rit of love is the same as
the spirit of wisdom; that if any man wishes to be truly wise and
prudent, his best way--I may say his only way--is to be loving and
charitable.

The experience of the apostles proves it. They were, I presume, the most
perfectly loving and charitable of men; they sacrificed all for the sake
of doing good; they counted not their own lives dear to them; they
endured--what did they not endure?--for the one object of doing good to
men; and--what is harder, still harder, for any human being, because it
requires not merely enthusiasm, but charity, they made themselves (St
Paul at least) all things to all men, if by any means they might save
some.

But were they wise in so doing? We may judge of a man's wisdom, my
friends, by his success. We English are very apt to do so. We like
practical men. We say--I will tell you what a man is, by what he can do.

Now, judged by that rule, surely the apostles' method of winning men by
love proved itself a wise method. What did the apostles do? They had
the most enormous practical success that men ever had. They, twelve poor
men, set out to convert mankind by loving them: and they succeeded.

Remember, moreover, that the text speaks of this Spirit of the Lord being
given to One who was to be a King, a Ruler, a Guide, and a Judge of men;
who was to exercise influence over men for their good. This prophecy was
fulfilled first in the King of kings, our Lord Jesus Christ: but it was
fulfilled also in His apostles, who were, in their own way and measure,
kings of men, exercising a vast influence over them. And how? By the
royal Spirit of love. In the apostles the Spirit of love and charity
proved Himself to be also the Spirit of wisdom and understanding. He
gave them such a converting, subduing, alluring power over men's hearts,
as no men have had, before or since. And He will prove Himself to have
the same power in us. Our own experience will be the same as the
apostles' experience.

I say this deliberately. The older we grow, the more we understand our
own lives and histories, the more we shall see that the spirit of wisdom
is the spirit of love; that the true way to gain influence over our
fellow-men, is to have charity towards them.

That is a hard lesson to learn; and those who learn it at all, generally
learn it late; almost--God forgive us--too late.

Our reason, if we would let the Spirit of God enlighten it, would teach
us this beforeh