Secondly, obedience. He was the ten commandments imbodied, and alive, walking up and down the earth for three-and-thirty years -"I delight," said he, "to do thy will, yea, thy law is within my heart." 66 My meat is to do the will of him that sent me." And as his obedience was cheerful, so it was unvarying. "He that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him." He relaxed not when the divine pleasure required him to agonize in the garden, and die upon the cross. And therefore he said as he was closely moving towards them: "That the world may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go hence." He was sensible to the suffering, but he turned not away his back he said, "Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me:" but he prayed, " nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done." Well therefore could he say at last, "I have glorified thee on the earth, I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do."

Thirdly, the devoting himself to die for the recovery of sinners. "As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep. Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again." It was an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour. God has no pleasure in the destruction of the wicked. He delighteth in mercy. He loves to see us relieving the needy, and visiting the fatherless and the widows in their affliction. He is still more pleased to see us reclaiming the vicious, aud saving souls from death: and he tells us that they who turn many to righteousness shall shine like stars for ever and ever. How then did the Father of mercies, the God of all grace, regard him who, self-moved, without our desert or desire, interposed to redeem a guilty world from the curse of the law; and gave himself a ransom for all! "The Father loveth the Son"

66

And can we want proof of this? What may we not bring for ward as an evidence of it? Witness his expressions. At his transfiguration a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is my beloved Son; hear ye him." At his baptism a voice from heaven said, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Yea, ages before he said, by his holy prophet, "Behold my servant whom I uphold; mine elect in whom my soul delighteth." Witness all the arrangements he made previously to his birth. All had a designed reference to him. If a succession of prophets was raised up, it was for his sake. "To him gave all the prophets witness ;" and the testimony of Jesus was the spui of pronhery." If an economy of numberless sacrifices and ceremonies was established, it was 101 his sake-every thing prefigured him: "the law was a shadow of good things to come, of which the body was Christ." If revolutions convulsed the world or the Church it was for his sake-"I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land, and I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come, and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord." All the dispensations of providence and grace, like so many streams flowed into this confluence, and made his appearance the fulness of time. Witness the supernatural attestations by which he was honoured. In his birth, in his life, in his death, in his resurrection, he "was approved

of God by miracles, and wonders, and signs." Witness the intimate revelations made him, and by which, though he never learned letters, he surpassed all the human race, and had in him all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. "For the Father loveth the Son, and showeth him all things that himself doeth and he will show him greater works than these, that ye may marvel." Witness God's appointment that all blessings should come to us through him, and that we should always implore them for his sake and in his name. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you." In your applications remind him of me, and he will never deny you. "Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full." Witness the exaltations to which he has advanced him, and the treasures he has conferred upon him. He has "crowned him with glory and honour;" and "set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come. For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son: that all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him." "The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand."

Let us then love him, and be followers of God as dear children. He cannot lead us astray; and we must walk in the light as he is in the light. How blind must we be to see no comeliness or beauty in One whom he values infinitely more than the universe! How depraved must we be to feel indifferent to a Being possessed of such greatness and goodness, and who has done and suffered so much for us! What wonder the Apostle should say, "If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha." But if I loved him, should I not think of him? should I not speak of him? should I not love to hold communion with him? should I not love to please and serve him?

JULY 25.-"He exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord."-Acts xi. 23.

THOUGH Barnabas was the son of consolation, he not only aimed to comfort his hearers, but could say, "I beseech you, brethren, suffer the word of exhortation." He had seen the grace of God in the Christians at Antioch, and was glad. But he knew that it was not enough to begin well. The end proves and crowns all: he only that endureth to the end the same shall be saved. But if any draw back, God's love shall have no pleasure in him. He believed in the stability of the everlasting covenant, and was confident that he who had begun a good work in them would perform it until the day of Jesus Christ; but he knew how to apply his own principles. He knew that the appointment of the end ensured the use of the means, and as much precluded a diversion from the one as the failure of the other. He knew also that those who cannot apostatize may backslide. On every ground he knew warnings and admonitions to be proper, useful, and necessary; and therefore he exhorted them

Observe the aim of the exhortation-He exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord. With the first preachers of the Gospel he was all in all: and the subject of all their practical addresses therefore was, "As ye have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so continue to walk in him." "Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of faith." They knew that he alone was equal to all their exigencies, and that their religion prospered only as they maintained an habitual and supreme regard to him. Had we heard Barnabas explaining his admonition, we should have found him urging the brethren to adhere to him-as their teacher, who should lead them into all truth; as their Saviour, whose blood cleansed them from all sin, and whose righteousness justified them before God, and gave them access with confidence; as their helper in every duty and conflict, without whom they could do nothing, and through whose strength they could do all things; as their comforter, the consolation of Israel, the man who is the peace when the Assyrian cometh into the land; as their example, whose life was to be made manifest in their mortal bodies; and as their master, who had every claim upon them, having bought them with a price, and rescued them from their enemies, and to whom, as their rightful owner, they had given themselves, body, soul, and spirit.

