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STEPU£A-S, SAIXT JOHN, X. B. "A new Commandment give I unto you, That ye love one another; as I ^ have loved you, That ye also love one another," &c.— John xiii. 34, 35. PUBLISHED AT THE REQUEST OF THE SESSION. HALIFAX : NOVA SCOTIA PRINTING COMPANY. 1875. SERMON. "A ,mo Commandment give T unto yon. That ye lave one another ■ as J have iovedyou, that ye also love one another, d^..-JoHN xiii. 34. 35 ' ^"'' Ye. brethren, a new Commandment ; new, then, new. now ; for hardly yet. after eighteen centuries of Christian work m the world, has it even begun to be obeyed, or pro- perly speaking, understood ; and new forever ; for more and more, as the ages of eternity roll on. shall fresh, glorious light be cast, in the very heaven of heavens, upon those Christ- words of touching pathos, "as I have loved you." When honoured, dear friends, with an invitation from the worthy pastor of your choice, and from the Presbytery of which he IS a member, to deliver the discourse of induction to-day. my text flashed upon me, as. beyond ail others, the text for the occasion. May I humbly venture to express the hope, that the suggestion was of that gracious Spirit, to whose working among you, I believe, your happy meeting of to-day IS due > For it seemed to me. on hearing the tidings of your union, of dissensions hushed, and schisms healed, and sectarianisms slain, of your resolve that, by God's help '' Ephraim should no more envy Judah. nor Judah vex Ephraim."-st seemed to me that you were exhibiting a grand and memorable illustration of obedience to this great com- mandment-evincing, in a manner not to be gainsaid, that verily '• the love of Christ wa«? heino- r\r^\^u, ^u^a «u^-..j .•.- your hearts, by the holy Spirit given unto you." And I felt that the circumstances demanded not only counsels for days (I trust, many and happy) to come, but also some reference to the past and the present. For, brethren, you have verily done a new thing in your history as a people, taken a step which, a few years ago, was Undreamt of among you ; which, up, almost, to the moment at which you entered upon this course, it was hoped by many, it was feared by some, you would decline. Hut you have taken it, to God be the praise ! You have bravely, calmly, deliberately evinced that your Christian profession is a reality. You have determined to abound in the first, last fruit of that profession. Love. You have submitted yourselves, in the sight of God. to this new commandment. How then can I hope more appropriately to occupy your time fer a few minutes to-day, than by expound- mg to some extent, its nature and motive. I. It is a new commandmpt. Ye?, brethren, it was a new thing, (i). To issue an injunction to love in the form of a command. " How can I." you ask, " control my affections > How submit their wayward lawless tendencies to the dictates of order and rule.? My affections! Against or with my will,— as ///^z please, not as / please, will they not manifest them- selves ? Likings and dislikings, by what process of reason- ing or discipline are they to be governed into obedience •"' . . . . It is quite true. Directly the affections cannot be brought into subjection. No potentate, of authority how great soever, can bid or constrain me to love or hate at his pleasure. He may hold out the inducement of bribes the most alluring, or endeavour to shake my constancy by threats of tortures the most appaling. In vain. Not thus can the soul's affections be won. Not thus does Jesus gain his vic- tories. No, He calls forth love by loving. He takes us with the wiles of his great love. He surprizes us into the obedience that he covets. And we are ipade willing captives m the very course of the procedure, whereby he leads us out into the " glorious liberty of the children of God." It was a npw th'""' ^"^^ . m-t « tij.