A64995:45
The true Christians love of the unseen Christ, or, A discourse chiefly tending to…
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.
London: printed by J.R. for Samuel Sprint, 1677
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
SECT. VII.
Seventhly, THE Seventh thing is to show, why true Christians do Love Christ, whom they have never seen.
Seventhly, THE Seventh thing is to shew, why true Christians do Love Christ, whom they have never seen.
Rea. 1. True Christians do love Christ because of the Need which they have of him. Men do love their Necessary Food, without which their Bodies would starve with Hunger: Men do love their Necessary Raiment and Habitations, without which in Winter Seasons their Bodies would starve with Cold. Men do love their Necessary Friends, upon whom (under God) they have their Dependence, and from whom they have all their Subsistence: But no Thing in the World, or Friend in the World, is so Needful to the Body, as the Lord Jesus Christ is unto the Soul: and as the Excellencies of the Soul, are far beyond the Excellencies of the Body; so the Necessities of the Soul, are far beyond the Necessities of the Body: which Necessities can be answered by none but Jesus Christ; and therefore True Christians do ⟨p. 22⟩love him. At first Conversion when they were convinced of Sin, awakened out of their carnal security, O what Need had they, and did they see they had of Christ! they perceived themselves to be lost, and that it was Christ only that could save them; they felt the Wounds of Conscience, and it was Christ only that could Heal them; they feared the Wrath of a Sin-revenging God, and it was Christ only that could Deliver them. The Remission, Reconciliation and Salvation, which they had by Christ, did lay the first Foundation of a most endeared love unto Christ; And stll they perceive a continual need of Christ, to procure daily pardon for them, and to convey daily supplies of Grace unto them. They have Need of Christ, when they are Dark to Enlighten them; when they are Dead to Quicken them; when they are Straitened, to Enlarge them; when they are Weak, to Strengthen them; when they are Sad, to Comfort them; when they are Tempted, to Succour them; when they are Fallen, to Raise them; when they are in Doubts, to Resolve them; when they are under Fears, to Encourage them; when they Stagger, to Establish them; when they Wander, to Restore them.