that every true friend of Chrift is effectually formed and prepared to enjoy a peculiar pleafure and happiness in a happy and beautiful fociety, who are equally devoted to this fame friendship, and fhare equally with him in the fweet love and affection of his dearest and most exalted friend.This leads to another particular. Sermon V. The friendfhip of Chriftians between each other. Cant. v. 16. This is my beloved, and this is my friend. II. HIS friendship between Chrift and the true Christian lays the best foundation for union of heart, and fweet, exalted friendship with others. T Chrift is the grand medium of all union and friendfhip in the universe. In this refpect all things, both which are in heaven and which are on earth, are gathered together in ONE, in Chrift. Chrift has reconciled the angels to men, and made them, who otherwife muft have been their eternal enemies, great friends to them, and willing to devote themselves to the moft friendly offices and acts towards the heirs of falvation, and spend their whole time, and exert all their powers, in acts of kindness, in the moft benevolent, friendly manner minif tering to them. And angels and the redeemed from among men shall finally be brought by Chrift to dwell together forever, united in the most friendly, loving fociety. And he has not only reconciled God to men, and laid a foundation for their reconciliation and union with him; but has opened a way, and made full provifion, for reconciling men one to another, and uniting them in the moft dear and happy union and friendship, which in many refpects furpaffes all that there was any foundation M દ foundation for in man's primitive ftate of innocencySin has broken all bonds of true union and friendship among men; has fet them at variance one with another, and introduced a moft unhappy and horrible jar and difcord; fo that the true character of man in his natu ral state is, "Living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another." Thus all true friendfhip has fled from the earth upon the apoftacy of man, and that which is moft directly contrary to this took place to a moft awful degree. And man must have remained in this ftate of hatred and enmity one with another forever, had not Jefus Chrift undertaken in his behalf. He has taken a moft wife and effectual method to bring them to a union, love and friendship one with another, at the fame time that they are united to him, and become his friends; a union and friendship which is unfpeakably dear and fweet, and immensely furpaffes all other friendships, except that which is between Christ and them. This friendship has its foundation in love to Chrift, and union of heart to him, and is not really any thing diftinct and feparate from this. The believ er's love to Christ, and love and friendship to his fellow faints, or all that are united to Chrift in the fame love and friendship, is really one and the fame undivided flame of love and affection; fo that the fame bond of love which unites their hearts to Chrift, does also at the fame time unite them to each other: and the higher their love and friendship to Chrift rifes, and the stronger the exercises of it are, the more fweet and perfect is their love and friendship one to another. And this their love to each other is really love to Chrift: it is the fame affection, exercifed and expreffed in this way. This is represented in this light by Chrift himself, when he tells us in what a light this matter will be fet at the day of judgment: "And the King fhall anfwer, and fay unto them, Verily I fay unto you, in as much as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." If the acts of love and kindnefs which Chriftians do, one towards another, are really really done to Chrift, and are acts of love to him; then the whole of the love and friendship between them, of which thefe outward acts are the teftimony and fruit, is really the fame thing with love to Chrift. This is the great and peculiar happiness of this Christian friendfhip, and renders it a moft refined, exalted and even divine friendship, and brings them into that sweet union, and peculiar oneness, for which their great Friend and Patron once prayed: "Neither pray I for these alone, but for them alfo which fhall 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." The believer's love to Chrift, in a fenfe of his fuperlative beauty, excellence and worthiness, naturally, and even neceffarily, leads him to love and delight in all those who are in any degree conformed to him, and bear his image and likeness: for this is not a different thing from loving Chrift himself, as this likeness or image of Chrift is Chrift himself forined and living in them. And this likeness to Chrift will be more efpecially lovely and charming to the friend of Chrift, if it confifts fummarily in love to Chrift, in a high esteem of him, and true benevolence and affection to him, which is the cafe here: for the more any one loves and esteems Chrift, the more defirous he will be that others fhall love and efteem him, and the more pleafed and gratified he will be with the love and efteem which others exercise towards him; and the more will he love and efteem them, and be more benevolent towards them. He whofe heart is full of benevolence and good will to Chrift, must be pleased with and delight in the friendly benevolence of others to him; and this will alfo excite a peculiar benevolence and good will to fuch. Befides, in proportion to the love any one has to Chrift, he will have an affection for those who are beloved by Christ; fo that Chrift's love of benevolence and complacency to his people has great influence in uniting them to one another in the deareft love and affection. He He who greatly loves a dear friend, will naturally love all that are friendly to him, and all to whom he is a friend. His being a friend to them will neceffarily recommend them to him, and render them the objects of his complacency and benevolence. This takes place in the cafe before us, in the most happy manner, and to the higheft degree. In this view and to this purpose it is that Chrift propofes his own example of love to his difciples, as a motive and inducement to them to love one another, with that love and friendship which is peculiar to Chriftians, as he knew it would have the most pow erful influence upon them: "This is my commandment, that ye love one another, as I have loved you." No other fociety of friends have fuch a powerful motive to love one another as this which Chrift fets before his difciples. He has loved them fo as to give his life for them, and he has made their intereft his own to all intents and purposes; and they are dear to him, and precious in his fight, anfwerable to what he has done and fuffered for them. If therefore they love him, if he is honourable and precious in their fight, and they are friends to his intereft; they certainly will love those who are fo dear to him, and have fuch an interest in his affections. How greatly does this recommend Chriftians one to another, and render them dear and precious in each others' eyes, and promote a fweet and noble friendship, which is known to no other perfon in the 'universe! And it may be further obferved, that this sweet, -humble, Chriftian love, which is the image of Chrift's love and grace, ferves further to endear Chriftians to each other, and increafe and heighten their friendship to each other for there is a peculiar and inexpreffible fweetness and enjoyment in being beloved by thofe who are fo amiable and honourable in our eyes, and with fuch an ardent, humble, fweet and pure affection as Chriftian love is. The Chriftian, who has a fenfible and most pleasing idea of this love and affection, cannot feel himself embraced by others with this tender, beau tiful, noble love and friendship, without an ineffable senfation, which fills his heart with the moft fweet delight and joy, and kindles a flame in his foul of holy love and gratitude to them, in which he returns love for love, and embraces them with the arms of the most delight ful, tender and heart-melting friendship. Thus the mutual love of Chriftians ferves to fweeten and increase their affection, to each other, and blows the coals and kindles up the fire of friendfhip to a more intenfe and vehement flame. The more fenfible any one is that he is the object of the Chriftian love of another, whom he efteems highly as an amiable difciple of Chrift, and the more evidences and tokens he has of this love, the more will his heart be inflamed in love to him; which again will increafe and heighten the other's love: and thus, by the influence of their mutual love and friendship, the sweet flame rifes higher and higher, until they are all melted and diffolved, and turned into a moft pure, active, perfect flame: like two brands on fire, which burn flow, and give but a moderate heat, when apart; but being put together, by the mutual action and influence one on the other, the heat increases into a burning flame, which foon fets them all on fire. Again Their being united in the belief of the fame fyftem of fweet, important truth, and engaged in the fame common intereft, and in the fame purfuits, and having the fame views, defigns, temper and difpofition; and being, as to fubftance, in the fame ftate and circumftances; in all these refpects, and many others, being alike, united and bearing a resemblance to each other, like the children of one family, united under one kind, wife friend and father; Chriftians being thus united, and bearing this likeness to each other in fo many refpects, is many ways a great advantage to this friendfhip, and greatly adds to its beauty and fweetnefs, and ferves to increase their love, and the union of their hearts to each other. As this is fuch a pleafant, delightful, as well as noble, important theme, in which every Chriftian has fo much concern |