Behold O Lord for I am in distresse Out of the belly of Hell she cryes as Jonas chap. 2. First She beleeves that she shall suffer no more than she is able to beare 2 Cor. 12.9 My grace shall be sufficient for thee For Gods strength is made perfect in the Christians weaknesse Secondly She beleeves that she shall beare no more than shall be for her good Rom. 8.28 All things shall worke together for the good of those that love God She hath a Promise or two here to leane upon also Job 5. v. 19. He shall deliver thee in six troubles yea in seven there shall no evill touch thee And Isa 43.2 When thou passest through the waters I will be with thee and through the Rivers they shall not over flow thee when thou walkest through the fire thou shalt not be burnt neither shall the flame kindle upon thee She comes out also leaning trusting upon God as before that he would help her out if he saw best or support her in so when she is come out she beleeves that God loves her never the worse neither doth she love him any whit the worse she cryes It is good for me that I was afflicted When she is in she beleeves she shall come out and she commeth out with as much love to her God and confidence in him as ever she had before not being weary of Gods service because he hath smitten her She sees a smile in a smiting favour in a frowne love in a lowre and she is resolved though he kils her yet to trust in him she comes out of this wildernesse leaning A fourth wildernesse that the Spouse is in sometimes is the wildernesse of Temptations Even in this she leanes upon the Lord Jesus Christ They were not the Spouses of Christ The good ground Luk. 8.13 Which when they heard received the Word with joy but having no root for a time beleeved and in time of Temptation fell away The true Disciples are those that continue with Christ in tentations Luke 22.18 First they beleeve that God who is faithfull will not suffer them to be tempted above that which they are able But will with the temptation also make way to escape that they may be able to beare it 1 Cor. 10.13 They beleeve in that himselfe suffered being tempted he is able to succour those that are tempted 2 Heb. 18. The Saints that suffered many things were in many wildernesses Heb. 11.37 Amongst the rest were in this also and they all leaned v. 39. They received a good report through faith Yea temptation is so farre from making a child of God let goe his hold that it makes him lay the faster hold 1 Pet. 1.6 Though now for a season you are in heavinesse through manifold temptations yet it is that the triall of your faith being much more precious than of gold which perishes though it be tried with the fire might be found unto praise and honour and glory In temptations they leane upon God and they come out of these temptations leaning beleeving upon God too having found that he is able and knoweth how to deliver the godly out of all temptations 2 Pet. 2.9 A fifth wildernesse in which the Spouse of Christ leaneth upon her Beloved and out of which she commeth leaning is the wildernesse of desertion And this is one of the saddest wildernesses that the Spouse of Christ comes in and she hath an hard work to leane here when Christ seemeth to pull away his shoulder yet even here she leanes Christ himselfe did so My God! my God! why hast thou forsaken me Mark the phrase Forsaken yet not forsaken the Bridegroome cryes out he was forsaken yet my God Gods forsaking us is no ground for us to forsake him If he seemes not to owne us it is no warrant nor policy in us not to owne him It is the duty of a pious soule when God clouds himselfe yet to cry My God The bowels of the father must yearne upon the childe againe if the childe cryes and will not shake him off It is a remarkable expression of Job chap. 13. ver 15. Though he kils me yet will I trust ïn him How now if thou beest kill'd blest Job how canst thou trust O immortall faith that puttest Spirits of confidence in the dust and ashes of Job Let God hide himselfe from the soule and so kill it For Gods separation of himselfe from the Christians soule is a worse death than the separation of his soule from his body Yet the soule must trust in him it must it will leane upon him The Spouse loseth not but quickens her faith in a fit of desertion That place of the Prophet is remarkable Isa 50. v. 10. Who is amongst you that feareth the Lord that obeyeth the voice of his servant that walketh in darknesse and hath no light let him trust in the Name of the Lord and stay upon his God They that feare the Lord though they may walke in a darke wildernesse and see no such light as they were wont to see have no such comfortable enjoyments of their God as they were wont to have yet they will trust and rest themselves upon the Lord and come out of this wildernesse leaning In all the wildernesses of this life the Spouse will leane upon her Beloved yea and upon him alone in all states in all conditions upon him for directing grace upon him for quickning grace upon him for whatsoever she hath need of either pardon or guidance or direction or assistance or comfort or heaven at all times she must trust in the covert of his wings for all blessings The Spouse of Christ is a most dependent creature The Babe of grace is never old enough to goe alone it hangs like a childe upon the mothers hands and leanes like a Bride upon the Bridegroomes bosome