The true Christians love of the unseen Christ, or, A discourse chiefly tending to…

2. There are others of you have had some manifestations of Christ unto you formerly, but you have lost them: your beloved hath withdrawn himself and is gone, you call and he giveth no answer, you seek him, but you cannot find him. Time hath been when your Lord was present, and gave you Gracious visits frequently, many a secret smile you have seen in his face, many a comfortable word you have had from his mouth, many a love-token you have received at his hand: Time hath been when you had your evidences written out fair and clean, with the Seal of the Spirit set unto them, and how exceedingly did you then rejoice in the sense of Christ's love? how did you feast your selves upon his rich entertainment of Gospel-privileges which through him you were invested withal? And O the admirings which then you had of free Grace! O the sweet meltings of heart in the kindly sense of sin! O the enlargements of desire which you had in your Prayers! O the burnings of love to Christ which you have often felt in your bosoms! O the lively hopes which you ⟨p. 196⟩had, and ineffable delight in hope of the Glory of God! But now there is a strange decay within you of Grace, and Alteration as if you were not the same Men and Women as you were before. You have withdrawn your selves from Christ, and he hath withdrawn himself from your Souls: you have let down your watch, and the Devil hath got advantage against you by his devices, he hath watched his opportunity and entangled you in the snares of some sins; whilst you have heedlessly gone to the utmost confines of duty, and been upon the borders of sin, the Devil hath sent forth a squadron of temptations not with fiery darts, but with silken cords, which have treated and parleyed with you to entice and persuade to go a little further, they have told you what pleasant fruit doth grow within those borders most sweet and delicious to the t•ste; that there are Silver and Golden Mines which you might quickly dig up, and find precious substance; that there you might have honour and esteem, and what would you turn your back upon all these? would you be so nice and strict as not to dispense with a little duty, as not to step over the hedge a little way, where the delights and advantage would be so great.

2. There are others of you have had some manifestations of Christ unto you formerly, but you have lost them: your beloved hath withdrawn himself and is gone, you call and he giveth no answer, you seek him, but you cannot find him. Time hath been when your Lord was present, and gave you Gracious visits frequently, many a secret smile you have seen in his face, many a comfortable word you have had from his mouth, many a love-token you have received at his hand: Time hath been when you had your evidences written out fair and clean, with the Seal of the Spirit set unto them, and how exceedingly did you then rejoice in the sense of Christ's love? how did you feast your selves upon his rich entertainment of Gospel-priviledges which through him you were invested withal? And O the admirings which then you had of free Grace! O the sweet meltings of heart in the kindly sense of sin! O the enlargements of desire which you had in your Prayers! O the burnings of love to Christ which you have often felt in your bosomes! O the lively hopes which you