come."-On this glory of his Father, as one great object of his earthly existence, the eye and the mind of our Lord was continually bent. Every lesson of his lips, and every act of his life, discover the keenest jealousy and most delicate regard for that honour which is, alas! so often trampled upon by the children of men.

A second motive by which our gracious Redeemer appears to have been constantly and powerfully constrained, was, the desire of promoting the salvation of sinners. "I am the good Shepherd, and lay down my life for the sheep" "Having loved his own that were in the world, he loved them to the end:" "I go to prepare a place for you;" and "I will come again, and receive you unto myself, that where I am there ye may be also."

Such, then, were the motives by which the mind of our Lord appears to have been especially influenced; and, in the prosecution of the objects thus presented to him, no barrier was sufficiently lofty to impede him. In public and in private; in the temple or on the mountain; in his addresses to his countrymen, or in his soli

tary approaches to the throne of his Father; in the business of life, or amidst the struggles of death, he is found the bold, constant, indefatigable advocate and champion of the glory of God, and of the deliverance of a lost world.

But, my Christian brethren, if such were the objects and such the spirit of the Master we serve, remember that we are hence to collect the meaning of the injunction," Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus." It is therefore for us also to cherish, in dependence upon the Spirit of God, the disposition of soul which prompts us to seek, as the great objects of existence, the glory of the Lord, and the salvation of sinners; and, in the pursuit of these objects, to encounter, if need be, want, and reproach, and desertion, and infamy, and agony, and death.

At this point, then, let us pause, in order to make a practical application of the subject to our own souls.

To what extent, let me ask, do the objects of your own life correspond with those of the Master you profess to love? Is the glory of God an end which you daily

and hourly present to yourself? Are you jealous of his honour and of his authority? Are you promoting the circulation of his word, and the wider establishment of his church? Are you assisting to carry the knowledge of His great Name to the nations lying in darkness? Are you planting yourself in the breach at home, so as to stay the plague of infidelity, and idleness, and dissipation? Is every cause sanctioned by Scripture precious to you? Are your time, strength, talents, and possessions, honestly and cordially dedicated to the service of Him who loved you and gave himself for you?

And, in like manner, to what extent is your heart occupied with the spiritual deliverance of a guilty world? Is every thing human dear to you? Do you look at every man as a brother in that great family of which God is the Father? Does their common relation to Christ bind them to you?

And, further, in your endeavour to accomplish these high and holy objects, what is the amount of the exertions and sacriAre you

fices you are disposed to make?

Are

willing, after the example of your Lord, to do and to suffer, to pass through good report and evil report, to endure the contradiction of sinners against yourself, to "resist unto blood," and even to meet death in its severest forms?-Oh what a satire upon religion is the life of large number of its professed servants! how opposed to the Scriptures; how injurious to the honour of God, and to the interest of his creatures!

Suffer me, my Christian brethren, earnestly to urge upon yourselves a line of conduct better suited to the principles you profess, and the holy name you bear. And, particularly, let me urge it upon you at a season which seems especially to demand the effort, and which promises amply to reward it. On the day* whose recurrence has brought us together in this place, the rocks were rent and the earth shook, the sun veiled itself, and nature, through all her parts and powers, evinced her deep and living sympathy in the death of the Cross. I call upon you for evidence

* Good-Friday.

of a sympathy thus deep and universal. Shall the Son of God suffer and bleed, and shall we make no effort to die to sin, and live unto God? Shall not this solemn hour be signalized by a new and more intense endeavour to reach the cross of the Redeemer, and cast at its foot all the offerings which our Lord demands? Behold where from that cross he invites you. -He offers to bless, to guide, to protect you; to lead you onward to the heights of spiritual duty and heavenly joy. In the strength of your God, my brethren, strive to obey the call. Too long have many of ushalted between two opinions." "If the Lord be God;" if Jesus be the Saviour of the perishing world; if he loved you, bled for you, died for you; then love him, and live for him, and stand prepared to die for him. Brethren," the time is short" -the clouds are gathering, the night of death is advancing-" make haste and turn your feet into the way of his testimonies."

The time is short"-awake, ere the shadows of night set in upon you for ever. If as yet enemies to Christ, approach him for mercy. If united to him by a living