gs after him; and
by means of this same, God dwelleth in the heart, for love is the opening
up of the inmost chamber of the heart to him, it brings in the Beloved
into the very secrets of the soul, to lie all night betwixt his breasts as
a bundle of myrrh, Cant. i. 13. And indeed all the sweet odours of holy
duties, and all the performing of good works and edifying speeches, spring
out only, and are sent forth, from this bundle of myrrh that lies betwixt
the breasts of a Christian, in the inmost of his heart, from Christ
dwelling in the affections of the soul.

Now, this being the bond of union betwixt Christ and us, it follows,
necessarily, that whosoever hath not the Spirit of Christ, "he is none of
his;" and this is subjoined for prevention or removal of the
misapprehensions and delusions of men in their self-judgings; because
self-love blinds our eyes, and maketh our hearts deceive themselves. We
are given to this self-flattery,--to pretend and claim to an interest in
Jesus Christ, even though there be no more evidence for it than the
external relation that we have to Christ, as members of his visible body,
or partakers of a common influence of his Spirit. There are some external
bonds and ties to Christ, which are like a knot that may easily be loosed
if any thing get hold of the end of it; as by our relations to Christ by
baptism, hearing the word, your outward covenanting to be his people; all
these are loose unsure knots; it is as easy to untie them as to tie them,
yea, and more easy; and yet many have no other relation to Christ than
what these make. But it is only the Spirit of Christ given to us that
entitles and interesteth us in him, and him in us. It is the Spirit
working in your souls mightily and continually, making your hearts temples
for the offering of the sacrifice of prayer and praises, casting out all
idols out of these temples, that he alone may be adored and worshipped, by
the affectionate service of the heart, purging them from all filthiness of
flesh and spirit. It is the Spirit, I say, thus dwelling in men that
maketh them living members of the true body of Christ, lively, joined to
the Head,--Christ. This maketh him yours and you his; by virtue of this he
may command you as his own, and you may use and employ him as your own.
Now, for want of this, in most part of men, they also want this living
saving interest in Christ. They have no real but an imaginary and notional
propriety and right to t