8/12/2019 1997 Issue 7 - What Think Ye of Christ? - Counsel of
Chalcedon
1/2
the
sacred Scriptures is to
lead
us
into the knowledge
of
Christ.
Therein his person, his
characters, his works
,
his
authority,
etc, are de
scribed
with exactness, as a matter of
the utmost importance.
His
qodhead
is
therein
unequivocally affirmed
. Isa.
9:6
1
liv.
5.
John
1
1
1
10:30.
Rom , 9:5. Heb. 1:8. I John
5:20. Divine
honours are
demanded as his
due. John
5:23
. His
assumption of
those ministers who do 11.ot
follow
their
example
. Cor
4:5.
I Cor. 1 :22, 2:2.
Can we
suppose
that qo
would
take
such constant
care,
both
by the Scriptures
and
through
the medium of the
gospel
ministJy,
to give
a just
and clear representation of
Christ,
if just conceptions
of
him
were not of the utmost
importanc
el
2. Of
such
importance
are
just thoughts of Christ,
When Christ
made his
appearanc
e on earth,
the
opinions of men respecting his
person and character were
various.
The
sam
e
diversify of
sentiment still
prevails even
among those who profess to be
Christians,
Some
imagine that
he was
the
most
exalted
character
among me
n, but
nothing more than human.
Others suppose that in dignify
of
nature
, and
priorify of
existence,
he is
inconceivably
superior both
to men and
_
that without them we
angels,
a
kind of inferior
.
, ,.,. .,
,.
,
,
. .. ;,
.
.' , ,* . ;
q il
Deity. Others again WhatThink
Ye
of
I
cannot form a just
conc
eption of
qod.
The
perfectiOns of qo are
indeed,
in a measure,
displayed
in the works
of
believe
that
he
is
;;
Christ
;
independently possessed ii
f
th
t
al
i
,
...
, ,
".,
,
: ~ , . : . , . .1 : . : : - ; : < : ; x ; ~ : : : ; : : ~ .
: : : . : : ~ : : : : ~ ; m : : l ; ) - ; : : : : : : : : : : : : :
: : ' ~ : : : . ~ : : : : : : . y .: ..: ,., ' ,.
.
perfections of qodhead,
co-equal with the Fathel;
As
these
sentiments are
so
directly opposite to each other,
some of
them
must, doubtless,
be
false . Many
suppose it is
comparatively
indifferent
which of
them
we
embrace,
and that
if
we should
inadvertently entertain
an
erroneous
ide
a.
on
this
subject,
qod w ll consider it as an
innocent mistake. The
design
of this
tract is
to
guard against
that spirit of indifference
which
engenders the
dangerous
delusion,
and to
show that just thoughts
of
Christ are of
the utmost
importance.
1.
The manifest
care
qod
has taken
to
give
a clear
and
just
representation of
Christ
is
one
confirmation
of
the
fact.
The principal
design
of qod in
human nature is expressly
declared,
whereby
he became
and continues
to be qod
and
man
in
one person.
John 1:
14
.
Phil.
2:5ff.
Heb. 2:14ff. With
equal plainness it
is asserted,
that this qod-man
is
the
only
Mediator and Savioul; ITim
2:5. John 14:6. Acts
4:12.
I
COI;3
:
11
. Now as qod
has
taken
care,
in the Scriptures, to
gi
ve
the
most
dear and express
revelation
of Christ, so he
most solemnly charges his
ministers to preach
Christ,
to
unfold the dignity of his
person, the completeness
of
his
work, the fulness of his grace,
etc.
as the
grand
design of
their
ministry. Eph.
3:8,
The
apostles, who spoke under the
immediate
influence
of
the
Holy qhost, closely
adhered
to
their charge, and woe
to
creation
and providencel but
it
is in the person and work of
Christ alone that we can have
a discovery
of
the nature, the
purposes,
the
covenant
characters of qod, as
he stands
relat
ed
to sinners.
John 1 :18.
He is therefore called the
image of qod, or that whereby
qo is
represented unto
us,
and
every
other representation
is insufficient
. t
is
in the face
of Christ, in his person and
work,
that the glory of qod s
wisdom, his justice,
his
goodness,
his grace
is
discovered. COl; 4:
6.
Wrong
views of Christ will therefore
lead us to wrong
ideas
of qod.
The truth
of
this
remark is
exemplified
in those who differ
in their thoughts of Christ.
As
a natural
conseq lence
they
differ
likewise in
their thoughts
of
qod.
