Brightman - BS2823 B85 1644

CAP. 5. about theyeer loo. 1.033 (faith fhe)andWafhed my feet.Thecoat is Chrift and his only imputed righteoufnefle ; but as Coon as we look on our felves and feek righ- teoufneffe in the perfe6tion ofour own vertue,we fpoil our felves of this garment, and our filrhineffe appeareth prefently to God and the Angeh. And fo we may walk our feet with other waters,that we may Teem to our felves moll= clean.Somuch was the doarine offree juftificatiomby Chrift alone decayed apt that time,and another mean of wafhing and purging the feet found out befides him : that no coming to Chrift by faith alone, was commonly beleeved without danger of defiling,&c. Verf. 3. My belovedput his hand by the hole of thedoor : and my bowels Were movedfor him; Here beginneth the fecond part of the chapter of feeking the Bridegroom , the degrees whereof are diverfe, the moving of her 6oWels,his Withdrawing of himfelf , her opening the door, her ergairing, her crying out,and how the Watchmen entertainedher.It is manifeft by the firft of there words that he loofed his hand from the hole of the door,wherby appeareth that he not only knocked anti called,but al- fo fought to put back the bolt, his hand was ready at the hole when the godlyEmperorscalled facred councels to pull up the tares which wicked idle men had fowen in the Lords field. It is excellent, how Martian the Emperor in the councell of Chalcedon exhorted the fa_ thers oftentimes to apply all their ftudie to root out herefies and all wicked inftru&ions, that the true and holy faith might appear, or Phew it felf. What might not the Sifhops then have done if they had known their opportuniti?But one would have thought,itfhould have been their own chiefeft care, without the Emperours ad- monition. The likepaines took the two Emperours Theodoflus the Nephew and the grand-father in thofe famous councels of Ephe(ua and ConllantinopL. : the Bridegroom did his part to take away the barre, but the fpoufe would not : therefore he withdrew his hand and took away all power to remove the bolt. For after Marcion was dead, fuch bar barons cruelty raged in the weft; and obfcuritie, 'floth and covetoulneffe raigned in the ealt, that he which before fought for entrancewas now nowheretobe found. Verf. 4. I rote to open to my beloved and my hands dropped With myrrhe, andmyfingers With! ser finelling myrrhe upon the handles of the lock or bolt. After the fpoufe ( afflicted with dayly miferies ) had learned how great loffe her negligence had procured : fhe feckes now to recover it

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