Thus have I done with the Doctrinall part having shewed you how she hath had and sometimes hath her dwelling in the wildernesse and how out of every wildernesse she commeth up but leaning and what strength there is in her Saviour to beare her up leaning upon him even in every wildernesse Who is this commeth up from the wildernesse leaning upon her Beleved Now let us see what use we may make of it And first here may a word of reproof and a brand of folly be fastened upon divers erroneous opinions and practices First is it so that the Spouse of the Lord Christ that comes and is married to the Lord Christ comes out of the wildernesse of sinne Then this may reprove the errour and folly of those that dreame of heaven and flatter themselves with the hopes of glory but yet never regard comming out of this wildernesse Christ came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance These men dreame of Heaven and yet never thinke of Repentance Christ came to seeke and to save that which was lost friend how lost what insensibly lost as all of us were by Nature This is an
The SPOUSES Carriage in the Wildernesse Song of Solomon Chap. 8. ver 5. Who is this that commeth up out of the wildernesse leaning upon her welbeloved WE have already taken notice of two Travellers in the Text. Christ is a Traveller For had he not come up with his Garments died from Bozra we had been in the wildernesse still And the Spouse is a Traveller The Text saith She commeth up from the wildernesse leaning upon her welbeloved The Text presents us the Spouse in motion Observe first From whence she moves the Terminus à quo that the Text tels us is the wildernesse 2. What her motion is it is ascensive she commeth up 3. Her moving posture it is leaning upon her beloved The Doctrine that yet remaines in the Text which I promised to handle is Doct. 3. That the Spouse of the Lord Jesus Christ being raised by him commeth out of every wildernesse leaning upon her beloved I must take it in pieces and handle the parts severally These foure things be couched in it 1. That the Spouse of Christ hath had and may somtimes have her dwelling in the wildernesse That is implied 2. Though she hath had and may sometimes have her dwelling in the wildernesse yet she rests not there She comes up from it Who is this that comes up 3. She cannot come up alone She must come up leaning 4. She will lean upon her Beloved and he will and only can bear her First She hath had and sometimes may have her dwelling in the wildernesse Here first I must open the tearme Wildernesse Secondly I shal shew you what Wildernesse the Spouse hath had or may have her dwelling in I shall open the first in five or sixe particulars 1. The Wildernesse is an untilled place where wild nature is yet seen that Art hath not yet tamed no pruning hook hath lopt the over-grown trees no plow broke up the soyle to make it fruitfull The husband-man hath not tilled the ground there nor can the reaper fill his hand It is a place just in its naturall state not yet manured 2. The Wildernesse is a losing place no beaten road for the Traveller there to follow no land-marks nothing to guide him in his way he is lost if once in it hee looks on this side and on the other forward backward every way still he sees himselfe lost knowes not whither to goe He is in a Wildernesse and knowes not the way out 3. The Wildernesse is a dangerous place A man in the Wildernesse is a prey to the mouth of every Lion the Lion is the King of those waste places and the Bears Wolves Cockatrices and Adders his lesser subjects There dwells the young Lion the Cockatrice and the Adder together each one searching for his prey It is a dangerous place 4. The Wildernesse is a solitary place where hee that walks as hee hath no path so he hath no company The paths in the Wildernesse are not trodden no beaten high wayes are there no company but the Owles and the Ostriches the beasts of the field and creeping things of the earth Nothing fit to be a companion for man No it is a Wildernesse 5. The Wildernesse is a disconsolate place no curiosities of nature to refresh his spirits with Terror is round about him no pleasure to delight him 6. Lastly the Wildernesse is a place voyd of all provisions There is neither bread for the hungry nor water for the thirsty soule no necessaries much lesse superfluities The expression is very apt such a Wildernesse yea many a such Wildernesse the Spouse of Christ hath had and may have her dwelling in 1. A Wildernesse of Sinne. 2. A Wildernesse of Sorrow 3. A Wildernesse of Affliction 4. A Wildernesse of Temptation 5. A Wildernesse of Desertion Nay lastly This whole life is but a wildernesse to her Shee hath been in some of these and may be in all of them but out of all Shee cometh up leaning Every one of these is the soules Wildernesse and as they come up to Christ they come up from some of them and in their walking with the Lord Christ they goe through some of them and some goe through all of them The first is Eremus peccati The Wildernesse of sinne and every soule is born in this Wildernesse Man at first created dwelt in Paradise but alas he threw himselfe out into the Wildernesse and God lockt the Garden gate against him Sinfull man perferr'd the Wildernesse before Paradise and God allots him his dwelling there There was man thrown all mankind born in it We are all Wildernesse brats