[Yes, the regard is mutual. You might possibly love one in whom there was not a reciprocal attachment. But it is not so in this case. He calls you " The dearly beloved of his soul'." As surely therefore as you can say, " This is my Beloved," you may add, with confidence, "This is my Friend." Yes; Jesus himself says, " I call you not servants, but friends." Nor can you imagine any act of friendship which he will not most gladly execute for you. " Abraliam was the friend of God." See, then, what God wrought for him ! and know, that thai, yea, and infinitely more, will the Lord Jesus Christ work for you in the time of your necessity. On every occasion will he come to you, to counsel you by his wisdom, to uphold you by his power, and to enrich you with his benefits. We are told, " There is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother:" verily, there is no brother in the universe, that will be so entirely at your command as he. Only apply to him, and spread your wants before him, and you shall never go empty away. On the contrary, " He will do exceeding abundantly for you, above all that you can ask or think."] Now then let me ask of you, my Brethren,
1. " What think ye of Christ ?"
[This was a question which Christ himself put to his Dis- ciples: and I now put it to you. You know what is said, " To them that believe, he is precious," even preciousness itself. Is he viewed in this light by you ? This will determine whether ye be true Believers, or not : for in every Believer, and in him exclusively, this grace is found. Verily, if you are really his, you will say, " Whom have I in heaven but thee ? and there
is none upon earth that I desire besides thee" Your
sublimest joy on earth must be to say, " My beloved is mine, and I am Ills'*."]
2. How are you endeavouring to requite his love ? [If you love Christ, it must be not in word only, but in
deed and in truth. Are you then living in the enjoyment of his presence ? Are you consecrating yourselves unre- servedly to his service ? Above all, Are you seeking
to grow up into his image, so that he may be as well satisfied with contemplating your relation to him, as you are in viewing his to you ? See how, in the chapter before my text, Clirist views his bride ^: see how he views her with admiration, as it were, from head to foot^; and what a blessed testimony he bears respecting her^'. Let it be your ambition so to walk before him, that he may testify the same of you; and that the union which has thus been commenced between you on earth, may be consummated in heaven for evermore.]
<= Jer, xii. 7. ^ Cant. ii. lO. and vi. 3. ^ Cant. iv. 1.
f Cant. iv. 2—0. s Cant. iv. 7.