The Church’s Marriage To
Her Sons, And To Her God
Dated September 19, 1746. Preached at the installment
of the Rev. Samuel Buel, as pastor of the church and congregation at East
Hampton on Long Island.
Isaiah 62:4, 5
Thy land shall be married. For as a young man
marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee: and as the bridegroom
rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee.
In the midst of many blessed promises that God makes to
his church — in this and the preceding and following chapters — of advancement
to a state of great peace, comfort, honor, and joy, after long-continued
affliction, we have the sum of all contained in these two verses. In the 4th
verse God says to his church, “Thou shalt no more be termed, Forsaken; neither
shall thy land any more be termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called
Hephzi-bah, and thy land, Beulah: for the Lord delighteth in thee, and thy land
shall be married.” When it is said, “Thy land shall be married,” we are to
understand, “the body of thy people, thy whole race;” the land — by a metonymy,
very usual in Scripture — being put for the people that inhabit the land. — The
5th verse explains how this should be accomplished in two things, viz. in
being married to her sons, and married to her God.
I. It is promised that she should be married to her
sons, or that her sons should marry her? “For as a young man marrieth a
virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee.” Or, as the words might have been more
literally translated from the original: “As a young man is married to a virgin,
so shall thy sons be married to thee.” Some by this understand a promise, that
the posterity of the captivated Jews should return again from Babylon to the
land of Canaan, and should be, as it were, married or wedded to their own land,
i.e. they should be re-united to their own land, and should have great
comfort and joy in it, as a young man in a virgin that he marries. But when it
is said, “So shall thy sons marry thee,” God does not direct his speech to the
land itself, but to the church whose land it was. The pronoun thee being
applied to the same mystical person in this former part of the verse, as in the
words immediately following in the latter part of the same sentence, “And as
the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee.”
It is the church, and not the hills and valleys of the land of Canaan, that is
God’s bride, or the Lamb’s wife. It is also manifest that when God says, “So
shall thy sons marry thee,” he continues to speak to her to whom he had spoken
in the three preceding verses. But there it is not the land of Canaan, but the
church, that he speaks to when he says, “The Gentiles shall see thy
righteousness, and all kings thy glory: and thou shalt be called by a new name,
which the mouth of the Lord shall name. Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in
the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God. Thou shalt no more
be termed Forsaken,” etc. And to represent the land itself as a bride and the
subject of espousals and marriage, would be a figure of speech very unnatural,
and not known in Scripture. But for the church of God to be thus represented is
very usual from the beginning to the end of the Bible. And then it is manifest
that the return of the Jews to the land of Canaan from the Babylonish
captivity, is not the event mainly intended by the prophecy of which these
words are a part. That was not the time fulfilled in the 2nd verse of this
chapter, “And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy
glory: and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord
shall name.” That was not the time spoken of in the preceding chapters with which
this chapter is one continued prophecy. That was not the time spoken of in the
last words of the foregoing chapter when the Lord would cause righteousness and
praise to spring forth before all nations. Nor was it the time spoken of in the
5th, 6th, and 9th verses of that chapter when “strangers should stand and feed
the flocks of God’s people, and the sons of the alien should be their
ploughmen, and vine-dressers; but they should be named the priests of the Lord,
and men should call them the ministers of God; when they should eat the riches
of the Gentiles, and in their glory boast themselves, and their seed should be
known among the Gentiles, and their offspring among the people; and all that
should see them should acknowledge them, that they are the seed which the Lord
hath blessed.” Nor was that the time spoken of in the chapter preceding that
“when the abundance of the sea should be converted unto the church; when the
isles should wait for God, and the ships of Tarshish to bring her sons from
far, and their silver and gold with them; when the forces of the Gentiles and
their kings should be brought; when the church should suck the milk of the
Gentiles, and suck the breast of kings; and when that nation and kingdom that
would not serve her should perish and be utterly wasted: and when the sun
should be no more her light by day, neither for brightness should the moon give
light unto her, but the Lord should be unto her an everlasting light, and her
God her glory; and her sun should no more go down, nor her moon withdraw
itself, because the Lord should be her everlasting light, and the days of her
mourning should be ended.” These things manifestly have respect to the
Christian church in her most perfect and glorious state on earth in the last
ages of the world, when the church should be so far from being confined to the
land of Canaan, that she should fill the whole earth, and all lands should be
alike holy.
These words in the text, “As a young man marrieth a
virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee,” I choose rather, with others, to
understand as expressive of the church’s union with her faithful pastors, and
the great benefits she should receive from them. God’s ministers, though they
are set to be the instructors, guides, and fathers of God’s people, yet are also
the sons of the church. Amos 2:11, “I raised up of your sons for prophets, and
of your young men for Nazarites.” Such as these, when faithful, are those
precious sons of Zion comparable to fine gold spoken of, Lam. 4:2, 7. “Her
Nazarites were purer than show, they were whiter than milk.” and as he that
marries a young virgin becomes the guide of her youth, so these sons of Zion
are represented as taking her by the hand as her guide. Isa. 51:18, “There is
none to guide her among all the sons whom she hath brought forth; neither is
there any that taketh her by the hand of all the sons that she hath brought
up.” That by these sons of the church is meant ministers of the gospel, is
confirmed by the next verse to the text, “I have set watchmen upon they walls,
O Jerusalem.”
That the sons of the church should be married to her as a
young man to a virgin is a mystery not unlike many others held forth in the
Word of God concerning the relation between Christ and his people, and their
relation to him and to one another. Christ is David’s Lord and yet his Son, and
both the Root and Offspring of David. Christ is a Son born and a Child given
and yet the everlasting Father. The church is Christ’s mother, Song 3:11 and
8:1, and yet his spouse, his sister, and his child. Believers are Christ’s
mother, and yet his sister and brother. Ministers are the sons of the church,
and yet are her fathers. The apostle speaks of himself, as the father of the
members of the church of Corinth, and also the mother of the Gal., travailing
in birth with them, Gal. 4:19.
II. The second and chief fulfillment of the promise
consists in the church being married to Christ. “And as the bridegroom
rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee.” Not that we are
to understand that the church has many husbands, or that Christ is one husband,
and ministers are other husbands strictly speaking. For though ministers are
here spoken of as being married to the church, yet it is not as his
competitors, or as standing in a conjugal relation to his bride in anywise
parallel with his. For the church properly has but one husband. She is not an
adulteress, but a virgin who is devoted wholly to the Lamb and who follows him
whithersoever he goes. But ministers espouse the church entirely as Christ’s ambassadors,
as representing him and standing in his stead, being sent forth by him to be
married to her in his name, that by this means she may be married to her in his
name, that by this means she may be married to him. As when a prince marries a
foreign lady by proxy, the prince’s ambassador marries her, but not in his own
name, but in the name of his master, that he may be the instrument of bringing
her into a true conjugal relation to him. This is agreeable to what the apostle
says. 2 Cor. 11:2, “I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy; for I have
espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to
Christ.” Here the apostle represents himself as being, as it were, the husband
of the church of Corinth. For it is the husband that is jealous when the wife
commits adultery. And yet he speaks of himself as having espoused them, not in
his own name, but in that name of Christ, and for him, and him only, and as his
ambassador, sent forth to bring them home a chaste virgin to him. Ministers are
in the text represented as married to the church in the same sense that
elsewhere they are represented as fathers of the church. The church has but one
father, even God, and ministers are fathers as his ambassadors. So the church
has but one shepherd. John 10:16, “There shall be one fold and one shepherd.”
