Christ Crucified, Sermon 18
SERMON XVIII.
ISAIAH LIII.II, III.
Verſ. 2. For he ſhall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comelineſs: and when we ſhall ſee him, there is no beauty that we ſhould deſire him.
Verſ. 3. He is deſpiſed and rejected of men, a man of ſorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was deſpiſed, and we eſteemed him not.
IF our hearts were ſuitably tender, the reading of theſe words, knowing of whom they are ſpoken, would ſome way prick and wound them; It's hard to determine, (though it may be we ſhould not make the compariſon) whether there is more grace in our Lords condeſcendence, or more wickedneſs and perverſneſs in the unkind and evil meeting that he gets from ſinners; But ſurely there is much grace on the one ſide in his coming ſo low, and much wickedneſs and perverſneſs on the other ſide; For what meets he with, even bleſſed Jeſus, who is the glory and praiſe of all his Saints, yea, the brightneſs of his Fathers glory? He is deſpiſed and rejected, and we eſteemed him not; Even when he thus humbled himſelf and took on our nature, and was and is proſecuting the work of our ſalvation, and evidencing his grace in an inconceivable manner.
Theſe are the two things that are ſpoken of here, 1. His condeſcending to be a man, and a mean man, and which is yet more, a man of ſorrows, and acquainted with grief; Which if we believed, and knew really what he were, that it was even he by whom all things were created, who is the beginning of the Creation of God, the firſt-born of every creature, yea, he for whom all things were created, for whoſe glory the world and all things in it were made and continue, He for whom all things are as their laſt end, and through whom they are preſerved in their beeing, and governed in their operations, and ſhall be ſeen to tend to his glory in the cloſe; we wold certainly wonder more at this his condeſcendence: And yet alace, it is he that is deſpiſed and rejected, and that we hid as it were our faces from, and would not give him our countenance; It is he by whom the world was made that is deſpiſed, and we eſteemed him not: And this is the ſecond thing in the words which we are now to ſpeak to, even the abominably unſuitable meeting that men give to our Lord Jeſus, who hath ſo far condeſcended, as to leave ſome way his Fathers Glory, not to receive a Kingdom of this World, but to be trode upon in it as a Worm: He is deſpiſed and rejected, and we will not intertain him, nor make him welcome when he cometh; We eſteem him not.
Only take this advertiſement for clearing of the words, and for grounding of the Doctrine, that this that is ſpoken of Chriſts Humiliation, and mans ſtumbling at it, is not preciſely to be reſtricted to his Humiliation in his own perſon only, and mens ſtumbling at that, for it is given as the reaſon of men their ſtumbling and offending at Chriſt in all times; But it is to be extended to Chriſt in his Goſpel and Ordinances throughout all ages, & ſo it comes in as the reaſon why ſo few believe on him; If ye ask the reaſon why men do not now believe and receive Chriſt in the offer of the Goſpel? Here it is, for we eſteemed him not, for he ſhall grow up before him as a tender plant; He ſhall be mean and contemptible-like to the men of the world, and in an afflicted condition, therefore he is not eſteemed, therefore he is not believed on.
Theſe two are the main Doctrines to be ſpoken to here, 1. That Jeſus Chriſt who thus condeſcends and humbles himſelf for the ſalvation of loſt ſinners is not eſteemed of, but deſpiſed and undervalued, which is implied in the words, When we ſhall ſee him there is no beauty that we ſhould deſire him, and is more clearly holden out in the following words, He was deſpiſed, and we eſteemed him not. 2. That this undervaluing and little eſteeming of Jeſus Chriſt, is the great ground of folks unbelief, or the reaſon why men do not believe on him, even becauſe they think him not worthy the receiving; two very clear truths in the words and in experience, though as ſad in their conſequents.
