enemy to God." And God implicitly grants, that if this was the cafe with Job, he was not worthy the character he had given him; therefore proceeds to put this matter to the trial. Wo to the perfon whofe love and friendship to Chrift is built on no better foundation than this. When the trial comes, he will be found wanting, even just such an one as the devil would have him be; a real and confirmed enemy to Jefus Chrift.

Let every one, then, who is inquiring whether he is a true friend to Chrift, or not, fee to it that he does not deceive himself here, while all his love and affection is only a felfish thing, arifing wholly from a thought and belief that Chrift is his friend, and not confisting in any true sense of his worthinefs, fuperlative excellence and beauty. The true friends to Chrift love and ef teem him, are pleased with his perfon and character, and are friendly and benevolent to him, rejoicing in his honour and happiness, independent of his love to them; and therefore if he fhould caft them off forever, and their character continue the fame, this would not deftroy their love to him; but they would, notwithftanding this, continue his hearty friends, even under the highest tokens of his displeasure; could he do this confiftent with his true character.

2. The true friends of Chrift are fubmiffive and obedient to him.

There is no true principle of obedience but love; and juft fo far as this takes place, there is a spirit of obedience. So far as one is a true friend to another, he is devoted to his fervice, and is at his beck, efpecially if he is his fuperior, and has a right to dictate and command. And with what freedom and pleasure do we ftrive to ferve and please our dear friends! This is no task, but a privilege. What influence then will true love and friendship to Chrift have in this refpect! with what fweet delight do they devote themselves to Him, looking on his fervice as the greatest privilege and hap pinefs that they can conceive of! They long to be all fubmiflion and obedience to him, from a fenfe of the sweetness

fweetness and pleasure of it. As foon as they become friends to him, they are reconciled to and pleased with all his inftitutions, commands and ways. They esteem all his precepts concerning all things to be perfectly right. They will meditate on his precepts, and have refpect to all his ways. Yea, they will delight themselves in his ftatutes, and rejoice in the way of his teftimonies, more then in all riches. They well understand the Pfalmift when he fays, "I opened my mouth, and panted, for I longed for thy commandments." They are not difpofed to pick and choose for themselves, but are ready to fign a blank, and fay, "Lord what wilt thou have me to do?" With this difpofition they read God's word, defiring to find what is that good and perfect and acceptable will of Chrift. They are not offended at the crofs, or scared at the profpect of fufferings for their dear Lord and Mafter; but are ready to look upon this as a great privilege and happiness. All this is the natural and even neceflary attendant of true friendship to Christ. This our dear Lord has expreffed repeatedly in the ftrongeft terms. His words are, "He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me. If a man love me, he will keep my words. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you."

There are many profeffed friends of Chrift who are found wanting, yea, effentially defective, when tried by this plain, infallible rule, which is moft infifted on of any in the word of God, as the beft rule of trial. They have, it may be, at times had fome uncommon motions and affections of foul, as they fondly think, towards Christ and in these they reft as a fure evidence that they are become friends to him. But what is the fruit in their life and converfation? Why, it may be truly faid of them, they profefs great love and friendship to Chrift, but in works they difhonour and deny him. They call him Lord and Mafter, but do not the things that he fays: therefore we may be fure they are not his friends; that all their affection, love and joy, however high it rifes, is of a spurious kind, and has nothing of the nature of true love to Chrift.

Look

Look well to yourselves in this point, my friends. Flatter not yourselves that you are friends to Christ, unless you are wholly devoted to his fervice, and are, with great exactnefs and confcientious care, labour and watchfulness, attending upon whatfoever he has commanded, and avoiding all that he has forbidden, in thought, word and deed: at the fame time not counting this a task, but a privilege, from which you never defire to be released.

3.

Sermon VIII.

On Chriftian Friendship.

Cant. v. 16. This is my beloved, and this is my friend. F PERSONS are the true friends of Chrift, their obligations to him appear exceeding great to

them.

