may be accounted worthy to escape those things that shall come to pass and to stand before the Son of Man You see here that ye may stand before the Son of Man there must be a watching to prayer and a watching upon this very account O! that we could be sensible of that Day and stir up our supplications in that very point So the Apostle Peter For I would endeavour to argue the Scripture upon you that the great Intention and Earnestness of our Prayer should run to that very Point of the Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ 1 Pet. 4. 7. The end of all things is at hand and therefore watch unto Prayer Let us be continually watching unto Prayer upon this very account because the end of all things is at hand If we considered that it would engage and stir up our Prayers Be sober and watch unto Prayer for our Prayers will meet us then we shall rise in them at that Day 3. In the Third Place Our Watchfulness should stand in this in a constant living sence of the Word of God especially in this great point upon us That we should have a Meditation upon the Word of God It is a very hard thing for us to entertain our thoughts in the Night when we are awake or when we are alone it is a hard thing to know how to employ our Thoughts and to engage them And therefore if we could take the Word of God That would keep us in an awful sence of God and of eternal things David often speaks of his Meditation in the Word of God Psal 119. I meditate in thy Word I meditate in thy Statutes it is my meditation all the day And Psal 1. 1. Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly c. but his delight is in the Law of the Lord and in that Law doth he meditate Day and Night Saith David I stir up my self I awake in the night that I might meditate in thy statutes If we could seriously bring into our thoughts the Meditations of the end of all things but we are so concern'd for this little spot of Time even for that next Moment that is before us what we shall eat and what we shall drink and what we shall put on and how this and that shall be maintained If our hearts were but suitably and proportionably fixt upon that What shall we do for our Eternal Condition How shall we bear that Day Would not any one set that Day before him if he were really possest of it If a Man were to Plead his Cause and whole condition in this World who of us could keep his Heart and Thoughts from oft running into 't Now if we could keep our Meditations upon those Scriptures that speak of this Eternal Condition I beseech you endeavour to get up your selves and to aspire to it by the Grace of God and that you would meditate on these things as the Apostle Paul teaches Timothy Meditate on these things that thy profiting may appear to all men He speaks indeed there of the preparation for the work of Preaching of the Gospel But let us apply it for we are every one concerned in this Great Point to be Preachers to our selves Certainly if every one be not a Preacher to himself all other Preachers can do him no good at all And the Excellent Truths that lie in the Word of God can do no good till a Man comes to Preach them to himself The Book of Ecclesiastes is in the English of it the Book of the Preaching soul that Book of Solomon which we call the Book of the Preacher it was the Book of the Preacher first to himself Eccl. 1. 1. It is observed by Learned Men the Word signifies The Preaching Soul Every one should be a Preaching Soul to himself and Preaching this Great Point Of the Coming and Kingdom of Christ And this would engage our Watch this would be like the snuffing the Lamps of our dark Apprehensions and blowing up the Flame of our cold and benumm'd affections It would make the Light more clear and it would be like the blowing up the fire it would enflame and warm us with the strength and vigour of those great apprehensions that pertain to the Coming of Christ Indeed it is very sad That the present state of the World is so covered and so darkned and so eclipsed and so chill'd and even frozen in these things We can go into no Company nay we our selves though we are sensible of these Truths we speak them and hear of them yet we don't know how to converse like the Servants of God That we might be all Preachers to our selves and one to another in them It is earnestly to be hoped and prayed for That a betterstate of things may come on and that the Spirit may be poured out abundantly And Would as Moses said all the Lords People were Prophets I cannot reasonably think that Moses spake of a thing that was impossible But surely there shall be a time that every one of the Servants of God shall have something to say as Prophets of the Lord one to another And this is the time that is earnestly to be expected and to be Prayed for I make no doubt but the World shall have such a Time of preparation in order to the Great and Glorious Coming of Christ Acts 2. 