The true Christians love of the unseen Christ, or, A discourse chiefly tending to excite and promote the decaying love of Christ in the hearts of Christians with an appendix concerning Christs manifestation of himself to them that love him / by Thomas Vincent.
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Title
The true Christians love of the unseen Christ, or, A discourse chiefly tending to excite and promote the decaying love of Christ in the hearts of Christians with an appendix concerning Christs manifestation of himself to them that love him / by Thomas Vincent.
Author
Vincent, Thomas, 1634-1678.
Publication
London :: Printed by J.R. for Samuel Sprint,
1677.
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Subject terms
Jesus Christ -- Devotional literature.
Link to this Item
http://name.umdl.umich.edu/A64995.0001.001
Cite this Item
"The true Christians love of the unseen Christ, or, A discourse chiefly tending to excite and promote the decaying love of Christ in the hearts of Christians with an appendix concerning Christs manifestation of himself to them that love him / by Thomas Vincent." In the digital collection Early English Books Online. https://name.umdl.umich.edu/A64995.0001.001. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed June 13, 2024.
Pages
SECT. XIII.
THe third sort of motives to excite your
love unto Christ, may be drawn from
the consideration of Christs Benefits. If
you are true Christians you have 1. Spi∣ritual
Light from Christ. 2. Spiritual Life
from him. 3. The Pardon of sin from
him. 4. The Robes of Righteousness
from him. 5. The Peace of Conscience
from him. 6. The Joyes of the Holy
Ghost from him. 7. The Riches of Grace
from him. 8. The Dignity of Children
from him. 9. The Spirit of Prayer from
him. 10. Title to the Kingdom of Hea∣ven,
descriptionPage 88
with the first Fruits and fore-tastes of
it from him here, and shall be put into the
possession of it by him hereafter.
1. You have Spiritual light from Christ;
Christ is the Sun from whom all the beams
of this light do come: time was when you
were not only in the dark, but darkness;
but Jesus Christ did enlighten you, Eph.
5. 8. For ye were sometimes darkness, but
now are yee light in the Lord; walk as
Children of the light: it is Christ that hath
turned you from darkness to light, that
hath translated you out of darkness into his
marvellous light, he hath caused a marvel∣lous
light to shine into your minds, where∣by
he hath discovered to you the wonder∣ful
things of the Law, that thereby you
might discern the odious nature of Sin;
and whereby he hath discovered to you the
wonderful mysteries of the Gospel, that
thereby you might discern the excellency
of Gospel-priviledges, and the exceeding
Riches of Gods Grace and Kindness
through Jesus Christ. Christ hath open∣ed
your Eyes to see the chiefest evil, that
you might be delivered from it, and the
chiefest, good and happiness that you might
attain unto it. And doth not this light which
you have from Christ call for your love?
If the man that was born blind, and was cu∣red
descriptionPage 89
of his natural darkness by Christ, did
love Christ for this favour, so as boldly
to plead for him before the Pharisees,
though he were for it cast out of the Syna∣gogues,
as you may read in Iohn 9. How
much more reason have you to love Christ,
who hath cured you of your Spiritual dark∣ness;
which had it continued, you would
have gone blindfold to Hell, where there
it blackness of darkness for ever?
2. You have Spiritual life from Christ;
you were Spiritually dead, and Christ
hath quickned you, Eph. 2. 1. You hath
he quickned who were dead in sins and tres¦passes.
We read that Christ raised Laza∣rus
from the dead after he had been buried
four dayes, Iohn 11. Lazarus did love
Christ before, but no doubt this Resur∣rection
of him so wonderfully did endear
his love to Christ exceedingly; and shall
not Christs raising you up from your Spiri∣tual
death, raise your Hearts unto a great
height of love to Christ! you will greatly
love one that is instrumental to save your
natural life, when in great hazard and dan∣ger,
especially if he should do it by ventu∣ring
his own; and will you not greatly
love Christ who hath given you Spiritual
life, which is far more excellent than the
life of Nature; and when he dyed that you
descriptionPage 90
might live, and when if you had not re∣ceived
this Spiritual life from him, you
could not have escaped eternal Death?
