(2.) Let us dwell on the consideration of his love to us, and of the necessity that we have of him ; how miserable we are without him, poor, beggarly, in bondage to the devil. Therefore we must have him to recover us out of debt, and to enrich us. For Christ's love carries him forth, not only to pay aU om- debts for us, but to enrich us ; and it is a protecting, preserving love, till he brings us to heaven, his own place, where we shall ever be with him. The consideration of these things will warm our hearts, and for this purpose serves the ministry.
(3.) We should therefore, in the next place, attend upon the word, for this very end. Wherefore serves the ministry ? Among many others, this is one main end — ' to lay open the unsearchable riches of Christ.' Therein you have something of Christ unfolded, of his natures, offices, and benefits we have by him, — redemption, and freedom, and a right to all things in him, the excellencies of another world. Therefore attend upon the means of salvation, that v/e may know what riches we have in him. This will keep our affections close to Christ, so as to say, ' I am his.'
(4.) And labour we also every day more and more to bring all our love to him. We see in burning-glasses, where the beams of the sun meet in one, how forcible they are, because there is an union of the beams in a little point. Let it be our labour that all the beams of our love may meet in Christ, that he may be as the church saith, our beloved. * My beloved is mine, and I am my beloved's,' saith she, as if the church had no love out of Christ. And is it love lost ? No ; but as Christ is the church's beloved, so the church is Christ's love again, as we see in this book oft, ' My love, my dove.' As all streams meet in the great ocean, so let all our loves meet in Christ. We may love other things, and we should do 80, but no otherwise than as they convey love to us from Christ, and may be means of drawing up our affections unto Christ. We may love our friends, and we ought to do so, and other blessings of God ; but how ? No otherwise than as tokens of his love to us. We love a thing that our friends send to us. 0, but it is as it doth convey his affection to us. So must we love all things, as they come from God's love to us in Christ.
And, indeed, whatsoever we have is a love-token, even our very afflic- tions themselves. ' Whom I love, I rebuke and chastise,' Heb. xii. 6.
(5.) Again, that we may inflame om- hearts with the love of Christ, as we are exhorted by Jude, 21, let us consider the vanity of all things that entice us fi-om Clmst, and labour every day more and more to draw our affections from them, as we are exhorted — ' Hearken, 0 daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear ; forget also thine own people, and thy father's house : so shall the king greatly desire thy beauty,' Ps. xlv. 10. So, if we will have Christ to delight in us, that we may say we are his, let us labour to sequester om- affections more and more from all earthly things, that we may not have such hearts, as St James speaketh of, adulterous hearts. ' 0 ye adulterers and adulteresses ! know ye not that the love of the world is enmity with God ? ' James iv. 4.
186 BOWELS OPENED. [SeRMON XX.
Indeed there is reason for this exhortation ; for all earthly things, they are all vain and empty things. There is an emptiness in whatsoever is in the world, save Christ. Therefore we should not set our affections too much upon them. A man cannot be wise in loving anything but Christ, and what he loves for Christ. Therefore let us follow that counsel, to draw ourselves from oui* former company, acquaintance, pleasures, delights, and vanities. We cannot bestow our love and our affections better than upon Christ. It is a happiness that we have such affections, as joy, delight, and love, planted in us by God ; and what a happiness is it, that we should have such an excellent object to fill those affections, yea, to transcend and more than satisfy them ! Therefore the apostle wisheth that they might laiow all the dimensions of God's love in Christ. There is a ' height, breadth, length, and depth of the love of God,' Eph. iii. 18.
And let us think of the dimensions, the height, breadth, and depth of our misery out of Christ. The more excellent our natures are, the more miserable they are if not changed ; for look what degree of excellency we have, if it be not advanced in Christ, we have so much misery being otit of him. Therefore let us labour to see this, as to value our being in him, so to be able, upon good gi-ounds, to say, ' I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine.'