law, but that which is by the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith." And such will also be the language of our hearts, my Brethren, if the Lord Jesus Christ be really precious to us. In this respect we see that the value we set upon the Saviour, may be accurately measured by the value of those things which we are willing to renounce for his sake.

Further, If Christ be precious unto us, His glory will be precious to us also. Knowing that we are not our own, but bought with the price of His "most precious blood," we shall heartily desire to glorify Him with our bodies and spirits, which are His. "His love will constrain us to live not to ourselves, but unto Him who died for us and rose again." We shall esteem it our highest honour and privilege to devote both our bodies and souls, as far as we are able, to His reasonable service. We shall earnestly desire to manifest our love to Him by keeping His commandments, remembering His own words, He that hath My commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me. We shall be careful to avoid every thing that can grieve or offend Him. We shall mourn because we cannot serve Him as faithfully, nor value Him as highly as we ought to do, (for this is a certain indication of Christ's being precious to us, my Brethren, when we sincerely desire to feel Him more so, and

are not satisfied with ourselves for prizing Him so little.) And we shall abhor the idea of claiming any praise or merit to ourselves for any thing we do, but will gladly ascribe every thing connected with our salvation "to the praise of the glory of His grace, which alone hath made us to differ."

Lastly, If Christ be precious to us, His ordinances and His people will also be precious. We shall esteem a day spent in His house and in His worship, better than a thousand. We shall love the society of all that love Him, and delight in holding communion with them, and joining them in offering Him praise and adoration. We shall spread abroad the knowledge of His grace, and "speak of the great things He hath done for our souls" to all around us. We shall look upon the meanest member of His body as our friend and brother, and rejoice to do him good for the Lord's sake. And, finally, we shall be anxious, as far as in us lies, to extend His kingdom, and to induce our friends and fellow sinners to esteem Him equally precious as we do ourselves.

Thus it is that true faith in the Lord Jesus Christ uniformly "works by love!" And exactly as far as we feel Him thus precious to our souls, so far, my Beloved Brethren, we have the evidence within ourselves that we sincerely believe in Him. Let us, then, seriously examine ourselves by this

rule, and so judge of the reality of our faith. As for the people of this world, the Son of God possesses "no form nor comeliness in their eyes, nor do they see in Him any beauty for which they should desire Him."

Now to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, &c.

SERMON X.

FAITH IN CHRIST, WORKING BY LOVE,
PRODUCES HATRED OF SIN.

PSALM XCVII. 10.

Oh ye that love the Lord, see that ye hate the thing that is evil.

THERE are (in a religious point of view) two descriptions of persons in the world; those who love God, and those who do not love Him. And the difference between these two kinds of persons, is as plainly manifested by their characters and habits of life, as the difference between good and bad trees is proved by the qualities of the fruit which they produce.

Those who sincerely love God, although (comparatively) but in a small degree, evince the sincerity of their love to Him in a manner similar to that in which their affection to their fellow-creatures is displayed. They love to see Him, to hear Him, to speak with Him, to praise Him, to associate with those who love Him, and, in a word, to

please Him to the utmost of their ability, by endeavouring to love what He loves, and to hate what He hates. Those, on the other hand, who do not love God, manifest their want of love to Him in the same way that a want of affection for any other object is displayed, namely, by a marked dislike, or at least indifference, to every thing that relates to Him. They neither love to see Him, hear Him, speak with, or praise Him. They feel a decided repugnance to the society of those who love Him. And take no pains whatsoever, either to do the things which please Him, or to refrain from those things which are offensive in His sight.

Now, it is to the first mentioned class of persons that the Psalmist addresses the exhortation in our text, "Oh ye that love the Lord, see that ye hate the thing that is evil;" which words suggest to us, my Beloved Brethren, to enquire, in the First place, Who they are that may properly be said to love the Lord; and, Secondly, What are the reasons or motives which induce those who love Him, to hate the thing that is evil.

First, we are led to enquire who those persons are that may be properly said to love the Lord. And we shall find, on a careful investigation of the subject, that they are those alone who were first "loved by Him;" "We love Him," saith St. John, "because He first loved us." The heart of fallen