But yet ministers, as Christ’s ambassadors, are often called the church’s
shepherds or pastors. The church has but one Savior. But yet ministers, as his
ambassadors and instruments, are called her saviors. 1 Tim. 4:16, “In doing
this thou shalt both save thyself and them that hear thee.” Oba. 21. “And
saviours shall come upon mount Zion.” The church has but one priest. But yet in
Isa. 66:21, speaking of the ministers of the Gentile nations, it is said, “I
will take of them for priests and Levites.” The church has but one Judge, for
the Father has committed all judgment to the Son. Yet Christ tells his
apostles, that they shall sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of
Israel.
When the text speaks first of ministers marrying the
church, and then of Christ’s rejoicing over her as the bridegroom rejoiceth
over the bride, the former is manifestly spoken of as being in order to the
latter, even in order to the joy and happiness that the church shall have in
her true bridegroom. The preaching of the gospel is in this context spoken of
three times successively, as the great means of bringing about the prosperity
and joy of the church. Once, in the first verse, “For Zion’s sake will I not
hold my peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until the
righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a
lamp that burneth.” And then in the text and lastly in the two following
verses, “I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never
hold their peace day nor night. Ye that make mention of the Lord, keep not
silence; and give him no rest, till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a
praise in the earth.”
The text thus opened affords these two propositions proper
for our consideration on the solemn occasion of this day.
I. The uniting of faithful ministers with Christ’s people
in the ministerial office, when done in a due manner, is like a young man’s
marrying a virgin.
II. This union of ministers with the people of Christ is
in order to their being brought to the blessedness of a more glorious union, in
which Christ shall rejoice over them, as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the
bride.
I. Prop. The uniting of a faithful minister with Christ’s
people in the ministerial office, when done in a due manner, is like a young man’s
marrying a virgin.
I say, the uniting of a faithful minister with Christ’s
people, and in a due manner, for we must suppose that the promise God makes to
the church in the text relates to such ministers, and such a manner of union
with the church; because this is promised to the church as a part of her
latter-day glory and as a benefit that should be granted her by God as the
fruit of his great love to her, and an instance of her great spiritual
prosperity and happiness in her purest and most excellent state on earth. But
it would be no such instance of God’s great favor and the church’s happiness,
to have unfaithful ministers entering into office in an undue and improper
manner. They are evidently faithful ministers that are spoken of in the next
verse, where the same are doubtless spoken of as in the text. “I have set
watchmen on thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor
night.” And they are those that shall be introduced into the ministry at a time
of its extraordinary purity, order, and beauty, wherein (as is said in the
first, second, and third verses) her “righteousness should go forth as
brightness, and the Gentiles should see her righteousness, and all kings her
glory, and she should be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal
diadem in the hand of her God.”
When I speak of the uniting of a faithful minister with
Christ’s people in a due manner, I do not mean a due manner only with regard to
external order. But its being truly done in a holy manner, with sincere upright
aims and intentions, with a right disposition, and proper frames of mind in
those that are concerned, and particularly in the minister that takes office,
and God’s people to whom he is united, each exercising in this affair a proper
regard to God and one another. — Such an uniting of a faithful minister with
the people of God in the ministerial office is in some respects like a young
man marrying a virgin.
First, when a duly qualified person is properly
invested with the ministerial character, and does in a due manner take upon him
the sacred work and office of a minister of the gospel, he does, in some sense,
espouse the church of Christ in general. For though he [does] not properly
stand in a pastoral relation to the whole church of Christ through the earth,
and is far from becoming an universal pastor; yet thenceforward he has a
different concern with the church of Christ in general, and its interests and
welfare, than other persons have that are laymen, and should be regarded
otherwise by all the members of the Christian church. Wherever he is
providentially called to preach the Word of God or minister in holy things, he
ought to be received as a minister of Christ, and the messenger of the Lord of
hosts to them. And every one that takes on him this office as he ought to do,
espouses the church of Christ, as he espouses the interest of the church in a
manner that is peculiar. He is under obligations, as a minister of the
Christian church, beyond other men, to love the church, as Christ her true bridegroom
has loved her, and to prefer Jerusalem above is chief joy, and to imitate
Christ, the great shepherd and bishop of souls and husband of the church in his
care and tender concern for her welfare, and earnest and constant labors to
promote it, as he has opportunity. And as he, in taking office, devotes himself
to the service of Christ in his church, so he gives himself to the church, to
be hers, in that love, tender care, constant endeavor, and earnest labor for
her provision, comfort, and welfare that is proper to his office, as a minister
of Providence, as long as he lies, as a young man gives himself to a virgin
when he marries her. And the church of Christ in general, as constituted of
true saints through the world (though they do not deliver up themselves to any
one particular minister, as universal pastor, yet), cleave to and embrace the
ministry of the church with endeared affection, high honor, and esteem, for
Christ’s sake. They joyfully commit and subject themselves to them. They
resolve to honor and help them, to be guided by them and obey them so long as
in the world, as the bride does in marriage deliver up herself to her husband.
And the ministry in general, or the whole number of faithful ministers, being
all united in the same work as fellow-laborers, and conspiring to the same
design as fellow-helpers, to the grace of God, may be considered as one
mystical person, that espouses the church as a young man espouses a virgin; as
the many elders of the church of Ephesus are represented as one mystical
person, Rev. 2:1 and all called the angel of the church of Ephesus; and as the
faithful ministers of Christ in general, all over the world, seem to be
represented as one mystical person, and called an angel, Rev. 14:6. “And I saw
another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to
preach unto them that dwell upon the earth, and to every nation, and kindred,
and tongue, and people.” — But,
Second, more especially is the uniting of a
faithful minister with a particular Christian people, as their pastor, when
done in a due manner, like a young man marrying a virgin. — It is so with
respect to the union itself, the concomitants of the union, and the fruits of
it.
1. The union itself is in several respects like
that which is between a young man and a virgin whom he marries.
It is so with respect to mutual regard and affection. A
faithful minister, that is in a Christian manner united to a Christian people
as their pastor, has his heart united to them in the most ardent and tender
affection. And they, on the other hand, have their hearts united to him,
esteeming him very highly in love for his work’s sake, and receiving him with
honor and reverence, and willingly subjecting themselves to him, and committing
themselves to his care, as being under Christ their head and guide.
And such a pastor and people are like a young man and
virgin united in marriage, with respect to the purity of their regard one to
another. The young man gives himself to his bride in purity, as undebauched by
meretricious embraces. And she also presents herself to him a chaste virgin. So
in such an union of a minister and people as we are speaking of, the parties
united are pure and holy in their affection and regard one to another. The
minister’s heart is united to the people, not for filthy lucre or any worldly
advantage, but with a pure benevolence to them and desire of their spiritual
welfare and prosperity, and complacence in them as the children of God and
followers of Christ Jesus. And, on the other hand, they love and honor him with
a holy affection and esteem. And not merely as having their admiration raised,
and their carnal affection moved, by having their curiosity, and other fleshly
principles, gratified by a florid eloquence, and the excellency of speech and
man’s wisdom. But receiving him as the messenger of the Lord of hosts, coming
to them on a divine and infinitely important errand, and with those holy
qualifications that resemble the virtues of the Lamb of God.
And as the bridegroom and bride give themselves to each
other in covenant, so it is in that union we are speaking of between a faithful
pastor and a Christian people. The minister, by solemn vows, devotes himself to
the people, to improve his time and strength, and spend and be spent for them,
so long as God in his providence shall continue the union. And they, on the
other hand, in a holy covenant commit the care of their souls, and subject
themselves, to him.
2. The union between a faithful minister and a Christian
people is like that between a young man and virgin in their marriage with
respect to the concomitants of it.
When such a minister and such a people are thus united, it
is attended with great joy. The minister joyfully devoting himself to the
service of his Lord in the work of the ministry, as a work that he delights in.
