simulation. Abhor that which is evil, cleave unto that which is good." That outward deeds will flow from this indwelling love, is unquestionable. If they are not forthcoming and manifest, then we may be quite sure that love also is wanting. The outward deed is a visible embodiment of the invisible life; and it is a part of the very nature of that life thus to embody itself. Hence Christ says, "If a man love me he will keep my words." And again to the Jews he says, "If God were your Father, ye would love me.”8 In the passage, too, already quoted, he calls upon his disciples to shew themselves the "children of God," by loving their enemies. The person thus possessed of divine love, is saved-saved from sin and all its sorrowful train of woes. The apostle John says, "Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God and knoweth God. not, knoweth not God; for God is love." The obedient has in this love the essential element of heaven-an element that banishes unholy ambition, shuts out envy, humbles pride, and guards the soul against the varied forms of temptation. The soul thus saved-thus loving its enemies-by the very power of its inner life, yearns for blessings on those enemies-yearns for their salvation in the possession of the same love. It cannot cease to do so, except at the price of its own love, and therefore of its own salvation. He that loveth From what has thus been shown, it is manifest that the heart which is destitute of love, is incapable of obedience; for love is both the soul and substance of obedience. Say what we will of human ability, there are some things which we cannot do. We cannot both love and hate the same thing at the same time. To this no power is adequate. That man who hates his neighbor, cannot love him. It may be his duty to do so, but hate cannot perform the work of love. The active force of such a soul, in so far as hate rules it, is to evil and to evil only. It may perform pilgrimages; it may haste to the church, adore its relics, and kneel at the confessional; it may wash itself in a thousand baptismal waters; but these 7 John, xiv. 23. 9 1 John, iv. 7, 8. 8 John, viii. 42. rites cannot bring it salvation. The evil is too deep to be removed by washings, relics, or pilgrimages. There is a central lethargy upon such a soul from which it must be aroused. According to the representations of Scripture, it is "dead"-" dead in trespasses and in sins"-and in that death it is damned. But there remains one hopeful fact connected with it. Morally dead though it is, it retains a susceptibility to life. III. This brings me to my third particular, namely, the causes that can induce obedience, or beget salvation. Having seen that man unsaved is morally dead, I scarcely need remark that we should not look to him for the influences that can impart life. These come from God. The commands of God are powerful to quicken him from his sleep, and strengthen him for duty. Hence David says, "The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes."10 And, again, "Thou, through thy commandments, hast made me wiser than mine enemies; for they are ever with me. . . . I have not departed from thy judgments, for thou hast taught me. . . . .. Through thy precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way. Thy testimonies are wonderful; therefore doth my soul keep them. The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding to the simple."11 The commandments of which David here speaks, as appears from the quotation as a whole, include the general instructions of the Most High-instructions by which life is imparted unto men. The calling forth of the dead in sin, after this manner, to have life through the truth, is recognized throughout the Scriptures. Jesus, "to whom it is given to have life in himself,"12 and who "quickeneth whom he will,"13 said "Verily, verily, I say unto you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live."14 Jesus uttered his voice in the glorious gospel of the blessed God, and men were awakened by it to a new and divine 10 Ps. xix. 7, 8. 12 John, v. 26. 11 Ps. cxix. 98, 102, 104, 129, 130. life. That gospel is still doing its work. Its glories are manifested anew by every shifting providence of God. It shines brighter to-day, and has drawn greater numbers to a larger measure of its salvation, than in any former age. Through its instrumentality, man is coming to know God, whom to know is life eternal.15 Hence the gospel is called "the power of God unto salvation."16 On this point, again, we may turn to the extract from the Sermon on the Mount. Having urged the most difficult of all duties, namely, love to enemies, Jesus adds, as an inducement thereto, "that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven; for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust." Here we have both the duty and the procuring cause of its performance. Christ relies on the sunshine and rain to prove God's love to his enemies; and he relies on God's love to his enemies to induce those enemies to love him. We ought not, of course, to infer that God manifests his love exclusively in the direct bestowment