3. You have the pardon of sin from
Christ; this Christ hath purchased for
you, and the purchase hath cost him dear,
even his blood which was of more worth
than the treasures, were there so many,
of ten thousand worlds; this Christ hath
sued out for you by his intercession at the
right hand of God. Whilst you were un∣der
the guilt of sin you were bound over
by the Justice of God to suffer the venge∣ance
of Eternal Fire; but being pardoned
your obligation to future punishment is ta∣ken
off, and you are no more lyable to
wrath to come, and the vengeance of Hell,
than if you had never si••n'd. And will
you not love the Lord Jesus Christ, who
hath procured for you so great a privi∣ledge?
we read of one that had much for∣given
her, and she loved much, Luk. 7. 47.
and have not you had much forgiven?
have not your sins been very numerous,
and very heinous? and hath Christ obtain∣ed
the pardon of them all? and will not
you love Christ much?
4. You have the Robes of Righteous∣ness
from Christ: you are born naked of
Original Righteousness, and you could
descriptionPage 91
not work out any actual Righteousness
for your selves that might cover your na∣kedness,
whatever you wrought your
selves it was rags that could not cover
you, and it was filthy rags which did
pollute and defile you. Christ hath given
you the Robes of his perfect Righteous∣ness
to cover and adorn you withall, and
therein you are accepted as perfectly
Righteous in the sight of God. O how
should we love the Lord Jesus for this
Garment; if your Bodies were naked
and one should give you clothes to cover
you, especially if they were rich clothes,
you would love such a person; and will
you not love the Lord Jesus Christ who
hath given you a garment to cover your
Souls, and that a very rich one, even the
Robes of his most pure and unspotted
Righteousness which by Faith is put up∣on
you?
5. You have peace of Conscience from
Christ. This is that peace which the
Scripture telleth us passeth all understand∣ing,
Phil. 4. 7. It passeth all understanding
to know the worth of it; such as have this
peace would not leave it upon any ac∣count,
they would part with Estate or Li∣berty,
or Life rather than part with their
peace; and those which have it no••, but
descriptionPage 92
now do slight and neglect it, yet if they
be awakened by the sides of the Grave,
and when they are come to the confines of
Eternity, then they would value this
peace, and would give all the world (were
it at their dispose) for it. Th•••• Jewel
of peace you have from Jesus Christ, he
hath purchased it for you, the chastise∣ment
of your peace was upon him, and
he hath promised and bequeathed it in his
last will and Testament unto you, Iohn
14. 27. My Peace I leave with you, my
Peace I give unto you. In his reconciling
you unto God he hath laid a Foundation
for this peace in all you that are true be∣lievers;
and if he have moreover spoken
peace to you in giving you well ground∣ed
evidences of your Reconciliation; if af∣ter
raising a Storm, he hath sent a calm into
your Spirits, and given a sweet f••renity
unto you in the testimony of his Spirit to
and with your Spirits that your peace is
made with God, O how should this draw
sorth your love to Christ?
6. You ha••e the Joyes of the Holy
Ghost from Christ. We read of the Thes∣salonians,
that they received the Word in
much Affliction, with Ioy of the H••ly
Ghost, 1 Thess. 1. 6. Such are ••hose Joys
spoken of in the Text, which are unspeak∣able
descriptionPage 93
and full of Glory. These are not Car∣nal
joys but Spir••tual, which are of a
higher nature and sweeter relish, that
have a higher object, and are the begin∣nings
of Eternal Joys; if you have these
joys in any measure, you have them from
Chri••••; he sends the Holy Ghost from hea∣ven
to be your Comforter, to fill your
Hearts with Spiritual joys, and shall not
your hearts then be fil••ed with love to the
Lord Jesus who is the Author of them?
