138 SERMONS UPON 1 JOHN III. [SeR. XXII.
liveth not by bread alone ;' but we could not be redeemed without the death of the Son of God : 1 John iv. 10, ' Herein is love, not that wo loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be a propitiation for our sins.' Therefore here is the true glass wherein to see God. Surely we had never known so much of the love of God had it not been for this great instance: 1 John iv. 9, 'In this was the love of God manifested towards us, because he sent his only-begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him/ What was Jesus Christ but love incarnate, love born of a virgin, love hanging on a cross, love laid in the grave, love made sin, love made a curse for us ? It was love that accomplished all the wonders of our redemption.
Use 1. This glorious demonstration of God's love should fill us with admiring thoughts and praise. We owe all to love. Christ : John iii. 16, 'God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son.' The covenant: Jer. xxxii. 40,41, 'And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, and will not tvirn away from them, to do them good : yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart, and with my whole soul' The blessings of the covenant ; conversion : Eph. ii. 4, 5, 'But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he hath loved us, even when we were dead in sins and trespasses, he quickened us.' Pardon : Hosea xiv. 4, ' I will heal their backslidings, and will love them freely,' Hopes of glory: 2 Thes. ii. 16, 'He hath loved us, and given us everlasting consolation, and good hope through grace.' Our final glorification: 1 John iii. 1, 'Behold what manner of love is this!' Pardon, grace, glory, all cometh of love. Nothing should be more frequent in our hearts and mouths than the love of God. It is the study of the saints to admire this : Eph. iii. 18, ' That we may com- prehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, find height, and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge.' To get more large and lively thoughts of it. This will most be when we have some interest in these things : 1 John iii. 1, ' Behold what manner of love is this, that we should be called the sons of God! ' And you find the fruits of it in your own souls: Kom. v. 5, 'But hope maketh not ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts.' Feel the virtue of his death in heart and conscience, then glory in it : Gal. vi. 14, ' God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ ; ' 1 John v. 10, ' He that believeth on the Son hath the witness in himself.' When it appeaseth your guilty fears, and freeth you from the tyrann}' of worldly lusts, the saving effects of this love, a deep and intimate feeling giveth us the true sense of those things, more than a pertinent and exact discourse.
2. This glorious demonstration of God's love to us should beget love in us to God again: 1 John iv. 19, 'We love him because he hath loved us first.' Shall Jesus Christ love me, and make a plaster of his blood for my poor wounded soul, and shall I not love him again? The cold wall will reverberate and beat back again the heat of the sun: 2 Cor. v. 14, 15, ' For the love of Christ constraineth us, because we thus judge, if one died for all, then are all dead ; and that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.' Our hearts should
VeR. 16.] SERMONS UPON 1 JOHN III. 139
be drawn in to In'm, and love and thankfulness should be the life of all obedience ; for all christian religion in effect is but love. Love is the spring and rise of all that Christ did for us ; so it should be the rise and spring of all that we do for Christ, that we may act and suffer for him as willingly and readily as he did for us. We can hardly take comfort in any dispensation of God unless there be love in it ; neither will God accept any duty of ours unless there be love in it. Oh, let love beget love !
3. Let us be content with this manifestation of the love of God ; we have the fruits of his death, though God straiten us in outward things. We cannot say God doth or doth not love us, though he giveth or withholdeth a worldly portion : Eccles. ix. 1, ' None can know love or hatred by these things.' Sometimes God's enemies have a large supply, when his people are kept short and bare : Ps. xvii. 14, ' From men which are thy hand, 0 Lord, from men of the world, which have their portion in this life, and whose bellies thou fillest with thy hid treasure: they are full of children, and leave the rest of their substance to their babes.' But if he giveth us the saving effects of Christ's death, it is a certain demonstration of his love, though he doth not gratify us with worldly increase. Let us look after the distinguishing effects of his love, and the favour he beareth to his people.