Selected quad for the lemma: kingdom_n
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A67286
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The preciousness of Christ to the believing-Christian Plainly and briefly set forth for the edification and consolation of believers in, and lovers of the Lord Jesus Christ. In a sermon on I Pet. 2. 7. By William Walker, B.D.
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Walker, William, 1623-1684.
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1667
(1667)
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Wing W432A; ESTC R219919
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23,737
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44
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That 's the thing I exhort you to labour for O labour to endear Christ to your souls Now if any would know how to do this Two Directions I shall give him in this case First let him study the worth that there is in Christ Secondly let him consider the need that he hath of Christ If there be any man to whom Christ is not precious surely it is upon one or both of these points either first because he is not sufficiently informed of the due worth of Christ or else secondly because he is not truly sensible of the great need that he hath of Christ That therefore he may be precious unto you be much and oft upon these Meditations First Study the worth of Christ consider the various excellencies that with most illustrious beams do shine forth in him and that whether you look upon him as God or as Man or as Meditator betwixt God and Man Look upon him First as man and how can ye but admire the exemplary holinesse of his life He knew no sin neither was guile found in his mouth How can ye but admire the insuperable patience of his Death He was led as a sheep to the slaughter and as a lamb is dumb before the shearer so opened he not his mouth Lastly how can ye but admire the incomparable charity which he shewed both in his life and death In his life he went about doing good and healing all manner of diseases and sickness of the people In his death he prayed to his Father for pardon for his very Crucifiers Secondly Look upon him as Mediator and acting in all his several offices And how can ye but admire the excellencies of his Teachings as a Prophet Gracious words proceeded out of his mouth Never man spake as he spake How can ye but admire the prevalency of his Sacrifice and Intercession as a Priest Thereby he made satisfaction unto God for our sins and makes our Persons acceptable unto God And how can ye but admire the magnificency of his Administration of the Regal Government as a King Thereby he rescues us from the power malice and injuries of all our enemies whether they be Sin or Satan Death or Grave World or Hell and both at present translates us into a Kingdom of Grace and will hereafter estate us in a Kingdom of Glory Lastly If you are able look upon him as God And how can ye but admire the incomparable greatness of his Power He is Omnipotent nothing too hard for him he can do all things How can ye but admire the incomprehensible deepnesse of his Wisdom He is Omniscient his understanding it is infinite he knows all things And how can ye but admire the unmeasurable largeness of his goodness He is Omnibenificent good to all and his mercy is over all his works Yea not an Attribute of his but may be a Subject for Angels to contemplate upon and even they too will come short of comprehending the full of it and lose themselves at laâ—â— into high admirings and holy adorings of him for it O meditate my Brethren much and oft upon these things And when you find that the Lord whom you serve the Jesus whom you believe in the Christ in whom ye put your trust is so glorious a God so gracious a Man so efficacious a Mediatour betwixt God and Man you will find your hearts carried strongly forth in high and lofty affections toward him so that his person will be dear his name sweet and the very thought of him precious to your souls Secondly Consider the Need you have of Christ which will appear by considering the utter undonness of your condition without Christ The want of this consideration is one cause why it is that to many men Christ is no more precious than he is They set no price upon him because they discern not their need of him O call yourselves to a strict account and commune with your own hearts diligently about this even what need you have of Christ And that as we noted you will quickly discern when once ye come to understand the miserableness of your estate without Christ And alas What is man without Christ An enemy to God a servant to sin a slave to Satan a Child of wrath a Captive to Death a brand of hell Now surely to be in this estate is a fearful thing And to him that rightly understands the fearfulness of this estate nothing can be imagined more needful than that by which he may be delivered out of and freed from this estate Why there is no deliverer of any from this estate but Chrlst there is no deliverance for any from it but by Christ O how precious then must Christ needs be to a poor creature that is terrified with the fearful apprehensions of his being in