{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/wikisource_Christ_is_all/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/wikisource_Christ_is_all","id":"wikisource_Christ_is_all","license":"Public Domain / CC-BY-SA (see source)","rights_basis":"wikisource_site_inclusion_policy","source":"wikisource","source_url":"https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Christ_is_all","summary":null,"tags":["1821_works","Chapbooks","Main_pages_with_authority_control_data","PD-old","Pages_with_illegible_text","Pamphlets","Religion","Scotland","Works_using_categories_parameter"],"text":"CHRIST IS ALL:\n\nWITH\n\nA RECOMMENDATORY PREFACE,\n\nBY\n\nDR. PECKWELL.\n\nA NEW EDITION.\n\nKILMARNOCK:\n\nPrinted by H. Crawford, Bookseller,\n\n1821.\n\nWHATEVER thy situation in life may be, there is but one refuge for thy soul\u2014one sacrifice for thy sins\u2014one advocate with thy God, Jesus Christ the Righteous.\nBy men of pleasure he is despised and rejected, to the Jew a stone of offence, to the Gentile an object of ridicule; but to them who are called, Christ, the power of God, and the wisdom of God\u2014to them he is made righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.\n\nIn him there is neither Jew nor Greek, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free, but\n\nCHRIST IS ALL.\n\nThat in perusing the following invaluable little Tract, He may become better known, more admired, and more beloved\nby thee, is the most sincere and ardent prayer of\n\nHENRY PECKWELL.\n\nCHRIST IS ALL.\n\nIN the Lord shall all the seed of Israel\nwill be justified, and shall glory, Isa. xlv.\n4. 26. It is only the dying of that Just\n(illegible text)ne for us who are unjust, that can bring\nus to God, 1 Pet. iii. 13. He who knew\nno sin was made sin for us, that we, who\nwere nothing but sin, might be made the\nrighteousness of God in Him, 2 Cor. v. 21.\n\nChrist is the Father's fulness of grace\nand glory. He must have the pre-eminence. He alone is worthy, who is to\nbuild the spiritual temple of the Lord,\nand to bear the glory. Every vessel of\nhis temple, from the cups to the flaggons,\nMust all be hung on Christ. He, by his\nFather's appointment, is the foundation-\none, corner-stone, top-stone.\n\nReader! dost thou profess the name of\nChrist? and partake of his ordinances?\nLuke i. 6. Thou doest well. They are\nglorious privileges. But if thou hast no\nthe blood of Christ, 1 John i. 7. 1 Cor.\n1. at the root of thy profession, it will\neither and prove unprofitable.\n\nMany are tossed too and fro, ready to\nbe carried about with every wind of doctrine by the slights of men, and cunning\ncraftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive, Eph. iv. 14. There are many foundations to build upon that are false, upon\nwhich much labour is spent in vain; some\nare not speaking the truth in love; neither\nare they growing up into him in all things\nwho is the Head, even Christ, Eph. iv\n15. There cannot be a growing in Christ\nwithout an union with him. Without that\nunion, all that we do is accursed.\n\nIf thou retain guilt and self-righteousness under thy profession, those viper\nwill cat out all the vital of it. Try, and\nexamine with the greatest strictness ever\nday, what foundation thy profession and\nthe hope of thy glory are built upon, 1 Cor.\niii. 11. whether it were laid by the hand\nof Christ; if not, it will never be able to\nendure the storm which will come against\nit. Satan will throw it all down, and great\nwill be the fall thereof, Matth. vii. 27.\n\nConsider, the greatest sins may be his\nunder the greatest duties and the greatest\nterrors. See that the wound which sin\nhath made in thy soul be perfectly cured\npray the blood of Christ, it will poison the\nsore. Thou wilt find that sin was never\nmortified truly, if thou hast not see\nChrist bleeding for thee upon the cross\nNothing can kill it but a sight of Christ's\nrighteousness. Nature can afford no balsam fit for soulcuse. Healing from duty, and not from\nChrist, is the most desperate disease. Poor\nragged nature, with all is highest improvements, can never spin a garment fine\nenough (without spot) to cover the soul's\nnakedness. Nothing can do it but Christ's\nperfect righteousness.