as the object of it, transfers our guilt where alone it can be cancelled, and having exonerated us through the exercise of love, we receive the favour and love of God. Oh, how vastly important it is to view the economy of salvation aright.

I pause here for the purpose of exhibiting this in contrast. Perhaps there is no better way of illustrating matters than by exhibiting them in contrast. I have been illustrating the claims of the Lord Christ to the attributes of love and justice as Jehovah, and I have shown you how all the perfections of Deity are full and complete in the glorious Trinity-no tarnish, no imperfection-and that here the poor ruined sinner may come with absolute certainty and unfailing security. The contrast is a proposal that a man should come forward in the character of a minister, to a mixed multitude, and say, "God is love, and we must love him;" and this is the proposal-you must repent, pray, and believe. This is urged upon mortals who have no grace to repent, no spirit of prayer, no faith. He calls upon them to do what they have no capacity to do. I cannot understand that from my Bible. But there I read that God is love, and He loved His Church, so that He not only accepts an equivalent, receives a Surety, and lays upon Him the iniquity of us all, but creates a spirit of faith and repentance. This is the love of God; it is an act of His own love; and He creates faith in the heart that it may be called into exercise in the life. So that all the creature does that is spiritually-is not first the act of his own love to God, but the act of God's love in him. God's love is fixed upon him; the love of Christ constraineth him. It constrains to repent, pray, and believe in Christ; it constrains to enjoy the things of God; it constrains to walk with God. It is love Divine, all love excelling.

"God is love." The economy of grace proves it. Of that the experience of His people is another evidence; and they will be found all to agree in it. Probably it may be necessary to define what I mean by the experience of His people. I do not mean the dirty thing which some people call Christian experience, which consists only in raking up, exhibiting, and exposing the corruptions of the old depraved nature. That is not Christian experience. It is the experience of the old Adam. By Christian experience I mean that which deserves the name of Christian experience-Christ in the heart, Christ embraced, Christ confided in, Christ communed with, Christ enjoyed, Christ loved-all by faith. That is Christian experience. I have just as much Christian experience as I have of Christ in my heart, in my personal enjoyment, and no more. I have just as much Christian experience as I have of Christ in His love shed abroad in my heart. My Christianity is not in the old Adam, but in the second Adam, the Lord from heaven. My Christianity does not consist in the movings of corrupt nature. If it did they would destroy it; but I should like to destroy them, and not give power to all the risings of vile corruption. Thus we come to the exercise of all the graces; and, look, they are all bestowed by love, and called into exercise by love. They come because, as our text says, "God is love." All that Christian experience has afforded me, emanates from Himself. If He gives me faith, which works by love, it emanates from the bosom of love. If He gives me hope, it is because God loves me, and I can have no hope but in Him. If He gives me love, it is because He sheds it abroad in my heart. It is enkindled there like a spark of holy fire, which glows, and

burns, and flames, until it consumes the love of sin, consecrates the soul to its Divine Author, and constrains the recipient to the performance of every good work. If He gives me humility, it is from Him, because it makes me more like Christ. If He gives me meekness, and an expanding mind to enjoy Christ, it is because of His love. If He gives me zeal for His glory, it is the act of His own love. I have nothing to purchase these with; they come from His own love, and call for the exercise to His own praise and glory. If He gives us patience to exercise when under suffering and affliction, or persecution, it is that He Himself may perfect the work and He be glorified. So that the Holy Spirit, bestowing all those graces, communicating and calling them into exercise, brings forward an evidence of this one grand fact that God is love.

What then shall I say of the manifestations which His Spirit is accustomed to bestow? Where shall I begin with these? When the Holy Ghost so moves in the soul, so animates the mind, so anoints with His fresh oil, that you come into possession of the sweet statement of John-an unction from the Holy One-you will have the effect in its quickening power, you will have received its heart-warming influence, you will have been attracted to enjoy all the preciousness of Christ. Under holy anointings and heavenly teachings you will have been led out of self to the special comfort of the Holy Ghost and the fulness of Christ, to gaze upon Him as your Beloved, as your Friend, and to see in Him all you want. And then He will lead you to the throne, and plead for you before God in His name, go with you to the Father of mercies, the Lord of Hosts, and you will be obliged to exclaim, "God is love." Have you never read of the comfort of love? of the Holy Ghost as the Comforter, breathing the love of God into your hearts by His own power? Then it is that the Christian knows most of heaven from personal experience. Then it is that the Christian realizes in his soul an antepast of the glory he expects soon to be consummated in the immediate presence of God.

