' John X. g. "' 1 Cor. iii. 11. ' Acts It. 12.
• Gen, iviii. 23 — 32. " Exod, xxxii. Q — 14.
1 John ii. 6. He that saith he abideth in him, ought himself also so to ivalk evcfi as he walked.
AMONG the various excellencies which distin- guish Christianity from all other religions, one of very- considerable importance is, that the Author of it condescended to exemplify in his own person every thing which it required of its most faithful adherents.
Different
Different Philosophers established rules for their followers : but no one ever professed himself a pattern, and much less a perfect pattern, of all that under any circumstances could be required of him. But the Lord Jesus Christ has perfectly fulfilled his own law, as for other ends, so also that he might " set us an example to follow his steps." True it is indeed that He is the sole Author of our salvation from first to last : but he does not on that account dispense with our obedience to his law : on the contrary, he says, that '' all who abide in him, must walk as he walked."
There are some who deny that the law is to the Believer a rule of life. But supposing this error could not be refuted by direct testimony, which it easily and abundantly may, what would the advo- cates of it gain, if once they admitted, what I sup- pose no man would deny, that Christ is an example for us to follow ? Did not he ** fulfil all righteous- ness," even to the utmost extent of the moral law ? And if he did, and is an example to us, must not we obey the law in the same manner, and to the same extent ? We are not indeed to fulfil it for the same ends ; because he alone, as the Mediator between God and man, can save men by his obedience unto death : but in all that he did as a man, we are to follow his steps : and if we neglect to do so, we shew, that we have no part or lot in his salvation.
The words I have read will lead me to set before you the principles, and the practice, of every true Christian.
I. His principles —
The Christian is united unto Christ by faith, as a branch to the vine ; and his one great concern is to ** abide in Christ."
For this he labours as the one ground of his hope —
[He knows that he has nothing, and can have nothing, in himself. He needs no one to tell him this : he has learned it, as from the Inspired Volume, so also from his own expei'ience. He has found on numberless occasions how weak and sinful a
creature
222 1 JOHN, u. 6. [1179.
creature he is: and is well assured, that, if he had not " Jehovah himself for his righteousness and strength," it would he hnpossihle for him ever to be saved. Hence he views with comj)lacency the Lord Jesus Christ as the great Head of the Church. " It has pleased the Father, that in Christ should all fulness dwell":" and in this respect he is altogether like-minded with the Father : for it pleases him in his inmost soul to have such an Head of vital influence, and such a Depository of all spiritual blessings. He is sensible that the branch derives all its life and fertility from its union with the vine : and that, if once separated, from the stem, it would wither and die^ This idea he endeavours to realize : and " the life which he lives in the flesh, he lives altogether by faith in the Son of God''," "receiving out of his fulness** " a constant supply of grace and peace. If, as a blind and ignorant creature, he need wisdom ; or as a guilty creature, he need righteousness ; or as a polluted creature, he need sancti- fication ; or as an enslaved creature, he need redemption : he looks for it all in Christ, whom he regards as furnished with all for the use of his Church, and as empowered to commu- nicate it all to every one that trusts in him^]