c. With some such prelibations of blisse foretasts of happinesse earnests of their promised inheritance doth Christ sometimes comfort the hearts delight the souls and endear to him the affections of those that truly believe on him and thence also he is very precious unto them Fourthly in respect of Vsefulness and Profitableness Men do usually set a great price upon things that are greatly Useful and Profitable to them as rich Land fat Pastures vendible Merchandize helpful Engines and Instruments c. And upon this account also is Jesus Christ very precious to a believing soul He is of mighty use hugely advantagious to it He is a Father to it for Care a Brother for Love a Head for Direction and a Husband for a Protection He is the Believers Prophet to teach and instruct him his Priest to sacrifice for and bless him and his King to govern and reward him Dost thou believe in Christ then let the Devil accuse thee Christ will be thy Advocate to justifie thee let God be angry with thee Christ will be thy Mediator to reconcile him to thee let the Enemies of thy salvation oppose and fight against thee Christ will be the Captain of thy salvation to fight for thee and defend thee Art thou a Believer in Christ then in sickness Christ will be thy Physician to heal thee in sorrow Christ will be thy Friend to comfort thee in need Christ will be thy Assistant to help thee in distress Christ will be thy Counsellor to advise thee and in danger Christ will be thy Saviour to deliver thee To the hungry he is bread to the thirsty he is drink to the naked he is cloathing to the destitute he is a covering to the persecuted he is a sanctuary to the weak he is strength to the blind he is light and unto the dead he is life He is wisdom to the ignorant righteousness to the guilty sanctification to the polluted redemption to the imprisoned salvation to the condemned In a word to the believing soul Christ is every thing that it can want or can desire And the believing soul being both perswaded by See S. Chrys Serm. 24. on Rom. 13. 13. the Gospel and finding by experience that he is all this unto it upon this account also as I know not how it should do any other holds him exceeding dear and precious to it self Fifthly in respect of Necessaries in order to the Believers happiness Men do usually make great account of and esteem very precious such things as they must needs have and can no wayes be or be well without as meat in hunger clothes in cold Physick in sickness c. And even upon this account is Christ Jesus exceeding precious unto those that believe on him They know that there is no salvation to be had without him that there is no other Saviour besides him there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved but his only They know that without him there would be none to give them any instruction or to make for them any satisfaction or to afford them any protection that without him they could neither be justified from guilt nor sanctified from corruption nor redeemed from damnation that without him they could neither do any thing but sin nor expect any thing but punishment nor be any thing but the miserable objects of Gods wrath and the Devils malice the power of Death and the plagues of Hell and therefore upon this absolute necessity that they apprehend themselves to have of him he is exceedingly dear and precious unto them And thus I have shewn you both that Christ is very precious unto them that believe on him and also upon what account it is that he is so precious to them The point will be useful two wayes first by way of Examination and then by way of Exhortation unto both which I now proceed And First for Examination You see Brethren that Christ is precious unto them that do truly believe on him examine your selves a while now whether he be so to you or no. By such examination you may come to understand something of your own condition and discern whether you be in the faith or no whether you believe or do not believe in Christ or at leastwise what kind of Believers in Christ you are Well then the question is Is Christ Jesus precious to you That which is precious to a man First he will have his mind much and often upon Secondly he will highly prize it Thirdly he will greatly desire it Fourthly he will diligently seek it Fifthly he will dearly purchase it Sixthly he will carefully keep it And so it is with those to whom Christ Jesus is precious By these notes Believers do use to evidence the preciousness of Christ to them by these notes therefore do you examine your selves about Christs preciousnesse unto you by that examination try the truth and see the slrength of your faith in Christ And first they to whom Christ is precious will have their hearts and minds much and oft upon him A mans heart will be much upon his treasure and so will the Believers heart be much upon Christ he thinks he can never have his fill of thinking of him and wishes to spend eternity in that communion with him But because the Bow cannot always be at full bent and the affairs of this temporal life do necessitate frequent interruptions of that spiritual commerce therefore he is forced to give entertainment