by nature Ephes 2.3 You were children of wrath by nature even as others And sinne may well be call'd a Wildernesse it is status naturalis our naturall condition We are in a Wildernesse habit when we are clothed with the raggs of iniquity Ay and it is a state as dangerous as the Wildernesse The Lion claims him in the Wildernesse as his prey and if he scapes his teeth it will be hard to escape the Cockatrice and young Lion and Adder the lesser fry of destroyers If in this sinfull naturall condition we do escape the mouth of the roaring Lion the Devill it is greatly to be feared that the Beare and the Wolfe and the Cockatrice the lesser judgments of God will swallow us up we are children of wrath as well passively as actively in a dangerous condition Lastly as the Wildernesse is a place void of all necessary provisions for the body so is sinne a state voyd of all necessary provisions for the soule We are hungry and naked and bloudy and filthy in our sinnes it is a wildernesse dresse Ezek. 16. As for thy nativity in the day that thou wert born thy navell was not out neither wert thou washed in water to supple thee thou wert cast out in the open field Verse 5. Every spouse of the Lord Christ hath been in this Wildernesse Who is this that cometh up of this I have spoke before and therefore passe it over The second Wildernesse is Eremus contritionis The wildernesse of contrition or sorrow for sinne Every soul is naturally in the Wildernesse but every one that is in it seeth not that it is there Every soul is born blind though most think they see When God opens the soules eyes and shewes it the hell that it treads over every houre and makes the soule apprehensive of its danger it conceives it self in a worse Wildernesse than before the physick works the Patient thinks it is nearer death than before it took it Here it cryes out Oh I am a lost undone creature Oh whither should I goe on one side behold terror on the other side despaire If it lookes up to heaven there is an angry God if downward there is a gaping hell Oh! whither should it goe Now it cryes out with the Iaylor O what shall I doe to be saved I am lost in my sinnes I am lost in my owne righteousnesse I know not
if it were burning in hell could be as glorious as in its Salvation and yet would be pleased to powre out his precious bloud for it yet so unworthy To wooe the Soule that hath need of him and yet never praies to him nor ever was a sutor for mercy This breeds love in the Soule And the more the Soule sadomes her owne misery the more yet she loves and admires the Lords mercy and loving thus she leanes upon him Secondly It is one that she pleades some title to and interest in she cals him hers Christ is the Bridegroome of the Soule and the Soule is Christs Bride Beloved in all this Song is taken for the highest degree of love and nearest relation conjugall love therefore Christ elsewhere calls her his Sister his Spouse she hath a title to and interest in him possession of him and in another place I am my welbeloveds and my welbeloved is mine She is his and he is hers they have a propriety each in other But suppose we should put the Spouse to prove her title to him What is thy Beloved more than anothers Beloved Or why is he thy Beloved O beleeving soule more than the Beloved of another shew thy title to him And againe why is she Christs more than another Why should the beleever monopolize Christ and how came Christ to be hers she is his and he is hers by right of gift her heavenly Father hath given her unto him hence is that Phrase of her Saviours Prayer John 17.9 All that the Father hath given me and I pray for them that thou hast given me She hath given her selfe to him Cant. 1.2 Let him kisse me with the kisses of his mouth for his love is better than wine She hath said Draw me and I will run after thee ay and he hath given himselfe to her he hath given his grace unher Gal. 1.6 And his glory unto her The glory which thou hast giveÌ„ me I have given them Her Beloved by right of gift 2. She is his and he is hers by right of bargaine and sale The Ancients had three waies to get themselves wives by gift purchase or desert The Fathers sold their Daughters and the Bridegroome bought his Bride he gave a Dowry for her Hence when Sechem had a mind to Dinah the daughter of Jacob he sayes Aske me what Dowry thou wilt and I will give it thee Christ hath bought his Beloved hence saith the Apostle He hath paid a price for us A bloudy price more than all the world was worth But he would have her because he delighted in her and so she is his and he is hers by right of purchase 3. She is his Beloved and he is hers by right of desert she deserved not him but he deserved her This was a third way by which the Ancients got them wives by some gallant explâ—it or great service Their wives were somtimes given them for wages Jacob served 14. years for Rachell Gen. 29.17 David for his Soveraignes daughter encountred great Goliah and afterwards robbed the Philistines of their foreskins he paid more for her than she proved to be worth By this right the beleeving soule is the beloved of Christ he hath served a long service for her not fourteene but above thirty yeares he hath vanquished the Goliahs of our soules and hath conquered our Spirituall Enemies 4. He is hers and she is his by right of possession he dwels in her and she dwels in him The