Those
who have
low
August, 1997 'i' THE COUNSEL ofChalcedon 'i' 21
8/12/2019 1997 Issue 7 - What Think Ye of Christ? - Counsel of
Chalcedon
2/2
conceptions
of
the
person and
work of Christ, are thereby led
to form low and unscriptural
ideas of the strictness of qod s
justice,
and
lhe
riches of
his
grace
.
If
then,
ollr
thoughts (If
Christ have a necessal)
influence on
our ideas of
qod
which experience
proves
to be
a faef, surely just
conceptions
of Christ are vel) important.
3. Besides, our prevailing
sentiments of
Christ
will
necessarily influence and
regulate our deportment
towards him. Do not
different
persons
act vel) differently
with
respect
to
Christl
Some
pay him divine adoration;
depend
oil him exclusively for
salvation;
love
him as the
chief
object
of their desire and
delight; and submit to
his
authority as SUpreme. Others
pursue an opposite
line
of
conduct. What can be
the
reason
of the differencel ;
It is
.
because
they
have
different
thoughts of
h r i s t ~
If we
believe
him
to be qo over
all,
we shall
feel it
our
duty
to
worship him
as
such. Ifwe
conceive
him to be
the alone
and l l ~ s u f f i c i e n t
SaViour,
we
shall
exclusively
depend
on
him.
If
we esteem him as , ....
supremely amiable, we shall
love him supremely. If we
admit him
to
be
our rightful
sovereign,
we shall yield
cordial and unfeigned
obedience
to
him.
if our
thoughts be different, our
conduct
will be different
likewise. If propriety of .
deportmentto Christ
be
.
important, (and it must be improper
thoughts
of Christ
inconceivably so,) .then just
produce
a proportionate
thoughts of him are important. .
impropriety
of deportment
4. So important are just . towards him, what
can
the
. conceptions of Christ, that end of this be but ruin I Not
wrong
vieWS of his person and belieVing him to be qod, you
offices
if persisted in, will will not
give
him divine
ineVitably issue in etemal honours, the refusal of which
perdition. This,
perhaps,
may is ruinous. John 8:24.
lsa
.
sound harsh and
awful;
but
it
45:23,24. Psa.
2:12.
Not
is
not more awful than true. thinking him to
be
the all-
John 8:24. If proper sufficient Saviour, you will not
knowledge of Christ be etemal
depend
exclusively
upon
him
, life, which is declared,
John
for
salvation;
ilnd this
is
17:3, then we may infer that
threatened
with damnation.
the want of
it
is eternal death. John 3:18, 36. Not
esteeming
The vast importance of
the
him supremely amiable, you
question in dispute,
when will not
love
him
supremely,
seriously
considered,
will and
those
who
do not are
justify
the alarming idea. Ifhe marked
objects
of the heaViest
were,
confessedly,
only
a curse. ICor. 16:22. Not
creature, and
the
dispute were admitting
him
to
be your
only
r e s p e d i ~ g his scale
of
rightful
Sovereign, you will
dignity as a
creature,
a mistake refuse
obedience
to him, and
herein would be
comparatively
the
certain
wages
of
this
of light
importance:
but when stubbornness is destruction.
the
matter
debated is,
whether Luke 19:27.
he
be
the vel) qod,
or only
a
creature made
by
qod,
then
the nature
of
the
question
is
materially altered. A mistake
in the matterthen necessarily
invQlvesus, either n
idoIatJY
on the one hand, or a del1ial of
the
tnJe
qod
on the
other.
.If
Christ
be
qod, it must
be as
ruinoUS to deny it, as to
deny
the qodhead of
the
Father; if
he
be
not
it
is
idolatrous
to
profess
it.
n
attention to the
leading
idea, under the
former
particular, must convince
us,
that
s
wide a mistake
in
our
conceptions
of Christ will
prove inevitably
ruinous:
fQr if
You see
then,
reader,
with
what propriety the apostle
coveted
and
prized
the
knowledge
of
Christ. Phil.
3:7ff. Follow
his example.
Think
much
of
Christ;
and
especially
desire
that you may
have
just thoughts
of him: just,
as to the matter of
them,
viz.
.
scriptural thoughts;
and just,
as
to
their nature and
properties;
believing, humbling,
affectionate, transforming,
aspiring
thoughts. To
this
end,
look to
the Spirit
of qod,
whose office it is to
take
the
thingsQf Christ and show
them to
men.
n
'
THE CQUNSELof( ;halcedon August, 1997