to other cogitations but yet as if they were but only occasional diversions and not the business of his life he returns eftsoons after every interruption to his main concerning meditation An evidence whereof we may have in the Primitive Christians who did seperate not only a week of extraordinary days in every year but one Ordinary day in evry week ye and I had almost said a week of hours in every day to acts and exercises of holy communion with him praising him with David seven times a day and rising with him at Midnight also to praise him and all this besides what came in by the by in occasional ejaculations and devotions in respect of which they might besaid to pray continually and even without ceasing Now Christians examine your hearts how stand they towards Christ is their inclination like that of the needle towards the pole continually moving towards him Do your souls like Davids Psal 63. 8. hang upon him and follow hard after him Upon every interruption do your souls like the Spouses soul in the Canticles c. 6. v. 12. make you like the Charrets of Aminadib hot and swift in the retirement of him Plainly and shortly Is it a sweet thing to you to meditate upon him And do you exercise your selves much in that converse with him Are you often thinking of him And do you delight in such thinking Then 't is a sign you have some value for him that he is precious unto you But if the world
or any thing in it take up the whole or the remain of your hearts so that your minds are little or nothing upon Christ and you are seldome or never thinking of him it is a sign Christ is not very precious to you Small is the value we have for that which we are seldome or never thinking of Secondly they to whom Christ is precious as they will be much and often thinking of him so they will set a high price and value upon him they will very highly prize him His worth with them is above Rubies and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to him Prov. 8. 11. Like St. Paul they will count all things but loss and dung in comparison with him Phil. 3. 8. Now Brethren is it so with you Have you such high thoughts of Christ Do you set so great a price upon him Do you apprehend a Divine nature and excellency an infinite worth and value in him Is there nothing that your heart can prefer before him It is then a sign he is precious to you But if your thoughts touching his nature and excellency be mean and low so that like the Arian Hereticks of old and the Socinian Hereticks of late you esteem him but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a meer man if his worth and value in your apprehension be scanty and little such as it was in his who sold him for thirty pence and it is sad to think how many there be at this day that matter not the selling of him at a much lower rate if there be any thing that you prize above him or prefer before him then it is a sign that in your eyes he is despised and you esteem him not that you make no great account of him that he is not precious to you Those things are not precious to us which we have but little value for Thirdly They to whom Christ is precious have a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ignat. ad â—n very great desire after him They hunger after him they pant and breath after him even as the Hart pants and brays after the Water-brooks their Souls like Davids are athirst for God Psal 42. 1 2. for the living God they count all things like St. Paul but loss and dung that they may win Christ. Phil. 3. 8. O my Dove that art in the clefts of the Rocks in the secret places of the stairs let me see thy Countenance let me hear thy Voice for sweet is thy Voice and thy Countenance is comely So breaths the Spouse in the Canticles after Christ her beloved Cant. 2. 14. Christ is the desire of the souls of them that truly believe in him and their hearts do even run after him with the swiftest feet of the strongest affections Is it so with you Brethren Examine your hearts upon this Point Have you so fervent a love for your Lord Have you so passionate affections for Jesus Have you so strong desires after Christ Is the desire of all Nations the delight of your souls Answerable unto his preciousnesse to you will be your affections for your love to your desires after him But if your affection for him be small your love cold your desire weak it is a sign he is not precious to you That is not very precious to a man which he hath no great love for nor mind to nor desire after Fourthly they to whom Christ is precious will be very industrious in their Inquest after him they will seek him diligetly even as silver and search for him as for hidden treasures Prov. 2. 4. or as a Merchant seeks for goodly Pearls Mat. 13. 45. they will seek him like the Spouse in the Canticles by night upon their beds and by day in the streets and in the broad wayes Cant. 3. 