17. Pray observe God will pour out his Spirit to this very end to this very purpose saith the Apostle I will pour out my Syirit upon all flesh and your Sons and you Daughters shall Prophesie and your young men shall see Visions and your old men shall dream Dreams Every one shall have something to offer to another concerning God And on my servants and on my hand-maidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit and they shall Prophesie And I will shew Wonders in Heaven above and Signs in the Earth beneath c. And the Sun shall be turned into Darkness and the Moon into Bloud before that Great pray observe that before that Great and illustrious Day of the Lord come He will come in the still Voice of his Spirit poured out and of every one being enabled as Moses saith as a Prophet For would Moses do you think have said Would every Atome of Dust upon the Earth could be a Star he would not have wish'd such a thing or That all the Drops of Water in the Sea might be turned into Gold and Pearls These things would have been strange in Moses because they are things that never shall be But now That all the Lord's People shall be Prophets That 's a thing God will certainly do and awaken the World with before that Great and Illustrious Day of the Lord come In the mean time Let us endeavour to be Preaching-Souls unto our selves This is a thing I am sure that no one can have reason to be offended at Let Men be never so severe that none must Preach but such and
that hath the Bride is the Bridegroom And the Friend of the Bridegroom rejoyceth when he hears the voice of the Bridegroom That is when he finds that he speaks to any Heart and draws any Soul to him How Happy would it be if in this Discourse the voice of the Bridegroom might be heard and discovered in any of our Hearts and that it might be known that this Preaching of Christ hath prevail'd at all upon any Soul This is to Rejoice in hearing the voice of the Bridegroom O therefore that this Joy might be fullfilled in you that hear and in me that am speaking to you But as he goes on he must encrease and I must decrease That is In all wherein we may seem to be serviceable to Christ or serviceable to the Souls of Men that must go off And then the Kingdom and Glory of Christ Himself that is It that must encrease And therefore for those that hear and those that speak to meet one another in that Great Solemnity and in that Great Glory and to find that all is gone off but only Christ How Glosious and how Blessed will this State be I shall therefore endeavour to open this Great Point in some measure unto you Though I know it is not possible to speak of it as it is to be spoken of But I shall therefore First Lay down this as a Great Scripture-Point as a Great Scrippture Truth That there is such a Marriage-Union betwixt Christ and his Church and betwixt Christ and every particular Soul In the second place I shall endeavour to shew you wherein it stands at the present First In the Opening of it I shall shew you That there is a State of it Now. And then That there is to be the Glory and the Heighth of this State in the Kingdom of Jesus Christ Therefore I shall endeavour to shew you wherein it stands now And then In the third place How the Glory of it shall break out and in what Expressions the Scripture hath assured that to us And therefore that every one of us should look upon our Profession as a Fitting and a Preparation to that Great Solemnity of the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. I. The first Scripture by which I shall make it evident to you is indeed a Scripture full of Mystery full of Figure of Metaphor and Emblem and therefore it may not be so eaâ—ie to your Apprehension It 's that of the Song of Solomon It is an hard thing almost to advise you to the Reading of it because it lies hid under Veils It â—ies hid under curious Allegories and Representations But that is the very â—ense of it Chap. 1. 3. Thy Name is as Ointment poured forth therefore do the Virgins love thee Draw me we will run after thee The King hath brought me into his Chambers we will be glad and rejoice in thee we will remember thy Love more than Wâ—ne the upright love thee Ver. 3 4. All this it is but Metaphor Representing Christ as Drawing with the Savour of his Good Ointments As Persons make themselves Acceptable by those things that draw and win upon the Sense and so upon the Sense of Smelling This Savour of his Good Oyntment draws Souls to Christ That is those Rich Spiritual Excellencies in Him win upon the Souls of those that are indeed truly his that are indeed Virgins They draw the Love of Souls after Christ The Pardon of Sin His Righteousness His