And also joyfully uniting himself to the society of the saints that he is set
over, as having complacence in them, for his dear Lord’s sake, whose people they
are. And willingly and joyfully, on Christ’s call, undertaking the labors and
difficulties of the service of their souls. And they, on the other hand,
joyfully receiving him as a precious gift of their ascended Redeemer. Thus a
faithful minister and a Christian people are each other’s joy. Rom. 15:32,
“That I may come unto you with joy by the will of God, and may with you be
refreshed.” 2 Cor. 1:14, “As you have acknowledged us in part, that we are your
rejoicing, even as ye are ours.”
Another concomitant of this union, wherein it resembles
that which becomes a young man and virgin united in marriage is mutual
helpfulness and a constant care and endeavor to promote each other’s good and
comfort. The minister earnestly and continually seeks the profit and comfort of
the souls of his people, and to guard and defend them from every thing that
might annoy them, and studies and labors to promote their spiritual peace and
prosperity. They, on the other hand, make it their constant care to promote his
comfort, to make the burden of his difficult work easy, to avoid those things
that might add to the difficulty of it, and that might justly be grievous to
his heart. They do what in them lies to encourage his heart, and strengthen his
hands in his work, and are ready to say to him, when called to exert himself in
the more difficult parts of his work, as the people of old to Ezra the priest,
when they saw him bowed down under the burden of a difficult affair. Ezra 10:4,
“Arise, for this matter belongeth to thee: we also will be with thee: be of
good courage, and do it.” They spare no pains nor cost to make their pastor’s
outward circumstances easy and comfortable, and free from pinching necessities
and distracting cares, and to put him under the best advantages to follow his
great work fully and successfully.
Such a pastor and people, as it is between a couple
happily united in a conjugal relation, have a mutual sympathy with each other,
a fellow-feeling of each other’s burdens and calamities, and a communion in
each other’s prosperity and joy. When the people suffer in their spiritual
interests, the pastor suffers. He is afflicted when he sees their souls in
trouble and darkness. He feels their wounds. And he looks on their prosperity
and comfort as his own. 2 Cor. 11:29, “Who is weak, and I am not weak? who is
offended, and I burn not?” 2 Cor. 7:13, “We were comforted in your comfort.”
And, on the other hand, the people feel their pastor’s burdens, and rejoice in
his prosperity and consolations; see Phil. 4:14 and 2 Cor. 2:3.
3. This union is like that which is between a young man
and a virgin in its fruits.
One fruit of it is mutual benefit: they become meet helps
one for another. The people receive great benefit by the minister, as he is
their teacher to communicate spiritual instructions and counsels to them, and
is set to watch over them to defend them from those enemies and calamities they
are liable to. And so is, under Christ, to be both their guide and guard, as
the husband is of the wife. And as the husband provides the wife with food and
clothing, so the pastor, as Christ’s steward, makes provision for his people,
and brings forth out of his treasure things new and old, gives every one his
portion of meat in due season, and is made the instrument of spiritually clothing
and adorning their souls. And, on the other hand, the minister receives benefit
from the people, as they minister greatly to his spiritual good by that holy
converse to which their union to him as his flock leads them. The conjugal
relation leads the persons united therein to the most intimate acquaintance and
conversation with each other. So the union there is between a faithful pastor
and a Christian people, leads them to intimate conversation about things of a
spiritual nature. It leads the people most freely and fully to open the case of
their souls to the pastor, and leads him to deal most freely, closely, and
thoroughly with them in things pertaining thereto. And this conversation not
only tends to their benefit, but also greatly to his. And the pastor
receives benefit from the people outwardly, as they take care of and order his
outward accommodations for his support and comfort, and do as it were spread
and serve his table for him.
Another fruit of this union, wherein it resembles the
conjugal, is a spiritual offspring. There is wont to arise from the union of
such a pastor and people a spiritual race of children. These new-born children
of God are in the Scripture represented both as the children of ministers, as
those who have begotten them through the gospel, and also as the children of
the church, who is represented as their mother that has brought them forth, and
at whose breasts they are nourished; as in Isa. 54:1, and 66:11; Gal. 4:26; 1
Pet. 2:2 and many other places.
Having thus briefly shown how the uniting of faithful
ministers with Christ’s people in the ministerial office, when done in a due
manner, is like a young man marrying a virgin, I proceed now to the
II. Prop. viz. That this union of ministers with
the people of Christ is in order to their being brought to the blessedness of a
more glorious union, in which Christ shall rejoice over them as the bridegroom
rejoiceth over the bride.
First, the saints are, and shall be, the subjects
of this blessedness. Of all the various kinds of union of sensible and temporal
things that are used in Scripture to represent the relation there is between
Christ and his church, that which is between bridegroom and bride, or husband
and wife, is much the most frequently made use of both in the Old and New
Testament. The Holy Ghost seems to take a peculiar delight in this, as a
similitude fit to represent the strict, intimate, and blessed union that is
between Christ and his saints. The apostle intimates that one end why God
appointed marriage and established so near a relation as that between husband
and wife was that it might be a type of the union that is between Christ and
his church. In Eph. 5:30, 31, 32. “For we are members of his body, of his
flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and
mother, and shall be joined to his wife; and they two shall be one flesh.” — For
this cause, i.e. because we are members of Christ’s body, of his flesh, and
of his bones, God appointed that man and wife should be so joined together as
to be one flesh, to represent this high and blessed union between Christ and
his church. The apostle explains himself in the next words, “This is a great
mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.” This institution of
marriage, making the man and his wife one flesh, is a great mystery; i.e. there
is a great and glorious mystery hid in the design of it. And the apostle tells
us what that glorious mystery is, “I speak concerning Christ and the church,”
as much as to say, the mystery I speak of, is that blessed union that is
between Christ and his church, which I spoke of before.
This is a blessed union indeed of which that between a
faithful minister and a Christian people is but a shadow. Ministers are not the
proper husbands of the church, though their union to God’s people, as Christ’s
ambassadors, in several respects resembles the conjugal relation. But Christ is
the true husband of the church, to whom the souls of the saints are espoused
indeed, and to whom they are united as his flesh and his bones, yea and one
spirit; to whom they have given themselves in an everlasting covenant, and whom
alone they cleave to, love, honor, obey, and trust in, as their spiritual
husband, whom alone they reserve themselves for as chaste virgins, and whom
they follow whithersoever he goeth. There are many ministers in the church of
Christ, and there may be several pastors of one particular church, but the
church has but one husband, all others are rejected and despised in comparison
of him. He is among the sons as the apple tree among the trees of the wood.
They all are barren and worthless, he only is the fruitful tree, and therefore,
leaving all others, the church betakes herself to him alone, and sits under his
shadow with great delight, and his fruit is sweet to her taste. She takes up
her full and entire rest in him, desiring no other. — The relation between a
minister and people shall be dissolved, and may be dissolved before death. But
the union between Christ and his church shall never be dissolved, neither before
death nor by death, but shall endure through all eternity. “The mountains shall
part, and the hills be removed; but Christ’s conjugal love and kindness shall
not depart from his church; neither shall the covenant of his peace, the
marriage-covenant, be removed,” Isa. 54:10 — The union between a faithful
minister and a Christian people is but a partial resemblance even of the
marriage union, it is like marriage only in some particulars. But with respect
to the union between Christ and his church, marriage is but a partial
resemblance, yea, a faint shadow. Every thing desirable and excellent in the
union between an earthly bridegroom and bride, is to be found in the union
between Christ and his church. And that in an infinitely greater perfection and
more glorious manner. — There is infinitely more to be found in it than ever
was found between the happiest couple in a conjugal relation, or could be found
if the bride and bridegroom had not only the innocence of Adam and Eve, but the
perfection of angels.
