Between Thee and ourselves — nay even, again,
Below us, to the extreme of the minute,
Appreciable by how many and what diverse
Modes of the life Thou madest be! (why live
Except for love, — how love unless they know V
Each of them, only filling to the edge,
Insect or angel, his just length and breadth,
Due facet of reflection, — full, no less,
Angel or insect, as Thou framest things.2
(3) With the revelation of God as Love comes an under- standing of the Divine plan of Salvation, a comprehension of the meaning of the Cross of Christ. And with the sense of sin that
1 Browning, A Death in the Desert. * Browning, The Ring and the Book.
i CORINTHIANS n. 9 61
this inevitably brings come also the promise of the forgiveness of sin, and the still more blessed promise of the conquest of sin. This boon — the suppression and extinction of sin — is one of the great gifts which God has prepared for them that love Him.
Sin ! wilt thou vanquish me !
And shall I yield the victory ? Shall all my joys be spoiled, And pleasures soiled,
By thee! Shall I remain As one that's slain And never more lift up the head ? Is not my Saviour dead ! His Blood, thy bane; my balsam, bliss, joy, wine, Shall thee destroy; heal, feed, make me Divine.1
(4) Union with Christ is one of the deep things of God, and in that union are endless spiritual blessings. To conquer the world by loving it, to be blest by ceasing from the pursuit of happiness, and sacrificing life instead of finding it, to make a hard lot easy by submitting to it — this was St. Paul's Divine philosophy of life. And the princes of this world, amidst scoffs and laughter, replied, Is that all? Nothing to dazzle — nothing to captivate? But the disciples of the inward life, the humble of heart, and the loving, felt that in this lay the mystery of life, of themselves, and of God, all revealed and plain.
"Eye hath not seen": — yet man hath known and weighed A hundred thousand marvels that have been :
What is it which (the Word of Truth hath said) Eye hath not seen ?
"Ear hath not heard": — yet harpings of delight, Trumpets of triumph, songs and spoken word,
Man knows them all: what lovelier, loftier might Hath ear not heard?
" Nor heart conceived " : — yet man hath now desired Beyond all reach, beyond his hope believed,
Loved beyond death: what fire shall yet be fired No heart conceived ?
1 Traherne.
62 THINGS PREPARED FOR LOVE
"Deep calls to deep": — man's depth would be despair, But for God's deeper depth: we sow to reap,
Have patience, wait, betake ourselves to prayer: Deep answereth deep.1
3. These things God has prepared. The term used recalls the words of Christ: "The kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world " (Matt. xxv. 34).
God prepared the things that He knew man's heart would long for. A thing prepared is a thing ready at the moment it is needed and expected. So, when we feel the yoke of sin heavy, then is the moment to accept the prepared deliverance. It was prepared on the Cross, it is found at the Cross. As deliverance from sin is found at the Cross, so also was union with Christ and likeness to Christ prepared at the open grave of Christ, and found by faith in a risen, living Saviour. The hope of our calling, the riches of the glory of our inheritance, the exceeding greatness of His power, these are not future blessings, they are prepared here and now for those who believe and love. And what of the things on before ? Truly the glory of them is past man's under- standing— the city prepared, the place prepared, the rest, the work, the joy, the crown that God is making ready.
There is a Stream, which issues forth
From God's eternal Throne, And from the Lamb, — a living stream
Clear as the crystal stone.
The stream doth water Paradise;
It makes the Angels sing ; One cordial drop revives my heart;
Hence all my joys do spring.
Eye hath not seen, nor ear hath heard,
From fancy 'tis conceal'd, What Thou, Lord, hast laid up for Thine,
And hast to me reveal'd.2
4. The things are prepared by God for them that love Him.
Everything is seen by its own glass ; everything looks foolish when seen through any other glass. Music is meaningless when addressed only to the eye ; painting has no message to the ear, 1 Christina G. Rossetti. * John Mason.
i CORINTHIANS n. 9 63
The deep things of man can be seen only by their own faculty. So is it with the deep things of God. There are things in religion which are mysteries to every organ but one — the spirit of love. There are depths which love alone can fathom.
The good things are for those who love. Eepentant sinners they may be, like David, yet because they are forgiven much they will love much. Love is the condition without which revelation does not take place. No selected child of grace can remain unloving and cold, and yet see and hear and feel the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.