One early church leader expressed his love for Christ in this way: "If my father were weeping on his knees before me, my mother hanging on my neck behind me, my brethren, sisters, and kinsfolk - howling on every side to retain me in a sinful course, I would fling my mother to the ground, run over my father, despise all of my kindred and tread them under my feet, that I might run unto Christ". What follows could be considered a "questionnaire", useful for testing your own love for Christ. It comes to us from the Puritan pen of Thomas Vincent, from his book The True Christian's Love to The Unseen Christ:
First, allow me to speak a word of reproof to those who have no sincere love to Christ. To you I would say: What?! Are you creatures made by Christ and made for Christ, and yet have no love to Him? Are you rational creatures? Do you have souls capable of knowing Him and loving Him, and yet have no love to Him? Are you Christians and not love Christ? Are you baptized in Christ's name and yet have you no love to Christ's person? Do some of you profess to be Christians and yet do not love Christ? Do you make a show of devotion, and yet without any true affection to the object of your worship?
And those of you who are admitted unbelievers, though you have not seen Christ - yet have you not heard of Him, and have you not heard enough already - to engage and draw forth your love unto Christ? What do you think, is there such a person as Jesus Christ, or is there not? Have you no bibles, and if you have, have you not read therein the history concerning Jesus Christ? And what do you think of that history, is it true or is it false? Do you think the Gospel is a cunningly devised fable? Are not the scriptures, which contain the Gospel, the very word of the true God who cannot lie? Is there not a divine aspect to the scriptures that sufficiently prove their divine origin to any who search into them, and who do not willfully shut their eyes against the light which shines in them? And if it is so, that there is such a person as Jesus Christ, as there is nothing more true, how is it that you have no love unto him?
Do not the scriptures reveal and set forth Christ as the most excellent and love-worthy person alive? And yet you still do not love Him. Can you love persons and things that are but imperfectly lovely, and not love Jesus Christ who is altogether lovely? And consider this as well, all you who do not sincerely and truly love Christ are still under a divine curse. Not only under the curse of the law, for your breach of the law, but also under the curse of the Gospel. For even the Gospel proclaims: "If anyone does not love the Lord, a curse be on him" (1 Corinthians 16:22).
And when the Lord comes, will He take off the curse from you? No. He will come in flaming fire to take vengeance upon you, having threatened in the scriptures that bear his truth - to punish all without love to Him with an everlasting destruction. And what then is likely to become of you? Sodom and Gomorrah, those wicked cities will then be punished dreadfully with a worse fire than that which was rained down from heaven and consumed their persons and habitations together, I mean - with the fire of Hell, which will be kindled and kept alive unto eternity by the breath of the almighty. But you, who do not love the Lord Jesus Christ, not withstanding all discoveries of Him, invitations to Him, and offers of kindness by Him - you will be punished more dreadfully than even the wicked Sodomites of Sodom and Gomorrah. It will be more tolerable in the day of judgment for them than for you. The torments of Hell will be intolerable by any, but they will be most intolerable by Gospel-sinners. The fire of Hell will burn upon you most fiercely, and the scourge of conscience will lash you the most furiously.
Consider this all you who have no love to Christ, otherwise - when He comes to judgment he will tear you to pieces; there will be none to deliver you. If you do not have the sweet fire of love to Christ kindled hearts here, you will be thrown into the dreadful fire of Hell, which will burn you everlastingly. Scripture says: "Kiss the Son lest He be angry, and you be destroyed in your way, for his wrath can flare-up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in Him" (Psalm 2:12).
Second, allow me to speak a word of reproof to those of you who have some love, but it is very little love, to Jesus Christ. You that love Christ, is not your love very small? Not only in comparison with his love to you, but also in comparison to the love which other Christians have attained unto. For example:
How strong was the love of the Apostles unto Christ when they left all and followed Him? Especially after the resurrection of Christ and his ascension into heaven, when the Holy Spirit was sent down and sat in the likeness of fiery tongues upon them. Oh what a fire of love unto Christ was there then enkindled within them. Hence that bold profession which they made of Christ, before the chief priests and elders in Acts chapter 4:
"Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John replied 'judge for yourselves whether it is right in God's sight to obey you rather than God. For when can not help speaking about what we have seen and heard".
And another example is when they rejoiced, counting themselves worthy to suffer shame for the name of Christ, and to be beaten for their owning and preaching of Him in Acts chapter 5:
"They called the Apostles in and had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. The Apostles left the Sanhedrin rejoicing because they had been counted worth of suffering disgrace for the Name. Day after day in the temple courts, and from house to house they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ".
But where is such love now to be found?
I might speak also of the love of some ancient fathers, Ignatius, Polycarp, Jerome, and others. Take one instance of Jerome, who once expressed his love unto Christ in these words:
"If my father were weeping on his knees before me, my mother hanging on my neck behind me, my brethren, sisters, and kinsfolk - howling on every side to retain me in a sinful course,
I would fling my mother to the ground, run over my father, despise all of my kindred and tread them under my feet,
that I might run unto Christ".
Accounts of martyrs:
Thomas Haukes
Polycarp
John Hooper
And how little is your love, in comparison to the love of those famous heroes. I mean those imminent martyrs who have despised the flames and endured the rack, in torture deaths of fire, for the love which they bore unto Jesus Christ. The fire of their love burning stronger within them, than the fire around them, in which their bodies were consumed.
Is not your love also small, in
comparison with the love of our
late Reformers, which fired them with such courage and resolution as to withstand a whole world of anti-Christian fury and opposition?
