The Best Match, Chapter 5
CHAP. V. Which gives an account of thoſe (which I call) more near Acts of Grace, which the Father and Jeſus Chriſt by the Spirit do put forth in us and upon us for the effecting of the Eſpouſals between Chriſt and us.
DIvine Grace has not yet done its work; no, there are other Acts which it does, and muſt put forth, if ever the Marriage be made up between Chriſt and us; and theſe I call more near, becauſe they are wrought in us and upon us, and do more immediately conduce to the tying of the Marriage-Knot between Chriſt and the Soul: And as in the former, the Father and Jeſus Chriſt wrought more immediately of and by themſelves; ſo in theſe the bleſſed Spirits influence comes in, and his Grace ſhews its ſelf, they in theſe acting by him; and the truth is, the Match is all this while but half made: but now God comes, and by his Spirit working in and upon the Soul, carries on and compleats it; which he does by theſe five Acts of Grace.
I. The Soul is, by the Spirit of God, divorced from its old Husband, the Law, and thereby is fitted and prepared for an eſpouſal to Chriſt: Naturally we are all married to another Husband, even to the Law, and we muſt be divorced from that, or we can never be married and eſpouſed to Chriſt: So much the Apoſtle clearly holds forth, Rom. 7.4. Wherefore, my Brethren, ye alſo are become dead to the Law by the Body of Chriſt, that ye ſhould be married to another, even to him who is raiſed from the dead, that we ſhould bring forth fruit unto God. Pray mark, marryed to another; the Law then was their Husband, to which they were married, and that they muſt be dead to, and divorced from, if ever they would be married to Jeſus Chriſt. Look, ſayes he, (for 'tis his own Argument and Alluſion in verſ. 2 and 3) as a Woman can't be the Wife of two Husbands at once; but her preſent Husband muſt be dead before ſhe can be married to another; ſo neither can a Soul be eſpouſed to theſe two Husbands 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: 'tis 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; 'tis 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 onelyonly 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 'tis 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 does not make a naked ender and revelation of Chriſt onelyonly to the Soul; for that were not enough, but he withal gives him a ſecret touch, whereby he is made to breath and long after Chriſt, to move a little Chriſtward; He drops a little Myrrhe upon the handle of the Lock, as it were, whereby he is drawn out in holy Longings and Breathings after ſweet Jeſus; as you know the caſe ſometimes was with the Spouſe, Cant. 5. beg. and this the Scripture calls an hungring and thirſting after Chriſt, and has a bleſſedneſs annext to it, Mat. 5.6. and frequently elſe-where. Yea, ſuch is that ſecret touch, which in and with thoſe tenders and revelations of Chriſt, the Spirit of God gives the Soul, as that (like that of the Loadſtone to the Needle) which ſets it a trembling, and will not ſuffer it to reſt, till it ſtands fully pointed Chriſtward, yea, till it finds it ſelf in the very boſom and imbraces of that Beloved; 'tis indeed ſuch as by degrees makes the Soul ſick of love and longings after Chriſt, Cant. 5.8. and he cries out for Chriſt, as Rachel ſometimes did for Children; Give me Children (ſaid ſhe) or elſe I die: So give me Chriſt, ſayes the Soul, or elſe I die, I periſh, and that for ever: In a word, nothing but Chriſt will ſatisfie him; ſend him to the Creatures, ſend him