Faith passes to the God-head Neque ad Christum Deum unquam perveniet qui heminem negligit And as a great Divine speaks he that comes not to Christ as man shall never come to him as God The truth is Faith cannot deal with God immediately but as God cloath'd with our nature 4. View and apprehend him in his office of Mediatorship The Gospel reveals and propounds Christ to our Faith in his Office it propounds and reveals him as Christ as the true Messiah and Saviour of the World as one seal'd sent and anointed by the Father for the redemption of lost Souls and thus also should Faith eye and apprehend him So also did Peter's Faith apprehend him Thou art Christ sayes he the Son of the living God Mat. 16.16 Hence we read of believing that Jesus is the Christ 1 John 5.1 Hence also Christ tells the Jews If ye believe not that I am he ye shall die in your sins John 8.24 If ye believe not that I am he i. e. that I am the Messiah the Christ the Saviour that was promised O! Faith is short of that notion it should have of Christ unless it thus eyes him in his Office 5. View and apprehend him in his infinite ability and sufficiency for the discharge of his Office The Gospel reveals and propounds him to our Faith as one able to save to the very uttermost and accordingly should our Faith eye and apprehend him Heb. 7.25 It reveals him indeed both as an onely and alsufficient Saviour as an onely Saviour Look unto me and be saved all ye ends of the earth for I am God and there is none besides me Isa 45.22 Neither is there Salvation in any other nor is there any other Name given under Heaven wherby we may be saved but his only Acts 4.12 And as an alsufficient Saviour My Flesh is Meat indeed and my Blood is Drink indeed sayes he and he that eateth me even he shall live by me John 6.55 57. It reveals him in the infinite vertue of his Blood the inexhaustible fulness of his Grace the compleatness of his Obedience the excellency of his Righteousness the perfection of his Satisfaction and the like and thus should our Faith eye and apprehend him O labour for such a notion and apprehension of Christ as this is as ever you would believe aright and be indeed espoused to Christ labour for a found clear distinct knowledge of him as the great object of Faith Pray much for a Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation in the knowledge of him that was the Apostles prayer for the Ephesians in this case Ephes 1.7 and let it be yours for your selves III. Would you pitch your Faith aright upon Christ and be indeed espoused to him Then be sure to make a right choice or election of him being thus known and apprehended To have a right notion and apprehension of Christ is good and necessary in order to union with him by believing but 't is not enough no Christ being known and apprehended must also be chosen and embraced by us and that as he is revealed and offered in the Gospel To know and apprehend Christ is an act of the Mind or Understanding but to chuse and embrace Christ is an act of the Will and Affections and though Faith has its rise and inchoation in the mind yet its complement and perfection it has in the Will and Affections these liking chusing and embracing of him and that in a way sutable to what the mind sees and apprehends concerning him and this must be added to the former or there is no right believing and so no conjugal union and communion with Christ Observemus fidei sedem non in cerebro esse sed in corde quoniam cordis nomen pro serio et sincero affectu fere capitur dice firmam esse efficacem fiduciam non nudam tantum notionem Calv. Hence that of the Apostle With the heart Man believeth unto Righteousness Rom. 10.10 True believing then is with the Heart now by the Heart here as also generally elsewhere in Scripture is meant the Will and Assections accordingly to believe with the Heart is for the Will and Affections to chuse and embrace Christ as he is revealed and offered in the Gospel this is called a receiving of Christ John 1.12 We receive Christ into our Wills when we chuse him and adhere to him for Life and Salvation and we receive him into our affections when we love him desire him and delight in him and this is believing To believe sayes Calvin is nothing else but to chuse and embrace Christ with a sincere affection of mind as he is reveal'd and offer'd in the Gospel And this indeed is the great vital act of Faith and that whereby our Conjugal-Union and Communion with Christ is more especially brought about This is that which makes Christ ours and puts us into the possession of him Mary sayes Christ has chosen the better part which shall never be taken from her Luke 10.42 She had chosen Christ and her choice of him had made him her own and so her own as that she could never lose him never be deprived