The Glorious Feast of the Gospel

Then & Now · 1 of 10

To The Reader

To The Reader

SO much of late hath been written about the times, that Spirituall Diſcourſes are now almoſt out of ſeaſon. Mens mindes are ſo hurried up and downe, that it is to be feared, they are much diſcompoſed to thinke ſeriouſly as they ought, of their eternall concernments: Alas! Chriſtians have loſt much of their Communion with Chriſt and his Saints; (the heaven upon earth) whilſt they have woefully diſputed away, and diſpirited the life of Religion and the power of Godlineſſe into dry and ſapleſſe Controverſies about Government of Church and State. To recover therefore thy ſpirituall Reliſh of ſavory pradicall Truths,1 theſe Sermons of that excellent man of God, of precious memory, are publiſhed: Wherein thou art preſented,2 1.

  1. 1. The principal ſubjects handled in theſe Sermons. [dropped from the edition]
  2. 2. 1. Of the Marriage-feaſt between Chriſt & his Church. [dropped from the edition]

So much of late hath been written about the times, that spiritual discourses are now almost out of season. Men’s minds are so hurried up and down, that it is to be feared‸ they are much discomposed to think seriously as they ought, of their eternal concernments. Alas! Christians have lost much of their communion with Christ and his saints — the heaven upon earth — whilst they have wofully disputed away‸ and dispirited the life of religion and the power of godliness, into dry and sapless controversies about government of church and state. To recover therefore thy spiritual relish of savoury practical truths, these sermons of that excellent man of God, of precious memory, are published. Wherein thou art presented‸.

With an invitation to a great and wonderfull Feaſt; the Marriage-Feast of the Lambe. An admirable Feaſt indeed, wherein Jeſus Chriſt the eternall Sonne of God is the Bridegroome, where every Beleever that hath put on the Lord Jeſus, (the wedding garment) is not onely the Gueſt, but the Spouſe of Chriſt, and the Bride at this Wedding-ſupper. Here Jeſus Chriſt is the Maſter of the Feast, and the Chear and Proviſion too. He is the Lamb of God, the Ramme caught in the thicket. Hee is the fatted Calfe;3 when he was ſacrificed, Wiſedome killed her beaſts,4 Prov. 9. 2. At his death, the Oxen and Fatlings were killed.5 His fleſh is meat indeed, and his bloud is drinke indeed. And that thou maiſt bee fully delighted at this Feaſt, Chriſt is the Roſe of Sharon, the Lilly of the Valley; he is a bundle of Mirrhe, a Cluſter of Camphire, his name is an ointment poured out, and his love is better than Wine. In Chriſt are all things ready, for Chriſt is all in all. And great is the Feaſt that Chriſt makes for Believers; for it is the Marriage Feaſt which the great King makes for his Sonne. The great deſigne and aime of the Goſpel being to exalt the Lord Jeſus Chriſt, and give him a name above every name. Great is the company that are bid, Luke 14. 6. Jews and Gentiles. God keeps open houſe; Hoe every one that thirſteth,6 come,7 and whoſoever wil let him come and freely take of the water of life.8 Great is the chear that is provided; every Gueſt here hath Aſhers portion, royall dainties, and bread of fatneſſe. Here’s all excellent, beſt wine, wine upon the Lees well refined. Here’s fat things, yea fat things full of marrow. Here’s the hidden Manna, the water of life, and the fruit of the tree of life which is in the midſt of the Paradiſe of God. All that is at this Feaſt is of the beſt, yea the beſt of the beſt. Here’s variety and plenty too, here’s bread enough and to ſpare: Caligula and Heliogabalus their Feaſts,9 who ranſack’d the earth, aire, and ſea to furniſh their Tables, were nothing to this. And above all, here’s welcome for every hungry thirſty ſoule; hee that bids thee come, will bid thee welcome, he will not ſay eate, when his heart is not with thee: the invitation is free, the preparation great, and the entertainment at this Feaſt, ſuiting the magnificence of the great King, is full and bountifull. All which is at large treated of in theſe excellent Sermons, which are therefore deſervedly intituled, The Marriage Feaſt between Christ and his Church. We read of a Philoſopher, that having prepared an excellent Treatiſe of happineſſe, and preſenting it unto a great King, the King anſwered him, Keep your Book to your ſelfe, I am not now at leaſure. Here is an excellent Treaſure put into thy hand, doe not anſwer us I am not now at leiſure. Oh doe not let Chriſt ſtand knocking at thy heart, who will come and ſup with thee, and bring his cheare with him. Oh let not a deceived heart turne thee any longer aſide to feed upon Aſhes, feed no longer with ſwine upon Husks, while thou mayſt be filled and ſatisfied with bread in thy fathers houſe.