As to the 1. which is this, that our Lord Jeſus Chriſt is uſually and ordinarly exceedingly undervalued, and little eſteemed of by the men of the world to whom he is offered in the Goſpel; There are two things implied and ſuppoſed here in and about the Doctrine, that will clear it, and be as two reaſons of it, 1. That he hath no form nor comelineſs, and no beauty wherefore he ſhould be deſired; which holdeth out this that men are ordinarily taken up with, and ſeek after worldly grandour or greatneſs, ſplendour and beauty, that's it that filleth mens eyes, and is that which Chriſt wanted, This we ſay is one reaſon why Chriſt is ſo little thought of, even becauſe he cometh not with external pomp, obſervation and grandour, nor with great temporal gifts to his followers; That which mainly is deſirable to natural men is that which hath earthly beauty in it, a very deceitful conſideration and ground, though ſuch an one as men are often carried away with, and therefore they deſpiſe and reject the Saviour. 2. Which is another reaſon of the Doctrine, and alſo clearly implyed, that our Lord Jeſus Chriſts Humiliation and coming ſo low for mans ſake, his very condeſcending and ſtooping for their good, is the great ground of their ſtumbling at him, and becauſe of that he is the leſs thought of; Even the very hight of his grace, and that great ſtreach thereof, that the Son of God became thus low as to become Man, a mean Man, and a Man of ſorrows, is a greater ground of ſtumbling to men then if he had never become thus low; Now theſe two being ſuppoſed, and thus explained, the Doctrine is clear, to wit, that Jeſus Chriſt that became Man, and performed the ſatiſfaction due to the Juſtice of God for our ſins, is uſually and ordinarily diſeſteemed and undervalued by them to whom he is offered in the Goſpel; 1. It was ſo under the Old Teſtament, and is ſo likewiſe under the New; What is almoſt all the Goſpel ſpent on? But to hold out Chriſt upon the one ſide to be a man of ſorrows, and upon the other ſide to ſhew that men eſteemed him not: How was he undervalued at his birth when his Mother was thruſt out to a Stable, and he laid in a Manger? And no ſooner doth he appear in the exerciſe of his publick Miniſtry, but his friends offend at him, and look on him as a diſtracted man, Mark 3. His Countrey-men contemn him, and were offended at him, Mark 6. Is not this (ſay they) the Carpenter, the Son of Mary, the brother of James and Joſes? And how was he eſteemed, or rather diſeſteemed and undervalued at his death; So that it is ſaid, Acts 3.14. They denyed the holy and juſt one, and deſired that a murtherer ſhould be granted unto them; They rejected the Prince of Life, and chooſed Barabbas; And judging him not worthy to live, they cry away with him; Hence our Lord ſaith, Matth. 11. Bleſſed is he that is not offended in me, which inſinuats that there were but very few to whom his Humiliation proved not a Stumbling-block. 2. If we conſult experience we will find this to be true, how little is he thought of among Turks? amongſt whom his precious Name is blaſphemed, though they pretend more reſpect to him then meer Heathens do: How little is he thought of among the Jews? who call him a Deceiver: And if we come nearer, even to the Chriſtian Church, and to ſuch as profeſs their Faith of his being the Eternal Son of God, equal with the Father, that he is Judge of quick and dead, and that they look for Salvation through him, yet if it be put to a tryal, how few are they that will be found to eſteem of him aright? ſince there are but few that believe the report that is made of him, but few that receive him as he is offered in the Goſpel, few that have but ſuch reſpect to him as to prefer him to their Idols, and that give him the firſt and chief ſeat in their hearts: And if we conſider how little eager purſuing there is after him that he may be enjoyed, and how indifferent folks are whether they have or want him; How many things men dote upon and prefer to Jeſus Chriſt, as the Lord complains, Jer. 2.13. My people have committed two evils, they have forſaken me the fountain of living waters, and have digged to themſelves ciſterns, even broken ciſterns that can hold no water, the thing will be clear beyond all debate. We may take in another Branch of the Doctrine here, when he ſaith, We eſteemed him not; and it is this, that even Believers are in ſo far as unrenewed, inclined and not without culpable acceſſion to this ſame ſin of undervaluing of Jeſus Chriſt; It's indeed true that the Apoſtle Peter ſaith in his 1 Epiſt. Chap. 2. Verſ. 7. To you that believe he is precious; Which place, though it confirm the firſt part of the Doctrine, that to them that believe not he is not precious, but a ſtone of ſtumbling, and a rock of offence; albeit that Believers being compared with Unbelievers, have ſome precious eſteem of Jeſus Chriſt, yet if we conſider the corrupt nature that in part cleaves to them, and the degree of their eſtimation of him, that it's but very little and low in reſpect of what it ſhould be, and the many peeviſh fits, too's and fro's, up's and down's that they are ſubject to, with the many ſuſpicions and jealouſies they have of him; ſo that though they were juſt now freſh and lively in the exerciſe of their Faith, and of their eſtimation of Chriſt, yet within a little, even by and by, they give way again to their jealouſies, the Doctrine will alſo hold true of them, we esteemed him not.
