It would not deprive any one of them either of the necessaries or of the luxuries of life, or of anything that contributes to comfort, honour, or sensitive enjoyment. It is now high time that the sincerity of a profession of Christianity should be tried by the test of pounds, shillings, and dollars. We have beheld numerous instances of ministers and others aspiring after the highest stations and largest salaries, in order to increase their incomes. Let us now see what sacrifices they will make of the wealth which God has given them for the purpose of promoting his glory in the world. Let us see whether God or Mammon, whether the promotion of the best interests of mankind, or "the lust of the flesh and the pride of life," rule supreme in their hearts. That man who refuses to come forward with his wealth, when it is proved to be requisite for the purposes alluded to, ought not to assume the name of a Christian. He has never felt the influence of that divine maxim of our Saviour, "It is more blessed to give than to receive." He virtually declares that "laying up treasures on earth," providing fortunes for his family, keeping up a certain rank in society, and living in luxurious abundance, are matters of far greater importance than the approach of the Millennium, and the regeneration of the world. If a man is in doubt with respect to the existence of religious principle in his soul, I know not a better test than this, by which to try the sincerity of his Christian profession is he willing, at the call of God, to give up a portion of his possessions to his service, and even to "forsake all" to prove himself "a follower of Christ?" There is a certain class of religionists who are continually whining about the low state of religion, and the wickedness that prevails among all ranks and there is another class, who are frequently talking about the calculations that have been made respecting the predicted period of the "latter-day glory;" but when you ask any of these classes to put their hands in their pockets, in order to supply means for improving society, and hastening the approach of that glory, they will rebound from you as the north poles of two magnets

:

rebound from each other, and will tell you, with an air of apathy and spiritual pride, "that the spirit is not yet poured out, that man can do nothing of himself, and that God's time is not yet come." If Christians were universally to act upon such views, the predicted glory of future ages would never be realized. "It is not for us to know the times and the seasons which the Father hath reserved in his own power,”but we know that it is our present duty to consecrate to the service of God, and the good of mankind, all the powers and faculties with which we are invested, all the energies we are capable of exerting, and all the treasures not essential to our comfort, to carry forward the building of the Spiritual Temple, and to "prepare the way of the Lord."

In short, it is now more than time that true Christians were rising above the false maxims of the world, the calculating spirit of commerce, the degrading views of the sons of avarice, and the pursuit of earthly honours and distinctions, and acting in conformity to the noble character by which they wish to be distinguished. Let them come forward in the face of the world, and declare by their conduct, and their noble generosity, that while they enjoy and relish the bounties of the Creator, they despise the vain pageantry of fashionable life, with all its baubles, and are determined to consecrate to rational and religious objects all the superfluities of wealth which have been hitherto devoted to luxury and pride. Every Christian hero should be distinguished in society (whether he be sneered at or applauded by the men of the world,) by his determined opposition to worldly principles and maxims by his abhorrence of avarice-by his active exertions in the cause of philanthropy-and by the liberal por tion of his substance which he devotes to the cause of education and religion; and the church ought to exclude from her pale all who refuse, in this way, to approve themselves the disciples of Jesus. Better have a church composed of a select band of a hundred "right hearted men," ardent, generous, and persevering, than a thousand lukewarm professors, who are scarcely distinguishable from the world, and

