Our Savior sent an epistle from heaven to the church of Ephesus, wherein he reproves her because she had left her first love, and threatens the removal of her candlestick, that he would take away her light, if she did not recover her love. By the same hand at the same time he sent another epistle to the church of Laodicea, wherein he reproves her lukewarmness, and threatens, because she was neither hot nor cold, he would spue her out of his mouth (Revelation 2:4-5; 3:15-16). And are Christians in England under no such sin, in no such danger? When some scoff at the flames of love to Christ, like dogs that bark at the moon so far above them; when the most nominal Christians are wholly strangers to this love, whatever their notional knowledge be; the former looking upon it as but a fancy, the latter having it only in the theory: and when among those Christians who love Christ in sincerity, there are so few that know what it is to love Christ with fervor and ardency: when there is so general a decay of love to Christ in the land, Lord what is like to become of England? Have we not provoked the Lord to take away our candlestick, to suffer the worse than Egyptian darkness to overspread us again, and cover our light, because it shines with such cold beams, because the light of knowledge in the head is accompanied with so little warmth of love to Christ in the hearts of most Christians? Every one will fetch water to quench fire in a general conflagration; and surely there is need in a day of such general decay of love to Christ, that some should fetch fire, fire from heaven, and use bellows too, arguments I mean, to enkindle and blow up the spark of love to Christ, which seems so ready to expire. Reader, the following discourse concerning the true Christian's love of the unseen Christ, is not finely spun, and curiously woven with neatnesses of wit and language; it is not flourished and set off with variety of metaphors, hyperboles, rhetorical elegancies, or poetical fancies and fragments; it is not adorned and fringed with the specious show of many marginal quotations, excerpted out of various authors; the discourse is plain, but the author has endeavored that it might be warm, his design being more to advance his Master than himself in your esteem; and if he has less of your praise, so his Lord may have more of your love, his great end is attained. The chief part of this discourse concerning the love of Christ is application, and about two thirds of it exhortation (there being generally in this knowing age more need of excitation than information) where you have variety of arguments and motives to stir up and provoke to the love of Christ, together with various directions how to attain this love in the truth and strength of it, and wherein the strength of love to Christ should evidence itself. There is also an appendix added for further encouragement to the love of Christ, concerning Christ's manifestation of himself to such as love him. The whole discourse is practical, nothing in it controversial; not only Protestants, but Papists too will verbally acknowledge the obligation which Christians have to love Christ, and none will oppose this that are true Christians, none but Turks, Infidels and Devils are professedly against it. That this little book may be blessed by the Lord to be a means to warm and inflame your heart with love to the unseen Christ, is the earnest prayer of
A hearty well-wisher to your soul. Thomas Vincent.