second person in the Trinity is an inmate with the beleeving soule He dwels under the roofe of her heart He hath a chamber in the soule and hath pitched his tent within her and she is in him too united each unto other this is very plainly exprest Gal. 2.20 I live but yet not I but Christ lives in me I am the Carcasse Christ the Soule the soule moveth the body so Christ moves my soule I move not from any principle in my selfe but from a principle of Grace The life I live in the flesh I live by the life of the Sonne of God who dwelleth in me who loved me and gave himselfe for me Thus you see she may well call Christ her Beloved and Christ may well call her his Beloved He hath a propriety in her and shee hath a propriety in him also hee hath marryed her and dwels with her yea and in her dilectum suum her wellbeloved indeed Thirdly It is her beloved not anothers beloved Every soule hath a Beloved the Drunkard hath his beloved cups the wanton hath his beloved Queanes the Covetous person his beloved gold The soule that leanes upon Christ goes not a whoring after other Gods The Spouse of Christ leanes not upon the Papists beloved merits nor upon the Turks beloved Mahomet nor upon the Pharisees beloved duties nor upon the Idolaters beloved Saints she sayes Abraham knowes her not and Israel is ignorant of her Isa 63.16 but the Lord is her Father Christ is her Redeemer and her Maker her Redeemer is her Husband Creator tuus est sponsus tuus Her beloved not anothers Beloved Fourthly He that is her Beloved not that which was her Beloved She once loved her sins and her lusts were the beloveds of her soul The name of Baalim was in her mouth her lusts were her Lords and they ruled over her But now the name of Baalim is taken out of her mouth she calls the Lord Ishi God alone is her beloved Sin was the dearly beloved of her soule but now shee calls sinne no more Naomi shee calls it Marah that which was once the sweetnesse is now the bitternesse of her soule shee takes no pleasure in it no nor doth she account her duties her beloved she useth them but shee dares not trust her soule upon them she dares not plead any desert in them though once perhaps she had a Pharisaicall conceit that her duties would be her healing yet when she comes to the Lord Christ to leane upon his Arme though she useth duties and is as full of Prayer and humiliation as ever shee knocks her hand upon her breast and cryes she is a sinner Oh but what remedy the knocking her hand upon her breast shee knowes cannot save her no for that God be merciful to her she leanes upon Christ that is her now Beloved not upon any duties or any other merits that was before her Beloved Fifthly Her beloved not her beloveds The soule that comes to the Lord Jesus Christ loves him intensly and as she loves him best so she loves him onely As nothing shall have her whole heart so neither will she divide her heart betwixt him and another he shall have her heart and he onely shall have her heart and he shall have her whole heart too she dare trust her strength upon Christ and upon him alone she desireth only to be found in the Lord Jesus who is her Bridegroome shee is a Virgin not a Whore she leanes not upon Christ with one hand and
her owne Merits with another no nor dares shee leane upon the Merits of another shee durst not trust the weight of her soule upon the wings of an Angel nor to the Prayers of a Saint she relies upon God and upon God onely The Papists leane upon Christ but not upon him alone shee knowes it wil be a dishonour both to her and her husband to take any thing in partem amoris to share with her husband in his love shee will keep her honour in being the wife of one Husband And so I have shewed you how she leanes what is her hand who it is she leanes upon what title she hath to him what rules she observeth in her leaning I have but one thing more and that is to shew you what strength there is in the Lord Christs shoulders to beare her how she leanes even in every wildernesse and what fulnesse of strength there is in her husbands arme to keep her up from falling The first wildernesse you may remember was the wildernesse of sinne Here the Spouse cannot be said properly to leane upon her beloved for she wants the hand of faith to lay hold upon Christ and indeed she is not weary yet I doe not know why in some sense even in this estate the elect soule is not beholding to free grace he is her Christ here though he hath not yet manifested himselfe to be her Jesus her Saviour The elect soule in sin is elect and decreed to be saved though shee be not declared to be elect she is beloved in decree though God hath not actually manifested his love unto her he is not her beloved but the soule is his beloved not actually but decretally he hath thoughts of good to her but his thoughts are kept within himselfe till he is pleased to reveale them to her at his best time she is his beloved though there be no correlation she is in his thoughts his Spouse aye and positively not conditionally The Arminians falsely dreame of Gods conditionall decrees because they comprehend not the wayes of God Beleeving is necessarily required yet it was not a condition in Gods decree The soule is his beloved though yet there be no correlation though she be not his wife yet yet she is intended for his wife To speake according to the wayes of men I may intend to make a woman