3. To abound in all acts and offices of love to him —
[In secret, let us contemplate, admire, and adore his excellencies : in public, let us confess, honour, and obey himg.]
It commends to us that duty as resulting from the declaration that precedes it —
[The love of Christ towards us is the strongest of all motives to the love of him. Was Christ's love to us so un- merited, unbounded, invariable, and lasting ? and shall ours to him be weak and transient? Let it operate then suitably on all our hearts. Let us not rest satisfied with what we have attained11. Let us meditate on his love as the means of increasing ours1.]
e Matt. x. 32. John xiv. 21. h Phil. iii. 12, 13.
1 Eph. iii. 18, 19.
John xv. 11. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.
THOUGH every possible perfection was exhibited in its brightest colours in the person of our Lord, yet the most striking feature of his character was bene- volence. Like the sun in its course, he diffused blessings wherever he went, and laboured with inde- fatigable zeal to promote the good of mankind. By his discourses as well as by his miracles he sought to advance the happiness of his followers. In the pas- sage before us he assures his Disciples that this was the one end of the instructions he had given them. That we may improve this gracious declaration, let us inquire, I. What things he had spoken to them —
We do not apprehend that he refers to his dis- courses in general, but to the things which he had been just uttering —
The doctrinal part of what he had spoken related to their union with him —