We ſhall give the ſecond Doctrine (and then ſpeak to the uſe of both jointly) which is this, That there is nothing more culpably acceſſory to the abounding of Unbelief, then the poor thoughts and little eſtimation that Men have of Jeſus Chriſt; the undervaluing of him is the great ground and reaſon why they believe not on him; and on the contrary, if the Hearers of the Goſpel had higher thoughts, and a more precious eſteem of Chriſt, and valued him according to his unvaluable worth, there would be more believing in him then there is: When the Goſpel comes to invite Men to the Wedding, Matth. 22. when Chriſt is rooſed and commended as to what he is, what he hath purchaſed, and what he freely offereth to Sinners, it's ſaid, that thoſe who were bidden made light of it, and went away, one to his farm, another to his merchandice, &c. when Chriſt was ſpoken of, and the offer of Life through him, they undervalued and deſpiſed it, and made light of the offer, and therefore turned their backs, for they thought more of the Houſe, of the Oxen, of the Farm, and of the married Wife, then they thought of him: And Acts 17. when Paul is preaching Chriſt at Athens, the Philoſophers and Orators, theſe learned Heads, deſpiſe and diſdain him as a ſetter forth of ſome ſtrange and uncouth god: If we compare this with its contrary, it will be further clear, to wit, wherever there is eſtimation of Chriſt, it proves a help to Faith and a ground of it; ſo whereever Chriſt is lightlied, diſeſteemed and undervalued, it breeds in Folk, and is a ground to them of theſe three. 1. It cools, or rather keeps cool their love and affection to him; where he is diſeſteemed and undervalued, he cannot be loved, and People in that caſe become like theſe that are brought in Jer. 44.17. ſaying, It was better with as when we did bake cakes to the queen of heaven; the Lord is counted by them to be as a wilderneſs and land of darkneſs, and they ſay, as it is Jer. 2.31. We are lords, and will come no more unto thee; and when Men eſteem not Chriſt, they ſeek not after him, they care not for an intereſt in him, they truſt not to him; when a Man valueth a Pearl, he will readily ſell all that he hath that he may buy it, but that which is not eſteemed, there will be no care to come by it. 2. It hath influence to obſtruct Folks giving him credit, which is of the very eſſence of Faith; ſo then, where he is not eſteemed of, he is not, he cannot be believed on; the former ſays, that we will not marry him, this ſays, we will not trow him, nor truſt the reality of his offer: Where he is not eſteemed of, he is not taken up to be real, in good earneſt, and faithful in what he ſays; His offers are looked upon as having neither ſolidity nor reality in them, therefore Rev. 19. theſe two are put together, firſt its ſaid, Bleſſed are they that are called to the marriage ſupper of the Lamb; and then it is ſubjoined, theſe are the true and faithful ſayings of God; ſo that when Chriſt is not eſteemed of, he is not thought worthy the crediting and lippening to; And it's on this ground that the Lord founds his contraverſie with his profeſſing People, Jer. 2.5. What iniquity have your fathers found in me, that they have gone far from me, and have walked after vanity and are become vain? they undervalued his word, they thought him not worthy credit, and therefore they turned the back on him; the ſame is inſinuated by the Lord, Micah 6.3. O my people, what have I done unto thee, and wherein have I wearied thee? teſtifie againſt me. 3. This little eſteem of Chriſt weakens hope or expectation of any good that Men may have from him; when we eſteem him not, there is no expectation of getting our need ſupplied, and our wants made up by him, nor of attaining in him the Happineſs that we would be at, and therefore there are no ſerious addreſſes made to him for the ſame: Theſe three, Love to him, Truſt in him, hope from and through him, being the prime Graces in a Chriſtian, when they are weakened, Unbelief moſt certainly in ſo far prevaileth; and it being Chriſt's worthineſs, and the eſtimation thereof that gives ground to all theſe; then ſure, when he is not eſteemed but undervalued, theſe muſt alſo fall in their exerciſe, and be in utter non-entry where he is altogether undervalued: Now, laying all theſe together, there can hardly be any thing more culpably acceſſory to the abounding of Unbelief then the undervaluing of precious Jeſus Chriſt; it's impoſſible that he can be cordially welcomed where he is not at all eſteemed of.
