And it is on this account that he sends forth his ministers to preach.
It is this, that makes me thus come among you; that you would accept of
this invitation, to which, in the name of the LORD JESUS CHRIST, I do
call and intreat you to take him, on his own terms. He calls all of you,
my sisters, whether elder or younger, whether married or unmarried, of
higher degree, or of the meanest quality, the poorest servants, yea,
the rabble of this world, as the world calls you, who are willing to
be espoused unto the LORD JESUS CHRIST. I say, the poor are as welcome
to be CHRIST’s spouse as those that are rich. He regardeth not the rich
more than the poor: he chose a mean virgin, espoused to a carpenter,
to be his mother; and he chuseth and calleth all such to be his spouse;
then be not discouraged at your being despised in the world; for
if you are but loved by CHRIST, and espoused to him, it will be an
over-sufficiency for all the trouble that you have met with here.
III. Those who would be espoused unto CHRIST, must hearken, consider,
and incline to his invitation, and forget even their father’s house.
Such as would be espoused unto CHRIST must hearken. “Hearken, O
daughter.” Many amongst you, my sisters, stop their ears against the
calls of the gospel; they shut their ears like the deaf adder, which
will not hearken unto the voice of the charmer, though he charm never
so wisely. You will not hearken unto the invitations of CHRIST; you
can hearken unto the vanities of the world, and be delighted with the
espousals of the world, but never think, or are delighted with the
espousals of CHRIST.
It was by the ear, that the temptation of sin was received by the first
man, when he departed from GOD; and by the ear, the invitation to be
CHRIST’s spouse must be received, before the heart will be opened to
receive JESUS CHRIST in this conjugal relation.
If you would, my dear sisters, be espoused to CHRIST, you must consider
CHRIST’s invitation. It is not a slight or bare hearing of CHRIST’s
invitation, which will be of any service to you, or make up the match
between CHRIST and your souls; no, you must receive CHRIST in the
heart; you must consider the thing itself, the advantages of it, the
difference between CHRIST’s invitations and the devil’s temptations, or
any of the world’s proffers.
Those who would be espoused to CHRIST, must be inclined to accept of
CHRIST’s invitation. “Hearken, O daughter, consider and incline thine
ear.” This is to incline your hearts: You must consent with ♦your wills;
there must be a compliance to the motion of CHRIST, and you must have
desires after CHRIST, and then your hearts will say, ‘LORD, let us be
thy spouse, and be thou our beloved.’
♦ “you” replaced with “your”
You must likewise forget your father’s house. “Hearken, O daughter,
and consider, and forget thy father’s house.” You are not here to
cast off all affections unto natural relations; but you must forget
all relations, so as to be ready to forego all their favour, when it
standeth in competition with that of the LORD JESUS CHRIST; and do not
let your carnal friends and relations hinder you from closing with, and
espousing the LORD JESUS. I earnestly beseech you to suffer the loss
of any thing, rather than to lose his favours; you must indeed forget
your own people, that is, you must forget all your evil customs which
you have learned in your father’s house, and forsake all your vain
conversation, your reading of plays, novels, or romances; and you must
keep from learning to sing the songs of the drunkard; for CHRIST, if
you are his spouse, hath redeemed you.
Such of you, my dear sisters, as are espoused to the LORD JESUS CHRIST
are very beautiful. I do not mean in respect of your bodies; you may
have less of external comeliness than others, in respect of your bodies,
but as to your souls you will exceed in beauty, not so much in the eyes
of man, as in the eyes of GOD; such have the most beautiful image of
GOD stamped upon them; none in the world, beside them, have the least
spark of spiritual beauty. Such as are not married to CHRIST, are
unregenerated, they are not born again, nor brought from sin unto GOD,
which must be done before you be espoused to CHRIST.
And the LORD JESUS CHRIST desireth to see this beauty in his spouse,
for he cries out, “O my dove, thou art in the clefts of the rock, in
the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me
hear thy voice, for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely.”