I pause here for one moment over this view of spiritual delight, which, I lament to say, few realize, just to mark what becomes of the world, how is it esteemed, when Jehovah thus manifests His love? What becomes of its allurements, of its vanities, of its company, of its nonsense? All are lost sight of while we are living in the bosom of Deity, and enjoying the tokens of His love. Then it is we may join with the poet and sing

"Had I a glance of thee, my God,

Kingdoms and men would vanish soon;
Vanish, as though I saw them not,

As a dim candle dies at noon."

My belief is, that these manifestations of love are very near akin to what St. Paul expresses when he says, he knew a man in Christ caught up to the third heaven, into paradise, where he heard unspeakable words. In that happiness is experimentally realized more than was ever known, save by those full grown in Christ, "a man in Christ." Young Christians do not realize this ripe experience. The world knows nothing of it. Infidels only despise it. But you and I know what it is to live in some sweet enjoyment of it, and desire to be basking in the sunshine of Divine manifestation, until ready to obey the call of our Master, "Come up higher."

III. Now let us, in the third place, summon the witnesses to bear their testimony. By the mouth of two or three witnesses shall these words be proved. Í shall summon but three.

The first shall be the household of faith upon earth; the second the inhabitants of glory above; and the third the ministers of God employed in His vineyard-and these must all agree. First, the household of faith. How are you to distinguish them? This is a point I am often urging, and which I always mean to urge so long as I remain upon earth, namely, the line of distinction between the world and the Church of God. This is marked in strong characters. And here I refer you again to the portion of Holy Scripture which we read at the commencement of this service, and upon which we dwelt for some little time with our comments. 66 They are of the world; therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them." This is our household. "We are of God; he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error" (1 John iv. 5, 6). This is the other household. Here, then, are two households distinctly set before us. First, they that are of the world; they hear the world and the world hears them. And what is the result of worldly religion? Worldly notions of the atonement, worldly perversions of spiritual things, such as conditional salvation, universal redemption, man's free-will, conditions, overtures, rites, ceremonies, contingencies, and the like abominable idolatries. The world likes these things; worldly professors run after them. We cannot; they grate in our ears like wretched jargon. "We are of God," and insist upon salvation being the free gift of God in Christ Jesus, upon its being altogether of love, and originating in love, accomplishing all love's designs, carrying on all love's purposes, bringing glory to the attributes and perfections of Deity as acts of love from God, fixing upon the objects of His love, overcoming with love, asking no questions nor proposing any conditions, but taking possession of the objects of Divine love. Now the world will not listen to this we know, for it wants a religion separate from, and opposed to, spiritual religion. Worldly religionists will not hear the doctrine of God's grace and love to His people made out; but the Church of the living God would hear of nothing else. They would rather, as I have known some of them to do, stay at home and read their Bible there. They possess, as the household of faith, life Divine, which cannot live upon husks; they hunger and thirst after that righteousness which is revealed from faith to faith by the Holy Ghost their loving Preceptor, which was wrought out by their loving Head and Husband, and which is imputed to them by their loving God and Father. Having tasted that the Lord is gracious, they are ready to bear witness that He is the God of love. The meltings, movings, and manifestations of love Divine constitute their very life, and their tribute of gratitude must be presented in the language of our text, "God is love.'

This household of faith is quite another race of beings distinct from the household of religious worldlings, whose life never rises above nature, consequently they can never enjoy love Divine nor bear witness to it, but the adopted, ransomed, regenerated household of faith speak that which they know, and testify that which they have seen, in and by their creed, their conscience, and their conduct.

Next I promised to call for our evidence, witnesses from on high, as

Job says, "My witness is in heaven, and my record is on high." Now if I speak of the inhabitants of glory above, I must surely begin with the Divine Trinity itself, for "there are Three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one. All their essence is love. When the Father speaks of His own blessed Son, and of His people, He says, "I have loved thee with an everlasting love;" and again, speaking of the enemies of His Church, "I will cause them to know that I have loved them." When the apostle was speaking of Him who met him on the way to Damascus he says, "who loved me and gave Himself for me." The voice of Jesus Christ from heaven had summoned him, and laid him prostrate, notwithstanding all the persecuting acts he had done, therefore he says, "He loved me and gave Himself for me." Well do we know there is no love shed abroad in our hearts but by the Holy Ghost. So we have the witness of the whole household of faith upon earth, of all the redeemed of the Lord, of all the glorified family above. Were we allowed to inquire from the glorified spirits around the throne, they would give us the same testimony as they sing, "Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father, be glory and dominion for ever and ever." Mark how the Trinity is here set forth. "To Him that loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood"-there is the second Person; "and made us kings and priests"-there is the work and operation of the Holy Spirit; "unto God and His Father be glory"there the name of the Father is glorified. So that the glorified spirits round the throne are eternally singing and magnifying the glory of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. The love of God is shed abroad among them. The love of God is all their employment; they praise Him upon the harp, all their life is love, and nothing but love exists there it is their holy atmosphere.