of him Indeed a right choice of Christ makes him ours it unites us to him and interests us in him for ever A little further to help you in this business know that a right choice of Christ is accomplish't by these three steps 1. The Soul apprehending Christ as before likes him and approves of him as the best and most sutable Saviour the most lovely and desirable object in Heaven or Earth The Soul sayes of Christ as they did of the Land of Canaan Numb 14.7 The Land say they is an exceeding good Land So this Christ sayes the Soul is an exceeding good Christ this Saviour is an exceeding good Saviour there 's none like him there 's no beauty like his Beauty no blood like his Blood no fulness like his Fulness no love like his Love 2. The Soul desires him and longs after him and that with a strong ardent and vigorous affection This is call'd hungring and thirsting after Christ Matth. 5.6 The Soul seeing Christ and approving of him longingly cries out O a Christ a Christ O that this good Christ were mine 3. The Soul is by Grace sweetly and powerfully determined upon Christ so as actually to make a solemn and deliberate choice of him singling him out from all other things in Heaven and Earth as the best and most desirable good and most worthy of his dearest and most intimate embraces The Soul now pitches his choice upon Christ to be his Head and Husband his Lord and Saviour his rest his treasure his happiness his all for ever Now by these steps see that you come up to make a right choice of Christ be sure that you like him and approve of him as the best and most desirable object in Heaven or Earth Truly if you view him aright you can't but like him and
Marriage-relation between Christ and Believers flows from the Riches of Divine Grace as its onely Spring and Fountain that any of the Sons of Men are Married or Espoused to Christ is not from any thing of worth or deservings in them but purely and entirely from free Grace and Love dwelling and working in the heart of God and Christ towards them and this account the Scripture gives us of it Jer. 31.3 I have loved thee with in everlasting love therefore with loving kindness have I deawn thee as if he should say I have drawn thee out of thy sins out of thy unbelief out of all thy carnal rests and refuges and I have drawn thee to my self into union and communion with my self into a Marriage-covenant and Relation with my self and all this from mine own free love that love that kindness that has been in my heart towards thee from everlasting So again Hos 2.19 I will betroth thee unto me for ever yea I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness and in judgment and in loving kindness and in mercies Mark It is mercy and loving kindness which espouses Souls to Christ * Despensat nos Deus Christo nallis nostris meritis addis biss sed ex sua tantum bonitate misericordia Zanch. God sayes one upon this place espouses us to Christ indu ed thereunto by no merits of ours but by his own goodness and mercy And indeed my Beloved what have we or what have any of the sons of men that should speak the one or the other worthy of a conjugal-relation to Christ or that should invite and induce him to take us into such a relation to himself Have we Birth or Parentage to induce him No alas as to our state we are all of the brood of Hell and thence as sinners we all have our descent and original John 8.44 Have we beauty and arniableness No for we are all black and deformed in our selves we have the spirit of the Devil in us and the image of the Devil upon us we are blind and deaf and dumb and lame and crooked so the Scripture speaks of us in our natural state we are all in our blood and gore cast out into the open field to the loathing of our persons Ezek. 16.5 6. And as their case is represented Isa 1.6 such is ours spiritually Even from the sole of the foot to the crown of the head there is no soundness in us nothing but wounds and bruises and putrifying sores In a word we are all sin and have nothing but sin Know O Spouse of Christ Scito sponsa Christi te a teipso nthil habere nisi peccata Bona vero omnia gratiae sponsitui sunt gratulare ergo i. e. gratias age et Bern. de pass Dom. sayes one of the Ancients that thou hast nothing of thy self but sins as for all thy good things they are the Grace of thy Bridegroom to thee to whom therefore give the glory of it I say we have nothing but sins and is there any beauty any comeliness in that to attract an Holy Jesus Surely no. Have we Riches and Treasures No for indeed we are poor and miserable and blind and naked Rev. 3.17 Treasures it is true we have but they are black ones treasures of sin and wickedness treasures of guilt and wrath which surely cannot render us worthy but most unworthy of such a Relation Have we wisdom and