It is the nature of true friendship to operate thus. This above all things tends to make perfons fenfible of the obligations they are under to their friend, and to be ready, and even delight, to acknowledge them. The more we esteem and love any one, the greater does his kindness to us appear, and the more are we affected with it, and, confequently, the more fenfible fhall we be of the obligations we are under to him; and the more fhall we be pleafed and delighted in being thus obliged.

This takes place in the friendship we are now confidering, to a degree beyond any parallel. No obligations in the universe are fo great as thofe of Christ's friends and fervants to him. They are enhanced to an amazing degree, and become infinite every way. They are enough to fill the foul with wonder and aftonishment,

and

and fwallow up all thought. And his friends are not without a sense of this. They feel themselves bound to Christ by the strongest ties, which are beyond all expreffion. He has bought them by his own precious blood, and what obligations do they acknowledge themselves to be under, to be wholly and forever devoted to him, with the utmost strength of their hearts!

If you are the friends of Chrift, this has been often a very affecting theme to you. You have felt and ackowledged your obligations to Chrift, with an ardour of foul inexpreffible, and with a great degree of fweetness and delight. And you have faid, many a time, "What fhall I render to the Lord and Saviour for all his benefits?" And you have found you had no returns to make anfwerable to the immenfe obligations you are under to him. This leads to obferve,

4. The friends of Christ never think they have done enough for him, but always, in their own view, come vastly short of what they owe to him.

This is always the attendant of true friendship among men, especially where one is a great friend to another who is much his fuperior every way, and to whom he is under great and peculiar obligations. He is not afraid of doing too much for his friend; but always comes fhort of what he would be glad to do, being ready to purpose and do more than he does. And he is not apt to magnify what he has done, and think he does a great deal, as he does it with fo much pleasure, and his obligations appear fo great; but he is difpofed to think it little, or even nothing; and if his friend appears to take great notice of it, he is ready to wonder at it, and think he greatly magnifies it. He thinks he is to blame that he has done no more, and is uneafy with himself on this account, and wonders that fuch notice should be taken of what he has done.

But in the cafe before us, this takes place in a higher degree than in any other; as the Chriftian's friend is so much more worthy and excellent than any other, and he is under fo much greater obligations to him, and

his defects and fhort comings are fo much greater and more aggravated than in any other cafe. All the Chrif tian does, and renders to Chrift, finks into nothing, in his view, and he looks upon it as amazing condefcenfion in Chrift to take any notice of it, or accept it. He can heartily and feelingly cfpoufe the language of a certain great friend of Chrift, who was once in our world, but is now in heaven with him: "What I would, that I do not; and what I would not, that I do.". I am infinitely in debt to my glorious friend, but pay nothing. All my returns I make to him are fo little, and fo much below the obligations I am under, that they are altogether unworthy his notice. O that I could give away to him my whole felf forever in one pure, conftant, ardent flame of love. And even this would be fo little, worthlefs a gift, that it is great grace and condefcenfion in him to accept it. If I was called to the greatest fufferings in his caufe, and to lay down my life for him, this I fhould count the greateft privilege; but how little would this be towards paying the debt I owe! how little compared with what he has done for me!

There are many profeffed Chriftians, who naturally. think they do a great deal for Chrift, and that he is much in debt to them for it; while they are really doing little compared with what many others do. And the very reafon why they have so high an opinion of what they do is, because they count Chrift's fervice hard, and at bottom have no true love to him. But the true friends of Chrift, from the great love they have to him, are difpofed to look upon all they can do or fuffer for him as little or nothing.

5. The friends of Chrift are ready to efpoufe his caufe at all times, let it coft them what it will.

This is the nature of true friendship; it will lead perfons always to appear on the fide of their friend, to efpouse his caufe, and promote his intereft. Solomon obferves, that a friend loveth at all times. This is ap plicable to the cafe before us: a true friend of Chrift loveth at all times, is ready to ftand up in his caufe, and

espouse