1 R. E. Speer, The Marks of a Man , 160. ' Paul SaLatier, St. Francis of Assist. ' E. C. Trench, Poems, 36.
The Amazing Gifi' of Love.
t«i
Literature.
'Campbell (R. J.), New Theology Sermons^ 81. Clifford (J.), The Secret of Jesus, 85. Curling (E.), TJie Transfiguration, 55. Eadie (J.), The Divine Love, 1. Fairbaim (A. M.), The City of God, 252. Goodwin (H.), Hulsean Lectures for 1855, 19. Horton (R. F.), The Triumph of the Cross, 1. Ingram (A. F. W.), The Call of the Father, 199. „ „ The Gospel in Action, 316.
„ „ The Love of the Trinity, l\2.
Johnson (H.), From Love to Praise, 3. Jowett (J. H.), Brooks by the Travellers Way, 148. Knight (H. T.), The Cross, the Font, and the Altar, 11. Kuegele (F.), Country Sermons, New Ser., iv. 378. McClure (J. G. K.), Supreme Tilings, 13. Maclaren (A.), Expositions : John i.-viii., 180.
„ „ PauVs Prayers, 180.
Maclean (A.), Where the Booh Speaks, 200. Millard (B. A.), Optimism and the Vision of God, 108. Milligan (G.), Lamps and Pitchers, 165. Morison (J,), Holiness in Living and Happiness in Dying, 9. Nicoll (W. R.), The Lamp of Sacrifice, 244. Patton (W. J.), Pardon and Assurance, 89. Percival (J.), Some Helps for School Life, 81. Pierson (A. T.), The Heart of the Gospel, 23. Prothero (G.), The Armour of Light, 19. Keid (J.), Jesus and Nicodemus, 203. Ryle (J. C), The Christian Race, 57.
Spurgeon (C. H.), Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, xxxi. (1885) No. 1850. Thomas (J.), Sermons (Myrtle Street Pulpit), ii. 309. Cambridge Review, viii. Supj^lement No. 187 (Harvey Goodwin). Christian Age, xxxviii. 386 (Parkhurst). Christian World Pulpit, xxxvii. 349, xli. 101 (Harwood); xlvi. 187
(Clifford) ; xlvii. 340 (Armstrong) ; Ivi. 264 (Peake) ; Ixv. 37G
(Jowett) ; Ixix. 49 (Ingram) ; Ixxiv. 339 (Warschauer). Churchman's Pulpit : Christmas Day : ii. 259 (Rawnsley), 261 (Evans) ;
Mission Work : xvii. 228 (Kramer). Preacher's Magazine, ixi. 109.
The Amazing Gift of Love.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever belie veth on him should not perish, but have eternal life. — John iii. i6.
1. This is perhaps the favourite text in the Bible — one of > the first texts which we learn as children, and one whose meaningj becomes only the more precious to us as we grow older. For in these few simple words the whole Gospel is summed up. The depth of God's love, the greatness of His gift, and the blessings which He freely offers to us — all are made known to us every time that we repeat these words.
If I suppose it is a common fact of experience that those who live within sound of church bells after awhile do not notice their striking ; might I suggest that something similar may be true of the great bell-note that is struck for us in the opening clause of this text ? Which of us is sufficiently sensitive or responsive to its vibrations ? Which of us realizes sufficiently that these words proclaim a final truth, the culmination of religious thought, some- thing never to be transcended ? ^
2. It is no accident that has given to this statement its unique place in the mind and heart of Christendom. The deepest \ thinker sees in this verse a summing-up of the Gospel; the ) humblest believer feels that it expresses the whole substance of ] his faith. The inspired writer gathers himself up, as it were, to a supreme effort, and presents in one majestic, sweeping, compre- hensive sentence the essence of Christian belief. And there stands the declaration still in all its simple grandeur, in all its boundless love, in all its mighty power. Centuries have passed over it, and left no impress. Time has failed to impair its\ freshness ; it is the same to-day as it was yesterday. That which-
* J. Waischauer.
i84 THE AMAZING GIFT OF LOVE
it is to-day it will be for ever. For eighteen hundred years and more it has poured forth its blessings with unceasing flow upon the foolish and the wise, upon the sinner and the saint, upon the martyr and his murderer. Years have thrown no new light upon its meaning. The wisdom and learning of men, the meditations of the holiest and the best, have not added one jot to our compre- hension of its mystery. Age upon age of opposition, of scorn, and of derision have as little succeeded in shaking its power. When we accept it in all its fulness, is it not still as much the source of joy as when it supported men, women, and children to a cruel death, gladly offering their lives in its defence ? When we reject /it, what can we offer in its place to support the weak or en- V^ourage the desperate ? Is it not still the most sovereign balm to bind up the broken hearts of mourners ; the surest stay of the dying ? Is it not still the silver clarion, whose peal rises high and clear above the din of strife — stirring wearied soldiel's of Christ to renew their struggle with evil, whether within their own hearts or in the world? Is it not still the rock upon which Christianity is founded? Is it not in reality the sum and substance of Christianity itself ?