" Unto you therefore that believe, he is precious,"' saith the apostle, 1 Pet. ii. 7. Though he be yet out of our sight, he should never be one whole hour together out of our hearts and thoughts. 1 Pet. i. 8. " Whom having not seen ye love ; whom though now " ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable, " and full of glory." " The very name of Christ," saith * Bernard, " is honey in the mouth, melody in the ear, and a very jubilee in " the heart."" The blessed martyr, Mr. Lambert, made this his motto. None but Christ, none but Christ. Molinus was seldom observed to mention his name without dropping eyes. Julius Palmer, in the midst of the flames, moved his scorched lips, and was heard to say. Sweet Jesus, and fell asleep. Paul fastens upon his name as a bee upon a sweet flower, and mentions it no less than ten times in the compass of ten verses, 1 Cor. i. as if he knew not how to leave it.
There is a twofold preciousness of Christ, one in respect of his essential excellency and glory ; in this respect he is glorious, as the only begotten Son of God, the brightness of his Father's glory, and the express image or character of his person, Heb. i. the other in respect of his relative usefulness and suitableness to all the needs and wants of poor sinners, as he is the Lord our righteoutsness^ made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. None discern this preciousness of Christ but those that have been con- vinced of sin, and have apprehended the wrath to come, the just demerit of sin, and fled for refuge to the hope set before them ; and to them he is precious indeed. Consider him as a Saviour from wrath to come, and he will appear the most lovely and de- sirable in all the world to your souls : he that understands the va- lue of his own soul, the dreadful nature of the wrath of God, the near approaches of this wrath to his own soul, and the astonishing
• Mtl in orey melos in aure,jubilum in corde. Bern.
174 A TREATISE OF THE SOUL OF MA^^
love of Christ in delivering him from it by bearing that wrath in his place and room, in his own person ; cannot choose but estimate Christ above ten thousand worlds.
Inf. 5. How great a tritst and charge lieth upon them to zvhom the care of souls is committed, and from whom an account for other merCs, as well as their own souls shall certainly he required ?
Ministers are appointed of God to watch for the souls of their people, and that as men that must give an account, Heb. xiii. 17. The word here translated watch"^, signifies such watchfulness as that of shepherds who keep their flocks by night in places infested by wolves, and M^atch whole nights together for their safety. If a man were a keeper only of sheep and swine, it were no great mat- ter if the wolf now and then carried away one whilst he slept; but ministers have charge of souls, one of which, as Christ assures us in the text, is more xvorth than the whole world. Hear what one speaks upon this point.
' -f God purchased the church with his own blood : O what an ' argument is here to quicken the neghgent ! and what an argu-
* ment to condemn those that will not be quickened up to their « duty by it ! O, -saith one of the ancient doctors, if Christ had but
* committed to my keeping one spoonful of his blood in a frigil
* glass, how curiously should I preserve it, and how tender should
* I be of that glass ! If then he have committed to me the purchase
* of that blood, should I not carefully look to my charge ?
' What, sirs, shall vv^e despise . the blood of Christ ? shall we
* think it was shed for them that are not worthy our care ? O then
* let us hear those arguments of Christ, whenever we feel ourselves
* grow dull and careless. Did I die for them, and wilt thou not
* look after them ? were they worth my blood, and are they not
* worth thy labour ? Did I come down from heaven to earth, to ' seek and to save that which is lost, and wilt not thou go to the ' next door, or street, or village, to seek them ? How small is thy
* labour or condescension to mine ? I debased myself to this, but it ' is thy honour to be so employed.'
Let not that man think to be saved by the blood of Christ him- self that makes hght of precious souls, who are the purchase of that blood.
And no less charge Ueth upon parents, to whom God hath com- mitted the care of their children's souls ; and masters that have the guardianship of the souls as well as the bodies of their families ; the command is laid express upon you, that they sanctify God's sab- baths, Exod. XX. 10. to command your household in the way of the Lord, Gen. xviii. 19.
* Ay^L/crvg/y est nodes insomnes agere, quod solent viri ^iiKr,(poooi, pernox solicitude. t GildaS Salvian, p. 260.
A TREATISE OF THE SOUL OF MAN. ITS'
O parents, consider with yourselves what strong engagements lie upon you to do all you are capable of doing for the salvation of the precious souls of your dear children. Remember, their souls are of infinitely more value than their bodies ; that they came into the world under sin and condemnation ; that you were the instruments of propagating that sin to them, and bringing them into that misery ; that you know their dispositions, and how to suit them better than others can ; that the bonds of nature give you singular advantages to prevail and be successful in your exhortations, beyond what any others have ; that you are always with them, and can chuse opportunities which others cannot; that you and they must shortly part, and never meet again till you meet at the judgment- seat of Christ ; that it will be an inconceivably dreadful day to see them stand at Christ's left hand among the cursed and condemned, there cursing the day that ever they were born of such ignorant and negligent, such careless and cruel parents, as took no care to instruct, reprove, or exhort them. O who can think without hor- ror of the cries and curses of his own child in hell, cast away by the very instrument of his being !
Is this the love you bear them, to betray them to eternal misery ? Was there no other provision to be made i3ut for their bodies ? Did you think you had fully acquitted your duty when you had got an estate for them ? O that God would effectually touch your hearts with a becoming sense of the value and danger of their souls and your own too in the neglect of that great and solemn trust commit- ted to you with respect to them! And you, masters, consider, though God hath set you above, and your servants below, yet are their souls equally precious with your own : they have another Master that expects service from them as well as you. Do not only allow them time, but give them your exhortations and commands not to neglect their own souls, whilst they attend your business : think not your business will prosper the less because it is in the hand of a praying servant : their souls are of greater concernment than any business of yours can be.