\n\nIf thou hast seen Christ truly, thou hast\nseen pure grace, pure righteousness in\nhim, every way infinite, far exceeding all\nsin and misery. If thou hast seen Christ,\nthou wilt trample upon all the righteousness of men and angels, as to thine acceptation with God. If thou hast seen Christ,\nthou wouldst not do a duty without him\nfor ten thousand worlds, 1 Cor. ii. 2. If\never thou hast seen Christ, thou hast seen\nHim a rock higher than self-righteousness.\nSatan, and sin, Psalm lxi. 2. and this rock\nand defence doth follow thee, 1 Cor. x.\n4, and there will be a continual dropping of honey and grace out of that rock\nto satisfy thee, Psalm lxxxi. 16. Examine, if ever thou hast beheld Christ, as the\nthe only begotten of the Father, full of\ngrace and truth, John i. 14, 16, 17. Come\nto Christ, and give all diligence to make\nthy calling sure, 2 Pet. i. 10. Stand upon the rock of ages.\n\nMen talk much about believing whilst\nhole and sound; few do it-Christ is the mystery of Scripture; grace is the mystery\nof Christ. Believing is the most wonderful thing in the world. Put any thing of\nthine to it, and thou spoilest it, Christ\nwill not esteem it believing. When thou\nbelievest, and comest to Christ, thou must\nleave behind thee thine own righteousness\n(O! that is hard!) all thy holiness, sanctification, duties, tears, humblings, &c.\nand bring nothing but thy sins, thy want\nand miseries, else Christ is not fit for thee\nnor thou for Christ. Christ will be a perfect Redeemer and Mediator, and thou\nmust be an undone sinner, or Christ and\nthou will never agree. It is the hardest\nthing in the world to take Christ alone for\nrighteousness; that is, to acknowledge\nhim Christ.\n\nWhatsoever comes in, when thou goest\nto God for acceptance, besides Christ,\ncall it Antichrist; bid it be gone; make\nonly Christ's righteousness triumphant.\nAll besides that is Babylon, which must\nfall, if Christ stand, and thou shalt rejoice in the day of the fall thereof. Christ\nalone did tread the wine-press, and there\nwas none with him, Isa. lxiii. 3. If thou\njoin any thing to Christ, Christ will trample upon it in fury and anger, and stain\nhis raiment with the blood thereof. Thou\nthinkest it easy, to believe-was thy faith\never tried with an hour of temptation, and a thorough sight of sin? Was it ever put\nto resist Satan, and to feel the wrath of\nGod lying upon thy conscience? When\nthou wert apprehensive of hell and the\ngrave, then did God shew thee Christ a\nransom, a righteousness, &c. Then couldst\nthou say, Oh! I see grace enough in\nChrist?' If so, thou mayest say that\nwhich is the greatest word in the world,\nI BELIEVE. Untried faith is uncertain\nfaith.\n\nTo believing, there must go a clear\nconviction of sin and the merits of the\nblood of Christ, and of Christ's willingness to save a man, considered merely as\na sinner. A thing more difficult than to\nmake a world. All the power in nature\ncannot get so high, in a storm of sin and\nguilt, as really to believe there is any grace,\nany willingness in Christ to save.\n\nAll temptations, Satan's advantages, and\nour complainings, are laid in self-righteousness and self-excellency. God pursueth these by many ways, as Laban pursued after Jacob for his images. These\nmust be torn from thee, be as unwilling\nas thou wilt. With these Christ will not\ndwell, and till Christ come in, guilt will\nabide, Where guilt is, there is hardness\nof heart; therefore much guilt argues little, if any thing, of Christ.\n\nWhen guilt is raised up take heed of getting it allayed any way but by Christ's\nblood; all other ways tend to harden the\nconscience. Make Christ thy peace, Eph.\nii. 4. not thy duties, thy tears, &c. Thou\nmayest oppose Christ by duties as well as\nby sins. Look at Christ, and do as much\nas thou wilt. Stand with all thy weight\nupon Christ's righteousness. Take heed\nof having one foot on thine own righteousness, another on Christ's. Till Christ\ncome and sit upon a throne of grace in the\nconscience, there is nothing but guilt,\nterrors, secret suspicions, the soul hanging between hope and fear, which is not\nan evangelic state.- Whoever is afraid to\nsee sin's utmost vileness, and to confess\nthe desperate wickedness of his own heart,\nsuspects the merits of Christ.