and vigorous action, in which to know and to love, to do and to enjoy, will form a combination of dignity, glory, and happiness transcending every earthly conception. All this, also, will expand, and rise, and improve for ever.

From these observations may be conjectured, very imperfectly indeed, some of the things which Christ will do hereaf ter for the objects of his love. All that I have alluded to, the attributes, the energy, the activity, the success, and the consequent enjoyment he will give, and will give with a liberality suited with the love with which he hung upon the cross.

II. These observations teach us the earnestness with which we should labour to glorify our Redeemer.

Think for a moment of what Christ has done for us. What is there, of a desirable nature which he has not done? Look at the body, the soul, and the exterior circumstances, of yourselves, and of every thing which is hopeful or comfortable in either, and you will be compelled to say, "This is the gift "of Christ." Look at sin and sorrow, at death and hell, and you will be obliged to say, My deliverance from these incomprehensible evils Christ purchased with his own blood." Draw the curtains of eternity, and while overpowered by the splendours of immortal life, you will be forced to exclaim, "These, also, are the good and perfect gifts of the same glo"rious person.

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How evidently is all which we can do to retribute this mighty benefactor, nothing, less than nothing, and vanity? Even this, although done in obedience to his pleasure, is, in the proper sense, in no wise profitable to him. He is not served as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth unto all life, and breath, and all things. Though Israel, though we should not be gathered, yet will he be glorious in the eyes of Jehovah. Should we serve him to the uttermost of our power, the only good which he will gain, will be that which a virtuous parent enjoys in the character and behaviour of a dutiful child, formed to excellence by his own care, labour, and expense; the pleasure of seeing that child virtuous and lovely! Of what materials must the child be composed, who

SER. 16. would not exert all his faculties to give this pleasure to his parent? What must be the spirit of that man, who would not labour with all his powers thus to requite his Redeemer ? Do you inquire what you shall do to accomplish this divine purpose? You cannot doubt, that he who died to expiate sin, must be earnestly desirous that you should hate your own sins; that you should mourn for them; that you should forsake them; that you should watch against temptation; that you should abstain even from the appearance of evil; that you should mortify those passions and appetites which so frequently betray you into iniquity; that you should resist those enemies to him and yourselves, whose only employment it is to seduce you from your duty. He, who came from heaven in the character of a Saviour, and has done all the things mentioned in these discourses to accomplish this salvation; He, who has in this manner infinitely merited your highest confidence, cannot but be pleased to see you confide in his righteousness, his intercession, his government, and his promises. He, who has laboured and suffered without a parallel to reestablish holiness in your minds, must be delighted to see this glorious end accomplished; to see you assume, improve, and brighten this beauty of the mind, this divine excellence, this image of himself. How obviously will the gain of all these things be yours alone.

III. These considerations forcibly impress upon us the duty of loving one another.

This is the very inference of St. John from the great subject of the present discourse. "Beloved," says that amiable Apostle, "if God so loved us, we ought also to love one "another."

When a Christian looks round on his fellow Christians, he sees those for whom Christ died; those, who are united to himself in the same faith, and the same covenant; who are members of the same delightful family; who are fellow travellers towards heaven; who will be for ever united with him in the friendship of that happy world; who are to share together in its immortal enjoyments; who are loved by Christ with

a love which admits no limits, and which will know no end. Shall not these persons love each other with an intense, unchanging, and everlasting love? How obviously are Christians bound and compelled by this great argument laboriously to promote each other's welfare in all their progress through this vale of tears?

The good offices which Christians are thus required to render to each other, are all pointed out to them, and enforced on their consciences, and on their hearts, by the example of Christ. He fed the hungry; healed the sick; released the prisoner; comforted the sorrowful; instructed, reproved, warned, and edified his followers; prayed for them earnestly and continually; set before them an example, blameless and harmless, and without rebuke, and universally helped them onward towards eternal life. These are the very things which he requires Christians to do to each other, and in these he exhibited, while in the world, and in the Gospel still exhibits to his faithful followers his unspeakable love. Here we behold, as in a glass, the glory of the Lord. How desirable is it, that we should be changed into the same image, and raised from excellence to excellence, and from glory to glory by the Spirit of the Lord ?

Christians have innumerable wants which their fellow Christians are to supply, and many sufferings which their fellow Christians are to relieve. They are poor, and need food and raiment, fuel, beds, and houses. They are sick, and need medicine, attendance, nurses and physicians. They are in distress, and need relief. They are in sorrow, and need consolation. They are perplexed, and need to have their doubts removed. They are desponding, and powerfully claim to be cheered with hope. Their ignorance calls irresistibly for instruction, their afflictions for sympathy, and their dangers for deliverance. They are slothful, and must be quickened. They are diffident, and must be encouraged. They love the world, and must be withdrawn from it. They are lukewarm, and must be animated. They backslide, and must be recalled to their duty.

What a field is here spread before the Christian for the ex

Christ came to accomplish, the conversion of sinners. "Breth66 ren," says St. James," if any of you do err from the truth "and one convert him, let him know, that he who converteth "a sinner from the error of his way, shall save a soul from "death, and shall hide a multitude of sins." Who would not willingly labour in such an employment as this?

David, contemplating the greatness and all-sufficiency of God, and his own absolute insufficiency, and moved at the same time by an ardent spirit of piety and beneficence, exclaimed, "My goodness," that is, my kindness, "extendeth not to "thee, but to the saints that are in the earth, and the excellent, "in whom is all my delight." This eminent saint, under the influence of all his piety, and directed by inspiration itself, perceived that the important attribute of kindness, forming so great a part of the sanctified character, could not reach heaven, but was to find its objects on earth. Christ has taught us, that these objects are all men. This he has taught in his instructions and in his example, and in both with the most vivid language, and the most constraining motives. To find these very objects he came from heaven. To teach this duty, and exert this beneficence, he preached the Gospel, wrought his glorious miracles, and ascended the cross. In his miracles. and in his preaching, in his life and in his death, he calls with infinite authority, and unlimited persuasion to every one of his followers, "Go thou, and do likewise."

"I know that there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice, and to do good in his life."

THE word them in this verse appears to refer to the works spoken of in the preceding verse: the works of creation, or the creatures, which God maketh from the beginning to the end. In these it is said, "there is no good, but for a man to "rejoice, and to do good in his life." The joy which is here spoken of is unquestionably joy in God, his works and his designs, sufficiently explained in Jeremiah ix. 23, 24. "Thus saith "the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither "let the mighty man glory in his might; let not the rich man "glory in his riches: but let him that glorieth glory in this, "that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord, "which exercise loving-kindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the "Lord."

To do good may denote,

1. To promote our own happiness.

2. To promote the happiness of our fellow-men.

3. To glorify our Creator, and to advance the prosperity of his kingdom.