He calleth his spouse his love, being the dear object of his love;
and he admireth her loveliness; he repeats it twice in one verse,
“Behold thou art fair, my love, behold thou art fair.” Thus you see
he describes their beauty. And then, my sisters, we have a wonderful
expression of CHRIST to his spouse, “Thou hast ravished my heart, my
sister, my spouse, thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes,
with one chain of thy neck.” Thus you see how pleased the LORD JESUS
CHRIST is with his spouse; and will not you, therefore, be espoused
unto the LORD JESUS? I offer JESUS CHRIST to all of you; if you have
been never so notorious for sin, if you have been as great a harlot as
_Mary Magdalen_ was, when once you are espoused to CHRIST, you shall
be forgiven. Therefore be not discouraged, at whatever slights and
contempts the world may pass upon you, but come and join yourselves to
the LORD JESUS CHRIST, and all your sins shall be washed away in his
blood; and when once you are espoused to JESUS, you are disjoined from
sin, you are born again. You are now, as it were, espoused unto sin;
sin is your husband, and you are too fond of it, but when once you are
married to CHRIST, when you are born again, then you may be said to die
unto sin; but till then, sin liveth in your affections; therefore, my
sisters, give sin its death-wound in your hearts; you have been called
by the word time after time, and it has had no effect upon you; but
when you are espoused unto the LORD JESUS CHRIST, then you will be
brought to him by his Spirit: You will then lay hold on him by faith,
his Spirit will draw you unto himself; he will make you to be willing
in the day of his power; he will give you faith in him. Faith is the
hand of the soul which layeth hold on CHRIST; therefore, do not rest
contented till you have this grace of faith wrought in you with power;
do not be contented till you have received the LORD JESUS CHRIST.
Embrace CHRIST in the arms of your dearest love; then you love the LORD
JESUS CHRIST with sincerity, when you love and esteem him before father,
mother, or all the delights and pleasures of this life; but if you do
delight in any thing that this world can produce, more than in the LORD
JESUS CHRIST, you have no true love to him.
If you are espoused to CHRIST, you have acquaintance and converse
with him; you will endeavour to promote his interest, and advance his
name in the world; when others are going to the polite and fashionable
diversions of life, you will be labouring to bring honour to the LORD
JESUS CHRIST; you will commend your beloved above all other beloveds,
and endeavour to bring others into love to him. Can you, my dear
sisters, who are now assembled to worship GOD, shew such evidence
of your espousals unto the LORD JESUS CHRIST? O! how joyful, how
comfortable an estate is this! Surely this is a marriage worth seeking
after; this is the only desirable marriage, and the LORD JESUS CHRIST
is the only lover that is worth seeking after.
Now, my dear sisters, I shall speak a few words to those of you who
have not yet espoused yourselves to the LORD JESUS. It is a great sin,
and surely you highly affront the LORD that bought you. It is likewise
your folly to refuse and neglect the gracious proffers of being the
spouse of CHRIST; hereby you forfeit all that love which he would
bestow upon you; hereby you chuse rags before robes, dross before gold,
pebbles before jewels, guilt before a pardon, wounds before healing,
defilement before cleansing, deformity before comeliness, trouble
before peace, slavery before liberty, the service of the devil before
the service of CHRIST. Hereby you chuse dishonour before a crown, death
before life, hell before heaven, eternal misery and torment before
everlasting joy and glory. And need there a farther evidence of your
folly and madness, in refusing and neglecting CHRIST to be your spouse.
My dear sisters, I should exceed the limits of your time, should I
particularize all the advantages which you would obtain by being
espoused to the LORD JESUS. This is your wisdom; they are foolish
virgins who refuse; but you are the wise virgins who have accepted of
the LORD JESUS CHRIST, and have disposed of yourselves to him; you have
made the wisest choice; and however the blind world may deem you fools,
and despise you as being methodically mad, yet you are wise in the
esteem of GOD, and will, one day, appear so in the esteem of them that
now despise you. It is your glory that you are espoused unto the LORD
JESUS; and therefore glory in your espousal; glory not in yourselves,
but in the LORD who hath thus freely and graciously bestowed these
favours upon you. It is your safety to be espoused unto the LORD JESUS
CHRIST, he will protect and defend you even from sin and satan, and
eternal ruin; and therefore thus far you are safe; he hath a regard for
you in times of danger from men, and these times of danger seem to be
hastening; it is now arising as a black cloud no bigger than a man’s
hand, and by and by it will overspread the heavens, and when it is full
it will burst; but if you are espoused to CHRIST, you are safe.