As for Uſes of theſe Doctrines, they are of large extent, ſerving to make manifeſt a root of bitterneſs, and a great neck-break of multitudes of Souls, and which Men and Women will not eaſily be perſwaded to believe. Let this therefore be the 1. Uſe of it, To diſcover a great Sin that is incident to the Hearers of this Goſpel; among many other things that may be charged on them, this is one and not the leaſt, even little eſtimation of Jeſus Chriſt, ſo little, that when he is ſpeaking, they count him ſcarce worthy the hearing; hence is the ſlumbering and ſleeping of ſo many when he is preached of, which holds out ſomething of the nature of all Men and Women; this deſpiſing, undervaluing, and thinking little of Chriſt, is a Sin that may for a long time cleave faſt and cloſe to the Hearers of the Goſpel, and doth ſo to many to their very dying day. It may be ye will think this a ſtrange and uncoath ch…rge, and that whoever diſeſteem him, ye do certainly eſteem him much, but it were better ye were ſeriouſly and humbly ſaving with the Prophet here, He was deſpiſed and we eſteemed him not: There are many who never once ſuſpect themſelves as guilty of, or chargeable with this evil; for whoſe conviction, let me ſpeak but a few words, Is there not ſuch a bitter root in you? If it be natural to all Men and Women, how comes it to paſs that ye are free of it? Is there nothing of the ſeed of the Serpent in you? and if there be, will there not be hatred at the ſeed of the Woman in you? are ye any other ſort of Hearers then they were to whom this is ſpoken? were they not Hearers of the Goſpel as well as ye? nay he ſpeaks here of Hearers of the Goſpel in all Ages, and yet ye will diſdain to take with this Sin, and will account it to be an uncouth, if not an unjuſt charge and imputation, to ſay of you that ye are undervaluers and deſpiſers of Chriſt; but the reaſon of it is twofold, the firſt whereof is, Becauſe ye know not what Chriſt's worth is, and therefore ye do neither eſteem him, nor know that ye diſeſteem and undervalue him; whereas they who have win to ſome knowledge of his worth, are always, or very often complaining that they cannot get him ſuitably thought of and eſteemed. The ſecond Reaſon is, Becauſe ye know not your ſelves, and therefore ye take ſelf-love and eſtimation of your ſelves to be love to him and eſtimation of him; ye think your ſelves ſo well, that ye cannot endure to think that ye want any Grace or good thing; and eſtimation of Chriſt being a good thing, and ye thinking that ye could not hold up your face and own the reproaching and deſpiſing of him, ye will not let it light that ye want this Grace and good thing, a precious eſteem of him: But there is no greater evidence that ye are lying under the power of the deceit and deluſion of your own Hearts, that your natural diſtemper and Feaver is not yet cooled and calmed, but that ye are ſtill roving in Nature; and therefore, though ye be living in enmity at God and Chriſt, yet ye cannot be made ſenſible of it; we really think it ſomewhat ſtrange, that Men and Women ſhould live twenty, thirty, fourty, or fifty years under the Goſpel, and yet never be brought to groan under this enmity, nor to lay to heart this Sin of undervaluing of Chriſt: But if it be a truth that none naturally do love and eſteem him, then certainly many of you are groſsly miſtaken, that think ye eſteem highly of him; Ah! your fancied eſteem of him will be counted an undervaluing of him.
