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may appear particularly from thefe four things in the

context.

1. His time of love is a time of love-calls, wherein he calls to us, Live; ver. 6. "I faid unto thee, when thou waft in thy blood, LIVE; yea, I faid unto thee, when thou waft in thy blood, Live." Thefe love-calls are doubled, that they may be effectual; he fays it, and repeats it again and we are never called effectually, till we hear him twice. In the time of love, therefore he fays unto us, Live: yea, he fays to us," In our blood, Live:" he fays it outwardly, in the word, and then he fays it inwardly, by the Spirit; he fays it into the ear, and then fays it again into the heart; then the heart that was a dead grave opens, and takes in the living Jefus, the Spirit of life enters, and the dead foul begins to live and breathe fpiritually. The quickening word creates in the foul a life of care and concern about falvation, "What fhall I do to be faved?" A life of defire, after Chrift the Saviour: O fays the poor foul, I would give a thousand worlds for him? And afterwards, in various degrees, a life of faith, love, hope, and joy.

2. His time of love is a time of love-vifits; "When I paffed by thee," fays the words here: it is an allufion to paffengers, that, on their way, meet with miferable ob. jects in a deplorable condition, and extend pity toward them: "I paffed by thee." It is fpoken after the manner of man, but done after the manner of God, who is pleafed to give gracious vifits to the foul, whom he once quickens by his word of power. It is true, all his vifits in this world are but like a paffing by: they are but paffing vifits, as it is faid to Mofes, Exod. xxxii. 23. "While my glory paffes by, I will fhow thee my back parts; for my face fhall not be feen." It is in heaven we fee him face to face, without interruption: but here we are to be content, if we get fome view of his glory, as it paffes by.

3. His time of love is a time of love-glances, or of loving looks; "When I paffed by thee, and looked upon thee." It is not a look of observation only, for he beholds all things, they are naked and open before him; but a look of commiferation. It is a look wherein his heart VOL. VI. + G

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follows his eye. In the time of love, the Lord gives his people fometimes an appropriating look, an affectionate look; "His countenance beholdeth the upright," Pfalm xi. 7.-Sometimes a directing look, "I will guide thee with mine eye," Pfal. xxxiii. 8. If he takes his directing eye off us, we never make a right ftep.-Sometimes a convincing-look, a penetrating look, fuch as he gave to Peter, that pierced, melted, and diffolved his heart; "Jefus looked on him, and he went out and wept bitterly." -Sometimes a comforting look, Ifa. lxvi. 2. "To this man will I look, even to him that is poor, and of a contrite fpirit, and trembleth at my word." With a look he breaks the hard heart; and with a lock he heals the broken heart,-Thefe are his love glances.

4. His time of love is a time of love tokens: and here are many tokens of conjugal love in the context; fome antecedent, fome concomitant, and fome confequent to the marriage.

(1.) Some love-tokens antecedent to the marriage; betwixt Chrift and them. Such as, befides what I have already named, thefe immediately following the text,

Thy time was a time of love, and I fpread my fkirt over them, and covered their nakednefs:" there is the marriage robe wherewith he covers his naked bride, the garment of his righteoufnefs. "Yea, I fware unto thee;" there is the marriage-oath by which his word is confirmed, "That by two immutable things, by which it is impoffible for God to lie, they might have ftrong confolation," &c. And "I entered into a covenant with thee;" there is the marriage-bond; the covenant that flandeth faft in Chrift: here all is done to her hand, when the could do nothing. "I entered into a covenant with thee, faith the Lord God." And "Thou becameft mine!" there is the marriage-relation conftitute, and the union betwixt Chrift and his bride made up. I became thine, and thou became mine: I became thy Head and Hufband, and thou became my bride and spouse; I manifefted my good-will toward thee; and I made thee willing in the day of my power.

(2.) Some love-tokens concomitant are here mentioned, from ver. 9-14. " Then wafhed I thee with water,"