1 2. in private duties in publick Ordinances any where every where wherever they may hope to find him neglecting no means refusing no pains missing no opportunities of coming to him Is it so with you Brethren Are you diligent in your search after Christ Can you find in your hearts to be at paines to sind him Do you think no labours no watchings no fastings no prayers no teares no attendance in duties and on Ordinances too great so you may win Christ It is then a sign Christ is precious to you But if you make little or no inquiring after him if you be lither and lazie in the seeking of him if you think much and grudge to be at paines to find him it is a sign you set small value upon him that you have no precious esteem for him It is not precious to a man that is not worth his seeking after Fifthly they to whom Christ is precious will be willing to purchase him at any rate though never so dear so they may but have him They will part even with all for him Like the Merchant in the Gospel that sought for goodly pearls when they have found this one Pearl of great price they will sell all they have that they may buy him They will forgoe their Liberties for Christ they will forgoe their estates for Christ they will forgoe their Honours for Christ they will forgoe their Friends for Christ they will forgoe their sins for Christ they will forgoe their righteousnesse for Christ and they will forgoe even their lives for Christ I have goods a Mr. Copin Wife and Children said a French-Confessor once and yet I have lost those affections which I formerly bore to them neither are they dear to me so I may gain Christ. I love my wife and children in the Lord said an English â—ich â—oodman Martyr and if I had ten thousand pound in gold I had rather forgoe it all than them but I have them as if I had them not and I will not for their sakes forsake Christ. What things were gain to me saith St. Paul those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord for whom I have suffered the loss of all tbings and do count them but dung that I may winne Christ. Phil. 3. 7 8. It were easie to be very large even so as to tire you with such like instances as these of Persons who have been willing at any rate to purchase Christ weighing neither things visible nor things invisiblr as St. Ignatius said by himself â—p ad â—om 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for the gaining of Christ. But how is it now with you Brethren Are you so fond of this great purchase Are you willing to part with any thing yea even with all thing for Christ Have you nothing but what you can readily forgoe for him however otherwise dear and delightful it be to you Then it is a sign that in your esteem of him Christ is precious But if there be any enjoyment whether of Liberty or Estate Honour or Friend Sin or Duty yea if it be even Life
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
Tyndal the Geneva Interpreters and our own Bibles both of the Old and New Translation taking the word in the latter sense render it precious and our late learned Paraphrast in the abstract the preciousness I suppose in conformity to the Context where Christ is once and again namely in verse the fourth and sixth beside this third place styled precious According to whether acceptation we take the word the sense of the Text is unquestionably sound and Orthodoxal We will therefore not reject either but consider and handle the Text according to both beginning with that which renders it Honour And the Point delivered in the Text according to this Interpretation of it is this That Christ is an Honour unto those that believe on him Whereas those feigned Deities which the Heathen Idolaters worship for Gods whether they be creatures of Gods making or of their own making are a shame and a reproach to the worshipers of them as being but so many either nothings i. e. none of the things that they are believed to be and â—rus â—bserv â— 16. c. 9. worshipped for or stinking things dunghil-gods which it were a shame for any rational man to do any religious reverence and perform any sacred worship to Yet Christ Jesus the God whom we serve even that crucified Christ who to the Jews is a stumbling block and to the Gentiles foolishness is so far from being any reproach or shame that he is an Honour and a Credit to the Believers on him to the Worshippers of him Such he is as in Himself Such he is in his Relations unto them and such also he is in that esteem which they have of Him And First Jesus Christ is an Honour unto them that believe on him if considered as such as he is in Himself And what is that Why the only begotten Son of God Joh. 3. 16. One with his Father Joh. 10. 30. The Power of God and the Wisdome of God 1 Cor. 1. 24. Whom God hath exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour Act. 5. 31. And hath made him Lord and Christ Act. 2. 36. The King of Kings and Lord of Lords Rev. 19. 16. The Judge of the World Act. 10. 42. The Lord of glory 1 Cor. 2. 8. The mighty God Isa 9. 6. The Head of all Principality and Power Colos 2. 10. Whom all things were created by and for and by whom all things do consist Col. 1. 16 17. Now Jesus Christ being such an one in Himself what an Honour can it but be unto those that believe on him that they do believe and trust in worship and serve such an one as he Secondly He is an Honour unto them that believe on him if considered in his Relations unto them What are they We may reckon many and all honourable He is their Brother Heb. 2. 