1. The familiar truth is suggested that our committing our souls to God does not mean that we are to fold our hands in indolence, which we misname trust. Neither are we to be so much engaged with cultivating the inward graces of faith and submission as to neglect the practice of common deeds of kindness. Our religion may become transcendental, a thing of spiritual experiences and emotions, and may be in danger of soaring so high as to forget the work which has to be done here. But it must have hands to toil as well as wings to mount. Peter was foolish when he desired to stay on the Mount of Transfiguration, for there was a poor devil-ridden boy waiting in the plain to be healed.
2. Here is a warning against giving up work because of sorrow. Ages of persecution have seldom been ages of service. All the strength of the Church has been absorbed in simple endurance. And in our private sorrows we are too apt to fling aside our tools in order to sit down, and brood, and remember, and weep. We hold ourselves excused from tasks which otherwise seem plain duties, because our hearts are heavy. There is no greater mistake than to give up work because of trouble. Next to God's Spirit, it is the best comforter. We feel our own burdens less when we try to help some heavy-laden brother to catty his. Our sorrow will be less and our faith more if we honestly set ourselves to the tasks, and especially to the tasks of doing good to others which lie at our hands.
3. All sin kills faith. "Well-doing" here may either mean beneficence or pure moral conduct. If the former, the remarks just made apply. If the latter, the principle is presented that such conduct must be associated with our committing of our souls to God, because every breach of the solemn law of right will weaken our power of faith and make a barrier between us and God. A small grain of sin will blind us; a little sin will prevent us from seeing God. A thin film of air hinders two bodies from uniting; a thin layer of sin keeps the soul from touching God. Any transgression will disturb our faith, and make it close its opening buds, as a bright cloud crossing the sun folds together the petals of some plants. There must be pure and noble deeds if there is to be any completeness and continuity of peaceful confidence; for, though faith is the parent of righteousness, righteousness reacts on faith, and a hand foul with evil is lamed thereby, so that it cannot firmly grasp the outstretched hand of Christ.
III. THE GROUND OF THIS CONFIDENCE IN THE ACTS AND CHARACTER OF GOD. He to whom we entrust our souls is their Creator. Therefore he is strong to preserve no less than to make, and therefore, too, he knows how much tension and strain the soul can bear, and will not overweight it, nor test it up to the breaking-point. As St. Paul says, he will not suffer us to be tempted above that we are able. Where better can some precious work be put for safe keeping than in the maker's hands? Where can my soul be so secure and well than confided to the care of him who fashioned me, and measures my sorrows, knowing my frame and remembering that I am dust? He is a faithful Creator. The act of creation constitutes a relation between God and us, which imposes on 'him obligations and gives us claims on him. He has made a covenant with his creatures in the hour when he created them, which he keeps for ever. He is faithful, in that he ever remains true to himself, to his own past, and to his articulate promises. What he has been we can rely on, and be sure that, as we have heard, so shall we see, and that every act of mercy and succor in the past binds him to extend the same mercy and succor today and for ever. So all the old history flashes up into new meaning for every poor sorrowful, trusting soul. What he has spoken he will adhere to, and there are promises enough for us to build absolute confidence upon. No man shall ever be able to quote an assurance of his which turned out a rotten support, a rind without a kernel. He is a faithful Creator. Therefore, if we "commit the keeping of our souls to him in well-doing," with the ancient prayer, "Forsake not the work of thine own hands," we too shall be blessed with the answer given to a hundred generations, and fulfilled to every soul that rested upon it, "I will not leave thee until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of."—A.M.
HOMILIES BY J.R. THOMSON
1 Peter 4:3 - The time past, a sermon for the last day of the year.
Every day and every moment closes and commences a year; yet the artificial arrangement by which it is agreed that a year shall close at one certain fixed moment of a certain fixed day is an arrangement both convenient and contributive in many ways to our moral and religious advantage. The review of the closing year is a very proper, and may be a very profitable, exercise. The newspapers review the events of the year which are of political, financial, or commercial interest. Man has, however, higher interests—those which are moral and spiritual. It is desirable that we should take a retrospect of "the time past," with a view of tracing God's providential dealings with us, with a view of estimating our own spiritual progress, and of learning lessons of wisdom and of helpfulness.