\n\nHowever so great a sinner thou art, 1\nJohn ii. 1. make Christ thine advocate,\nand thou wilt find him Jesus Christ the\nrighteous. In all doubtings, fears, storms\nof conscience, look at Christ only and\ncontinually: do not argue it with Satan,\nhe desires no better; bid him to go to\nChrist, and he will answer him. It is his\noffice to be our advocate, to answer the\nlaw as our surety, Heb. vii. 22. and justice, as our Mediator, Gal. iii. 20. 1 Tim.\nii. 5. He is sworn to that office, Heb. vii.\n20, 21. Put Christ upon it. If thou wilt\ndo any thing thyself, as satisfaction for sin, thou renouncest Christ the righteous,\nwho was made sin for thee, 2 Cor. v. 21.\n\nSatan may quote, and corrupt, but he\ncannot answer Scripture. It is Christ's\nword of mighty authority. Christ foileth\nSatan with it, Matth. iv. 10. In all the\nScripture there is not a hard word against\na poor sinner, stript of self-righteousness.\nNay, it plainly points him out to be the\nsubject of the grace of the gospel, and\nnone else. Believe but Christ's willingness, and that thou canst believe; remember it is Christ's work to make thee believe. He works to will and to do of his\ngood pleasure, Phil. ii. 13. By grace thou\nart saved through faith, and that not of\nyourself, it is the gift of God. Plead\nwith him for that gift, Eph. ii. 8. Christ\nis the author and finisher of faith, put\nhim to it. Mourn for thine unbelief,\nwhich is setting up guilt in the conscience\nabove Christ, undervaluing the merits of\nChrist, accounting his blood an unholy, a\ncommon, and unsatisfying thing.\n\nThou complainest much of thyself; doth\nthy sin make thee look more at Christ,\nless at thyself, that is right; otherwise,\ncomplaining is but hypocrisy. To be looking at duties, graces, enlargements, when\nthou shouldst be looking at Christ, is self righteousness, and pitifully looking at them\nwill make thee proud; looking at Christ's grace will make thee humble. In all thy\ntemptation be not discouraged, James i. 2.\nThese surges may be, not to drown thee,\nbut to heave thee off from thyself on the\nrock Christ.\n\nThou mayest be brought low, even to\nthe brink of destruction, ready to fail.\nThou canst not be brought lower than the\nbelly of hell, Jonah ii. 2. Many saints\nhave been there. Yet there thou mayest\ncry, from thence thou mayest look again\ntowards the holy temple, Jonah ii. 4.\nInto that temple which was built with\nhands, none might enter but purified ones,\nand with an offering too, Acts xxi. 26.\nBut now Christ is our temple, sacrifice,\naltar, high-priest, to whom none must\ncome but sinners, and that without any\noffering but his own blood once offered,\nHeb. vii. 17.\n\nRemember all the patterns of grace that\nare in heaven. Thou thinkest, 'Oh!\nwhat a monument of grace should I be!'\nThere are many thousands as much so as\nthou canst be. No guilt ever exceeded\nthe merits of Christ's blood, no sin could\never conquer the invisible power of his\ngrace. Do not despair. Hope still -\nWhen the clouds are blackest, even then\nlook towards Christ, the standing pillar of\nthe Father's love and grace, set up in\nheaven for all sinners to gaze upon continually. Whatsoever Satan or conscience\nsay, do not conclude against thyself.-\nChrist will have the last word. He is\njudge of quick and dead, and must pronounce the final sentence. His blood\nspeaks reconciliation, Col. i. 20. cleansing, 1 John i 7, purchase, Acts xx. 18.\nredemption, 1 Peter i. 18, purging, Heb.\nx. 19. justification, Rom. v. 9. nearness\nto God, Eph. ii. 13. Stand and hearken\nwhat God will say, for he will speak peace\nto his people, that they return no more\nto folly, Psalm lxxxv. 8. He speaks grace,\nmercy, and peace, 2 Tim. i. 2. That is\nthe language of the Father and of Christ.\nWait for Christ's appearing as the morning star, Rev. xxii. 16. He will come as\ncertainly as the morning, as refreshing as\nthe rain, Hos. vi. 3. The sun may as well\nbe hindered from rising as Christ the sun\nof righteousness, Mal. iv. 2. Look not a\nmoment off Christ. Look not upon sin,\nbut look upon Christ first. When thou\nmournest for sin, if thou dost not see,\nChrist then away with it, Zech. vii. 10.