who attempt to serve both God and Mammon. Such a select band of Christian heroes, in different parts of the universal church, "shining as lights in the world, in the midst of a perverse generation," and exerting all their influence and power in counteracting ignorance and depravity, and promoting the diffusion of every branch of useful knowledge, would do more to prepare the way for the approach of the Millennium, than ten times the number of a mixed multitude of professing Christians, who are sunk into a state of apathy, and have little more of religion than the name. Their influence would be powerful in every circle in which they moved-they would make the rich professors of religion ashamed of their parsimony and their indolence-they would induce the lukewarm Christian either to come cheerfully forward with his wealth and influence, or give up the profession of religion altogether, and take his stand at once among the men of the world; and they would stimulate the young generation around them to consecrate the vigour of their lives to such holy activities.. They would doubtless be sneered at by the licentious, the avaricious, and the gay; and even by the proud and wealthy ecclesiastic, who has never imbibed the spirit of a Neff or an Oberlin; but every one who is conscious that "his witness is in Heaven, and his record on high, will look down with a becoming indifference on the scorn of such men, and hold on his way rejoicing.". "Who, then, is a wise man among us, and endowed with knowledge""to whom God hath given riches, and the power to use them ?"-let him come forward with his stores of knowledge, and his treasures of wealth, and dedicate them to the service of the Most High; and bring along with him a few more congenial minds to embark in the same undertaking, and great shall be his reward. "For they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever."

saith unto him, Yea, Lord, thou knowest He saith to him, Feed

that I love thec.

my lambs. He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my Sheep. He saith Jonas, lovest thou me? unto him, the third time, Simon, son of Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord thou knowest all things, thou knowest that I love thee. JOHN xxi. 15-17. He saith unto him, Feed my Sheep.

Two things are taught us in the text, first, that it is our duty to love Jesus Christ; and, secondly, that if we do love Christ, we ought to show our love by feeding his lambs, and feeding his sheep.

"He

1. We are taught by the text, in the first place, that it is our duty to love Jesus Christ. The same lesson is taught us in several other passages of the New Testament. In Matt. X., 37, 38, the Saviour says, that loveth father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me and he that loveth son or daughter more than me, is not worthy of me." The Apostle, in Eph. vi. 24, speaks of all true Christians as "those who love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity." So the Apostle Peter, in 1 Pet. i. 8, after speaking of the glory and sufferings of Christ, says, "Whom having not seen ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable, and full of glory." And on one occasion, 1 Cor. xvi. 22, the Apostle used these solemn words, "If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema maranatha."

The sacred Scriptures not only teach us that it is our duty to love Jesus Christ, but present to our minds the claims which he has upon our love. Christ is set forth in the Scriptures as every way worthy of our love, and as worthy of the highest love that we can render. Christ is entitled to our love, in the first place, on account of the excellence and glory of his character; and, in the second place, on account of what he has done for us, and the

gels. The angels are dignified and faithful ministers, but Christ is a son: the angels are honourable and loyal subjects, but Christ is a king the angels are among the first of creatures, but Christ is the creator and upholder of all things: "The brightness of his Father's glory, and the express image of his person. And when he bringeth his only begotten into the world, he saith, And let all the Angels of God worship him." There is, therefore, no one either in earth or in heaven that can be likened unto Christ. He stands alone he has " a name above every name;" a glory above every glory; a loveliness beyond all other loveliness: and it is appointed "that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, both of things in heaven and things an earth, and that every tongue should confess that he is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Whatever therefore is lovely in the highest, the holiest, the wisest, the mightiest, and the most honoured and favoured of creatures, whether in earth or in heaven, is to be found in Christ in fuller measures: and whatever may be the claims of the high and holy and glorified spirits of heaven to our admiration and affection, the claims of the Saviour are still higher.

But the Sacred Scriptures carry our views of the greatness and glory of the Saviour still higher. They surround him with the glories of the Godhead, and set him forth as having the same claims upon our affection and homage as God himself. It is, in fact, the doctrine of the Sacred Scriptures that Christ is God that Christ and God are one. Yes, it is the doctrine of the New Testament, that while Christ was truly man, he was, nevertheless, truly God. The man Christ Jesus was the tabernacle in which the Godhead dwelt. The words of the Evangelist John on this subject are so decisive and plain, that no ingenuity of man can explain them away. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things were made by him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and

