The Intercourses of Divine Love Betwixt Christ and His Church, Sermon 58
Sermon LVIII.
Canticles 1. 16.
Behold thou art fair (my Beloved) yea pleaſant; alſo our Bed is green.
IT is generally agreed, that the perſon ſpoken to in this verſe, is he who is in this Song repreſented under the notion of a Beloved, by which I have told you, that we underſtand the Lord Jeſus Chriſt; and the perſon ſpeaking is ſhe whom he calls his Love, the faireſt amongſt women, &c. By her the Caldee Paraphraſt all along underſtands the Congregation of Iſrael, which by that antient Interpreter is brought in thus ſpeaking; How beautiful is the glory of thy Holineſs, while thou dwelleſt amongſt us, and freely heareſt our prayers; whiles thou abideſt in our beloved Bed, our Children are multiplied upon the Earth, we increaſe and multiply, like a Tree planted by the Rivers of water, whoſe Leaf is beautiful, and its Fruit much. But I have all along obſerved too great a fondneſs in that Reverend Interpreter, to apply all ſpoken in this Song to the Jewiſh Synagogue, becauſe once ſhe was the only Beloved of God, not attending this as a Prophecy, concerning alſo ſuch as ſhould be received into Divine favour, when God ſhould have ſaid to his Antient People, Loammi, you are not my People. We have therefore by the Spouſe here all along underſtood the Church of God in all times, and more particularly, believing Souls, which are here brought in thus ſpeaking to Chriſt; Behold thou art fair my Beloved, yea pleaſant: Alſo our Bed is green. The words in our Engliſh Tranſlation, are punctually tranſlated: Nor is there any conſiderable difference amongſt Interpreters, rendring them in their ſeveral Verſions. We ſhall therefore fall (immediately to conſider the ſenſe of the words, as they lie before us, which are a Reply unto what Chriſt had ſaid, v. 15. He had told the believing Soul, that ſhe was fair, ſhe was was fair, ſhe had Doves Eyes. She now replys in the words of the Text, Behold thou art fair (my Beloved) yea pleaſant; alſo our Bed is green. Where you have,
1. Her uſual friendly Compellation, foreign My Beloved, my Love, my Nephew, my Uncle, my Kinſman. I gave you an account of the ſignificancy of that word before.
2. A note of Attention or Admiration foreign Behold. I ſhewed you in my Diſcourſes on the 16th verſe; the uſage of that particle in Scripture.
3. A double Aſſertion; 1. Thou art fair; to which ſhe adds, yea pleaſant, foreign 2. The ſecond in thoſe words, Our Bed is green.
He had told the Spouſe, v. 16. that ſhe was fair; ſhe now replies, Behold! thou art fair my Beloved; Pulchritudo ejus dilectio ejus (ſaith Bernard) His love to his Spouſe is his beauty, Et ideo Bernardus ad loc.major quia praeveniens, which is ſo much the greater, becauſe it prevents us. And (ſaith he) ſhe therefore loves more, becauſe ſhe diſcerns her ſelf prevented, and overcome in Love. It is as much as if ſhe had ſaid, Doth my deareſt Saviour ſay, I am fair, who am by Birth an Ethiopian, black with original corruption, and upon whom the Sun hath lookt? Nay, My Beloved, thou art much more fair: Let the World be invited to behold thy Beauty; Behold thou art fair my Love. Obſerve,
Prop. 1. The Beauty of our Saviour doth infinitely tranſcend the Beauty of his Saints.
Prop. 2. The ſenſe of the value which Chriſt puts upon his Saints, will, and ought to engage them to put an high value upon him.
Give me leave to ſpeak ſomething to the firſt of theſe Propoſitions, before I paſs on to the other words of the Text. I begin with the firſt.
