The Best Match, Chapter 4
CHAP. IV. Wherein are contained the more remote Acts of Divine Grace, put forth more immediately by the Father and Jeſus Chriſt, for us and towards us, in order to the accompliſhment of the Eſpouſal between Chriſt and us.
THere are ſome more remote Acts of Grace, Acts of Grace put forth more immediately by the Father and Jeſus Chriſt, for us, and towards us, in order to the making up of this Eſpouſal or Marriage-relation between Chriſt and us; and of theſe I ſhall mention five, all which do neceſſarily concur, and have their influence into this buſineſs, and indeed there is much of the Myſtery of God in them: They are thoſe.
I. God the Father marries and eſpouſes our Nature to the Perſon of his Son, and thereby ſits and prepares him to be an Huſband for us; this God has done once for all, and the influence thereof concurs unto the accompliſhment of the Eſpouſal between Chriſt and every Believer. I ſhall illuſtrate this unto you, from that Parable Matth. 22. beg. where we read of a King who made a marriage for his Son; by which King we are to underſtand God the Father; and by his Son, Jeſus Chriſt, the Eternal Son of that Eternal Father, He, who proceeded from him by eternal generation: God the Father then is here ſaid to make a marriage for his Son: But, pray, who is the Spouſe? 'tis obſerved by Divines, that the Spouſe is not here mentioned: Who or what then is ſhe? 'tis anſwered, Chriſt has a two-fold Spouſe; our Nature, and the perſons of Believers: Both which may be intended here, though the firſt chiefly and principally; and ſo by the Marriage here we are to underſtand the Perſonal Marriage, the Marriage between the Perſon of the Son of God and our Nature:Per nuptias intelligitur verbum in carnatum Calvin. and ſo Calvin and others expound it: This primarily, but ſecondarily, & by conſequence, the Spiritual Marriage, the Marriage between Chriſt and Believers; and we are to look on the one as laying a foundation and making way for the other: So that the whole reſolves into this, that God the Father hath married and eſpouſed our Nature to the Perſon of his Son in the hypoſtatical union, and thereby has fitted and prepared him to be an Husband for us; and made way for the marriage of our perſons to his Perſon in the Spiritual Union: And indeed, unleſs our Nature had been firſt married to him in the one, our perſons could never poſſibly have been married to him in the other; for pray obſerve, the glory of Chriſt conſidered as the Eternal Son, and ſo as God, is too bright, and the diſtance between him and us too great for us to come to him, and he made one with him in a Marriage-relation: Chriſt conſidered in his own naked glory, as God, is too bright an Object for us to look upon, much more to have ſo near an union to, and communion with; one ſight of him thus conſidered, is enough to ſwallow us up, and even to overwhelm our Spirits; We cannot thus ſee him and live: But now our Nature being married and eſpouſed to his Divine Perſon; that is to ſay, he having aſſumed our Nature into union with himſelf, as the eternal Son, which the Evangeliſt calls his being made fleſh, John 1.14. And the Apoſtle, his partaking of fleſh and blood, Heb. 2.14. Hereby the overwhelming brightneſs of his Glory is vailed, and the dreadful terror of his greatneſs, together with the affrighting diſtance between him and us is taken away: Yea, hereby his glory is brought down (as one hath it) to our eye, to our beholding: Hereby he has marvellouſly ſweetned and endeared himſelf to us, and made way for us for a free acceſs to him, and the neareſt union and communion with him: Hence Divines give this as one reaſon of Chriſts incarnation, that he might thereby become a fit Husband for his People, and they might be capable of union and communion with him:*Hac de cauſâ Filius Dei factus eſt homo ut poſſet verus eſſe ſponſus Eccleſiae. Therefore (as a Learned Man has obſerved) was the Son of God made Man, that he might be a true, a fit Bridegroom for the Church, and 'tis rightly obſerved by Divines, that in ſtrict propriety of ſpeech, neither the Father, nor the Holy Spirit, but the Son, the ſecond Perſon in Trinity, is the Churches Bridegroom; and they give this reaſon for it, becauſe he only was made Man, he only was incarnate, O, had not the Son of God been incarnate, had he not (as Auſtin's expreſſion is) married our Nature to himſelf in the Womb of the Virgin, none of us had ever been capable of ſuch a priviledge, ſuch an happineſs, as a conjugal-union and communion with him. That therefore is the firſt Act of Grace in this buſineſs.
