BOOK 10. THE JUDGEMENT.
CHAPTER 2.
10.2.6. Of Loving Jesus in that Respect.
Of Loving Jesus in that Respect.
Let us love Jesus, as carrying on the great work of our salvation in his second coming. In prosecution of this, I must first set down Christ's love to us, and then our love to Christ; that is the cause, and this the effect; that is the spring, and this is the stream; in vain should we persuade our hearts to love the Lord, if, in the first place, we were not sensible that our Lord loves us, "We love him, (saith the apostle) because he first loved us," 1 John iv. 19 . It is Christ's way of winning hearts, he draws a lump of love out of his own heart, and casts it into the sinner's heart, and so he loves him. Come then, let us first take a view of Christ's love to us, and see, if from thence, any sparks of love will fall on our hearts to love him again. Should I make a table of Christ's acts of love, and free grace to us? I might begin with that eternity of his love before the beginning, and never end till I draw it down to that eternity of his love without all ending: His love is as his mercy, from everlasting to everlasting; he loved us before time, in the beginning of time, in the fulness of time; at this time the flames of love are as hot in his breast as they were at first, and when time shall be no more, he will love us still; this fire of heaven is everlasting; there is in the breast of Christ an eternal coal of burning love, that never, never shall be quenched. But I have, in some measure, already discovered all those acts of his grace and love till his second coming: And therefore I begin there.
1. Christ will come; is not this love? As his departure was a rich testimony of his love, "It is expedient for you that I go away; so in his returning, I will not leave you comfortless, I will come unto you," John xiv. 18. Oh! how can we think of Christ's returning, and not meditate on the greatness of his love? Might he not send his angels; but he must come himself? Is it not state and majesty enough to have the angels come for us, but that he himself must come with his angels to meet us more than half the way? What king on earth would adopt a beggar, and, after his adoption, would himself go in person to fetch him from the dung-hill to his throne? We are filthy Lazars, from the crown of our heads, to the soles of our feet we are full of sores; and yet the King of heaven puts on his best attire, and comes in person with all his retinue of glory, to fetch us from our graves to his own court of heaven. Oh! the love of Christ in this one act, he will come again, he is but gone for a while, but he will come again in his own person.
2. Christ will welcome all his saints into his presence: And is not this love? After he is come down from heaven, he stays for them a while in the clouds, and commanding his angels to bring them thither, anon they come; and. Oh! how his heart springs within him at their coming; what throbs and pangs of love are in his heart at the first view of them? As they draw near, and fall down at his feet, and worship him, so he draws near and falls upon their necks, and welcomes them. Methinks I hear him say, Come, blessed souls, you are my purchase, for whom I covenanted with my Father from eternity; O! you are dearly welcome to your Lord, in that now I have you in my arms; I feel the fruit of my death, the acceptation of my sacrifice, the return of my prayers; for this I was born and died; for this I arose again and ascended into heaven; for this I have interceded a priest in heaven these many years, and now I have the end and design of all my actings and sufferings for you, how is my joy fulfilled. Look, as at the meaning of two lovers there is a great joy, especially if the distance hath been great, and the desires of enjoying one another vehement; so is the meeting of Christ with his saints; the joy is so great, that it runs over and wets the fair brows and beauteous looks of cherubims and Seraphims, and all the angels have a part of this banquet at this day.
3. Christ will sentence his saints for eternal life; Here is love indeed, every word of the sentence is full of love; it contains the reward of his saints, a reward beyond their work, and beyond their wages, and beyond the promise, and beyond their thoughts, and beyond their understanding; it is a participation of the joys of God, and of the inheritance of the judge himself: "Come, enter into your master's joy, inherit the kingdom." Oh! but if all the saints have only but one kingdom, where is my room? Fear not, O my soul! thou shalt have room enough, though but one kingdom, yet all the inhabitants there are kings; whole heaven is such a kingdom, as is entirely and fully enjoyed by one glorified saint; all, and every one hath the whole kingdom at his own will; every one is filled with God, as if there were no fellows there to share with him. Oh! that I may come under this blessed sentence. Never was more love expressed in words than Christ expresseth in this sentence, "Come ye blessed," etc.