Now, my dear sisters, I shall conclude with an earnest exhortation
to high and low, rich and poor, one with another, to be espoused unto
CHRIST.
Let me speak unto you, young women, who are not yet espoused unto
CHRIST, in an especial manner. It may be to satisfy your curiosity, has
brought many of you here; though, perhaps, this may be the time when
you shall be brought home to embrace the LORD JESUS, and be espoused
to him. And O, that I may persuade you, by his Spirit, to espouse
yourselves unto the LORD of life.
And if you are but brought to close with the LORD JESUS CHRIST, I shall
attain my end, and then both you and I shall rejoice that I preached
this sermon to you.
Come virgins, will you give me leave to be a suitor unto you, not in my
own name, but in the name of the LORD? O! that I may prevail with you
for your affections, and persuade you to give them unto CHRIST! May I
be instrumental of bringing your souls to CHRIST! May I be instrumental
to join you and CHRIST together this day!
Be not coy, as some of you possibly are in other loves: modesty and
the virgin blush may very well become you, when proposals of another
kind are made unto you; but here coyness is folly, and backwardness
to accept of this motion, is shame: you have ten thousand times more
reason to blush at the refusal of CHRIST for your beloved, than at the
acceptance; when otherwise the devil and sin would ravish your virgin
affections. Never had you a better motion made to you; never was such a
match proffered to you as this, of being matched and espoused unto the
LORD JESUS CHRIST.
Consider who the LORD JESUS is, whom you are invited to espouse
yourselves unto; he is the best husband; there is none comparable to
JESUS CHRIST.
Do you desire one that is great? He is of the highest dignity, he
is the glory of heaven, the darling of eternity, admired by angels,
dreaded by devils, and adored by saints. For you to be espoused to so
great a king, what honour will you have by this espousal?
Do you desire one that is rich? None is comparable to CHRIST, the
fulness of the earth belongs to him. If you be espoused to CHRIST,
you shall share in his unsearchable riches; you shall receive of his
fulness, even grace for grace here, and you shall hereafter be admitted
to glory, and shall live with this JESUS to all eternity.
Do you desire one that is wise? There is none comparable to CHRIST
for wisdom. His knowledge is infinite, and his wisdom is correspondent
thereto. And if you are espoused to CHRIST, he will guide and counsel
you, and make you wise unto salvation.
Do you desire one that is potent, who may defend you against your
enemies, and all the insults and reproaches of the Pharisees of this
generation? There is none that can equal CHRIST in power; for the LORD
JESUS CHRIST hath all power.
Do you desire one that is good? There is none like unto CHRIST in this
regard; others may have some goodness, but it is imperfect; CHRIST’s
goodness is compleat and perfect, he is full of goodness, and in him
dwelleth no evil.
Do you desire one that is beautiful? His eyes are most sparkling, his
looks and glances of love are ravishing, his smiles are most delightful
and refreshing unto the soul: CHRIST is the most lovely person of all
others in the world.
Do you desire one that can love you? None can love you like CHRIST: His
love, my dear sisters, is incomprehensible; his love passeth all other
loves: The love of the LORD JESUS is first, without beginning; his love
is free without any motive; his love is great without any measure; his
love is constant without any change, and his love is everlasting.
It was the love of the LORD JESUS CHRIST, my dear sisters, which
brought him down from heaven; and which veiled his divinity in a human
soul and body; for he is GOD over all blessed for ever: It was love
that made him subject to hunger, thirst and sorrow; he was humbled,
even unto death for you; for you who are espoused to him, he underwent
the painful, shameful and ignominious death of the cross: and can you,
my sisters, hear this, and not be concerned to think that the blessed
JESUS underwent all this for such sinful creatures as you and I are?
And when out of love he had finished the redemption on earth, as to
what was needful for satisfaction; it was his love that carried him
back to heaven, where he was before, that he might make application of
what he had purchased, that there he might make intercession for those
whom he had redeemed, and prepare a place for them, even glorious
mansions with himself, in the house not made with hands, which is
eternal in the heavens. It is out of love that he sendeth such tokens
to his people from heaven to earth, which he conveyeth through his
ordinances, by his Spirit unto them. Surely then none is so deserving
as the LORD JESUS CHRIST for you to espouse yourselves unto: if you be
espoused unto CHRIST he is your’s, all that he is, all that he hath;
you shall have his heart, and share in the choicest expressions of his
dearest love.