-.j, ^-.; .n iPiv iiis.uiy wi muii, £o entrust ail hie and all the conduct of life to the influence of this solitary power, 6 to confide the existeace and prowth of righteousness, hoh-ncss, purity, truth, of all that honours God on earth, and dignifies man for eternity, to the operation of this unaided force. But this is what Jesus has done— " Love one another." knowledge is in that; for "he that loveth is born of God and knmveth God." " Love one another." righteousness is in that. It is " the fulfilling of the law." Law vanishes in the light of love. Its enactments are never appealed to. Its countless dictates may be .sealed up and laid aside, obeyed as thev arc without thought that they exist, more fully, more unhesitatingly than «f every step were taken in obedience to" an audible command. With a community under the influence of the royal law, this golden rule— it is as with a happy and well-ordered family. Parents and children, sisters -and brethren, the happiness of each is the joy of all. How can one wrong another .? The honor of the parent is sacred to the heart of filial reverence, the welfare of the child to the heart of parental solicitude! Life, purity, property, good-name, rejoicing in the good of each other, what force shall so guard these, so prompt to watchfulness over these as love ? Christ, in these words, puts his hand on the main-spring of human life's machinery. You have seen an engineer standing in his place before some mighty engine. It thrills and trembles with pent-up force. A lever is touched. A child's hand might move it. And t' - whole of the ponderous machinery is at once in rapid move K-nt. Love is life's main- spring, and its impulses send us whithersoever it will. F'or all the fires and threats of Mount Sinai, for all the terrors and hopes of the hereafter, in the room of all precepts, as the one sufficient substitute of all fences and all restrictions. Christ has given us this new thing. Love. It was a new thing (3) in the light of Christ's exposition of what the words "one another" implied. To iove— love God. love man, our neighbour — that this was dn^v n,n<^r^],\ nc r,,o.,'o p^^- tion. The Jew had this grand truth and what did he do with it > What did he make of it ? He did with and made of it just what overlaid it with ,Wos,s. „„i 7 "'''^^■— '" hemmed it in and Christ came, ta, " b, t '.' ","7" ""' "'=" "'^'"••'"y' -"- great commLndm", „f";:'^ '7""";" '"« "^^ »',, the actually f„,md i, possible .„n ' "I?""™' ' «V- They great commandm'en ?f' h , T'^th "' "" ""= ""' ^"'' it as if this question wa, „ Ju^^ ''"'" *" *^''"'" >"'!' q.-tion in hi 2lZ V:^}',,' '"'""t '™-"y. =« him in his talk." AndwhenhlT/ ''^' ""S'" "™<»ngle flashed upon them Ik -a „1 ',""'"'""'' ^is answer had culty in reserve "Who i,o f""' ""=^ "'" ""d " *«- did not know, jus. a?yoa„dr,^'''™^-""'^y''»K«l- They realize, a few years ailh "" "" '"'°"' 'ha' i» did not come to believTtha '°L"t° 7' ""[ "'^'S'"'""'- They had love their neighbour ilr 7/'" "^" '^'y ""^ bidden to hate him who'm th; "dto tm':' "'^^^ =""' "="J°-'' '^ deemed or were ta^gh. Jo retard aV""^^""' ' "'■"" ""=y we not practically reasoning n^ '"'"'^- ^"'^ ""= you remember how Chris, re„l^ T"'l "'^ ' '^''^ '"""^' ' ™y neighbour- how he c o/e'fcr ," ^r«''°" " Who is whom every Jew believed i„T '^^'""^"•='"<"> »ne of a people hate. And you hn t jl ?el, r"T. "" "^ "=" '"'""'"<' grandest illustration of h/o '^°" ^I^"" "as himself the i'an" indeed, whoTootedfronTh '''''• "" "^"''dSamar- us wretched, perishin7reb!r "j ""' •'^"""'S'^' "'"> »f .0 made this fhe ne:CmLXr 1:^"'; ""»'^''°"- »" Spirit :rThrrerbi"e7.::::,t'',L" "■r""^-' "• --'^•' -« obey it. Brethren wha i^ "fy d'soples to understand and which took place d^rT.^.h"!'"""'^ '^ '""= '"^ "">^eme„t for the conve'rsbn of Kd to ch -'r" "//''"""" '""^ ' of the Apostles with ,! I ^"" ' ^e read the Acts We take it as a ma ter of '"""""f """'" "^ ''^"•""'rity John =h".,'d -,-'," "f.