Christ and his saints, standing in such a relation as this
one to another, the saints must needs be unspeakably happy. Their mutual joy in
each other is answerable to the nearness of their relation and strictness of
their union. Christ rejoices over the church as the bridegroom rejoices over
the bride, and she rejoices in him as the bride rejoices in the bridegroom. My
text has respect to the mutual joy that Christ and his church should have in
each other. For though the joy of Christ over his church only is mentioned, yet
it is evident that this is here spoken of and promised as the great happiness
of the church, and therefore supposes her joy in him.
The mutual joy of Christ and his church is like that of
bridegroom and bride, in that they rejoice in each other, as those whom they
have chosen above others, for their nearest, most intimate, and everlasting
friends and companions. The church is Christ’s chosen. Isa. 41:9, “I have
chosen thee, and not cast thee away.” Chap. 48:10, “I have chosen thee in the
furnace of affliction.” How often are God’s saints called his elect or chosen
ones! He has chosen them, not to be mere servants, but friends. John 15:15, “I
call you not servants; but I have called you friends.” And though Christ be the
Lord of glory, infinitely above men and angels, yet he has chosen the elect to
be his companions, and has taken upon him their nature, and so in some respect,
as it were, leveled himself with them, that he might be their brother and
companion. Christ, as well as David, calls the saints his brethren and
companions. Psa. 122:8, “For my brethren and companions’ sake I will now say,
Peace be within thee.” So in the book of Canticles, he calls his church his
sister and spouse. Christ has loved and chosen his church as his peculiar friend,
above others. Psa. 135:4, “The Lord hath chosen Jacob unto himself, and Israel
for his peculiar treasure.” As the bridegroom chooses the bride for his
peculiar friend above all others in the world, so Christ has chosen his church
for a peculiar nearness to him, as his flesh and his bone, and the high honor
and dignity of espousals above all others, rather than the fallen angels, yea,
rather than the elect angels. For verily in this respect, “he taketh not hold
of angels, but he taketh hold of the seed of Abraham;” as the words are in the
original, Heb. 2:16. He has chosen his church above the rest of mankind, above
all the heathen nations, and those that are without the visible church, and
above all other professing Christians. Song 6:9, “My dove, my undefiled is but
one; she is the only one of her mother, she is the choice one of her that bare
her.” Thus Christ rejoices over his church, as obtaining in her that which he
has chosen above all the rest of the creation, and as sweetly resting in his
choice, Psa. 132:13, 14, “The Lord hath chosen Zion: he hath desired it. — This
is my rest for ever.”
On the other hand, the church chooses Christ above all
others. He is in her eyes the chief among ten thousands, fairer than the sons
of men. She rejects the suit of all his rivals, for his sake. Her heart
relinquishes the whole world. He is her pearl of great price, for which she
parts with all, and rejoices in him, as the choice and rest of her soul.
Christ and his church, like the bridegroom and bride,
rejoice in each other, as having a special propriety in each other. All things
are Christ's, but he has a special propriety in his church. There is nothing in
heaven or earth, among all the creatures, that is his, in that high and
excellent manner that the church is his. They are often called his portion and
inheritance. They are said, Rev. 14:4, to be “the first-fruits to God and the
Lamb.” As of old, the first fruit was that part of the harvest that belonged to
God, and was to be offered to him. So the saints are the first fruits of God’s
creatures, being that part which is in a peculiar manner Christ’s portion,
above all the rest of the creation. Jam. 1:18, “Of his own will begat he us by
the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first-fruits of his creatures.”
And Christ rejoices in his church, as in that which is peculiarly his. Isa.
65:19, “I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people.” The church has also
a peculiar propriety in Christ: though other things are hers, yet nothing is
hers in that manner that her spiritual bridegroom is hers. Great and glorious
as he is, yet he, with all his dignity and glory, is wholly given to her, to be
fully possessed and enjoyed by her, to the utmost degree that she is capable
of. Therefore we have her so often saying in the language of exultation and
triumph, “My beloved is mine, and I am his.” Song 2:16, and 6:3, and 7:10.
Christ and his church, like the bridegroom and bride,
rejoice in each other as those that are the objects of each other’s most tender
and ardent love. The love of Christ to his church is altogether unparalleled.
The height and depth and length and breadth of it pass knowledge, for he loved
the church, and gave himself for it. And his love to her proved stronger than
death. And on the other hand, she loves him with a supreme affection. Nothing
stands in competition with him in her heart. She loves him with all her heart.
Her whole soul is offered up to him in the flame of love. And Christ rejoices
and has sweet rest and delight in his love to the church. Zep. 3:17, “The Lord
thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee
with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.” So the
church, in the exercises of her love to Christ, rejoices with unspeakable joy.
1 Pet. 1:7, 8, “Jesus Christ: whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though
now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable, and full of
glory.”
Christ and his church rejoice in each other’s beauty. The
church rejoices in Christ’s divine beauty and glory. She, as it were, sweetly
solaces herself in the light of the glory of the Sun or righteousness. And the
saints say one to another, as in Isa. 2:5, “O house of Jacob, come ye, let us
walk in the light of the Lord.” The perfections and virtues of Christ are as a
perfumed ointment to the church that make his very name to be to her as
ointment poured forth. Song 1:3, “Because of the savour of they good ointments
thy name is as ointment poured forth, therefore do the virgins love thee.” And
Christ delights and rejoices in the beauty of the church, the beauty which he
hat put upon her: her Christian graces are ointments of great price in his
sight, 1 Pet. 3:4. And he is spoken of as greatly desiring her beauty, Psa.
45:11. Yea, he himself speaks of his heart as ravished with her beauty, Song
4:9, “Thou has ravished my heart, my sister, my spouse; thou hast ravished my
heart with one of thine yes, with one chain of thy neck.”
Christ and his church, as the bridegroom and bride,
rejoice in each other’s love. Wine is spoken of, Psa. 104:15, as that which
maketh glad man’s heart. But the church of Christ is spoken of as rejoicing in
the love of Christ, as that which is more pleasant and refreshing than wine.
Song 1:4, “The king hath brought me into his chambers: we will be glad and
rejoice in thee, we will remember thy love more than wine.” So on the other
hand, Christ speaks of the church’s love as far better to him than wine. Song
4:10, “How fair is thy love, my sister, my spouse! how much better is thy love
than wine!”
Christ and his church rejoice in communion with each
other, as in being united in their happiness, and having fellowship and a joint
participation in each other’s good. As the bridegroom and bride rejoice
together at the wedding-feast, and as thenceforward they are joint partakers of
each other’s comforts and joys. Rev 3:20, “If any man hear my voice, and open
the door, I will come in to him, and sup with him, and he with me.” The church
has fellowship with Christ in his own happiness, and his divine entertainments.
His joy is fulfilled in her, John 15:11, and 17:13. She sees light in his
light. And she is made to drink at the river of his own pleasures, Psa. 36:8,
9. And Christ brings her to eat and drink at his own table, to take her fill of
his own entertainments. Song 5:1, “Eat, O friends, drink, yea, drink
abundantly, O beloved.” And he, on the other hand, has fellowship with her. He
feasts with her. Her joys are his. And he rejoices in that entertainment that
she provides for him. So Christ is said to feed among the lilies, Song 2:16 and
chap. 7:13. She speaks of all manner of pleasant fruits, new and old, which she
had laid up, and says to him chap. 4:16, “Let my beloved come into his garden,
and eat his pleasant fruits.” And he makes answer in the next verse, “I am come
into my garden, my sister, my spouse; I have gathered my myrrh with my spice, I
have eaten my honey-comb with my honey, I have drunk my wine with my milk.”