Prop. 1. Chriſt's Beauty doth infinitely tranſcend the Beauty of his Saints. The Saints are Stars, and there is not the leaſt Star, but hath its luſtre and glory; but yet there is a difference of Stars in glory, and the glory of the Sun of Righteouſneſs, of the Star that came out of Jacob, is far more eminent than the Beauty of other Stars, which are ſet in inferiour Orbs. Pulchritudo eſt qualitas per quam aliquid Martinius, Pſal. 45. 2. ſeems to favour this notion of Beauty.—Thou art fairer than the Children of men. Grace is poured into thy lips.pulchrum eſt. Beauty is a quality from which any thing is made beautiful. That is beautiful which is lovely. Pulcher quaſi foreign, or quod pollet charitate. There is a corporeal Beauty, and there is a mental Beauty; the corporeal Beauty is nothing elſe beſides a certain lovelineſs that ariſeth from a due proportion of bodily parts, and due temperament of humours, and a comely bodily figure. The mental Beauty is a lovelineſs which ariſeth from a well tempered Soul, adorned with good natural diſpoſitions, moral habits, or ſpiritual infuſed habits of Graces. When I ſpeak of the Saints Beauty, and of Chriſt's Beauty, I underſtand it of a ſpiritual lovelineſs in them ariſing from that Grace which dwelled in Chriſt eſſentially, as God, and was poured out upon-him without meaſure, as Mediator, and is derived from him to all that truly believe in him. Now I ſay, this Beauty in Chriſt doth infinitely tranſcend that of the Saints. I will ſhew it you in ſome few particulars, which you may gather from what I ſaid before concerning the Saints Beauty. I ſhewed you that the Saints Beauty was not native, and primitive, but derivative, not eſſential, but accidental, not perfect, but imperfect. I told you that it was indeed durable, but yet the degrees of it might fade. Let me now open to you the tranſcendent Excellencies of Chriſt's Beauty.
1. And more generally: It is a glorious, incomprehenſible, and moſt incomparable Beauty; When the Word was made fleſh, and came and dwelt amongſt the Sons of men, they beheld his glory as the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of Grace and Truth, Joh. 1. 14. In all created Beauties, there is not equality: There are ſome faces more beautiful, and ſome minds more beautiful and lovely than others, which yet have their lovelineſs too. (Beauty is a quality which is capable of degrees.) There is a glory in Chriſt's Beauty, which is not to be found in the Beauty of any Saint. The Apoſtle tells us, that the fulneſs of the Godhead dwelt in him bodily. And the Evangeliſt, that his glory was like the glory of the only begotten Son Col. 2. 9.of God; he was full of Grace and Truth. Now, if you ask me what this glory is, what Tongue is able to expreſs it? Every one ſees a glory in the Sun's Light excelling the glory of the Stars; but wherein the Excellency is more than in the fulneſs of the Light, none is able to determine. Here it is true which the Vulgar Latine makes the ſenſe of Prov. 25. 27. Qui ſcrutatur Majeſtatem opprimetur à gloria: While the Soul ſets it ſelf to fathom the tranſcendent Divine Excellencies that are in Chriſt, it is overcome with glory, as the Eye is with the Light of the Sun, that looks too wiſtly upon it; as the Boy that appeared to the Auncient, (who had promiſed his People to open to them the Doctrine of the Trinity,) unlading water out of the Sea into a little hole with a Spoon, and told him that he ſhould ſooner have done that work, than he would have opened the Doctrine of the Trinity: So I may ſay in this caſe: Chriſt is every way wonderful. The Prophet (concerning his Birth) cries out, Who ſhall declare his Generation? I may here cry out, Who Iſa. 53. 8.ſhall declare his glory? Thus much we can ſay, that his Beauty is extenſively and intenſively more than that of the moſt eminent Saint in the World, that it is incomparable, and incomprehenſible, but it is impoſſible fully to delineate his glory to you; yet ſomething we may ſpeak more particularly.