II. God the Father gives Chriſt unto the Soul, and the Soul to Chriſt; he gives Chriſt for an Head and Husband to the Soul, and he gives the Soul for a Bride or Spouſe to Chriſt. (Firſt) He gives Chriſt for an Head and Huſband to the Soul, in John 4.10. Chriſt is called the Gift of God: And how the Gift of God? two wayes, (1ſt) in that he gave him for us; he gave him to be incarnate, to ſuffer, to bleed, to dye, to be made ſin and a curſe for us; he gave him as an Offering and a Sacrifice for us; and (ſecondly) in that he gives him alſo to us, he gives him to be an Head and Husband to us: Hence 'tis ſaid, That he gave him to be Head to the Church, and ſuch an Head as has the command and diſpoſe of all things; He gave him to be Head over all things to the Church, Epheſ. 1.22. both in the Counſel of his Will from Eternity, and alſo in the Act or Worlt of his Grace here in Time, he thus gives Chriſt to us: And O how richly and gloriouſly doth his Grace ſhine forth herein! In giving Chriſt to us, he gives his beſt and his deareſt; for he has nothing better, nothing dearer to him than his Chriſt, (as afterwards may be ſhewn). (Secondly) He gives the Soul for a Bride or Spouſe to Chriſt: Believers (you know) are often ſaid to be given by the Father to Jeſus Chriſt; My Father which gave them me (ſayes Chriſt concerning Believers) is greater than all, Joh. 10.29. And thine they were, and thou gaveſt them me, Joh. 17.6. with many other places which might be mentioned. God gives all the Elect to Chriſt to be his Spouſe; he gives them to him (firſt) in the eternal purpoſe and counſel of his Grace; in the day of everlaſting love, when God firſt ſet his heart upon his choſen on…s, then gave he them to his Son, and will'd their union to him in a Marriage-Covenant; and he gives them to him alſo (ſecondly) in the work of Vocation, which makes way for the working of Faith in Chriſt in the Soul.Fater hanc …. The Father (ſayes one) hath given this Spouſe to his Son, (ſpeaking of his Church) and joyns her to him by his Spirit. And, my Beloved, without this Act of Grace put forth by God towards us, the Match would never be made between Chriſt and any poor Soul; for this indeed is that which brings the Soul to Chriſt: So much Chriſt himſelf tells us, John 6.37. All that the Father giveth me, ſhall come to me. Mark, 'tis the Fathers giving us to Chriſt, that brings us to him; and were we not by the Father given to him, we ſhould never come to him by believing; and if we never came to him by believing, there could never be a Marriage-union and relation between him and us.