to his own duties and ſervices, ſend him to his higheſt accompliſhments and attainments, and without Chriſt they will not do; yea, all theſe he accounts but as dung, as dogsmeat, that he may win Chriſt, Phil. 3.8. Indeed, Heaven and Earth, with all the fulneſs of both, are nothing to him without Chriſt, and an union with Chriſt: his language now is, O Chriſt, Chriſt above ten thouſand Worlds! O that Chriſt were mine! O that I had union with him! Oh that I were in his imbraces! Oh how happy are they that are married to him! and how happy ſhould I be could I call him mine! This I ſay is his language, and when once it comes to this, then things work well indeed, then the Match is in a good forwardneſs, there being but an hairs breadth, as it were, between Chriſt and the Soul. Therefore,
IV. The Soul being thus inclined Chriſtward, and drawn forth in holy Longings after Union and Communion with him;Sicut Chriſtus per Spiritus ſui communieationem ſeſ… nobis unit, ſic nos per fidem illi adglutinamur, &c. the Spirit of God comes and enables him to believe, he carries the Soul to Chriſt in a way of believing, whereby he actually cloſes with him, and is eſpouſed unto him: For, my Beloved, 'tis Faith which ties the Marriage-Knot, and makes up the Marriage-Union between Chriſt and us: Hence Chriſt is ſaid to dwell in our hearts by Faith, Epheſ. 3.17. Chriſt's dwelling in our hearts, notes the neareſt Union and Communion between him and us: And how comes he thus to dwell in our hearts? why, by Faith, by our believing on him:Edis Chriſtum non dente ſed fide. Aug. Hence alſo Chriſt tells us, That he that eateth his fleſh, and drinketh his blood, dwelleth in him, and he in him, Joh. 6.56. By eating Chriſts Fleſh, and drinking his Blood, is meant, our believing on him, and ſo he himſelf expounds it, for he makes eating and drinking of him, and believing on him, all one throughout that Chapter: Now (ſayes he) He that eateth my fleſh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him; that is, he has the neareſt Union and Communion with me: 'tis Faith then (you ſee) that unites, and ſo eſpouſes us to Chriſt: Faith gives Chriſt an inlet into the Soul, and it gives the Soul an inlet into Chriſt, and ſo they are made one and married together. By believing, we conſent to take Chriſt, and actually do take him for our onelyonly Head and Husband for ever; and ſo the Match is made up between him and us:Nos per fidem, in nobis a Spiritu ſancto excitatam, in hoc cum Chriſto conjugium conſentimus. Zanch. in Theſ. de conjugio Spirituali. We by Faith (ſays a learned Man) wrought in us by the holy Spirit, do conſent unto this marriage with Chriſt; Chriſt, as you heard before, conſents thereunto; as God he conſented hereunto from all eternity, and as Man he conſents hereunto in time. For,Filii voluntas duplex eſt, una divinae, altern humanae naturae … utraque au… tem voluit & viilt hoc conjugium cum electis, una voluit ab aeterno, altera in tempore quae nunq…am mutatur. Id. Ib. as Divines obſerve, Chriſt hath a double Will, his Divine and Humane; with the firſt, he conſented to this Eſpouſal from eternity; with the ſecond, he conſents hereunto in Time, and never changes therein. Now as Chriſt gives his conſent, ſo we alſo muſt give ours; which we do by believing in him; by which therefore the Match is made up between him and us. Now there is a three-fold Act of Faith, which the Spirit of God works in the Soul, whereby he more eſpecially cloſes with Chriſt, and is eſpouſed unto him, made one with him in a Marriage-Covenant.