And lastly, Christ and his church, as the bridegroom and
bride, rejoice in conversing with each other. The words of Christ by which he
converses with his church, are most sweet to her. And therefore she says of
him, Song 5:16, “His mouth is most sweet.” And on the other hand, he says of
her, chapter 2:14, “Let me hear thy voice: for sweet is thy voice.” And chapter
4:11, “Thy lips, O my spouse, drop as the honey-comb; honey and milk are under
they tongue.”
Christ rejoices over his saints as the bridegroom over the
bride at all times. But there are some seasons wherein he does so more
especially. Such a season is the time of the soul’s conversion. When the good
shepherd finds his lost sheep, then he brings it home rejoicing, and calls
together his friends and neighbors, saying, Rejoice with me. The day of a sinner’s
conversion is the day of Christ’s espousals, and so is eminently the day of his
rejoicing. Song 3:11, “Go forth, O ye daughters of Zion, and behold king
Solomon with the crown wherewith his mother crowned him in the day of his
espousals, and in the day of the gladness of his heart.” And it is oftentimes
remarkably the day of the saints’ rejoicing in Christ. For then God turns again
the captivity of his elect people and, as it were, fills their mouth with
laughter and their tongue with singing; as in Psa. 126 at the beginning. We
read of the jailer, that when he was converted, “he rejoiced, believing in God,
with all his house,” Acts 16:34. — There are other seasons of special communion
of the saints with Christ wherein Christ does in a special manner rejoice over
his saints, and as their bridegroom brings them into his chambers, that they
also may be glad and rejoice in him, Song 1:4.
But this mutual rejoicing of Christ and his saints will be
in its perfection at the time of the saints’ glorification with Christ in
heaven. For that is the proper time of the saints’ entering in with the
bridegroom into the marriage, Mat. 25:10. The saints’ conversion is rather like
the betrothing of the intended bride to the bridegroom before they come
together. But at the time of the saints’ glorification that shall be fulfilled
in Psa. 45:15. “With gladness and rejoicing shall they be brought; they shall
enter into the king’s palace.” That is the time when those whom Christ loved,
and for whom he gave himself — that he might sanctify and cleanse them, as with
the washing of water by the word — shall be presented to him in glory, not
having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing. Then the church shall be brought to
the full enjoyment of her bridegroom, having all tears wiped away from her
eyes. And there shall be no more distance or absence. She shall then be brought
to the entertainments of an eternal wedding-feast, and to dwell forever with
her bridegroom, yea, to dwell eternally in his embraces. Then Christ will give
her his loves. And she shall drink her fill, yea, she shall swim in the ocean
of his love.
And as there are various seasons wherein Christ and
particular saints do more especially rejoice in each other, so there are also
certain seasons wherein Christ does more especially rejoice over his church
collectively taken. Such a season is a time of remarkable outpouring of the
Spirit of God. It is a time of the espousals of many souls to Christ, and so of
the joy of espousals. It is a time wherein Christ is wont more especially to
visit his saints with his loving-kindness, and to bring them near to himself,
and especially to refresh their hearts with divine communications. On which
account, it becomes a time of great joy to the church of Christ. So when the
Spirit of God was so wonderfully poured out on the city of Samaria, with the
preaching of Philip, we read that “there was great joy in that city,” Acts 8:8.
And the time of that wonderful effusion of the Spirit at Jerusalem, begun at
the feast of Pentecost, was a time of holy feasting and rejoicing, and a kind
of a wedding-day to the church of Christ; wherein “they continuing daily, with
one accord, in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat
their meat with gladness, and singleness of heart,” Acts 2:46.
But more especially is the time of that great outpouring
of the Spirit of God in the latter days, so often foretold in the Scriptures,
represented as the marriage of the Lamb, and the rejoicing of Christ and his
church in each other, as the bridegroom and the bride. This is the time
prophesied of in our text and context and foretold in Isa. 65:19 “I will
rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people; and the voice of weeping shall no
more be heard in her, not the voice of crying.” This is the time spoken of Rev.
19:6, 7, 8, 9 where the apostle John tells us he “heard as it were the voice of
a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of might
thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Let us be
glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come,
and his wife hath made herself ready.” And adds, “To her was granted, that she
should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the
righteousness of saints. And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which
are called unto the marriage-supper of the Lamb.”
But above all, the time of Christ’s last coming is that of
the consummation of the church’s marriage with the Lamb and of the complete and
most perfect joy of the wedding. In that resurrection-morning, when the sun of
righteousness shall appear in our heavens, shining in all his brightness and
glory, he will come forth as a bridegroom. He shall come in the glory of his
Father, with all his holy angels. And at that glorious appearing of the great
God, and our Savior Jesus Christ, shall the whole elect church, complete as to
every individual member, and each member with the whole man, both body and
soul, and both in perfect glory, ascend up to meet the Lord in the air, to be
thenceforth forever with the Lord. That will be indeed a joyful meeting of this
glorious bridegroom and bride. Then the bridegroom will appear in all his glory
without any veil. And then the saints shall shine forth as the sun in the
kingdom of their Father and at the right hand of their Redeemer. And then the
church will appear as the bride, the Lamb’s wife. It is the state of the church
after the resurrection that is spoken of [in] Rev. 21:2, “And I John saw the
holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a
bride adorned for her husband.” And verse 9, “Come hither, I will show thee the
bride, the Lamb’s wife.” Then will come the time, when Christ will sweetly
invite his spouse to enter in with him into the palace of his glory, which he
had been preparing for her from the foundation of the world, and shall, as it
were, take her by the hand, and lead her in with him. And this glorious
bridegroom and bride shall, with all their shining ornaments, ascend up
together into the heaven of heavens, the whole multitude of glorious angels
waiting upon them, and this son and daughter of God shall, in their united
glory and joy, present themselves together before the Father; when Christ shall
say, “Here am I, and the children which thou hast given me.” And they both
shall in that relation and union, together receive the Father’s blessing. And
shall thenceforward rejoice together in consummate, uninterrupted, immutable,
and everlasting glory, in the love and embraces of each other, and joint
enjoyment of the love of the Father.
Second, that aforementioned union of faithful ministers
with the people of Christ is in order to this blessedness.
1. It is only with reference to Christ, as the true
bridegroom of his church, that there is any union between a faithful minister
and a Christian people, that is like that of a bridegroom and bride.
As I observed before, a faithful minister espouses a
Christian people, not in his own name, but as Christ’s ambassador. He espouses
them that therein they may be espoused to Christ. He loves her with a tender
conjugal affection, as she is the spouse of Christ, and as he, as the minister
of Christ, has his heart under the influence of the Spirit of Christ. As
Abraham’s faithful servant, that was sent to fetch a wife for his master’s son,
was captivated with Rebekah’s beauty and virtue; but not with reference to an
union with himself, but with his master Isaac. It was for his sake he loved
her, and it was for him that he desired her. He set his heart upon her, that
she might be Isaac’s wife. And it was for this that he greatly rejoiced over
her, for this he wooed her, and for this he obtained her, and she was for a
season, in a sense, united to him. But it was as a fellow-traveler, that by him
she might be brought to Isaac in the land of Canaan. For this he adorned her
with ornaments of gold. It was to prepare her for Isaac’s embraces. All that
tender care which a faithful minister takes of his people as a kind of
spiritual husband — to provide for them, to lead, and feed, and comfort them —
is not as to his own bride, but his master’s.