III. Chriſt readily approves and accepts of the Fathers Gift, being willing, yea longingly deſirous to eſpouſe them unto himſelf, whom his Father gives him in order thereunto. In the making up of a Marriage, 'tis not enough that the Father gives ſuch or ſuch an one to his Son, and his Son to her; but there muſt alſo be the conſent of the Son; he muſt approve and accept of the Fathers Gift; and ſo does Chriſt here, he approves and accepts of the Fathers Gift: the Father wills his taking ſuch and ſuch poor ſinners to Wife, and accordingly gives him to them, and them to him, and the Will of Chriſt falls in with, and is conformed to the Will of the Father herein, and ſo the Match goes on: this you have clearly held forth, John 6.37. All that the Father hath given me, cometh unto me; and him that cometh unto me, I will in no wiſe caſt out. Mark, Here are among others, two things. 1. Here is the Fathers giving of poor ſinners to Chriſt, and therein his will and conſent that they ſhould be eſpouſed to him; that in theſe words, All that the Father hath given me. 2. Here is Chriſts approbation and acceptation of this Giſt of the Father, with his will and conſent to eſpouſe them to himſelf; that in theſe words, And him that cometh unto me, I will in no wiſe caſt out; that is, I will aſſuredly receive him, and accept of him; I will take him into a conjugal union and relation to my ſelf. Chriſt here plainly declares his acceptance of the Father's Gift, giving poor ſinners to him to be his Spouſes. 'Tis a great Saying, and ſutable to this I am ſpeaking, which I have read in a great Divine,Praecedit aeterna Dei voluntas, Chriſtus vero ſponus non poteſt non velle, quod vult Pater: ideo nos …ccipit, ut ſponſam ſuam. The eternal will and good pleaſure of God precedes (ſayes he) but Chriſt the Bridegroom cannot but will the ſame thing which the Father wills; his Will is conformed to the Fathers, and therefore does he accept us as his Spouſe. In a word, in this Act of Grace, Chriſt's Language is ſuch as this; Father, doſt thou give ſuch and ſuch poor ſinners to me? and is it thy Will, that they ſhould be eſpouſed to me? Content; I do freely accept of them, and am willing to eſpouſe them to my ſelf for ever: 'tis true, they are poor worthleſs Creatures, altogether unſutable to my dignity and greatneſs; but Father they are thy Gift, and I accept of them as ſuch: true, there is no beauty in them that I ſhould deſire them, but they are thy Gift, and I will marry them and make them beautiful: and Oh what Grace is this!
IV. The Lord Jeſus Chriſt not onelyonly approves and accepts of the Fathers Gift, but moreover he redeems them thus given to him with the price of his own Blood; he ranſoms them from Sin, and Death, and Hell, whereunto in themſelves they were all in bondage, which alſo neceſſarily concurs to the accompliſhment of the eſpouſal between him and them. 'Tis obſerved by ſome, that in the Eaſtern Countries, it was the manner for men to buy their Wives; and indeed ſo much ſeems to be intimated in that Meſſage of Saul to David, 1 Sam. 18.25. where when he would perſwade David to marry his Daughter, in pretence at leaſt, he ſends him word, that he deſired not any Dowry, but ſo and ſo: It ſeems then, that it was uſual to expect a Dowry. The ſame alſo appears by the practice of Shechem, Gen. 34.11, 12. where being in love with Dinah, Jacobs Daughter, he profered to give a Dowry for her; Give me (ſayes he) but thy Damoſel to Wife, and ask me never ſo much Dowry and Gift, and I will give it thee. To be ſure ſo 'tis here, Chriſt buyes all his Spouſes, and gives a vaſt Gift for them; Chriſt indeed is in love with poor ſinners, given him by the Father, and deſires to marry them to himſelf; but he muſt buy them if he means to have them, and buy them he does, and at a dear rate; he gives a great Dowry for them, even his Life, his Blood, his Glory, and all for a time: Hence he is ſaid to give himſelf for us, Epheſ. 5.25. and to purchaſe us by his Blood, Acts 20.28. H…n…e we are ſaid to be bought by him with a price, with a great price, a price of ineſtimable value, even his own moſt precious Blood, 1 Cor. 6.20. The caſe lies thus, the Elect, as well as others, were all gone into captivity, ſold under ſin and Satan, in bondage to Death, and Hell, and Wrath, which is the condition of all by Nature; and if Chriſt will have them as his Spouſe, he muſt ranſom and redeem them from all; which accordingly he does: he bleeds, he dies, he gives himſelf a ranſom for them, in order to the marrying of them to himſelf: He had indeed a mind to a Spouſe among the Children of Men, and was in love with them from all eternity, as he himſelf tells us, Prov. 8.31. and ſo in love with them, as that he does in effect ſay unto the Father, as Schechem did to Jacob, Ask me never ſo much Dowry, and I will give it. Why, my Son, ſayes the Father, if thou wilt have them, and marry them to thy ſelf, thou muſt give thy Blood, thy Life for them; thou muſt redeem them from Sin, and Death, and Hell, whereunto they are in bondage; which can't be done by leſs than thy giving thy ſelf a ranſom for them: all which Chriſt aſſents unto, and complies with, and that with delight, freely giving himſelf for them. And oh what Grace is this! Oh to give ſuch a price for ſuch a Spouſe! a price ſo great, for a Spouſe ſo black and unworthy; this is glorious Grace indeed!
