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v. 10. P erfe ct is come. Not when we come to it b u t when it comes to us. — Stanley. v. 13. F a ith , hope, love. No man can conquer th e world except by faith (' I Jno. 5 :5 ) and no man can resemble God b u t by love.— Robertson. Love is th e present life of religion. This is ac companied by hope’s assurance of the future. Love and hope combine w ith faith in th e one harmonious whole which we designate the Christian life.— Luth- ard t. F aith tru sts and appropriates, hope expects, b u t love expresses Christ and blesses men.—-Sum Bible. G reat est is love. G reatest because th e inner most expression of th e tru e relation to God. P aul seems to be on th e brink of John ’s g reat declaration, “God is love” (I Jno. 4 :8 .)— Camb. Bible. The th ree prim itive colors are unified in th e white beam of light. The two la tte r come out of th e form er and w ithout it they are naught and it w ithout them is dead. F aith breeds hope and hope is th e par en t of love.—Maclaren. Love is th e ful filling of th e law. All other graces, all divine dispensations contribute to it and are le st in it as in heaven.—Hooker. Divine love is a sacred flower which in its early bud is happiness and in its full bloom is heaven.— Hervey. Love is the fru it of th e Holy Spirit dwelling in us (Gal. 5 :2 2 ). To have love we must have Him. To receive Him we must be born again. Love cannot be work ed up. It only grows out.— Pierson. Subject Illu stration s A g reat preacher was once heard to say, “ I would ra th e r be th e au tho r of a widely used hymn like ‘Ju s t as I am w ithout one plea,’ th a n to be th e great est preacher in 'th e LESSON world.” If th is is ILLUSTRATIONS tru e of the hymn, W. H. P ik e how much g reater would be the privi lege of being th e w riter of an inspired epistle like th is of P au l’s. One verse of inspiration is worth libraries of man-made thoughts. A preacher gave out for his text these words: “This is a faith fu l saying, and worthy of all acceptation, th a t Christ
love, we will be so occupied w ith th e ex cellencies of others th a t th e re will be no room for though t of being inflated over our own.— Torrey. v. 5. Behave unseemly. Does noth ing indecorous, out of place or time, b i t behaves toward all men w ith cour tesy and good w ill.-r-Henry. Thinketh no evil. When love is th in , we can see fau lts thick in others.— Sel. We are never to condone erro r nor ignore th e wrong. This would be doing violence to a God-given sense of right. Love sees th e wrong bu t sees it in th e most charitable light. It puts th e best con struction on th e acts of others and is ever ready to make allowances for the short-com ings and failures.— Sel. T rue love, like the eye, can bear no flaw.— Lavater. Keeps no account' of evil act ually done or said. Does not assume, suppose, infer or expect evil as a factor .in reckoning or judging of men in con duct.— Critical Notes. v. 6. Bejoiceth in th e tru th . L iter ally, “Love stands by th e side of (has fellowship w ith) tru th .“ If it were to rejoice in unrighteousness it would stand ap a rt from the tru th even in its joy.— Foster. v. 7. B eareth all things. L iterally, “ covereth all things,” same word used 'in Mk. 2:4 (uncovered the roo f). Love does not uncover bu t roofs over.— Tract. E ndu reth . In th e New Testa m ent always means more th an merely “ subm itting to ,” even if silently. Means “ pressing on and bearing up.”— Lynch. Hopeth all. Love can hope where rea son would despair.— L ittleton. v. 8. Love never faileth . All exter nal directions and legislation m ust fail somewhere. The one perfect legislator is a fully enlightened love. No case can arise so unexpectedly or so completely w ithout precedent b u t th a t a healthy h ea rt filled w ith th a t love which is the grace of th e Spirit would be equal to giving directions. Love will keep the moral sense active, the touch sensitive. W hat does Love say? W hat would In carn ate Love have done? W h at would God’s love do ? A law for every occa sion, which will not be far from the m ark, will not be hard, by th a t test, to discover. Love never faileth.-^-Homi lies. v. 9. We know ln r p art. Here is tru e Christian agnosticism , the recogni tion of present, lim itations combined w ith confidence in th e coming of full tru th .— Parry.
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