Christ Precious to Believers

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1 Peter 2:7-8

To you therefore which believe he is precious: but to them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed…

I. First, this is a positive fact, that UNTO BELIEVERS JESUS CHRIST IS PRECIOUS. In Himself He is of inestimable preciousness, for He is very God of very God. He is, moreover, perfect man without sin. The precious gopher wood of His humanity is overlaid with the pure gold of His Divinity. He is a mine of jewels and a mountain of gems. He is altogether lovely, but, alas! this blind world seeth not His beauty.

II. WHY IS CHRIST PRECIOUS TO THE BELIEVER?

1. Jesus Christ is precious to the believer because He is intrinsically precious. But here let me take you through an exercise in grammar; here is an adjective, let us go through it.

(1) Is He not good positively? Election is a good thing; but we are elect in Christ Jesus. Adoption is a good thing; but we are adopted in Christ Jesus and made joint heirs with Him. Pardon is a good thing; but we are pardoned through the precious blood of Jesus. And if all these be good, surely He must be good in whom, and by whom, and to whom, and through whom are all these precious things.

(2) But Christ is good comparatively. Bring anything and compare with Him. One of the brightest jewels we can have is liberty. If I be not free, let me die. Ay, but put liberty side by side with Christ, and I would wear the fetter for Christ and rejoice in the chain. Besides liberty, what a precious thing is life! "Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life." But let a true Christian once have the choice between life and Christ — "No," says he, "I can die, but I cannot deny."(3) And then to go higher still — Christ is good superlatively. The superlative of all things is heaven, and if it could be possible to put Christ in competition with heaven, the Christian would not stop a moment in his choice; he would sooner be on earth with Christ than be in heaven without Him.

2. Still, to answer this question again: Why is Christ precious to the believer more than to any other man? Why, it is the believer's want that makes Christ precious to him! The worldling does not care for Christ, because he has never hungered and thirsted after Him; but the Christian is athirst for Christ, his heart and his flesh pant after God. This is the one thing needful for me, and if I have it not, this thirst must destroy me. Mark, too, that the believer may be found in many aspects, and you will always find that his needs will endear Christ to him.

3. Look at the believer, not only in his wants, but in his highest earthly state. The believer is a man that was once blind and now sees. And what a precious thing is light to a man that sees! If I, as a believer, have an eye, how much I need the stun to shine! And when Christ gives sight to the blind He makes His people a seeing people. It is then that they find what a precious thing is the sight, and how pleasant a thing it is for a man to behold the sun. From the very fact that the Christian is a quickened man, he values the robe of righteousness that is put about him. The very newborn powers of the Christian would be very channels for misery if it were not for Christ. But, believer, how precious is Christ to thee in the hour of conviction of sin, when He says, "Thy sins, which are many, are all forgiven thee." How precious to thee in the hour of sickness, when He comes to thee and says, "I will make all thy bed in thy sickness." How precious to thee in the hour of trial, when He says, "All things work together for thy good." How precious when friends are buried, for He says, "I am the resurrection and the life." How precious in thy grey old age, "Even in old age I am with thee, and to hoary hairs will I carry you." How precious in the lone chamber of death, for "I will fear no evil, Thou art with me, Thy rod and Thy staff comfort me." But, last of all, how precious will Christ be when we see Him as He is! All we know of Christ here is as nothing compared with what we shall know hereafter.

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