And on the other hand, the people receive him, unite
themselves to him in covenant, honor him, subject themselves to him, and obey
him, only for Christ’s sake, and as one that represents him, and acts in his
name towards them. All this love and honor and submission is ultimately
referred to Christ. Thus the apostle says, Gal. 4:14, “Ye received me as an
angel, or messenger of God, even as Christ Jesus.” And the children that are
brought forth in consequence of the union of the pastor and people are not
properly the minister’s children, but the children of Christ. They are not born
of man, but of God.
2. The things that appertain to that aforementioned union
of a faithful minister and Christian people are the principal appointed means
of bringing the church to that blessedness that has been spoken of. Abraham’s
servant, and the part he acted as Isaac’s agent towards Rebekah, were the
principal means of his being brought to enjoy the benefits of her conjugal
relation to Isaac. Ministers are sent to woo the souls of men for Christ. 2
Cor. 5:20, “We are then ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you
by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.” We read in Mat.
22 of a certain king that made a marriage for his son and sent forth his
servants to invite and bring in the guests. These servants are ministers. The
labors of faithful ministers are the principal means God is wont to make use of
for the conversion of the children of the church, and so of their espousals
unto Christ. I have espoused you to one husband, says the apostle, 2 Cor. 11:2.
The preaching of the gospel by faithful ministers is the principal means that
God uses for exhibiting Christ, his love and benefits to his elect people, and
the chief means of their being sanctified, and so fitted to enjoy their
spiritual bridegroom. Christ loved the church, and gave himself for it, that he
might sanctify and cleanse it, as by the washing of water by the word (i.e.
by the preaching of the gospel), and so might present it to himself, a glorious
church. The labors of faithful ministers are ordinarily the principal means of
the joy of the saints in Christ Jesus, in their fellowship with their spiritual
bridegroom in this world. 2 Cor. 1:24, “We are helpers of your joy.” They are
God’s instruments for bringing up the church, as it were, from her childhood,
till she is fit for her marriage with the Lord of glory as Mordecai brought up
Hadassah, or Esther, whereby she was fitted to be queen in Ahasuerus’s court.
God purifies the church under their hand, as Esther (to fit her for her
marriage with the king) was committed to the custody of Hegai, the keeper of
the women, to be purified six months with oil of myrrh and six months with
sweet odors. They are made the instruments of clothing the church in her wedding-garments,
that fine linen, clean and white, and adorning her for her husband; as
Abraham’s servant adorned Rebekah with golden ear-rings and bracelets. Faithful
ministers are made the instruments of leading the people of God in the way to
heaven, conducting them to the glorious presence of the bridegroom, to the
consummate joys of her marriage with the Lamb; as Abraham’s servant conducted
Rebekah from Padan-aram to Canaan, and presented her to Isaac, and delivered
her into his embraces. For it is the office of ministers, not only to espouse
the church to her husband, but to present her a chaste virgin to Christ.
I would now conclude this discourse with some
exhortations, agreeable to what has been said. And,
I. The exhortation may be to all that are called to the
work of the gospel-ministry. — Let us who are honored by the glorious
bridegroom of the church, to be employed as his ministers, to so high a
purpose, as has been represented, be engaged and induced by what has been
observed, to faithfulness in our great work; that we may be and act towards
Christ’s people that are committed to our care, as those that are united to
them in holy espousals, for Christ’s sake, and in order to their being brought
to the unspeakable blessedness of that more glorious union with the Lamb of
God, in which he shall rejoice over them, as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the
bride. Let us see to it that our hearts are united to them, as a young man to a
virgin that he marries, in the most ardent and tender affection. And that our
regard to them be pure and uncorrupt, that it may be a regard to them, and not
to what they have, or any worldly advantages we hope to gain of them. And let
us behave ourselves as those that are devoted to their good, being willing to
spend and be spent for them, joyfully undertaking and enduring the labor and
self-denial that is requisite in order to a thorough fulfilling the ministry
that we have received. Let us continually and earnestly endeavor to promote the
prosperity and salvation of the souls committed to our care, looking on their
calamities and their prosperity as our own, feeling their spiritual wounds and
griefs, and refreshed with their consolations. And spending our whole lives in
diligent care and endeavor to provide for, nourish, and instruct our people, as
the intended spouse of Christ, yet in her minority, that we may form her mind
and behavior, and bring her up for him, and that we may cleanse her, as with
the washing of water by the word, and purify her as with sweet odors, and
clothed in such raiment as may become Christ’s bride. Let us aim that when the
appointed wedding day comes, we may have done our work as Christ’s messengers
and may then be ready to present Christ’s spouse to him, a chaste virgin,
properly educated and formed, and suitably adorned for her marriage with the
Lamb. That he may then present her to himself, a glorious church, not having
spot or wrinkle, or any such thing, and may receive her into his eternal
embraces, in perfect purity, beauty, and glory.
II. Here I would mention three or four things tending to
excite us to this fidelity.
First, we ought to consider how much Christ has
done to obtain that joy, wherein he rejoices over his church, as the bridegroom
rejoiceth over the bride.
The creation of the world seems to have been especially
for this end, that the eternal Son of God might obtain a spouse towards whom he
might fully exercise the infinite benevolence of his nature, and to whom he
might, as it were, open and pour forth all that immense fountain of condescension,
love, and grace that was in his heart, and that in this way God might be
glorified. Doubtless the work of creation is subordinate to the work of
redemption. The creation of the new heavens and new earth is represented as so
much more excellent that the old, that, in comparison, it is not worthy to be
mentioned or come into mind.
Christ has done greater things than to create the world in
order to obtain his bride and the joy of his espousals with her. For he became
man for this end, which was a greater thing than his creating the world. For
the Creator to make the creature was a great thing. But for him to become
a creature was a greater thing. And he did a much greater thing still to obtain
this joy; in that for this he laid down his life, and suffered even the death
of the cross. For this he poured out his soul unto death. And he that is the
Lord of the universe, God over all, blessed forevermore, offered up himself a
sacrifice, in both body and soul, in the flames of divine wrath. Christ obtains
his elect spouse by conquest. For she was a captive in the hands of dreadful
enemies. And her Redeemer came into the world to conquer these enemies and
rescue her out of their hands, that she might be his bride. And he came and
encountered these enemies in the greatest battle that ever was beheld by men or
angels. He fought with principalities and powers. He fought alone with the
powers of darkness and all the armies of hell. Yea, he conflicted with the
infinitely more dreadful wrath of God, and overcame in this great battle. And
thus he obtained his spouse. Let us consider at how great a price Christ
purchased his spouse. He did not redeem her with corruptible things, as silver
and gold, but with his own precious blood. Yea, he gave himself for her. When
he offered up himself to God in those extreme labors and sufferings, this was
the joy that was set before him, that made him cheerfully to endure the cross,
and despise the pain and shame in comparison of this joy; even that rejoicing
over his church, as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride that the Father had
promised him, and that he expected when he should present her to himself in
perfect beauty and blessedness.
The prospect of this was what supported him in the midst
of the dismal prospect of his sufferings, at which his soul was troubled. John
12:27, “Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from
this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour.” These words show the
conflict and distress of Christ’s holy soul in the view of his approaching
sufferings. But in the midst of his trouble, he was refreshed with the joyful
prospect of the success of those sufferings, in bringing home his elect church
to himself, signified by a voice from heaven, and promised by the Father. On
which he says, in the language of triumph, verse 31, 32, “Now is the judgment
of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be
lifted up, will draw all men unto me.”
And ministers of the gospel are appointed to be the
instruments of bringing this to pass, the instruments of bringing home his
elect spouse to him, and her becoming his bride. And [they are] instruments of
her sanctifying and cleansing by the word, that she might be meet to be
presented to him on the future glorious wedding day. How great a motive then is
here to induce us who are called to be these instruments, to be faithful in our
work, and most willingly labor and suffer, that Christ may see of the travail
of his soul and be satisfied! Shall Christ do such great things, and go through
such great labors and sufferings to obtain this joy, and then honor us sinful
worms, so as to employ us as his ministers and instruments to bring this joy to
pass. And shall we be loath to labor and backward to deny ourselves for this
end?