2. Therefore Chriſts Beauty is a Primitive Beauty. The Beauty of the moſt eminent Saint is no more than a derivative Beauty; we are clean through Chriſt's cleanneſs, and we are comely through Chriſt's comelineſs. Take the Saint out of Chriſt he hath nothing in him but blackneſs, uglineſs, and deformity, all his Beauty is derived from Chriſt; he is but like the Star, that hath its Light from the Sun, being of it ſelf but a thicker part of coeleſtial matter; yea he is in a lower degree than a Star, which the Philoſopher ſaith hath ſome (though a very ſmall) Light of his own. The Child of God of himſelf is not only dark, but darkneſs: You were once darkneſs (ſaith the Apoſtle)Eph. 5. 8. John 1. 9. 8. 12. but now you are light in the Lord. But now Chriſt is not only lightſom, but light it ſelf: I am the true Light, Job. 1. 9. Joh. 8. 12. Yea, and his Light, his Beauty is from himſelf. Conſider him as God equal with the Father, and coaevous with him; all the Divine Perfections were in him. The whole Beauty of the Godhead was in Chriſt. Conſider him indeed as to his Humane Nature, ſo his Beauty was derivative; the Spirit was given to him (though not by meaſure) John 3. 34. Col. 1. 19.Joh. 3. 34 Col. 1. 19.) It pleaſed the Father that in him ſhould all fulneſs dwell. But conſider now the Lord Jeſus Chriſt perſonally, as God and Man, and ſo all his Beauty was Primitive, and from himſelf: His Divine Nature being the Fountain of all Perfections, and his Humane Nature receiving the fulneſs of the Godhead from that Nature to which it was joyned, in the fellowſhip of the ſame Perſon: Now look what difference there is betwixt the Original Light of the Sun, and the borrowed Light of a Star, betwixt the Primitive Light of the Fire, and the Derivative Light of a Taper, ſuch a tranſcendent difference there is between the Beauty of Chriſt, and the Beauty of a Chriſtian.
3. Chriſt's Beauty is an Eſſential Beauty. When I diſcourſed to you concerning the Beauty of Chriſtians, I told you that their Beauty was accidental and adventitious; all thoſe gracious diſpoſitions which are found in the Souls of Saints, which make them lovely and beautiful, either in the Eyes of Chriſt, or of their Brethren, are but adventitious qualities, and accidents, no part of their Eſſence; But Chriſt's Beauty is Eſſential to him. It is certainly true, that there are no accidents in God; all that love, and goodneſs, and mercy, which is in Jeſus Chriſt, that ſlowneſs to conceive a wrath, and readineſs to forgive, it is all Eſſential unto him.—Eſſentia Divina identificat ſibi omnia quae ſunt in Divinis (ſay the Schoolmen) Chriſt is from his Eſſence wiſe, good, gracious, holy, &c. Now every ones Reaſon will eaſily apprehend a tranſcendent difference between Eſſential and Subſtantial Beauty, and Adventitious and Accidental Beauty. But
4. Chriſt's Beauty is a ſpotleſs Beauty; He is called the Sun of Righteouſneſs. The Sun hath no ſpots in it, it is all beautiful, all glorious. The Saints Beauty is a ſpotted Beauty, or at leaſt a Beauty attended with ſpots; it is like the Beauty of the Moon; the Moon is a glorious creature, but the Moon hath its ſpots. Take the faireſt Saint in the World, he hath ſome blemiſhes, much grace, but ſome corruption, much rectitude, but ſome crookedneſs; yea, he is in nothing perfect. He believeth, but crieth out, Lord help my unbelief. He loveth God, this is his Beauty: Oh! but he wants ſome degrees of love, he bewails his want of love to God, and begs of God to teach him to love him; there's his ſpot in his Beauty. He doth direct his waies towards God; there's his Beauty: But hePſal. 119. 5. cries out, Oh that my waies were directed to keep thy Statutes! there's his ſpot, there's his deformity. But now look upon Chriſt, there was no ſpot found in him, no defect of Beauty, no mixture of deformity; no guile was found in his mouth, no deceit in his heart, no crookedneſs in his actions.