But this is not all, if thou wilt bee pleaſed to peruſe this Book, thou wilt finde there are many other uſefull,10 ſeaſonable, and excellent ſubjects handled beſides the Marriage-Feaſt.

2. Jeſus Chriſt hath not only provided a feaſt, becauſe hee is deſirous that all thoſe for whom it is provided ſhould come to it, (which onely they doe that believe) he takes away the vaile of ignorance and unbeliefe from off their hearts: and here you ſhall finde this skilfull Preacher hath excellently diſcourſed, what this vaile is, how it naturally lyes upon all, and is onely removed by the Spirit of Chriſt. And if the Lord hath deſtroyed this covering from off thy heart, we doubt not, but the truth of this heavenly Doctrine will ſhine comfortably into thy ſoule.

3. Jeſus Chriſt to make his bounty and mercy further appeare in this Feaſt;11 hee hath given his Gueſts the Bread of life, and hath ſecured them from the feare of death: They need not feare, there’s no Mors in ollâ, at this Feaſt wee may feaſt without feare: Jeſus Chriſt by his taſting of death hath ſwallowed it up in victory. Chriſt doth not make his people ſuch a feaſt as it is reported Dionyſius the Tyrant once made for his flatterer Damocles, who ſet him at a Princely Table, but hang’d a drawne ſword in a ſmall thread over his head. But Chriſt would have us triumph over the King of Feares, who was ſlain by the death of Christ,12 and wee thereby delivered from the bondage of the feare of death.13

At other Feaſts they were wont of old, to have a Deaths head ſerv’d in amongſt other Diſhes, to minde them in the midſt of all their mirth of their mortality: (wich practiſe of the Heathens condemnes the ranting jollity of ſome looſe profeſſors in theſe times.) But here, Chriſt ſerves in Deaths head, (as David the head of Goliah) the head of a ſlaine and conquered death. Our Sampſon by his owne death hath deſtroied Death,14 and hath thereby ranſomed us from the hand of the grave, and hath redeemed us from Death, and the ſlaviſh feare of it: All which is at large handled in theſe following Sermons for thy comfort and joy, that thou maiſt triumph in his love through whom thou art more than Conqueror.

4. Becauſe it is a merry heart that makes a continuall feaſt,15 and that this feaſt might be a Gaudy-day indeed unto thy ſoule, Chriſt doth here promiſe, to wipe away all tears from off the faces of his people. The Goſpel hath comforts enough to make glad the hearts of the Saints and people of God: the light of Gods countenance will refreſh them with joy unſpeakable, and glorious in the midſt of the valley of the ſhadow of death. A truely godly perſon can weep for his ſinnes, though the world ſmile never ſo much upon him; and though hee be never ſo much afflicted in the world, yet hee can and will rejoyce in the God of his ſalvation. In theſe Sermons thou haſt this Goſpel-promiſe ſweetly opened and applyed; wherein thou ſhalt finde directions when, and for what to mourne and weep, and the bleſſedneſſe of all true mourners, whoſe ſorrow ſhall be turned into joy.