^"'""^* that a Paul, a P«.r or ~ i a'o , that the> should go through I: "penis of waters, of robbers, by Ihcir countrymen, by the heathen in the city, the wilderness, the sea, among false brethren," and all to save menls souls. We are apt to forget that nothing of this sort ever happened in the world before their time. It had never occurred to a single human being as a thing that ought to be done, or that any one was under an obligation to do. What to the Jew did it matter that the Gentiles were dying in ignorance of Israel's God ? Let them perish ! The Jew was glad. What Greek or Roman dreamt that it was a duty incumbent on him to impart any knowledge or wisdom possessed by him to nations more ignorant than himself.? On what one human soul had it dawned, until Christ came, that " it is more blessed in any respect whatever to give than to receive"? You see it was in every respect a new thing. A new sense of the brotherhood of the race, and of the duty of each to deal with his fellow-man as with a brother, appeared in these disciples. " Barbarians, Scythians, bond and free," all were one, it was for the first time felt, in Christ Jesus, and that oneness must be proclaimed, and how its blessings were to be secured must be made known ; and every disciple would rather perish than fail in doing what in him lay, be the risks what they might, to make it known. This was what "loving one another" meant for the first disciples of Christ. This was how they tried to show to all men that they were Christ's ^'f'P'^« My friends, in all simple seriousness, what did the Christian church come to, as the ages rolled on.? What, looking to its many unloving sects, does it mean to-day.? What did we ourselves mean till a few years ago .? How were we reading our Gospels .? Here is our Saviour's sign-manual. Here is the one point, upon which above all others, He lays the greatest stress. Call it doctrine, duty, principle, evidence of faith, what you will. In the teaching of the Master him- self, the spirit, essence, substance, sum of all that he taught, insisted on, demanded is just this "Love one another." Were we doing it? Did we think of it as in any way neces ary 8 Ba!"/ 71; f "''''"' ■' '" "hat Creed, Confession of Faith, words seen, plain enough, b„, no one appeTred o s e Zi noZIT "'V'^ "^""^^ '" '"S« ie.,e'rs.haty " 'h:" noticed stamped on some maps-one name spread in a man were unregarded. Thank td ' I b g rTa'v U "dT'"°" Subtle doctrinal hair-splittings are cea^fng to It res TZ men as they once did. The great duties of rte ChrMan S mat^rf aid 1""'"^ "'t "'""'"" '" "' ^^^ '° >«= '"« we^h tt; mat ers, and I rejo.ce that you, this day, have been led bv Gods spmt, to set this noble example ; togive this oroof tbt^ a year, the marks of be ne a Chrktian u • , ^ beyond all others unmistaUaMe " r,. owTed ifir'' undeniable on earth, "by this shall all men know that ve a"' my disciples, if ye love one another " ^ .., ,hl ,?"f "'T^'i' """■'• ■^''^ ^i»« «•«" of our day tell us that the law wh.ch governs the whole animated creatton i\l creatures are competing with each other which shall mn,t multiply and orcupy the largest portion of earth's suL" plant wih plant, animal with animal, nation with pat o„ Yo^ see this law at work when weeds grow up in your field, a^d threaten ,0 choke the good seed that you have sown there and when you root out the weeds you are helping the good seed in its strueele lest thp v^^^a/.,u u ^ ^^^ spr.,d th» -hX - \ . ^""^"^ ^°"^"^^ ^"d over- spread th. .hule oi what you would devote to better uses Yes, brethren, that wofild seem to be the law. The e U i t i': strife through all nature, a ceaseless conflict. And when the whue man came to these lands, and the red man dieappea ed ctL .hr; " "" '"H."^ P"™'""'' "' '■>« -™= «-« Prin- law onhVr""^ ,'T^'"^ f' "'^''- ^''' '■™"<'»- i' 'hat the law of the Gospel, the law for man ? Read my te« once more. You see it is the Very reverse well"" t i?'";^^'"„'°' '""''""'" "'^ "^ng crushing the the weak ha i T '" '"'"' "' "''''='' "^^ "^°"S ^'">" '"^'P he weak, shall p,ty succor, save. The law of the Gospel is bpmtof L,fe ,n Chnst Jesus sets the wc ' of Christian ato tV T, "" '™ °' ''" ^"'l ''^«''-" A-"" i" 'his light also see what a new commandment it is. Not strife not compctmon, not trying who shall be master; but love sympathy, try,ng who shall most largely seh-e. That is the .rue human nature ; and the Gospel came to make us truly men. Our sectanan strifes, what were and are they but hL fl^^ • ^ '"■''"« endeavoring to crush the weak, had taken possession of the Church. Be ours, henceforward a new stnfe-the debt of