Consider the
infinite degree of that love. Without love for humanity John the Baptist
would not have offered his life. It has been likewise with all the
prophets and holy souls. If His Holiness the Bab had not manifested love
for mankind, surely he would not have offered his breast for a thousand
bullets. If His Holiness Baha'u'llah had not been aflame with love for
humanity he would not have willingly accepted forty years' imprisonment.

Observe how rarely human souls sacrifice their pleasure or comfort for
others; how improbable that a man would offer his eye or suffer himself to
be dismembered for the benefit of another. Yet all the divine
Manifestations suffered, offered their lives and blood, sacrificed their
existence, comfort and all they possessed for the sake of mankind.
Therefore consider how much they love. Were it not for their love for
humanity, spiritual love would be mere nomenclature. Were it not for their
illumination, human souls would not be radiant. How effective is their
love! This is a sign of the love of God; a ray of the Sun of Reality.

Therefore we must give praise unto God, for it is the light of His bounty
which has shone upon us through His love which is everlasting. His divine
Manifestations have offered their lives through love for us. Consider then
what the love of God means. Were it not for the love of God all the
spirits would be inanimate. The meaning of this is not physical death;
nay, rather, it is that condition concerning which His Holiness Christ
declared, "Let the dead bury their dead, for that which is born of the
flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit." Were it
not for the love of God the hearts would not be illumined. Were it not for
the love of God the pathway of the Kingdom would not be opened. Were it
not for the love of God the holy books would not have been revealed. Were
it not for the love of God the divine prophets would not have been sent to
the world. The foundation of all these bestowals is the love of God.
Therefore in the human world there is no greater power than the love of
God. It is the love of God which has brought us together here tonight. It
is the love of God which is affiliating the East and the West. It is the
love of God which has resuscitated the world. Now we must offer thanks to
God that such a great bestowal and effulgence has been revealed to us.

We come to another aspect of our subject--Are the workings and effects of
lov