be espoused and married unto Jesus Christ and sin liveth in the affections whilst it doth possess the most prevailing liking affections and so long you are knit and linked unto sin examine whether sin hath yet received it's deaths wound in your hearts whether ever the false mask of sin hath been plncked off and the odiousness of it hath been made manifest unto you whether your hearts have been brought to a loathing and detestation of it and so sin killed in your affections and the knot unlosed which hath tyed your hearts unto it Do you indeed hate sin with the greatest and most implacable hatred Is sin mortified and subdued as to its reigning power if sin be dead you are at liberty to be espoused and it is a good evidence that you are espoused unto Jesus Christ. 2. If you be espoused unto Christ then you have been drawn to him by the spirit Ioh. 6. 44. No man can come unto me except the Father which hath sent me draw him and the Father draweth by the Spirit You have had external calls of the Word to come unto Christ have you been called effectually and drawn powerfully irresistably and yet most sweetly by the Spirit unto Jesus Christ Have you had a discovery by the Spirit not only of your necessity of and lost estate without an interest in Christ but also of Christs beauty and transcendent loveliness His excellency and great willingness to give entertainment unto you in this relation and have you been moved and drawn hereby unto him 3. If you be espoused unto Christ then you have laid hold upon him by faith the spirit doth draw unto Christ by working the Grace of Faith and enabling persons to believe in him by Faith Christ is received Ioh. 1. 12. To as many as received him to them gave he power to become the sons of God even to them that believe on his name By believing on Christs name persons do receive Christ in this relation Faith is the hand of the Soul which layeth hold on Christ and by this joyning of the hand with Christ the knot is tyed and the Soul is united to Christ in the relation of a Spouse have you this Grace of Faith wrought in you with power have you received and applied Christ unto your selves have you received him upon his own termes and do you by Faith draw quickning and strengthning influences from him 4. If you be espoused unto Christ then you do embrace him in the arms of your dearest love then you love the Lord Jesus in sincerity and you love him with the supremacy of your love If you love father or mother houses or lands riches or honours delights or pleasures or any thing in the world more than Christ you have no true love to Christ and be sure are not espoused to him but if Christ be chiefly beloved it is an evidence that you are joyned in this relation unto him 5. If you are espoused unto Christ you have acquaintance and converse with Christ and you like his company best and you highly value and diligently attend upon all those Ordinances which are the means of bringing you and Christ together and this is the great thing which you desire and seek after in Hearing and Prayer and at the Table of the Lord that you may have a sight of your Beloved and a taste of his Love and more intimate communion with Him And is acquaintance begun with
unto the most full and everlasting possession of your beloved And what do yon now say young women shall I have a grant for my Master or be sent away with a repulse and refusal Methinks by this time ye should begin to have a mind unto Jesus Christ You look as if you did desire you hearken as if you would consent what do you say shall the match be made up this day between Christ and your souls may I be instrumental to joyn your hands or rather your hearts together may I be instrumental to tye that knot which can never be untied Some marry in haste and repent at leisure but if you were once espoused unto Jesus Christ you would never repent nothing would grieve you but that you were joyned unto him no sooner and you would not be disjoyned again for all the world Shall this be the day of your espousals Some of you have stayed a long time and will you deferr any longer If you will not now it may be Christ will not another time if you refuse now Christ calleth and inviteth Christ may refuse when you call and intreat this may be the last time of asking and therefore it is dangerous to refuse Some of you are very young too young for other espousa's but none of you are too young for this espousal unto Jesus Christ in other espousals you must have the consent of Parents but in this you are at your own dispose you may give and ought to match your selves to Christ whether Parents do consent or no. Qu. But what shall we do that we may be espoused unto Jesus Christ Answ. 1. Be sensible of your need of Christ and this espousal unto him without which you are slaves unto sin and Sathan children of wrath hated by Godhere and in danger of eternal ruine in the other world and therefore that there is a necessity of this relation unto Christ that you may hereby be interested in his redemption and salvation 2. Labour for longing desires after this relation unto Christ he desires that you would be his Spouse and do you desire that you may be espoused to him desire it chiefly and desire it earnestly and for this end consider the motives which I have spread before you to excite your desires after Christ. 3. Diligently seek after this relation to Christ attend upon the Ordinances which God hath appointed to be the means of bringing and joyning you and Christ together such as hearing the word prayer c. seek after Christ in hearing and rest not in the outside of the duty and cry mightily to God in prayer that he would draw you and joyn you by his spirit unto his Son 4. Put off your filthy garments I do not speak of the garments about your bodies but of the filthy raggs of sin which are about your Souls you must lay aside all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness all pride and envy and malice and worldliness and inordinate affection and evil concupisence and every other defiling lust these are the old clothes of the old man which must be put off if you would be espoused unto Christ. 5. Put on the white raiment and clean garments and rich robes which Christ hath provided for you I mean the attire of grace the robes of his perfect righteousness in these garments you will be beautiful and accepted 6. Reach forth the hand of faith and lay hold on him consent that you will have him and receive him upon his own tearms and he is yours for ever 7. Devote your selves to him body and soul and all to be his for ever and then you may say My Beloved is mine and I am his and then happy happy you that ever you were born 2. To you that are espoused unto Jesus Christ 1. Admire and adore that rich and free grace which hath chosen and brought you into this relation say Not unto us not unto us but unto thy name be the praise Say O wonderful wonderful wonderful Love that we should be made the Spouse of Christ We that had no Beauty we that had no Dowry that we who embraced Dunghils should be taken into the embracements of the Lord O Infinite condescending kindness 2. See that you give reverence unto Christ to whom you are espoused He is your Lord and you must reverence and stand in awe of him take heed of pride passion discontent with your condition murmurings under affliction and every other sin which is displeasing to Christ and unbecoming the reverence which you owe to him 3. Be loving and faithful unto Christ receive not any creature in the world into the embracements of that dearest love which doth belong to your espoused Husband love him supremely and love him ardently and labour to increase in love to him daily 4. Be subject unto Christ and careful to please him in every thing be ready to yeild universal obedience unto whatsoever he shall reveal to you to be his will 5. Endeavour to mantain daily communion with him in his Ordinance desire not ordinances for themselves but for the sake of Christ grieve when he withdraws and is absent rejoyce when he draws near and manifesteth his presence 6. Look and long and prepare for Christs second appearance when the nuptials between you shall be solemnized and you taken to live with him for ever in mansions of everlasting joyes FINIS