THE first public intimation that all was not well with Sydney Black appeared in the month of November, 1902, when the readers of the little monthly paper issued from Twynholm Hall were advised that he was dangerously ill. He had been present at an Officers' Meeting on Wednesday, 5th November, and on reaching home had complained of severe pain. His indisposition increased in severity until it was apparent to his relatives that the illness was likely to be a prolonged one. The news of his affliction came as a great surprise and grief to many who had not discerned the signs of waning strength. He had appeared so strong and robust that it seemed impossible that anything serious could trouble him; but to those who knew him intimately it had been a matter for wonder that he had been able for so long to maintain the strain of his exacting and exciting life. The illness proved to be that distressing, and nearly always fatal ailment, Bright's disease. For years it had been slowly and insidiously working upon his splendid frame, until it was too late to check its ravages. The causes were only too obvious. Long hours without proper meals, due to no neglect on the part of those who loved him, but to his own temperament, which made him too impatient to delay his work for necessary food. Oftentimes he would return home at 11 o'clock at night, exhausted, wet through, and having had no suitable food since breakfast.

His work as a preacher of the Gospel was in itself a great strain, for he never spared himself, but preached as if the eternal future of every one of his hearers depended on the words he uttered. To do this for twenty years, not twice in each week, but often ten or more times; to preach, as he did, with passion and vehemence; living himself in every sentence, feeling intensely every thought, pouring himself out in white-hot words; pleading, persuading, rebuking, denouncing; all this was to make demands upon the nerves and brain and body, which the strongest constitution could alone sustain, and that only for a time. Little wonder that the fiery soul fretted the body to decay.

The months passed sadly while hope alternated with fear. Now, he was a little better and was planning new work, to be undertaken as soon as he could be about again; later, the illness had taken an unfavourable turn, and anxiety was visible on the faces of his friends. Amidst it all, he maintained the utmost Christian fortitude and resignation, and even found strength to address letters of hope and encouragement to the Church at Twynholm and to individual members. Here is a letter written to the Church, and read at the morning meeting on 28th December, 1902:

BELOVED IN THE LORD,

May grace, mercy and peace be abundantly realised by each of you throughout the services of the last Lord's Day of this waning year! May it, indeed, be with all of you, as it is with the writer, a season of faithful heart-searching and self examination; and above all, may there be all round much intense reconsecration to the life and service of our Blessed Lord and Master, Amen and Amen!

I have greatly desired, in my bonds and afflication, to write to you for some weeks past; but have purposely deferred the opportunity in the hope of finding myself in a position to write both definitely and favourably as to my physical condition, and the prospect of a return to my much loved work in the midst of my brethren, and amongst the poor perishing masses of our fellow men, outside the fold of the Good Shepherd.

With much sorrow, yet at the same time completely trusting in the wisdom and goodness of my Heavenly Father, I have to report to you that I am not able, as I had fondly desired, to write either fully or favourably. During the last few days fresh developments have manifested themselves in my condition, and I have been so very weak as to be quite unable either to write or study for more than a few minutes at a time.

I desire specially to thank all those brethren who have forwarded such constant and affectionate messages, both written and verbal, during these long weeks of confinement; as also those who have so graciously ministered to my encouragement by their timely and helpful visits. May heaven's richest benediction rest upon them all!

Bear up your afflicted brother at the Blood-stained Mercy Seat! Remember my thoughts and aspirations are with you around the Lord's Table on this bright resurrection morning. I have been immensely cheered to learn of the spontaneous and whole-souled manner in which several brethren and sisters have risen to the occasion, by coming forward and offering to 'be anything' or to 'do anything,' if so be that the glorious work we have in hand may be helped forward.

Farewell, beloved fellow-citizens of Christ's Kingdom - just for the present!

'In holy duties let the day,
In holy pleasures pass away,
How sweet a Lord's Day thus to spend
In hope of one that ne'er shall end.'

With warmest Christian affection and every good wish for the New Year,

Your afflicted Evangelist and fellow-labourer in Gospel Bonds,

SYDNEY BLACK

This letter is typical of several addressed by him to the Church during the last months of his life. Each of them expressed the same brave spirit of hopefulness with a quiet submission to the Divine will. At times the desire to be at work would make him impatient, for it was not easy for him to be still.

