scions of the good olive. Those grafts grow; and are now, by this incision, no less embodied in that stock, than if they had sprouted out by a natural propagation; neither can be any more separated from it, than the strongest bough that nature puts forth. In the mean time, that scion alters the nature of that stock; and, while the root gives fatness to the stock; and the stock yields juice to the scion, the scion gives goodness to the plant, and a specification to the fruit so as, while the graft is now the same thing with the stock, the tree is different from what it was. So is it between Christ and the believing soul. Old Adam is our wild stock, what could that have yielded, but either none, or sour fruit? We are grafted into the new man, Christ, that is now incorporated into us. We are become one with him. Our nature is not more ours, than he is ours by grace. Now we bear his fruit, and not our own our old stock is forgotten, all things are become new. Our natural life we receive from Adam; our spiritual life and growth from Christ.-HALL.

Without me ye can do nothing.How true is that word of our Saviour, who is truth itself, "Without me ye can do nothing," severed from me, as a branch that is not in me. They that are altogether out of Christ, in spiritual exercises do nothing at all. It is true, they may pray and hear the word, yea, and preach it too, and yet in so doing they do nothing in effect. They have the matter of good actions, but it is the internal form that gives being to

things. They are but a number of empty words, and a dead service to a living God. For all our outward performances and worship of the body is nothing but the body of worship, and therefore nothing but a carcase, except the Lord Jesus, by his Spirit, breathe upon it the breath of life. Yea, the worshipper himself is spiritually dead, till he receive life from Jesus, and be quickened by his Spirit.-LEIGHTON.

Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.-God doth not require less from us, but only hath promised more to us, in the new, than he did in the old, covenant. There, we were to perform obedience to God; but it was by our own strength: here we are to perform the same obedience still; but it is by his strength. Nay, as we have more obligations to obedience upon us now, than we had before, by reason of God's expressing more grace and favour to us than formerly he did; so I believe God expects more from us, under the new, than he did under the old, covenant. In that, he expected the obedience of men; in this, he expects the obedience of Christians, such as are by faith united unto Christ, and, in Christ, unto himself; and so are to do what they do, not by the strength of man, as before, but by the strength of the eternal God himself; who, as he at first created me for himself, so he hath now purchased me to himself, received me into covenant with him, and promised to enable me with grace to perform that obedience he requires

from me; and therefore, he now expects I should lay out myself, even whatsoever I have or am, wholly for him and his glory.—BEVERIDGE.

Men hear that there is a God who is infinitely holy, but they can see neither him nor his holiness; yet when they see some lineaments of it in the face of his children, which are in no others, this may convince them that its perfection, which must be somewhere, can be nowhere else than in their heavenly Father. When these, which are his peculiar plants, bring forth the fruits of holiness, which naturally they yielded not, it testifies a supernatural work of his band who planted them, and the more they are fruitful the greater is his praise. "Herein," says our Saviour, "is your heavenly Father glorified, that ye bring forth much fruit." Were it not for the conscience of this duty to God, and possibly the necessity of their station and calling, it may be, some Christian had rather altogether lock up and keep within himself any grace he hath, than let it appear at all, considering some hazards which he and it run in the discovery; and it may be, could take some pleasure in the world's mistakes and disesteem of him. But seeing both piety and charity require the acting of graces in converse with men, that which hypocrisy doth for itself, a real Christian may and should do for God.-LEIGHTON.

That my joy might remain in you, and that your joy may be full. Christ is the fountain, not only some, but of all the true joy and

1

of

comfort that his people have, or ever can have, in the world. It all proceeds from him, whom having not seen they love, in whom, though now they see him not, "yet believing, they rejoice with joy unspeakable, and full of glory." 1 Pet. i. 8. For upon their believing in him, as having been delivered for their offences, and raised again for their justification, he manifested himself and his special love and favour to them, in the pardon of their sins, and their reconciliation to Almighty God, whereby their souls are filled, not only with unspeakable but glorious joy, of the same nature as that which the saints in heaven are continually transported with. This is that which is called the lifting up the light of God's countenance; and his causing his face to shine upon them. Ps. iv. 6. When the Sun of righteousness thus shineth upon them, refreshing and comforting their hearts, by the sweet influences of that Holy Spirit that proceedeth from him.-BEVERIDGE.

"

This is my commandment, that ye love one another, as I have loved you. -Yes, this is the livery, which our Lord and Saviour made choice of, whereby his menial servants should be known and distinguished. By this shall all men know that ye be my disciples if ye have love to one another;" John xiii. 35. In vain shall any man pretend to a discipleship, if he do not make it good by his love to all the family of Christ.

The whole Church is the spiritual temple of God. Every believer is a living stone, laid in those sacred

but the mortar or cement, whereby these stones are fast joined together to make up this heavenly building? without which, that precious fabric could not hold long together; but would be subject to disjointing, by those violent tempests of opposition, wherewith it is commonly beaten upon. There is no place for any loose stone in God's edifice: the whole Church is one entire body: all the limbs must be held together by the ligaments of Christian love: if any one will be severed, and affect to subsist of itself, it hath lost his place in the body. See Eph. iv. 15,

16.-HALL.

HYMN.

Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
Who are the friends of Jesus here,
And make their love to him appear?

0

you friends; for all things that I have heard

18 'If the world hate you,

ye know that it hated me before it hated you.

19 "If ye were of the world,

Will do whate'er the Lord commands.