\nIn every duty, look at Christ; before\nduty, to pardon; in duty, to assist\u00a0; after\nduty, to accept. Without this it is but\ncarnal, careless duty. Do not legalize\nthe gospel, as if part remained for thee to\ndo and suffer, and Christ were but a half\nMediator; as if thou must bear part of mine own sin, and make some satisfaction. Let sin break thy heart, but not\nthy hope in the gospel.\n\nLook more at justification than sanctification. In the highest commands consider Christ, not as an exacter, to require,\nbut as a debtor, an undertaker, to work.\nIt thou hast looked at thy resolutions, endeavours, workings, duties, qualifications,\n&c. more than at the merits of Christ, it\nwill cost thee dear. No wonder thou\ngoest mourning\u00a0: graces may be evidences, the merits of Christ alone without\nthem must be the foundation of thy hope.\nChrist only can be the hope of glory, Col.\ni. 27.\n\nIf nature had been to contrive the way\nof salvation, it would rather have put it\ninto the hands of saints and angels to sell\nit, than into the hands of Christ, who gives\nfreely, whom therefore it suspects. Nature would set up a way to purchase by\ndoing: therefore it abominates the merits\nof Christ, as the most destructive thing to\nit. Nature would do any thing to be saved, rather than go to Christ, or close with\nChrist, and owe all to him. Christ will\nhave nothing, but the soul would thrust\nsomewhat of its own upon Christ. Here\nis the great controversy. Consider-didst\nthou ever yet see the merits of Christ, and\nthe infinite satisfaction made by his death? didst thou see this when the burden of sin\nand the wrath of God lay heavy on thy\nconscience? that is grace the greatness\nof Christ's merits is not known but to a\npoor soul in great distress. Slight convictions will have but a slight low esteem\nof Christ's blood and merits.\n\nWe apprehend sin too great to be pardoned.-We think Christ doth so, and\nmeasure infinite love with our line, infinite merits with our sins, which is the\ngreatest pride and blasphemy, Psalm ciii.\n11. 22. Isa. x!. 15. Hear what he saith,\n'I have found a ransom,' Job xxxiii. 24.\n'In him I am well pleased,' Matth. iii. 17.\nGod will have nothing else. Nothing else\nwill do thee good, or satisfy conscience,\nbut Christ, who satisfied the Father.-\nGod doth all upon the account of Christ.\nThy deserts are rejection, wrath, hell.-\nChrist's deserts are acceptance, pardon,\nlife. He will not only shew thee the one,\nbut he will give thee the other. It is\nChrist's own glory and happiness to pardon.\n\nConsider-whilst Christ was upon the\nearth, he was more among publicans and\nsinners than Scribes and Pharisees, his professed adversaries, for they were righteous\nones. It is not as thou imaginest, that\nhis state in glory makes him neglectful,\nscornful to poor sinners. No, He hath\nthe same heart now in heaver, He is God, and changeth not. He is 'the LAMB of\nGod, that taketh che sin of the world.'-\nJohn i. 29. He went through all thy\ntemptations, dejections, sorrows, desertions, rejections, Matth. iv. 3, to 12. and\n27. Mark xv. 34. Luke xxii. 44. Matth.\nxxvi. 36. He hath drunk the bitterest of\nthe cup, and left thee the sweet: the condemnation is out. Christ drunk up all\nthe Father's wrath at one draught; and\nnothing but salvation is left for thee.-\nThou sayest I cannot believe, I cannot repent; Christ is exalted a Prince and a\nSaviour, to give repentance and remission\nof sins, Acts v. 31. Hast thou nought\nbut sin and misery? Go to Christ with\nall thy impenitency and unbelief, to get\nfaith and repentance from him; that is\nglorious. Tell Christ, 'Lord I have\nbrought no righteousness, no grace to be\naccepted in or justified by; I am come for\nthine, and must have it.' We would be\nbringing to Christ, and that must not be.\nNot a penny of nature's highest improvements will pass in heaven, grace will not\nstand with works, Tit. iii. 5. Rom. xi. 6.\nThat is a terrible point to nature, which\ncannot think of being stripped of all, not\nhaving a rag of duty or righteousness left\nto look at.\n\nSelf-righteousness and self-sufficiency\nare the darlings of nature, which she preserves as er life. That makes Christ seem\nugly to nature. Nature cannot desire him.\nHe is just opposite to all nature's glorious\ninterest. Let nature but make a gospel,\nand it would make it quite contrary to\nChrist, it would be to the just, the innocent, the holy, &c. Christ makes the\ngospel for thee, that is, for needy sinners,\nthe ungodly, the unrighteous, the accursed.