5. Chriſt's Beauty is a never fading Beauty. I remember that I told you concerning the Beauty of the Saints, that it is a durable Beauty, it is never wholly loſt, and it is true in the Eyes of Chriſt, but what's the reaſon? becauſe the Providence of God continually upholds that ſtate of Beauty which is once conferred: Nor hath God ſo ordered the upholding of the Saints Beauty, but that it may fade and decay as to degrees, yea and be wholly loſt (as to humane Judgment.) 'Tis true, the Beauty of Juſtification can never be loſt, can never decay, but the Beauty of Holineſs may. Now, Holineſs is a great part of the Saints Beauty, both in the Eyes of God, and alſo of men: But Chriſt's Beauty can never fade, the Roſe of Sharon cannot wither; this is proved from the third thing. If Beauty could fail from Chriſt, the Divine Eſſence might be extinguiſhed.
6. In the laſt place; Chriſts beauty is a communicative Beauty; The lovelieſt face in the World, cannot procreate ſuch another, the moſt vertuous ingenuous mind, cannot communicate its vertue, and ingenuity ſo as to poſſeſs another Soul with it You have many a Child of God, that is exceeding beautiful, both by juſtifying, and regenerating grace, but what they have is to themſelves. The wiseſt Virgins can lend no Oil to the fooliſh; if they do, there will not be enough for them both. But now Chriſts Beauty is communicative, he is in himſelf comely, and he can put his comelineſs upon others, yea (which is more) he can communicate, without loſs to himſelf, as the Fire gives heat to all in the Room, and yet hath no leſs heat in itſelf, or as the Sun inlightneth the Moon, and all the Stars, yea and all the World, and yet hath as much light ſtill as it had before that communication. So doth the Lord Jeſus Chriſt, he hath communicated Beauty to ten thouſand thouſand Saints even to all that have lived ſince Adams fall to this day. They were all comely through his comelineſs put upon them, yet hath he in himſelf the ſame Beauty he ever had. But I have ſpoke enough to the opening of this point. I come to the application in three or four words.
Uſe 1.1. In the firſt place, This calleth to all the Children of God, for that great duty mentioned, Rom. 12. 3. Not to think of himſelfRom. 12. 3. more highly then he ought to think, but to think ſoberly according as God hath dealt to every man the meaſure of faith. The want of this Spiritual Sobriety, hath been one great cauſe of the Drunkenneſs of this later age.
1. Profeſſors have been too apt to think of themſelves above others, forgetting that of the Apoſtle in that Chap. v. 10. In honour preferring one before another; ah how vile have Brethren ſeemed in one anothers Eyes? How ready have the followers of Paul been to deſpiſe the followers of Cephas, and thoſe that followed Apollo to deſpiſe thoſe that followed Paul? How ſubject have we been to contemn thoſe not of our own form, though poſſibly better Scholars in Chriſts School then we! (for Scholarſhip in Religion is not to be judged by forms in the Church?) Certainly it had been much better for thoſe ſelf conceited Chriſtians, that looking upon their own beauty have ſo ſcorned others, as low, legal Chriſtians, to have thought with themſelves. Ah! but what is my Beauty to Chriſts Beauty? And why do I deſpiſe, who my ſelf have not attained.
2. A 2d ſort of profeſſors have erred by thinking of themſelves above the meaſure of faith given to them. I know nothing hath contributed ſo much, to the miſerable diſtempers of our Church as this, that our profeſſors have looked their faces in a multitiplying glaſs, there they have beheld their parts above what indeed they were, yea and their graces too. But alas (Friends) Suppoſe them what you would have them, there is no cauſe of glorying, for if thou haſt received it, why doeſt thou glory, as if thou hadſt not received. And let the parts and graces that make thee beautiful be what they will, certainly they are ſhort of Chriſts ſtill (who is thy great Example.)