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ver. 9.; yea, "I thoroughly wafhed away thy blood from thee." This points out both pardoning grace, washing the confcience from the guilt of fin; and purifying grace, washing the heart from the filth of fin: Whom he loves, he wafhes; hence the fong of the redeemed is, "To him that loved us, and washed us in his blood.". And he washed us from our blood; it is bloods in the original; and he wafhes us from blood-guiltinefs; both from the guilt of our own blood, and the guilt of the blood of Chrift; in his blood he wafhed us from our blood.-Again, “I anointed thee with cil," ver. 9. Here is another notable love-token concomitant with the marriage. His giving the Spirit, the oil of gladnefs, where with he is anointed above meafure; this he doth according to his promife, "I will put my Spirit within you," and that not only to begin the good work, to quicken and renew, but to abide in us, and fubdue fin more and more, to help our infirmities, to be a pledge and earnest of the glorious inheritance, to guide us to the land of uprightnefs, and to comfort us under all our troubles in the wildernefs, till we come to enter into the joy of our Lord.-Again, clothing neceffary for benefit and comfort, mentioned ver. 10. and an inventory of more that ferved for ftate and magnificence, mentioned ver. 11, 12, 13. Whatever literally thefe things import to the Jewish nation, yet spiritually they refer to the precious graces and bleffings wherewith Chrift adorns his bride. Yea, here is not only raiment, but food, ver. 13. Thou didst eat fine flour, honey, and oil;" pointing out the best cheer, "The feaft of fat things, and wines on the lees;" heavenly manna; the flesh and blood of the Son of God, Whom he loves with a conjugal love, he gives them food and raiment, and all provifions necef fary. Yea, not only fo, but beauty and renown, ver. 14. Thy renown went forth among the heathen, for thy beauty; for it was perfect thro' my comelinefs which I put upon thee." What comelinefs, what glory does he put upon his bride? Even his own glory, according to that wonderful word, John xvii. 22. "The glory which thou gave me, I have given them." What glory the Fa

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ther gives the Son, the Son gives the bride; and fo they are beautiful through his beauty, and glorious within, through his glory; righteous through his righteoufnefs. O what love-tokens are here!

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(3.) Some love-tokens confequential are here alfo mentioned; not only confequential to the marriage, but confequential to our adulterous carriage after marriage; the love-tokens pofterior to this is his marvelJous recovering of his backfliding bride, after her whorish departure from him: fee the fum of the charge, ver. 15. But thou didst truft in thine own beauty, and played the harlot becaufe of thy renown, and pouredft out thy fornication on every one that paffed by." This charge of the bride's whoredom is enlarged to the 60th verfe of the chapter in many particulars. And her departure from her Lord is ufhered in with diftrulling of him, and trufting in her own borrowed robes, and created graces; and indeed, an evil heart of unbelief is the fpring of departure from the living God: all our whorifh departures from our glorious Lord and Hufband, arife from that fource. But behold the love-tokens of reftoring grace and recovering mercy, ufhered in with a Nevertheless, ver. 6o. "NEVERTHELESS I will remember my Covenant with thee, and will establifh unto thee an everJafting covenant:" though thou haft broken covenant with me, I will remember my covenant with thee; thou hast been fo provoking, and I have been fo prevoked by thee, that one would think there was no reconciliation to be expected, but that the bargain was wholly broke, yet he was ever mindful of his covenant, that lands faft in Chrift; and his remembrance will create a remembrance in us; "Then thou fhalt remember thy ways and be afhamed," ver. 61. O here is -great love in putting us in remembrance, and putting us to fhame! This is more fully expreffed in the last verse; "That thou mayeft remember, and be confounded, and never open thy mouth any more, becaufe of thy fhame, when I am pacified toward thee, for all that thou haft done, faith the Lord God." Behold! what rays of love fine out after that dark night of diftance and finful departure! God is in Jefus Chrift pacified towards us

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for all that we have done amifs again him; and when God deals thus gracioudly, what effect doth it produce? Why, whenever the father of the prodigal ran to him and kiffed and embraced him, then the prodigal fon was alhamed and confounded, faying, "Father, I have finned against heaven, and before thee." The more fenfe we have of pardoning mercy, and of God's being pacified, the more will grief and fhame for fin have room in our hearts, that ever we should have offended fuch a gra. gracious Lord. The foul is confounded with the fenfe of God's attonithing mercy, in returning to fuch a defperate backflider, that played the harlot with fo many lovers; and confounded in the view of its own madnefs and ingratitude; in fo much, that thefe love-tokens of recovering and restoring mercy, confequential to the bride's whorish breaking of the marriage-bond; thefe love-tokens that are like new converfions, may be even more remarkable than the first converfion, or the fir love-tokens ever were..

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Now, here is God's time of love; it is his time of love-calls, love-vifits, love-looks and love-tokens; lovetokens antecedent, concomitant, and confequential to the marriage. The antecedent tokens point out divine commiferation, and his love of pity and compaffion in our base and black eftate. The concomitant tokens point out divine delectation, and his love of delight and complacency in our beautified flate by his grace. The confequential tokens point out divine restoration, or his reftoring and receiving love, after our apoftafy.--This fubject of divine love, and of his time of love, is of valt extent, therefore I have confined myself to a glance at it, from the context only.

III. The next thing propofed was, To make it evident, that he fhows his love at fuch a remarkable juncture, as to make it appear our time of need is his time of love; our time of mifery is his time of mercy; our worft time, is the time of manifefting moft kindness.This is plain from what I have already faid; yet it may be necessary further to evince it, both from the beginning of the good work, and from the progrefs

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