applicable to their blessed state, now that they have been committed to the grave "in sure and certain hope" of a joyful resurrection, with its citation these filial records shall conclude :

"God, my Redeemer, lives,

And ever from the skies

Looks down, and watches all my dust,

Till He shall bid it rise."

CHRIST'S LOVE TO HIS PEOPLE.

It is important, in every point of view, for us to cherish a conviction of the reality and intimacy of the relation which connects us with our blessed Lord. We have a living Saviour,-One who, having offered up Himself as our Sacrifice, has now sat down on His mediatorial throne, and constantly presents Himself to the Father as our priestly Representative. Between Him and us, if only we "believe in His name," there subsists a relation unspeakably endearing and it is most animating amidst the active duties of earth, and most consolatory under its disappointments, and conflicts, and sorrows, to realize the facts, that we are Christ's,-that He thinks of us continually, that He loves us with a special love,-and, while He orders our earthly course wisely and benignantly, though often mysteriously, He looks forward to our ultimate union with Himself in the realms of light, and our ultimate participation of His own rest and joy.

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It might seem bold and adventurous to inquire into the nature of Christ's love to His people,-to endeavour to enter into the workings of that heart which once throbbed with anguish and painful apprehension, when the burden of our guilt lay heavily upon it, and the solemn and long looked-for "hour" of expiation had begun; but which now rests from every sorrow, and delights to bestow the blessings of salvation on every penitent believer. There are views, indeed, of Christ's love to His people, which will readily suggest themselves to every thoughtful mind. That love, doubtless, comprehends a deep and settled regard to their happiness; for this is an essential element of love under all its modifications. That love comprehends, also, the element of moral complacency, varying in degree according to our conformity to His own character of purity and goodness. But there are other elements in the Saviour's love to His people, which give to it its peculiarity, intensity, and depth. A love of benevolence and esteem might be cherished by us toward beings of another order; but there could not be that perfect sympathy-that deep communion of feeling-which results from the possession of a common nature, and the experience of common hopes and fears, of common conflicts and joys. Christ's love to His people is a love of tender and holy sympathy. For He has felt as we feel; He has known the weakness, the sorrows, of humanity; and, though His heart never bled under the anguish of personal guilt, (for He was pure

and spotless,) yet did He endure an anguish which approached as nearly as possible to that; for He stood beneath the burden of our curse, and bore the pressure of our guilt. And, while the Saviour thus regards us with the peculiar sympathy which arises from His being a partaker of our nature, He looks upon us and loves us as His own, bought with His own blood, and now devoted to His interests, and reflecting His glory.

Such views of the Redeemer's love to His people are suggested by the general tenor of the New Testament: but there is one passage of our Lord's teaching which places this subject under a yet higher and more sacred aspect. It occurs in that ever-memorable conversation of His with the faithful eleven which followed the last supper, and preceded His entrance upon the solitudes of Gethsemane. After admonishing them to "abide" in Himself, that their spiritual life might be maintained in unfailing vigour, and that they might bring forth abundantly the fruits of righteousness, He went on to say to them, "As the Father hath loved Me, so have I loved you: continue ye in My love. If ye keep My commandments, ye shall abide in My love; even as I have kept My Father's commandments, and abide in His love." (John xv. 9, 10.)-Here our minds are raised to a theme ineffably sacred and sublime; one which we might well tremble to approach, did not our Lord Himself invite us to do so. The love which He bears to His people resembles that which the Father bears to Him, the incarnate Son, the adorable Mediator. Let us reverently, and with chastened feelings, dwell on this great truth.