of such favors as the Saviour adduces. The severer aspects of his providences may indirectly serve the same purpose. They may arouse the soul from its lethargy, quicken its sensibilities, and aid in a proper estimation of the most common benefits. After chastisement, however, shall have done its work, it remains for divine love to invigorate and redeem the soul. To secure this end, Christ presents God's love, not simply as an example to be observed by the sinful, but as an operating cause to be felt by them. While the unregenerate regard the love of God and of Christ as a mere example for imitation, it will be comparatively cold and powerless. It is not until they perceive that that love is directed to themselves, that they can feel how patient, persevering, and powerful it is, in melting the heart and quickening it into life. Love, thus resting upon the sinful, and manifesting itself through all the varied arrangements of universal providence, and especially in the dispensation of grace, is the great moral force that can save the world. And if this love be infinite, its moral power must also be infinite. We must not, however, regard this force as a me 15 John. xvii. 4. VOL. VII. 5 16 Romans. i. 16. chanical one. It does not seize man, bind him hand and foot, and compel him to enter the kingdom whether he will or no. Its very labor is, to make him willing. It is a moral effect that is to be produced, and a moral cause is requisite to produce it. Love is such a cause, and is alone adequate to produce the effect which we have seen constitutes salvation. Objection has been made to the position that the divine purpose to save the sinful is absolute, on the ground that such a purpose would conflict with the agency of the sinful. But it is in the very fact of this conflict that the necessity for salvation lies. If human powers were directed by a wise love, they would be in harmony with the divine purposes, and there would be no need, in this regard, of a further salvation. That love itself would be salvation. It is because the prompting principles in human actions are in conflict with such a love, that the necessity for salvation exists. The overcoming and subduing of these principles-or, in other words, the conquering of the stubborn will of man, constitutes the very work of salvation. Now to say that the sinful agency of man presents a valid objection to the doctrine of an absolute purpose to save him, is equivalent to saying, that the fact that man is unholy, renders it improper that God should purpose to make him holy. I know not how it may appear to others, but to my own mind, the fact that man is sinful, seems the fittest reason why Deity should purpose to take away his sins. But I cannot rest the argument here. Not only does it seem fitting that God should purpose to make man holy, but his own love of holiness, (I say it reverently,) morally compels him to cherish such a purpose. God and good men differ from the publican in loving those who do not love them. Having enjoined love to enemies, Jesus said, "If ye love them that love you, what reward have ye? Do not even the publicans the same? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." Thus love to all, including even the sinful, constitutes the staple element of holiness, both in God. and good men. It is the vital principle of their salvation. So that God and the saved, by virtue of the very qualities 17 Matt. v. 46-48. by which they are saved, yearn for the salvation of the unsaved, with all the intensity of their own spiritual life. Thus the life of heaven is an unceasing prayer for the sinful, and at the same time the spiritual force by which they are redeemed. This force, therefore, cannot cease to operate. Were it to cease, the salvation of the saints would cease, the holiness of God come to an end, and all heaven "fall from grace." But if it remain, then it must remain to yearn after, redeem, and save, the sinful. And if such is the life of heaven, there can be no true rest on earth or in heaven, but in the prospect, or realization, of a kindred destiny for the race. A. A. M. ART. III. Ecclesiastical and Denominational Organization. THE present age is remarkable for its opposition to authority. Mankind have been so long enslaved by civil and religious despotism, that they are beginning to question every compact which makes them amenable to each other. Many are confident that a great proportion of all the crimes that are committed, is to be attributed wholly to penal laws and prisons. They are equally confident that the irreligion of the world has its origin chiefly in the attempts that are made to unite men by tests of faith, and govern them by ecclesiastical rules. "Give us freedom," is the cry that comes from all quarters of the world. This cry has become so loud and protracted, that some, who enjoy the highest freedom that can exist on earth, have taken it up, and echoed it, till they have persuaded themselves that they are perfect vassals! Such would not only have freedom march, with its giant tread, through nations groaning in bondage, that it may break down there all |