Love
‘We IOTW lim, because he first loved us.” — 1 JOHN, iv. It.
DURING the fast two Sabbath days, I have been preaching the gospel to the unconverted. I have earnestly exhorted the very* chief of sinners to look to Jesus Christ, and have assured them that as a preparation for coming to Christ, they need no good works, or good dispositions, but that they may come, just as they are, to the foot of the cross, and receive the pardoning blood and all-sufficient merits of the Lord Jesus Christ. The thought has since occurred to me, that some who were ignorant of the gospel might, perhaps, put this query: — “Is thid likely to promote morality? If the gospel be a proclamation of pardon to the very chief of sinners, will not this be a license to sin? In what respects can the gospel be said to be a gospel according to holiness? How will such preaching operate? Will it make men better? Will they be more attentive to the laws which relate to man and man? Will they be more obedient to the, statutes that relate to man and God, I thouo-ht, therefore, that we would advance a step further, and endeavor to show, this morning, how the proclamation o the gospel of God, though in the commencement it addresses itself to men who are utterly destitute of any good, is nevertheless, designed to lead these very men to the noblest heights of virtue, yea, to ultimate perfection in holiness. The text tells us, that the effect of the gospel received in the heart is, that it compels and constrains such a heart to love God We love him, because he first loved us.” When the gospel come* to us it does not find us loving God, it does not expec any thing of us, but coming with the divine application of the Ghost, it simply assures us that God loves us, be we so deeply immersed in sin; and then, the after effect of this proclamation of love is, that “we love him because he fir* loved us.”
Can you imagine a being placed half-way between this world and heaven? Can you conceive of him as having such enlarged capacities that he could easily discern what was don in heaven, and what was done on earth? I can conceive that before the fall, if there had been such a being, he would have been struck with the singular harmony which existed between God’s great world, called heaven, and the little world, the earth Whenever the chimes of heaven rang, the great note of those massive bells was lorn; and when the little bells of earth were sounded, and the harmonies of this narrow sphere rang out their note, it was just the same — love. When the bright spirits gathered around the great throne of God in heaveif to magnify the Lord, at the same time there was to be seen the world, clad in its priestly garments, offering its sacrifice of purest praise. When the cherubim and seraphim did continually cry, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of armies,” there was heard a note, feebler, perhaps, but yet as sweetly musical coming up from Paradise, “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of armies.” There was no jar, no discord; the“thunder peals of heaven’s melodies were exactly in accord with the whispers of earth’s harmonies. There was “glory to God in the highest,” and on earth there was glory too; the heart of man was as the heart of God; God loved man, and man loved God. But imagine that same great Spirit to be still standing between the heavens and the earth, how sad must he be, when he hears the jarring disco rd, and feels it grate upon the ear! The Lord saith, “I am reconciled to thee, I have put away thy sin;” but what is the answer of this earth? The answer of he world is, “Man is at enmity with God: God may be leconciled, but man is not. The mass of men are still enemies to God by wicked works.” When the angels praise God, if they list to the sounds that are to be heard on earth, they hear the trump of cruel war; they hear the bacchanalian shout and the song of the lascivious; and what a discord is this in the great harmony of the spheres! The fact is this — the worl<3 was originally one great string in the harp of the universe, and when the Almighty swept that harp with his gracious fingers there was nothing to be heard but praise; now that string is snapped, and where it has been reset by grace, still it is not wholly restored to its perfect tune, and the note that cometh from it hath but little of sweetness, and very much ol discord. But, O bright Spirit, retain thy place, and live on The day is hastening with glowing wheels, and the axle there of is hot with speed. The day is coming when this world shall be a Paradise again. Jesus Christ, who came the first time to bleed and suffer, that he might wash the world from its iniquity, is coming a second time to reign and conquer, that he may clothe the earth with glory; and the day shall arrive when thou, O Spirit, shalt hear again the everlasting harmony. Once more the bells of earth shall be attuned to tt.e melodies of heaven; once more shall the eternal chorus find that no singer is absent, but that the music is complete.