I. WHAT DOES REFLECTION SUGGEST TO US CONCERNING TIME PAST IN ITSELF?
1. Its passage has been rapid, yet it has been filled with events of great importance.
2. It is perfectly irrecoverable; we cannot live the expiring year over again.
3. It has left ineffaceable traces upon our character. We are all changed by its influences, its occupations, its lessons—some for the better, some for the worse.
4. It is not forgotten by the Lord and Judge of all. In this sense he "requireth that which is past."
II. IN WHAT SPIRIT SHOULD THE CHRISTIAN CONSIDER THE TIME PAST?
1. His first and most prominent thought should be of the mercy and loving-kindness of God revealed to him as the days and weeks have passed by.
2. Especially should he remember the long-suffering and forbearance which has been displayed towards him by his heavenly Father upon repeated occasions, when such consideration has been called for by failures in duty and by forgetfulness of Divine love.
3. He should remember with regret and repentance the opportunities of obedience and usefulness which he has neglected.
4. Nor should he lose sight of the discipline which he may have been called upon to endure, and which he should remember, not with a rebellious, but with a submissive spirit.
III. IN WHAT SPIRIT SHOULD THE IRRELIGIOUS AND UNDECIDED REVIEW THE TIME PAST?
1. He should remember with humiliation and shame that he has broken the Law of God, and rejected the gospel of Christ.
2. He should reflect upon the evil influence which his example of religion has exercised over his fellow-men, especially over those within his family and social circle.
3. He should consider that he is the worse at the end of the year than at its beginning, because of his delay to repent and to commence by God's grace a new and better life.
IV. How SHOULD THE MEMORY OF THE TIME FAST AFFECT THE TIME TO COME?
1. We may be helped to realize the brevity of life, and the uncertainty and probable brevity especially of what of life yet remains.
2. We may be induced to turn away from the evil which has been indulged in during bygone years, and to enter upon the holier life and more consecrated service which our conscience approves and enjoins. The sands are fast falling; the tide is fast ebbing; the light is fast fading. Let the future see our vows fulfilled, our hopes realized, our aims achieved!—J.R.T.
1 Peter 4:7 - Waiting for the end.
Like his brother apostle, St. Paul, St. Peter lived in constant anticipation of "the end." This attitude of mind was no doubt encouraged by the discourses of our Lord Jesus, to which Simon Peter had undoubtedly listened. And it must have been confirmed by the state of society both in the Jewish and the Christian world; changes were imminent, and none could say what form these changes might take. In some respects such statements and admonitions as those of the text are even more pressingly appropriate in our times than when they were first penned.
I. THE VIEW WHICH CHRISTIANS ARE TAUGHT TO TAKE OF THEIR EARTHLY CONDITION. The New Testament impresses upon us the transitory and temporary nature of all things earthly. Sound understanding will seek to verify this, not by prophetical and historical dates, but by moral and unquestionably significant facts.
1. There may well have been in the apostle's mind a foresight of the approaching destruction of Jerusalem, the dispersion of the Jewish race, and the abrogation of the Hebrew religion.
2. Yet a larger reference is probable; "the end of all things" can scarcely be limited to the catastrophe which befell the Israelitish people. There is no permanence on earth. The Christian, like the Jewish dispensation, must pass away. When this world has served its purpose—the purpose centring in the moral history of mankind—it will be dissolved. The visible and tangible are not the real, are not the lasting. Moral results will outlast the material framework of their development.
3. Every individual who reflects must feel that his own brief life-history gives point and pathos to the end of all things.
II. THE CONSEQUENT SPIRIT AND DUTY OF CHRISTIANS CHERISHING SUCH CONVICTIONS AND EXPECTATIONS. A superficial observer might suppose that the result of such beliefs must needs be excitement and distress, or, if not distress, solicitude. But this is not the effect designed by our Lord and his apostles. Quite the contrary; for St. Peter, in view of the approaching end, admonishes to
Such great and solemn realities as religion unfolds before the mind are fitted to strengthen, steady, and mature the character; and at the same time to inspire with pious desires and petitions. A spirit such as that here enjoined may justly be said both to qualify for this present probation and to prepare for future fruition. For "the end of all things" does not involve the end of God's government, or the end of man's life and spiritual progress - J.R.T.