I. An Act of Choice or Election.
II. An Act of Truſt or Dependance.
III. An Act of Reſignation or Subjection.
I. An Act of Choice or Election: In the Act or Work of Believing, the Soul is by the Spirit of God made ſolemnly and deliberately to chuſe Chriſt as his only Head and Huſband, his Lord and Saviour, being thus offered to him in the Goſpel. Choice or Election, as the School-men tell us, is an Act of the Will, whereby it pitches upon ſome one thing, and prefers that before all others in order to ſuch or ſuch an end: Accordingly we may conceive of this Act of Faith we are ſpeaking of: It lies thus, the Will is by the Spirit of God ſweetly and powerfully determined upon Chriſt, preferring him for an Head and Husband, a Lord and Saviour before all others: It ſingles him out, as it were, from all others, whether perſons or things, in Heaven and Earth, and imbraces him as the beſt Husband, the beſt Saviour, the beſt Lord: There are others which make love to him, and tender themſelves to his embraces, as Sin, Self, the Law, the World with its inticements; but he paſſes by all, yea, rejects all with loathing and indignation, and pitches upon Chriſt as infinitely beſt, ſaying to him, I will have none in Heaven but thee; and there is none upon Earth that I deſire in compariſon of thee. This the Scripture calls ſometimes a laying hold upon Chriſt, Prov. 3.18. Sometimes a receiving or imbracing of Chriſt, Joh. 1.12. 'Tis true, in the Work of Faith, Chriſt is and muſt be received into the underſtanding; but he is moſt properly ſaid to be received into our Will and Affections: Chriſt in the Goſpel is revealed and offered to the Soul with all his Riches, Fulneſs, and Perfections; he is tendered to him, as a full, a mighty, and uttermoſt Saviour, as one who has not onelyonly an infinite fulneſs and ſufficiency in him to redeem and ſave, but alſo an infinite ſutableneſs and amiableneſs in him to indear and delight the Soul; and accordingly the Soul accepts and imbraces him, he cleaves to him, and faſtens upon him, reſolving to have none but him alone: his language of him now is, There is none like Chriſt, no head like this Head, no huſband like this Husband, no ſaviour like this Saviour for my Soul: This is the Head, the Husband, the Saviour that I need, and that indeed my Soul defires: No love like his Love, no beauty like his Beauty, no blood like his Blood, no righteouſneſs like his Righteouſneſs, no fulneſs like his Fulneſs; He therefore, and he alone ſhall be my Head, my Husband, my Saviour, and my All for ever. Sweet Jeſus (ſayes he) doſt thou tender thy ſelf for an Head and Husband to me, and art thou willing to be imbraced by me? Lo then I do with my whole Soul accept of thee, and that for all times and in all conditions, with all thine Holineſs as well as thy Love, with all thine Inconveniences as well as thy Priviledges; to ſuffer for thee, as well as to reign with thee; and this the Soul does upon the deepeſt counſel, and moſt mature deliberation; and accordingly he abides by his choice for ever.
II. An Act of Truſt or Dependance: As in the Work of Faith the Soul is, by the Spirit of God, made to chuſe Chriſt; ſo alſo to truſt and depend upon him for all Grace, Righteouſneſs, and Salvation: Now it bottoms upon Chriſt, anchors upon Chriſt, reſts and relies upon Chriſt for all Life and Peace, for all Grace on Earth, and Glory in Heaven: He layes the whole weight and ſtreſs of his Salvation upon him: He commits all to him, ventures all upon him, expects all from him: This the Scripture calls ſometimes a truſting in Chriſt, Epheſ. 