But how is this to be? How is the world to be brought back? How is it to be restored? We answer, the reason why there was this original harmony between earth and heaven was, because there was love between them twain, and our great reason for hoping that there shall be at last reestablished an undiscordant harmony between heaven and earth is simply this, that God hath already manifested his love towards us, and that in return, hearts touched by his grace do even now love him; and when they shall be multiplied, and loe reestablished, then shall the harmony be complete.
Having thus introduced my text, I must now plunge into it. We shall notice the parentage, the nourishment, and the walk of love; and shall exhort all believers here present, to love God, because he hath first loved them.
I. In the first place, THE PARENTAGE OF TRUE LOVE ’10 GOD. There is no light in the planet but that which cometh from the sun; there is no light in the moon but that which is borrowed; and there is no true love in the heart but that which cometh from God. Love is the light, the life, and way of the universe. Now, God is both life, and light, and way, and to crown all, God is love. From this overflowing fountain of th€ infinite love of God, all our love to God must spring. This must ever be a great and certain truth, that we love him, for no other reason than because he first loved us. There are some thit think that God might be loved by simple contemplation of his works. We do not believe it. We have heard a great deal about admiring philosophers, and we have felt that admiration was more than possible, when studying the works of God. We have heard a great deal about wondering discoverers, and we have acknowledged that the mind must be base indeed which does not wonder when it looks upon the works of God; and we have sometimes heard about a love to God which has been engendered by the beauties of scenery, but we have never believed in its existence. We do believe that where love is already born in the heart of man, all the wonders ol God’s providence and creation may excite that love again, it being there already; but we do not and we can not believe, because we never saw such an instance, that the mere contemplation of God’s works could ever raise any man to the height of love. In fact, the great problem has been tried, and it has been solved in the negative. What saith the poet?
“What though the spicy breezes blow soft o’er Ceylon’s isle; Though 3very prospect pleases, and only man is vile.”
Where God is most resplendent in his works, and most lavish in his gifts, there man has been the vilest, and God is the most forgotten.
Others have taught, if not exactly in doctrine, yet their doctrine necessarily leads to it, that human nature may of it self! attain unto love to God. Our simple reply is, we have never met with such an instance. We have curiously questioned the people of God, and we believe that others have questioned them in every age, but we have never had but one answer to this question, “Why hast thou loved God ?» The only answer has been, “Because he first loved me.” I have heard men preach about free-will, but I never yet heard of a Christian who exalted free-will in his own experience. I have heard men say, that men of their own free-will may turn to God, believe, repent, and love but I have heard the same persons, when talking of their own experience, say, that they did not so turn to God, but that Jesus sought them when they were strangers wandering from the fold of God. The whole matter may look specious enough, when preached, but when felt, it is found to be a phantom. It may seem right enough for a man to tell his fellow that his own free-will may save him; but when he comes to close dealing with his own sonscience, he himself, however wild in his doctrine, is compelled to say, “Oh! yes, I do love Jesus, because he first loved me.” I have wondered at a Wesley an brother, who has sometimes railed against this doctrine in the pulpit, and then has given out this very hymn, and all the members of the church have joined in singing it most heartily, while at the same time they were tolling the death-knell of their own peculiar tenets; for if that hymn be true, Arminianism must be false. If it be the certain fact, that the only reason for our loving God is that his love has been shed abroad in our hearts, then it can not be true anyhow, that man ever did or ever will love God, until first of all God has manifested his love towards him.