No ransomed soul would be capable of enjoying heaven unless he were prepared to join the chorus which ascribes salvation to electing love to suretyship love, to soul-conquering love-the harmony of celestial music would be destroyed by the introduction of one Arminian note, which, blessed be God, can never be allowed. The myriads round the throne are all agreed to spend their eternity in reiterating "Unto Him that loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood." This we learn from the oracles of God, but we must join the choir to know the sweetness of that melody which fills all heaventhrills through every glorified spirit-honours the Triune Jehovah, and fetches an echo from the distant circle of elect angels, who were the ministering spirits to the heirs of salvation on earth. Oh, how should such a prospect, such company and such a home inspire our souls with longing anticipations and deaden our affections to things terrene. A word or two now relative to the ministers of God, as being witnesses. Christ, when He commands them to go forth, says, "Ye are my witnesses of these things." I wish it were generally known and understood, and acted upon by all who appear in the character of ministers of the gospel, that their business is to bear witness for God. We are not sent forth to assert the false pretensions of old free will, but to bear witness that God, who is love, will conquer, subdue, and save all the election of grace, as an act of His own love. Our business is to proclaim, to bear public testimony, to bear witness of that one glorious act of Deity in His love, as set forth in the person of His dear Son towards all the

election of grace. I wish all ministers of God would take pattern by their Master, where He says that all the law is contained in this one word-love. Love is the fulfilling of the law. If Jesus Christ had not been love embodied He could not have fulfilled the law. Moreover, all the gospel is in that one word love, because it emanates from God. As the whole of the law is a transcript of the mind of infinite love, self-existing love, so the gospel is a proclamation of the exercise and manifestation of love, for the salvation of those whom the law could only curse and condemn. When we have urged the doctrine of the eternal election as an act of love, we meet with cavils from those who dispute the proposition. How can your doctrine of election be love? How can it manifest Divine love? Do you mean to say that God is love, yet that He creates people to damn them? Why you set up God as a monster. That is the inference they draw, very unhallowed, unjust, and untrue, and they know it to be so. We meet their cavils with the plain statements of Scripture: "The Father loveth the Son, and has given all things into His hand." All things; including His family, His children. All given into His hands must be brought to His feet by conquering love; all brought to His feet must obtain tokens of love; all obtaining tokens of love must be transformed by the operation of the Spirit, and all the transformed thereby must be qualified to enjoy the love of God in heaven.

Ministers of the gospel should take heed that they be not found false witnesses, for if they take upon them to publish more or less than their commission, they must fall into that condemnation. To "preach the gospel to every creature is to publish God's method of saving sinners as we have been describing it; we have nothing to barter, nothing to offer, but simply to bear witness to the truth that paternal love has given salvation—that incarnate love embodies salvation— that indwelling love (the Holy Ghost) reveals salvation and imparts its comfort. But if we speak of salvation as contingent in any way upon man, as if we use ambiguous phraseology, by which man is led to suppose that the final veto is his, or any of the efficiency left to creature power, we are false witnesses and deceivers of sonls. Oh, I would not stand in such a position for a thousand worlds! I had rather be employed in any menial occupation than be permitted to say more or less as a witness for God than He has commanded, and I would that all who stand in this sacred office were like witnesses sworn at court to "speak the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth." Then I am sure that the Holy Ghost would put more honour upon their labours in the conversion of sinners, and in the feeding of the household of faith, but if they once overstep their commission to "think their own thoughts and speak their own words," I see nothing to prevent their urging upon the people all the mummery of Popery in its penances, praying, and paying to supersede the work of the Holy Ghost-to reject the perfect work of Christ and mock the Father's love. But love Divine, published clearly and received experimentally, will be put forth practically. Then shall we fulfil the admonition of the apostle John in this chapter, "If God so loved us we ought also to love one another."

With that thought I shall draw to a close. Can you for one moment imagine, that the love of God is implanted in your breasts if ye despise your brethren, I mean your brethren in Christ? The apostle urges this point very fairly when he says, "If a man say I love God, and