1.13. ſometimes a leaning upon Chriſt, Cant. 8.5. ſometimes a hoping in Chriſt, 1 Cor. 15.19. And in this reſpect Chriſt is called our Hope, 1 Tim. 1.1. our Hope, that is, the Object of our Hope and Truſt as to Life and Salvation. The Soul has no hope in himſelf, no hope in the Creature, no hope in the Law or firſt Covenant, no hope in any thing in Heaven or Earth on this ſide Chriſt: He looks here and there, to this and that, but he can find no ſolid ground of hope, no bottom to build or reſt upon for Life and Salvation; but then he turns his eye upon Chriſt, and there he ſees abundant ground of hope; he beholds him upon the Croſs, and there's hope; he beholds him upon the Throne, and there's hope; he looks upon him dying, and there's hope; he looks upon him riſing, aſcending, ſitting at the Father's right Hand, making interceſſion for us, and there's hope: He looks upon the infinite vertue of his Blood, the infinite efficacy of his Spirit, the infinite fulneſs of his Grace, the infinite dimenſions of his Love, the infinite freeneſs and faithfulneſs of his Promiſe; and in theſe he ſees infinite ground of hope and truſt; and accordingly he rolls and ventures all upon him: Here I'le build, (ſayes he) here I'le bottom, here I'le reſt, here I'le hang and depend, here I'le live; yea, and if die I muſt, here I'le die. His language to Chriſt now is like that of the Pſalmiſt to God in another caſe, Pſalm 39.7. Now, Lord, what wait I for? my hope is in thee. This is to caſt anchor within the Vail, Heb. 9.6. And indeed, 'tis with poor Souls many times, as with perſons at Sea; the Storm ariſes, the Waves lift up themſelves, which beating upon them, they are ready to ſink every moment, and their very Soul is melted becauſe of heavineſs; but anon they ſound bottom, caſt anchor, and are at reſt: So poor Souls are under ſtorms of ſin, guilt, and wrath, periſhing in their own apprehenſion every moment; but anon they drop an anchor of hope upon Chriſt, and do reſt upon him: or 'tis with them in this caſe, as 'twas with the Dove when ſhe was firſt ſent out of the Ark, ſhe found no reſting place abroad for the ſole of her foot; but at length returned to the Ark, and there found reſt, Gen. 8.8, 9. So the poor guilty Soul finds no reſt any where elſe but in Chriſt. His language in this Act of Faith is ſuch as this, I am a poor, loſt, ſinful, diſtreſſed Creature, and there is but one door I can expect relief from, and that is Chriſt, and at this door I'le lie and wait; I know he is able to help me, for he can ſave to the uttermoſt: and ſurely he hath bowels, great bowels towards poor ſinners; he is a merciful High-Prieſt: He ſayes concerning him, as they ſometimes did concerning the King of Iſrael; Behold, we have heard, that the King of Iſrael is a merciful King, peradventure he will ſave us: yea, he has bid me look to him and be ſaved; and he invites all that are weary and heavy-laden, to come to him, and promiſes them reſt: Why then ſhould I not reſt and rely upon him? 'Tis true, I am a mighty ſinner, but he is a more mighty Saviour: Have I ſinned to the utmoſt? He has ſatisfied to the utmoſt: What ſhall I ſay? True, I am Death, but Chriſt is Life: I am Darkneſs, but Chriſt is Light; I am Sin, but Chriſt is Holineſs; I am Guilt, but Chriſt is Righteouſneſs; I am Emptineſs and Nothingneſs, but Chriſt is Fulneſs and Sufficiency; I have broken the Law, but Chriſt has fulfilled the Law; and his Life is infinitely able to ſwallow up my Death; his Light, my Darkneſs; his Holineſs, my Sin; his Righteouſneſs, my Guilt; his Fulneſs, my Emptineſs; on him therefore I'le lean, and live, and hope. 'Tis true, I am utterly unworthy of any Life, any Grace, any Favour; but Chriſt does all for ſinners freely, he loves freely, he pardons freely, he ſaves freely, how vile therefore and unworthy ſoever I am, yet I will reſt and depend upon him: Who knows but he may caſt an eye of love upon me? This is that Act of Faith which is held forth, Iſa. 45.24. Surely, ſhall one ſay, in the Lord have I righteouſneſs and ſtrength. I have neither ſtrength nor righteouſneſs of my own, but I have all righteouſneſs and ſtrength in Chriſt; all righteouſneſs for Pardon and Juſtification, and all ſtrength for Holineſs and Sanctification; this is that the Apoſtle calls a rejoycing in Chriſt Jeſus, having no confidence in the fleſh, Phil. 3.3.
