Take heed of a barren, dead faith. It is a false faith. If thou believe indeed, faith will work love, and work by love, as it did in this blessed woman. Her faith knit her to Christ in heaven. Her love was as the branches of the tree. Her faith knit her to the root ; but love as the branches reached to others ; her branches reached fruit to the apostle and his company. So it is the nature of faith that knits us to Christ, The same spirit of love kuits us to others, and reacheth forth fruit to all we converse with.
As we desire to have evidence of the soundness of our faith, let us see what spirit of love we have, especially love to these three things,
1. Love to Christ, to whom we are engrafted, and,
2. Love to the ministers of Christ. We cannot shew kindness to Christ. He is in heaven. But his ministers and his poor are upon the earth ; when we can, buy ointment to pour on Christ's feet, his poor members, and his ministers.
;; 3. And love to the word of God. They are the three issues of a gracious, believing heart, and where they are not there is no faith at all.
I beseech you, let us imitate this blessed woman. You see hero the name of Lydia is precious in the church. The name of Lydia, as it is said of Josiah, it is a box of ointment poured out. The name of Lydia cannot be named in the church, but there is a sweet savour with it. As soon as she believed, the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of God blowing upon the garden of her heart, where the spice of grace was sowed, stirred up a sweet scent of faith, and of bounty, and liberality in the cause of Christ.
Let not this be in vain to us, but every one of us labour to be like Lydia. You see what loadstone drew Paul here to go unto her house ; she had faith, and she expressed it in love.
Let us labour to have faith, and to express it in love to God, unto Christ, to his people, and word, and ordinances, that have his stamp on them ; and let us boldly own the cause of Christ ; let us not regard the censures of vain men that say thus and thus. Faith and love forget danger ; it is bold. She forgot all the danger that she was in by counte- nancing Paul and such men.
Let us labour for faith and love, and we shall not say this and that. 'There is a lion in the way,' Prov. xxii. 13; but we shall go on boldly until we do receive the end of our faith and love, ' the salvation of our souls.'
* Spelled ' siencG.' — G.
NOTES.
(a) P. 521. — 'Purple.' Probably the reference is to Tertullian. Cf. footnote, page 89.
(6) P. 525. — ' The word signifies to apply and set her mind,' &c. The word is Tooffs^w, on which cf. Dr Robinson's interesting article in his Lexicon, sub voce. Literally hero = to apply the mind ; but often in the Classics with the accessory idea of believing, giving credence. G.
THE BEIDE'S LONGING
FOB
HER BEIDEGROOM'S SECOND COMING.
THE BKIDE'S LONGING.
NOTE.
'The Bride's Longing for her Bridegroom's Second Coming* forms a small volume (18mo), published in 1G38. Its title-page is given below.* Of Sir Thomas Crew, known by the venerable title of ' The poor man's lawyer,' nothing need be added to the splendid eulogium of Sibbes, which, as in the case of Milton's upon Bradshaw, has proved a more enduring monument than marble and brass. Prefixed to the volume is Marshall's miniature portrait of Sibbes. I have not traced a second copy of ' The Bride's Longing.' G.
* The Brides Longing
for her
Bride-guoomes
second commiug.
A
Sermon preached at the funcrall
of the right Worsliipfull, Sir
Thomas Chew, Knight,
Sergeant at Law to his
Maiestie.
By
The late learned and reverend Divine,
E I c H. S I B s.
Kev. 22, 17. The Spirit and the Bride say, come, and let him that heareth, saij, come.
LONDON :
Printed by E. P. for G. Edwards, at
the signe of the Angell in green
Arbour. 1638.
TO THE EEADEE.
Loving Readers, — Lo, here the verifying of that ancient adage, Qitod differtur, non mifertur, for long looked for comes at last. That which, before a solemn and sad assembly, was publicly preached and committed to the ears of some, is now printed and committed to the eyes of all that have a mind to read it ; which thing hath with a long and longing desire been wished and waited for by sundry. This funeral sermon bespake your receiving and respecting of it in a double consideration, each of which, in my opinion, hath an important, rare, and singular ponderation. Behold, first, the man ; secondly, the matter. The man by whom, and the man for whom it was made : the one, that worthy divine Dr" Sibbes, who in his lifetime intended and approved it for the press, as it now comes forth ; the other, that worshipful serjeant. Sir Thomas Crew ; men of more than ordinary worth and goodness, whom to name is enough to those that knew them ; for if I should enter into a particular discourse and discovery of their deserved worth, I fear I should more dishonour my undertakings, and wrong your expectation, than in any proportion answer the excellency of two such worthy themes. Secondly, for the matter, as the occasion and men's expectations were extraordinary, so shall you find his preparation. Read, and then judge. It sweetly and to the life sets forth the duty, desire, and disposition of the church and spouse of Christ echoing a faithfal and prayer- ful Amen to all the truths of God, especially to the precious promises, and chiefly to that promise of promises, Christ's * second coming ;' which in cold blood undauntedly to desire, is an infallible mark of a true and thorough convert ; which that we may do, we must make sure our espousal to Christ here, and get to be clad with the wedding garment of faith and repentance, teaching us to ponder and pray much, and then admirable shall be our confident standing before God, our rich hope, our quietness and heart's ease, our joy, as if we had one foot in heaven already. We shall be able with St Paul to cast down our gauntlet and bid defiance to devils, to men, to height, to depth, to things present and things to come. If all the hearts in the world were one heart, it could not comprehend those rich blessings wherewith true Christians are richly endowed, and those spiritual joys and comforts which shall rain upon them in sweet showers from heaven ; rich they are in hand, but richer in hope ; rich in possession, but richer in reversion. For what ravishing joy, what inex- plicable sweetness shall then everlasting[lyj possess our souls, whenas we who have been along time contracted to our Lord and husband, shall see that blessed time come, when we shall have that glorious marriage between