5. In theſe Sermons you ſhall further finde,16 that though Jeſus Chriſt reſpect his people highly, and entertaine them bountifully, yet they have but courſe uſage in the world, who are wont to revile them as fooles and madmen, as ſeditious Rebels, troublers of Iſrael, proud and hypocriticall perſons. But bleſſed are they that doe not ſtumble at this ſtone of offence, that weare the reproaches of Chriſt as their Crowne, and by well doing put to ſilence the ignorance of fooliſh men: for let the world load them with all their revilings, yet the ſpirit of glory reſts upon them, and in due time he will rowle away their reproach, and bring forth their judgement as the light, and their righteouſneſſe as the noon-day.

6.

And becauſe a Chriſtian here hath more in hope than in hand,17 more in reverſion than in poſſeſſion, walkes by faith rather than ſenſe, and lives by the Word of God, and not by bread alone, Thou ſhalt have here (Chriſtian Reader) a ſweet Diſcourſe of the precious promiſes of Chriſt which hee hath left us here to ſtay the ſtomack of the ſoule, till wee come to that feaſt of feaſts in heaven; that by this glimpſe, wee might in part know the greatneſſe of that glory which ſhall be revealed, that the firſt fruits might be a pawne of the Harveſt, and the earneſt of the Spirit a pledge of that full reward wee ſhall have in heaven, where we ſhall be brim-full of thoſe pleaſures that are at Gods right hand for ever. Chriſt hath given us promiſes to uphold our faith and hope, till faith be perfected in fruition, and hope end in viſion, till Jeſus Chriſt, who is here the object of our faith,18 be the reward of our faith for ever.

7. Now becauſe the comfort of the promiſes is grounded in the faithfulneſſe of him that hath promiſed. This godly and learned man, hath ſtrongly aſſerted the Divine Authority of the holy Scriptures, proving that they are θεόπνευστοι, that they are the very Word of God, that they are 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, & 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, worthy of all acceptation, and beliefe, for their owne ſakes. A truth very ſeaſonable for theſe times to Antidote thee againſt the poyſonfull errors of blaſphemous Antiſcripturiſts.

8. Laſtly,19 becauſe that God often takes a long day for performance of the promiſe, thou ſhalt finde herein the Doctrine of waiting upon God excellently handled. A duty which wee earneſtly commend unto thy practice, as ſuitable to theſe ſad times—Say, Oh ſay, with the Church,20 In the way of thy judgements, Oh Lord, we have waited for thee: and with the Prophet, I will wait upon the Lord that hideth his face from the houſe of Iacob,21 and I will look for him. And reſt aſſured, that none of the ſeed of Iacob ſhall ſeeke him in vaine; he will not diſappoint their hope, nor make their faces aſhamed that waite for him.