parts to invite him No we are altogether bruitish and foolish Jer. 10.8 Wise we are but it is to do evil to do good we have no knowledge Jer. 4.22 Have we love and kindness in us towards him good-nature No for naturally we love him not yea we hate him and are enemies to him Luk. 19.14 We hate both him and the Father as he charged the Jews of old Yea we are enmity it self to him Rom. 8.7 We are enemies to his Person to his Kingdom to his Grace to his Righteousness to his Wayes and to all acquaintance and communion with him Thus we have nothing to induce him to take us into such a Relation at the best we are but poor worms whose Foundation is in the dust And what can it be but free and rich Grace in Christ to marry and espouse such unto himself II. This Espousal or Marriage-relation between Christ and Believers is wrought and effected by the Power of Divine Grace as its principle and efficient When Souls are married and espoused to Christ 't is not done by any power or ability of their own nor yet by the power and efficacy of means and instruments but 't is purely from the power and efficacy of Divine Grace Indeed God makes use of Means and Instruments he makes use of the Gospel and Gospel-Ministers for the espousing of sinners to his Son and these are the onely ordinary way and means whereby he doth it therefore sayes the Apostle in my Text I have espoused you to one Husband that is I by my Ministry I by preaching the everlasting Gospel have been an Instrument in God's hand for your espousing to Christ but though God thus makes use of means and instruments in this Work yet still the Work it self is from pure Grace and to Grace doth Christ attribute it excluding all other power but this as sufficient hereunto John 6.44 No man can come to me or believe on me close with me in a Marriage-Covenant except the Father which hath sent me draw him that is except the power of Divine Grace be put forth upon him in order hereunto the drawing here Christ speaks of is comprehensive of the whole business it 's the enabling of us to come to Christ to believe on him and close with him as our Head and Husband Non violenta coactio sad voluntatis a Deo aversae benevola flexio tractione ea innuitur Glas Rhet. Sac. It notes as one observes not any violent coaction or constraint but a sweet bowing of the Will which in it self was averse from and opposite to God and Christ and withal a carrying of the Soul to Christ and an enabling of him to close with him in this Relation and this Christ ascribes wholly to the power of Divine Grace the truth is in and of our selves we have no power or ability for such a work we are without strength Rom. 6.5 Yea when we are brought into Christ by the power of Divine Grace yet then in and of our selves we can do nothing So Christ tells us Joh. 15.5 Without me ye can do nothing Yea when we are brought into Christ and have had some communion with him yet we can't follow after him nor draw one tittle nearer to him unless a fresh influence of Divine Grace be put forth upon us enabling us thereunto so much the Spouse was sensible of and therefore prayes thus Draw me and we will run after thee Cant. 1.4 As if she should say Lord in my self I can't stir one foot towards thee but do thou
at once the Law and Christ but he must be dead to or divorced from the one e're ho can be married to the other Observe ye are dead to the Law What is it to be dead to the Law or divorced from the Law To be dead to the Law is to have no hope no expectation of Life and Righteousness by the Law 't is to be sensible that the Law cannot save us yea there is more in it than so To be dead to the Law is to see our selves dead by the Law 't is to see our selves lost and condemned by the Law for sin as the transgression thereof and thus we must all be dead to the Law or divorced from the Law or we cannot be married to Christ Now this the Spirit of God effects by a work of the Law upon the Conscience He divorces the Soul from the Law by the Law i. e. by bringing home the Law to the Conscience This the Apostle felt in his own Soul I through the Law sayes he that is the Spirit of God bringing home the Law to my Conscience am dead to the Law Gal. 2.19 So again Rom. 7.9 I was alive without the Law once but when the Commandment came sin revived and I dyed I was alive without the Law once that is I thought my self to be alive I apprehended my state to be good and happy but this was without the Law i. e. before the Spirit of God by the ministry of the Law convinced me of my sin and misery therefore it follows when the Commandment came sin revived and I dyed i. e. when the Law came in its convincing power through the Spirit upon my Soul then I saw my sinful dead and miserable state thus was he himself divorced from the Law that he