And if ye aſk, What is that to undervalue Chriſt, or when is he undervalued? I anſwer, He is undervalued 1. When he is not matched with or married, when ye match with himſelf, whereof he maketh offer, is not cloſed with upon his own terms; for what I pray can hinder the ending of a Bargain, or finiſhing a Marriage contract, eſpecially when it's ſo full, free, and rich on the Propoſer and Suiters part, but either that Folk think it is not fit for them, or that they think nothing of it at all? and this is it that hinders cloſing with Chriſt, Matth. 22. They made light of it and went away, &c. and Pſal. 81. My people would not hearken to my voice, and Iſrael would none of me. 2. When any thing is made equal to Chriſt, much more when any thing is preferred to him, he is undervalued and not eſteemed of; when he gets little or none of Folks care and labour, little of their time, little of their love and delight, few or none of their thoughts, &c. but they are quite carried away after other things, for where the treaſure is, there the heart will be alſo; and were Chriſt our Treaſure, and precious in our eſteem, our Hearts would be more ſet on him; but it's ſtrange, ſad, and even aſtoniſhing to think, how little our Spirits are exerciſed with the thoughts of Chriſt; how little they are taken up with longing for him and delighting in him, and yet we will think that we eſteem him. 3. Our Lord is undervalued when he is not made uſe of, and imployed, and lippened to as an able and ſufficient Saviour; If there be a learned and ſkilful Phyſician in a City in all or moſt Diſeaſes, or an able Lawyer to plead all Cauſes; if Folk have Diſeaſes to be cured, and Cauſes to be pleaded, and yet do not imploy ſuch a Phyſician or ſuch a Lawyer, but go to ſome other, though far leſs ſkilful and able, they undervalue him; It is even ſo here, when Folks have many Sins, and they ſeek not to him for Pardon, many, not only Temporal wants, but alſo and mainly, many Spiritual wants, and do not acknowledge him in them, neither ſeek to him for ſupply of them, many predominant Evils, and they ſeek not to him to mortifie them, many Snares and Temptations, and they do not make uſe of him to prevent and lead them by them, and many Spiritual Cauſes to be pleaded before God, or at his Bar, and they do not imploy him as Advocate to plead for them. 4. He is undervalued when Folk think not themſelves happy enough in him, nor ſicker enough in bargaining with him, and when he doth not ſatisfie and fully content them, as if he were yea and nay, and as if all the promiſes were not yea and amen in him; when he is not credited intirely, and reſted upon, he is not eſteemed of, hence he complains John 5. Ye will not come to me that ye might have life: and Matth. 23. How often would I have gathered you and ye would not? he would, to ſay ſo with reverence, fain do them a good turn, but they will not lippen to him. O! how much undervaluing of Chriſt is there even among believers, when they hold and draw with him, intertain jealouſies and ſuſpitions of him, ſcarcely credit him, and when they do at any time credit him, are in a manner ready to take back their word again; How often are Creature-comforts overvalued by them? And how often are the conſolations of God ſmall with them? Theſe and many other wayes are they, even they, in ſome conſiderable meaſure and degree guilty of undervaluing of Chriſt.
Uſe 2. Take with this ſin, acknowledge and ſeek pardon for it,; It were a good token of ſome tenderneſs, to be mourning for enmity againſt Chriſt, and for undervaluing of him, as well as for Drunkenneſs, Fornication, Theft, or any other groſs ſin; And where that gracious and right mourning that is ſpoken of, Zech. 12.10. comes, it will be in ſpecial for this undervaluing of Chriſt to the hight of piercing of him: We would ask any of you that think ye repent, if this ſin of ſlighting him hath pierced you as it did theſe, Acts 2? It may be, ſome think themſelves ſo cleanly and perfect that they have not many ſins to mourn for, O! dreadful miſtake; But though ye had no more, is not this enough that ever there ſhould have been enmity in your boſome at Chriſt? And ſhould not this prick you at the very heart that ever ye ſhould have ſo undervalued him? But readily they that ſee feweſt ſins in themſelves, will ſee and take with leaſt of this ſin.