  1. 3. Prov. 9. 2. [dropped from the edition]
  2. 4. Matth. 22. 3. [dropped from the edition]
  3. 5. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. [dropped from the edition]
  4. 6. Iſai. 55. 1. [dropped from the edition]
  5. 7. Rev. 22. 17. [dropped from the edition]
  6. 8. Gen. 49. 20. [dropped from the edition]
  7. 9. Super omnia vultus acceſſére boni. [dropped from the edition]
  8. 10. 2. Of the vail of ignorance and unbeliefe, and the removall of it [dropped from the edition]
  9. 11. 3. Of Chriſts conqueſt over Death. [dropped from the edition]
  10. 12. Heb. 2. 14, 15. [dropped from the edition]
  11. 13. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. [dropped from the edition]
  12. 14. Hoſ. 13. 14. [dropped from the edition]
  13. 15. 4. Of the Chriſtians teares, and the wiping them away. [dropped from the edition]
  14. 16. 5. Of the Rebukes and Reproaches of Gods people, and the taking of them away. [dropped from the edition]
  15. 17. 6. Of the Promiſes. [dropped from the edition]
  16. 18. 7. Of the holy Scriptures, and the divine Authority of them. [dropped from the edition]
  17. 19. 8. waiting upon God. [dropped from the edition]
  18. 20. Iſai. 26. 8. [dropped from the edition]
  19. 21. Iſai. 8. 17. [dropped from the edition]
  1. With an invitation to a great and wonderful feast, the marriage feast of the Lamb. An admirable feast indeed; wherein Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, is the bridegroom, where every believer that hath ‘put on’ the Lord Jesus, Rom 13:14, ‘the wedding garment,’ Matt 22:11, is not only the guest, but the spouse of Christ, and the bride at this wedding supper. Here Jesus Christ is the master of the feast, and the cheer and provision too. He is the ‘Lamb of God,’ John 1:29, the ‘ram caught in the thicket,’ Gen 22:13. He is the ‘fatted calf,’ Luke 15:23. When he was sacrificed, ‘wisdom killed her beasts,’ Prov‸ 9:‸2. At his death, ‘the oxen and fatlings were killed,’ Matt 22:4. Ἀληθῶς βρῶσις καὶ ἀληθῶς πόσις. His ‘flesh is meat indeed, and his blood is drink indeed,’ John 6:55. And that thou mayest be fully delighted at this feast, Christ is the ‘rose of Sharon,’ the ‘lily of the valley,’ Song 2:1. He is a ‘bundle of myrrh,’ Song 1:13, a ‘cluster of camphire,’ Song 1:14; his name is ‘an ointment poured out,’ Song 1:3, and ‘his love is better than wine,’ Song 1:2. In Christ are ‘all things ready,’ Matt 22:4, for ‘Christ is all in all,’ Col 3:11. And great is the feast that Christ makes for believers, for it is the marriage feast which the great King ‘makes for his Son,’ Matt 22:2; the great design and aim of the gospel being to exalt the Lord Jesus Christ, and give ‘him a name above every name,’ Phil 2:9. Great is the company that are bid, Luke 14:‸16, Jews and Gentiles. God keeps open house, ‘Ho, every one that thirsteth, come,’ Isa 55:1, and ‘whosoever will, let him come and freely take of the water of life,’ Rev 22:17. Great is the cheer that is provided. Every guest here hath Asher’s portion, ‘royal dainties‸ and bread of fatness,’ Gen 49:20. Here is all excellent‸ best wine, ‘wine upon the lees well refined,’ Isa 25:6. Here is ‘fat things,’ yea‸, ‘fat things full of marrow.‸’ Here is the ‘hidden manna,’ Rev 2:17, the ‘water of life,’ Rev 22:17, and the fruit of ‘the tree of life which is in the midst of the paradise of God,’ Gen 2:9. All that is at this feast is of the best, yea, the best of the best. Here is variety and plenty too; here is ‘bread enough and to spare,’ Luke 15:17. Caligula and Heliogabalus their feasts, who ransacked the earth, air, and sea to furnish their tables, were nothing to this. And above all, here is welcome for every hungry thirsty soul; he that bids thee come, will bid thee welcome; ‘he will not say‸, Eat, when his heart is not with thee,’ Prov 23:‸7. The invitation is free, the preparation great, and the entertainment at this feast, suiting the magnificence of the great King, is full and bountiful. All which is at large treated of in these excellent sermons, which are therefore deservedly entitled, The Marriage Feast between Christ and his Church. We read of a philosopher, that having prepared an excellent treatise of happiness, and presenting it unto a great king, the king answered him, ‘Keep your book to yourself; I am not now at leisure.’ Here is an excellent treasure put into thy hand; do not answer us, ‘I am not now at leisure.’ Oh, do not let Christ stand ‘knocking at thy heart, who will come and sup with thee,’ Rev 3:20, and bring his cheer with him. Oh, let not a ‘deceived heart turn thee’ any longer ‘aside to feed upon ashes,’ Isa 44:20; feed no longer with ‘swine upon husks,’ Luke 15:16, while thou mayest be filled and satisfied with ‘bread in thy Father’s house,’ Luke 15:17.

    But this is not all; if thou wilt be pleased to peruse this book, thou wilt find there are many other useful, seasonable, and excellent subjects handled besides the marriage feast.

