DISCOURSES:

I. ON THE UNSELFISHNESS OF THE CHRISTIAN CHARACTER,

II. ON THE REST, PROSPERITY AND CHARACTER, OF THE PRIMITIVE

JEWISH CHURCHES.

III. ON THE LAW OF MARRIAGE AMONG CHRISTIANS.

DISCOURSE I.

ON THE UNSELFISHNESS OF THE CHRISTIAN CHARACTER.

PHIL. ii. 4.-" Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others."

SELFISHNESS is in some degree characteristic of all mankind. It was manifest in the first act of transgression, when the desire of self-gratification for the moment absorbed every other feeling; and it may be said to lurk at the root of every evil that has been committed from that hour down to the present. It is the result of the derangement which has taken place among the principles which God originally implanted in our nature, of the harmonious co-operation of which the ultimate end was our happiness. Misery is the result of the derangement, because those principles which were intended to hold a subordinate place, have gained the ascendancy, and those which should have been the ruling principles have lost their influence. Love to God and love to man are trampled under foot, while love to self has usurped their place, and now reigns supreme.

The great end of the mission of Christ, in reference to man, was to rectify this derangement. For the accomplishment of this, he not only made an atonement for past guilt, and imparts to his people a heavenly influence for the maintenance of new obedience, but also exhibited in his own person the result of the harmony which he came to restore. He set before them an example that they might follow his steps. Accordingly, the apostle, in the verse immediately following our text, says, "Let this mind be in you, which was in Christ Jesus." In him, that is, in Christ, there could have been no selfishness, because there was no sin. We must therefore find in him the manifestation of the opposite of that principle, or, which is the same thing, an exemplification of obedience to the precept before us. We cannot, then, better illustrate the precept, or enforce a compliance with its demands, than by tracing this obedience, as manifested by Christ, and bringing our own character into comparison with his as a test. The most striking features of Christ's character, as opposed to the principle of selfishness, we shall consider under the four following heads: 1st, His sympathy,―2d, His beneficence, 3d, His self-denial,-4th, His disinterestedness.

I. His sympathy.-By sympathy we mean the being affected by the feelings of others,-feeling as they feel, and because they feel. "Rejoice," says Paul, "with those that do rejoice, and weep with those that weep." Of sympathetic joy there are but few instances on record in the life of the Redeemer. He is

indeed said, on one occasion, to have rejoiced in spirit, and on another, to have been glad; but his appropriate designation is "the man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief." In this respect, more particularly, do we find the frequent exemplification of the principle now referred to. What pathetic sublimity there is in the expression, "Jesus wept," considering the circumstances to which it refers! Mark the workings of his mind on beholding the widow of Nain, overwhelmed with sorrow, as she slowly moved to consign to the dust all that was dear to her on earth, -"he had compassion upon her." How heart-thrilling are the words, "Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me!" considering the occasion on which they were uttered. But we need not dwell on particulars. His whole life was a career of sympathy: he took upon him our nature; "he bore our griefs, and carried our sorrows.

Now, his people must resemble him. They must sympathise with the joys and sorrows of those by whom they are surrounded. As they have "a High Priest who is touched with the feeling of their infirmities," they must, as members of one family, be touched with the feeling of the infirmities of one another. This susceptibility of being moved by the condition of others, is the principle, in the mind of Christ, to which we must trace all the blessings of salvation, his toils and pains while on earth, and the communications of his grace in his state of exaltation. It constitutes the bond of union between him and his chosen: he feels with them, and their feelings