Uſe 3. It ſerves to be a warning to all men in nature, to conſider what their condition is; Do ye that have this enmity, and are undervaluers of Chriſt, know what is in your hearts? And do ye conſider what poſture ye will be found in, if Grace make not a change, in the day of Chriſt? ye will be found amongſt theſe deſpiſers and haters that would not have him to reign over them; How will you dar to appear, or in what poſture will ye appear before him, when he whom ye deſpiſed, ſhall come in the glory of his Father with all the holy Angels with him, and ſhall ſit upon the Throne of his glory? And yet appear ye muſt; How will the conſcience then gnaw, and the heart be affrighted? How will challenges waken, yea, ſting and prick you on this ground, that the Son of God, the Heir of all things, the Lord of lords, and King of kings, who propoſed Marriage to you, was undervalued, and Marriage with him made light of, and that a thing of nought was put in his room and place? Will not this be a horrible challenge in that day? And if ye would conſider what will be their poſture that mocked and buffetted him, and plucked off his hair, that nodded with the head, and cryed Aha, and bade him come down from the Croſs, that did ſcourge him, and hang him up upon the Croſs betwixt two Thieves; Such a poſture will all of you be in who have deſpiſed and diſeſteemed him; ye will meet with that ſame ſad ſentence, Bring out theſe mine enemies that would not that I ſhould reign ever them, and ſlay them before me; O! what a ſtrange puniſhment ſuppoſe ye will that be, when the Saviour of ſinners ſhall ſtand by and look on till he ſee vengeance execute on ſinners that deſpiſed him? Think on it, for there is ſuch a day coming, when ye will all appear before him, and when your reckonings will be caſt up; ſuffer not your ſelves to be cheated into an opinion that it will be accounted a little ſin to be found under this guilt of deſpiſing Chriſt, and let not one of you put it off himſelf, and over upon another; they will be found deſpiſers of him that would never let it light, nay even many that have Preached him, and that would have been angry at prophanity in others, as may be gathered from Mat. 7.22.
The 4. Uſe ſerves to commend this to you as a piece of your duty, to ſtudy to know Chriſt, and to have the ſuitable impreſſion of Chriſt and of his worth as the great mean contributive to the bringing you to credit him, and believe on him, and to the removing a main obſtruction that hinders your Faith, and that is the undervaluing of him; For if undervaluing of him be the great cauſe of unbelief, and that which mainly obſtructs Faith; then the eſteeming of him from a due impreſſion of his worth, muſt be a great mean of, and help to Faith, and the more he be eſteemed of, the more will he be believed on: It hath an attractive vertue to draw ſinners to love him, a ſcrewing vertue to ſcrew up the affections towards him; and withal a fixing and eſtabliſhing vertue to ſettle and ſtay the Soul upon him by believing; the ſoul that from the right impreſſion of his worth eſteems of him, knows that it may lippen to him, for he is holy and true; And hence it is, that the great thing that believers take to ground their prayers upon, is ſome excellency in God, ſome one or other of his Titles and Attributes upon which they fix, to bear them up under and againſt any difficulty that preſſeth hard upon them; This fixes alſo their hope and expectation of attaining of any good thing that they want through him: And therefore upon the one ſide we would commend to you the ſtudy of Chriſt's worth, and upon the other, an high eſtimation of him, as that which will fix your Faith, and Love, and Hope on him; This we ſee to be in a high degree in Paul, Philip. 