But without disputing any longer, do we not all admit that our love to God is the sweet offspring of God’s love to us? Ah 1 beloved, cold admiration every man may have; but the warmth of love can only be kindled by the fires of God’s Spirit. Let each Christian speak for himself — we shall all hold this great and cardinal truth, that the reason of our love to God is, the sweet influence of his grace. Sometimes I wonder that, such as we should have been brought to love God at all. la our love so precious that God should court our love, dressed in the crimson robes of a dying Redeemer? If we had loved God, it would have been no more than he deserved. But when we rebelled, and yet he sought our love, it was surprising indeed. It was a wonder when he disrobed himself of all his splendors, and came down and wrapped himself in a mantle of clay; but methinks the wonder is excelled yet, for after he had died for us, still we did not love him; we rebelled against him; we rejected the proclamation of the gospel; we resisted his Spirit; but he said, I will have their hearts; and he followed u* day after day, hour after hour. Sometimes lie laid us low, and he said, “Surely they will love rne if I restore them!’» At another time he filled us with corn and with wine, and he said, “Surelj they will love me now,” but we still revolted, still rebelled. At last he said, “I will strive no longer, I arn Almighty, and I will not have it that a human heart is stronger than I am, I turn the will of man as the rivers of water are turned;” and lo! he put forth his strength, and in an instant the current changed, and we loved him, because we then could see the IDVO of God, in that he sent his Son to be our Redeemer. But we must confess, beloved, going back to the truth with which we started, that never should we have had any love towards God, unless that love had been sown in us by the sweet seed of his love to us. If there be any one here that hath a love to Christ, let him differ from this doctrine here, but let him know that he shall not differ hereafter; for in heaven they all sing, Praise to free grace. They all sing, “Salvation to our God and to the Lamb.”
II. Love, then, has for its parent the love of God shed abroad in our hearts. But alter it is divinely born in our heart it must be divinely NOURISHED. Love is an exotic; it is not a plant that will flourish naturally in human soil. Love to God is a rich and rare thing; it would die if it were left to be frost bitten by the chilly blasts of our selfishness; and if it received no nourishment but that which can be drawn from the rock of our own hard hearts it must perish. As love comes from heaven, so it must feed on heavenly bread. It can not exist in this wilderness, unless it is nutured from above, and fed by manna from on high. On what, then, doea love feed? Why, it feeds on love. That which brought it forth becomes its food. “We love him because he first loved us.” The constant motive and sustaining power of our love to God is his h.ve to us. And here let me remark that there are different kinds of food, in this great granary of love. When we are first i/f all renewed, the only food on which we can live is milk, because we are but babes, and as yet have not strength to feed on higher truths. The first thing, then, that our love feeds upon, when it ii but an infant, is a sense of favors received AP> a young Christian why he loves Christ, and he will tell yu, i love Christ because he has bought me with his blood! Why do you love God the Father? I love God the Father because he gave his Son for me. And why do you love God the Spirit? I love him because he has renewed my heart. That is to say, we love God for what he has given us. Our first love feeds just on the simple food of a grateful recollection ol mercies received. And mark, however much we grow in grace this will always constitute a great part of the food of our love.
But when the Christian grows ‘jlder and has more grace, he loves Christ for another reason. He loves Christ because he feels Christ deserves to be loved, I trust I can say, I have in my heart now a love to God, altogether apart from the matter of my personal salvation. I feel that even now, I must love him, for his character is so unutterably lovely. His love to other people seems as if it would compel me to love him. To think that he should love men at all is so great a thought, that altogether apart from my interest in it, I trust I can say that I love Christ, having seen something of Christ in his offices and something of the rapturous beauties of his complex person. I feel as if I could come to his feet, and say, “Swee; Lord, I loved thee first, because of thy gifts to me; but now I love thee because thou art altogether lovely. Thou hast entranced my soul with the look of thine eyes, thou hast enraptured my spirit with the glories of thy person; and now I love thee, not merely because I have eaten of thy bread, and thou hast supplied my wants, but I love thee for what thou art” But mark, at the same time, we must always mingle with this the old motive. We must still feel that we begin with that first stepping stone, loving Christ because of his mercies, and that although we have climbed higher, and have come to love him with a love that is superior to that in motive yet still we carry the old motive with us. We love him because of his kindness towards us. Why, I do think that it is possible for a man, filled with the love of Christ in his heart, and girded by divine grace, to soar to such a degree of love
326 LOV*.
to Christ, that if you could hear him speak, you would sit and wonder, as though an angel spoke to you. Did you ever read the divine letters of Rutherford? I do think, if there remains among men a remnant of the ancient inspiration that guided the pen of Solomon, it. rested upon the head of Rutherford. If you read the sonnets of sweet George Herbert, oh, how sweetly does he sing of his Master. If there be any of the heavenly harps left by accident on earth,. George Herbertfound one, and he touched the living strings with such divine excellency of judgment, that he made every string find out nis Master. These men did not merely love Christ because oi what he had done for them; but you will find in their sonnets and in their letters, that their motive of love was, that he bad communed with them, he had showed them his hands %nd his side; they had walked” with him in the villages; they «iad lain with him on the beds of spices; they had entered «nto the mystic circle of communion; and they felt that they loved Christ, because he was all over glorious, and was so divinely fair, that if all nations could behold him, sure they naiLst be constrained to love him too.
