The Life of James Renwick | Page 8

gives them to drink of the rivers of his
pleasures, that are at his right hand for evermore. Oh, my friends,
Christ doth not prig with His spouse: He will keep nothing back from
them, that He sees to be for her profit.--Oh, but His love is strong. He
requires no more for all that He has done, and all that He hath given,
but that He see the travail of His soul. He will think but little of all that
He hath done, if we will but accept of His love, and lay our love upon
Him. Yea, so may be said of Him, as was said of Jacob,--the seven
years that he served for Rachel seemed but a few days, for the love that
He bare unto her. His love is so strong, that although thou shouldest run
away from Him never so fast, yet His love will overtake thee, and bring
thee back again. Paul ran very fast in opposition to His love, when he
was going to Damascus to persecute the Church. But Christ's love
overtook him suddenly. Manasseh ran very fast from Christ, when he
made the streets of Jerusalem to run with innocent blood, and set up an

abomination in the house of God, and used witchcraft; and yet Christ's
love overtook him, and brought him back again from the pit. If thou art
one of those that the Father hath given to the Son, though thou
shouldest run to the brink of hell, He will bring thee back again from
thence.
"Christ's love is pure and sincere love. 'Herein is love, not that we
loved Him, but that He loved us;" not for any advantage that He can
have by us, for He is infinite in all perfections without us; therefore we
can neither enrich Him, nor add any more glory to Him. We may well
magnify His power; that is all we can do, and all the advantage is our
own. Christ's love is not a base love; He loves us not for His good or
advantage, but for our real good and advantage. It is pure and sincere
love, for all the advantage is ours.
"Christ's love is an enriching love, for those upon whom His love is
bestowed are no more poor. How can they be poor who have Christ for
their riches? for, saith the Apostle, 'All things are yours, and ye are
Christ's, and Christ is God's.' If ye have this love bestowed on you, then
all other things are made to serve for your good--ye shall lack nothing.
"Christ's love is a free love. He gives His love freely, without any
reward, and so it is free love; the offer is alike to all. If ye will but take
it off his hand, He makes open proclamation of it to you all, saying, 'Ho
every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters.' Oh, my friends, all
other love is infinitely beneath this. He took not on him the nature of
angels, but He took the seed of Abraham. Oh, my friends, God hath
made us the centre of His love; and therefore, I beseech you, do not
despise His love. He came not to redeem any of the fallen angels, but
the seed of Abraham."
In the following moving terms, he pleads with his hearers to accept of
Christ and his salvation:--"Your eternal enjoyment of God will be your
element, which ye shall for ever delight in, and this shall be to praise
and admire his love. For, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath
it entered into the heart of man to conceive the things that the Lord hath
prepared for them that love Him. Oh, then, sirs, what think ye of Christ?
Will ye not, at this time, say, He is your Beloved and your Friend? Oh,
give your consent to become His friends, and accept of Him as your
friend. I leave this offer at your door; He is willing to befriend you, if
you will come into an estate of friendship with Him. Come, come, and

take His offer off his hand. Say not that ye have continued so long in
sin, that ye know not if He will befriend you now; for if ye will come to
Him, He will yet befriend you. Therefore, for the Lord's sake, put not
away such an offer, but take it _in the present time_; for ye know not if
ever ye shall have an offer again. If ye will not take his offer off His
hand this day, I will be a witness against you in the great day of
judgment, that this day, the Son of righteousness offered Himself to be
your friend, and ye have made light of the offer. Yea, the