pistle to the Corinthians, though
with a very significant difference in the order, which I shall have to
dwell upon presently.

The letter is interesting on another account. Remembering that it was
only a very short time since these Thessalonians had turned from idols
to serve the living God, there is something very beautiful in the
overflowing generosity of commendation, which never goes beyond
veracity, with which he salutes them. Their Christian character, like
seeds sown in some favoured tropical land, had sprung up swiftly; yet
not with the dangerous kind of swiftness which presages decay of the
growth. It was only a few days since they had been grovelling before
idols, but now he can speak of 'your work of faith, and labour of love,
and patience of hope' . . . and declare that the Gospel 'sounded out' from
them--the word which he employs is that which is technically used for
the blast of a trumpet--'so that we need not to speak anything.' Rapid
growth is possible for us all, and is not always superficial.

I desire now to consider that pair of triads--the three
foundation-stones, and the three views of the fair building that is
reared upon them.

I. The three foundation-stones.

That is a natural metaphor to use, but it is not quite correct, for
these three--faith, love, hope--are not to be conceived of as lying side
by side. Rather than three foundations we have three courses of the
building here; the lowest one, faith; the next one, love; and the top
one, hope. The order in 1 Corinthians is different, 'faith, hope,
charity,' and the alteration in the sequence is suggested by the
difference of purpose. The Apostle intended in 1 Corinthians to dwell at
some length thereafter on 'charity,' or 'love.' So he puts it last to
make the link of connection with what he is going to say. But here he is
dealing with the order of production, the natural order in which these
three evolve themselves. And his thought is that they are like the
shoots that successive springs bring upon the bough of a tree, where
each year has its own growth, and the summit of last year's becomes the
basis of next. Thus we have, first, faith; then, shooting from that,
love; and then, sustained by both, hope. Now let us look at that order.

It is a well-worn commonplace, which you may think it not needful for me
to dwell upon here, that in the Christian theory, both of salvation and
of morals, the basis of everything is trust. And that is no ar