66

ciples;" but He saith, "If a man," that is, any man, "love me, He will keep my words:" whosoever he be who shall come to the knowledge of Me, through your preaching, or that of your successors, and shall from love to me endeavour to keep my words," to walk in my ways, to obey my ordinances, and use the means of grace which I have appointed ;that man will be the object of my Father's love, "and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him :" the promise, therefore-and how great and glorious a promise it is, my brethren !—is the portion

all true believers, and shall remain sure to them as long as there shall remain a distinction between the kingdom of Christ and the kingdom of the prince of this world!

Let us, then, consider the promise as belonging to us, and as such, let us examine more particularly into what may appear from Scripture to be the meaning of Christ when He saith, "My Father will love him, and we will come unto him and

make our abode with him ;" and having ascertained the meaning of the promise, let us consider to what sort of persons it is given, and how it may be ascertained by any man that he is himself in that state of mind in which he ought to be, if he expects to have Christ manifested to him.

1. The first thing, then, which our blessed Lord mentions as forming part of the especial manifestation which He promises to believers, is the love of God; My Father will love him." we say, brethren-are there

What shall

any whom

God the Father does not love? Does He not send His rain upon the evil and upon the good, and cause His sun to shine upon the just and upon the unjust? Does He apparently distinguish in any re

markable manner between those who serve Him and those who serve Him not, as far as outward circumstances go? Nay more, has He not provided a way of salvation for all alike, and are we not taught to believe that He "hateth nothing that He has made, and will forgive the sins of all

them that are penitent?" Has He not provided for all alike the means of grace, His holy word and sacraments, and commanded His ministers to declare that He willeth not the death of a sinner, but rather that he may be converted and live? Are not all these things proofs of the love of God towards all mankind, without respect of persons? How then must we understand the words of the Lord Jesus Christ, when He saith of him who loves Him and keeps His "commandments,

My Father will love him," as though it were a new and extraordinary privilege, a favour and blessing reserved especially for some highly distinguished man, to the exclusion of others? If we consider a moment, we shall see that the love here promised must be different from that general, that universally extended love of Almighty God, which is over all His works. "God is love," we are told, and it is much beyond the powers of such understandings as ours to comprehend the meaning of that simple expres

sion. It cannot but be, that while such a Being rules over the world, blessings and instances of mercy must drop on every side, almost, if we may presume so to speak, without the cognisance of Him from whom they all proceed, or at all events without their being especially intended to mark his approbation of the conduct of those upon whose unworthy heads they so often fall, or to convey a token of any distinguishing love for them. But if the overflowings of God's love, the superfluity, so to speak, of His beneficence, is such that the most wicked and unthankful of men come in for their share without having any right from that circumstance to suppose themselves peculiarly the objects of God's regard, how unspeakable must be the blessedness of him of whom Christ saith, My Father will love him!" To imagine that great and good Being looking upon any man with an especial eye of love, and pouring out upon him the full cup of His abundant mercy-a cup of which the overrunnings only suffice to

crown the wicked with numberless providential blessings-this is indeed a privilege which we cannot duly estimate. While He upholds the being, and provides for the necessities of all things that breathe upon the face of the earth, God watches over them whom He loveth with peculiar care as He sees fit, He sends upon them changes and afflictions; for He saith, "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten;" knowing whereof we are made, and how dangerous oftentimes to a man's best interests is a course of uninterrupted prosperity, He casts in the path of those whom He loveth, trials, difficulties, disappointments, and bereavements, which serve to wean their hearts from earth, and hinder them from seeking their happiness here, and neglecting heavenly things these trials, however, are oftentimes in themselves trifling, although their influence upon the heart, and prac tical effect upon the mind, are, in the end, of great importance. As an affectionate parent is ever studying, by a variety of small