The Preciousness of Christ Unto Believers, Author to the reader
TO THE CHRISTIAN READER.
THou art not I conceive ſuch a ſtranger to theſe times but thou knoweſt, that there is a ſpirit of bitterneſſe and contention among us; whereby abundance of Goſpellove is loſt, and our affections become unprofitable unto us: if wee could live more in the love of Chriſt; wee ſhould live more in the love one of another: this following Treatiſe being firſt preached (through the earneſt importunity of many friends) is now printed for to elevate thy affections, and cauſe them to mount up with wings as Eagles unto Chriſt, who is the delight of all delights, and abſtract of all prayſes.
The Subject of this diſcourſe is the pearleſſe, and unmatchable excellency of Chriſt, wherein is diſcover'd his rarity, price, uſefulneſſe, with the high eſteeme that the Father puts upon him, in which reſpect he is precions to Beleevers. Love is the attractive Lord-ſtone of Love: and never was there ſuch a love-deſerving object as Chriſt; upon whom ſhould Saints place all their ſweet affections that are to be exerciſed upon good, as love, joy, and delight; but upon him who is the brightneſſe of Gods face, and the expreſſe Image of his glory?
It will be worth thy time to ſtudy the abſolute neceſſity, and tranſcendent excellency of Chriſt, he is precious and excellent in all relations, whether as man, as Mediatour, as God: he is attractive in his love, raviſhing in his beauty, winning and delightfull in all his graces: he is abſolute gaine, without loſſe, he is abſolute for all ſupply: in a word, all the riches of Gods love, the brightneſſe of his glory, and the ſhining of his face are treaſured up in Chriſt, and by our union with him we come to enjoy them.
Now this excellency of Chriſt muſt not lie as a contemned thing: but it calls for the ſtrength of our ſoules, and the height of our affections to be fixed upon it. There is no object in the world, but there is a will relating to it, and inclinable to cloſe with it. Now what better object can the will of man have then Chriſt? if wee be not here what doe we differ from beaſts? and a beaſt in the ſhape of a man is worſt of all. 'Tis good for us, that God hath placed ſuch ſweet affections of love, of joy, of delight, and the like in our ſoules; but it is much better, that God hath provided ſuch an object for them, as Chriſt, who is the ſummum bonum, and the top of all felicity and happineſſe. It is pitie we ſhould loſe ſo much of our affections as we doe upon the world: when we caſt our affections upon Christ, they be not loſt: he onelyonly makes them heavenly and gracious, and gives them to us againe: if we lay down our lives for him, they be not loſt, but gain'd unto eternall life.
Thus I have ſhewed thee whereon this diſcourſe is grounded; namely in ſetting forth Chriſt in his beauty, in his love, in his graces, in his offices, in his riches, and in all the operations of his Spirit, in all thoſe rich and coſtly gifts, which he doth beſtow upon Beleevers, redeeming of them with his precious bloud, ſanctifying of them with his precious graces, enriching of them with his precious premiſes, reviving of them with his precious love, comforting of them with his precious Spirit, and ennobling of them with precious priuiledges: and all this is, as an attractive Load-ſtone to attract and draw our hearts unto him.
Now if thou wilt but take a view of all the high perfections and ſupereminent excellencies of Chriſt; if thou wilt anotomize him in every particular, and particularize him in every excellency, thou wilt find him to be lovely in all the parts of his Mediatorſhip, in his perſon, in his natures, all Offices, and Graces, yea, he is the chiefe, or Standard-bearer of ten thouſand: he is altogether lovely, be is wholly delectable. Now it is my earnest deſire, that as God hath honour'd his Sonne, and Angels they venerate him, and Saints highly eſteeme of him, that, hee might be precious unto thee, which is the chiefe thing I can deſire for my ſelfe, or for thee, who am
June 4. 1647. Thine in the ſervice of the Goſpel JOHN ROBOTHAM.