To draw towards a concluſion of this Head: Which way ſoever the Soul looks on this ſide Chriſt, he meets with nothing but diſcouragement: If he looks to himſelf, there he ſees nothing but ſin and guilt, blackneſs and deformity; in his heart he ſees a Fountain of ſin, an Abyſſe of ſin, a very Hell of ſin and wickedneſs; in his life he finds innumerable evils, ſins of a crimſon-die and ſcarlet-tincture ſtaring him in the face; yea, his very Duties are not without ſin, even in theſe there is abundance of pride, formality, unbelief, and the like: his very righteouſneſſes are as filthy rags, Iſa. 64.4. If he looks unto the Law, there he reads his doom and condemnation in every line thereof; there he finds himſelf under the Curſe; there he ſees nothing but fear, and blackneſs, and darkneſs, and tempeſts, Heb. 12.18. If he looks to juſtice, that he finds as a flaming Sword keeping him from the Tree of Life, from all happineſs: That appears with an angry frowning countenance demanding ſatisfaction, as being infinitely wronged: But now in the midſt of all theſe diſcouragements, the poor Soul at length gets a ſight of Chriſt, in whom he ſees encouragement after all: He diſcovers land in a ſtorm, as it were, and finds in him a bottom to reſt his weary Spirit upon; in him he ſees that which can atone God, ſatisfie Juſtice, anſwer all the demands of the Law, fully deliver him from ſin and guilt, and make him both holy and happy for ever; and accordingly he reſts and rolls himſelf upon him, reſolving that if he dies, he will die thus leaning upon this Beloved.
III. An Act of Reſignation or Subjection: As in the Work of Faith the Soul thus chuſes Chriſt and depends upon him; ſo alſo he is by the Spirit of God made cordially and unreſervedly to reſign up himſelf unto him, to be ruled, governed, and diſpoſed of by him in his own way: The Soul now puts himſelf out of his own power and poſſeſſion, he paſſes himſelf away from himſelf, and he gives up himſelf into the power and poſſeſſion of Jeſus Chriſt to be ruled, governed, and ſaved by him as he ſees good: which is properly that Act of Faith which we call Reſignation; and this the Scripture often mentions, One ſhall ſay I am the Lords, Iſa. 44.5. that is, he ſhall give or reſign up himſelf to the Lord to be for ever his, and at his diſpoſe: ſo 2 Cor. 8.5. They gave themſelves unto the Lord; and Epheſ. 5.24. the Church is ſaid to be ſubject to Chriſt: The Caſe ſeems to be this, there having many Treaties paſt in order to a Match between Chriſt and the Soul, the Soul at length, through the help of the Divine Spirit, is made freely to conſent to take Chriſt for his onelyonly Head and Husband, and to be ſubject to him in all things, to be perfectly and eternally at his diſpoſe: His language now to Chriſt is like that of Ahab to Benhadad, 1 Kings 20.4. Behold I am thine, and all that I have is thine: Sweet Lord Jeſus, ſayes the Soul, I have been my own, and have lived too much in mine own will, and to mine own ends and intereſts; but now I deſire to be thine, and to live in thy Will, and to thine Ends; take poſſeſſion of me, ſave me, rule me, lead me, diſpoſe of me as thou pleaſeſt; do all thy pleaſure in me, pull down and ſet up what thou wilt, I'le be, and do, and ſuffer what thou wilt have me to be, and do, and ſuffer. And this is properly that Act of Faith, whereby we cloſe with Chriſt as a Lord and King, and is indeed the evidence of the Truth of the two former; for you muſt know, that though Faith's firſt Aſpect be to Chriſt as a Saviour, yet it comes to eye him as a Lord and King alſo: As Faith fully bottoms upon the ſatisfaction of Chriſt, ſo it freely bows to the Scepter of Chriſt; yea, when Faith can't challenge Chriſt as a Saviour, yet it will own Chriſt as a Lord: You know how Laban ſpake to Abraham's Servant upon the ſight of the Ear-rings and Bracelets which he had given his Siſter Rebekah, and upon his hearing a Relation from her of his Diſcourſe with her, Come in thou bleſſed of the Lord, why ſtandeſt thou without? I have room for thee, Gen. 24.31. In like manner does the Soul ſpeak to Chriſt upon the ſight of that worth that is in him, and that need which he has of him, Come in thou bleſſed of the Lord, come in thou bleſſed Lord, why ſtandeſt thou without? I have room for thee; I have room for thee in my Underſtanding, and I have room for thee in my Will and Affections; and I would have thee poſſeſs all, and command all: In a word, the Soul freely gives up himſelf to Chriſt's Holy and Spiritual Government. Thou art an Holy Chriſt, (ſays he) he who is to reign, and I reſign up my ſelf to thee, I'le have no Lord but thee; take the whole Throne to thy ſelf within me; I know thy Yoke is an eaſie Yoke, and I deſire to bear it; thy Scepter is a Righteous Scepter, and I deſire to bow to it; thy Kingdom is a Kingdom of Rightcouſneſs, Peace, and Joy in the Holy Ghoſt, and I heartily deſire to come under the power of it. I would be Sanctified as well as Juſtified; I deſire thy Spirit to ſubdue my corruptions for me, and to make me Holy, as well as thy Blood to waſh away my guilt for me, and ingratiate me with thy ſelf: and this is what the Scripture calls an opening of the Gates, and a lifting up of the everlaſting Doors, to let Chriſt the King of Glory in, Pſal 24.7. Thus by theſe three, which indeed are the great uniting Acts of Faith, the Spirit of God enables the Soul to cloſe with Chriſt in a Marriage-Covenant and Relation.