And is your love comparable to even that of many imminent pastors and private Christians, of the age immediately going before ours, who are now asleep in their graves?
How few are there that have come up in their place.
It is observed, and it is greatly to be lamented that there is of late - a great decay in the power of godliness among those who are sincere. And is not this decay most evident in the great decay of love, even in true Christians unto Jesus Christ? Are you not dwarfs in comparison to others from past generations, or even in your own generation? Are you not babes in Christ and weaklings in your love to Christ?
Is it not evident that you have but little love to Christ, when he is but little in your thoughts and meditations? Does not your lack of thoughts of Christ prove your lack of love? The 'thoughts' are the handmade of love. Where love is strong and ardent, there - many thoughts will be attending upon it. But will not your hearts tell you that your thoughts of Christ are very few. You can think often of your food, but how little do your thoughts feed upon Christ who is the bread of life. You can often think of your clothing and what to wear, but how little do you think of the robes of Christ's righteousness? You can think often of your earthly friends, but how little do you think of Jesus Christ - your friend in Heaven? Objects of sense are often not only in your eyes, but also in your thoughts. But how little is Christ entertained in your thoughts, who is the object of faith?
Moreover, does it not argue of little love to Christ that you speak so little of Him, and for Him, in your conversations? If you had much love to Christ, would not this love breath forth more in your conversations? You can readily speak of yourselves, and you often speak directly or more subtly about yourselves, which reveals your great self-love. But how little to you commend your Lord and Master and extol his excellencies with your lips? Is this not evidence that you have but little love for him in your hearts? You can readily discourse of news and public occurrences (which is lawful and needful as long as due limits are observed), but when you leave Christ quite out of your conversation, it shows that you have not an abundance of love to Him, because "out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks". Such as have much love to pleasures; we are often speaking of that subject. Such as love their friends; much will often be speaking of and commending them, when you are not in their company. Which is why, when you speak such little of Christ, it is a sign that you love Him but little.
And likewise, does not the small amount of zeal which you have for Christ's honor in the world, argue that you have but little love to Him? Where is your activity for Christ to promote his interest among those relations and friends that you have made acquaintance with? Do you labor all you can to bring others into the way of God and into acquaintance with Christ? If you truly loved Christ, you would be like the disciple Phillip who sought out his brother Nathaniel, found him and said: "we have found the one Moses wrote about in the law, and about whom the prophets also wrote, Jesus of Nazareth - the son of Joseph".
And in the same way, does not the fact that you spend very little time in private bible reading and devotion - argue your small affection unto Christ? Will not your closets or other retiring places witness how little you are in secret prayer and conversation with Christ? Brief and straightened prayer in secret, argues a heart that is brief and straightened in love to Jesus Christ. Does not your backwardness to the exercise of this love to Christ show the weakness of your love?
How slow of heart are you to the love of Christ; how hard to be persuaded. You need not be persuaded to love your wives if they are kind and helpful. You need not be persuaded to love your children if they are pretty and show potential. You need not be persuaded to love your friends if they are friendly and faithful, and yet whatever attractions of love there are, the most strong of any are in Jesus Christ. Yet, you are backward to this love.
Need I say more to convince you that you have but little love to Christ? Will not your own conscience from these clear evidences sufficiently witness the thing? And now Christians, think what a sin, what a shame, what a folly it is, that you should have so little love to Jesus Christ. If it is so great a sin for such as are strangers unto Christ to have no love at all to Him, so that it brings them under the most dreadful curse, surely it cannot be a small sin that you who are His true disciples should have but little love unto Him. Is it not very displeasing unto the father that you should have but little love to his son? If he does not hate you because of your relation unto Christ, yet is He not angry with you for the lukewarmness of your affection unto Christ, which sin is aggravated by the nearness of your relation? Is it not dishonorable to Christ that you should have so little love to Him?
Do you not say by your feelings and actions, in effect - that there is little worth loving in Christ, when you have no great love unto Him? Are you not hereby ungrateful unto Christ, beyond what could be paralleled by any ingratitude unto the most deserving earthly friend? Is it not your shame that you should have so little love to Christ, especially when He so much deserves your love? Besides the infinite excellencies and perfections that are in His person, does not His infinite kindness unto you call for not only the truth, but also the strength of your love? Think what He has done for you. Think what He has suffered for you. Think what He has purchased for you. Think what he has promised to you. Think what He has laid out for you. Think what He has laid up for you. And yet to have but little love to Christ, and to make such poor returns.
Moreover, is it not to your own folly to have but little love to Christ? Do not you here rob yourselves, debarring yourselves of such a peace as passes all understanding, of such sweetness and comfort, both in the strength of your love, and in the sense of His love, as is inconceivable? Is not injury and hurt unto yourselves the consequence of your little love unto Christ? Must you not draw on heavily in the ways of God, as Pharaoh when his chariot wheels were taken off, when you try to serve Christ without love to Christ? Love to Christ is like wheels in your motion; like oil to the wheels which makes you ready unto any good work which he calls you unto. But when you have but little love unto Christ, you will automatically be more slow in your motions, more sluggish in Christ's service. You will not, and you cannot take those pains in the work of the Lord and be as zealous as you might, and should be, for your Master's glory.
To conclude, if you have but little love to Christ, you will be apt to faint in the day of adversity, to shrink when you are called to take up his Cross and suffer for His sake. Lesser sufferings will discompose you, greater sufferings will frighten and amaze you, and you will be in danger of turning into fearful apostates in times of great trials. There is need of great love to Jesus Christ, as well as great faith to carry you through sufferings with courage, that you may persevere unto the end.
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