_Thirdly_, There is not only mutual choice, and mutual affection, but likewise _mutual Union_: And here doth the marriage lie chiefly, in this union; CHRIST and souls are contracted, and the knot is tied so fast, that neither men on earth, how great soever they be, nor devils in hell, though they should combine all their wrath and rage together, still they cannot dissolve, they cannot untie it; no, my dear sisters, it is indissolvable, for the union is, by the spirit, on CHRIST’s part, and by faith on your’s: By the spirit, CHRIST doth lay hold on you; and by faith, you do lay hold on him; and thus the match is made; CHRIST becomes your’s, his person, portion, and all his benefits are your’s; and you become CHRIST’s, your persons, your hearts, and all that you have is resigned up unto him; and O that they may be so more and more.
_Fourthly_, There is a _mutual Obligation_ between CHRIST and his spouse. CHRIST obliges himself to love you here; he will not, indeed he never will leave you, he will protect you from the malice of the _Pharisees_ of this generation, he will provide for you in all difficulties; he will live with you here, and at last he will take you to himself, to live with him for ever. And you are engaged to him to be loving, loyal, faithful, obedient; and you are to stick close to him as long as you live; and then you will find yourselves to be married to the best advantage, both for soul and body, for time and for eternity.
II. CHRIST doth Invite all of you to be his spouse.
And it is on this account that he sends forth his ministers to preach. It is this, that makes me thus come among you; that you would accept of this invitation, to which, in the name of the LORD JESUS CHRIST, I do call and intreat you to take him, on his own terms. He calls all of you, my sisters, whether elder or younger, whether married or unmarried, of higher degree, or of the meanest quality, the poorest servants, yea, the rabble of this world, as the world calls you, who are willing to be espoused unto the LORD JESUS CHRIST. I say, the poor are as welcome to be CHRIST’s spouse as those that are rich. He regardeth not the rich more than the poor: he chose a mean virgin, espoused to a carpenter, to be his mother; and he chuseth and calleth all such to be his spouse; then be not discouraged at your being despised in the world; for if you are but loved by CHRIST, and espoused to him, it will be an over-sufficiency for all the trouble that you have met with here.
III. Those who would be espoused unto CHRIST, must hearken, consider, and incline to his invitation, and forget even their father’s house.
Such as would be espoused unto CHRIST must hearken. “Hearken, O daughter.” Many amongst you, my sisters, stop their ears against the calls of the gospel; they shut their ears like the deaf adder, which will not hearken unto the voice of the charmer, though he charm never so wisely. You will not hearken unto the invitations of CHRIST; you can hearken unto the vanities of the world, and be delighted with the espousals of the world, but never think, or are delighted with the espousals of CHRIST.
It was by the ear, that the temptation of sin was received by the first man, when he departed from GOD; and by the ear, the invitation to be CHRIST’s spouse must be received, before the heart will be opened to receive JESUS CHRIST in this conjugal relation.
If you would, my dear sisters, be espoused to CHRIST, you must consider CHRIST’s invitation. It is not a slight or bare hearing of CHRIST’s invitation, which will be of any service to you, or make up the match between CHRIST and your souls; no, you must receive CHRIST in the heart; you must consider the thing itself, the advantages of it, the difference between CHRIST’s invitations and the devil’s temptations, or any of the world’s proffers.
Those who would be espoused to CHRIST, must be inclined to accept of CHRIST’s invitation. “Hearken, O daughter, consider and incline thine ear.” This is to incline your hearts: You must consent with ♦your wills; there must be a compliance to the motion of CHRIST, and you must have desires after CHRIST, and then your hearts will say, ‘LORD, let us be thy spouse, and be thou our beloved.’
♦ “you” replaced with “your”