love-the competing with each other, who shall most largely serve And now II. What is our motive to obey this law' VVh,ch .s he standard of obedience which we have to sei before us ? That, too, is here, "as I have loved you " " As •' How great is that "as.'" How, brethren, shall we peak of the love of Christ .' You know what happens when we turn oureyes to , e sun at noon-day, and look at his dazing br Ihance. We are blinded, da.ed. our vision becomes " Zk with excess of light." I think that this, perhaps is one reason why for so long, why even yet, the fuH meaning and glory, and surpassing importance of Christ's new command- ment have not been felt, not seen as it were bv the Chn=,ian >^hurc«. We looked at the love of Christ. We were "dazed by that love. We said in effect: "To what purpose Tur attemptmg to love like that? We cannot do it." Every 10 •effort made by mere man in the way of love to his fellow looked so poor and mean in the noon-day radiance of the llZ'nnl '' -T^' ^''^' ''''' ^' "°°" ^^y' that men lost sight of the principle as binding upon, or applicable to them. o ,>r T"! '''''''"' ''''^''''''' ^^"'« "t--t seemed so httle that It was as nothing, and therefore he did not strive to do even that little. ov^ft!!; f'"'^!""' '''? '' ''"' ^"^'^"^ '' '' ^^'^ "s to be faithful over the few thmgs that we can do, that are within our power placed there by God. "As I have loved you." And llok TncidTn^ ''f v"""' '"/'' ''''' ' '''"^ '' h'- •" '^'^^ -"d this ncident of his wondrous life on earth. See him in his tenderness now to some blind one, now to a hungry people owning,,"" Kv"^ ''' "''^"' ^"' ^^^^^^'"^ th^ «i-'^' and own ng the publican as a child o£ Abraham. See him taking the httle ones in his arms and blessing" them. See how he never reproaches even the disciples, even Peter for denying h.m. Take Jesus where you will, coming down from the mount m a desert place, by the well in Samaria, behold him waked from weary slumbers in the boat on the lake, or in the house at Bethany, or away among the heathens in Syro-Phenicia. Always from first to last, a tender Lord, not withdrawing his confidence, too. even when those in whom the confidence was placed proved unstable. Love all the way. a love as much vaster than our poor conceptions as his divine humanity surpassed and surpasses in purity and power, the sin blurred humanity of fallen man. ^^ Brethren, Christ is the mark .et before us, Christ's love. It is far above, and out of reach," do you say ? Yes; but you can press toward that mark. Just because the standard is so high, will this commandment be forever new. The more you press towards it the more will you feel that evermore it passeth knowledge." But the ocean's tide beats into the It le creek If you open your heart to Christ, the infinite tide of his love will swell into and overflow your soul. And I rejoice to think that this day is in a manner a flood-tide a 11 a moment in your history as a Christian people. O, see to it that the wave do not ebb. Too often are there backward 17ZT -T, "''"'''''" '"' "' =■ p-p'«- «"'. I -' ?he Chr «"^' • ""' " "" "°"'-'^ f"^ ' ''^'^^''O "ovement. it not be? " '=^"'"'"'= "■'••o'ward." Why should Many prophets and wise raen desired my friends to see what you see to-day, but were not so privileged. " The m nvof" "V? f'''" °"^ ^""^ ""'■"-"> whom eTct^ookr; °°'"''."'' 'l!" '''^"- 'o *''°» .""^ minister elect looked, ever since his ministry among you as to a nght-hand friend and wise counsellor we mis' him miss Fmlay Grant to-day. But he saw it, like Abraham, on y ™ afar off; and was glad. And there is one yet living by whom bv who J" "*%"' "°" """"^•='2='' '"^" *"« baptize" wLIlK "^T *"*= "''"'""■ ^y "horn that elde; whom I have named, and others connected with you, were admitted to the eldership; the old man, my faL , the alTr y.t'' 'f «' "'■" ^'^''''=" "is hear', also. For ountl "'" """" ''''"' '"'" "^"-"""^ ""d his one coun el, now, m respect to all that once separated us into hostile camps, ,s the counsel of John the aged, -Litte children love one another." needs be. It ,s impossible absolutely to guard a-ainst hem. But you can take precautions, yoU