me, so
transcendent, so unearthly is love, that its presence is significant of
the handiwork of God, as the fire that burned in the bush indicated
that the "I AM" was there.

Love is a supreme test, not only of the Church, but of the individual.
It has been the mistake of every age to make faith rather than love the
test of Christianity. "Tell me how much a man believes, and I shall
know how good a Christian he is!" The whole endeavor of the mediaeval
Church was to reduce the followers of Christ to a uniformity of belief.
And in our own time, a man is permitted by consent to be grasping after
money, imperious in temper, uncharitable in speech, without losing
position in the Church, so long as he assents to all the clauses of an
orthodox creed.

With Christ, however, love is all-important. A man may have faith
enough to remove mountains, but if he have not love, he is nothing, and
lighter than vanity in the estimation of heaven. Faith ranks with hope
and love, but it is destined to pass as the blossoms of spring before
the fruit of autumn, whilst love shall abide forevermore. A man may
have a very inadequate creed; like the woman of old, he may think there
is virtue in a garment, or a rite; like Thomas, he may find it
impossible to attain to the exuberant confidence of his brethren; but
if he loves Christ enough to be prepared to die for Him, if through the
narrow aperture of a very limited faith, love enough has entered his
soul from the source of love, Christ will entrust him with the tending
of His sheep and lambs, and call him into the secret place. Of course,
the more full-orbed and intelligent our faith, the quicker and intenser
will be our love. But faith, after all, is but the hand that takes,
whilst love is the fellowship of kindred hearts that flash each on the
other the enkindling gleam.

If you do not love, though you count yourself illumined with the light
of perfect knowledge, you are in the dark. "He that hateth his brother
is in the darkness, even until now."

If you do not love, you are dead. "He that loveth not, abideth in
death." The light sparkle of intellectual or emotional life may light
up your words, and fascinate your immediate circle of friends, but
there will be no life toward God. Love is the perfect tense of live.
Whoso does not love does not live, in the deepest sense. There are
capacities for richer existence that never unfold until love stands at
the portal and sounds his