so woful a condition Never was sight more welcome to man that was blind never feet more acceptable to him that was lame never health more desirable by him that was sick never liberty more dear to him that was imprisoned never pardon more precious to him that was condemned than Christ would be to such a soul Let me put a few Queries into your mouths to ask your selves about this businesse when you are at your best leisures Have you given a perfect unsinning Obedience to the whole Law of God in every point of it If so then you may challenge life from God as due debt upon the score of his promise This do and live But if not as sure you have not for there is none that liveth and sinneth not then are you able to bear that curse of the Law which is due to him that continueth not in every thing that is written in the Book of the Law to do it Are you able to dwell to all eternity with devouring fire If not that for who is able to dwell with everlasting burning then are you able to free your selves from it either first by powerful resistance not suffering the sentence to be put in execution or secondly by perswasive eloquence softning the Judge to a revoking of the sentence of your condemnation Or thirdly by prevalent intercession of interposing friends men or Angels extorting from him a pardon for your transgression Or fourthly by giving unto Justice in some way of Commutation a full and valuable satisfaction If your deliverance from eternal damnation be neither to be wrought any one of these wayes nor be obtained any other way beside these but only through the Redemption that is in Jesus Christ and that invaluable merit of his most precious blood there needs no more sure to tell you what need ye have of Christ How can a soul fully convinced of this but cry out for Christ as Rachel did for Children Give me Christ O give me Christ or else I die If ever there were any of you brought into that condition experimentally to understand the miserableness of the case of a man without Christ that is of a sinner without a Saviour I know your experience will confirm my sayings Let me yet add Which of you is able to overcome a temptation without strength from Christ Which of you sufficient himself to perform a good action yea even think a good thought without grace from Christ O what is the best of us but a withâ—red branch if separate from communion with Christ The all that we can do without him is just nothing at all In a word if all the hope of your acceptation with God of your Resurrection unto life and of your Reception into Glory be founded upon Christ and Christ alone then understand your need of Christ and accordingly as you need him so esteem of him If such extream need of Christ as in you added unto such exceeding Worth as in Christ be not enough to render him precious to you who is able to imagine what should be enough The Lord help you to such a frame of spirit as that Christ Jesus may be precious to you And yet I might further add First That to have a precious esteem of Christ is the way to be preciously esteemed of by Christ If Christ be in your esteem a pearl of great price you shall be in Christs esteem jewels of no little price Not the least drop of respect you shed on him but shall be showred back manifold upon your selves And this is comfortable There 's a sweet blessing pronounced on all those that are sincere lovers of Christ by St. Paul in the close of his Epistle to the Ephesians c. 6. v. 24. Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity Amen Grace what 's that here Why the love the favour the mercy the kindness of God expressing it self in blessings from God This grace the Apostle prays that it may and according to his prayer most assuredly it will be with the sincere lovers of Jesus Christ unto whom he is precious Secondly I might add That not to have Christ precious unto you is the next to your making light of Christ If he that is not a lover of his brother be in Gods account a murderer of his brother O take heed that your not having a high esteem of the Son of God be not in the account of God a treading of his Son under foot And as the other was comfortable so this is terrible There is a bitter curse denounced against all those that are not lovers of Christ by St. Paul also in the close of his first Epistle to the Corinthians c. 6. v. 23. If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ let him be Anathema Maranatha Let him be Anathema Maranatha what 's that Why let him fall under the heavieâ—â— censures of the Church be excommunicated to the severest degree of excommunication cut off from all communion with the Church of Christ and consequently from all union and communion with Christ himself as he deserves to be that makes light of Christ And what more sad câ—â—â—â—tion than this can a man be in on this side hell 〈◊〉 But I am loth to draw away your minds too far from the two former considerations namely that of the worth of Christ and that of your want of Christ which alone are sufficient to endear him very much unto you and therefore to give you room for Meditation tâ—â—â—eon I shall here break off and conclude my â—â—â—â—ourse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 FINIS