This, then, is the food of love; but when love grows rich — and it does sometimes — the most loving heart grows cold towards Christ. Do you know that the only food that ever suits sick love, is the food on which it fed at first? I have heard say by the physicians, that if a man be sick there is no place so well adapted for him as the place where he was born; and if love grows sick and cold, there is no place so fit for it to go to as the place where it was born, namely, the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Where was love born? Was she born in the midst of romantic scenery, and was she nursed with wondrous contemplations upon the lap of beauty? Ah! no. Was she born on the steeps of Sinai, when God came from Sinai, and the Holy One from mount Paran, and melted the mountains with the touch of his foot, and made the rocks flow down like wax before his terrible presence? Ah! no. Was love born «n Tabor, when the Saviour was transfigured, and his garment became whiter than wool, whiter than any fuller could make it? Ah! no; darkness rushed o’er the sight of those that looked upon him then, and they tell asleep for the glory overpowered them. Let me tell you where lev* was bo™ Love was born in the garden of Gethsemanc, where Jesus sweat great drops of blood; it was nurtured ,» Date’s hall, where Jesus bared his back to the plowing o he lash and gave his body to be spit upon and scourged LYe was nurtured at the cross, amid the groan, of an expr Bg God, beneath the droppings of his Wood-rt was ther ;hat love was nurtured. Bear me witness, dnldren of God W-heredid your love spring from, but from the foot of the 1st? Did you ever see that sweet flower growing any °wh re but at t’he foot of Calvary T No 5 it was when ye saw “love divine, all loves excelling,” outdoing its own
lo the Weed s
w i
Oil thou art lost in etermty. Bemembo Umt God
f,,m before the — ^^^ng aJis that air of
SgT wtl ny il’uVor a moment, and think of th,
great doctrine of election — of
tan run down on* dbeefct to liink thai w,! iwire an mure* in that decree and cotm/n’l of tb* ,J fcty Three, when every on* that »hotild be Mood bocghi name ioeenbed in God’* eternal book, Come, ioui, J bid UK* now e*er.r** thy wi»^» a little, and if thb drif mot rnak* the* lore <;,„!. life thought of tW before thai adet a U^njt Wb« M yet U^ §un arid the oioori were r/t — n>»efi U*e win, tb* nvx/n, and the *ar* flept in tb* ruind </f G/xJ, lik* ur.Fx/rrj f//re*u in an attrrn cui — wb«o Ow old MM wa* n/A yet *#i> — lfxt% ere tbU i/i&rit worW lay i« in fwad df of ttii*t, tbefi Ood bad intcriM tby name upo9 b«aft a/*d nr, Ur Jiarid* of CbrMt indelibly, U/ remain for And Jo-t n/x U,M rnAlwr tbe* Jo.e God? I* not tbi* ic-rr r tby love? &>r ber« it in my text com* in, 1/1^ a* it were, the Ut eliare in tbU »weet J^utle of lore — efasrge that nw-ep. every thin U-t/re it. We lore God, b*:au»e U firrt ^vei u*,» ^^iilg that U J/,red un bee ti/n« ^a/i, a/id whtt in eUrrnity be dwelt aJone.