5. The Soul being thus enabled to believe, and ſo cloſe with Chriſt in a Marriage-Covenant; then, as the Crown and perfection of all, the bleſſed Spirit of God takes up his abode, and dwells for ever in that Soul, as the Pledge and everlaſting Bond of this Marriage-union and Relation between them. The ſweet Spirit does not onelyonly come, as a Friend, to treat about the Match, and alſo to tie the Marriage-Knot between Chriſt and us; but moreover, this being done, he remains himſelf in the Soul, as a Love-Token from Chriſt to him, as the Pawn and Pledge of this Eſpouſal, and as the everlaſting Bond and Confirmation of this Marriage-Union and Relation: Hence that of the Apoſtle, He that is joyned to the Lord is one Spirit, 1 Cor. 6.17. one Spirit with the Lord he is joyned to; that Spirit which did joyn him to Chriſt, does remain in him and in Chriſt both: Chriſt leaves his own Spirit in his Spouſes, as the Pledge and Bond of that Marriage-Union that is between him and them; ſo that he and they have the ſame Spirit dwelling in them; yet with this difference, he dwells in Chriſt without meaſure, in us by meaſure; in Chriſt immediately, by vertue of the perſonal Union, in us by his Gifts and Graces; in Chriſt, as an Head, in us as members; and he with theſe are the Love-Tokens, the Pawns and Pledges of this Marriage-Troth plighted between Chriſt and us; and this indeed is that which makes this Union ſo ſtrong and inviolable, as that it can never be broken: Yea, not onelyonly does he remain in the Soul as the Pledge and Bond of this Union, but alſo to deck and adorn the Soul with Grace, and to make him ready for the conſummation of the Marriage above: you know, when Abraham's Servant ſaw that Rebekah conſented to be Iſaac's Wife, he then gave her Jewels of Silver, and Jewels of Gold, and rich Rayment, Gen. 24.53. So the bleſſed Spirit of God, having gained the Souls conſent to be eſpouſed to Chriſt, and the Marriage-Knot being tyed between them, now he dwells in the Soul to deck and adorn him; now he gives him Jewels of Gold and Silver, furniſhes and beautifies him with all Divine and Heavenly Graces; He dwells in him as an indeficient Spring and Fountain of all Grace and gracious diſpoſitions, till he has lodged him ſafe in the Arms and Boſom of his ſweet Husband above. Thus at length the Eſpouſal or Marriage-Relation is made up between Chriſt and the Soul; And oh how bleſſed is the Soul that is thus eſpouſed to him! I muſt ſay to ſuch a Soul, Bleſſed be the day that ever thou wert born; bleſſed the Womb that bear thee, and bleſſed the Paps which gave thee ſuck; bleſſed Goſpel which revealed this ſweet Chriſt to thee, and bleſſed Spirit that has tyed this happy Knot between him and thee.