In the Spring of 1903 he was removed to Ventnor under the devoted care of his mother, and, for a time, it seemed as if the change had effected an improvement in his condition. Bournemouth was tried next, and hopes were further quickened by what appeared to be marked signs of returning strength, so much so that in July it was decided to try what a course of treatment at Matlock would do. A few weeks passed, during which it began to be increasingly evident that the favourable signs upon which so much hope had been based, were only the brightening flame which springs up before the light dies out. Late in August it was necessary to remove Mr. Black to his home in London, while he still had strength to travel. During the remaining weeks everything that love could do was done for him, and every attention was repaid a hundredfold by his gratitude and affection. His courage never wavered, nor did his belief in the Divine Wisdom ever falter. His cousin who visited him in July, when it was plain that his condition was most serious, wrote of "his bright, cheerful and intrepid spirit" as being "a revelation of the depth and breadth of his soul," and in the same letter she quotes the words of her husband:

"I do not see how the most sceptical could have any other feeling for the Christian religion than one of re-awakened interest, upon seeing the consolation brought by it to this sincere professor of its truths as shown in his calm and courageous bearing. No anxiety or fear, nothing but serenity and unquestioning acceptance of God's will."

His sister, Mrs. C.W. Batten, who was constant in her attendance and untiring in her devotion, speaks of an occasion when, to use her own words:

"I made a remark as to the strangeness of the Lord's dealing with him, while others, whose lives seemed useless both to themselves and everyone else, were spared to pursue their evil ways. He checked me at once, and with his perfect confidence and resignation, as at all times, told me never to doubt the working of an ever-loving Father; that He always acted for the best, and that he could trust Him absolutely whatever happened. His confidence and trust in his heavenly Father were ever perfectly maintained right to the end.

"He was always with him - 'Too wise to err, to good to be unkind.'

"During all his dreadful suffering and pain, his perfect resignation to His Father's will was a lesson which I think was deeply impressed upon all those who loved him and were privileged to come in contact with him."

On Thursday evening, 22nd October, 1903, at the age of 43, he passed away, after weeks of great suffering, borne with heroic fortitude. The news of his passing was sent out in terms which he himself would have approved: "Promoted to higher service."

The sense of loss which the Churches of Christ in this country experienced, found instant expression in the hundreds of letters which the bereaved family received, and were a remarkable testimony to the influence Sydney Black had exerted and the affection with which he was regarded by his brethren. To meet the universal desire of the community, amongst, and for whom, his chief work had been done, the parents consented that opportunity should be given to all who desired to do so to view their departed friend and comrade, and his body was removed to Twynholm Hall. Thousands of all sorts and conditions of people passed through the Hall, most of them showing unmistakable signs of grief and regard for their true friend.

The last discourse preached by Mr. Black was on the passage in Romans viii. 38-39, "For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord," and this text, with its confident ring of assured victory, found a prominent and fitting place in the funeral arrangements.

The interment took place in Fulham Cemetery on 27th October. It is surely one of the most unlovely of all London's burying grounds, surrounded as it is on all sides by dwelling-houses. The noise of the traffic and of the street cries falls harshly upon the ear. Row after row of gravestones stand in a desolating order, which hurts one to look upon. The foliage is very scant, and there is little to lift the heart or to soften grief. Yet this Acre of God was the most suitable resting-place for Sydney Black. It was the cemetery of the poor; it was here that so many were lying who had known him and whose last hours he had comforted; it was within sight of Twynholm Hall and the scenes of his ten strenuous years of self-denying labour. So to this place he was borne by young men, some of whom owed to him their knowledge of the Higher Life, and had been helped by him in their desire to play the man. Thousands of people, sad, sympathetic and orderly, lined the streets or stood around the open grave. The words of the Fulham Chronicle fittingly described the service and the scene:

Hope was the keynote of all that was said, and the solace for all that was done, and it found outward expression in complete simplicity. There was no pomp, and only so much visible grief as must still remain with bereaved men and women after the religion of the future life has done its best to comfort. It was a people's funeral - hardly more from the undertaker's point of view than an artisan's - and those who followed it were for the most part drawn from the ranks of the poor. One might venture to say that it was the sort of funeral, for these reasons, that Sydney Black would have wished.

The funeral service in Twynholm Hall was conducted by his aged and greatly loved friend, Mr. James Leavesley, of Leicester, who expressed, in simple and suitable words, the feeling of those present. The grand old hymn "Rock of Ages," a favourite of Sydney Black's, was sung, and many eyes were dimmed with tears.

