~0<l'~ command to lov~ our brother ie so emphntically the command of the gospel that, 1f ,t 1s neglect~<l, God 1s not loved a.tall, howevel' profuse the verbal declaration of lovo may he. "My love must go forth towa.rds those whom I see, I\S God saw urn when he first lo,,ed mo. And my love must be what his love is-no idle sentiment or barren sym- ymthy, but a love that seeks them, and bears long with them, and waits and longs and prays for their salvation ; a love that gives freely and without upbraiding; o. love self• sacrificing, self-denying; a love that will lay down life itself to snvo them. And when they become by grace what by grace I am, I must love them as God loves me, for what I see in them; yes, and in spite of what I see in them,1 too." The love of God is the.t we keep his commandments (eh. v. 3); but his command is that we love as he loved us. The <mly being, however, whom we can love with such a love is our brother, whom God has placed before us; one whom we have seen. "And the title •brother' brings out the idea of that which is God-like in man to which love can be directed. He, there- fore, who fails to recognize God as he reveals himself through Christ in man (Matt. xxv. 40) cannot love God. He bas refused the help which God has pt'ovided for the expression of iove in action" (Westcott,' Commentary,' in loc.). Let us, then, formulate the statement of the text thus : 1. The love which has God for its supreme Object is an element pervading the whole being, and radio.ting towards surrounding objects. It is not a capricious sentimentalism; it is a love which is not only towards God, but from him, and like his own. 2. I am to love compassionately and with a view to redeem another, as God has loved me. But the only being whom I can thus love is he who is before me-my brother. 3. It is a command from God that my love to him, the great Unseen, should be shown in this way-by loving the brother who is seen. .4. There- fore there iJJ no other way of practising love to God than this-loving the seen brother; i.e. not simply our natural brother in the home, nor even our redeemed brother in the Church, but our fallen, sinking, perishing brethren in the "wide, wide world." Ill. HERE IS, CONSEQUE!ITLY, A DUTY SPECIFIED, WHICH WE ARE BOUND TO DISCHARGE, •• That he who loveth God love his brother also." And, lest we should be content with vague generalities, we are supplied elsewhere with two other specific directions to the working of this love-in eh. iii. 18 and in eh. iii. 16. According to the first, our love to man ought to be an intensely practical one. According to the second, we should be such enthusiasts therein as to be willing to lay down our lives for the brethren. Now, iC any one earnestly desired to fulfil all this in his own life, he would. go very far towards succeeding if be adopted and carried out the following principles of action: 1. "I will, by God's help, for God's sake, lay out myself to be the helper of mankind in any way in which I can advance their interests; and this plan in life shall take precedence of my own ease, comfort, and wealth; desiring to carry out the apostolic motto,' As poor, yet making many rich."' 2. The most truly Christ-like way to help others is to lead them to gain the power of so helping themselves that they no more may need another's aid, but may become themselves, in their turn, helpers of others (Acts iii. 6). That is not true love which so doles out charities as to keep the recipients in a. perpetual state of dependence, if by wiser methods they could be raised above it. 3. In pursuing this method diligent inquiry must be made as to what evils afflict the people and retard their progress. We must ascertain whether they come from within or from without, and, in either case, what they a.re and how they come. 4. These causes of ill being ascertained, they must be traced to their source; whether health, or wealth, or morals, or religion be imperilled: whether they are traceable to the covetousness, greed, and love of power on the part of men in the 11igher ranks, or to lack of self-respect, of aim, of hope, of faith, and of a sense of right in the lower ranks. 5. Some specific external ills require an equally specific and special remedy, such as sanitary ills, overcrowding, etc. 6. In every case Christian philosophy requires that we attack the evils at their root, which is sin, however varied the forms in which it may rear its head. 7. Hence the supreme work of the Christian p,1ilanthropist who would lay himself out to help his brother man is to bring the love of God in ChriHt to bear upon his heart and con- 11cience. In God's love the desolate soul (1) finds a home; (2) learns its own worth; (3) b~gins to love others; (4) lives to help others. And thus-thus, in letting God's love in us work out effectively, Christian people have the one and only cure for ell the ills of our race. lo .this direction much more remains to be done than Christians have 1 Dr. Ce.ndlieb, • Commentary,' on 1 John, vol. ii. pp. 165, 166. cllr. 1v. 1-21..] TllE FITIST EPISTLE GENERAL OF JOHN. 119
ever yet nttempted. Mny God make us loving and wise enough to work with him in blessing our age ond race I