3. But moſt abominable are thoſe, who dream that they are as holy as Chriſt, as perfect as he is, yea that they are Chriſted and Godded. They may be Devilled, and Sathanized, with pride and ſelf conceit, but certainly, when the Saint is grown to the higheſt pitch, Chriſt muſt be higher by the head, and ſhoulders. Did theſe poor worms, ever drink of that cup of which he drank? Or were they ever baptized with the Baptiſm wherewith he was baptized? If not, how come they to ſit at his right hand? were they the onelyonly begotten Sons of God, full of grace and truth? How then come they (if they were not ſo) to be ſharers with him in his glory? Away then with this blaſphemous pride; and if thou (O thou worm of the Earth!) knoweſt not how to difference Chriſts Beauty from thine, go to the Sun, and Moon, and Stars, and conſider if the imperfect twinkling light of the latter bear any Proportion to the triumphing light of the former; go and learn, how the heat of thy hand (made hot by the Fire) can poſſibly be proportionable to the heat of the Fire, which gave thy hand what heat it hath. But no more of this. It is a thing not fit to be named amongſt Chriſtians. This is the firſt Uſe.
Uſe 2.In the 2d place; Let this Caution you againſt that which the Apoſtle Jude complains of, Jude 16. Having mens perſons in admiration. Under the former branch of Application I took notice of one great cauſe, of the ſad miſcarriages of profeſſors in our age; I ſhall here touch upon another, It is This having mens perſons in admiration, Chriſtians have had ſuch a one in their Eye, whom they have looked upon as an holy and eminent perſon, full of Spiritual Beauty, and him they have followed over hedge and ditch, never looking at Chriſt all the way. It is good to behold the workings of Grace upon thoſe who are made the ſubjects of it; but to what end? What? that we might admire them, and follow them? no, but that we might admire God in them, and that Grace of Chriſt by which they are ſo holy, ſo humble, ſo meek, ſo eminent in any Grace. I am afraid many have made another uſe of Profeſſors ſeeming Beauty in theſe times, and the Lord hath let them ſee, that their Beauty was vain, and their appearing Favour deceitful. Certainly Brethren, if that which you have heard be true, Chriſt alone is to be admired by you; he is the chiefeſt of ten thouſand. Do you hear any one ſaying, ſuch a Miniſter, ſuch a Chriſtian is fair, O! he, or ſhe is fair, they have Doves Eyes, look thou up to Heaven, and ſay, Nay, (my dear Saviour!) thou art fair; theſe are derivative Beauties, thine is a primitive Beauty; the Beauty of theſe is but an accidental, adventitious Beauty, thine is an eſſential, ſubſtantial Beauty; theſe are mixed Beauties, thine is a perfect Beauty. We have hearts that are exceeding carnal. Men are very prone to admire their fellows rather for Outward Advantages, than for Spiritual Perfections; more for outward parts, than for Grace; and when they take notice of Grace in any, to admire them rather than Chriſt for the Grace of God beſtowed upon them. The Woman, Luk. 11. 27. was guilty of the firſt, that hearing Chriſt ſpeak, lift up her voice and ſaid, Bleſſed is the Womb that bare thee, and the Paps which thou haſt ſucked. Chriſt reforms her wiſh, v. 28. yea rather, Bleſſed are they that hear the Word of God and keep it. The Corinthians were guilty of the ſecond, who much admired thoſe amongſt them that had parts, and extraordinary gifts: The Apoſtle endeavours to reform that, 1 Cor. 12. 31.—I ſhew unto you a more excellent way; that was Grace. Grace is better than all the gifts in the World. Chriſtians are alſo ſubject to a third Errour, where they ſee, or at leaſt think they ſee eminent Grace in any, they are prone to admire them, and follow them. But Chriſtians! I ſhew unto you a more excellent object; do you ſee eminent grace in any, admire Chriſt in them, and the eminency of Grace in Chriſt, who hath given them ſuch a proportion. But let Chriſt ſtill be greater in the Throne than the greateſt Saint upon the Earth; admire him, and follow him. But that will be a third branch of Application.