The LORD JESUS CHRIST, my dear sisters, doth beseech you to be his
spouse. We ministers have a commission from the LORD JESUS CHRIST to
invite you, in his name, unto this very thing; and CHRIST’s invitations
are real; general; frequent; earnest; free.
CHRIST’s invitations of you, to be his spouse, are _real_; and as the
thing is real, so you, my dear sisters, are really invited unto it.
The LORD doth not mock and dissemble with you, as some pretending
lovers, who dissemble love unto virgins, until they have gained their
affections, and then falsely and basely relinquish them, never really
intending either to espouse, or marry them: but the LORD doth really
intend the thing, in his invitations of you; he never cast off any
whose consent and affections he had gained. Again,
CHRIST’s invitations of you, my dear sisters, are _general_. All of you
are invited, none of you are excluded; all sorts of sinners are invited;
the most vile and abominable sinners, the most notorious transgressors
are invited to be CHRIST’s spouse, and shall be as welcome as any unto
the embraces of his love.
CHRIST’s invitations of you are _frequent_: JESUS CHRIST calls on
you frequently; he hath waited on you time after time, one year after
another; and he doth now invite you, by me this day, to come unto Him.
Do not slight this invitation, but receive it with joy and thankfulness.
Come, I beseech you, to this JESUS, who thus invites you to be his
spouse. Again,
CHRIST’s invitations to be his spouse are _earnest_; he doth call upon
you, and not only call, but call earnestly too; yea, he useth many
arguments with you: he will press you to come unto him; he is loth to
take any denial from you: he knocks, and knocks hard at the door of
your hearts for entertainment; and surely you will not deny the LORD
of life and glory who died for you, and gave himself for you: O my dear
sisters, let this be the evening of your espousals to the LORD JESUS
CHRIST.
He invites you _freely_ to be his spouse, for all his invitations are
free; he doth not expect a portion with you, as worldly lovers do; He
wants nothing of you: nay, you must have nothing, if you be espoused
unto the LORD JESUS CHRIST. If you be poor, miserable, blind, naked,
JESUS CHRIST will supply all these defects of his own free mercy; he
will fill and supply you with all things out of his treasury; he will
make you meet for himself; he will prepare you to live with him for
ever.
Consider, if you be once espoused unto CHRIST, if once joined in this
relation, you shall never be separated from him; neither men nor devils
shall be able to separate you: none, none, shall disjoin you; and
when death doth break all other bonds, it shall not break the conjugal
bond between you and CHRIST, but bring you unto the most full and
everlasting possession of your beloved.
And what do you now say, young women? shall I have a grant for my
master, or be sent away with a repulse and refusal; no, I cannot carry
such a message to my master; I hope better things of you, my sisters,
and things which accompany salvation: methinks by this time ye should
begin to have a mind unto JESUS CHRIST; you look as if you did desire;
you hearken as if you would consent. What do you say? Shall the match
be made up this evening between CHRIST and your souls? O that I may
be instrumental in joining your hands, or rather your hearts together:
O that I may be instrumental to tie that knot, which never can be
unloosed.
Some marry in haste, and repent at leisure; but if you were once
espoused unto JESUS CHRIST, you would never repent; nothing would
grieve you, but that you were not joined to him sooner; and you would
not be disjoined again for all the world.
Shall this be the day of your espousals? Some of you have stayed a long
time; and will you defer any longer? If you will not now, perhaps you
may never have another opportunity; this may be the last time of asking;
and therefore it is dangerous to refuse: some of you are very young,
too young for other espousals; but none of you, my dear sisters, are
too young to be espoused unto the LORD JESUS CHRIST: in other espousals,
you must have the consent of your parents; but in this you are at your
own disposal; you may give, and ought to match yourselves to CHRIST,
whether parents do consent or not.
