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Untitled Article
instrumentality has a ^ mom , signal and marvellous change been effected in the moral condition of the most distant generations of mankind ? Was his gracious invitation , Come unto nie all ye that labour and are heavy laden ,, and I will give you rest , ' addressed to those only who heard the sound with their outward earsJL ^ Am . we less interested in the hopes and discoveries of the
gospel than those who were admitted to the privilege of his personal intercourse ? When he uttered the affecting words , Neither pray I for these alone ,, but for them also that shall believe on me through their word that they may all be one / had not we every one of us a personal interest in his prayers ? Is there any intelligible sense in which the first disciples can be said to have enjoyed advantages , or to have derived personal blessings from him , in
which we at this remote period do not equally participate ? Surely it is not to be contended , that while the privileges and hopes of Christians , the message of grace and truth made known to us in the gospel , the labours , sufferings , and death which he endured for us , are rib . grounds bf Idvie on our part tow ^ fid s ^ hte to whom ,
under God , we owe this unspeakable gift , the apostles , and Other personal disciples of our Lord-, might rationally indulge this warmer glow of attachment , merely because of the comparatively insignificant privilege of being able to remember his personal appearance , or the tones of his voice "; becaitse they had it to say that they had seen and handled the word of life .
Bat it may perhaps be said , that Christ was the messenger , the instrument , and that we must reserve our love , like our worship , for the Father , by whose direction he acted , and who is the great Author of every good and perfect gift . No doubt , every blessing we enjoy must be referred . ultimately to God , who has put it into the hearts of our kindest friends to serve us , and has furnished them with the powers both of body and of mind , whereby they
have been enabled to carry their benevolent intentions towards us into effect ; but is that any good reason why we should not also love and be grateful to our parents , instructors , and other humane benefactors ? If not , neither is it -any good reason for slighting as a fond and groundless illusion the love which the pious Christian feeis to Christ as the immediate instrument of the grace and mercy of God manifested towards him in the gospel .
It is impossible adequately to impress upon our minds the true extent and value of the blessings we derive from the gospel , until we have Tea nil ( if I may so express ** 0 * ° ^ i'dividtcaUze them ; until we have accustomed ourselves to say , not merely God so loved the world , but God so loved me , that he sent bis only begotten Son , &c ; not merely , Christ died for ( he ungodly , but Christ died for me . In short , as every man has an equal interest in these blessings and prospects , so every man , if he feels us he ought , will be impelled to cherish an affection of gratitude and love , not only towards God , but towards Christ , through whose
Untitled Article
302 ON LOVfi TO CHRIST " oKf ' bNlf AttlAN PRINCIPLES .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Oct. 1, 1833, page 302, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2623/page/14/
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