1 Peter 4:8 - Fervent love.
Because St. John was emphatically the apostle of love, it must not be supposed that the inculcation of this virtue was left to him alone. The eloquent panegyric of charity in St. Paul's Epistle to the Corinthians is a proof of that apostle's sense of the importance of this virtue. And this passage in St. Peter's Epistle shows that the Lord's companionship had not failed to produce upon the mind of "the prince of the apostles" an impression of the Divine beauty and of the supreme excellence of love.
I. THE DIVINE FOUNDATION OF LOVE AS A CHRISTIAN VIRTUE.
1. The Divine nature is love; this is the pre-eminent attribute of the Eternal Father.
2. The spirit and example of our Lord Jesus are the supreme revelation of this grace; and such a revelation was only possible because Jesus was the Son of God.
II. THE PEERLESS EXCELLENCE OF LOVE AS A CHRISTIAN VIRTUE. St. Paul tells us, "the greatest of these is charity." And Peter here enjoins Christians to be "above all things fervent in their love."
III. THE SOCIAL BENEFITS OF LOVE. In the Christian society there is no place for those lower principles of union which have force in some relations of human life, as e.g. a common interest. But where love is, there joy and peace, fellowship and sympathy and material helpfulness, will assuredly prevail. Love covers sins; it hides those that exist, prevents those that in its absence might make their appearance, and secures by intercession the pardon of those which have been committed.
IV. THE FERVOR OF CHRISTIAN LOVE. Love may be in name only; it may exist in a state of feebleness. But in such cases it is of little service. The love which Christ approves is that which" many waters cannot quench," and which is "stronger than death."—J.R.T.
1 Peter 4:10 - Stewardship.
It is too common for men to pride themselves upon their advantages, the strength of body, the gifts of intellect, the bestowments of fortune, which they call their own. But the spirit of Christianity is altogether opposed to such a habit of mind. Peter as well as Paul took occasion to remind Christians that their advantages should be estimated and employed in a very different manner.
I. THE CHRISTIAN'S ENDOWMENTS, ACQUISITIONS, AND POSSESSIONS ARE THE FREE GIFT OF GOD'S KINDNESS. Those who do not believe in a Divine Giver cannot regard their possessions as a gift. But many who do not deny that they are the creatures of God's power and the dependents upon God's bounty, nevertheless think and act as if they had only themselves to thank for their advantages. We are therefore again and again reminded that we owe all that we have to the unmerited favor of Heaven. "What hast thou that thou didst not receive?"
II. THE CHRISTIAN'S ENDOWMENTS, ACQUISITIONS, AND POSSESSIONS ARE A TRUST WHICH HE HOLDS FROM GOD, AND FOR WHICH HE MUST GIVE ACCOUNT. We are called to be "good stewards." Now, a steward is not an owner of the property; he is the responsible administrator of a trust. Why have our various advantages been conferred? Certainly not that we may use them for our personal pleasure or emolument or aggrandizement, but that by their means we may be serviceable to others. The former course would be an abuse of the trust reposed in us. The conferring of such a trust is a personal probation. He who has five talents is expected so to use them as to increase his means and powers of usefulness, and to offer to the Judge the interest which accrues to him who faithfully employs his deposit.
III. THE CHRISTIAN'S ENDOWMENTS, ACQUISITIONS, AND POSSESSIONS ARE DESIGNED FOR THE SERVICE AND BENEFIT OF Ills FELLOW-MEN. The expression of St. Peter is noticeable in its definiteness and graphic force: "ministering it among yourselves."
1. This, then, is an appointed service.
2. A beneficial service.
3. A mutual service. In the Church of Christ no one is wholly and only a giver, or wholly and only a receiver. Every one has some gift, and every one has some need. It is by mutual ministration that the general welfare is secured.
4. A service acceptable to Christ. He who gave not only his gifts, but himself, for men, cannot but take pleasure in every manifestation of sympathy, in every ministration of helpfulness, to be met with in his Church - J.R.T.