CHAP. XV. 15-27.

A comfort in the hatred and persecution of the world. The office of the Holy Ghost and of the Apostles.

15. Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant know

but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.

20 Remember the word that I said unto you, "The servant, is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you: if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.

21 But" all these things will they do unto you for my 'name's sake, because they know not him that sent me.

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22 If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not

k

27 And 'ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.

o See Gen. xviii. 17. ch. xvii. 26. Acts xx. 27.-p ch. vi. 70; & xiii. 18. 1 John iv. 10, 19.- Mat. xxviii. 19. Mark xvi. 15. Col. i. 6.-r ver. 7. ch. xiv. 13.-s ver. 12.-1 John iii. 1, 13.- 1 John iv. 5.-r ch. xvii. 14. -y Mat. x. 24. Luke vi. 40. ch. xiii. 16.-z Ezek. iii. 7.-a Mat. x. 22; & xxiv. 9. ch. xvi. 2.-b ch. ix. 41-c Rom. i. 20. Jam. iv. 17. Or, excuse.-d I John ii. 23. -e ch. iii. 2; vii. 31; &" ix. 32.-ƒ Ps. xxxv. 19; & 'Ixix. 4.-g Luke xxiv. 49. ch. xiv. 17, 26; & xvi. 7, 13. Acts ii. 33.-h1 John v. 6.-i Luke xxiv. 48. Acts i. 8, 21, 22; & ii. 82; & iii. 15 ; & iv. 20, 33; & v. 32; & x. 39; & xiii. 31. 1 Pet. v. 1. 2 Pet. i. 16.- Luke 1. 2. 1 John i. 1, 2.

READER.-These things I command you, that ye love one another.-Christian brethren are united by a threefold cord; two of them are common to other men, but the third is the strongest, and theirs peculiarly. Their bodies are descended of the same man, and their souls of the same God; but their new life, by

which they are most entirely brethren, is derived from the same GodMan, Jesus Christ; yea, in him they are all one body, receiving life from him their glorious Head, who is called "the firstborn among many brethren," Rom. viii. 29. And as his unspeakable love was the source of this new being and fraternity, so, doubtless, it cannot but produce indissoluble love amongst them that are partakers of it. The spirit of love and concord is that precious head of our great High Priest, to the skirts of his garment. The life of Christ and this law of love are combined, and cannot be severed. Can there be enmity between those hearts that meet in him? Why do you pretend yourselves Christians, and yet remain not only strangers to this love, but most contrary to it, "biters and devourers" one of another, and will not be convinced of the great guiltiness and uncomeliness of strifes and envyings amongst you? Is this the badge that Christ hath left his brethren, to wrangle and malign one another? Do you not know, on the contrary, that they are to be known by mutual love? "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another," John xiii. 3, 5. How often doth that beloved disciple press this! He drank deep of that well-spring of love which was in the breast on which he leaned, and, if they relate aright, he died exhorting this, "Love one another." Oh ! that there were more of this love of Christ in our hearts, arising from the sense

ointment which runs down from the

of his love to us! That would teach this mutual love more effectually, which the preaching of it may set before us, but, without that other teaching, cannot work within us. Why do we still hear these things in vain? Do we believe what the love of Christ did to us and suffered for us? And shall we do nothing for him,-not forgive a shadow, a fancy of injury, much less a real one, for his sake, and love him that wronged us, whoever he be, but especially being one of our brethren in this spiritual sense?

Many are the duties of this peculiar fraternal love; that mutual converse, and admonition, and reproof, and comforting, and other duties which are fallen into neglect, not only amongst formal, but even amongst real, Christians. Let us entreat more of his Spirit who is love, and that will remedy this evil.-LEIGHTON.

The whole sum of the law is love, love to God and love to man, these two contain all, and the former of the two contains the latter; love to God is the only true principle and spring of all due love to man, and all love that begins there, returns thither likewise and ends there.

The engaging the whole mind and soul to the love of God, does not engross it So, that there should be no kind of love communicable to man; on the contrary, it is to refine it, that it may flow forth the purer and better. All love should be once called in to God, to be sublimated and purified there, and then set in its right channel and motion, so as man be loved in him and for him; not to impair our love to him, but indeed to extend and

act it as he allows: and so to love man is to love God, that love taking its rise from him, and terminating in him; and in this circle is the proper notion of celestial Divine love.

The duty then here meant and commanded, is this, "that we love one another," and our love must be then qualified, it must be without hypocrisy, and sincere; such as though it may consist with, yet doth not wholly consist in, civilities of expression and behaviour, but a real benevolence of soul, and good will to all, a love-disposing readily to forgive evil, and do good upon all occasions.

Yet this is not such a tenderness of complacency, as to partake with any in any evil ways; oh! no, "abhorring that which is evil," flying from it with indignation, with a kind of antipathy. And thus it will be from the new nature in a Christian, the Holy Spirit of Christ, which cannot endure the unholiness or impurity of the world, but is chafed away, as doves with noisome smells, or bees with smoke.-LEIGHTON.

If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.—If we be Christ's disciples, we cannot expect to fare better in the world, than Christ himself did, neither indeed can we fare so bad; for it is impossible that we should undergo so much for him as he hath undergone for us, ours being only the sufferings of men, his the sufferings of one who was God as well as man; whereby sufferings in general are sanctified to our human nature, it having already undergone them in the person of the Son of God. So