from the fold, and there should be no herd in the stall, yet still be ready to say, "I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation."

Let unbelievers be condemned. When He, the Spirit of truth, is come, said Jesus, "He shall convince the world of sin, because they believe not in Me.” Yes, beloved, the mission of the Spirit-the testimony which He bears to Christ, by making His gospel the savour of life unto life, the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth, leaves unbelievers without excuse. They are convicted of sin-of sin that will not be put away before God, whether they be convinced of sin in their own hearts or not; yea, and wisdom, that compassionate Saviour who now stretches out His arms to sinners, who would now gather them to Himself as a hen gathereth her brood under her wings, will one day say unto them, "Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out My hand, and no man regarded ; but ye have set at nought My counsel, and would none of My reproof: I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh." O my dear readers, take heed unto yourselves; take heed that you reject not the Spirit's testimony of Christ to your own ruin. My heart's desire and prayer for you all is that you may be saved that there may not be found one vessel of wrath among you that the word which goes out of my mouth may be the savour of life unto every one of you. O let this be your desire! let this be your prayer! for then shall you be our joy, our crown of rejoicing in the day of the Lord Jesus.

Lastly, let all the ends of the earth look unto

Christ, and be saved. God, my beloved, would have all men be saved: He invites all men to look unto Him that they may be saved; He has sent forth His Spirit to show that the same gospel which is the power of God unto salvation unto the believing Jew, will be the power of God unto the salvation of the believing sinner whatever be his country; whether he be Greek or Scythian, Hindoo or Briton, Tahitian or Caffre; for God in this sense is no respecter of persons. And if such be the purpose of God, does not a duty devolve upon us, upon us who call ourselves His people, upon us unto whom the treasure of the gospel has been committed ? Is it not our duty to pray,-—

"Fly abroad, thou mighty gospel,

Win and conquer, never cease."

Is it not our duty not only to pray for this, but to do what we can to bring about this?

"Hark, what mean those lamentations,

Rolling sadly through the sky?

'Tis the cry of heathen nations,

Come and help us, or we die."

And shall Christians-shall the followers of Him who laid down His life for men-shall those whose cup runs over with mercies and privileges be deaf to this cry, and like the unpitying priest and Levite pass on, and have no mercy upon them? Let it not be. Surely, if Christ laid down His life for us, we ought to be ready to aid, yea, to lay down our lives for the brethren. If our cup runs over with mercies, we ought to be eager in communicating the overflowings to others; for they have souls-they are our brethren—they, through the divine blessing, may be made heirs of the same promises, possessors of the same hope as ourselves.

188

THE PROPERTIES OF CHRISTIAN LOVE, AND THE AGENT BY WHOM IT IS WROUGHT IN THE SOUL.

GALATIANS v. 22.

"The fruit of the Spirit is love."

HE promise of the Spirit is a distinguishing feature of the gospel dispensation, called in consequence the ministration of the Spirit. I do not mean to say that the Spirit was never given under the legal dispensation, or that the Old Testament believers were not governed and sanctified by Him, even as Christians are. By no means; for I firmly believe that all the members of Christ's mystical body, whether pertaining to the patriarchal, the Jewish, or the Christian church, were taught, and renewed, and perfected by one and the selfsame Spirit. But though the Spirit was not altogether withheld under the legal dispensation, He was bestowed more generally and more copiously after the legal dispensation had given place to the Christian. Before that time, too, the Spirit was bestowed in drops and scanty showers on Israel almost exclusively; but when Christ had ascended, according to the prediction of His servant Isaiah, He poured out the Spirit as water upon the thirsty, and as floods upon the dry ground, especially upon the memorable

day of Pentecost. And it is not a matter of indifference whether we ourselves are or are not personally interested in the promise of the Spirit; for we have been solemnly warned that if any man have not the Spirit of God, he is none of His.

Various ways have been pointed out in the gospel of certifying ourselves that we have the Spirit of God. The internal warfare between the flesh and the Spirit, and the internal testimony which the Spirit bears, and which none but the Spirit can bear to a person's adoption into God's family, are both evidences of the indwelling Spirit. Another species of evidence is pointed out in the text; for if the fruit of the Spirit be love, then wherever genuine love is found, there also must the Spirit, the root from whence love springs, and the stock whereupon it grows, be found likewise.

The grace spoken of in the text, and the means whereby it is wrought in the soul, are the things to which our thoughts are naturally directed.

Love is the grace to which the words of the text call our attention; and it is a grace which has respect both to God and to man. It has respect unto God, and may be described, first of all, as an operative principle: "If ye love Me, keep My commandments." Persons may and often do profess much love to God with their lips; but so long as their love wastes itself in barren professions-so long as their practice exhibits the same want of conformity to the divine will, their professions are duly estimated by Almighty God: "Why call ye Me Lord, Lord," says He, "and yet do not the things that I say?" "Not every one that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the king

dom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of My Father which is in heaven."

But whilst I pronounce an open neglect of the divine commandments a decisive evidence of the absence of love to God, allow me to say that there may be an external conformity to and compliance with the divine commandments where there is no love to God. It is not doing a moral action which proves us to be lovers of God, but doing it unto the Lord. A moral action may be done from motives as far removed as possible from the love of God. Persons may be sober, and chaste, and upright in the ordinary transactions of life, and yet not have God in their thoughts. They may be simply influenced by a selfish desire to exalt their own characters, or to advance their own interests. The obedience of love, therefore, has respect unto God. The child of God keeps His commandments, not because he loves selfnot because he seeks his own, but because he loves God, and seeks to do all things to His glory.

Love is also a purifying principle: "Ye that love the Lord," says the wise man, "hate evil;" and, in fact, we find that those most eminent for their piety have ever been most eminent for their hatred of evil. David could say in simplicity and godly sincerity, "I hate every false way;" and the prayer of the pious Jabez was, "Keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me." This hatred of sin not only leads the servant of God to avoid evil, but even that which has the appearance of evil. He knows that he may sin by approximating too closely to a world that lieth in wickedness, but he feels that he can scarcely err by over-caution;