Now, nothing will do this but the Holy Ghost, as ye have it John xvi. 7, seq. : ' Christ promiseth to send the Comforter, the Holy Ghost, and he shall convince the world of sin ;' that is, he shall so set sin before the eyes of men's souls, that they shall know there is no salvation but in Christ. He shall convince them of unbelief, that horrible sin. They shall have it presented so to them, that they shall believe presently upon it. This the Holy Ghost must do.
But the Holy Ghost doth it in the use of means. Therefore it must be our wisdom to hear and pray and meditate much, that God would vouch- safe his Spirit to persuade us, to convince our understanding, to convince
THE saint's BESOLUTION. 91
US of all our false reasonings against good things, that there may not a vile imagination rise in our hearts contrary to divine principles.
'It is good to draw near to God.' Therefore it is good to come to the sacrament, which is one way of drawing near to God. Let us be so con- vinced of it, that it is not only a necessary, but a comfortable and sweet dutylto have communion with God ; for will we suffer for Christ if we will not feast with him ? What shall we say of those, therefore, that are so far from drawing near to God, when they have these opportunities, that they turn their backs ? They clean thwart this blessed man here. He saith, * It is good for me to draw near to God ;' nay, say they, it is good for me to have nothing to do with God, nor, Christ, no, not when he comes to allure me. Now, he is come near us indeed, that we might come near hira. Because we were strangers to God, and could not draw near to him, simply considered, God became man, Emmanuel, God with us, that he might bring us to God. Christ is that Jacob's ladder that knits heaven and earth together. Christ, God and man, knits God and man together. This was the end of his incarnation and of his death, to make our peace, to bring those near that were strangers, nay, enemies before ; and of our part and portion in the benefits of his death, we are assured in the sacra- ment. Therefore let us draw near to our comfort, with cheerfulness, for his goodness that we have these opportunities. Let us draw near to God to have our faith strengthened and our communion with him increased.
Only let us labour to come with clean hearts. ' God will be sanctified in all that come near him,' Lev. x. 3. Let us know that we have to deal with a holy God, and with holy things, and therefore cast aside a purpose of living in sin ; let us not come with defiled hearts, for then, though the things be holy in themselves, they are defiled to us. Let us come with a resolution to renew our covenant, and come with rejoicing that God stoops so low to use these poor helps, that in themselves are weak, yet by his blessing they are able greatly to strengthen our faith.
NOTES.
{a) P. 81. — 'This psalm is a psalm of David, or of Asapli.' Cf. Dr J. A. Alexander and Thrupp in loco. Modern criticism seems to have no douht that Asaph was the author, not merely the ' singer,' of this psalm.
[b) P. 85. — "'Bnt' is not in the original." Cf. above reference. Dr Alexander renders, ' And I,' &c. ' As for me — the approach of God to me (is) good.' The ' last translation' is our present authorised version. G.
(c) P. 85. — ' Nihil tarn cerium,^ &c. An apophthegm common to Philosophy, and met with in various forms ; e. g. it is a common saying, ' He wlio never doubted, never believed.'
THE CHURCH'S BLACKNESS.
THE CHURCH'S BLACKNESS.
NOTE.
' The Church's Blackness' forms No. 17 of the sermons in The Saint's Cordials of 1629. It was withdrawn in the after- edition.;. Its separate title-page is given below.* G.
* THE CHVRCHES BLACKNES.
In One Sermon.
SHEWING,
f That the bat of Gods Saints, whilest they are here, are in
I imperfect estate. That though our estate he here unperfect, yet we must not J be discouraged. As also, that Christians have beauty as well as hlacknesse. And that there is a glory and excellency in the Saints of God, in the midst of all their deformities and debase- ments.
Prtelucendo Pereo.
Vpeightnes Hath Boldnes.
LONDON,
Printed in the ycare 1629.
THE CHURCH'S BLACKNESS.
I am black, hut comely, 0 ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, and as the curtains of Solomon. Look not iqion me, because I am black, because the sun hath looked iqmn me ; my mother's children were angry ivith me ; they made me the keeper of the vineyards : but mine oun vine- yard have I not kept. — Cant. I. 5, 6.
In the former verses of this chapter, the church having shewed her fervent love and dear affection unto Christ, and longing for a nearer communion with him ; having also confessed and professed her own weakness and inability to come towards him, for which cause she says, * Draw me, we will run after thee ; ' in the words which I have read, and in the verse fol- lowing, she comes to remove certain objections and impediments, which might either discredit her or discourage her daughters, which she doth by turning her speeches unto them, who are answered as though they had expressed their objection in direct words ; for the Spirit knows how to meet with our secret thoughts, either present or to come. Now these daughters who here make the objection, are supposed to be such as have no sanctifying grace as yet in them, at least very little (as it appeareth by their contemning of the church, ver. 6, and disacquaintance with Christ, chap. V. 9), yet daughters of Jerusalem. Now the first objection the church hath to meet with, is by reason of such as live in the church, are bred and born there, partake of the ordinances, are in the church, though not all of it, and these the church hath to do withal. As for the daughters of Babylon, and those out of the church, they do not heed what she saith, nor understand in any measure her language, they are neither for her nor her love. Well, with these daughters she deals, and taking up their objec- tion, first, she answers it, ver. 5 ; secondly, she enlarges her answer, ver. 6. The objection is, ' Thou art black ; ' and this is aggravated from a comparison ; the manner with her affected love, thus : And is Christ indeed, as thou reportest him, the best lover, full of sweetness and hoH- ness, a king ? what an unwise woman art thou to entertain any hopes of marrying him, sith you have nothing, be poor, afllicted, filthy ; in a word, black, yea, very black. This is the objection, which she answers nimbly two ways.