Aipd when thotj ba«t v,;Ar^J J/a/;kward i/it/> the pant eternity I have yet another flight fcr Uie«. ftrr l;k through all •rn eximooe, and think of the way whereby the J>,rd thy Ood bath M the-r in the wildeme and how be hath M dotlMjd tb’-e every day — bow he hath borne with thine ill rnann*r* — bow h* bath t up with all thy murmuring and thy Umgmgi a/U?r the fle*^p//u of K^ypt — bow be hath tb* r/xrk U> »«M/ly the-;, and fed thee wiUj r/jariM that came d//wn from *alw. Think of bow hi* grace ha« n MmVrietit (^/r thee in all thy trouble* — how hi* blood ha« l/^rfi a j/ard//n to thee in all thy *in* — bow hi* rod and hi* M* bare eomfcft*rJ thee. And when thou hart flown orer «weei field r l/>ve, thou rnayert fly further oo, and f» member that the oath, the covenant, U»e bl/^J, lave ^/me- •iog m//re in them than the part, though -he firrt l/,ved
t mean ,at he rf.dl ever cea«e »o love ke if Alpha, and bo *l«ali U Omega, he i* flr*tf arid he fball be ltt*t; fl»n/J therefore b«-t
IU ralUr of the «ha/low of death, U»oti ootdeet f<r*r no evil, Wbe« Uxm dblt itond in Oio cold e»f Jorvlaiv. thon needest not fear, £>r death can no* Una from lib love; ami when then shah eo:v,e into the :u s .>f et entity thou mxxlest not trentNe, tor %x I am persuaded that neither principalities* nor powers, tvor lhtng* rvstwt, nor things to co.nu nor height, nor depth, nor a«> other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our l*>rd.*% A:vl nvw, souU w nol thy love rxtrxvsh<ll? IVos mpt this make thee love him? lX>th not a flight over thxse illimitable plains vf the ether of Vm inflame thy heart, and compel th«xp to vlcliirht thyself in the Lord thy God * Here is the food of love. “We love him, booMMO be first loved us,” aitvl Kvausp in that first bve there is the pledge and prpmise thai he will
111. And now comes rite third point, the WAXK or vovte. u Ve love himp Child »vn of C^vxl, if Christ were here earth, what would you do for him * If it slunild W runtowsl to-ntorrow that the Son of man had come li as he came at first, what would you do tor him? fihould U> an infallible witness that the feet that trod the holy •ores of lalestine wviv actually treading the roads vvf this land, what would you do for him? Oh, I can conceive that there would be a tumult of delighted hearts superabundance of liberal hands — that there would be a sea of streaming eves to behold hint. “IV for him!** s*ys one* “IV for him! Did he hunger, I would give him meat, though it were my hst crust, ipid he thirst, I would give him drink, though my own lis were- lurched with fire. Was he naked, I would strip myself and shiver in the cold to clothe him. Uo for hint! I should scarcely know what to do, I would hurry away, ami I would cast nuself at his dear feet, and I would beseech hint, if it would but honor him, that he would tread upon me, and crush me in the dust, if he would but be raised one inch the higher thereby. Otd he want a soldier, I would enlist in his army; did he need that aonu» on* ahould die, I would give my body to be burned, if he stood uy to see the sacrifice and cheer mo in the tUmes/* O y* daughter* of Jerusalem! would ye not go forth to nw*t hint? would ye not rejoice with the* tahrvt, and in the danc*» ‘» LOVK.
Dance then ye might, like Miriam, by the side of E-rypt’f waters, red with blood. We, the sons of men, would dance like David before the art exulting for joy, if Christ were come. Ah! we think we love him so much that we should do all that; but there is a grave question about the ruth of thu matter after all. Do you not know that Christ’s wife and family are here? And if ye love him, would it not follow as a natural inference, that ye would love his bride and his offspring? “Ah!” says one, “Christ has no bride upon earth.” Has he not? Has he not espoused unto himself his church f Is not his church, the mother of the faithful, his own chosen wife? And did he not give his blood to be her dower? And has he not declared that he never will bo divorced from her, for he hates to put away, and that he will consummate the marriage in the last great day, when he shall come ‘to reign with his people upon the earth. And has he no children here? “The daughters of Jerusalem and the sons of Zion, who hath be gotten me these? Are not they the offspring of the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, the child born, the son given?” Surely they are; and if we love Christ as we think we do, as we pretend we do, we shall love his church and people. And do you love his church? Perhaps you love the part to which you belong. You love the hand. It may be a hand which is garnished with many a brilliant ring of noble ceremonies, and you love that. You may belong to some poor, poverty-stricken denomination — it may be the foot — and you love the foot; but you speak contemptuously of the hand, because it is garnished with greater honors. Whilst perhaps ye of the hand are speaking lightly of those who are of the foot. Brethren, it is a common thing with us all to love only a part of Christ’s body, and not to love the whole; but if we love Mm wo should love all his people.
