love _and faith as ~he God of our fathers, _Still, lt may be 111\ld, while thie helps us ln- relat1on to God, 1t d?8e not reveal anyth1!1-g concerning the present existence of the blessed dead. We thmk of God as he waa 111 relation to those departed tnen • thus we come to a certain knowledge of God; but this rests entirely in the past, What does it tell us concerning the men whose histories are the mirrors in which it is reflected to UB? We must proceed tG a further inquiry. II. GoD IS ESSENTIALLY IllMUTABLE. What he was to the patriarchs that be is to U8 now. This was partially confirmed-,mnfirmed as far as the time would allow, in the days of the patriarchs. What Abraham learnt of God, Isaac found to be true and the same was confirmed in the experience of Jacob. 'fhe three generations of th; patriarchs knew one and the same God, and they all found him to be changeless. Ill THE ETERNITY OF Gon's LOVE LEADS us TO BELIEVE IN THE CONTINUED LIFE 01!'· BIB CHILDREN, If God is immutable, his love must be eternal. Loving once, he loves- for ever. It is not enough for him to transfer his affection to successive generations. It is of the nature of love to dwell without cessation on the objects beloved. But if God loves hie children on earth, he will not cease to love them when they die ; and if he loves them still, he will desire to see them, and will therefore desire their continued being. Thus the love of God is a great reason for believing that he will not suffer his children to perish. IV. TRE ETERNAL LIFE OF GoD IS AN ASSUBANCE OF THE ETEBNAL LIFE OF ms 0HIL-. DREN. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is more than a name, and more-than-a: passive Object of worship, for he ie the Author and Sustainer of the Jives of.the patri- archs. He is a living God; his presence brings life; to be in him is· to be in the very: centre of the best life. Such a God does• not content himself with moving among the tombs .of the dead past. His own outfl.owing vit&lity touches and quickens all··wi:th whom he comes into contact. If he in any way associates himself with the ·men of a far-distant antiquity, he will be their Preserver. Their contact with -the ever-living God gives.them the life etema.1.-W. F. A,
Yers. 3~.-.The two commandmentB,· Originality of mind may be as much apparent in a wise selection from what is old as in the creation of what is new. Some of the most striking teaching of our Lord is of this character. Jesus Christ did not repudie.te the Old Testament, nor did he despise its truths because his own went further, but he pointed out what was most important in the ancient revelation, and rescued this from the oblivion into which it had fallen with many people in their scrupulous attention to the petty details of external observances. Thus he met the• tempting question of the Pharisees by weighty words from their own Law, the very solution of which was a revelation •and a rebuke of Pharisaic, formalism. L CmusT CALLS us BA.OK TO FUNDAMENTAL PBIN0ll'LES. The error of the rabbis lay in a tendency to confuse the mindB of their scholars 3nd to obscure the essential truths of revelation by-directing too much attention to minute questions of casuistry.· A similar mistake was me.de by the School.men in the- Middle- Ages, although these: masters of hair-splitting delighted in the discuBBion of.less practical subjects. We are always in danger of missing the essential trnths of our faith in the consideration of dis- tracting details. But Christianity is a religion of principles. This is most characteristic of the New Test&ment. 1. Thae principlea arefundamentaZ. 2. They admit of wid~ and varied application. 8. They mU,Bt be obeyed internally-in thought and heart. II. THE BOOT-PRINCIPLE OF CBlUSTIAN OONDUOT IS LOVE. Thie was found in the old Law; it belonged to Jude.ism, because it is always the source of the best life. But it is m01t prominent and powerful in Christianity. The gospel reveals the love of God,· and it instils a spirit of love in man. So essential is this that no one can be accounted a Christian who is hard-hearted and utterly selfish, however saintly he may be in othe1 respects. Love U1 shown in two principal relations. 1. lt seeks the welfare of thostJ who are loved-the honour of God and the good of fellow-men. 2. It delights in fellow- ship with those who are loved. Christian love draws us nearer to God ar,d nearer to one another. Ill Gon Is THE FIBST-0BJECJT OF CHII.IBTIAN LOVE. 1. He deserves love. (1) Because he is good and glorious in the beauty of holiness. There is no other object of affection 80 supremely worthy of ')ur hearfa devotion. (2) Because he first loved us. Love it 011, xxn. 1-40.] TIIE GOSPEL ACCOTIDING TO BT. MATTHEW. 37v