1 Peter 4:11 - Christian speech.
The language of the apostle here need not be taken as referring to the heathen oracles. The New Testament makes use of the expression "oracles" to designate divinely authorized utterances intended to instruct and benefit men. Thus Moses is said by Stephen to have received "living oracles" to give unto the Jews; and the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews describes the elements of Christian doctrine as "first principles of the oracles of God."
I. THE SEVERAL KINDS OF CHRISTIAN SPEECH.
1. In the primitive Church there were those who were inspired to utter forth with authority doctrines and precepts of religion. This was a special and supernatural "gift" bestowed upon the apostles, but by no means confined to them, and a gift the exercise of which must have been especially serviceable when Christianity was young, when some of the books of the New Testament were not yet written, and the canon was not yet complete. With bow deep a sense of responsibility such gifted persons must have addressed Christian congregations one can easily understand.
2. There were also those who were entrusted with the gift of tongues. Whatever differences of opinion may prevail with regard to the character of this gift, one thing is clear, and that is that it was supernaturally adapted for making a deep and signal impression in favor of the Christian faith. The singular nature of this power must have led its possessors to deem themselves "oracles" of God.
3. But there seems no reason for confining the reference of this admonition within limits so narrow. In the Church of Christ were those who, as pastors, teachers, and evangelists, were wont to employ the gift of speech from Christian motives and to Christian ends. This is a function which men of God have through all the Christian centuries been called to discharge, for the edification of the body of Christ, and for the spread of the gospel among men. Often have such experienced the restraining and inspiring influence of the apostolic direction given in this passage. When tempted to use their gift of speech for the purpose of advancing their own interests or displaying their own powers, such men have been checked by the recollection of this just and holy requirement, that they should speak as God's oracles.
4. Further, the reference of this language may be enlarged so as to include all speech of Christian men. There is a sense in which he who is filled with the Spirit of Christ must needs speak, whenever he opens his lips, as the oracles of God; for his speech is sincere and true, wise, just, and kind.
II. THE HOLY AND BENEFICENT INTENTION OF CHRISTIAN SPEECH.
1. It should be a revelation from God—not, indeed, in the narrower and more proper meaning of that word, but in a sense justifiable and defensible. The oracle declares the mind and will of the Divinity. The Christian's speech brings the holy and gracious God near to those who listen and understand.
2. It should serve for the guidance of those to whom it is addressed. It may not be didactic in form, but substantially it possesses a directing virtue. Christian speech may, and constantly does, preserve men from error and from sin, and guide them into truth and righteousness. It is used to this end by the Spirit of wisdom and of grace, who not only influences the mind and heart of him who speaks, but also the conscience, affections, and will of those who hear - J.R.T.
1 Peter 4:12, 1 Peter 4:13 - Trials.
The word "trials" is one which is often upon the lips of persons who apparently give little heed to the spiritual meaning which is implied in it. People use the term as equivalent to "sufferings," "calamities," losing sight of the fact that it suggests great truths concerning our moral discipline and probation. In this passage the Apostle Peter, who was doubtless by Divine inspiration writing out of his own experience, expounds the Christian doctrine of earthly "trials."
I. THE PURPOSE FOR WHICH TRIALS ARE PERMITTED. To many minds the trials which befall the good and the bad alike seem hardly consistent with the benevolent character of God. But it is forgotten that the end of the Divine government is not to secure to all men the greatest possible amount of enjoyment, but to place every man in a position of moral discipline, to give him an opportunity to resist temptation, to cultivate virtuous habits, to live an obedient and submissive and truly religious life. Not as if God were indifferent to the issue of such probation; on the contrary, he watches its process with interest, and delights to see the gold purified in the furnace, the wheat winnowed from the chaff. The hearer of the Word is put upon his trial, and events prove whether he will hear or forbear. The believer in Christ is put upon his probation, and it is seen whether his faith is strong and his love sincere. Time tries all.