One course of thought which suggests itself to illustrate the Saviour's words is this:-The love of the Father to the incarnate Son, doubtless, derived much of its peculiarity and depth from the essential oneness between them. For He who uttered this language was, in His higher and eternal nature," the brightness of the Father's glory, and the express image of His person." Now, indeed, His glory was veiled in that "form of a servant which He had assumed for our redemption: but He again and again affirmed, that between Himself and the Father there subsisted a union intimate and endearing beyond the power of language to express. His frequent and emphatic declaration was, that He was in the Father, and the Father in Him. As the lofty yet gracious and condescending excellencies of His character developed themselves to the view of men, there was a manifestation of the Father's perfect holiness and tender love. We must not so conceive of this subject as to confound the Persons of the adorable Trinity; for this would be to deprive the passage on which we are now commenting, and innumerable other passages of holy Scripture, of all legitimate meaning; but we do regard the Saviour's words as implying an intimate and essential union between Himself and the Father, since all the Divine perfections belong to Him in virtue of a relation grounded in the Divine essence, and inseparable from it. Thus, toward the commencement of this conversation, the Redeemer said to the eleven, "If ye had known Me, ye should have known My Father also: and from henceforth ye know Him, and have

seen Him;"-and when Philip interposed, "Lord, show us the. Father, and it sufficeth us," our Lord replied to him, "Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known Me, Philip? He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak unto you I speak not of Myself: but the Father that dwelleth in Me, He doeth the works. Believe Me that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me: or else believe Me for the very works' sake." (John xiv. 7-11.)

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And now let us remember the great lesson taught by the Saviour, that there is a union between Himself and His people, far removed from the apprehension of sense, which has some relation to that between the Father and Himself. That life which pervades the souls of His people is a life derived from Him; it is the result of the abiding presence and operation of His Spirit, sent by Him into their hearts, to assimilate them to His own character, and to bring them into intimate sympathy with Himself. Our apprehensions of such a subject are necessarily limited and imperfect but to the mind of our Lord this truth of the oneness of His people with Himself stood open in all its depth and fulness. Let us turn to His own words in the solemn prayer which He offered up at the close of this conversation :"Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on Me through their word; that they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me. And the glory which Thou gavest Me I have given them; that they may be one, even as We are one: I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that Thou hast sent Me, and hast loved them, as Thou hast loved Me." (John xvii. 20-23.) As we read these words, we stand amazed at the riches of the condescending love of God to us in Christ Jesus; and we await the clearer light of eternity to enable us to understand them in all their amplitude and extent. But, if there is this union' between Christ and His people, it must give His love to them a peculiarity and depth which shall cause it to resemble even the Father's love to Him.

But we may take a second course of thought. Regarding our Lord in His character as the Mediator, we perceive that His obedience to the Father was complete and constant, and that every part of His work was directed to the accomplishment of the great purposes on which the Father's heart was set; so that He was, in this character, the object of the Father's perfect complacency and delight. Even so the people of Christ are to be entirely devoted to Him; to identify their interests with His; to seek His glory in the whole of life; and on this ground to be the objects of His peculiar love. This course of thought is suggested by our Lord's own words,-words which convey to us a solemn admonition, while they place before us the high and glorious privilege of abiding in His love, as that which we may actually enjoy :-"If ye keep My commandments, ye shall abide in

My love; even as I have kept My Father's commandments, and abide in His love."

Let us, then, reverently contemplate the Saviour while He was here among men. From first to last, He sought the glory of the Father. Submission to the Father's will, and devotion to the Father's purposes, formed the governing principle of His mind. "My meat," He declared, "is to do the will of Him that sent Me, and to finish His work." (John iv. 34.) "I came down from heaven, not to do Mine own will, but the will of Him that sent Me." (John vi. 38.) Christ, as the Mediator, knew no interest, if we may so speak, separate from the Father's. His heart was intent on the working out of the Father's "counsel" for the recovery of man, and the upholding of the great principles of His moral administration. The prospect of His own deep and unutterable sufferings, and even the invading pressure of those sufferings, could not shake His constancy, or induce Him to pause in His career of obedience and submission. To the very end, He was faithful to His character as the "righteous Servant" of the Father; and as He resigned Himself to the will of His enemies, and went forward to the shame and anguish of the cross, He expressed the settled principle of His mind in the touching words, "The cup which My Father hath given Me, shall I not drink it?" The incarnate Son, therefore, could not but be the object of the Father's perfect complacency. There was not a thought or feeling cherished in His heart, that could impair His obedience, or detract from the completeness of His work and sufferings as the Mediator. The Father's love to Him must, then, have been deep and intense beyond the power of language to express; and we wonder not at the voice which broke from the cloud of light, on the mount of transfiguration, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; ye Him."

