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‘Unto you therefore which believe He is precious.’
1Pe_2:7
I. It is therefore for every one of us a practical question, Have we received Christ into our own hearts? Is He practically potent and precious in our daily lives? Does he inspire, and sanctify, and comfort us in daily experiences? Can we say of Him, ‘Christ, Who is our life’—‘The Lord Jesus Christ, Who is our hope’? Were we suddenly called to stand before God, should we be ‘found in Him’? It is not a question of notions or beliefs about Christ, but of living experience of Him, practical appropriation of the grace that He brings, practical quickening by the life that He is. Everything, therefore, turns upon your individually receiving Christ, upon your religious experience of Christ, linking your life to His life, rooting yourself in Him, as the branch is in the vine.
II. Do you, then, so trust in Christ? Have you so received His atonement? Have you any experimental understanding of the things concerning which I have spoken? Is Christ precious to you above all things else—above pleasure, and wealth, and sin, and friends, and life itself? Is He nearest you in thought and dearest in affection—the supreme good and joy of your life?
III. And in your practical estimates of things, is that desired by you most eagerly which brings you the nearest to Him—the converse, the prayers, the hymns, the preaching, the Church, the ordinances? Does that which makes you know the most of Him attract and delight you most? And if you are indeed His and know His love, it will be a good thing to try yourself often and ask, If such and such a comfort were taken away, could I stay myself upon His love? If I had none of these things, would He suffice? If He should say, ‘Keep all without me,’ or, ‘Give up all and keep me alone,’ which should I choose? If I had now to leave everything and sit at His feet, would this be happiness and joy to me?
IV. Some Christians are satisfied to go on without this—taking as much of the world as they decently can, satisfied with a practical distance from God, without conscious peace and joy, and without anything in the tone, or spirit, or conversation that savours of heaven. Beware of this! If you know and love Him, live for Him. A Christian that leaves not at every turn a savour of Christ is a denial of Him!