are principles in our fallen nature capable of producing these effects in men who have never received one atom of the grace of God, or felt one spark of true charity. Many thousands of our fellows-subjects in India are awful examples of this truth; men reducing themselves to the most wretched state of want and misery, and women voluntarily burning themselves upon the funeral piles of their deceased husbands ; and this from no better principle than pride and vain-glory. Similar effects are produced also by a self-righteous principle; the unhappy devotees accounting nothing too much to do or suffer in order to recommend themselves to their senseless deities. Supposing then a man to do all this, and yet to be devoid of charity, " it would profit him nothing" literally " 7iothing" Not one of his sins would ever be removed by it; nor would he be advanced one single step towards the favour of God : he would be as poor, and wretched, and miserable as before.]
Now these, it must be confessed, are very strong assertions : and the idea of a man going from the flames of martyrdom to the flames of hell, is so shock- ing, that we scarcely know how to admit it for one moment. Yet is it really true that this may be the case ; as is abundantly evident from the Apostle's assertions ; which now we will proceed, II. To vindicate —
Let it be remembered that the principle, which is here supposed to be wanting, is that of universal " charity." And well may it be said, that, in the absence of that, all other things are of no value ; for, where that is wanting, there can be,
1. No love to God —
[Here St. John will prove to us an infallible instructor. His words are plain and decisive: " Beloved, let us love one another : for love is of God. He that loveth not, knoweth not God : for God is love." " If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar : for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God, whom he hath not seen''?" Here he not only declares the vanity and falsehood of all pretensions of love to God, whilst we are destitute of love to man, but he appeals to us respecting it, as a matter that is self-evident and incontrovertible. For a man to pretend to obey the first table of the law, whilst he
a 1 John iv. 7, 8, 20.