II. THE SPIRIT IN WHICH TRIALS ARE TO BE ENDURED BY THE CHRISTIAN. St. Peter shows us that the true Christian temper under trials is that which regards all such afflictions as participation in the Master's sufferings. He who is one with Christ finds his satisfaction in being "as his Master, his Lord." He does not ask to be exempt from the experiences Jesus submitted to pass through before him. And he is sustained and cheered to know that, even in the heated furnace, there is One with him whose form is as the Son of God. Here is the true remedy for human restlessness and for human discontent. What we share with Christ we may accept with submission and gratitude.
III. THE ISSUE TO WHICH TRIALS ARE TO TEND. We are not left without light upon the future. As our Lord himself', even in his humiliation and woe, saw of the travail of his soul, and was satisfied; so are his followers justified in anticipating, not merely deliverance, but exaltation. The glory of the triumphant Redeemer shall be revealed, and they who have shared his cross shall then with joy sit down with him upon his throne - J.R.T.
HOMILIES BY C. NEW
1 Peter 4:1-7 - The persecuted Christian reminded of the necessity of suffering for righteousness.
This passage is the most difficult in the entire Epistle. We can see a meaning in each of its sentences taken separately, but when we take them together their meaning, as a whole, is obscure. As far, however, as I can understand it, I would entitle the paragraph, The persecuted Christian reminded of the necessity of suffering for righteousness. Peter here states the fact that suffering for righteousness is no strange thing, but what Christians must reasonably look for.
I. CHRIST'S SUFFERING BIDS HIS PEOPLE BE READY TO SUFFER. The sufferings of our Lord alluded to here are not his substitutionary sufferings—they are referred to in the eighteenth verse; of them, to the world's last moment, it will be true, "I have trodden the wine-press alone, and of the people there was none with me." But there is another class of our Lord's sufferings in which his people can, and according to their likeness to him must, shape—the suffering he bore in the maintenance of holiness in an evil world; of this he could say, "The disciple is not above his Master." There is sometimes confusion in Christian minds, in finding that Christ is said to suffer for us, and yet that in many places we are called to suffer with him. Let us be clear on this point, we are "redeemed by the precious blood of Christ;" God requires nothing from us for our redemption, but, when thus redeemed, much of Christ's suffering becomes the pattern of ours; and of that he says, "He that taketh not up his cross and cometh after me cannot be my disciple."
1. Christ's experience would lead us to expect that holiness must suffer on earth. For three and thirty years he, the Embodiment of perfect love to God and man, lived and moved upon this earth, and what was the result? He was "despised and rejected of men;" the longer he lived, the more he wrought, the wider he was known, the wilder and louder and fiercer became the cry, "Away with him! Crucify him!" Goodness condemns wickedness when the lips say nothing; the very presence of a good man in an ungodly circle is a protest against evil. On one side at least there will always be enmity between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman; and the nearer his people approach conformity to their Lord's character, the more may they be sure of conformity to their Lord's death.
2. What Christ's sufferings have made possible to us should lead us to be willing to suffer for its attainment. Our Lord's sufferings had no other end than our sanctification, to secure God-likeness in us. How great a boon must this be, when it could be purchased at no less a price than what comes to mind, when we speak of our Lord as "the Man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief;" and for which he did not regard that Drice as too great to pay! And if we find, when we try to secure and maintain this great blessing, that it can only be done at much cost to ourselves, how impossible it is for us to shrink from it, when we remember the greater cost of this to him ] It were a solemn thing to refuse through cowardice to "fill up that which is behind of the sufferings of Christ."
3. The claims of Christ should lead us to resolve to suffer if need be for him. Where Christ's sacrifice is present to the mind, there is no room for self left; the "I" in us is destroyed; the blood of Christ, when rightly apprehended, not only blots out our sin, but also our self. We come now to the difficult part of this passage, but I think it brings before us this truth—
II. THE SUFFERING OF CHRIST'S PEOPLE NECESSARILY ARISES FROM THREE CAUSES.
1. Suffering through mortification of the flesh. It seems natural to suppose that when, having said, "Christ hath suffered in the flesh," the apostle goes on to say, "For he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin," he is still referring to Christ. But it cannot be so, for of him" who did no sin" it cannot be said that he hath "ceased from sin;" it must refer to us. Yet how can it be said of them whom he has called to arm themselves with the same suffering mind as Christ, that they have "ceased from sin"? I think we have here a parallel to what we read in Romans 6:6-11," Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him," etc. That contains a priceless truth, which we do not half realize. It speaks of a death in us, corresponding to our Lord's death; that this is to be the sublime result of his death—the death of sin in his people; and it is this which Peter here holds up to us, "He that hath suffered in the flesh [hath put to death the flesh], hath ceased from sin," etc. But that destroying the flesh is suffering, to take our natural desires and passions and nail them to the cross is crucifixion—a slow, lingering death, which involves unutterable pain till it is complete.
