Chapter 28. Use 7: To Love Christ and Do or Suffer for Him.
we should glorify God's power and wisdom, but unless your heart is captivated by this masterpiece—this great work of God in reconciling himself to the world in Christ—God will reject all your other acts of glorifying him. I mean he will reject them in such a way that he will not accept them by comparison. Therefore, this is the thing that God accepts above all; this is the commandment of God: that we should believe in his Son and give the Father the glory due to him for reconciling himself to the world through his Son.
This is the work that shall be done in heaven for all eternity. This is the thing that God himself delights in above all else he has done; it captures his heart more than anything else. If it does not capture your heart, but instead you regard it as an ordinary thing and thus treat the blood of Christ as something common, know that this is a great insult to the very matter in which God expects the most glory.
Let me say this: Has God revealed this work of his Son to you? Is your heart captivated by this great work that God has done, and do you find yourself continually adoring the greatness of this work of God? If so, peace be unto you; for this is as good an evidence that you are reconciled to God in Christ as any that I know. But I must hasten.
Chapter 28.
Use 7: To Love Christ and Do or Suffer for Him.
Again, is it in Christ that we are reconciled to God? O! Let Christ be beloved by us. Let us say, with the blessed martyr Lambert, "None
but Christ, None but Christ," which he spoke when he came to the stake to be burnt for Christ. This is a good lesson for us, especially when we may be called to suffer very hard things for what we have undertaken to do in obedience to God. Yet, we should rejoice when we come to suffer banishment, loss of goods, or even loss of life, and to be glad that our hearts were ever engaged in the ways of God. This is indeed a sign of grace.
Many people can continue with joy when things prosper, but if they find that their efforts do not meet with outward success, or that there are many setbacks, they regret what they have done. This is the reason why so many people run away now, withdrawing themselves from what they once would have spent their lives and dearest blood on. Not only do they withdraw when they see the situation growing difficult, but they even betray the cause. But here lies a true test of godliness: that if I have engaged myself in the ways of God, and God, through his providence, casts me into paths that bring trouble, yet I can rejoice that I was ever engaged in them.
Such was the case with the blessed martyr who cried, "None but Christ," even when he stood at the stake for Christ. A carnal heart might say, "Yes, Lambert, before you rejoiced in Christ and spoke of him, but what do you say now that you are about to be burnt for him?
Had you kept Christ to yourself, you might have preserved this body of yours." But no, Christ was still sweet to this man, even as he went to suffer for him, and even then, he declared, "None but Christ."
Indeed, there is cause sufficient for Christ to be dear and sweet to us even amidst all sufferings. It is true that this may cause the world to become our enemy, but what of that, when Christ has made peace between us and God the Father? This satisfies the soul entirely, and therefore, the soul will love him, rejoice in him, and bless God that it
was ever engaged in any cause for Christ's sake. Because Christ is our blessed Reconciler, and because he has made peace between God and our hearts, even though men may be our enemies, we know that through Christ, God is our friend.
Christ has made men our enemies, indeed, but only incidentally. He has made God our friend, and he himself said, "Do you think I came to bring peace? No, I came to bring a sword." Through the profession of the Gospel, there is a great deal of enmity among men. I believe that this rage and enmity rooted here in England, Christ himself is the accidental cause of it. On one side, there is a desire among God's people for a thorough Reformation; on the other side, there is hatred in the hearts of men against Christ and his ordinances. They would rather undo themselves than allow Christ to have any glory. They would sooner place themselves under an antichristian yoke, even a yoke of slavery, making themselves and their posterity slaves, than be under the yoke of Christ. This is the root of the bitter malice and rage now present in men's hearts. There was never an example of a people who were so enraged against each other for their own minds.
We might have peace and liberty if we would unite as one man against the papists and others who are notoriously and abominably wicked to subdue them. But because that peace and liberty would bring in reformation, and men would no longer have the liberty for their lusts as they did before, they would rather have no peace at all.
They would prefer to be slaves to the wills and lusts of men, and to the devil, than to come under Christ's yoke. Thus, the Gospel is, in great part, the cause of the sword, by accident.
What then? Shall we not therefore love Christ? Shall we say, "Since there has been so much preaching and profession, we have had such wars, strifes, and troubles, and that if people would be quiet and
contented, they could have peace?" O! What is this but to be content to be without Christ, without truth, without peace of conscience?
Simply because we desire these—Christ, the Gospel, truth, and peace of conscience—we find ourselves without peace with men. Yet, blessed be God for Christ, for although he is as a bundle of myrrh that has much bitterness in it, let him lie between your breasts. Let us rejoice in him, let us love him, let us bless God for him, and be glad that we were ever engaged in his cause.
O! That great peace-maker between God and us, how dear should he be to our hearts! As that martyr said when he was about to suffer for him, "What have I but one life to lay down for Christ? O! That I had many." So should we say, "What, is our life in danger for Christ? O!
That we had many lives that might all be in danger for him."
I heard a credible account of a young man involved in the business in Kent, who was shot through the shoulder and fell as if dead, lying as dead for a while. But recovering and gaining strength to discharge a musket, he said, "Well, I will spend one life more for this cause." The truth is, had we one, yes, a hundred, a thousand lives, we might very well expend them in a cause where we might testify our love to Christ, and bless God that we were ever engaged in it, even though it has brought such disturbances among men.
And let this be one way in which you manifest your love for Jesus Christ as the great Reconciler—by being willing to be reconciled with your brethren for his sake. This is one good way to show your love for Christ. Perhaps there are those who have wronged you, and there is a great breach between you and your neighbour. A natural person might be willing to reconcile on natural grounds; it is a troublesome thing to be in contention, and it is more comfortable to be at peace with one's neighbour. And so, through a natural love for peace, some