Corinthians only remembering that, as that epistle was written before his imprisonment in Judæa and at Rome, it can only contain the sufferings of a part of his life; and that five years of imprisonment, shipwreck, another imprisonment, and finally martyrdom, are to be added to the account there given. Nor must we forget that which came on him daily, the care of all the churches. For we must not think of St. Paul as of a missionary who preached or read to the people in different places, and having taught them about Christ, went on and left them to themselves. His duties were those of a ruler quite as much as of a preacher. He founded churches everywhere; that is, societies of men whose whole lives were to be regulated by his directions; for whose good order he was to provide; and whose faults affected him with the deepest personal concern. Read in the first epistle to the Corinthians the various questions proposed to him for answer; and consider, if one church furnished him with so much matter for thought and regulation, what must have been the care of regulating all the churches of Europe and most of those in Asia? Such was Paul's life of labour and of suffering; labour both of body and mind; suffering both of body and mind. And then, if we observe the spirit and cheerfulness which prevails in all his epistles, down to the very last,-the calmness, the fervent love, the impartial and clear

judging reason, without the slightest mixture of fanatical violence or folly,-we shall understand how wonderful are the graces of Christ's Spirit; that He is at once wisdom, and power, and love; and being such, and changing His servants into His own image, they also are full of wisdom, and power, and love, after their measure, and therefore have in them also a peace of God that passeth all understanding, and a joy unspeakable and full of glory.

BRATHAY CHAPEL,

December 22nd, 1839.

SERMON XXXVII.

ST. JOHN.

2 JOHN, 5.

And now I beseech thee, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another.

I ENDEAVOURED last Sunday to give a sort of outline of the life of St. Paul, and to connect most of his Epistles with their date, and with the circumstances under which they were written. The second lesson for this evening service is the second Epistle of St. John, and the day before yesterday was St. John's day; so that the Apostle St. John is now as naturally brought before our minds, as the Apostle St. Paul was last Sunday. It is true, we have it not in our power to give St. John's history with the same fulness as St. Paul's; neither can we so certainly fix the period of his writings, nor connect them so distinctly with the circumstances

of his life. But there must be a benefit surely in collecting together every thing that we can know about him, and in tracing out as much as can be discovered to illustrate his writings; inasmuch as if we ask who St. John was, the answer is, that he was the disciple whom Jesus loved; and if we ask what are his writings, we know that in them there is so eminent a measure of divine truth, that he was called by way of eminence in ancient times, "the Apostle who spoke of God."

James and John, the sons of Zebedee, were, as we all know, fishermen on the lake of Gennesaret or sea of Galilee, when our Lord called them to be His disciples. We all know also that they with Peter were alone with Him when he was transfigured on the Mount, that they alone were with Him when he raised Jairus' daughter from the dead; and that they alone witnessed His agony in the garden of Gethsemane. After His resurrection and ascension, it was by Peter and John that the first miracle was wrought in His name, the healing of the lame man at the Beautiful gate of the Temple; and several years later, when St. Paul went up to Jerusalem to communicate with the Apostles, he addressed himself particularly to Peter, and James the brother of our Lord, and to John; who, as he says were accounted pillars in the church. This is the last scriptural mention of St. John that is free from all doubt and uncertainty; but what I

have noticed is enough to show that from the beginning of the Gospel onwards, St. John was ever regarded as among the most eminent of our Lord's disciples.

But this is not all:-we know also that St. John had the highest and most awful privilege ever bestowed upon any human being, for he was in a peculiar manner the disciple whom Jesus loved. It were profaneness to attempt to dwell on this point farther than merely to notice it; but if we ask for what purpose it was recorded in the Scripture, and how without any profane curiosity we may yet regard it with benefit, the answer is, that this simple statement, together with what is said of our Lord's love for Lazarus and Martha and Mary, is the highest and most precious sanction for our own feelings of personal friendship and affection, as distinct from our general brotherly love or benevolence. The general language of the Scripture enforces general charity,-love to our brethren, that is, to our fellow Christians;love to our neighbour, that is, to all our fellow men. It was needful that we should have a Divine command for this, because we are so apt to fail in it; but we do not need to be commanded to feel personal regard or love for one or more individuals, for to this Nature herself prompts us. Lest however we should think that this was no more than an instinct of corrupt nature, which our