THE CHURCH'S ECHO;
And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. — Rev. XXII. 17.
This book of the Revelation is an history of the state of the church, from the first coming of Christ to his second coming.
These two last chapters set down the glorious condition of the church, in the latter end of the world, and as it shall be in the consummation of all things, when the present state of things shall determine * in the ' second coming ' of Christ. For howsoever, no doubt but there is set down the glorious condition of the church in this world in part, yet the desire of the church rests not in any condition here, therefore it is carried to the consummation and perfection of all. There shall be a kind of new world at the conversion of the Jews ; but when the church is under that blessed condition, yet it is under desires still of farther perfection, till an end be made of all things. Therefore this saying here, ' Come,' hath reference to the future state of the church. All the desires of the church are restless till the consummation of all things in the latter coming of Christ. It carries all before it in a desire ; ' come. Lord,' therefore to call the Jews ; ' come. Lord,' to confound antichrist, which must be before that. For the Jews will never come in till the scandal f of idolatry be removed, and when all this is fulfilled, then ' come, Lord,' to make an end of this sinful world.
As it is with a river, it carries all before it, till it discharge itself into the ocean, where it is swallowed up, so it is with the desires of a Christian. They carry all in the mean time, between heaven and them, in a stream, and never rest tiU they be swallowed in heaven itself, and the ' second coming ' of Christ to finish all things ; and then is the period of all happi- ness, and the accomplishment of all promises, ' when Christ shall come to be glorious in his saints,' 2 Thes. i. 10.
* ' The Church's Echo ' forms one of the sermons included in the ' Beams of Divine Light' (4to, 1639). Its separate title-page is as follows: — ' The Chvrches Eccho. In one Sermon. By The late learned and reverend Divine, Rich. Sibbs : Doctor in Divinitie, Mr of Katherine Hall in Cambridge, and sometimes Preacher at Grayes- Inne. Isay 64. 1. Oh that thou wouldst rent the heavens and come downe, that the Mountaines might flow downe at thy presence. London, Printed by E. P. for Nicholas Bourne, and Kapha Harford, 1638.' G.
* That is, ' end.'— G. t That is, 'stumbling-block.' — G.
536 THE church's echo.
The words they are, as it were an echo, an answer back again of the bride, the spouse of Christ, unto his promise of his coming, which he makes twice in this chapter, in ver, 7, ' Behold, I come quickly ; ' and in ver. 12, ' Behold, I come quickly ; ' and he comes not empty-handed, * My rewards is with me.' Now the church here echoes back again : Christ saith, * I come,' and the Spirit and the bride say, ' Come.' The words contain the most heavenly desire that can be, of the most excellent person- age in this world, the queen, the bride of Christ ; and it is a desire to the most excellent person absolutely, Christ himself, a desire of his coming ; and it is stirred up by the most excellent Spirit, the Holy Spirit of God. For the meaning of the words is this, ' The Spirit and the bride say. Come,' not as distinct and severed, but the bride by the Spirit saith, ' Come,' the Holy Ghost in the bride, as it is Rom. viii. 26, ' We know not what to pray, but the Spirit makes intercession.' How is that ? The Spirit makes intercession, by making us make intercession ; for what Christ doth, the Spirit causeth us to do, for there is one Spirit in Christ and us. So the bride, by the motion of the holy and blessed Spirit, says, ' Come.' The order of oui* discourse upon these words shall be this,
First, to speak of the person wishing, and her condition, the bride.
And then of the desire of this excellent jwrscnage, the bride.
And then of the moving cause that stirs up the bride to desire the coming of Christ.
First, For the person, the bride.
The church is sometime compared to a woman for weakness ; sometimes to a wife, for faithfulness to her husband Christ ; sometimes to a bride, because she is contracted to Christ in this world ; sometimes to a mother for her fruitfulness ; sometimes to a virgin for her chastity ; here to a bride, because this life is but the time of contract, but the consummation of the marriage shall be in heaven. Now this contract [is] between the church and Christ, and between every particular soul and Christ ; for both are the bride of Christ. Even as it is the same soul that is in the little finger and in all the whole body, the same soul enlivens both, so it is the same Spirit in the bride in general, and in every particular Christian, therefore the bride is both every particular Christian's and the whole church's. Now the contract that is made between the soul, and between the church and Christ, it is by the Spirit of God, which knits the soul to Christ, and Christ to the soul ; and for this end, that Christ might be a husband, and contract this bride to himself in our nature, he married our nature that he might marry our persons.