know what Christ is like? What his character
is—what his way of dealing with your soul,
and all souls, is? Are you accustomed to speak
to him in your prayers as to one who can and will
hear you; and do you know his voice when he speaks
to you, and puts into your heart good desires, and
longings after what is right and true, and fair and
noble, and loving and patient, as he himself is?
Do you know Christ?
Alas! my friends, what a poor answer we can make to
that question? How little do we know Christ?
What would become of us, if he were like us?—If
he were one who bargained with us, and said—’Unless
you know me, I will not take the trouble to know you.
Unless you care for me, you cannot expect me to care
for you.’ What would become of us, if God
said, ’As you do to me, so will I do to you?’
But our only hope lies in this, that in Christ the
Lord is no spirit of bargaining, no pride, no spite,
no rendering evil for evil. In this is our hope;
that he is the likeness of his Father’s glory,
and the express image of his person; perfect as his
Father is perfect; that like his Father, he causeth
his rain to fall on the evil and the good; and his
sun to shine on the just and on the unjust; and is
good to the unthankful and the evil—to
you and me—and knows us, though we know
him not; and cares for us, though we care not for him;
and leads us his way, like a good shepherd, when we
fancy in our conceit that we are going in our own
way. This is our hope, that his love is greater
than our stupidity; that he will not tire of us, and
our fancies, and our self-will, and our laziness,
in spite of all our peevish tempers, and our mean
and fruitless suspicions of his goodness. No!
He will not tire of us, but will seek us, and save
us when we go astray. And some day, somewhere,
somehow, he will open our eyes, and let us see him
as he is, and thank him as he deserves. Some
day, when the veil is taken off our eyes, we shall
see like those disciples at Emmaus, that Jesus has
been walking with us, and breaking our bread for us,
and blessing us, all our lives long; and that when
our hearts burned within us at noble thoughts, and
stories of noble and righteous men and women, and
at the hope that some day good would conquer evil,
and heaven come down on earth, then—so we
shall find—God had been dwelling among men
all along—even Jesus, who was dead, and
is alive for evermore, and has the keys of death and
hell, and knows his sheep in this world, and in all
worlds, past, present, and to come, and leads them,
and will lead them for ever, and none can pluck them
out of his hand. Amen.
1 John iv. 16-18.
We have known and believed the love that God hath
to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in
love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein
is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness
in the day of judgment; because as he is, so are we
in this world. There is no fear in love but
perfect love casteth out fear; because fear hath torment.
He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