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And now let us think of the company who encircled the Saviour on this memorable evening, and to whom He first addressed the words, "As the Father hath loved Me, so have I loved you." Imperfect and frail as they were, they were yet sincerely devoted to Him. There was no traitor there. Judas had now retired. Every heart in that company beat with unfeigned, deep, fervent attachment to the Saviour. One of them, at least, the Apostle Matthew,-and perhaps a few more, had renounced the gains of a lucrative secular employment, in order to attend upon Him without interruption, and in all things to do His will. Although their views of the plan of redemption, of the constitution of the evangelical economy, and of the deep spirituality which becomes Christ's people, were as yet imperfect and partial, they had all deliberately chosen His service as the business of life; and they knew, for He had told them so, that they should be henceforth regarded by the world with contempt and hatred. Their interests were thus identified with Christ's. And He looked forward to their future career of service and suffering in His cause. When He should have ascended to the throne of His glory, they would be engaged in setting forth His claims, announcing His perfect sacrifice, and gather

ing men into His kingdom. And, as He looked upon them, He loved them with a special and intense affection,-even such as the Father bore to Him.

Now we conceive that that feature in the character of the disciples which called forth the Redeemer's special love, was their sincere and entire devotedness to Himself. But, if so, then wherever this feature exists, there Christ's special love is placed. If the Saviour, as He looks upon us with His penetrating glance, sees that our hearts are really given up to Him, that we rely exclusively on His atonement, that we love Him supremely, and that we are seeking His glory as the great end of existence, then does He say of us, "As the Father hath loved Me, so have I loved you." And, O, the blessedness of having a share in this love! To be the objects of Christ's special attachment may well awaken within our breasts feelings of holy gratitude, and lively though chastened joy.

We say, chastened joy; for, amidst the exultation which the consciousness of having Christ's special love calls forth, the admonitory thought should suggest itself, that it is possible for us to forfeit that love, indeed, that we can only retain it by a diligent keeping of His commandments. Our Lord Himself has placed this truth before us in the most impressive form :-"Continue ye in My love. If ye keep My commandments, ye shall abide in My love; even as I have kept My Father's commandments, and abide in His love."

The least reflection seems sufficient to show, that if our hearts wander from Christ, and we begin to trifle with His precepts, we must cease to be the objects of His approval. If the principle of devotedness to Him is given up,—if we cease to make His service the great business of life,-our character undergoes an essential change. That element in it on which the Saviour's complacency rested is lost ; and, as He looks upon us, He no longer "sees of the travail of His soul," so as to experience a holy "satisfaction" and delight. Instead of reflecting His image, and thoughtfully subserving His purposes, we again regard the world and ourselves with an idolatrous love, and are arrayed in real, though at times, perhaps, unconscious, hostility against His government.

There would be something depressing and melancholy in the Christian's position in the present world, (exposed as he is to so many adverse influences, and in danger of losing the Saviour's love,) were it not for the assurance, that the Redeemer reigns; that His unseen hand regulates and controls the circumstances of our moral probation; and that His own all-sufficient grace is ever near to succour and uphold us. Even the warnings which fell from His lips, ever solemn and impressive, were designed, by rousing His people to habitual watchfulness and effort, to insure their stability, and promote the depth and permanence of their spiritual comfort. A feeling of sadness might well have come over the minds of His Apostles, as He admonished them of the awful possibility of their standing arrayed against Him whom they now delighted to serve, and falling under His displeasure whose complacent love was now their solace and their joy: