The ministers are jyaranimjjhy* friends of the bridegroom, that come between the spouse and Christ, to make up the match between them ; and one blessed way whereby they do it, is to unfold to the church her own * That is, cragai'ii^ap/o;.
A christian's charter. 29
beggary, and the riclics slie bath by Christ ; her own necessity, and the excellency that she hath in Christ. The main scope of the ministry is to shew us our beggary in ourselves, and our danger : that we are more indebted than we are worth ; that we are indebted to God's justice for body, and soul, and all ; and as we are indebted, so we must have supply from the riches of another of necessity, or else we go to prison and perish eternally.
Now Christ doth not only pay our debts — for that we may look for out of self-love — but he is ' the chief of ten thousand,' Cant. v. 10, he is an excellent person in himself. Now the unfolding of the excellencies in Christ is a means to procure the contract and marriage between the church and Christ. And let us labour by all means to be one with Christ, to study further union and communion with Christ, because upon this term and tenure ' all things are ours,' if we be Christ's ; if not, nothing is ours but damnation. And considering that the more union we have with him, the more we shall know our own prerogative, that * all things present and to come are ours,' therefore we should labour to know him more. There are three graces tending to union :
Knoidedrje, faith, and love.
The more we know him, the more we shall trust him. * They that know thy name will trust in thee,' Ps. ix. 10. And the more we trust in him, the more we shall love him. Knowledge breeds trust, and trust breeds love. Therefore let us labour to grow in our knowledge, and trust, and love to Christ.
And to that end, as I said, to take all occasions to hear of the excellencies of Christ, to study them ourselves, and to hear of them from others, espe- cially in the ministry. In Cant. v. 9, those that were not converted, the daughters of Jerusalem, they ask the church, ' What is thy beloved more than another's beloved?' ' My beloved,' saith the church, ' is white and ruddy, the chiefest of ten thousand ;' and thereupon she sets him out from top to toe, in all his excellencies, and saith, ' This is my beloved ;' and thereupon she that before asked in slighting, ' What is thy beloved more than another's beloved ? ' in the 6th chapter saith, ' Where is thy beloved, that we may seek him with thee ? ' * iSo when we know Christ and his excellencies, the next query will be, ' Where is thy beloved ?' Of all argu- ments in divinity we can study, we hear of nothing more comfortable than of Christ and the benefits we have by him ; for God will be glorified in nothing so much as in that great mystery of Christ. Therefore let these things be more and more sought after.
Quest. But how shall I know that Christ is mine, or that I am in Christ, or no ? For all depends upon this tenure, that we are in Christ.
Ans. Ask thine own heart. (1.) Hast thou given thy consent, and con- tracted thyself to Christ, or no ? This is one way, as I said, whereby we are Christ's, by giving our consent. Our own hearts will tell us whether we have given our consent to take Christ to be a head, a governor, and a king to ruje us, as well as for a priest to die for us. If thou be content to come under the government of Christ, to be ruled by his Spirit, thou mayest say, I am Christ's ; I have given up myself to him ; I am content to take him. We know what hath proceeded from our own will, and there are none that have given up themselves to Christ, but they may know it. Therefore let us consider whether we have passed our consent to Christ, or no. I fear it is yet to do with many ; for instead of contracting them- selves to Christ, they have yielded to their own lusts. * Cf. Vol. II., page 132, seq.—Q.
30 A christian's portion ; or,
(2.) Again, secondly, consider hi/ ivhat spirit thou art guided, whether by the Spirit of Chi'ist or no. ' Ho that hath not the Spirit of Christ is none of his,' Horn. V. 8. Christ is a liushaud that will rule his spouse. He will rule in his own templo and house. He is a head that will rule his own members. Consider what spirit guides and actuates thee, whether the Spirit of Christ or the s})irit of the world. If ihe Spirit of Christ rule in us, it will work as it did in Christ, that judgment of things that Christ had, heavenly things to be the most excellent, and the same judgment of persons to esteem of those that Christ esteems of. It will work the same carriage to God, to men, to enemies, to Satan. If we have the Spirit of Christ, it will transform us to be like Christ in our judgment and disposi- tions and affections every way, in some degi'ee, according to our capacity and measure. Therefore let us not deceive ourselves ; if we be led by the spirit of the world, and not by the Spirit of Christ, we cannot say with comfort, I am Christ's. When every one shall come to challenge their own, the devil will say. Thou art mine, thou wert led by my spirit. But if we yield ourselves to be guided by the blessed truth of God, when that challenge shall come, ' "Who is on my side. Who ?' Christ will own us for his in evil times.