Uſe 3.What you have heard, methinks, ſhould ſend you all away filled with the admiration of Chriſt, panting with deſires after Chriſt, and filled with the love of him.
1. I ſay firſt, Filled with the admiration of Chriſt. Have you at any time ſeen an eminent Chriſtian abounding with love to God, zeal for him, clothed with humility, buried in ſelf-denial, adorned with any Graces which have made him acceptable to all with whom he hath converſed, and have you admired ſuch a one, how he could abridge himſelf of the ſweets and contentments of this life, and ſatisfie himſelf with being any thing, or nothing, ſo he might but attain to the Reſurrection of the Dead, win Chriſt, be found in him, and win others to him? and will you not admire that Fountain from whence all theſe ſtreams are derived? Is he a reaſonable creature that gazeth upon a twinkling Star, and admires the luſtre of it, and looks upon the Sun without any admiration at all. Oh! admire Chriſt, to whom all created Perfections are no more than ſo many drops of Water to the Ocean, ſo many grains of Sand to a Mountain, ſo many ſlender Beams to the body of Light in the Sun.
2. Shall not this ſend you away panting after Union, and the ſeal of Union with Chriſt? Man as a ſenſual creature, deſires corporeal Beauty, and 'tis hard for him to ſee it in a Woman free for him, and not to deſire her for it. Man as a rational creature deſires mental Beauty, and it is hard for him to know of any adorned with moral Vertues, and with a pleaſing and ingenuous diſpoſition, and not to deſire friendſhip and acquaintance with him or her that is ſo qualified. Man as regenerate and a ſpiritual new creature, deſires ſpiritual Beauty; and 'tis ordinary for Chriſtians, ſeeing others more eminent in Grace than themſelves, to deſire fellowſhip with them, and to be made partakers of their Grace. But lo here Chriſtians, a beautiful Object excelling all created Beauties; Lo here one that is the faireſt amongſt the Sons of Men; Lo here one to whom all the Lillies of the Field, yea even Solomon himſelf in all his glory, was never like; ſhall not your hearts pant after Union with him? Shall none ſay, Oh that this Chriſt were mine, his Grace mine, his Beauty mine, his Glory mine! Shall not every Soul which hath had a glimpſe of his Glory, deſire that he would kiſs it with the kiſſes of his mouth, that it might have further confirmations of its Intereſt in him?
3. And thirdly; Shall not all your hearts, who have this day heard of his Beauty, burn with further love to him? Doth the Womans heart leap when ſhe hears her Husband magnified? Doth ſhe pride her ſelf in ſecret thoughts, ſaying, This is my Beloved, This is my Husband? and doth the commendation which others give him blow the Coals of Love in her heart, and make them burn unto a flame? Oh that this Diſcourſe might have ſuch an influence upon you this day! Have not your hearts burned within you, while I have diſcourſed in your Ears concerning Chriſt's lovelineſs? O go home now and love him more! But our Saviour hath ſaid. If you love me, keep my Commandments.
4. Laſtly; Therefore ſeeing that the Beauty of Chriſt is ſo tranſcendent a Beauty, let all the Children of God do that one thing, (which St. Paul ſaith he did) viz. Not think that he hath attained, but forgetting that which is behind, preſs on forward to that which is before, unto the price of the High Calling. Chriſt is our mark; we are to learn of him to be lowly, and meek, to be holy and ſeparate from ſin. Let no man therefore ſet up himſelf a ſtand ſhort of this mark, and let every one ſee, that there is room for him yet to be more and more holy; thou mayeſt be as holy as thy Neighbour, but thou art not yet as holy as Chriſt; that's that thou ſhouldeſt ſtudy; that's it which thou ſhouldſt labour after. But this is enough to have ſpoken to the firſt Obſervation. The ſecond follow: That the ſenſe of that Value and Eſtimate which Jeſus Chriſt puts upon our Souls, ſhould make us put an high value upon him. The Spouſe's ſaying, Thou art fair (my Love!) Thou art fair, made her reply Thou art fair my Beloved.