2. Suffering through difference from the world. "For the time past may suffice to have wrought the desire of the Gentiles," etc. We have here a true picture of the pagan character, and it is hardly possible for us to imagine the contrast which was manifest when such a one became converted to Christ. Glaring evils had to be renounced at once, lifelong associations had to be severed at a blow. That was the case here; and what was the result? They were evil spoken of, and that is where the suffering always comes in when we break with wrong associations. We shall be thought strange by others, and shall seem to be condemning them, assuming that we are better than they. And to be misjudged, misrepresented, reviled, is suffering; but, as Christians, there is no help for it, we must sever ourselves from what is worldly.
3. Suffering through, spiritual discipline. "For unto this end was the gospel preached even to the dead" etc. The word "dead" here must be taken to mean those who are dead whilst they live. But. even with that alteration, it is difficult to see clearly what the verse means. Now it is said that the construction of the Greek allows of the insertion of the word "although;" just as in a passage in Romans 6:17, which we never read without mentally inserting the word "although." If that be so, the meaning is evident: "For to this end was the gospel preached even to them who were dead in sins, than [although] they might be judged, condemned, persecuted, put to death according to men in the flesh, they might live according to God in the spirit." Spiritual life is God's end with us, let men do with us what they may. And the spiritual life is often developed by means of what men do to us. Every act of persecution is to be followed by a deeper peace, a holier purity, a higher power.
III. THE COMING END ASSISTS CHRIST'S PEOPLE TO BEAR SUFFERING IN A RIGHT SPIRIT. Looking at this superficially, some might think this a hard gospel; the follower of Christ is to arm himself with the expectation of suffering. But look what comes before, and what follows after this. What comes before? "Forasmuch as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh." What follows it? "The end of all things is at hand." This hard demand stands between the cross and the crown; that makes all the difference.
1. The coming end calls us to estimate reasonably the extent of the sneering. Read it as it is in the Revised Version. "Be ye therefore of sound mind." The apostle is here calling the persecuted to regard their sufferings reasonably, in connection with the fact that "the end of all things is at hand." The earth-trials of God's people are, after all, but the momentary cloud in the day of heavenly sunshine, which shall have no evening, of which now in Christ we have the dawn.
2. The coming end calls us to vigilance lest we lose the coming blessing. That "coming end" wilt be the beginning of the glorified life—that life in which what we have sown here we shall reap; that life in which we may have "an entrance ministered to us abundantly," or in which we may be "saved yet so as by fire." Beware lest under the pressure of temptation you conform to the world, you be ashamed of Jesus, you refuse your cross, and thereby lose your crown. Suffering there must be; look to the end, anticipate the glory which it begins, and against all that would rob you of the fullness of that glory, watch unto prayer - C.N.
1 Peter 4:8-11 - The persecuted Christian reminded of the help of brotherly love.
"Above nil things have fervent love among yourselves." You will remember how this expression, "above all things," corresponds with other Scripture. Paul says, "Now abideth faith, hope, love; but the greatest of these is love." "Now the end of the commandment is love unfeigned." James calls this "the royal law;" and our Lord himself says, "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." The introduction of this theme in addressing the persecuted Church is very natural. Next to the support of the sympathy and help of God in trial, is the grasp of a brother's hand of whose heart we are sure. Love sustains individual weakness; it unites the Church, and makes it impregnable to the common foe. This is one end of Church-fellowship; no life can be so strong as it might that stands alone, or, even if it would, alone it can do nothing (as it ought) to shelter the weakness of others. Strength comes with union, therefore let there be union. But the union is only a name, Church-fellowship is only a mockery, and its promise of strength a deception, unless it be the union and fellowship of sacred love.