my wife before I actually declare my intentions to her she is my wife in my determinations and thoughts before I wooe her though not actually my wife bâ—fore I have wooed her and she hath â—â—elded too there lyes only this difference my determination must be but conditionally if she will accept of my proffer'd love There lyes a power in her to refuse We may therefore make the simile a little higher A great Emperour buyeth a woman that is a slavâ— which he intends to marry and will whether she will or no yet he will wooe her and if it be possible marry her will as well as her person yet whether she will or no he will and may marry her for she is his purchase she is his wife in his determination before he hath married her But yet even this simile is lame Every simile comparing the wayes of God with the wayes of man must at least halt of one foot for though this Emperour hath power to force the womans body to the action yet hee hath no power to force her will to be willing to the action The will is alwayes independent sui juris but God hath power not only to marry the soule which he hath bought from being a slave to the Devill but to make her willing to marry him yet she is in Christs decree his Spouse before he hath actually revealed his decree unto her so though strictly and properly the soule cannot be said to lean upon Christ in the wildernesse of sinne yet she may be said to be beholden unto the Lord Christ and that thus 1. Every soul hath the like principles of corruption and would act to the full of it's depraved operations were it not for Gods preventing and restraining grace She is beholding unto God for his preventing and restraining grace though here she is meerly passive Secondly She is beholden unto God for his exciting grace The soule heares and fasts and prayes meditates of her owne sad condition though for the substance of the action it is her owne yet it is Gods exciting grace makes her willing to heare fast pray though not his speciall saving-grace yet his common grace But this is not the leaning meant in the Text she leanes here upon Christ but not upon Jesus a Saviour upon God but not as her Beloved And here the soule is brought into a second wildernesse 2. The wildernesse of Sorrow Contrition Repentance call it what you please though I know the later tearme Repentance be controverted by some Yet I know not why we may not say That a man may repent without saving-grace And for that Repentance which they say must be the effect of faith If I were a School-man I should rather call it Godly Sorrow but I desire not to play upon tearmes And for their defining Repentance To be a sorrow for sinne out of the sense of the love of God revealed in Jesus Christ it is a definition they have devised for their owne purpose And give them their premises according as they please they would be poore Logicians if they made the conclusion to displease them For from hence they argue If the love of God be the ground and cause of Repentance viz. the love of God manifested and sensible to us we having apprehended it by faith the speciall love of God then faith must goe before Repentance viz. an apprehension of Gods saving love and reliance upon it But I answer the definition which they give us of Repentance is deceitfull it is a definition of a Species in stead of a Genus as we say in Logick As some unwary Divines define Faith to be an assurance of Gods love in Iesus Christ This is true but this is a faith of the highest stamp and many a precious soule is without this faith to his dying day Faith of adherence is another thing as if I should goe to define a man to be a reasonable creature skil'd in all sorts of Learning Any man would understand me that I did not goe about to describe a man in generall but this or that particular man And I say once againe if I were a School-man I should rather call this A godly sorrow and define Repentance in generall to be A sorrow for sin there is the genus and differentia Or if there be required a fuller definition with the ground though I conceive such a definition would be more proper to give of Repentance in it's severall kinds than of Repentance in generall yet we may give it thus It is a sorrow for sinne arising out of the feare of Gods wrath or apprehensions of Gods love And I know
keep the love of the husband the blind man need to keep the love of his guid O Christian thou hast much more need to keep the love of thy Christ It is he that must succour thee at every need he that must make the rugged wayes plaine for thee It is he that must carry the Babe of grace in his armes lest it should dash its feet against the stones of affliction It is he that must lead the child of God upon his hand lest in this world of afflictions it fall and hurt it self O keep close in his armes keep thy selfe warme in his bosome feare that which may make thy God go free from thee Gods departing from the creature is a piece of hell thou knowest not how soone thou mayest need him yea thou alwayes needest him therefore take heed of sinning against him thou wilt anger thy best friend I will assure thee I hasten to the last Use which shall be a word of Exhortation Doth the Spouse of Christ come out of the wildernesse leaning upon her Beloved First O then you that are yet in the wildernesse of sinnes come out come out get this Spouses Beloved and then leane upon him 2. You