Second, let us consider how much the manner in
which Christ employs us in this great business has to engage us to a faithful
performance of it. We are sent forth as his servants. But it is as highly
dignified servants, as stewards of his household, as Abraham’s servant, and as
his ambassadors, to stand in his stead, and in his name, and represent his
person in so great an affair as that of his espousals with the eternally
beloved of his soul. Christ employs us not as mere servants, but as friends of
the bridegroom; agreeable to the style in which John the Baptist speaks of
himself, John 3:29; in which he probably alludes to an ancient custom among the
Jews at their nuptial solemnities, at which one of the guests that was most
honored and next in dignity to the bridegroom, was styled the friend of the
bridegroom.
There is not an angel in heaven, of how high an order
soever, but what looks on himself honored by the Son of God and Lord of glory,
in being employed by him as his minister in the high affair of his espousals
with his blessed bride. But such honor has Christ put upon us, that his spouse
should in some sort be ours. That we should marry, as a young man marries a
virgin, the same mystical person that he himself will rejoice over as the
bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride. That we should be his ministers to treat
and transact for him with his dear spouse, that he might obtain this joy. And,
in our treaty with her, to be married to her in his name, and sustain an image
of his own endearing relation to her. And that she should receive us, in some
sort, as himself, and her heart be united to us in esteem, honor, and
affection, as those that represent him. And that Christ’s and the church’s
children should be ours, and that the fruit of the travail of Christ’s soul
should be also the fruit of the travail of our souls, as the apostle speaks of
himself as travailing in birth with his hearers, Gal. 4:19. The reason why
Christ puts such honor on faithful ministers, even above the angels themselves,
is because they are of his beloved church, they are select members of his dear
spouse, and Christ esteems nothing too much, no honor too great, for her.
Therefore Jesus Christ, the King of angels and men, does as it were cause it to
be proclaimed concerning faithful ministers, as Ahasuerus did concerning him
that brought up Esther, his beloved queen; “Thus shall it be done to the man
that the king delights to honour.”
And seeing Christ has so honored us, that our relation to
his people resembles his, surely our affection to them should imitate his, in
seeking their salvation, spiritual peace, and happiness. Our tender care,
labors, self-denial, and readiness to suffer for their happiness should imitate
what has appeared in him, who has purchased them with his own blood.
Third, let it be considered that if we faithfully
acquit ourselves in our office, in the manner that has been represented, we
shall surely hereafter be partakers of the joy when the bridegroom and bride
shall rejoice in each other in perfect and eternal glory.
God once gave forth a particular command, with special
solemnity, that it should be written for the notice of all professing
Christians through all ages, that they are happy and blessed indeed, who are
called to the marriage-supper of the Lamb. Rev. 19:9, “And he saith unto me,
Write, blessed are they which are called unto the marriage-supper of the Lamb.
And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.” But if we are
faithful in our work, we shall surely be the subjects of that blessedness. We
shall be partakers of the joy of the bridegroom and bride, not merely as
friends and neighbors that are invited to be occasional guests, but as members
of the one and the other. We shall be partakers with the church, the blessed
bride, in her joy in the bridegroom, not only as friends and ministers to the
church, but as members of principal dignity; as the eye, the ear, the hand, are
principal members of the body. Faithful ministers in the church will hereafter
be a part of the church that shall receive distinguished glory at the
resurrection of the just, which, above all other times, may be looked on as the
church’s wedding day. Dan. 12:2, 3, “Many of them that sleep in the dust of the
earth shall awake, some to everlasting life. And they that be wise shall shine
as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness,
as the stars for ever and ever.” They are elders who are represented as that
part of the church triumphant that sit next to the throne of God. Rev. 4:4,
“And round about the throne were four-and-twenty seats: and upon the seats I
saw four-and-twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on
their heads crowns of gold.”
And we shall also be partakers of the joy of the
bridegroom in his rejoicing over his bride. We, as the special friends of the
bridegroom, shall stand by, and hear him express his joy on that day, and
rejoice greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. As John the Baptist said of
himself, John 3:29, “He that hath the bride, is the bridegroom: but the friend
of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of
the bridegroom’s voice.” Christ, in reward for our faithful service, in winning
and espousing his bride to him, and bringing her up from her minority, and
adorning her for him, will then call us to partake with him in the joy of his
marriage. And she that will then be his joy, shall also be our crown of
rejoicing. 1 Thes. 2:19, “What is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are
not ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming?” What a joyful
meeting had Christ and his disciples together, when the disciples returned to
their master, after the faithful and successful performance of their appointed
service, when Christ sent them forth to preach the gospel. Luke 10:17, “And the
seventy returned with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us
through thy name.” Here we see how thy rejoice. The next words show how Christ
also rejoiced on that occasion: “And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning
fall from heaven.” And in the next verse but two, we are told, that “in that
hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven
and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast
revealed them unto babes.” So if we faithfully acquit ourselves, we shall
another day return to him with joy. And we shall rejoice with him and he with
us. — Then will be the day when Christ, who has sown in tears and in blood, and
we who have reaped the fruits of his labors and sufferings, shall rejoice
together, agreeable to John 4:35-37. And that will be a happy meeting indeed,
when Christ and his lovely and blessed bride, and faithful ministers who have
been the instruments of wooing and winning her heart to him, and adorning her
for him, and presenting her to him, shall all rejoice together.
Fourth, further to stir us up to faithfulness in
the great business that is appointed us, in order to the mutual joy of this
bridegroom and bride, let us consider what reason we have to hope that the time
is approaching when this joy shall be to a glorious degree fulfilled on earth,
far beyond whatever yet has been. I mean the time of the church’s latter-day
glory. This is what the words of our text have a more direct respect to. And
this is what is prophesied of in Hos. 2:19, 20. “And I will betroth thee unto
me for ever, yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in
judgment, and in loving-kindness, and in mercies. I will even betroth thee unto
me in faithfulness, and thou shalt know the Lord.” And this is what is
especially intended by the marriage of the Lamb in Rev. 19.
We are sure this day will come. And we have many reasons
to think that it is approaching. From the fulfillment of almost everything that
the prophecies speak of as preceding it, and their having been fulfilled now a
long time. And from the general earnest expectations of the church of God, and
the best of her ministers and members, and the late extraordinary things that
have appeared in the church of God, and appertaining to the state of religion,
and the present aspects of divine Providence, which the time will not allow me
largely to insist upon.
As the happiness of that day will have a great resemblance
of the glory and joy of the eternal wedding day of the church after the
resurrection of the just, so will the privileges of faithful ministers at that
time much resemble those they shall enjoy with the bridegroom and bride, as to
honor and happiness, in eternal glory. This is the time especially intended in
the text, wherein it is said, “as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy
sons marry thee.” And it is after in the prophecies spoken of as a great part
of the glory of that time, that then the church should be so well supplied with
faithful ministers. So in the next verse to the text, “I have set watchmen on
thy walls, O Jerusalem, that shall never hold their peace, day nor night.” So,
Isa. 30:20, 21, “Thy teachers shall not be removed into a corner any more, but
thine eyes shall see thy teachers: and thine ears shall hear a word behind
thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand,
and when ye turn to the left.” Jer. 3:15, “And I will give you pastors according
to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.” And
chap. 23:4, “And I will set up shepherds over them, which shall feed them.” And
the great privilege and joy of faithful ministers at that day is foretold in
Isa. 52:8, “Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice, with the voice together shall
the sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the Lord shall bring again Zion.”