I. THE DEMAND FOR FERVENT LOVE IN THE CHURCH. We sometimes excuse ourselves for not feeling as we should towards the brethren by saying we cannot make ourselves love. But that cannot be right, for our very text lays on us the responsibility of having fervent love, and everywhere it is the subject of command. What, then, can we do to this end? There are three duties we can fulfill which tend to it.
1. The cultivation of what would foster brotherly love. Love of the brethren springs from love to the Father. Natural love is born in us, spiritual love is not. That comes with the new birth, and is fostered and developed only by fellowship with God. Know God, dwell in God, love God, and the Scripture says brotherly love will be the result. Cherish love to God, and we shall find ourselves, without setting out to do it, loving those he loves for his sake.
2. Watchfulness against what would hinder brotherly love. If certain evils are allowed to spring up in a Church, farewell to a spirit of love then. One great danger of these evils is that they are subtle and dwell mostly out of sight. The Church as a Church, therefore, cannot deal with them; its safety depends on its individual members jealously watching their approach, and unsparingly destroying them at the moment of contact. A disputatious spirit is one of these evils. Some minds are never known to agree with anything; there is always something to criticize adversely everywhere. That spirit is contagious, and kills love. There is also a jealous spirit; half the troubles of Church-life are due to jealousy, which often has no ground but that of suspicion. There is a tale-bearing spirit. If you see a man or woman going from ear to ear with some mischief-making story, some gossip which tends to wound or discredit another, suspect that person's own character, regard him as an emissary of Satan. There is also a self assertive spirit which forgets the claims of others. We are all terribly apt to be overcome by that spirit, and love falls a speedy victim to it. Every spirit in the Church that is hostile to love we must destroy.
3. A refusal to be repulsed by a lack of love. An unloving Christian can only harm himself if others refuse to be influenced by him. There are two ways of treating such—either as he treats you, which makes two wrong-doers instead of one; or to refuse to be overcome of evil, and to overcome evil with good. It is impossible that fervent love can long widely exist in a community, unless there be a general individual determination, in the strength of God, first, not to provoke, then if provoked, not to "render evil for evil,… but contrariwise blessing."
II. THE MANIFESTATION OF CHRISTIAN LOVE.
1. It expresses itself in different ways. Love speaks evil of no man, and thinketh no evil. Love is the "advocate of the absent." Love gives; the homes of the persecuted were but slenderly stocked, they had often to endure the "spoiling of their goods;" but there was to be a place at the table and a room for the stranger who needed food and rest. Love speaks—not always, does not obtrude itself, but where there is an erring step or a listening ear, love speaks.
2. It is reciprocal. Each has his own gift, his own power of doing good; there is not a single member of Christ's Church who is to be receptive only; for every gift each receives from another there is another he can give. This is the law, "By love serve one another;" "Edifying one another in love;" "We being many are one body, and every one members one of another." All receiving, all bestowing, and doing both in love, that is God's ideal of the Church on earth.
3. It recognizes that it holds all as stewards for God. "As good stewards of the manifold grace of God." That raises our thoughts from the human to the Divine obligation; it calls us to the duty of love of the brethren, by reminding us of the claims of a higher love still. Sometimes our love to the brethren is not enough to constrain us to these tasks; self-love is strong within us, and sometimes our effort may be repulsed and our desire chilled by a cold response. It is unspeakably hard to get over the feeling, if one will not love he shall not be loved. But here is the antidote to that—the apostle says we are to exercise our gifts with a view to God; service we could not render to others for their own sakes we can render for him.
III. THE END OF CHRISTIAN LOVE IS THE GLORIFYING OF GOD THROUGH JESUS CHRIST. The possession and manifestation of Christian love glorifies God, and in so many ways.
1. In the manifestation of what most honors him amongst men. We think of 1 Corinthians 13:1-13. as the creed of the Church; it is the creed of the world, it is what the world believes in, what the world when it sees it recognizes as Divine. It cares nothing for our doctrines or systems; what it believes in is a manly, faithful loving-kindness; where that is it feels the power of God.