\n\nNature cannot endure to think the gospel is only for sinners. It will rather chuse\nto despair, than to go to Christ upon such\nWhen nature is put to it by guilt\nor wrath, it will go to its old haunts of\nself-righteousness, self-goodness, &c-\nAn infinite power must cast down those\nstrong holds. None but the self-justiciary\nstands excluded by the gospel. Christ will\nlook at the most abominable sinner before\nhim; because to such an one Christ cannot be made justification.\n\nLabour after sanctification to thy utmost; but make not a Christ of it to save\nthee: If so, it must come down one way\nor other. Christ's obedience and sufferings, not thy sanctification, must be thy\nsanctification before God. For if the\nLord should appear terrible out of his holy\nplace, fire would consume it as hay and\nstubble. This is religion, 'to build all\nupon the everlasting mountains of God's\nlove and grace in Christ, to look continually at Christ's infinite righteousness an\nmerits, to see the full guilt and defilement\nof sin pardoned and washed away: i\nthese views to pray, hear, &c. knowing\nthy polluted self, and all thy weak performances accepted continually: in these\nviews to trample upon all self-righteousness, and to be found continually in the\nrighteousness of Christ only, Philip. iii\n9. that Christ alone, as Mediator, may be\nexalted in his throne, mourning over all\nthy duties which thou hast not performed\nin the sight and sense of Christ's love.'-\nWithout the blood of Christ on the conscience all is dead services, Heb. ix. 14.\n\nThat Christ which the natural man can\napprehend, but a Christ of his own\nmaking, not the Father's Christ, not Jesus,\nthe Son of the living God, to whom none\ncan come without the Father's drawing,\nJohn vi. 44, 45.\n\nSearch the Scriptures daily as mines of\ngold, wherein the heart of Christ is laid,\nJohn v. 39. Watch against constitutional\nsins, Psalm lix, 5.; see them in their vileness, and they shall never break out into\nact. Keep always an humble, empty,\nbroken frame of heart, sensible of any\nspiritual miscarriage, observant of all inward workings, fit for the highest communications. Keep not guilt in the conscience, but apply the blood of Christ immediately. God chargeth sin and guilt\nupon thee, to make thee look to Christ,\nthe brazen serpent.\n\nJudge not Christ's love by providences,\nbut by promises, Psalm lxxiii. Heb. xii. 1.\nEccls. ix. Bless God for shaking off false\nfoundations, and for any way whereby he\nkeeps the soul awakened, and looking after\nChrist. Better is sickness and temptation,\nthan security and slightness.\n\nReckon not duties by high impressions\nbut by low frames and views of Christ.-\nTremble at duties and gifts. It was the\nsaying of a great saint, He was more afraid\nof his duties than his sins-the one often\nmade him proud, the other always made\nhim humble. Treasure up manifestations\nof Christ's love; they make the heart low\nfor Christ, too high for sin. Slight not\nthe lowest, meanest evidences of grace:\nGod may put thee to make use of the\nlowest as thou thinkest; even that, 1 John\niii. 14. may be worth a thousand worlds\nto thee.\n\nBe true to truth; but not turbulent and\nscornful. Restore such as are fallen; help\nthem up again with all the bowels of Christ.\nSet the broken disjointed bones with the\ngrace of the gospel.\n\nHigh professor, despise not weak saints.\nThou mayest come to wish to be in the\ncondition of the meanest of them. Be faithful to others infirmities, but sensible\nof thy own. Visit sick beds and deserted\nsouls much; they are excellent scholars\nin experience.\n\nAbide in your calling. Be dutiful to\nall relations, as to the Lord. Be content\nwith little of the world; little will serve.\nThink every little of the earth much, because unworthy the least. Think much\nof heaven, not little because Christ is so\nrich and free. Think every one better\nthan thyself; and ever carry self-loathing\nabout thee, as one fit to be trampled upon\nby all saints. See the vanity of the world,\nand the consumption that is upon all\nthings, and love nothing but Christ.