And as that day must needs be approaching, and we
ourselves have lately seen some things which we have reason to hope are
forerunners of it, certainly it should strongly excite his to endeavor to be
such pastors as God has promised to bless his church with at that time. That if
any of us should live to see the dawning of that glorious day, we might share
in the blessedness of it, and then be called, as the friends of the bridegroom,
to the marriage supper of the Lamb, and partake of that joy in which heaven and
earth, angels and saints, and Christ and his church, shall be united at that
time.
But here I would apply the exhortation in a few words to
that minister of Christ, who above all others is concerned in the solemnity of
this day, who is now to be united to and set over this people as their pastor.
You have now heard, Reverend Sir, the great importance and
high ends of the office of an evangelical pastor, and the glorious privileges
of such as a faithful in this office, imperfectly represented. may God grant
that your union with this people, this day, as their pastor, may be such, that
God’s people here may have the great promise God makes to his church in the
text, now fulfilled unto them. May you now, as one of the precious sons of
Zion, take this part of Christ’s church by the hand, in the name of your great
Master the glorious bridegroom, with a heart devoted unto him with true
adoration and supreme affection, and for his sake knit to this people, in a
spiritual and pure love, and as it were a conjugal tenderness, ardently
desiring that great happiness for them, which you have now heard Christ has
chosen his church unto, and has shed his blood to obtain for her, being
yourself ready to spend and be spent for them, remembering the great errand on
which Christ sends you to them, viz. to woo and win their hearts, and
espouse their souls to him, and to bring up his elect spouse, and to fit and
adorn her for his embraces; that you may in due time present her a chaste
virgin to him, for him to rejoice over, as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the
bride. How honorable is this business that Christ employs you in! And how
joyfully should you perform it! When Abraham’s faithful servant was sent to
take a wife for his master’s son, how engaged was he in the business; and how
joyful was he when he succeeded! With what joy did he bow his head and worship,
and bless the Lord God of his master, for his mercy and his truth in making his
way prosperous! And what a joyful meeting may we conclude he had with Isaac,
when he met him in the field, by the well of Laharoi, and there presented his
beauteous Rebekah to him, and told him all things that he had done! But this
was but a shadow of that joy that you shall have, if you imitate his fidelity,
in the day when you shall meet your glorious Master, and present Christ’s
church in this place, as a chaste and beautiful virgin unto him.
We trust, dear Sir, that you will esteem it a most blessed
employment, to spend your time and skill in adorning Christ’s bride for her
marriage with the Lamb, and that it is work which you will do with delight. And
that you will take heed that the ornaments you put upon her are of the right
sort, what shall be indeed beautiful and precious in the eyes of the
bridegroom, that she may be all glorious within, and her clothing of wrought
gold, that on the wedding-day she may stand on the king’s right hand in gold of
Ophir.
The joyful day is coming, when the spouse of Christ shall
be led to the King in raiment of needlework. And angels and faithful ministers
will be the servants that shall lead her in. And you, Sir, if you are faithful
in the charge now to be committed to you, shall be joined with glorious angels
in that honorable and joyful service. But with this difference, that you shall
have the higher privilege. Angels and faithful ministers shall be together in
bringing in Christ’s bride into his palace, and presenting her to him. But
faithful ministers shall have a much higher participation of the joy of that
occasion. They shall have a greater and more immediate participation with the
bride in her joy; for they shall not only be ministers to the church as the
angels are, but parts of the church, principal members of the bride. And as
such, at the same time that angels do the part of ministering spirits to the
bride, when they conduct her to the bridegroom, they shall also do the part of
ministering spirits to faithful ministers. And they shall also have a higher
participation with the bridegroom than the angels, in his rejoicing at that
time. For they shall be nearer to him than they. They are also his members, and
are honored as the principal instruments of espousing the saints to him, and
fitting them for his enjoyment; and therefore they will be more the crown of
rejoicing of faithful ministers, than of the angels of heaven.
So great, dear Sir, is the honor and joy that is set
before you, to engage you to faithfulness in your pastoral care of this people;
so glorious the prize that Christ has set up to engage you to run the race that
is set before you.
I would now conclude with a few words to the people of
this congregation, whose souls are now to be committed to the care of that
minister of Christ, whom they have chosen as their pastor.
Let me take occasion, dear brethren, from what has been
said, to exhort you — not forgetting the respect, honor, and reverence, that
will ever be due from you to your former pastor, who has served you so long in
that work, but by reason of age and growing infirmities, and the prospect of
his place being so happily supplied by a successor, has seen meet to relinquish
the burden of the pastoral charge over you — to perform the duties that belong
to you, in your part of that relation and union now to be established between
you and your elect pastor. Receive him as the messenger of the Lord of hosts,
one that in his office represents the glorious bridegroom of the church. Love
and honor him, and willingly submit yourselves to him, as a virgin when married
to a husband. Surely the feet of that messenger should be beautiful, that comes
to you on such a blessed errand as that which you have heard, to espouse you to
the eternal Son of God, and to fit you for and lead you to him as your
bridegroom. Your chosen pastor comes to you on this errand, and he comes in the
name of the bridegroom, so empowered by him, and representing him, that in
receiving him, you will receive Christ, and in rejecting him, you will reject
Christ.
Be exhorted to treat your pastor as the beautiful and
virtuous Rebekah treated Abraham’s servant. She most charitably and hospitably
entertained him, provided lodging and food for him and his company, and took
care that he should be comfortably entertained and supplied in all respects,
while he continued in his embassy. And that was the note or mark of distinction
which God himself gave him, by which he should know the true spouse of Isaac
from all others of the daughters of the city. Therefore in this respect approve
yourselves as the true spouse of Christ, by giving kind entertainment to your
minister that comes to espouse you to the antitype of Isaac. Provide for his
outward subsistence and comfort, with the like cheerfulness that Rebekah did
for Abraham’s servant. You have an account of her alacrity and liberality in
supplying him, in Gen. 24:18 etc. say, as her brother did, verse 31, “Come in,
thou blessed of the Lord.”
Thus you should entertain your pastor. But this is not
that wherein your duty towards him chiefly lies. The main thing is to comply
with him in his great errand and to yield to the suit that he makes to you in
the name of Christ, to be his bride. In this you should be like Rebekah. She
was, from what she heard of Isaac and God’s covenant with him and blessing upon
him from the mouth of Abraham’s servant, willing forever to forsake her own
country and her father’s house to go into a country she had never seen to be
Isaac’s wife, whom also she never saw. After she had heard what the servant had
to say, and her old friends had a mind she should put off the affair for the
present — but it was insisted on that she should go immediately — and she was
asked ‘whether she would go with this man,” she said, “I will go:” and she left
her kindred, and followed the man through all that long journey, till he had
brought her unto Isaac, and they three had that joyful meeting in Canaan. If
you will this day receive your pastor in that union that is now to be
established between him and you, it will be a joyful day in this place, and the
joy will be like the joy of espousals, as when a young man marries a virgin.
And it will not only be a joyful day in East Hampton, but it will doubtless be
a joyful day in heaven on your account. And your joy will be a faint
resemblance, and a forerunner of that future joy, when Christ shall rejoice
over you as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride in heavenly glory.
And if your pastor be faithful in his office and you
hearken and yield to him in that great errand on which Christ sends him to you,
the time will come wherein you and your pastor will be each other’s crown of
rejoicing, and wherein Christ and he and you shall all meet together at the
glorious marriage of the Lamb, and shall rejoice in and over one another with
perfect, uninterrupted, never ending, and never fading joy.