we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." In the person of Jesus Christ, therefore, the Godhead and Manhood were united: Christ was "Emmanuel, which, being interpreted, is, God with us.' He was "God manifest in the flesh." "In him dwelt all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." The Redeemer himself knew that this was his character. He spoke in such a manner to the Jews as to leave them under the impression that he made himself equal with God. And on another occasion, he told them plainly; "I am in the Father, and the Father is in me: I and the Father are one." He told people that the words which he spoke, were the words of God: and that the works which he wrought, were the works of God. This doctrine of the divinity of Christ,-the doctrine that while Christ was man, he carried in his humanity the fulness of the Godhead,-that his humanity was the tabernacle in which the Godhead resided, and through which it shone forth and revealed its glory, is the doctrine of the whole New Testament. The Apostle Paul speaks of the Saviour as the "Image of God," as God manifest in the flesh," as being in the form of God, and thinking it no robbery to be equal with God:" and he declares that "by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things, says he, were created by him, and for him: and he is before all things, and by him all things consist." Col. i. 15-16,

66

Our obligations therefore to revere and love the Saviour are the same as our obligations to revere and love God himself. It is accordingly appointed that all men should honour the Son, "even as they honour the Father." God hath highly exalted him, and given him aname above every name, and it is ordained, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." The saints of heaven are represented as singing,

:

"Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen." "And I beheld," says John, "and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the living crcatures and the elders and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands: saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive pow er, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing. And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever. And the four living creatures said, Amen. And the four-and-twenty elders fell down and worshipped him that liveth for ever and ever." It is in Christ that we see the character of God revealed in all the fulness of its glory, and it is only in proportion as we love Christ, that we can be said truly to love the Father. His loveliness is the loveliness of God himself.

But the Scriptures call on us to contemplate the Redeemer in another light, and they present us with other claims which he has upon our affection. Christ was a man, a perfect man. He was made in the likeness of sinful flesh, he was made in all points like as we are, yet without sin,-he was subject to human affections and infirmities, he was born under the law, he was subject to temptation and pain, he had a human character, and human relationships,-he took upon himself the form of a servant, and in this light we would now call upon you to contemplate him. Viewed in this light, he still stands alone. There is a perfection and a loveliness about him, which can never be sufficiently admired, and which can never be sufficiently loved. There was not a stain upon his whole character. He did no sin, neither was any guile found in his mouth. His enemies laboured hard to find some fault in him, but their

They tried to

labour was in vain. catch him in his words, but they could not succeed.

It is true they laid many bad things to his charge, and some, who were decent people, were so perplexed by the wicked reports which were circulated respecting him by his enemies, that at times they scarce knew what to think of him: but his intimate and constant friends, who were witnesses of all he did, and to whom he revealed his whole soul, declared him to be holy, harmless, and undefiled, and separate from sin and sinners. The scribes and pharisees called him a sabbath-breaker, a seditious man, a blasphemer, a gluttonous man, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. They said he was in league with the devil; that he cast out devils by Beelzebub, the prince of devils they said he was possessed of a devil himself, and was mad, and as if nothing might be left unsaid that it was in the power of malice to invent and utter, they actually called him Beelzebub himself, the prince of devils. But it was all false: there was not a particle of truth in the whole. The simple fact was this, he was too good for them. The very reason why they abused him so was because he was so good. There were plenty of bad men in those days, but they let them pass. And they would have let the Saviour pass, if he could have been content to join their party, and be no better than themselves. But he could do no such thing. had come to declare the truth, and he declared it faithfully, and he enforced it by a spotless and perfect example; and this was what provoked their rage. He touched their selfimportance, he struck at the root of their earthly interests and honours, -he exposed their hypocrisy,-he trampled upon their traditions, he refused to acknowledge their authority, he had no selfishness, no bigotry, no intolerance about him, he was the friend of universal man, he thought better of a kind-hearted Samaritan, than of a cruel, selfish Jew,-in a word, he struck at the root of the power of his enemies, by giving the people right notions of God and of duty, and teaching them to think for themselves. They reproached him because he was faultless: they hated

Не