7. You have the riche•• of Grace from
Christ: if any of you were poor and rea∣dy
to starve with hunger and cold, and a
rich man should give or send to you a chest
full of Gold and S••lver or a C••binet full
of Jewels worth many thousand pounds;
would you not love such a B••nefactor?
the Lord Jesus hath given you the riches
of Grace, the least measure of which is
really of more worth than the vastest
treasures of Gold Silver and precious
Stones, that ever was gathered together
••nd heaped up by the most wealthy man
that ever lived upon the face of the Earth;
and will you not love Jesus Christ who
hath given you these ine••timable riches?
8. You have the Dignity of Children
from Christ; 1 Iohn 3. 1. Behold 〈◊〉〈◊〉
manner of Love the Father hath bestow••••
descriptionPage 94
upon us, that we should be called the Sons of
God! this priviledge of Adoption is be∣stowed
upon you, not only by the Father,
but also by the Son; Iohn 1. 12. But as
many as received him, to them gave he Pow∣er
to be come the Sons of God, even to them
that believe on his name. We read of some
raised from the dust, and lifted up from
the dunghill to sit with Princes, Psal. 113.
7, 8. It is a far higher advancement to be
lifted up from the d••ng••ill of sin, and of
slaves to lu••ts, and Children of the Devil,
to be made the So••s and Daughters of the
Lord Almighty. This honour have all
the Saints, and it is Jesus Christ who hath
conferred this honour upon you; and will
not this endear your love to Chri••t?
8. You have the Spirit of Prayer from
Christ; being Sons, the Spirit of the Son
is sent down into your Hearts whereby
you are enabled to say Abba Father, Gal.
4. 6. through Christ you have access unto
God by the Spirit, Eph. 2. 18. It is the
Spirit of Christ which helpeth your infir∣mities
in Prayer; that formeth your Pe∣titions,
that enableth you to Pray with
Faith and Life, and Fervour. Through
Christ you have free Admittance to the
Throne of Grace, through Christ you
have Assi••••ance by his Spirit to Pray in
descriptionPage 95
Prayer; through Christ you have Audience,
and Gracious Returns; O how are you be∣holden
unto Christ? and how should you
love him?
10. You have a Title to the Kingdome
of Heaven from Christ. Through Christ
you are Children, and through Christ you
are Heirs. It is Christ that gives the first
Fruits of the Heavenly Canaan, the ear∣nest
of the future Treasure and Inheritance
which he hath promised, and the fore∣tastes
sometimes of those Soul ravishing
Pleasures, which the Saints shall have in
Fulness, and to Eternity, when they are re∣ceived
up into Glory. And it is Christ that
hereafter will give Possession unto you, of
the Kingdome of Heaven. At the Day
of His Glorious Appearance, after he
hath owned you before the whole World
of Angels and Men, and Honoured you
to be His Assessors in His Judging and
Condemning the Wicked; he will receive
you with Acclamations of Joy and Tri∣umph,
into the Glorious Pallace of the
New Ierusal••m, where you shall have the
Beatifical Vision and Fruition of the Glo∣rious
Iehovah, and be made partakers of
such Glorious Felicity as hath not now
entred into your Hearts to conceive. And
will not the Consideration of all this set
descriptionPage 96
your hearts on fire with love to Christ?
Christi••••s, is there any Person like to
Christ's Person? is there any love like to
Chri••••'s love? are there any benefits like
to Christs benefit••? No no he is imcompa∣rable
in all; methinks then you should by
this t••me ••eel your love to Christ like Fire
to burn within with 〈◊〉〈◊〉 flame? or
methinks your love to Christ should be
like water, I mean the waters of the San∣ctuary
spoken of Eze•• 4. 7. 3 4, 5. which
at en••••ance were but to ••he Ankles, a little
further were up to the Loyns, a little fur∣ther
a deep River over the head, where
a man might swim; methinks you should
perceive an encreasing of your love under
these various motives, if your love were
more shallow at first, methinks by this
time it should have got some depth; when
such Winds do blow, the waters should
flow and overflow, methinks your love to
Christ should be raised unto a high tide,
and run with a strong Stream. Thus for
the motives drawn from the consideration
of Christs Benefits, all which are so many
Orators for your love.
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