mourn, you will mourn as those "who have no hope." 1 Thess. iv. 13.

In the true Christian faith, there is nothing that the believer may not hope for. He may pray, thy will, O God, be done." In his belief, when he considers the end God has in view, all is

right there is nothing to give pain to his soul.

Hope and faith abide together.

faith is there in the world,

But how much yea, even in

the professedly Christian church, which no one, not even the person who cherishes it, can hope for. St. Paul has a remarkable expression in one of his epistles, which it seems must throw some light on the deeply interesting subject before us. He says, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for." Heb. xi. 1. Whose faith did he refer to ? He undoubtedly referred to the faith which he himself cherished — the Christian faith; and consequently we say, the Christian faith is the substance of what the believer can hope for. But let us be careful here. By the Christian faith, we do not mean anything and everything which passes under that name; there is much corrupt doctrine which is known by the name of Christian doctrine, and is even called evangelical doctrine. We mean, by the term

faith, as employed by the apostle, pure Christian faith, without any admixture of error. It is the substance of things hoped for. Look, for instance, at the doctrine of endless misery, a doctrine which is professed by thousands in the Christian church. If you say to a brother Christian who professes that doctrine, "do you really believe in the doctrine of endless misery?" He replies in the affirmative. You inquire again, "do you really hope that that doctrine is true?" He starts back from you with astonishment. "Hope for it! (he says) do you think I am a devil?" He does not hope for it. His faith, unlike that of the Apostles, is the substance of things not hoped for. He believes in one thing and hopes for another. But the true Christian faith, in its total purity, embraces nothing which the pious and benevolent soul may not hope for. So much concerning hope: let us now turn to charity.

3d. Charity. Our description of charity shall be brief. It is sometimes supposed that charity is mere alms-giving. This is a restricted sense of the word. Charity, of course, embraces almsgiving; but alms-giving is, by no means, the whole of charity. Charity is benevolence—it is

love. In the New Testament, the word occurs only in the Epistles, and once in the Apocalypse; and in all these cases, it is a translation of the Greek word, which, in other places, is translated love. We are to understand charity, therefore, in the New Testament use of the word, as synonymous with love. When St. John says, "God is love, and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him," 1 John iv. 16, he refers to the same principle, called by St. Paul, charity; and we might say, "God is charity, and he that dwelleth in charity, dwelleth in God, and God in him;" or the text might be translated, “And now abideth faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love."

4th. We now come to the last, and the principal point in the discourse, viz., to show certain reasons why charity is to be regarded as greater than faith or hope. "And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity." We understand, by the declaration of the Apostle, that, in certain senses, charity is more important, more necessary; and that though a man may abound in hope, and may have all faith, so that he could even remove mountains, yet without charity, he would be nothing. There

are several reasons why charity should be regarded as greater than faith and hope.

First. It is greater, because it is the only Christian grace which completely fulfils the divine commandments. Neither faith, nor hope, great, good, and glorious, as they are,—can fulfil the divine command without love. Paul said to Timothy, "Now, the end of the commandment is charity." 1 Tim. i. 5. This is that grace at which the commandment aims, and without which, it cannot be fulfilled. Charity, or love, is the fufilling of the law. No truth is stated more clearly in the New Testament than this. "Love worketh no ill to his neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law." Rom. xiii. 10. Neither faith, or hope, is said to be the fulfilling of the law. "He that loveth another hath fulfilled the law." (verse 8.) So important is Christian love; so true is it, if a man lives in the full and constant exercise of this great and good principle, that he will violate no part of God's commands, that Paul uses the following language: "Thou shalt not commit adultery; Thou shalt not kill: Thou shalt not steal; Thou shalt not bear false witness; Thou shalt not covet; and if

there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." (verse 9.) So completely is the whole law fulfilled by the

exercise of love.

Let us turn for one moment to the two great commandments of the law. "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment." Matt. xxii, 36– 39. What is the fulfilling of this commandment? Love. The second commandment is like unto it: "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." The first commandment respects our duty to God, and the second respects our duty to man; and the second is like unto the first, because it is fulfilled by the exercise of love. Love, then, is the fulfilling of the divine command, and consequently is greater than faith or hope. It always seemed to me, that the parable of the good Samaritan was intended to show that mere profession of faith and hope, without love, did not qualify a man to gain the approbation of the Saviour. We know not that the events on which that parable was founded ever