was indeed "his delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable." It was the day in which he was most active in showing mercy to the souls of men, by communicating his heavenly instructions, and to their bodies, by curing their diseases. His mind was so intensely set on the work of his God, and he had such pleasure in it, that his personal comfort was a matter of very inferior consideration. Upon one occasion, when his disciples, knowing his necessity, came unto him, they entreated him, saying, "Master, eat. But he said unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know not of." He explained himself by saying, "My meat is to do the will of Him that sent me, and to finish his work." Corresponding to this, he afterwards said, "I came not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me." His entire resignation to the will of God is strikingly displayed in the garden of Gethsemane : when his mind was pressed with inconceivable anguish, he prayed, "O, my Father, if it be possible let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt."

E. And are we to have the same love to God that Christ had?

M. Certainly, Eliza; and he will impart grace to his people, that, like him, they may love God, and "glorify him in their body and spirit, which are his ;" and let me just remind you, that supreme love to God is supreme

happiness, for "he that dwelleth in love, dwelleth in God, and God in him."

F. As our Lord loved his God and Father with that ardour which the divine law required, he also fulfilled that part of the law which requires us to love our neighbours as ourselves. You have been already informed, that Christ was under no necessity to appear in our nature. It was the greatness of his love that induced him, "who, being in the form of God, and thought it not robbery to be equal with God, to make himself of no reputation, and take upon him the form of a servant." His condescension and his love to mankind are unparalleled: "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." There are instances in the history of persons devoting themselves to death for the benefit of their friends and their country, but we never hear of any dying to save their enemies. But when "we were yet enemies, Christ died for us. ." When you read of the sufferings of the Lord Jesus, or think upon them, call to mind, that all was endured by him to save enemies from everlasting misery, and to bestow on them the blessings of eternal happiness. This love was not only manifest in the act of devoting himself to sufferings; "vigorous, it reigned through all his life," and influenced him in all his conduct and intercourse with mankind. From the time that

I

he was twelve years of age, till he engaged in his public work, he was subject to Joseph and to Mary his mother. His tender love and concern for the comfort of his mother were shown, when, in the midst of his agonies on the cross, he committed her to the care of the disciple whom he loved. His disciples at all times found him interested in their comfort: he loved them from the beginning, and continued unabated in his love to the end. In reading the 13th, 14th, 15th, and 16th chapters of John, you will see how affectionately he communicated comfort to their minds, seemingly unmindful of the agonizing distress immediately before him; and at the conclusion of his encouraging and consolatory address, he committed them, in prayer, to the protection and guidance of his heavenly Father. To those whom he honoured with his particular friendship, such as the holy family at Bethany, composed of Lazarus and his two sisters, the tenderness of his sympathy is truly affecting. He went not only to restore to the disconsolate sisters their much loved brother, but also to mingle his tears with theirs. The multitude which followed him from various motives, all had proof of his deep interest in their welfare, by the plain, affectionate, and highly important instructions which he communicated. His tender compassion was shown upon all occasions for the diseased and afflicted; his healing power was extended to

the faithful and the faithless, to the grateful and to the ungrateful. The sight of wretchedness affected his heart; and he never was, by the ingratitude of those who experienced his kindness, induced to withhold it from others. Those who were broken in their hearts and grieved in their minds on account of their sins, found him ever ready to pardon their transgressions, while he cheered them with the prospect of future happiness. The selfish, the proud, the hypocritical, and the malignant, could not obtain his friendship; he faithfully admonished them, and warned them of their danger, and was grieved on account of the hardness of their hearts, but he could give them no encouragement. By such he was often reviled, and reproached, and insulted, as 66 a gluttonous man, and a wine-bibber, a friend of publicans and sinners;" as "a Samaritan, and one that had a devil;" yet when “he was reviled, he reviled not again; when he suffered he threatened not, but committed himself to him who judgeth righteously." When apprehended by the officers, bound, and led away into the hall of the high priest, where they "spit in his face," "mocked him," and "smote him and blindfolded him," and "struck him with the palms of their hands," he bore all with the utmost patience; when unjustly condemned, scourged, and led out to be crucified, he made no resistance, but " was

led as a lamb to the slaughter; and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth." When the soldiers nailed him to the cross, instead of reflecting against his murderers, he prayed, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." Though the Jews thus manifested the utmost extent of their cruel malice, his love for them was unabated; for when raised from the dead, in giving commandment to his disciples, "that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations," they were to begin "at Jerusalem."

E. Certainly Jesus was a most lovely cha

racter.

M. Yes, my dear, he is to his people "the chief among ten thousand, and altogether lovely."

H. But is it not remarkable that Jesus showed so much goodness, and yet was so much hated and persecuted?

F. Our Lord assigns the reason, "The world hateth me, because I testify of their deeds, that they are evil." Yet there have been persons who, though they neither trusted in him, nor gave obedience to his commandments, have given their testimony to the excellency of Christ's character. I shall quote the testimony of one-it is of Rousseau, a French philosopher. "Peruse," he says, "the works of our philosophers: with all their pomp of diction, how mean, how contemptible are they, com