that are in the wildernesse of sorrow for sinne afflictions temptations desertions leane upon your beloved live leaning and dye leaning you that say you are sinking and you cannot beleeve Oh leane and come out of this wildernesse leaning upon your Beloved A word to the first Is there any before the Lord this day that is yet in the gall of bitternesse and in the bond of iniquity with what arguments shall I plead with such a soule Those are not wanting but with what arguments shall I prevaile with such a soul to come unto the Lord Christ were any here drowning in the water a little Rhetoricke would perswade them to let me helpe them out were any lost in a wood I should not need much entreat them to give me their hand and I would shew them a way out of that loosing place why should I not as much prevaile for heaven this day 1 Consider what estate it is that thou takest such pleasure to continue in first it is a dangerous place more dangerous then the sands to the ship thou art ready to be swallowed up of hell every houre in it A troop of judgments waites upon thee to destroy it how canst thou abide consuming fire or dwell in everlasting burnings Secondly Consider it is a joylesse condition There is no true joy to the sinner though he sings sometimes amongst his drunken cups yet he cannot feed heartily upon a feast of joy because the Sword hangs over his head it is but a fained joy that the sinner hath a sudden short lived flame without any coales underneath to preserve it There is no peace to the wicked saith God and if no peace there can be no joy when the sinner is serious he cannot rejoyce his rejoycing is like the skipping of mad men that know not what they doe Thirdly Consider it is a starving condition The sinners soule starves whiles he feasts his body like a glutton his soule dyes for thirst when his body is overslowne with drunkennesse It is impossible the puffe-past of iniquity should nourish a soule Doth an Angell feed upon the earth doth a Saint feed upon hell The soule is of an Angelicke substance it cannot feed upon sinne sinne starves it Dost thou love to be in the middest of thornes dost thou delight to lye downe in sorrow canst thou endure to see thy better part starved whiles thou pamperest thy filthy Carcasse O let this deterre thee from the wildernesse of sinne and perswade thee to come out of it unto Paradise There First Thou shalt be in a safe condition Out of the feare of judgements out of hells gunshot There life or death will be either peace temporall or else eternall either grace or glory unto thee here thy soule shall be in a harbour if thousands fall at thy left hand and ten thousands at thy right none shall make the afraid thou shalt laugh at trouble when it comes Thou shalt be sure to goe to heaven either by land or water If thou goest through the fire thou shalt be sure to have Christ with thee Heaven is a security in all estates a protection from all Arrests if the King of glory hath a mind to sue thee thou shalt not be arrested like other men with a writ of wrath but invited to sup with him in glory onely by a letter of love and he will send his Ushers of glory to waite upon thy soul to the chambers of glory Luke 16.22 The soule of good Lazarus was carried by Angels into Abrahams bosome you shall not live like other men haunted with the blood-hounds of wrath nor dye like other wretches that goe out of the world haled by the Sarjeants of hell to everlasting prison but quietly sleepe and awake againe one day in glory O who would not desire such a protection for himselfe such a security for his soule who would not throw off his raggs of sinne to put on Christs livery of grace when Christs badge upon his shoulder shall free him from all Arrests That he shall walke up and downe and nothing shall make him afraid Secondly Consider that Heaven is a place as full of joy as ever the wildernesse was full of sorrow and trouble of this I spake before O thinke of the joy of the Saints you children of vaine pleasure you mad-men of the earth that can dance over the hole of the Aspe and put your hands on the Cockatrices den Your false and flattering joy is nothing to the reall joyes of heaven There is joy like the joy of the harvest like the joy when men divide the spoyle The yoake of their burthen is broken and the rod of the oppressour O you that love your drinking meetings and dancing dayes that you would but love heaven where you might drink new wine with your Lord Christ where you might dance in glory and make all your dayes dayes of joy and every houre an houre of pleasure Thirdly consider that there and there onely is provision for your soule Christs robes is the only cloathing that will cover the nakednesse of it his flesh is meat indeed and his bloud is drinke indeed there my friends Eate and drinke and be merry there you may have wine and milke without money or without price O spend not your money for that which is not bread and your labor for that which profits not Here you may eate that which is good and let your soule delight it selfe in fatnesse Here is a Feast of fat things The fatlings are killed O come to the wedding Why should your roomes be emptie in the day of the Lords Espousals You shall bee welcome to my Masters Table Now O now Behold he stands at the doore and knocks Lord breake where thou knockest If any man will heare his voice and open the