♦* Who is he?" Let every one mquire, " Lord, is it I?" And whoever he may be, let us all regard him as an object of the deepest commiseration. — The Lord awaken all such ere it be too late !]
THE church's desire OF CHRIST's LOVE.
Cant. viii. 6, 7. Set me as a seal wpon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death ; jealousy is cruel as the grave : the coals thereof are coals of fire, tvhich hath a most vehement Jlame. Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it: if a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it tcould utterly he contemned.
THE more any person enjoys of Christ, the more ardent will be his desires after him, and the more enlarged his petitions for richer communications from him. The Church, as represented in the song before us, has already been brought into the closest fellow- ship with her Beloved ; yet this, so far from satisfying her, serves only for an occasion of soliciting from him yet further favours, and urging her request with more powerful pleas : " Set me as a seal upon thine heart, and upon thine arm; &c." That in this we may be stirred up to follow her example, let us notice,
I. Her request —
To fix the import of this, we must determine the precise sense in which the Bride uses the word, " seal." In the general acceptation of that term in Scripture, we understand that which is affixed to deeds or cove- nants of any kind, in order to ratify and confirm them. Such was that with which Jeremiah's purchase of a field was confirmed"*; and in reference to such was circumcision appointed to Abraham, as the seal of God's covenant with him, and of the righteousness which he, by faith in that covenant, already pos- sessed*"; whilst, on the other hand, God's foreknow- ledge and fore-ordination of his elect is a seal on his part, attesting that that covenant stands on a sure and immoveable foundation ^ In a similar sense, the Holy Spirit's work in sanctifying the elect is a seal,
a Jlt. xxxii. 10, 11, 11. ^ Horn. iv. 11. ^2 Tim. ii. 19.
855.] THE church's desire OF CHRIST's LOVE. 455
whereby he seals them unto the day of redemption, and assm'es to them their enjoyment of their pur- chased inheritance'^. But we apprehend tliat the use of the term in this place is different ; and that it refers ' to signets which were not uncommonly worn upon the hand or arm, as memorials of persons who were greatly beloved. Such we find mentioned by the Prophet Jeremiah ; " As I live, saith the Lord, though Coniah, the son of Jehoiakim King of Judah, were the signet upon my right hand, yet would I pluck thee thence"," utterly unmindful of all my former regards. In this view the Church's request is, that her Beloved would make her the object of his most endeared affections, and of his continual care. Now, This is a proper request from every child of man —
[All without exception are invited to come to Christ^, and to participate freely his richest blessings s. Unworthiness on our part is no bar to our acceptance with him ; since all, however elevated and ennobled afterwards, are, previously to their union with him, in the lowest state of guih'^ and degra- dation'. He, and all his benefits, are to be apprehended sim- ply by faith ^. Whosoever comes to him by faith is united to him, as a branch to the vine\ and may expect to receive out of his fulness all that has been treasured up in him for our use and benefit"^ We may ask for the entire affections of his soul, and the unlimited exercise of liis power, as if there were no other creature in the liui verse to sh&l'o his regards.. Lg^S---* than this we ought not to ask. Less than this would not ava*]! for our eternal happiness. We must have all the love of his «l heart, and all the power of his arm, if we would be brought ■'■^ through all our difficulties and trials to the everlasting enjoy-- '^ ment of him in his kingdom. Whatever the most belove4 Bride may hope for from him to whom she is betrothed, tha^,^,j^ and infinitely more, may we expect from our heavenly Bride- n-^ groom-—] ^'^ .j^k''