1. their Husband 2 Cor. 11. 2. their Advocate 1 Joh. 2. 1. their Captain Heb. 2. 10. their Prophet Act. 3. 22. their Priest Heb. 8. 1. their King Rev. 15. 3. their Shepherd Heb. 13. 20. their Bishop 1 Pet. 2. 25. their Foundation 1 Cor. 3. 10. their Head Eph. 5. 23. Now what an Honour is there flowing from every of these Relations to every true Believer in Christ O what an honour is it to a a believing soul to have the onely begotten Son of God the Heir of all thing the first born of every creature to be its Brother To have the Lord of life and glory to be its Husband To have the Son of Gods love who is in the bosome of his Father to be its Advocate with the Father to have the mighty God to be the Captain of its Salvation to have the eternal wisdome of the Father to be its Prophet the Holy One of God to be its Priest the Head of all Principality and Power to be its King to be a Sheep in that Flock whereunto Christ is the Shepherd to be a Communicant in that Church over which Christ is the Bishop to be a Stone in that Building whose Foundation is Christ to be a Member of that Body whereof Christ is the Head Like the precious ointment upon the head that ran down upon the beard even Aarons beard that went down to the Skirts of his garments so the Honour of Jesus Christ descends upon and is derived unto evey member of his body even the lowest as well as the highest member of it the meanest as well as the grearest Christian in it Such honour have all his Saints from the Relations which he stands in unto them Such an honour he is unto them from those Relations Thirdly As in Himself and in his Relations unto his Saints so in that esteem which they have of him he is an Honour to them However he be disesteemed despised and rejected of other men to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Gentiles foolishness to Hereticks and Atheists a scoffe and scorn yet to the true Believers on him he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an honour in that account which they make and in that esteem which they have of him Hence proceeded their nameing of his name upon themselves calling themselves Christians and as it were glorying in that Appellation as did Sanctius the Confessor from whom no tortures could extort any other answer to whatever question was put to him but this I am a Christian. Hence their professing with a kind of delight to be related as Servants unto him and intimating that relation by a frequent respectful calling him their Lord and Master Christ Jesus my Lord so St. Paul Phil. 3. 8. Scarce would the devout Divine Mr. Harbert even in his ordinary speech mention the blessed name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ but he would adde unto it My Master How sweetly doth my Master sound My Master As Ambergre ese leaves a rich scent unto the Taster so do these words a sweet content An Oriental fragancy My Master So he begins one of his Divine Poems and goes on too in the same strain Hence again their free and bold confessing him even before Kings in times of hottest and sharpest persecutions for his name glorying in it and counting it an honour and an happiness to them to suffer shame and reproach yea torments and death it self for his Name If ye be reproached for the name of Christ happy are ye saith St. Peter 1 Pet. 4. 41. who together with the rest of the Apostles being beaten by the Council of Jerusalem for speaking in his name went away rejoycing that they were counted worthy or as the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 may signifie had the honour done them to suffer shame 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to be dishonoured for his name Act. 5. 14. In which expression St. Ignatius a follower of their faith and sufferings doth also follow them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so saith he of the chains wherewith he was bound for the name and faith of Christ I have been vouchsafed counted worthy or
it self which you are not contented to part withall for Christ I shall leave it unto your selves to consider whether Christ be precious unto you or no. It is not precious which one would not part with a Vanity for And what is the best of earthly comforts and enjoyments more Vanity of vanities saith the Preacher Vanity of vanities all is vanity Eccl. 1. 2 Sixthly They to whom Christ is precious having got him are careful to keep him When the Spouse in the Canticles had found him whom her soul loved O how careful was she to keep him I held him saith she and would not let him go until I had brought him into my Mothers house and into the Chambers of her that conceived me Cant. 3. 