3. I account all things (ſaith he) to be but loſs and dung for the excellency of the knowledge of him, and his tranſcendent worth, ye would not think it loſt labour, to read and ſtudy theſe places of Scripture, that ſhew what our Lord Jeſus is in his Perſon, Nature, and Offices, that ye may have the Faith of his God-head fixed, and may be clear as to the excelling fulneſs that is in him; as namely that of Iſai. 9.6. To us a Child is born, to us a Son is given, the government ſhall be upon his ſhoulders, and his Name ſhall be called Wonderful, Counſellour, the Mighty God, the Everlaſting Father, the Prince of Peace, of whoſe Kingdom and Government there ſhall be no end; And to ſtudy his excellent Properties, his Eternity, Omnipotency, Faithfulneſs, Mercy, &c. common to him with the Father and Holy Ghoſt; and the excellent qualifications that as Mediator he is repleniſhed with; being full of grace and truth, and in all things having the preheminency; See Col. 1. John 1.14. and Heb. 1.2, 3. &c. The reaſon why we preſs you to this, is not only that ye may have more clear Theory and Contemplation; But alſo and mainly that your affections may be delighted in him, and that your Faith may without hink or heſitation come to give him credit; Ignorance of Chriſt breeds diſeſtimation, and diſeſtimation makes you not to give him credit, and thus ye are kept at a diſtance from him; There is no ſtudy more pleaſant, more precious, and more profitable. There is here then a task for you that ask what ye ſhall do; even to read and ſtudy the excellency of Jeſus Chriſt, and to labour to have it well fixed in the imagination of the thoughts of your hearts; It will give you notable direction what to do, even that which is well-pleaſing to God, and may be very profitable to you through his bleſſing.
Uſe 5. See here the great neceſſity and conveniency of ſtudying the diſeſtimation of Chriſt that is in us, as well as of ſtudying the worth that is in him, and what he hath out of love ſuffered for us; Theſe two are put together in the Text; it being needful for us to be as well acquainted with the one as with the other: We ſhall give you this uſe in two ſhort Doctrines, The 1. whereof is, That it is a neceſſary duty for the hearers of the Goſpel to ſtudy throughly, and to be convinced of, and clear in their diſeſtimation of Chriſt, as well as of his worth and excellency, becauſe it maketh up repentance, and maketh it flow, and thorowly humbleth the ſinner when he findeth this deſperat wickedneſs and perverſneſs to be in himſelf, and maketh him kindly to loath and abhor himſelf; and unleſs this deſperat wickedneſs be ſeen and felt, that great and bitter mourning ſpoken of, Zech. 12.10. will never flow forth.
The 2. is, That where folk have any juſt eſtimation of Chriſt and of his worth, and are ſenſible of the evil of unbelief, there will alſo be ſome ſenſe of the ſin of undervaluing of him, and the more ſenſe they have of the evil of unbelief, they will be the more ſenſible of their undervaluing of him; And will with the Prophet here cry out, He was deſpiſed, and we eſteemed him not: And from both theſe ye may ſee the neceſſity of ſtudying to find out this corruption; the ſearch and diſcovery whereof, will in-ſight you in the evil and perverſneſs of your nature, and ſo deeply humble you; and alſo ſerve highly to commend Chriſt and his Grace to you; and without the diſcovery of this corruption, it's impoſſible ever to be humble thorowly, or to have right thoughts of Chriſt and of his Grace.
Uſe 6. It ſerves to let us ſee the neceſſity of believing in Chriſt, and of the imploying of him; becauſe there is no other way to be free of the challenges of miſpriſing and not eſteeming of him, but by receiving of him, and believing on him.
A 7th Uſe may be added, and it's this, That the moe there be that deſpiſe Chriſt, and the greater difficulty there be in believing on him, the more reaſon have they to be thankful that he graciouſly works any ſuitable eſtimation of himſelf in, and brings them to believe on him; Theſe who have gotten any glimpſe of his Glory which hath lifted him high in their eſtimation to the drawing forth of their faith and love after him, would praiſe him for it; It's he, and only he that opened your eyes to ſee him, and gave you that eſtimation of him, and circumciſed your hearts to love him; let him therefore have all the praiſe and glory of it; This is the Word of God, and himſelf bleſs it to you through Jeſus Chriſt.