The saints dignity and duty· Together with the danger of ignorance and hardness. /…The saints dignitie and dutie· Together with the danger of ignorance and hardnesse. /…

First of all, this Doctrine serveth to show us the wonderful love of Christ to believers. Can there be greater love then for a man to give himself to one? We count it the greatest love that can be between creatures, that of the man to the wife, and the wife to the man, and why so? because there is a giving themselves one to another, which no creature else doth: This Christ hath done, he hath given himself to believers, and he cannot show greater love, because he cannot do a greater thing, and yet behold a greater than this, he hath not only given himself to them, but for them, and that is a little more. You may conceive it by a similitude: If a man give himself to a woman to become her husband, there is a great-matter in that; but if the man shall give himself for the woman, when she is to die, to die for her, that is more; he that giveth himself to her doth yet enjoy himself, but he that giveth himself for her doth lose himself; he that giveth himself to men hath himself, but he ⟨p. 18⟩that giveth himself for men hath given away himself. Oh this, this is the love of Christ to all believers, He hath given himself for us, he that was God made himself of no reputation, made himself nothing, for so the word is in the Original; he that was above the Law, he hath put himself under the Law; he that was a Sovereign, is become a Subject; he that was the God of life, is become a man under the power of death; he that was the Judge, standeth as the person guilty, and suffereth the judgement: Here is his love, you that are believers, to the end that you might enjoy Gods favour, he hath given himself to lose Gods favour for the sense of it; to the end that you might never go to hell, he hath suffered himself to endure the uttermost torments of hell: was there ever love like this? Suppose that Christ had given himself to die ten thousand times over and over again, a bodily death, it had not been in the least degree so much as is one giving of himself some six hours to the enduring of the infinite wrath of God. Here is the first Use, remember it, and admire it, and be overcome with the love of Christ; Oh that God would shed abroad this love in our hearts, would it not constrain us, as Saint Paul said of himself?

First of all, this Doctrine serveth to shew us the wonderfull love of Christ to beleevers. Can there be greater love then for a man to give himself to one? We count it the greatest love that can be between creatures, that of the man to the wife, and the wife to the man, and why so? because there is a giving themselves one to another, which no creature else doth: This Christ hath done, he hath given himself to beleevers, and he cannot shew greater love, because he cannot do a greater thing, and yet behold a greater than this, he hath not only given himself to them, but for them, and that is a little more. You may conceive it by a similitude: If a man give himself to a woman to become her husband, there is a great-matter in that; but if the man shall give himself for the woman, when shee is to die, to die for her, that is more; he that giveth himself to her doth yet injoy himself, but he that giveth himself for her doth lose himself; he that giveth himself to men hath himself, but hee