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ven, to come down into this vale of tears; to become a man of sorrows; to take upon himself the form of a servant; to become obedient unto death, even the death of the cross; to continue in the grave three days, and, when he ascended up on high, to plead the virtue of his blood for the pardon and salvation of the very wretches that shed it: is this a dry or uninteresting subject to you?-What! have you nothing to do with Jesus the Son of God? or do you not like to hear of his love?—I am sorry for it. If you knew him, or knew yourselves, you would "count all things but loss, for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus your Lord; and never desire to hear any thing, but about "Jesus Christ, and him crucified." Let me therefore beseech you to recal your thoughts, which you had just licensed to wander, and "hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches." And most earnestly will I pray the God of all grace, that this may be the last time you shall ever think yourselves unconcerned in the love of Christ.

Be that as it may; there are others who were delighted at the mention of this text;-who, knowing something of the love of Christ; having had a little of it dropped into their hearts; and having in many instances felt its constraining, quickening, comforting influences; are glad to have their memories refreshed and their cold hearts warmed and fired with a live coal from the altar. To you, Christians, I am confident the subject will be agreeable: the mention of it was music: it was sweeter than any music, to your ears; and more reviving than any cordial to your hearts: and you were thankful to have your pure minds stirred up by way of re

membrance of an absent Friend, whom your souls love, who has endeared himself to you by many and vast obligations, and who is in himself the chief among ten thousand, and altogether lovely." Methinks I hear you cry out, in raptures of grateful love and joy, Yes, dearest, dearest Saviour! we well, we do remember thy love more than wine, or any, the most valued or entertaining, among creature enjoyments. If we do not remember thee, blessed Jesus, let our right hand forget its cunning, and our tongue cleave to the roof of our mouth, if we prefer not Christ crucified above our chiefest joy." We will remember thy love more than wine.",

From these words I shall take occasion to inquire,

1. On what accounts the love of Christ is so highly preferable.

II. How our preference of it must be discovered.

We inquire, then,

I. On what accounts the love of Christ is so highJy preferable.

On many accounts--on all accounts. Two reasons are especially obvious, which I shall briefly touch upon.

1. His worth.

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"To them that believe, he is precious." Those whose senses are spiritually exercised, so as to distinguish between things which differ, will tell you, that the love of Christ is ten thousand times' sweeter than the smiles of the whole creation. Creature comforts are in their place desirable, and to be received with thankfulness; but the best of them are

but as the small drop of a bucket: they are as the smaller dust of the balance; they are nothing, they are less than nothing, and vanity, in comparison with the substantial and satisfying love of Immanuel. What are barns filled with plenty, and presses bursting out with new wine; what are mountains of gold, or seas of carnal pleasure; what are they, any of them, or all of them, to the good will of Him that dwelt in the bush ?-To be thought of, to be thought well of, to be loved by the eternal Son of God; to stand high in the affections of a personage so wise, so good, so powerful, and so true: to be marked out for mercy in that great design of redemption, which was laid before the foundation of the world; to be written down in the Lamb's book of life; to be preserved, as the jewels of Jehovah; to be considered as the care of providence, and the peculiar charge of Love omnipotent and everlasting; are privileges of which your own hearts must tell you the value-and that can be but imperfectly as yet; for " eye hath not seen, nor hath ear heard, nor can it enter into the heart of man to conceive, what God hath prepared for them that love him."

2. Our wants.

The smiles of the world, however agreeable they may be, are not necessary: we can live without them: we may rub on to the end of life's journey with slender and coarse accommodations. But the love of Christ is absolutely necessary, and nothing will compensate for the want of it. His "favour is life, and his loving-kindness is better than life." We are" wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked ;" and no where, but of Christ, can we "buy gold tried in the fire," that will make us truly

rich; and "eye salve," that will open the eyes i of our minds, and enable us to see the deformity of sin and the beauty of holiness; and "white raiment," to hide our shame. We were sold under sin, debtors to the law, and under the curse of God; and - none but Christ could open the prison doors ito them that were bound," cancel our bond, and declare, us free indeed. In short," there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby wel may be saved:" and, therefore, as Abraham said, "Lord, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless?" (Gen. xv. 2); so we may say, with infinitely greater propriety, Lord, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go Christless? What good will it do me to have houses, and lands, possessions and friends, and all that heart could wish, in this world, if Lean not say, My Lord and my God?" My outward circumstances may prosper, and the world may envy me a situation so apparently advantageous, and happy; but what is it to me, while my soul is not secure, and I am not out of the reach of the sword of justice and the flames of hell? If the fig-tree do not blossom, or the labour of the olive fail; if there be no fruit in the vine, and the herd be cut off from the stall; and all my schemes of worldly felicity be blasted; yet I can rejoice in the Lord, and joy in the God of my salvation :-but if God hide his face; if my Saviour frown; it is not in the power of this world, with all its gaiety and grandeur, to make up my loss.

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On these two accounts (namely, his worth and our want) we should prefer the love of Christ above wine, or any thing else the world calls good.

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II. How should our preference of the doves of Christ discover itself? cor, what sort of a preference should it be tiw - brús, Pevation do y“, kao mi bús ma I answerbnu Like 5!

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I mean, it must not be a rash and unthinking declaration, but a deliberate and rational conclusion upon mature and serious consideration. Many foolish builders have begun to build without count-' ing the cost; which proving greater than they ex-' pected, they were obliged to leave their designs unfinished, and to publish to the world their folly: and many forward professors, having had their pas sions moved by some affecting discourse, or some alarming providence, have run hastily to Christ, and said, Lord, we will follow thee whithersbever thougoest ;? who yet, when they came to find whither he was leading them, and what difficulties and dangers they should be exposed to, turned back as hastily, and walked no more with Jesus." Therefore I said, that the judgment should be well informed, and well fixed: and if, after weighing all things in the balances of the sanctuary, we esteem the love of Christ better in itself, and better for us, then our preference may be depended on.

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This was the method the Apostle took: What' things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ: yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ' Jesus my Lord; for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ." (Philip. iii. 7, 8.) He had con sidered all the good things of the world-noble birth, high titles, a grand appearance, great riches,

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