Transcribed from the 1815 R. Thomas edition ,
THE
SPEEDY APPEARANCE
OF
CHRIST
DESIRED BY THE CHURCH.
BEING THESUBSTANCE OF A
Sermon,
PREACHED ONTHE DEATH OF A FRIEND,
August 27, 1815.
BY J.CHURCH,
MINISTER OF THE GOSPEL, SURREYTABERNACLE.
It shall be said inthat day, lo, we have waited for him, he will save
us.—Isaiah xxv, 9.Even so come, Lord Jesus—Rev. xxii, 20.
Southwark:
PRINTED BY R. THOMAS, RED LION STREET,BOROUGH.
p. 3ASERMON.
Sol. Song, 8th Chap. last Verse.
Make haste, myBeloved, and be thou like to a Roe, or ayoung
Hart upon the Mountains of Spices.
This divine Poem, is designed bythe Holy Spirit, to exhibit the love of God our dear Saviour, tohis chosen people, with all the happy consequences of thateternal affection. The whole book is full of Christ, as theall in all of the Church, which he has purchased with hisblood—the union subsisting between the elect head andchosen body. What Christ is to them, and they are to him,is strikingly set forth by many well-known metaphors. Perhaps there is nothing of greater importance in the Bible thanthe Union subsisting between Jesus and his Church, the wholeScriptures are full of it; all our salvation depends uponit. The highest idea of Union is that glorious oneness inthe three Persons the adorable Trinity; that though they are p. 4distinct inPersons, Names and Offices, yet they are one in the divineincomprehensible Essence.
The next idea of Union is the hypostatical Union of God in ourNature: the Word made Flesh and dwelling among us. This isthe mystery of Godliness. The Union between the head andmembers is the principal subject of this Song. That Christand his People are one, is an everlasting truth, the date of itis eternal, it is indissolvable, it is mysterious, it is perfect,and will endure to all eternity. Hence it is compared tothe Union that subsists between the foundation of a building andits superstructure. Christ is the foundation stone, thecorner stone, the tried stone, and will be the top stone.
This Union is set forth by the metaphor of the head and thebody, while the love that united both