  2. Jesus Christ hath not only provided a feast, but because he is desirous that all those for whom it is provided should come to it‸ (which only they do that believe), he takes away the veil of ignorance and unbelief from off their hearts; and here you shall find this skilful preacher hath excellently discoursed‸ what this veil is, how it naturally lies upon all, and is only removed by the Spirit of Christ. And if the Lord hath ‘destroyed this covering from off thy heart,’ we doubt not, but the truth of this heavenly doctrine will shine comfortably into thy soul.
  3. Jesus Christ, to make his bounty and mercy further appear in this feast, he hath given his guests the ‘bread of life,’ and hath secured them from the fear of death. They need not fear. There is no mors in ollâ (death in the pot) at this feast. We may feast without fear. Jesus Christ by his ‘tasting of death hath swallowed it up in victory,’ 1 Cor 15:54. Christ doth not make his people such a feast as it is reported Dionysius the tyrant once made for his flatterer Damocles, who set him at a princely table, but hanged a drawn sword in a small thread over his head. But Christ would have us triumph over the king of fears, who was slain by the death of Christ, and we thereby delivered from the bondage of the fear of death, Heb 2:14, 15.

    At other feasts they were wont of old‸ to have a death’s head served in amongst other dishes, to mind them in the midst of all their mirth of their mortality‸ (which practice of the heathens condemns the ranting jollity of some loose professors in these times). Κατῆλθεν εἰς θάνατον ἀθάνατος, καὶ τῷ θανάτῳ καθεῖλε θάνατον. But here, Christ serves in death’s head, ‸as David ‘the head of Goliath,’ 1 Sam 17:54, the head of a slain and conquered death. Our Samson by his own death ‘hath destroyed death, and hath thereby ransomed us from the hand of the grave, and hath redeemed us from death,’ Hos 13:14, and the slavish fear of it. All which is at large handled in these following sermons for thy comfort and joy, that thou mayest triumph in his love, through whom thou art more than conqueror.

  4. Because ‘it is a merry heart that makes a continual feast,’ Prov 15:15, and that this feast might be a gaudy-day indeed unto thy soul, Christ doth here promise, ‘to wipe away all tears from off the faces of his people,’ Isa 25:8. The gospel hath comforts enough to make glad the hearts of the saints and people of God. The ‘light of God’s countenance’ will refresh them with ‘joy unspeakable‸ and glorious,’ 1 Pet 1:8, in the midst ‘of the valley of the shadow of death,’ Ps 23:4. A truly godly person can weep for his sins, though the world smile never so much upon him; and though he be never so much afflicted in the world, yet he can and will ‘rejoice in the God of his salvation,’ Hab 3:18. In these sermons thou hast this gospel-promise sweetly opened and applied; wherein thou shalt find directions when, and for what, to mourn and weep, and the blessedness of all true mourners, ‘whose sorrow shall be turned into joy,’ John 16:20.
  5. In these sermons you shall further find, that though Jesus Christ respect his people highly, and entertain them bountifully, yet they have but coarse usage in the world, who are wont to revile them as ‘fools’ and ‘madmen,’ as ‘seditious rebels,‸’ ‘troublers of Israel,‸’ ‘proud and hypocritical persons.’ But blessed are they that do not ‘stumble at this stone of offence,’ Rom 9:32, that wear the ‘reproaches of Christ as their crown,’ and by ‘well-‸doing put to silence the ignorance of foolish men,’ 1 Pet 2:15; for let the world load them with all their revilings, yet ‘the spirit of glory rests upon them,’ 1 Pet 4:14, and in due time he will roll away their reproach, ‘and bring forth their judgment as the light, and their righteousness as the noonday,’ Ps 37:‸6.
  6. And because a Christian here hath more in hope than in hand, more in reversion than in possession, ‘walks by faith’ rather than sense, and ‘lives by the word of God, and not by bread alone,‸’ Matt 4:4, thou shalt have here‸, Christian reader, a sweet discourse of the precious promises of Christ which he hath left us here to stay the stomach of the soul, till we come to that feast of feasts in heaven; that by this glimpse‸ we might in part know the ‘greatness of that glory which shall be revealed,’ 1 Pet 5:1; that the first fruits might be a pawn of the harvest, and the ‘earnest of the Spirit,’ Eph 1:14, a pledge of that full reward we shall have in heaven, where we shall be brimful of those ‘pleasures that are at God’s right hand for ever,’ Ps 16:11. Christ hath given us promises to uphold our faith and hope, till faith be perfected in fruition, and hope end in vision, till Jesus Christ, who is here the object of our faith, be the reward of our faith for ever.
  7. Now because the comfort of the promises is grounded in the faithfulness of him that hath promised, this godly and learned man, hath strongly asserted the divine authority of the holy Scriptures, proving that they are θεόπνευστοι, that they are the very word of God, that they are αὐτόπιστοι and ἀξιόπιστοι, worthy of all acceptation, and belief, for their own sakes; a truth very seasonable for these times, to antidote thee against the poisonful errors of blasphemous anti-scripturists.
  8. Lastly, because that God often takes a long day for performance of the promise, thou shalt find herein the doctrine of waiting upon God, excellently handled; a duty which we earnestly commend unto thy practice, as suitable to these sad times. Say, O say‸ with the church, ‘In the way of thy judgments, O Lord, we have waited for thee,’ Isa 26:8; and with the prophet, ‘I will wait upon the Lord that hideth his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him,’ Isa 8:17. And rest assured, that ‘none of the seed of Jacob shall seek him in vain,’ Isa 45:19; he will not ‘disappoint their hope, nor make their faces ashamed that wait for him,’ Isa 49:23.

