3. Imitation of his example.

"He has left us an example that we should walk in his steps." That we may rightly imitate the example of Christ, we ought to acquaint ourselves with the principles by which he was governed, and make them the rule of our own life. There are two things, which, if kept in remembrance, would assist us here: 1. Never to do anything which we are sure Christ would not do in our circumstances. 2. Never to do

anything that we would not like Christ to find us doing, should he suddenly come to judgment.

III. THE MOTIVE.

1. There is here an appeal to our gratitude.

66 As ye have received Christ Jesus the Lord."

We have received him not as our Judge: not to condemn us; not to inflict upon us much-merited wrath; but as our Saviour. We have received him, while others are destitute of the knowledge of him; therefore, we ought to walk in him.

2. There is here a reference to our obligation.

"As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord." Our acceptance of Christ was voluntary; he was not forced upon us; we received him; we received him, knowing the obligation to obey him; having received him, we are thereby pledged to obey him. We received him as the Lord; not merely as our Saviour.

COLOSSIANS iii. 1.-"Seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God."

While irrational creatures, by the constitution of their nature, are concerned only for the present moment, it is incumbent on man to consider his relationship to a future world, and to prepare for and anticipate its enjoyments, as being

those only which are adapted to his wide-ranging capacity and interminable existence. The reality of a future and superior state has been clearly revealed to us, in order to influence our life and conversation.

I. THE SCOPE OF THE EXHORTATION.

Seek those things that are above."

The future blessedness, perfection, and glory of believers in heaven, are things to which reference is here made. Similar phraseology to that used in the text is employed by the Psalmist to describe the glory and happiness of heaven. "At thy right hand there is fulness of joy, and pleasures for evermore. Of the nature of those pleasures we can form no just, no appropriate conception, without the light of the revelation with which God has favoured us; nor can we attain a vivid apprehension of them, even with its aid, unless our minds are enlightened by the Holy Spirit.

"

Amongst the things that are above," which the believer is commanded to seek, we may notice,

1. The perfection of character which they will exhibit there. The believer experiences now a salvation from sin; a salvation perfect in its kind, but attended with many frailties, weaknesses, and imperfections. But in heaven all this will be done away with; there will be nothing there to mar or blemish the beauty of those who are emphatically said to be his jewels."

2. The exercises in which they shall be engaged.

Heaven is imagined by many to be a scene of inactivity; but such an idea is not to be obtained from the Scriptures. They everywhere speak of the employments of heaven, and speak of them in the most exalted terms. Its service is the service of God; then it will be continual; it will be active; it will be varied.

3. The happiness of which they will participate.

All the enjoyments of the children of God on earth afford but a faint emblem of the bliss of heaven. The saints in the upper sanctuary are perfectly happy, because they are perfectly holy. Here they taste of the streams, there they will drink at the fountain. Here they obtain an occasional glimpse of the glories of the celestial country, there they will possess them. Here they have many a troubled day, many a sorrowful hour; but there all sorrow and sighing will be done away, and the redeemed will be crowned with gladness and everlasting joy.

4. The friendships they shall share there.

Man is made for society. Place him in solitude, and he pines away. In heaven he will be surrounded with the multitudes of the redeemed. All having the like tastes, having the same habits, possessing the same character, engaged in the same service; the friendships of heaven will be worth forming; for there will be collected, the wise, the good, the great, from every region of the universe. They will be worth forming; for they will be enduring. Nothing can disturb the harmony which will subsist there. people shall be all righteous."

II. THE DUTY IMCUMBENT UPON US.

"Seek those things."

1. This supposes belief of them.

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"Its

Faith is the substance of things hoped for." Before we can attend to the exhortation, we must be thoroughly satisfied in our minds of the reality of unseen things. We must have a faith in their existence, which is of the operation of God. We must be tremblingly alive to their importance. 2. Attention ought to be directed towards them. There must be frequent thoughts of them. The bias of the mind must be towards them. Everything else must receive its colouring from this. The prevailing hue of the mind must be heavenly. Everything else ought to be held in subservience to this; we ought to be occupied, so as to quit gladly, at a moment's warning, for the better and enduring inheritance.

3. Our affections ought to be set on them.

To the true believer this world is a desert, dry and barren. For it he ought to have no liking, but all his preferences should be directed upwards. As a traveller over a sandy region to a pleasant land would not allow his affections to linger round his toilsome way, but would have them fixed on that place to which he was hastening; so thus the believer, travelling over this wilderness world, will not permit his affections to rest upon it, but will have them centred in his home, and in his God.

4. Diligent and persevering exertions in order to attain them.

This implies that we use the means which are prescribed in Scripture, and observe the ordinances which have been instituted by our Lord and Master, as helps on the way to

S

heaven. Faith, prayer, reading of the Word, social and public worship, with the cultivation of the dispositions which are essential to their right performance, are amongst the means which ought to be used to this end.

III. THE MOTIVES BY WHICH WE OUGHT TO BE IMPELLED TO THIS.

"Where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God."

1. A regard to consistency of conduct.

The christian is the professed follower of Christ; to be consistent then, he ought to aim continually to secure an inheritance in the presence and service of Christ.

2. The present advantages which result from it.

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By a wise appointment of God, duty and interest are joined, and as we attend to the one, so the other will be promoted. Godliness is profitable unto all things, having the promise of the life that now is, as well as of that which is to come." Religion is our life even now. If the thoughts and affections are set on things above, worldly prosperity will not greatly elevate, nor worldly adversity much depress; the one will not intoxicate, the other will not destroy.

3. Because they are the scene in which Christ dwells.

It is the presence of Christ in heaven, that will make it so rich a heaven to you. To be with the Lord is the preeminent desire of every follower of Christ. This desire increases in proportion to the enjoyment of present fellowship with the Lord.

"And if our fellowship below,

In Jesus be so sweet,

What heights of rapture shall we know

When round his throne we meet!"

B-T.

LXXIV.

CHRIST OUR LIFE.

COL. iii. 4.-" Christ our life."

The union which subsists between Christ and his followers is set forth in the Scriptures by various metaphors. Sometimes to represent the nearness of this union, it is illustrated by that which subsists between the vine and its branches. Sometimes the figure of a foundation is employed, on which is reared the temple of Zion, "living stones" forming the material. Sometimes Christ is spoken of as the head, and his people the body. In our text he is said to be " our life."

I. HE IS SO RELATIVELY.

Our natural state, in consequence of trangression, is one of death. The sentence of condemnation is recorded against all of us; in the eye of that law which we have broken, we are actually dead. This is our state. We are

doomed to death; there remains but the execution of the sentence to complete our woe. In this state Christ found us, and became "our life," by bearing our sins in his own body on the tree. Here was the substitution of the innocent for the guilty, by means of which God may be just, and the justifier of the believer in Jesus. It will be seen that our life does not flow from our obedience, "Not by works of righteousness which we have done :" nor from our repentence, for this, though becoming our situation, does not alter our relation, it does not atone; our life flows from the atonement by Jesus Christ alone. In order obtain this life, this justification, we must lay hold of the atonement by faith. Faith in the death of Christ, is the instrument by which we obtain the justification, of which he is the Author. II. CHRIST IS OUR LIFE ACTUALLY.

We are not only dead in law, but we are dead by alienation from him who is the life of the universe. Sin has not only exposed us to future misery, the punishment has already begun. We are already in a state of separation from