OCR Text |
Show How Chrifl {la11deth behi~td tbe wall •. ven thefc lhadows the denomination of a Wall, Ephef. 2. I 4· In~ deed the ApofHe calls it a Partition-r11aU bei::aufc it divided betwixt the J err>J and Gemiles: but it wa~ a ,.,.,y alfo upon another account, for whiles it was up Chrifl was not fully revuled to bi< people; he did but Hand behind the wall all the while that the Ceremonial Law and the Types and Sacrifi'ces that belong'd to it were on foot, the Apoflles call'd thefe·thingsjhadaw/. There are that affirm, that eternal Life was not at all promi!ed to the Jews under the Law: but all agree it was not io clearly promifed, as u~der the Gofpd; nor the do<'lrine of Jollification and free rem.! J!on of fins: the great do<'lrines ofChrifl were darkly revealed, Chnlt as to them flood behind this Wall. 2. Others by the Wall underfland Chrij!Jifumanc ~~atr.re.ChrW s humane nature was as a wall cochedivineNature; fuch--a wall as the Pharifees could not through it fee him as the Saviour ofth~ world, the true Me!Ji.rr, anropriavit parieti cnm adh«fit car11i, faith Bc~ltartl, It is faid of Abrabarn, that he fJw the day of Chrifi and "l ~·ced. There are doubtlefs many pa!fages in this Song which tdare to the Incarnation of the Lord Jefus Chrifl; PofTibly this m~y be one thing here intended: the Church by the Eye of Fatth fore!aw Chrill coming in the fleO•, and thus expre!feth her ftlf; be (i.mde th behind the f.p;,y: But in thefe two fenfes it doth not concern us. Jefus Chrill doth not as to us Hand behind the wall, we may if we will croud him behind the wall, deviling typer, a~tdfig>~s, and Ceremo>~iu,to fignifie the my11eries of the Gofpel, but he hath made all thofe 0Hdows vanifh. 3· Thirdly, Oth<rs by the WaU underHand the Crratrm1 hcart: I? j~flifie their notion, they not only tell us, that a mans flrength lies In hts heart, as the firength of the City lies in the walls; but alfo that in 7er. 4· 19· I am pained at .. yvery beart; the Heb. I am pained at the .,.v, of my heart, •::.'; n1'1'i'· Chrifl fometimes fiands behind the walls of our hearts; Behold, I [fand at the d.ar and k.,nock. The Lord Chrifl oft-times comes near to the Soul even under the walls ofit,and the Soul will not open,there he i< forced to Hand; but yet I cannot agree this the fenfe of the Text, for the Spoufe [pea ks this in a way of joy, rejryci11g that her Beloved was come fo near as to fland behind the wall; now 01e would never have done fo if the waU had been the [!ony waU of her own heart. -+· Fourthly, Therefore fame undcrfiand it of the w•/J of Mortality; t~lily. Our bodies are compu~d to l101t{e1 of clay; while we are prefeot in the body ( f1ith the Apoflle ) we •re ab[mt from the Lord. Indeed the body is but a wall, it it were down the Soul of the Believer would be in the full enjoyment of Chrifl; there is a truth in all thefe. But, · 5· I muO: confefs I am apt to look upon the term Wall in a more g.neral Hotion, and w make the fenre no more than this.' My . Bel• ved i1 came nearcr rmto me, but yet I have not rhat full enJoy· ~ent of him wbicb Id, r.re; he is [o near as the waU of an boHfe is to the haufe, but yet there is a wall chat hinders me ; there is fome· thing that hinders my enjoyment of him in that full and free mln· ner which I lnve heretofo re d,me, and do !till dcfi re to do. And this is, Ifay, fo-notim's the ofe o£ the Church ofChrill,and the cafealfo ofl particular believing s ~ul. Bot you wiUfa.y, wben i< the time whm Chrift may be [Jid to ft•nd behind the wJII? I an· [wer, It feems to be excellently defcribed by the Prophet Z•cbariab, ch. r4. 6, 7· It jh•lic1m' 10 p tfi th•t i~ that dJy tbr lig;btjh•U ·n•t be cleor nor dark..; But it jhJU b' one day which jhaU be k..•"'"' rmto th• L~rd, not d•y '"'night. Look as it is in the Artificial day, there is a time when it i• thick mid-night-darknefs ; there is another time ( jufl at the dawning of the day) when you fl11ll fee a little light afar off in the Eafl. There is a time of twilir,ht when it is neither night nor day, there's a great mixture of darknefs and light : and there is a time of high-noon-day when the Light is clear and glorious. So it is in Gods difpenfJtions to his Church and to the Souls of hi~ Sainr.;, Sometime> it is a time of mid·night-darknefs, the Church hath no p~ ~ce , no liberties; the ways to Sian mourn, and there is no coming to the folemn Feafis; the Soul cries out, wl>erc i< my God become ? /If)• God, my . God, why hafl thou forfaken mel And there is a time when the Soul or Church fees a little light,the eye of faith is a little open'd, it foes the Promife afar off, and believes what it hath no prefent fenfe of; this i~ Chrifis coming •kippin g on the Mountains. And there is again a time when it is neither day nor ~.;ght with the Sponfe. The Church enjoys fome Li!Jer ties, fi1me Mercies, but groaneth under m1ny evils, the Soul is not utterly forfuken, and cannot fay chat it is utterly forfaken,but it is it knoweth not how; there is a flrugling in its womb, nnd it cannot enjoy God as for· merly, it is not clea r, and cannot make a judgment of it[elf; here now ChriU Handeth behind her waU. There is again a time when it. |