Resurrection in the Power of it His Death in the Power of it His Life in the Power of it The Glory of His Kingdom These Draw Souls Draw me we will run after thee And the upright love thee All that have Sincerity in the Profession of Christianity they truely love him And thus there is a Thread drawn throughout that whole Book till it comes to the very Glory of the Kingdom of Christ The last Words signifie it Make haste my beloved and be thou like a Roe or to a Young Hart upon the Mountains of Spices That is The State of the Kingdom of Christ is just like a Mount of the most Aromatick of the Sweetest Perfumes of Glory and Happiness This is the first Scripture that lays this great Point down before us And there are many Expressions especially in that Evangelical Prophet the Prophet Isaiah comparing the Union betwixt Christ and his Servants to a Marriage and to a Marriage that shall be solemnized at last in Glory But the second Scripture that I would give you concerning it is Ephes 5. Where the Apostle does draw or delineate this very whole Representation before us in the Beginning and in the Perfection of it And indeed he introduces the very first Institution and Appointment of Marriage to bring it all to this That there was in it a much more Glorious Purpose to prepare for and to Represent the Union betwixt Christ and his Church In speaking therefore of the Duty of Husbands to their Wives he enters into this Great Discourse saith he The Husband is the Head of the Wife even as Christ is the Head of the Church and he is the Saviour of the Body Therefore as the Church is subject unto Christ so let the Wives be to their own Husbands in every thing And Christ as an Husband ver 25. He loved the Church and gave himself for it That he might sanctifie and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word That he might present it to himself a Glorious Church not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing but that it should be holy and without blemish For indeed as I shall presently shew you out of a Great Type of the Law of Moses in this Thing Christ takes those whom he must Beautifie He takes those whom he must every way fit for so great an Enjoyment as that of Himself He takes them out of Corruption out of Impurity and Defilement in a Miserable and Loathsome and Captivated State and Condition But he never leaves till he brings it to this That he may present them to Himself That he may take them to Himself without spot or wrinkle or any such thing And then saith he for this Cause a Man shall leave his Father and Mother and shall be Joyned to his Wife and they shall be one flesh This is a Great Mystery But I speak concerning Christ and the Church That is Here lies the Mystery the Great Point that I intend to present to you that close Union that is betwixt Christ and his Saints And it comes as I told you to that Gloty that He presents it to Himself a Glorious Church without spot or wrinkle or any such thing And if you would know when this is It is at the time of the Kingdom of Christ at the time when he hath destroyed False Christianity that Christianity that is called in the Professors and Profession of it The Whore When that is quite taken away that is when all False Christianity shall be driven out of the
her and speak every way to her heart And then in the 19th Verse I 'll betroth thee unto me for ever Yea I 'll betroth thee unto me in Righteousness and in Judgment and in loving kindness and in mercies All this indeed hath a peculiar Relation to the Church of Israel But it is true of every Soul and of every Spirit that Christ speaks to and draws to love him as its Husband and Spouse He doth allure and speak to their Hearts He doth hedge up their way If God see that any of His love the World or Relations or any Thing better than himself He 'll hedge up their way They shall not find their way Thus you see there is a Time of Preparation wherein Christ is fitting and preparing and drawing the Soul to Himself 2. In the Second Particular I will enlarge a little further upon this Point of our Espousals and draw to a conclusion and therein shew you That we may all discern wherein and whereby the Soul is thus drawn to an Union with Jesus Christ to this Spiritual Union with him 1. In the first place It is by the Souls seeing and finding that it is in a miserable and a Lost and a Captivated condition without him When it comes to find it self in the Hands of Justice In the Hands of Divine Wrath and Indignation When it finds it self in all its Impurity and in all its Unholiness without Him it comes then to desire him to receive his offer to unite with him Now this is not onely by way as some it may be have insisted upon it by way of preparation but it runs throughout all the present State A