4. Christ will take up all his saints with him into glory, where he will present them to his Father, and then be their all in all to all eternity. This is the height of Christ's love, this is the immediate love that comes out from the precious heart and bowels of Jesus Christ; this that zenith of love, when sensibly and feelingly it burns at hottest; it is true, that Christ's love breaks out in all those precedaneous acts we have already spoken; Oh! but what loves will he cast out from himself in glory? The more excellent the soil is, and the nearer the sun is, the more of summer, and the more of day; the more delicious must be the apples, the pomegranates, the roses, the lilies, that grow there: Surely Christ in glory is a blessed soil; roses, and lilies, and apples of love, that are eternally summer green, and sweet, grow out of him; the honey of heaven is more than honey; the honey of love that is pure and unmixed, and glorious in Christ, must needs be incomparable. I cannot say, but that Christ's love, like himself, is the same yesterday, and to-day, and forever; there is no intention, or remission of his love as in itself, for "God is love," 1 John iv. 8. He is essentially love, and therefore admits of no degrees; yet, in respect of this sense, or manifestation of this love of Christ, there must needs be a difference; thus if he loved his spouse on earth, how much more will he love her, when his bride in heaven? If he loves us while sinners, and enemies to his holiness, how much more will he love us, when we are sons and perfected saints in glory? He that could spread his arms, and open his heart on the cross, will he not then open arms, and heart, and all to them that reign with him in his kingdom? If, in this life, such is love's puissance, that we usually say of Christ, Though the head be in heaven, yet he hath left his heart on earth with sinners; what shall we say of Christ in glory, where love, like the sun, ever stands in the zenith? "Where the eternal God is the soul's everlasting refuge, and underneath are his everlasting arms?" Deut. xxxiii. 27.
5. And if Christ love thus, how should we love again for such a love? Lord, what a sum of love are we indebted to thee? Is it possible that ever we should pay the debt? Can we love as high, as deep, as broad, as long as love itself, or as Christ himself? No, no, all we can do is but to love a little; and, Oh! that in the consideration of his love we could have a little in sincerity. Oh! that we were but able feelingly to say, Why, Lord, I love thee, I feel I love thee, even as I feel I love my friend, or as I feel I love myself. Such arguments of love have been laid before us, as that now I know no more; we have seen whole Christ cap-a-pie, we have heard of the loves of Christ from eternity to eternity, we have had a view of the everlasting gospel of Jesus Christ, wherein his love is represented to us as hot as death, or as the flames of God, and do we not yet love him, hath Christ all this while opened his breast and heart to us saying, Friends, doves, come in, and dwell in the holes of this rock? And do we search his breast? Do we turn our backs upon him, and requite his love with hatred? Surely this is more than sin; for what is sin but a transgression of the law? But this sin is both a transgression of the law and gospel. What! to spurn against the warm bowels of love? To spit on grace? To disdain him who is the white and ruddy, the fairest of heaven? Oh the aggravations of this sin, it is an heart of flint and adamant that spits at evangelic love! law love is love, but evangelic love is more than love; it is the gold, the flower of Christ's wheat, and of his finest love. Oh the many gospel passages of love that we have heard! Oh the sweet streams of love that we have followed, till now that we are come to a sea of love, to an heaven of love, to an infinite, eternal, everlasting love in heaven. I want words to express this love of Jesus, a sea of love is nothing, it hath a bottom; an heaven of love is nothing, it hath a brim; but infinite, eternal, everlasting love hath no bottom, no brim, no bounds, and do we not yet love him? Do we not yet feel the fire of love break forth? If not, it is time to turn our preaching into prayer, O thou who art the element or sun of love! come with thy power, let out one beam, one ray, one gleam of love upon my soul! shine hot upon my heart, cast my soul into a love trance, remember thy promise, "To circumcise my heart, that I may love the Lord my God, with all my heart, and with all my soul," Deut. xxx. 6. Surely the great marriage of the Lamb is coming on, he will come, and welcome all his saints into his presence; he will bid them inherit the kingdom, and put them in a possession of the inheritance; and then we cannot choose but love our Lord Jesus with all our hearts, and with all our souls; only begin we it here, let us now be sick of love, that we may then be well with love; let us now rub and chase our hearts (our dead cold hearts) before this fire, till we can say with Peter, "Why, Lord, thou knowcst all things, thcu knowest that I love thee."