and sufferings, or to view his cross in any other light than as a stumbling block and foolishness.' Ignor ance and mistake on this point have occasioned some of the most fatal errors in religion. To magnify the gospel, as some have done, at the expense of the law, is to dishonor the Saviour and endanger the souls of men, If the law be unjust, there can be no crime in transgression-no grace in forgiyenss; and if so, the gospel, at best, is but, a cunningly devised fabel. The perfect Author of both on this supposi tion, must be at variance with himself, and his moral kingdom must contain the radical principles of its own dissolution.

God challenges the supreme, undivided love of creatures as his due. He will submit to no com promise with any rival. He will allow of no other God, before him' in the affections. He demands an unconditional surrender of the heart,-the whole heart to himself. The great design of the gospel is, not to invalidate but, to vindicate and enforce these holy claims. If the preceptive demands of God's law re quire not too much of creatures, its penalty cannot be abated in behalf of transgressors, without some. equivalent testimony of its perfection. An indiscriminate forgiveness of the guilty, without any ade.. quate satisfaction for their offences, would be want of benevolence.

A God all mercy, is a God unjust.'

If grace reign at all, consistently with the interests of the divine kingdom, it must reign through righteousness.' The Son of God came into the world to condemn rebellion against his Father's government, not to justify it: he came to establish and magnify the law, not to destroy it. Vain is the hope of indefinite and unconditional salvation to all men built on misapprehension of the atonement. Vain are all professions of love to Christ originating from the same source, Say what we will of our obligations to

the Redeemer, it is all empty talk if we do not feel that he came to deliver us from the just penalty of a righteous and violated law.

III. If we love Christ, we shall cordially approve of the doctrines which he taught.

Such are the eternal existence and infinite perfection of one supreme God, in three persons; his holy and immutable purposes; the unlimited extent and duration of his all-perfect, all-pervading and all-disposing providence; the awful depravity and perishing state of men by nature; the glorious fulness of the gospel atonement; the necessity of the supernatural, sanctifying agency of God's Spirit on the heart, of repentance, faith and evangelical holiness; the stability of the covenant of grace; the richness and perpetuity of its promises, and the endless state of bliss or misery, which will follow the great day of recompence. The friends of Christ love these doctrines, for the same reason that unholy hearts hate them ; because they exalt God and humble human pride. That catholicism which confounds truth with error, which bids God speed to any thing and every thing assuming the name of religion, however much at variance with the vital principles of Christianity, is not the benevolence of the gospel.

IV. If we love Christ we shall sincerely and hum. bly accept the salvation which he offers-salvation from natural and moral evil-salvation by free grace.

The happiness to be enjoyed in heaven is exactly suited to the temper and feelings of the sanctified believer. There, God will be glorified. There, perfect, unceasing holiness will reign in every heart. To a soul that loves Christ, deliverance from misery is not enough, without deliverance from sin. Far would such an one think himself from happiness, to be rescued from hell, and left under the dominion of a wicked heart. The salvation of the gospel is there

fore precisely such as suits the true christian. He is, in all respects, pleased with the heaven which the divine redeemer has purchased for his followers; and with the terms on which they are admitted to its enjoyment.

V. If we love Christ, we shall cheerfully submit to the services and sufferings of the christian life. Thus Peter evinced his love. Did he deny his divine Master? deny him in the face of solemn warnings and vows? deny him before his enemies and in an hour of awful trial? He did and the mournful fact is recorded, as one among a thousand demonstrations, that the best of men are frail and fallible... But, as became a christian, he remembered that woful fall, with an acking, contrite heart. He remembered it, and wept bitterly.' He remembered it, and no more lacked for courage to do his duty. The beloved name which he abjured before Pilate, he was afterwards bold to acknowledge before Jews and Romans, in the streets and synagogues, in prison. and on the cross. Behold the man who trembled at the voice of a damsel, triumphs amidst the flames of persecution! Undismayed at peril or suffering, in their most terrific forms, he encounters with a martyr's intrepidity, chains, dungeons and death! Many would be glad to sit on Christ's right hand, without drinking of the cup that he drank of. Many vainly hope to reign with him, who refuse to serve him, or to suffer for him. When duty is easy and danger distant, the mere coward may seem courageous.The good soldier of Christ is known by his constancy in the hour of trial. That service which costs him most, is the best evidence of his sincerty.Through the varying scenes of wealth or poverty, honor or disgrace, he stands inflexible. He fears not the scoffs of dying men. He shrinks not from the terrors of a frowning world. The utmost that human power or malice can inflict, he dares to er

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dure, for so dear a Saviour. In so good a cause, suffering is pleasure, reproach is praise. The cup that our father hath given us, shall we not drink it? Bless. ed Saviour! By the bitterness of thy pains, we may estimate the force of thy love; and therefore, if thou so ordainest, welcome disappointment and poverty; welcome sickness and pain; welcome shame and contempt. If this be a rough and thorny path, it is one in which thou hast gone before us. Where we sce thy footsteps, let us not repine*.'

VI. If we love Christ we shall labor for a thorough acquaintance with his religion. The modern opinion which disclaims any standard of faith, and maintains the innocence of error, is virtual infidelity. Does the gospel contain a scheme of truths which the son of God taught with his lips, exemplified in his life, and sealed with his blood? Can we then be innocent, wilfully or heedlessly rejecting any of these truths? If there be any need of a revelation from heaven, unquestionably it is important that the revelation should be rightly understood. It is implied in the character of true christians, that they have some acquaintance with the leading truths of the gospel. But their knowledge, in many cases, is much less than it ought to be, or than it need be. In religion, as well as other things, a little knowledge is often dangerous. Though a little knowledge might secure our own salvation-what then? Can we be christians on such narrow principles? Have the cause of truth, the salvation of souls, the honor of God our Saviour, no share in our regard? Think of an inquiring neighbor or an own child, under the burden of a 'wounded spirit,' coming to such a christian; coming perhaps to you, and begging instruction in the way of life. Alas, in so solemn a case, shall ignorance compel you to say nothing, or expose you to the hazard of saying what may be infinitely worse?

*WILBERFORCE.

When open and covert enemies of pure religion abound, when errors of every description are propa gated with unexampled industry and zeal, shall those who are men in stature and christians by profession, remain babes in knowledge? Shall those who can talk understandingly and by the hour together, on common topics, be put to silence when a reason of their hope is required, or the very foundation of their hope assaulted? Shall they be so poorly equipped with armour, or so unskillful to use it, as to furnish occasion for profane triumph to the enemies of Jesus? Let us know that our love to Christ is, to say the least, very low and languid, if, at such a day as this, we can sit down supinely, in the neglect of a diligent, prayerful, systematic study of the scriptures; without understanding well, and being able to vindicate, the essential truths of the gospel.

VII. If we love Christ, we shall also love his true disciples.

It is characteristic of his followers that they love one another.' That bond of holy affection which unites them to their divine head, unites them to their fellow members. Redeemed by one Saviour, sanctified by one spirit, embracing one faith, heirs of one inheritance; their desires, pursuits, interests, sorrows and enjoyments are essentially the same. Their birth and residence may be in different quarters of the globe; they may be separated by intervening continents or oceans; still, they are brethren. In proportion as they have opportunity for familiar intercourse of hearts, their mutual love will be more strong and apparent. Especially will this be the case with those who meet, for the highest exercise of christian fellowship, at the same communion table. To those who love Christ, there is no privilege so exquisitely solemn and delightful as that of testifying their remembrance of his affectionate and dying commands. Upon this part of the subject, it is impossible to dwell without feeling its attractions. Cold