true Christian is continually looking upon himself as a Captive It is not a thing of preparation onely But it flows out from the Efficacious Grace and Spirit of the Lord Jesus That every Soul that is thus united to Christ it finds it does not know what to do with it self without him Nor that it is onely drawn by fear but as I shall presently tell you tho very Briefly it is drawn by Love to him But I say because we are Captives because we are brought out of another Land a Land of Darkness a Land of Impurity a Land not suitable to the Land of Promise because we are brought out of that Therefore there must be a continual consideration of the necessity that lies upon us And it is not Derogatory to our Love of Christ or to the Grace of Christ that our first State being a Captivated State is known to us to be such a Captive State And therefore to be made Free by such Rich Grace as that the Great Prince and Lord of Life should have a desire to us that he should look upon that of his own Grace which is all the Beauty that is in any that God hath Loved them with an Everlasting Love the Beautiful Person is onely he that God hath from an Eternal free Love and Grace when we were all together lost and undone in our selves look'd upon and made his Time in the proper season of being brought home to him tho we are found in all our Impurities To be the Time of Love How great is it Now when any one of us is under this Grace of God Jesus Christ looks upon us He beholds the choice of God he beholds the Love of God upon us And such a one is as a Beautiful Person in his Eye And so he takes care to Shave the Head and to Pare the Nails and to change the Garments of Captivity and to bring him home to himself This I say it is not preparation Hammered out and Anvil'd by our own strength Povver or Consideration but it is a first Davvn of the Grace of Christ of the Love of Christ through the Election and Choice of God upon us Here is the very Beginning of the thing For as I read to you out of Ephes 5. Christ Loves the Church first of all and then he Sanctifies it and Washes it with the Water and with the Regeneration of his â—ord and of his Spirit He first of all Loves it Who Loved the Church and gave himself for it His Love is like the first Love of Espousals of drawing the Soul into a Condition and State of Espousals to himself And so he Sanctifies and Washes it with Water and Regenerates and Renews it and takes away the Prison-Garments the Captive-Garments Which it may be look Beautiful to those that are yet Ensnared They look upon all the Enjoyments and Pleasures of the World to be the greatest Bravery But now when Christ comes to shew them what their State is then they come to cry out at the first and so ever after as the Apostle Rom. 7. 24. O wretched Man that I am Who shalt deliver me from this Body of Death And you see he speaks of it in the very same Language ver 23. I see another Law in my Members warring against the Law of my mind and bringing me into Captivity to the Law of Sin which is in any Members It is a continuing sense on every Soul in Christ 2. The second thing wherein this is shewed It is in drawing the sincerest and Purest and Chastest Love of the Soul unto Jesus Christ When Christ by his Spirit in his word and by the Friend of the Bridegroom that is by the Preaching of the Word of Christ when he draws the entirest affections of Souls to himself Shewing his Love to them in the Pardon and Forgiveness of Sins he draws their hearts entirely and unitedly to himself He does therefore first of all as it were send the Soul the Wedding Garment of his own Righteousness He sends it a Robe a Vest from himself of his own Righteousness and of the sanctification of his own Spirit And this enkindles and enflames the Love of the Soul unto Jesus Christ The Apostle speaks in this Language in the 2 Cor. 11. 1. VVould to God you could bear with me a little c. For I am Jealous over you with a Godly Jealousie For I have Espoused you to one Husband that I may present you a chast Virgin to Christ The Preaching of the Gospel and the drawing of Souls it is the Espousal of them to one Husband and presenting them a Chast Virgin That is with undefiled and Inviolable affections to Jesus Christ When the Love of the Soul is thus drawn to him united to him The upright as I said to you before Love him And when once this Love of the Soul to Jesus Christ is indeed kindled where it is sincere and indeed kindled to him O how strong and how vehement is it It is true it is from the Love of Jesus Christ made known to it Even as you know Love draws and wins Love back again upon it self This is admirably set out to us in the eighth Chapter of the Song of Solomon Set me saith she as a Seal upon thine Heart as a Seal upon thine Arm. Let the Love