V. Chriſt makes love to them, tenders himſelf unto their embraces, and withal wooeth them for their acceptance of him, and that with the greateſt and moſt affectionate importunity: How much ſoever it has coſt Chriſt to redeem poor ſinners, and how great a Dowry ſoever he has given for them, yet they are unwilling to cloſe with him, they have no mind, no heart Chriſtward, and ſo the Match is not like to be made up unleſs ſomething further be done; therefore after all, Chriſt (as one phraſes it) comes a wooing to them, he makes love, offering himſelf to them, and earneſtly follicites them for their love and acceptance: he importunes them, and that in ſuch a way, as if he were reſolved to take no denyal; in Ezek. 16.8. we read of a time of love, a time (that is) of Chriſt's making love to ſinners lying in their blood and gore. And indeed, Chriſt has his times of love, times when he makes love, and offers himſelf with all his Riches and Treaſures to poor ſinners: when his language to them is, Behold me, behold me; Iſa. 65.1. and look unto me, and be ye ſaved all ye ends of the earth, Iſa. 45.22. Now he comes, and tells over the ſtories of his love to them, how much he has done and ſuffered for them, how much his deſire is towards them, what great things he will bellow upon them, and inſtate them into, and all to win and allure them to himſelf, to gain their love and conſent to accept of him, and to be his in a Marriage Covenant. Time was when Chriſt came and did this himſelf in perſon; when he ſtood, and cryed, If any man thirſt, let him come unto me, and drink, John 7.37. Time was, when in his own Perſon he importuned poor ſinners from day to day, he made love to them time after time, as he did (you know) to Jeruſalem, Matth. 23.37. for ſome years together he woo…d them, and offered himſelf and his grace to them in his own perſon; and though he does not now come in perſon, yet as David ſent his Servants to Abigail, to commune with her, and to acquaint her with his purpoſe and deſire to take her to Wife, 1 Sam. 25.39. ſo Chriſt ſends us his Servants, his Miniſters to poor ſinners to commune with them, and to declare the love and purpoſes of his heart towards them, and to woo them for him; yea, and as Ambaſſadors for Chriſt, we do woo poor Souls; and as in Chriſt's ſtead, beſeech them to be reconciled to God, to give up their Names and Souls to Chriſt in a Marriage-Covenant, 2 Cor. 5.20. And becauſe we can prevail nothing by and of our ſelves upon the ſpirits of men in this great Matter, Chriſt over and above, ſends his own bleſſed Spirit to woo them, and gain upon them, making them willing in the day of his power, Pſal. 110.3. And this leads me to the conſideration of thoſe other Acts of Grace in this buſineſs, wherein the Father and Jeſus Chriſt work by the Spirit in us and upon us, for the making up of the Match between Chriſt and us: Only, by the way, let us ſtill ſee and admire the Grace of Jeſus Chriſt to poor ſinners. O that he ſhould woo ſuch poor vile Creatures as we are, and make love to us! Should you ſee a King, a great King, wooing a Begger, coming now himſelf in perſon, and then ſending his Servants to her to ſollicite and importune her love; you would look on this to be great Grace: but oh this is nothing to the Grace of Chriſt, in condeſcending to woo ſuch as we are, ſinners lying in our Blood.