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Show How the spou{es voice is frmt they rather have faid, nay, what a pittiful offering i~ a IJuUock._ f~r God if the thing be lookt at ? but he that offereth hts Bullock dtd wha; God commanded, fo I have done, therefore it !hall be accep-ted. But Secondly, . 2. The voice of the Spoufe mull needs be fweet to Chrtfr, becaufe dill a ted by his Spirit, Her voice in confrJ!lOil is didared by his Spirit; Chrill commanded his Difciples when they (hould he brought btfor< men for his names {ak,yo _tak,,e no thought before-hand what to f•JJor it jhould be gwen them tn that Herw what to [peak.., v. 20. For it is net you th•tfi>.a.lz, but the Spmt of your Father which fpe•~ethin you. It is not you th~t fpeak, that is,you are not. the Origin• I and Foundattolt of what ts fpoken; Y.o~ are but ~~e inHruments, the Organs of fpeech are yours; but tt ts the Sptrtt that influenceth you. And as this is true concerning the voice of the Spoufe confrf!lng for Chrijl: So it is as tt ue concerning ~er voice profeffiHg his truth 1 for ":hat are the ~burches Syfi~ms of found Dodrine but a collechon of Dodrmes out of Scrt.pture, which indeed V:as written by :ue·n, but by Divine Infpiration? hltt particularly is it true concerning the Spoufes voice in prayer, to which the ApoHle gives fo ample a teHimony in that Rdm. 8; • that r.othing need be added,v. 15. You have received •the Spirit of Adoption, by which you cry Abba Father, v. 26. wek._uo~ .not what to pray for, nor how to pray [or it as we ought, but the Sptrtt hdptth ortr infirmitiu. Now the voice of the Spirit cannot but be fweet unto Chrifi whofe Spirit he is. 3• Thir!lly, The Spoufes voice is not only formu/and dillated by the holy Spirit of God,but it is alfo aJ[r!ted by the Spirit of God. 'The Spirit( faith the Apofilejhelpeth our i~tfirmities;not only our in• lirmity in this point, that we know not what to pray for; but in this alfo, that we cannot pray jjr it .u we au.~!Jt: it helps us with Faith, with fervem:y, with firong -cries and groans which cannJt be Hltered. The Spirit helpeth us by an efficacy of Operation. Now thevoice~ftbeSpirit mufi needs befwertto Chrifl; (or, faith the Apoflle, vrr. ~7. Hr that feargJmh the beart,k..nawcth the mind oftbe Spirit. And ver. 2 7. it mak.;th interce[Jia11 for the S •ints accordmg, to the wiU of God • . So like wife in the Spoufes confeffing for Chrift, the1e is a great affifiance of the Spirit of Chri(l. I~ is faid of holy Stephen in his ConfeffiJn, A lis 6. Io• They were ~ot able to refi{f tl;e roi[dorn of the Spirit by rPhich he fi>ak,t. 4· Fourthly, The voice oft he Spoufe mufi nece!Tarily be fweet unto · unto Chrifl, bec~ufe it is termin.,ed in hit glory, The Lord loveth himfclf nece!Tarily, His f!./pry was his lirfl end of all his adions; he made aU thingt for himjrlf, and he cannot but be pleafed in any thing by which his own honour is promoved. Now all thefe voices of the Spoufe before· mentioned bring honour, much honour and glory to God ; God is honoured by the profdlion of his Truth, by the propagation of the knowledg of him to Congregations, to l'amilies, &c. And this is evident to any one that will but confider that man no other wife glorifieth God, than by fpeak,jng of his glory, by commending him to others, (for to the e!Tcntial glory of God we can add nothing:)For the Spoufes voice ' admoni01ing and reproving fin in men, this alfo terminateth in the glory of God highly,as it is a means to fupprefs and hinder fin in the World, the only thing by which God is difhonoured in the _ World. For her voice in confeffionolhim before men, this eminently tends to Gods honour ; and fo her voice in Prayer, Who· fo confe!Teth fins giveth glory to God. My Son (faith J ofiuh) confefs and give glory to God. Her petitions fpeak him the au- . thor and fountain of •very good and perfdJ gifi , and many other ways too large here to, recite. And for Praife, he th" offereth .prai[e glorifietb me. 5· But lallly, Would you know the true reaf•m why the voice · of the Spoufe is [wert zmto Chri(f, it is becaufe of that inji11ite love · whm~itb be l;ves h_,, Our voice is a lifping, !I uttering, imper- · fed voice : But as the v-ery lifping and fiammering of the child,are fweet to the~ Morher, .not as rhe voice of an Orator, but as the voice of the child fue dcnly loveth, which 01e is forced to help it out with before fue can well underfiand it ; fo is the voice of the believing Soul.fweet to Chrifi, becaufe the voice df his child. As the yoice of the Womao,or Virgin whom a man loves is fweet unto him, though fue.Jifps •or Hammereth, or cannot fpeak fo hand• fomly ~s anothe. Woman,be.aufe fue is his Wife, his Spoufe ; fiJ . the vo~ce of rbe, bdtev~- Soul is [ weet to Chri!P, becaufe his Spoufe,becaufc he, d.;l~hteth in her • . , I 7om~ now to the Application, which I will dilpatch in ,five 1 Vfe.-. f;arttc4lars. , , · , In the firll place , Th.is offers us another ad vantage toft and ftiU and hav~ ~mr S\luls,r,ip.t: tnto an holy •Extafy, admiring the free· ·"'fs .of th~ fo11< a1td, grflcr i_n J•fiu Ghrijt , ; .. 1i.et me heor thy voice! Me· |