A Christian Directory, Part 1: Christian EthicsBaxter, Richard
Religion
A Christian Directory, Part 1: Christian Ethics
Baxter, Richard
Casuistry; Christian sociology
And he that made all temptations serve to the triumph
of his patience, and conquering power, will give the victory also to
his grace, in the weakest soul.
9. It would be the greatest attractive to us to draw near to God, and
make the thoughts of him pleasant to us, if we could but believe that he
dearly loveth us, that he is reconciled to us, and taketh us for his
children, and that he taketh pleasure in us, and that he resolveth for
ever to glorify us with his Son; and that the dearest friend that we
have in the world, doth not love us the thousandth part so much as he.
And all this in Christ, is clearly represented to the eye of faith. All
this is procured for believers by him; and all this is given to
believers in him: in him God is reconciled to us: he is our Father, and
dwelleth among us, and in us, and walketh in us, and is our God, 2 Cor.
vi. 16-18. Light and heat are not more abundant in the sun, than love is
in Jesus Christ. To look on Christ, and not perceive the love of God, is
as to look on the sun, and not to see and acknowledge its light.
Therefore whenever you find your hearts averse to God, and to have no
pleasure in him, look then to Jesus, and observe in him the unmeasurable
love of God: that "you may be able to comprehend with all the saints,
what is the breadth and length, and depth and height, and to know the
love of Christ which passeth knowledge, that you may be filled with all
the fulness of God," Eph. iii. 18, 19. Love and goodness are that to the
will, which delicious sweetness is to the sensitive appetite. Draw near
then and taste the feast of love which God hath prepared and proposed by
his Son. Dost thou not see or feel the love of God? Come near, and look
upon God incarnate; upon a crucified Christ; upon the covenant sealed in
his blood; upon all the benefits of his redemption; upon all the
privileges of the saints; and upon the glory purchased, possessed, and
promised by him: put thy hand into his wounded side, and be not
faithless, but believing; and then thou wilt cry out, "My Lord, and my
God."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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