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Show The SpoHfe in her Wilfttr if chrifls fair ~Ill• \\>ho judgerh his Wife f•ir and lovely rneerly from her complexi· on, and rhe fymmerry of her outward parts, lhould judg her un· • lovely when a Confumprion hath wafled her rhe [mall Pox deforr. ncd her, or firs of Convulfion drawn her'narural parts out of their due order. But he that calls his Wife his fair One from the view of her Vertues, or the confideration of her [weer and ingen~ ous nature, hath no reafon from any of thefe accidents to alter hts terms to her. Chrifl doth not judg any people fair and lovely becaufe they are in l;lealth and profperity, nor for any outward thmg, ~fo1·+5·'· The King1 daughter i1 aU i!,loriouJ within.Nay more than thts,he Judgeth her fair for hi1 comelinej1 put upon her. He firfi c~lls her hn Love,and then his fair one, therefore his fair one, becaufe hts Lovt. No Soul then hath reafon to doubt whether it be the ohjd l: of Chrifis fove, and fair in his eyes,yea or no becaufe of a Win''": or a Rainy d•y which are all things from without it.l have done with the Explication and the confirmation of the Point, I come now to the Applicatiolt Of it, only an Objection mufi firfi be anf .vered, viz. How is this confifient with tho[e many Text~ of Scripture which fpeak the Lord angry and wroth with his p .. ple? Sol. I anfwer, very eafily. If you rightly underfiJnd that as Gods love if nothing elf< than his good•rr>iU and iiU!Iin>tion to do good to hil peoplr. So Gods wrath is nothing tlfr but his jult wiU to chajli{e ,bu people: This is well enough c011Uiient with a r . .dicallove. An a/1 of wrath is confifient with an hab1t of Love; yea it may be an a~ of L?ve. God is ~illing jll ltly to punifh his people, and in dorng oft< doth truly wtll g•10d to his peop'c, vea and doth good to them : He chaftcutth ,.,hom he lovrtb , and [courgetb every one whom he rrcetveth, Hcb. u. But it is time I !houldcome to the ,1/ppliNtion of the Poiut. In the tirfi plae<, by way of Iuifrul.lion: Obfd ve here the di lfe•ence, the great difference betwixt aftatt of finnmg a~d a /fate cf ['ufforing, and how eligible the latter is before the other. There are two forts of Souls may be [aid to be in a /lateo{(t11: • ' I. AD.Hnrcge.ne~atr, unjujlijied Soulr, fuch as were never purgrd from thetr hlthu~efs but as they lie und<r the guilr of all th< fins they ever c0mmrtted, f.> <hey.wallow in the mire and dirt ol daily fin.s, prefumptuous !innings againfi God. Thefe men may have no Wrnter upon them, their houfcs may be free from fear, they may bve no darknefs upon their fpirits, be under no vi~>len-t tempta-ti~ ns, !J~r Winter if C6rifls jllir one. tlons, the Rod of God may not be upon them : yet take them •t their befi efiate, Chrifi will never fay unto them, My love, my [tir one I It Is not all their outward Beauty, Honour, credit in the World, nor all the affluence of outw!rd bleffings imaginable that can make them lovely .and fair in the eyes of Cht ill, they are fiill ugly, filthy and abotfilnable. ~. A. rrgnurate Soul may be [aid alfo (though not in fo fad a fenfe ) to be in a ]late of fin or a jinful ftate when it lieth under the guilt of fin on pardoned, or goeth on in a courfe of fin not rr pented of. It is true, this Soul may be loved with the love of Ele{ 1ton, it may be iuflifed, but though we fay the Jf•te ofjrt}lijicationis not repeated, yet the act of pardo11, and of the imputation of <i:hrHls Righteoufnefs mufi be renewed , anp while it is renewed, Chrifi, cannot in a full and perfect fenfe fay to the Soul, M~ love! ' my fair one I But a fiate of fuffering is fuch as doth no Believer hurt this way. The Church may be perfecuted, yet not forfaken, black., through perfecution, and yet fair in the eyes ofChrill. The Pftlm 68. 13 .. ~ Believing Soul may be affiicted, have fightings without, and fears within, and yet be fair in· the eyes of Chrifi. Oh, how much do we all I\ and concerned to look to this, that we do not prefer fin before[uffcring! Coffering [polls not a Chrifiians beauty, fin do'th. Suffering fpeaks not, that the people under it are not the children of God, hut habitual wilful tinning doth it. The Euth that is m1de moifi by rain meerly falling on H..from without, fs not from thence to be concluded bad; this Rain may make it better, or helj> ro evidence its goodnefs, which elfe would lie hid. But the jperr>- · ing Eorth; the Land that is continually fpevving out filthy moi-fiure is never g<?OI!I. The finful Soul is a fpewing Soul, continu>. - ally throwing forth mire and filth; this is never good: but the af- IIW:ed Soul is but like Earth upon which rain falls ; the falling of' the Rain upon it may mtke it better or at leafi evidence the good-.. nefs ofit. ' Secondly, Learn hence tbt pKre andfr;e /oveofChriff; he loves 2. Bianr;h, · not the !=~ur~h for its out~ar? Ornaments and advantages, ndt bsc1ufe tt ts fatr weather wtth It ; no In Winter, in Ra'it\y-W'eather lliil the Soul is bi1 L1ve, hi1 fair olte, But I hafien to thi: other ; u~ • - Of what inflnl(e ufe for Confolation m.a'y this n<'Jii<>n ( w~lHfi·- a. Vft. · gelled ) lie to every trite Spou[e of Chrifi, ro·every rnil)'I'>Cll~vilig Soul. _ |