A RELIGION OF LOVE. 889 without which faith is dead, and works are vain. It is that heavenly sentiment, the love of God in Christ shed abroad in the heart, without which he that liveth is counted dead ; that principle, without which the gift of prophecy, of mysteries, and all knowledge were un- availing; without which, giving all the goods to the poor, and even the body to be burned, will not profit ; it is that in- destructible attribute, which, when pro- phecies shall fail, and tongues shall cease, and knowledge vanish away, will never fail ; it is that perfect thing which shall subsist when " that which is in part shall be done away." Love will survive when faith shall become sight, and hope shall be fruition. It shall constitute our hap- piness when we shall know God, " even as we are known." We shall possess it in its plenitude, when we shall awake up after His likeness. For love, like every other holy disposition, is but an emana- tion of the perfections of God, a spark s3
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=