-\nMourn to think how many are under baptism and ordinances who are not under\ngrace, looking much after duty and obedience, little after Christ, or grace. Prepare for the cross, welcome it, bear it\ntriumphantly as Christ's, cross, whether\nscoffs, mockings, jeers, contempt, imprisonment, &c. But see it be Christ's cross,\nnot thine own.\n\nSin will hinder from glorying in the\ncross of Christ. Omitting little truths\nagainst light may harden the conscience,\nas well as committing the greatest sin\nagainst light. If thou hast been taken out\nof the belly of hell into Christ's bosom,\nand made to sit among princes in the household of God-Oh! how should thou\nlive as a pattern of mercy!\n\nRedeemed, restored soul! what infinite\nsums dost thou owe Christ! With what\nsingular frames oughtest thou to walk and\nto do every duty! On Sabbaths, what\npraising days, singing of hallelujahs,\nshould they be to thee! What a heaven\nis communion with Christ, and angels,\nand saints! What a drowning the soul\nin eternal love, is burial with Christ,\ndying to all things besides him? Every\ntime thou thinkest of Christ be astonished,\nand wonder. When thou seest sin, look\nat Christ's grace which did pardon it;-\nwhen thou art proud, look at Christ's grace,\nthat will humble, and strike thee down in\nthe dust.\n\nRemember Christ's time of love: when\nthou wast naked, Ezek. xvi. 3. 9. then\nchose he thee. Canst thou ever have a\nproud thought-remember whose arms\nsupported thee from sinking, and delivered\nthee from the lowest hell, Psalm lxxxvi.\n13. And shout in the ears of angels and\nmen, Pealm cxlviii. and for ever sing,\n'Praise, praise: grace, grace.' Daily repent and pray: and walk in the lights of\ngrace, as one that hath the anointings of\ngrace upon thee. Remember thy sins,\nChrist's pardonings; thy deserts, Christ's\nmerits; thy weakness, Christ's strength; thy pride, Christ's humility; thy many\ninfirmities, Christ's restorings; thy guilt,\nChrist's new applications of his blood; thy\nfailings, Christ's assistance; thy wants,\nChrist's fulness; thy temptations, Christ's\ntenderness; thy vileness, Christ's righteousness.\n\nBlessed soul! whom Christ shall find,\nnot having on his own righteousness, Phil.\niii. 9. but having his robes washed, and\nmade white in the blood of the Lamb,\nRev. vii. 14.\n\nWoeful, miserable professor! who hast\nnot the gospel within. Rest not on the\njudgment of thy fellow-creatures. Thou\nmayest be applauded by them, and cast\naway in Christ's day of trial. Thou mayest\ncome to baptism, and never ' come to\nJesus and the blood of sprinkling,' Heb.\nxii. 24. Whatever workings or attainments are short of Christ's blood, merits,\nrighteousness, (the main object of the gospel,) fall short of the gospel, and leave the\nsoul in a condition of doubtings and questionings. And doubtings, (if not looked\ninto betimes,) will turn to a slightness of\nspirit, one of the most dangerous frames.\n\nTrifle not with ordinances. Be much\nin meditation and prayer. Be constant\nand diligent in hearing Christ's word. We\nhave need of doctrine, reproof, exhortation,\nconsolation, as the tender herbs and the grass hath of the rain, the dew, the small\nrain, and the showers, Deut. xxxii. 2.-\nDo all thou doest as soul-work unto Christ,\nZech. vii. 5, 6. as immediately dealing\nwith Christ Jesus, as if he were looking\non thee, and thou on him, and fetch all\nthy strength from him.\n\nObserve what holy motions you find in\nyour soul to duties. Prize the least good\nthought thou hast of Christ, the least good\nword thou speakest of him sincerely from\nthe heart. Rich mercy; O, bless God\nfor it! Observe, if every day you have\nthe day-spring from on high, with his\nmorning-dews of mourning for sin, constantly visiting thee, Luke i. 78. Have\nyou the bright morning-star, with fresh\ninfluences of grace and peace, constantly\narising, Rev. xxii. 16. and Christ sweetly\ngreeting the soul in all duties?-Whatever\nduty makes not more spiritual, will make\nmore carnal; what doth not quicken and\nhumble will deaden and harden.\n\nJudas may have the soup, the outward\nprivileges of baptism, and the Supper of\nthe Lord; but John leaned on Christ's\nbosom. That is the gospel ordinance posture, in which we should pray and hear,\nand likewise perform all duties. Nothing\nbut lying in that bosom will dissolve hardness of heart, and make thee to mourn\nkindly for sin, and cure a careless spirit, that gangrene in profession. That will\nhumble indeed, and make the soul cordial\nto Christ, and sin vile to the soul, yea\ntransform it into the glory of Christ.