might be married to Christ the sum is this the Spirit of God comes and shews the Soul the strictness and holiness the purity and spirituality of the Law and makes him sensible how large the Duty is that it requires how impossible it is for him to keep it and how many wayes he has broken it he withal lets him see the dreadfulness of that curse and condemnation it has justly laid him under for the breach thereof and thus he is divorced from it and this is all one with the Spirits convincing us of sin and our lost and miserable condition by reason thereof which is you know his first work in order to Faith and so to our espousing to Christ John 16.8 Thus by the Spirit of God the Soul is divorced from the Law he is taken off from all expectations of life and happiness by that and is made to see his own sinfulness and so his infinite need of Christ whereby he is fitted for this other and better Husband II. The Soul being thus divorced from the Law and so fitted and prepared for Christ then the Spirit of God reveals and offers the Lord Jesus Christ in the promise of the Gospel as a better Husband to him Now the blessed Spirit comes and does as Abrahants Servant did who was sent to take a Wife for Isaac he told Rebecca of his Masters Greatness of his Flocks and his Herds his Silver and his Gold his men servants and his maid-servants and withal that he had given all to Isaac Gen. 24.35 36. So the Spirit of God now sets before the Soul the riches and the greatness the beauty and the excellency of the Lord Jesus Christ he tells him what a full what a sweet what a rich what an amiable one he is and withal tenders him to his embraces he reveals and offers him to him as one full of Grace and Truth as one that has all fulness dwelling in him all fulness of Life and Peace or Righteousness and Salvation as one every way able to save him to the very utmost which is that which Christ calls his convincing the World of Righteousness John 16.9 he reveals and offers him to him in the transcendent Beauty Excellency and Amiableness of his Person on the one hand as also in the glorious fulness largeness sufficiency of his Grace and Righteousness on the other hand Thus I say he reveals and offers Christ unto the Soul and withal opens his Glory and causes it to shine forth before him so that now the Soul sees that in Christ that fulness that beauty that love that amiableness that sweetness which he never saw before Christ is now another thing in the Souls eye than ever before he was Now the Soul as those John 1.14 Beholds his glory as the glory of the onely begotten Son full of grace and truth Yea not only does he thus reveal Christ unto the Soul but withal fixes the Souls eye upon him He makes him to pore and gaze upon Christ as the most excellent and amiable Object and as one infinitely needful for him and this is called a seeing of the Son and that in order to believing whosoever seeth the Son and believeth on him shall have everlasting life Joh. 6.40 The blessed Spirit deals by the Soul herein as God by the Angels did with Hagar Gen. 21.19 where 't is said He opened her eyes and she saw a Well of Water for her relief She was in a very distressed condition as you may see vers 15 16. full of bitterness she and her Child both in a perishing condition being in the Wilderness and her Water in the Bottle being spent Now God shews her a Well of Wate whence she fetches a full supply So here the poor Soul having been under the convincing power of the Law sees himself in a woful miserable distessed condition whereupon he is full of bitterness crying out with Hagar How shall I see the Child die How can I bear it to perish eternally But now the Spirit of God comes and opens his eyes and shews him Christ and Christ as infinitely sutable to him Look sayes the Spirit to the Soul being now desolate and undone look here is a Saviour for thee a Husband for thee another and a better Husband than the Law could ever have been even the Lord Jesus Christ who is infinitely able to pay all thy Debts to supply all thy Wants to heal all thy Wounds to relive all thy Distresses to pardon all thy Sins to satisfie all thy Desires to answer all thy Love and to give thee perfect happiness and satisfaction in and with himself for ever Look here he is here he is in the Promise here he is in the Covenant here he is in the Tender Invitation of the Gospel here he is at the very door of thy heart knocking and calling for admission thereunto Rev. 3.20 Here he is with his Arms wide open to receive and embrace thee and that notwithstanding all thy vileness finfulness and unworthiness Look therefore to him and be saved III. With this Tender and Revelation of Christ unto the Soul the Spirit of God comes and works a secret love and longing in the Soul after Christ he