we might live through him: If he so loved us, we ought to love one another."

Love is the highest and noblest virtue in the Christian system. To be merciful as God is merciful, is to be perfect as he is perfect. Charity is the bond of perfectness. Christians are therefore required, "above all things to put on charity"-" above all things to have fervent charity among themselves." This is called" the end of the commandment"-"the fulfilling of the law"-" the sum of the law and the prophets." Faith, hope and charity are all great; but the greatest of these is charity. In the gospel climax of virtues, you see brotherly kindness and charity standing at the top. These complete the order of graces, and finish the character of the Christian. The grand decision of characters, at the last day, will be made by a particular inquiry into the exercises of this virtue. He who has this, the greatest of all virtues, has the other; and without this all pretensions to religion are vain. For this reason, when the Apostle exhorts us to be followers of God, he particularly reminds us, that we must walk in love. We proceed,

II. To consider the Argument, by which the Apostle presses his exhortation. "Walk in love, as Christ also loved us, and gave himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savor."

The sufferings of Christ for the sin of the world were typified and anticipated in the sacrifices and offerings instituted under the Mosaic law. Hence the language of that dispensation is adopted in the gospel ; and, the death of Christ is called a sacrifice and an offering to God."

"Christ was sacrificed for us." He suffered death on the cross in our behalf and for our sakes, that we through his blood might obtain everlasting salvation. This is the uniform language of the gospel. "He who knew no sin, was made sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him."-" He once

suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God."" He bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sin, should live unto righteousness."-" He gave himself a ransom for us; and we have redemption through his blood.

"The wages of sin is death." This is the just demerit of, and the legal sentence against the transgression of man. The wisdom of God has seen fit to ordain, that without the shedding of blood there should be no remission of sin. The great ends of God's moral government required, that there should be some solemn display of his just and holy wrath against the disobedience and rebellion of his subjects. To have executed deserved punishment on the offenders themselves would have been for ever inconsistent with their admission to pardon and favor. Therefore, that they might be forgiven in a way agreeable to the great and benevolent design of God's government, he was pleas ed to appoint and accept an atonement for their guilt. "He set forth his Son to be a propitiation, that he might be just, and the justifier of them that believe."

"Christ gave himself for us." He, freely and of his own choice, submitted to all the pains and indignities, which attended a death on the cross; and he bare them all with resignation and patience, that thus he might save us from the wrath to come.

Here was a full display of his love. The Apostle says, "He loved us and gave himself for us.”

He who is the Son of God, the brightness of his glory-He by whom all worlds were made, and who upholdeth all things by the word of his power, He gave

What did he give? Not one of his creatures-not an angel-not a world-but, what is more than all worlds, he gave HIMSELF-for us, an inferior order of intelligences-sinners, rebels under sentence of condemnation.

He gave himself, not merely to become a man, and dwell on earth-not merely to be our pattern, teacher and guide; but to die in our stead, and to suffer a kind of death peculiarly painful and ignominious. He gave himself for us, not in hope of a recompense from us, but in his selfmoving goodness-in his disinterested benevolence toward us.

"The offering of Christ was a sweetsmelling savor." It was pleasing and acceptable to God, and, through his appointment became efficacious to obtain pardon and grace for men. The sacrifices offered to God, according to his institution, under the Patriarchal and Mosaic dispensations, are called "a sweet savor to him ;" and he is said to "smell a sweet savor in them." The Apostle uses the same phrases to express God's acceptance of Christ's sacrifice, and its virtue to take away human guilt. God's law is magnified, his character is honored, and his justice is satisfied with the work which Jesus, as our Redeemer, has accomplished. And penitent sinners, now humbly applying to the mercy of God and relying on the atonement of the Saviour, will be admitted to favor as freely and completely as if they had never offended. As Christ, who knew no sin, has been made a sinoffering for us, so we are by faith made the righteousness of God in him. According to the terms of the new covenant, believers receive through Jesus Christ abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness-they are abundantly pardoned their sins are extinguished as a cloud, and remembered no more. They receive life, and receive it more abundantly, than it was promised by the covenant of innocence. The righteousness of Christ has procured for them immortality far more glorious than Adam, in virtue of his own most perfect obedience, could have claimed.

This example of Christ's love to us is an argument of great force, why we should love one another. "Be ye followers of God as dear children, and walk in love,

as Christ loved us." As ye are children of one common parent, who has expressed for you a most affec tionate regard, see that you imitate his goodness in your regards for one another. If you are God's child-, ren, then you all stand in the relation of brethren. Express your gratitude to God for his parental good,, ness to you, by walking in love toward all his household. Dare not to indulge in your hearts hatred and enmity to those who are the objects of his love. Dare: not to entertain malevolent dispositions toward any of the human race. Where will you find the man so unworthy of your love, as you are of the love of God? Since you experience that divine compassion, to which you can pretend no claim, think none of your fellow sinners too low, or too criminal to share in yours..

As God is an invisible being, whose benefits we ex-. perience, but behold not the benefactor; therefore, by a natural transition, the Apostle calls our attention to Jesus Christ, in whom the divine goodness and love are made conspicuous to sense, as well as credible to faith. Christ, who is the image of the invisible God, has manifested himself in human flesh, and rendered the divine character familiar to human apprehension. That therefore we may imitate the love of the invisible God, let us look on his visible image in the person of the won derful Saviour and behold and admire his goodness, dişplayed in the example of his divine Son dwelling among men. "Be ye followers of God-as Christ hath

loved us."

He gave himself, not only to become a man compassed with our infirmities, but also to become a victim bleeding for our iniquities. Let us put on Christ) assume his character, especially his benevolence, meek-a ness and love. Vain are our pretensions to the character of Christians, if we have not the mind which was in Jesus, and if we walk not as he walked.

Let us cooperate with the design of his death, in our zealous endeavors to advance the glory of his

church, and the virtue and happiness of our fellow

men.

Let us condescend, in matters of indifference and doubtful disputation, to our honest and wellmeaning brethren; and if there are any whom we esteem weak, let us more cheerfully bear their burdens.

Let us forgive those who injure us, when they give us tokens of their repentance; and let us entertain unfeigned benevolence to all men, even to the most unrelenting and implicable enemies.

In our common behavior and daily conversation, let us not be assuming, but humble-not supercilious and disdainful, but meek and courteous.

Let us contribute to the happiness of those around us, by reclaiming the vicious, warning the careless, instructing the ignorant, encouraging the virtuous, relieving the necessitous and comforting the sorrowful. This is an imitation of Christ's love, and an evidence of our relation to him.

It is observable, that, in the gospel, no argument is so frequently urged, as the example of Christ, to persuade us to mutual love, because none is so well adapted to influence the mind of a Christian. And it is also worthy of remark, that God's approbation of Christian charity is expressed in the same terms, as his acceptance of the sacrifice of Christ; for charity to our fel low Christians flowing from a sense of Christ's dying love, is a virtue of distinguished excellence. As the death of Christ is called "a sacrifice for a sweetsmelling savor," so Christian charity is called "an odor of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well pleasing to God."-When we do good and communicate, we of fer "a sacrifice with which God is well pleased."

Let it be our care to follow Christ in his goodness and love, and to learn of him humility, condescension, mercy and forgiveness. Thus it will appear, that we are his disciples.