Tenthly, Assurance will sweeten Christ, and all the precious things of Christ to thy soul. Ah, how sweet is1 the Person of Christ, the Natures of Christ, the Names of Christ, the Offices of Christ, the Benefits of Christ, the Blood of Christ, the Word of Christ, the Threatenings of Christ, the Spirit of Christ, the Ordinances of Christ, the Smiles of Christ, the Kisses of Christ, to an assured soul? Now thy Meditations on Christ, will be no more a terror, nor a horror to thee; nay, now thy heart will be always best, when you are most in pondering upon the sweetness and goodness, the kindness and loveliness of the Lord Jesus. Now all the Institutions and Administrations of Christ will be precious to thee upon every thing; where Christ hath set his Name, there thou wilt set thy heart. Now thou wilt call things, as ⟨p. 267⟩Christ calls them, and count things as Christ counts them; that shall not be little in thy eye, that is great in the eye of Christ; nor that shall not be great in thy eye, that is but little in the eye of Christ. Assurance will also exceedingly sweeten your carriage to all that bear the Image of Christ; nothing2 will make men bear with those weak Saints, whose light is not so clear as yours, whose parts are not so strong as yours, whose enjoyments are not so high as yours, whose judgements are not so well informed as yours, whose consciences are not so well satisfied as yours, and whose lives are not so amiable as yours. Assurance3 makes men of a God-like disposition, easy to pardon, ready to forgive, abundant in goodness, admirable in patience: It makes men to study the good of others, and joy in all opportunities, wherein they may strengthen the feeble, and comfort the dejected, and enrich the impoverished, and recover the seduced, and enlarge the straitened, and build up the wasted. Verily, the reason why men are so bitter, and sour, and censorious, is, ⟨p. 268⟩Because God hath not given into their bosoms this sweet flower of delight, Assurance.
Tenthly, Assurance will sweeten Christ, and all the precious things of Christ to thy soul. Ah, how sweet is1 the Person of Christ, the Natures of Christ, the Names of Christ, the Offices of Christ, the Benefits of Christ, the Blood of Christ, the Word of Christ, the Threatnings of Christ, the Spirit of Christ, the Ordinances of Christ, the Smiles of Christ, the Kisses of Christ, to an assured soul? Now thy Meditations on Christ, will be no more a terror, nor a horror to thee; nay, now thy heart will be always best, when you are most in pondering upon the sweetness and goodness, the kindness and loveliness of the Lord Jesus. Now all the Institutions and Administrations of Christ will be precious to thee upon every thing; where Christ hath set his Name, there thou wilt set thy heart. Now thou wilt call things, as ⟨p. 267⟩Christ calls them, and count things as Christ counts them; that shall not be little in thy eye, that is great in the eye of Christ; nor that shall not be great in thy eye, that is but little in the eye of Christ. Assurance will also exceedingly sweeten your carriage to all that bear the Image of Christ; nothing2 will make men bear with those weak Saints, whose light is not so clear as yours, whose parts are not so strong as yours, whose enjoyments are not so high as yours, whose judgements are not so well informed as yours, whose consciences are not so well satisfied as yours, and whose lives are not so amiable as yours. Assurance3 makes men of a God-like disposition, easie to pardon, ready to forgive, abundant in goodness, admirable in patience: It makes men to study the good of others, and joy in all opportunities, wherein they may strengthen the feeble, and comfort the dejected, and enrich the impoverished, and recover the seduced, and enlarge the straitned, and build up the wasted. Verily, the reason why men are so bitter, and sowre, and censorious, is, ⟨p. 268⟩Because God hath not given into their bosoms this sweet flower of delight, Assurance.
- 1Ipse Deus sufficit ad praemium. Bern. It is Heaven enough to see your interest in Christ.
- 2Rom. 14. Assurance is like fire very operative, Si non operatur, non est, if it do not work, it is an argument it is not at all.
- 3We are united in the same Head and Hope, (Eodem sanguine Christi glutinati.) We are cemented with the same blood of Christ, as Augustine said of his friend Alypius, and himself.
