Online Bible 1995 March/ROM-1025.iso/olb/gill/4_600.lzh/4_638.TXT

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may be here promised: or the borders may intend the
groundwork of the church's faith and hope, the jus-
tifying righteousness of Christ, more clearly revealed;
and the studs of silver the curious work of sanctifica-
tion, more enlarged and increased; and so take in
both Christ's righteousness imputed to her, and his
grace implanted in her; but perhaps these phrases may
be best of all understood of the New-Jerusalem state,
and of the ultimate glory of the saints in heaven, some-
times set forth by such similes, Isa. liv. 11, 12. Rev.
xxi. 18, 19, 21. Both grace and glory are given by
Christ, and in which all the three divine Persons are
concerned; for not angels, nor the daughters of Jeru-
salem, are here the speakers, to whom such things
promised cannot agree; nor God, speaking after the
manner of men, and for honour's sake, .is designed:
but the trinity of Persons, Father, Son, and Spirit, are
meant; the ordinat.|ces are of their institution, and
administered in their name, Matt. xxviii. 19. they
 have all a concern it, the Gospel and the doctrines of
it, which is called the Gospel of God, and the Gospel,
of Christ, anti the mi,,istration of the Spirit; the grace
of God, in regeneration and conversion, is sometimes
ascribed to one and sometin,es to another; and an in-
creaseof it in the heart is wished for from all three, Rev.
i. 4. and they have a hand in all the glory the saints
shall enjoy hereafter: the Father has prelTared the
kingdom from the foundation of the world; the Son
has marie way for it by his obedience, sufferi'ngs, and
death; and the Spirit is tl,.e earnest of it, ma!{es meet
for.it, and introduces into it.
Vet. l2. While the King sitteth at his table, &c.]
These are the words of the church, re{ating what in-
fluence the presence of Christ, her Lord and King,
had upon the exercise of her graces, while he was
keeping the nuptial feast, on account of his marriage
with her. He was anointed King of saints from eter-
nity, before his incarnation, when he was rejoicing be-
fore God his Father, as if at a feast; anti while he was
thus distant, the faith, hope, desire, and expectation
of the saints, were exerci.setl on him, as their Lord and
King, that was to .come.: when he did come, he came
.as a King, as was foretold of him, tbough his kingdom
was not of this world; and while he was here, the
Gospel of the kingdom of heaven was preached, and
emitt. ed a sweet savour in Judea: and when he went
up to heaven, after his resurrection, he was declared
Lord and Christ, and sat down at the right hand of
God, in his circuitf, or at his round table; alluding
to such the ancients used, and great personages let{ On,
peculiar to themsetvcs {g}; being encircled by angels and
glorified saints: and in the. mean while,' before his
second coming as King, when he will appear as such
in a more glorious manner, he sits down at his table,
in the ordinance of the supper, feasting with, enter-
taining, and welco,ning his church and people. When
as follows, she says, my spikenard sendeth forth the
smell thereof: or nard, of which there are many sorts;
but that which grows in spikes is reckoned the best,
and from thence is called spikenard: it was a chief in-
gredient in ointments, as Pliny says {h}; see John xii. 3.
and was much used at festivals, to anoint guests with;
and with which their head and hair being anointed,
gave a fragrant smell, and therefore used to make them
acceptable{i}: in Syria, at royal banquets, as this here
was, it wvas usual to go round the guests, to sprinkle
them with Babylon|an ointment{k}. This may have
respect to the grace o{' the spirit in the church, com-
parable to the most excellent ointment; and which
grace being in exercise in her, both before and after
the incarnation of  Christ, and since his ascension to
heaven, and whilst he grants his presence iu Gos-
pel ordinances, is very delightful and acceptable to
Ch,rist; or tbis spikenard, according to some {l{, may
be meatit of Christ himself, .just as he is said to be
iu the following verses a bund/e off' myrrh, and a cluster
of camphire; and as ointments were used at feasts, and
the church was at one with Christ, and as he was both.
master and feast, so he was the ointment or' spikenard
to her; and it is as if she should say, my beloved is at
table with me; he is my thud, and he is my spikenard{m]
I need no other; he is instead of spikenard, myrrh,
cypress, or any unguents made of these: his person is
exceeding precious; his graces, of' ointments, have a
delightful savour in them; his sacrifice is of a sweet
odour; his garments of righteousness and salvation
smell of myrrh, aloes, and cassia; he is all in all.
Vet. 13. ,4 bundle of myrrh is my we!l-beloved unto
me, &c.] These are the words of the church con-
tinued; expressing her great delight in Christ, and her
strong love and affection for him, and therefore calls
him my well-beloved; which is expressive both of the
greatness of Christ's love to her, and of the strength of
her affection to him, as well as or' her faith of interest
in him; hence she says, he was as a bundle of myrrh
to her. Some think" sweet marjoram is meant, or
au herb of a sweet smell, very much like it, called
marum; but myrrh is commonly understood; and not
twigs or branches of it. but sprigs, or the flowers of it,
bound up as a nosegay, and carried in the bosom; or
better, liquid myrrh, or stacte, as the Septuagint render
it, put in a bag° or bottle, as the word is rendered,
.lob xiv. 7. Hag. i. 6. the allusion being to persons that
carry smelling-bottles in their bosoms, for refreshment
or for pleasure. Now what these were to such, that,
and much more, is Christ to Iris church; like sweet-
smelling myrrh, exceeding delightful and reviving, apd
make him very acceptable; his very garments smell of
myrrh: anti a bundle of this, or a bag of it, denotes the
abundance of the odours of divine grace in Christ, who
isfull of it, which he communicates in great plenty: and
now Christ is all this, not to any and every one; but
to his church and people, to whom alone he is pre-
cious, my beloved is unto me; which expresses not
only the strength of her affection to Christ, and the
value she had for him, and the delight she had in him;


{f} \^wbomb\^ in circuitu suo, Montanus, Piscator, Michaelis.
{g} Vid. Cuperi Observ. l. 1. c. 2. p. 13.
{h} Nat. Hist. l. 12. c. 12.
{i} Illius puro destillant tempora nardo, Tibullus, l. 2. Eleg. 2. v. 7.
& l. 3. Eleg. 7. v. 31. Madidas nardo comas, Martial. l. 3. Ep. 56.
tinge caput nardi folio, ibid. Assyriaque nardo potemus uncti, Horat.
Carmin. l. 1. Ode 11. v. 16, 17.  Vid Ovid. de Arte Amandi, l. 3.
{k} Athenaei Deipnosoph. l. 15. c. 13. p. 692.
{l} Theodoret, Sanctius, and Marckius.
{m} Tu mihi stacte, tu cinnamomum, &c. Plauti Curculio, Act. 1.
Sc. 2. v. 6.
{n} Vid. Fortunat. Schaec. Eleochrism. Sacr. l. 1. c. 51. p. 256, 257.
{o} \^rwru\^ folliculus, Cocceius; sacculum, Marckius; fasciculus, vel
sacculus, Michaelis.