can be pre™ "d as much as in you lies to avoid them. And I shall venture on a single counsel, obedience to which will, I think, by God'' blessing, go far to preserve intact the blessed influences of his happy day. It is-Keep politics out of the church, rgree odifi-er //«... Resolve to be one /„«. There is nolh^' mpossible in this. You may differ about human representa"- tives in mere human governments. You cannot differ about your Representative in the Kingdom of Heaven. You have made your choice. You have, there is but one Christ cll you desire to put another in the stead of a,:. Mediator? Tha" 12 election i, over forever, Christ is your all, and will be vour ^throughout the eternal ages. You are one „ Chrlt Retain, maintain, sustain your unitv " JW ,hi. i , ,, know that vo are rhri.,'= I ■ , ■ 'v 'his let all men Brethr?„ T i! ^diseiples, that ye love one another." ' , "esbytery Believe me, we have never from o„r first moment of union felt otherwise, than as brethren Z z::iz.TT "'''r-' "■-= -^^^^' r':::-fral based' 0°^T'"';'=t '^^'^ "^^"'- O" «h-' was it eanno;,.,! ,,r ' •■*"'' ''>' '"'■•" ""<= "-^ divided.' We cannot tell. We are as if we had been always one It «m be^so, nrust and believe, by the blessing of ^urTilg u::! your'-rnued Xrce^'lrrer'n It "^ '" ""= "■'"'^'- "' be a ripe scholar , . f ; """' '""' ™"' '<"°" '■»" to fo a stor '^o Ta r h "^ f ''° '" """"""^ ^°"^ ^*f-'- acter in.h. . ^^ '"'' S™"i"e manliness of char- the knowledge o'f yrurLo::; ' ''"^ ""''"" '" ^^-« --J spirit of harmony all but absolutely comnlete Tn . u see your " worl of f -.h ^ Tl^ , """^'''"'"""''eth,- when they y wo,k of faith, and labour of love, and patience of 13 hope in our Lord Jesus Christ." and that in these ways you are " making sure your election of God." . And now, let me bring these imperfect remarks to a close. 1 rejoice in this day's work ; rejoice in the fact that the reproach of an absolutely baseless sectarianism has begun to be rolled away from this noble county. I rejoice that that beginning has been made in a district which alike for my fathers sake and my own, I have reason to love so well I rejoice m the example you have set. and in those over-rulin-s of Providence which have rendered its setting possible "l rejoice yet more in the thought of the source to which, with- out doubt, your union is to be traced, that Gracious Spirit who sheds abroad the love of Christ in the hearts of His willin- subjects. I rejoice in anticipating the blessed influences Which must surely flow from what you have this day done and in the blessed results which will surely be manifested among you, as the days roll on. « The generations that are to be shall bless and magnify the Lord." A hindrance has been removed out of the way of the progress of pure religion and undefiled in your midst. No more will the " sour grapes eaten by the fathers, set the teeth of your children on edge " You have " honoured Christ, and he will honour you " You have evinced that faith in Him has verily a power to " cast down and to raise up," to overcome evil and to establish the good. The revival of religion among you has borne fruits ; it; has manifested its genuineness. It was no mere wild-fire of excitement, such as in some other places, led the hearers thereof to " look for much and it brought forth little." It has evinced itself in practical consequences. The step which the Lord has led you to take is. I firmly believe, the harbinger of he day, when the union efi-ected among the Presbyterians of this great Dominion shall be complete, presenting an unbro- ken front from sea to sea, the most honoured, we trust, of the churches of Christ the termined and sleeplessly B .uu cue. oi ^nnsr, the most determined and sleeple: vigilant foe of Popery on the one hand, and of Infidelity the other — "a nillar anrl orntmri ,^f f....*u »» ^ ground of truth on 14 And now, ■' by this shall all men know that ye are Christ s d.sc,ples, .f ye love one another." " The Lord bless you a,^d keep you ; the Lord make his face to shine upon fouTnd be gracous unto you ; the Lord lift up upon you his countenance and give you peace.'-Amen. "unienance