2. It enters into every action of the life —
[It is as the soul, which pervades, and operates in, every part of the body. We are apt to view it only in some par- ticular act ; but it enters into, and forms, the very habit of the soul. St. Paul's description of it will serve us as a rule whereby to judge of its office, and as a clew whereby to dis- cover its most hidden operations. " Love (or ' charity,' as it is called,) suffereth long, and is kind; it envieth not, vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth ; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things C Here we see, that not only our actions towards others, but the dispositions of our own minds in secret, are most materially affected by it; and consequently, that its influence extends to every branch of universal holiness11.]
3. It prepares the soul for heavenly communica- tions—
[Dispositions that are contrary to love, bar the soul against God : they shut out good, from whatsoever quarter it might come. If a man under their influence read the Bible, what is it but "a sealed book?" If he attempt to pray, the heavens to him are as brass : his prayers have no power to ascend : they have no warmth in them: they freeze upon his very lips1. If he enter into conversation, there is no savour in any thing he says, nor any capacity to receive good from any thing he hears. In the public ordinances, and in his private chamber, he is alike dull and formal. Go where he will, or do what he will, he neither communicates good, nor receives good.
But when love comes into his soul, his heart is expanded and enlarged towards both God and man. To God he goes with holy confidence, and finds access even to his very bosom k : and "God, who is love" itself, delights in his own image as reflected from the suppliant's face, and rejoices to communi- cate to him all the blessings of grace and peace. A soul filled with love is just such an habitation as God delights in ; and he will not fail to descend and dwell in it1. Nor is it in rela- tion to this life only that a person under the influence of love enjoys this confidence ; he looks forward, even to the day of judgment, with a sweet assurance, that that God, whose image he so earnestly desires to bear, will not cast him into outer darkness"1. Let the same person now go into company, or
s 1 Cor. xiii. 4 — 7. h 1 John ii. 10. ! 1 Pet. iii. 7.
k 1 John iii. 18, 19. } John iv. 16.
m 1 John iv. 17. These words in our translation are scarcely intelligible. The sense of them, in the Author's apprehension, is,