Christ In Us (2)

(3) Where Christ is, he rules; for he takes the keys of the house and governs all. Where he is in the heart and affections-there he rules; and where he takes not his lodging in the affections and in the heart, in the joy, desire, and delight, he is not at all. To have him in the brain to talk, and in the tongue to discourse, and yet to keep the heart filled with worldly lusts, shows that Christ does not reside there. By heart, I mean, especially, the will and the affections. He draws the will to cleave to him, to choose him for the best good.
(4) Where Christ is in the heart by faith, and he takes up the affections, there is a low esteem of all the excellencies of this world. Moses did but see from afar the excellency that came by Christ, and he accounted all the pleasures of this world to be nothing (Heb. 11:27). Paul accounted all but dung and dross (Phil. 3:8); having in his heart and soul an admiration of the all-sufficiency and excellency of Christ. As soon as Christ came into his house, Zacchaeus grew generous, 'Half my goods I give to the poor' (Luke 19:8). Before he loved extortion and low courses, but now down they go, he will be an oppressor no longer. However busy the disciples were before, once Christ opened their eyes to see the excellency that was in him, away goes all their previous undertakings, that they might follow Christ. It is impossible for the heart that entertains our blessed Saviour to have an over-abundant admiration for any earthly excellency. For it is the nature of the soul, upon the discovery of better things, to let the estimation of other things of less value fall away. Children, when they come to be adults, outgrow their childish toys. So it is with a man who is converted. When Christ enters and opens the understanding and enlarges the heart to see and admire better things, immediately that heart begins to care nothing for this world in comparison.

Devotional Readings taken from Puritan Richard Sibbes 'Refreshment for the Soul.'
The Matchless Love and Inbeing, Works, vol. 6, pp. 403-04
Banner of Truth has granted permission for the use of this material.