4. Christ when once gained is too precious the believing-believing-soul thinks for her to be ever willing to part with again and therefore she useth no less care to keep him than she took pains to get him O how she clings to him and clasps about him with the powerfullest arms of purest Love No man is more careful to preserve a Jewel than a believing-soul is to keep its Jesus She Cabinets up this Pearl of inestimable price in the innermost Closet of her heart And as if she could never think him safe enough she is continually visiting of him there Like the man in the Comedy that had found and hid a pot of Gold her eye or mind is seldom off Plaut Aulut from him Nor will she upon any terms do any thing that may vex him thence as well knowing that if once upon any unworthy usage he withdraw himself it is no easie matter to recover him again Here therefore she bestoweth all her care here 〈◊〉 exerciseth all her skill how she ma◠〈…〉 her Beloved how she may everlastingly enjoy her Dearest one And how is it now with you Brethren are you so careful to keep your Christ are you so fearful to lose your Jesus are you so cautious not to do any thing whereby he may be provoked to withdraw himself from you If so then it is a sign he is precious to you But if you have small or no regard to the holding of so precious a possession as Christ is if you slight such a Friend when he is come to you if you abuse him or by any unworthy carriage towards him do provoke him to depart from you then it is a sign you do not much esteem him that you set no very great value upon him Not very precious are those things to us which when we have them we care not whether we lose or keep them I may yet over and above all these Notes add in the seventh place That they to whom Christ is precious do preciously esteem of any thing that is Christs any thing that bears upon it the stamp and signature of Christ any thing that hath relation unto Christ as the Members of Christ the Ministers of Christ the Word of Christ the Name of Christ the Day of Christ and the House of Christ They to whom Christ is precious will have a precious esteem for all these His Members they refresh as his own bowels his Ministers they receive as his own self his Word they hear as his own voice his Name that Name which is above every Name his Name Jesus they do account with St. Chrysostome to contain a thousand treasures of good 〈◊〉 4. in 〈…〉 things and will not hear it named especially in Divine Service without some token of an especial 〈…〉 His Day with St. Ignatius and Gregory 〈…〉 they account 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Queen and highest of all Dayes and call his Sabbath a delight And for his House with the Patriarch Jacob they account it no other but the House of God and the Gate of Heaven Now Brethren how is it with you as to these things Have you such dear affections for any thing that is Christs Have you so precious an esteem for any of the Relatives of Christ If so 't is well it is a sign of a good esteem that you have of Christ himself and that he is precious unto you But if not and there be too many that with their mouths do shew much love to Christ who in their hearts have love little enough for the Members of Christ lesse for the Word of Christ and least of all for the Ministers of Christ too many there be that pretend to be great honourers of Christ that shew no more respect to the Name of Christ than to any other Name not much more respect to the Day of Christ than to any other day and as little if not less respect to the House of Christ as to any other house I say if that be not precious to you which is Christs it is to be feared that you do but pretend all the while that you say That Christ is precious unto you And now Brethren if upon examination of your selves by these Notes you find that Christ is precious unto you ye may comfort your selves with a confidence of your being in the Faith of Christ For unto those that believe in him he is precious But on the other side if upon this examination you cannot find Christ precious to you ye may do well to consider whether ye be in the faith or no. If he be precious unto those that believe on him then how can those be thought to believe on him to whom he is not precious And therefore to proceed in the second place from Examination unto Exhortation to the end you may be able to assure your hearts of the truth of your faith that ye do in truth believe in Jesus labour O labour that Christ may be precious unto you He is infinitely precious in himself O never leave till he be answerably precious unto you These two are very distant things for Christ to be precious in himself and to be precious unto us VVe cannot make him more precious then he already is in himself To that which is infinite can nothing be added to make it more infinite and 't is infinite the preciousnesse that is in Christ But we may make him much more precious unto our selves then as yet he hath been to us The Jewel in the Table was perfectly possessed of all its genuine native worth at the same time when the dunghil-Cock preferr'd a barlie-corn before it The Lord Jesus Christ was the brightness of his Fathers glory and the express image Isa 53. 2. 1 Pet. 2. 4. Isa 53. 3. of his person Heb. 1. 3. even then when in the sight of men he had no form nor comliness nor beauty that they should desire him He was chosen of God and precious even then when he was despised and rejected of men He was the Lord of glory even then when the Jews his own people denyed and crucified him That therefore being precious in himself he may be precious unto you