Thus we have given you a ſhort proſpect of the whole, a briefe ſumme of that treaſure which theſe Sermons containe. Wee need ſay nothing of the Author, his former labours ſufficiently ſpeak for him in the gates, his memory is highly honoured amongſt the godly-learned. He that enjoyes the glory of heaven, needs not the prayſes of men upon earth. If any ſhould doubt of theſe Sermons, as if they ſhould not be truely his, whoſe Name they beare, let him but obſerve the ſtile, and the excellent and ſpirituall matter herein contained, and he will wee hope be fully ſatisfied. Beſides, there are many Eare-witneſſes yet living, who can cleare them from any ſhadow of impoſture. They come forth without any Alteration, ſave onely ſome repetitions (which the Pulpit did well beare) are here omitted.

Thus we have given you a short prospect of the whole, a brief sum of that treasure which these sermons contain. We need say nothing of the author; his former labours ‘sufficiently speak for him in the gates,’ Prov 31:23; his memory is highly honoured amongst the godly-learned. He that enjoys the glory of heaven, needs not the praises of men upon earth. If any should doubt of these sermons, as if they should not be truly his, whose name they bear, let him but observe the style, and the excellent and spiritual matter herein contained, and he will, we hope, be fully satisfied. Besides, there are many ear-witnesses yet living, who can clear them from any shadow of imposture. They come forth without any alteration, save only some repetitions (which the pulpit did well bear), are here omitted.‸

The Lord make theſe, and all other the labors of his Servants profitable to his Church: And the Lord ſo deſtroy the vaile from off thy heart, that thou maieſt believe, and by faith come to this Feaſt, the joy and comfort whereof may ſwallow up all the ſlaviſh feare of death, dry up thy teares, and rowle away all reproach: and the Lord give thee a waiting heart, to ſtay thy ſoule upon the name of the Lord, to believe his Word, and his faithfull promiſes, that in due time thou maiſt rejoyce in the God of thy ſalvation. This is the earneſt Prayer of

↩ runs on

The Lord make these, and all other the labours of his servants, profitable to his church. And the Lord so ‘destroy the veil’ from off thy heart, that thou mayest believe, and by faith come to this feast, the joy and comfort whereof may swallow up all the slavish fear of death, dry up thy tears, and roll away all reproach. And the Lord give thee a waiting heart, to stay thy soul upon the name of the Lord, to believe his word, and his faithful promises, that in due time thou mayest ‘rejoice in the God of thy salvation.’ This is the earnest prayer of

London: Apr. 19. 1650.

ARTHVR JACKSON.

JAMES NALTON.

WILL: TAYLOR.

Arthur Jackson.

James Nalton.

Will Taylor.

London, April 19. 1650.