The Life of James Renwick | Page 8

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 hills and mountains about us shall be witnesses that ye had Christ in your offer such a day, in such a _place_; therefore, my dear friends, say now that He is