Observe the nature of the exhortation-He exhorted them all that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord. Religion is a poor business unless the heart be in it. God therefore demands it: My son, give me thine heart. If this be not given, nothing else will be given, unless reluctantly, and therefore unacceptably. But every thing will follow the heart; and where there is first a willing mind, and a concern to please, imperfections in manner will be overlooked in the motive; and if the deed be hindered, it will be accepted according to what a man hath, and not according to what he hath not. Yet there is much truth in the proverb, Where there is a will there is a way. Nothing often is wanting as to efficiency but resolution; and a fulness of resolution is most likely to arise from a fulness of inclination. Love gives ardour and boldness; love is strong as death; many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it. While the slothful sees thorns; and the coward cries, There is a lion in the way, I shall be slain in the streets; purpose of heart, founded not in our own strength, but in the strength of the Lord (and in a Christian it is always so founded), clears away difficulties, or is roused by them into greater vigour and strenuousness.

Observe also the extent of the exhortation-He exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the LordNot only the young, but the old: not only those who were just entering a religious course, but those who had been walking in it: not only the weak and the wavering in the faith, but the strong and established. Who is secure from temptation? Who is entitled to live without caution? None must put off his armour till he bas quitted the field. If any one thinks the admonition unnecessary with regard to him, he is the individual who wants it most. Á haughty spirit goes before a fall. Be not high-minded, but fear.

JULY 26.-"God is glorified in him."-John xiii. 31.

To glorify is taken two ways in the Scripture. It sometimes signifies to confer glory on a being destitute of it before-In this sense God glorifies us. At other times it intends acknowledging or displaying the glory of one already possessed of it-and thus God is said to be glorified. And there is no other way in which he can be glorified. As to his essential excellency, it admits of no addition, being infinite: but it allows of manifestation.

And thus the heavens declare the glory of God; and all his works praise him. But he has magnified his word above all his name; and of the work of creation compared with the work of redemption we may say, "even that which was made glorious hath no glory by reason of the glory that excelleth." In every Christian God is glorified, both passively and actively. He even calls his people his glory: "I have placed salvation in Zion for Israel my glory." But the light of the knowledge of his glory is chiefly seen in the face of Jesus Christ. There we behold the brightness of his glory-the express image of his person. "No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him." And how has he declared him? Not only by his character, and life, and teaching, and doctrine, but especially in his sufferings and death; and in them not only by the graces which they displayed, but the principles they implied, and the purposes they accomplished.

To these he here refers; and therefore in his last prayer he said, "I have glorified thee on the earth, I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do;" thus intimating the connexion there was between these, and showing that the one resulted from the otherhe glorified God by the work he accomplished when he expired on the cross. And truly never was the glory of God so displayed as in this event: and therefore it was typified from the foundation of the world; and therefore the whole Gospel is called the preaching of the cross; and therefore an ordinance is established to show it forth; and therefore the praises of the heavenly state regard the Lamb as worthy, because he was slain; and therefore the angels desire to look into these things, as discovering more of the perfections of deity than is to be seen in nature or providence. The law of God was more magnified and made honourable in the precept and penalty by his obedience and sacrifice, than it would have been by the obedience of all mankind, had they never sinned; and by their sufferings had they all perished. What a display of his wisdom was here! Think of the difficulties to be overcome! The oppositions to be harmonized! The immense interests to be secured! Well does the Apostle speak of the manifold wisdom of God: and of His abounding towards us in all wisdom and prudence. What a display have we here of His holiness and justice! Without shedding of blood there could be no remission. Rather than that sin should go unpunished, he required a surety, and was pleased to bruise him, and put him to grief, and make his soul an offering for sin; thus declaring his righteousness, that he might be just, and the justifier of the ungodly that believeth in Jesus. What a display have we here of his power, in preparing a body for him in raising him up from the grave, and

giving him glory; and in the renovation and resurrection of all his followers! Paul therefore prays that we may know "what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heaven.y places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: and hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the Church." What a display have we here of his truth and faithfulness, in fulfilling the assurance given in Paradise four thousand years before, and bringing forth the seed of the woman according to the time, the place, the nation, the tribe, the family, the individual, foretold! This is the theme of Zechariah's song; "He hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David; as he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began to perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant; the oath which he sware to our father Abraham." But above all, "herein is love." Here "God hath commended his love towards us, in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us." Every view of this dispensation shows the exceeding riches of his grace, and justifies the all-encouraging conclusion; "He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" Here I see that love is not only his attribute-but his characterhis nature. "God is love."

What wonder the Christian should say, "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ." He not only derives relief from it, but delight. He is sometimes carried away in his contemplations, till he is enraptured and inspired with the subject, even in this vale of tears, and in this body of death! What will be his views of it, when that which is perfect shall come, and that which is in part shall be done away!

"For ever his dear sacred name

Thall dwell upon our tongue;
And Jesus and salvation be
The close of every song."

JULY 27.-"Thou shalt have treasure in heaven."-Mark x. 21.

We shall not enlarge on the excellency and security of such treasure; but only inquire what is our relation to it, and whether this assurance can be claimed by us. Now there are four classes of persons, under which every individual before God may be comprehended.

There are some who have no treasure either in heaven or earth. They are spiritually and corporeally poor: poor for eternity, and poor for time: in this world they have only a vale of tears; and in another, "lamentation, and mourning, and wo."

You cannot

suppose, unless you imagine the preacher a barbarian, that he can say this without feeling. But he may feel, and yet be faithful; and how indeed could he express his concern for your welfare if he were to allow you to remain under a delusion the most dangerous?