The Godly Man's Picture

3. Rejoice in your Husband Christ;¹ hath Christ honoured you to take you into the Marriage-Relation, and make you one with himself? this calls for joy: By virtue of the Union, believers go sharers with Christ in his riches. It was a custom among the Romans, when the Wife was brought home, she received the Keys of her husbands house, intimating, that the treasure and custody of the house was now committed to her: When Christ shall bring his Bride home to those glorious Mansions which he is gone before to Prepare for her, John 14. 2. He will deliver ⟨p. 361⟩up the keys of his treasure to her, and she shall be as rich as heaven can make her; and shall not the Spouse rejoice, and sing aloud upon her bed? Psal. 149. 5. Christians, let the times be never so sad, you may rejoice in your spiritual Espousals, Hab. 3. 17. Let me tell you, it is a sin not to rejoice; you disparage your Husband Christ. When a wife is always sighing and weeping, what will others say, This woman hath a bad husband: Is this the fruit of Christs love to you, to reflect dishonour upon him? A melancholy spouse sads Christs heart: I deny not but a Christian should grieve for sins of daily incursion, but to be always weeping (as if he mourned without hope) is dishonourable to the Marriage-Relation, Phil. 4. 4. Rejoice in the Lord always. Rejoicing doth credit your husband; Christ loves a cheerful Bride; and indeed the very end of Gods making us sad, is to make us rejoice; we sow in tears, that we may reap in joy: The excessive sadness and contristation of the godly, will make others afraid to embrace Christ, they will begin to question whether there be that satisfactory joy in Religion as is pretended: Oh ye Saints of God forget not consolation, let others see that you repent not of your choice; 'tis ⟨p. 362⟩joy that puts liveliness and activity into a Christian,