When we are on our knees in prayer, I fear that when we are praying for the church we do not mean all that we say. We are praying for our church, our section of it. Now, he that loves Christ, if he be a Baptist, he loves the doctrine of baptism, because he knows it to be scriptural; but at the same time, wherever he sees the grace of God to be in anj man s heart, be loves him because he is a part of the living church and he does not withhold his heart, his hand, or his house from him, because he happens to differ on some one point I pray that the church in these days may have a more loving spirit towards herself. We ought to delight in the advance of every denomination. Is the Church of England rousino- from its sleep? Is she springing, like a pliemx, from her ashes? God be with her, and God bless her! denomination leading the van, and seeking by its ministers to entice the wanderer into the house of God? God be with it. Is the Methodist laboring in the hedge and ditch, toiling his Master? God help him! Is the Calvinist seeking to up hold Christ crucified in all his splendors? God be with him! And does another man with far less knowledge preach much error, but still hold that “by grace are ye saved through faith,” then God bless him, and may success be with him ever more. If ye loved Christ better, ye would love all church, and all Christ’s people.
Do you not know that Christ hath now a mouth on earth, and hath left a hand on earth, and a foot on earth still and that if ve would prove your love to him, ye would not think that ye can not feed him-ye need not imagine that ye cannot fill his hand, or that ye can not wash his feet? Ye can do t this to-day He has left his poor and afflicted people, and their mouths are hungry, for they need bread, and their tongue is parched for they need water. You meet them; they come to you; they are destitute and afflicted. Do ye refuse them? Do you know who it was ye denied at your door? Inasmuch as ye did it not unto one of the least of these, my brethren, yc did it not to me.” In rejecting the petition of the poor, when you might have helped them, you rejected Christ was virtually the man to whom you parsimoniously refused the needed alms, and your Saviour was; thus rejected the door of one for whom he himself had died, to feed Christ? Open your eyes, then, and you shall see him everywhere; in our back streets, in our lanes m our a Hey. jm all our churches, connected with every branch of Chris pie, ye shall find the poor and the afflicted. If ye want to feed Christ, fee<l (hem. But ye say that ye are willing to wash Chri8t’s feet. Ah! well, and ye may do it. lias he no fallen children? Are there no brethren who have sinned, and who are thus defiled? If Christ’s feet were foul, ye say, ye would wash them; then if a Christian man has stepped aside, seek to restore him, and lead him once more in the way of ‘righteousness. And do you want to fill Christ’s hands with your liberality? His church is the treasure-house of his alms, and the hand of his church is outstretched for help, for she always needs it. She has a work to do which must be accomplished. She is straitened because your help is withheld from her; pour your gifts into her treasury, for all that ye can give unto her is given to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Finally, to stimulate your love, let me remind you that Christ Jesus had two trials of his love, which he endured with firmness, but which are often too much for us. When Christ was high, and glorious, I marvel that he loved us. I have known many a man who loved his friend when he was in the same low estate; but he has risen, and he has disdained to know the man at whose table he had fed. A lofty -elevation tries the love which we bear to those who are interior to us in rank. Now, Christ Jesus, the Lord of heaven and the King of angels, condescended to notice us before he came on earth, and always called us brethren: and since he has ascended up to heaven, and has reassumed the diadem, and once more sits down at the right hand of God, he never has forgotten us. His high estate has never made him slight a disciple. When he rode into Jerusalem in triumph, we do not read that he disdained to confess that the humble fishermen were his followers. And “now, though he reigns exalted high, his love is still as great;” still he calls us brethren, friends; still he recognizes the kinship of the one blood. And yet, strange to say, we have known many Christians who have forgotten much of* their love to Christ when they have risen in the world. “Ah!” said a woman, who had been wont to do much for Christ in poverty, and who had had a great sum left her, “I can not do as much as I used to do.” “But how is that?” said one. Said she, “When I had a shilling uurse J rind a guinea heart, but now I have a guinea purse 1 have only a shilling heart.” It is a sad temptation to some men to get rich. They were content to go to the meeting-house and mix with the ignoble congregation, while they had but little; they have grown rich; there is a Turkey carpet in the drawing-room; they have arrangements now too splendid to permit them to invite the poor of the flock, as they once did, and Christ Jesus is not so fashionable as to allow them to introduce any religious topic when they meet with their new friends. Besides this, they say they are now obliged to pay this visit and that visit, and they must spend so much time upon attire, and in maintaining their station and respectability, they can not find time to pray as they did. The house of God has to be neglected for the party, and Christ has less of their heart than ever he had. “Is this thy kindness to thy friend?” And hast thou risen so high that thou art ashamed of Christ? and art thou grown so rich, that Christ in his poverty is despised? Alas! poor wealth! alas! base wealth! alas! vile wealth 1 ‘Twere well for thee if it should be all swept away, if a descent to poverty should be a restoration to the ardency of thine affection.