-\nNever think thou art right as thou shouldst\nbe, a Christian of any attainment, until\nthou come to this,-always to see and feel\nthyself lying in the bosom of Christ, 'who\nis in the bosom of the Father.' Come,\nand move the Father, for near views of\nChrist, and you will be sure to speed.-\nYou can come with no request that pleaseth him better. He gave him out of his\nown bosom for that very end, to be held\nup before the eyes of all sinners, as the\neverlasting monument of his Father's love.\n\nLooking at the natural sun weakeneth\nthe eye. The more you look at Christ,\nthe Sun of Righteousness, the stronger\nand clearer will the eye of faith be. Look\nbut at Christ, you will love him, and live\non him. Think on him continually:-\nkeep the eye constantly upon Christ's\nblood, or every blast of temptation will\nshake you. If you would see sin's sinfulness to loath it, and mourn, do not stand\nlooking upon sin, but look upon Christ\nfirst, as suffering and satisfying. If you\nwould see your graces, your sanctification,\ndon't stand gazing upon them; but look\nat Christ's righteousness in the first place\n-see the Son, and you see all-Look at\nyour graces in the second place. In believing, what you first look at you\nexpect stability from, and make the foundation of your hope. Go to Christ, in\nsight of thy misery, not of thy grace and\nholiness. Have nothing to do with graces\nand sanctification-they will but veil\nChrist-till thou hast seen Him first.-\nHe that looks upon Christ through his\nown graces, is like one that sees the sun\nin water,- which wavereth and moves as\nshe water doth.- Look upon Christ only\nas shining in the firmament of the Father's\nlove and grace:-then you will see him in\nhis own glory, which is unspeakable.\n\nPride and unbelief will put you upon\nseeing somewhat in yourself first; but faith\nwill have to do with none but Christ, who\nis inexpressibly glorious, and must swallow up thy sanctification as well as thy\nsin; for God made him both for us, and we\nmust make him both, 1 Cor. i. 30. He\nthat sets up his sanctification to look at\nfor comfort, sets up a great idol, which\nwill but strengthen his doubts and fears.\nDo but look off from Christ, and presently, like Peter, you sink in doubts.\n\nA Christian never wants comfort, but\nby breaking the order and method of the\ngospel, looking on his own, and looking\noff from Christ's perfect righteousness,\nwhich is to chuse rather to live by candle\nlight than by the light of the sun. The honey that you suck from your own righteousness, will turn into perfect gall; and\nthe light that you take from that to walk\nin, will turn into black night on the soul.\nSatan is tempting thee, by putting thee to\nplod about thy own grace, to get comfort\nfrom it. There the Father comes, and\npoints thee to Christ's grace, (as rich, glorious, and infinitely pleasing to him,) and\nbiddest thee study Christ's righteousness.\nHic biddings are enablings,- a blessed\npower - a sweet whisper, checking thine\nunbelief. Follow the least hint; close\nwith much prayer; prize it as an invaluable jewel; it is an earnest of more to come.\n\nThou who hast seen Christ all, and thyself absolutely nothing, who makest Christ\nall thy life, and art dead to all righteousness besides; thou art the Christian, one\nhighly beloved, who hath found favour\nwith God, a favourite of heaven. Do\nChrist this one favour for all his love to\nthee, love his poor saints and people, (the\nmeanest, the weakest, notwithstanding\nany difference in judgment,) they are engraven on his heart, as the names of the\nchildren of Israel on Aaron's breast-plate,\nExod. xxviii. 21. Let them be so on\nthine. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem,\nthey shall prosper that love thee,' Psalm\ncxxii. 6.\n\nFINIS.\n\nThis work was published before January 1, 1931, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.\n\nPublic domainPublic domainfalsefalse","title":"Christ is all","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":5137}