But if any of you should ask, what you must do that you may be espoused
unto CHRIST? You must be sensible of your need of being espoused to
him; and untill you are sensible of your need of the LORD JESUS CHRIST,
you cannot be espoused to him: You must have desires after this JESUS,
and seek unto him for an interest in him; you must cry nightly unto
him to espouse you to himself: put off the filthiness of sin and all
its defilements; and then, my sisters, put on the white raiment, and
clean garments, which CHRIST hath provided for you, the robes of his
righteousness; in these garments you shall be beautiful; and in these
garments you shall be accepted: you must have the wedding garment on;
you must put off all your own good works, for they will be but a means
to keep you from CHRIST; no, you must come as not having your own
righteousness, which is of the law, but you must have the righteousness
of CHRIST. Therefore, come unto the LORD JESUS CHRIST, and he will give
it to you; he will not send you away without it. Receive him upon his
own terms, and he is your’s for ever: O devote yourselves to him, soul
and body, and all, to be his for ever; and CHRIST will be your’s, and
then happy, happy you, that ever you were born! But if any of you die
before this espousal unto the LORD JESUS CHRIST, then woe, woe, unto
you, that ever you had a being in life; but if you go to CHRIST you
shall be espoused unto the LORD JESUS: though your sins have been never
so great, yea, the blood of CHRIST will cleanse you from them; the
marriage covenant between CHRIST and your souls will dissolve all your
sins; you will then be weary of your old ways, for all things will
become new in your souls.
Now, my dear Sisters, I shall conclude by just speaking a word or two
to those of you, who are already espoused unto the LORD JESUS CHRIST.
O admire, admire the rich and free grace, which hath brought you to
this relation: Is not this an instance of the greatest of love, that
you should be the spouse of the LORD JESUS CHRIST? You that had no
beauty, you that had no comeliness, that was full of sin, that He
should embrace such as you and I are; that we should be taken into
the embrace of this LORD JESUS. O infinite condescending kindness!
O amazing love! Reverence, reverence, I beseech you, this LORD JESUS
CHRIST.
He is your LORD, and you must reverence him, love and be faithful
unto him, be subject to him, and careful to please him in every thing;
endeavour to keep up a daily communion with him; look, long and prepare
for CHRIST’s second appearance, when the nuptials between you shall
be solemnized, and you live with him in mansions of everlasting joys,
where you shall love and live with this king of glory for ever and ever.
I know not how to conclude; methinks I could speak to you till midnight,
if it would bring you unto the LORD JESUS CHRIST, and make you be
espoused to him, for indeed, that will be the espousal which will turn
to the greatest advantage, as you will find by experience, if you will
but make the trial; and that you may do so, my prayers and my constant
endeavours shall be used.
I will, my dear sisters, spend and be spent for you, and by the
assistance of GOD, will persevere in this that I have begun; and as
many of you may have opportunity some evening in the week, without
breaking in on the business of life; I shall therefore, my sisters,
either be here, or where you shall be publicly acquainted with: I will
not mind being reproached or despised: the men of this world may use
what language they please; they may say I am a Methodist. Indeed, my
sisters, I am resolved, by the grace of GOD, to use all methods I can,
to pluck you from Satan, that you may be as brands plucked from the
burning fire: this shall be my method, which I hope will be the means
of effectually saving your precious and immortal souls.
And if I am the instrument of this, I shall rejoice, yea, and I will
rejoice in spight of what men, or devils, can say or do to the contrary:
and may the LORD JESUS CHRIST direct, and assist me at all times, to
act what will be most for his glory, and the welfare of your souls: and
may you all say a hearty Amen thereto.
“Now the LORD JESUS CHRIST, who is GOD over all, blessed for
ever, assist and watch over you, keep you from all evil and
sin here, and present you before his Father faultless at the
great day of account! To this LORD JESUS CHRIST, the Father,
and the blessed Spirit, three persons and but one eternal and
invisible GOD, be ascribed all honour, power, glory, might,
majesty and dominion, now, henceforth, and for ever more. Amen,
Amen.”
“The grace of our LORD JESUS CHRIST, the love of GOD, and the
fellowship of the Holy Ghost be with you all, to comfort under,
and deliver you from tribulation; to preserve you to your
respective places of abode; and when there, to keep you in
his fear, that you may live to his glory; that to live may
be CHRIST’s, and to die be your eternal gain; so that you may
live with him through eternal ages, and sing Hallelujahs to
him for ever. Amen.”