But once again: what a trial of love was that, when Christ began to suifer for us I There are many men, I doubt not, who are true believers, and love their Saviour, who would tremble to come to the test of suifering. Imagine yourself, my brother, taken to-day into some dark dungeon of the Inquisition; conceive that all the horrors of the dark ages are revived; you are taken down a long, dark stair-case, and hurried you know not whither; at last you come to a place, far deep in the bowels of the earth, and round about you see hanging on the walls the pincers, the instruments of torture of all kinds and shapes. There are two inquisitors there, who say to you, “Are you prepared to renounce your heretical faith, a*)d to return to the bosom of the church?” I conceive, my brethren and sisters, that you would have strength of mind and grace enough to say, “I am not prepared to deny my Saviour.” But when the pincers began to tear the flesh, when the hot coals began to scorch, when the rack began to dislo.
cate the bones; when all the instruments of torture were wreaking their hellish vengeance, unless the supernatural hand of God should be mightily upon you, I am sure that in your weakness you would deny your Master, and in the hour of peril would forsake the Lord that bought you. True, the love of Christ in the heart, when sustained by his grace, is strong enough to bear us through; but I am afraid that with many. f us here present, if we had no more love than we have now, we should come out from the Inquisition miserable apostates from the faith. But now remember Christ. He was exposed to tortures, which were really more tremendous, for. There is no engine of Romish cruelty that can equal that dreadful torture which forced a sweat of blood from every pore. Christ was scourged and he was crucified; but there were other woes unseen by us, which were the soul of his agonies. Now, if Christ in the hour of sore trial had said, “I disown my disciples, I will not die,” he might have come down from the cross; an 1 who could accuse him of evil? He owed us nothing; we could do nothing for him. Poor worms would be all that he would disown. But our Master, even when the blood-sweat covered him as with a mantle of gore, never thought of dis owning us — NEVER. u My Father,” said he once, “if it be possible, lot this cup pass from me.” But there was always the “if it be possible.” I/* it be possible to save without it, let the cup pass; but if nut, thy will be done. You nevei hear him say in Pilate’s hall one word that would let yon iraagnie that he was sorry he had undertaken so costly a sacrifice for us; and when his hands are pierced, and when he in parched with fever, and his tongue is dried up like a potsherd, ind his whole body is dissolved into the dust of death, you never hear a groan or a shriek that looks like going back. It is the cry of one determined to go on, though he knows he must die on his onward march. It was love that could not be st:iid by death; but overcame all the horrors of the grave.
Now, what say we to this? We who live in these gentler, times are we about to give up our Master, when we are tried and tempted for him? Young man in the workshop! it is your lot to be jeered at because yo«i are a follower of the Saviour;
LOVE. 83fi
and will you turn back from Christ because of a jeer? Young woman! you are laughed at because you profess the religion of Christ; shall a laugh dissolve the link of love that knits you to him, when all the roar of hell could not divert his love from you? And you who are suffering because you maintain a religious principle, are you cast out from men? will you not bear that the house should be stripped, and that you shall eat the bread of poverty, rather than dishonor such a Lord? Will you not go forth from this place, by the heir, of God’s Spirit, vowing and declaring that in life, come pjyalj, come wealth. — in death, come pain, or come what ‘ii/.y you are and ever must be the Lord’s? for this is writtov ra your heart, M W« love bin:, because he first loved us.”