riage towards him. Is he altogether lovely ; let all the world see and know that he is so, by your delights in him and communion with him ; zeal for him, and readiness to part with any other lovely thing upon his account ; proclaim his excellencies to the world, as the spouse here did ; convince them how much your beloved is better than any other beloved ; display his glorious excellencies in your heavenly conversations ; hold him forth to others, as he is in himself, altogether lovely. See that you " walk worthy of him " unto all well-pleasing," Col. i. 10. " Shew forth the praises of " Christ," 1 Pet. ii. 19. Let not that "worthy name be blas- " phemed through you," James ii. 7. He is glorious in himself, and will put glory upon you ; take heed ye put not shame and dis- honour upon him ; he hath committed his honour to you, do not betray that trust.
First, Never be ashamed to own Christ : he is altogether lovely ; he can never be a shame to you ; it will be your great sin to be ashamed of him. Some men glory in their shame ; be not you ashamed of your glory : if you be ashamed of Christ now, he will be ashamed of you when he shall appear in his own glory, and the glory of all his holy angels. Be ashamed of nothing but sin ; and among other sins, be ashamed especially for this sin, that you have no more love for him who is altogether lovely.
Sixthly, Be willing to leave every thing that is lovely upon earth, that you may be with the altogeilier lovely Lord Jesus Christ in hea- ven. Lift up your voices with the spouse, Rev. xx. 20. " Come u Lord Jesus, come quickly." It is true, you must pass through the pangs of death into his bosom and enjoyment ; but sure it is worth suffering much more than that to be with this lovely Jesus. " The Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and the pa- " tient waiting for Jesus Christ," 2 Thes. hi. 5.
Seventhly, Strive to be Christ-like, as ever you would be lovely in the eyes of God and man. Certainly, my brethren, it is the Spi- rit of Christ within you, and the beauty of Christ upon you, which only can make you lovely persons ; the more you resemble him in holiness, the more will you discover of true excellency and loveli- ness ; and the more frequent and spiritual your converse and com- munion with Christ is, the more of the beauty and loveliness of Christ will be stamped upon your spirits, changing you into the same image, from glory to glory.
Eighthly, Let the loveliness of Christ draw all men to him. Is loveliness in the creature so attractive ? And can the transcendent Joveliness of Christ draw none ? O the blindness of man ! If you see no beauty in Christ why you should desire him, it is because the god of this world hath blinded your minds.
SERM. XIII. THE METHOD OF GRACE. 225
Alluring the Hearts of Men to come to Christ, by a fourth Motive contained in another Title of Christ.
Haggai ii. 7. And the desire of all nations shall come.
JL HE former chapter is mainly spent, in reproving the negli- gence of the Jews, who, being discouraged from time to time, had delayed the rebuilding the temple : and, in the mean time, employed their care and cost in building and adorning their own houses : but, at last, being persuaded to set about the work, they met with this discouragement, that such was the poverty of the present time, that the second structure would no way answer the magnificence and splendor of the first. In Solomon's days the nation was wealthy, now drained ; so that there would be no proportion betwixt the second and the first. To this grand dis- couragement the prophet applies this relief; that whatsoever should be wanting in external pomp and glory, should be more than re- compensed by the presence of Jesus Christ in this second temple. For Christ, " the desire of all nations," saith he, shall come into it. Which, by the way, may give us this useful note : That the presence of Jesus Christ gives a more real and excellent glory to the places of his worship, than any external beauty or outward or- naments whatsoever can bestow upon them. Our eyes, like the dis- ciples, are apt to be dazzled with the goodly stones of the temple, and, in the mean time, to neglect and overlook that which gives it the greatest honour and beauty.
But to return. In these words we have both the description of Christ, and an index pointing at the time of his incarnation : he is called " the desire of all nations ;" and the time of his coming in the flesh, is plainly intimated to be whilst the second temple should be standing. Where, by the way, we find just cause to admire at and bemoan the blindness that is happened to the Jews, who, owning the truth of this prophecy, and not able to deny the destruction of the second temple, many hundred years past, will not yet be brought to acknowledge the incarnation of the true Messiah notwithstanding.
But to the point. The character, or description of Christ, stiled the desire of all nations, who was to come into the world in the time of the second temple, Mai. iii. 12. and that, after grievous con- cussions and shakings of the world, which were to make way for
226 THE METHOD OF GRACE. SEKM. XIII,
his coming ; for so our prophet here speaks, " I will shake all na- " tions, and the desire of all nations shall come,1' to which the apostle alludes, in Heb. xh. 26. applying this prophecy to Jesus Christ, here called the " desire of all nations :" putting the act for the object, desire for the thing desired : as in Ezek. xxiv. 16. " The desire of thine eyes,1' i. e. the desirable wife of thy bosom; so here, the " desire of all nations,1' i. e. Christ, the object of the desires of God's elect, in all nations of the world : a Saviour infi- nitely desirable in himself, and actually desired by all the people of God, dispersed among all kindreds, tongues, and nations of the world. From whence this note is,
Doct. That the desires ofGouVs elect in all kingdoms, and among all people of the earth, are, and shall be drazcn out after, and jixed upon the Lord Jesus Christ.
The merciful God beholding the universal ruins of the world by sin, hath provided an universal remedy for his own elect, in every part of the earth. Christ is not impropriated to any one kingdom or nation in the world ; but intended to be God's salva- tion to the ends of the earth ; and accordingly speaks the apostle, Col. ii. 11. " There is neither Greek, nor Jew, Barbarian, Scy- " thian, bond nor free ; but Christ is all and in all." In the ex- plication of this point two tilings must be enquired into.
1. Whv Christ is called the desire of all nations.
2. Upon what account the people of God, in all nations, desire him.
First, Why he is called the desire of all nations, and what that phrase mav import ; and there are divers things that are supposed, or included in it.