appeareth that all things are contained in this word love. This love is
a precious thing; our Savior saith, "By this shall all men know that ye
are my disciples, if ye shall love one another."

So Christ makes love His cognizance, His badge, His livery. Like as
every lord commonly gives a certain livery to his servants, whereby they
may be known that they pertain unto him; and so we say, yonder is this
lord's servants, because they wear his livery: so our Savior, who is the
Lord above all lords, would have His servants known by their liveries
and badge, which badge is love alone. Whosoever now is endued with love
and charity is His servant; him we may call Christ's servant; for love
is the token whereby you may know that such a servant pertaineth to
Christ; so that charity may be called the very livery of Christ. He that
hath charity is Christ's servant; he that hath not charity is the
servant of the devil. For as Christ's livery is love and charity, so the
devil's livery is hatred, malice and discord.

But I think the devil has a great many more servants than Christ has;
for there are a great many more in his livery than in Christ's livery;
there are but very few who are endued with Christ's livery; with love
and charity, gentleness and meekness of spirit; but there are a great
number that bear hatred and malice in their hearts, that are proud,
stout, and lofty; therefore the number of the devil's servants is
greater than the number of Christ's servants.

Now St. Paul shows how needful this love is. I speak not of carnal love,
which is only animal affection; but of this charitable love, which is so
necessary that when a man hath it, without all other things it will
suffice him. Again, if a man have all other things and lacketh that love
it will not help him, it is all vain and lost. St. Paul used it so: "Tho
I speak with tongues of men and angels, and yet had no love, I were even
as sounding brass, or as a tinkling cymbal. And tho I could prophesy and
understand all secrets and all knowledge; yet if I had faith, so that I
could move mountains out of their places, and yet had no love, I were
nothing. And tho I bestowed all my goods to feed the poor, and tho I
gave my body even that I were burned, and yet had no love, it profiteth
me nothing" (I Cor. xiii). These are godly gifts, yet St. Paul calls
them nothing when a man hath them without charity; which is a great
commendation, and shows the great need of love, insomu