At the graveside, Mr. George Collin, of Carlisle (who has since joined his friend in the heavenly land), spoke to the throng of people of the value, influence and example of the life of the departed preacher; ending his address on the note of victory. It was a memorable occasion and the speech was worthy of the subject and of the speaker.

On the Sunday following, the Fulham Town Hall was crowded by an attentive audience at a Memorial Service, addressed by Mr. Bartley Ellis, of Wigan, a friend who had know Mr. Black from his infancy. After an eloquent sermon on I. Corinthians xv. 54-57, Mr. Ellis spoke of his friend's work in the district, and concluded by pointing out the supreme value of early decision for Christ, and urged all to imitate Sydney Black in his devotion to his Lord and in his self-sacrifice for civic and social righteousness.

The foregoing is but a bare statement of services which were solemnly impressive, attended as they were by thousands of people, nearly all of whom had known Sydney Black, and of whom, many had reason to thank God for his life and service. The poor predominated, for he was their friend, but there were also present representatives of all shades of life and opinion - The Mayor of Fulham, Members of Parliament, notable amongst whom was the present Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Right Hon. D. Lloyd George, who had known and greatly esteemed Mr. Black; Guardians, Colleagues on the School Board, Members of the Borough and Free Church Councils, School Teachers, even Clergymen of the Established Church. All differences forgotten, all anxious to show by their presence and sympathy, their regard and admiration for Sydney Black's noble character, his consistent life, and his lofty ideals. The Churches of Christ throughout the country were represented by many of their best known members. It was the passing of an hero; and though there was the sense of loss, and many grieved that so useful a life should have been ended so early; yet there prevailed a feeling of solemn joy, through the consciousness that he had not laboured in vain, but that his influence would survive in homes brightened, sufferings relieved, and lives uplifted by his work.

In 1905, a Monument was erected in the Cemetery which bears the following inscription:

"This stone is erected in loving memory of Sydney Black, of Twynholm House, Fulham Cross, who was promoted to higher service on 22nd October, 1903, in his 44th year. Much esteemed as a citizen, greatly beloved as a son and brother, highly revered as a Christian teacher.

"During his brief but noble life his exceptional gifts were consecrated to the service of God and the elevation of his fellow men; but his supreme delight was to preach the Gospel and win souls for Christ and His service. In the many abiding results of his labour, he being dead yet speaketh."

Two years after the death of his son, Robert Black, the father, entered into his rest, to be followed a year later by his wife. The parents and their son lie in the same grave.

Eight years have passed since Sydney Black's earthly activities closed, and one is better able to reach a just conclusion as to the value of his work and influence than when the sense of loss was too immediate. It is not easy for any one to say all that could be said of any personality, since character presents itself so differently to each of us, but the endeavour to assess the worth of such a man as the subject of this brief biography, is rendered comparatively simple by his dominant characteristics of thoroughness, fearlessness, consistency, and his invincible belief in the power of God through His word and by His Spirit. His thoroughness was apparent in matters of organisation, for he was a master of detail; everything was foreseen and provided for. The same quality was evident also in his speaking, and those who listened to his Gospel addresses could not fail to be impressed by the manner with which his subject possessed him. He would lose himself completely in his message, carried along in a flood tide of eloquence. This quality made for an unconscious exaggeration in speech and methods, and it was easy for those who were hypercritical to discover faults, but by those in earnest this was overlooked, because everything was so real to him. Everything he did was informed with the same spirit. In singing his voice would be heard above the rest, and he would live in every word of the hymn. A lady said to the writer recently, that she once heard Mr. Black join in singing the well-known words:

"Escape thou for thy life;
Tarry not in all the plain,"

The impression made upon her by his earnestness was such, that she felt that at all costs she must turn and flee, the danger seemed so near. It was this intensity of absorption in his message, this power of convincing others that made him so successful in Gospel proclamation.

He was as fearless as he was thorough. His Mission work brought him into contact with a phase of life which made it as much a part of Christian charity to rebuke and admonish as to help and encourage. In this, oftentimes difficult, task he did not fear to speak the truth, always in love, and in doing so was frequently misjudged. In other ways this quality was seen, for instance, when as a member of the School Board, disregarding the possible scorn of his opponents, and the almost certain laughter and sneers of the Press, he moved his resolution to censure the Duke of Devonshire. As a lad he made a stand for right, when he refused to join in a gambling raffle, promoted by the firm who servant he was, and as a consequence had to leave. A second situation was given up after one day's service, because those in authority were addicted to the stupid vice of swearing at their employees. In each case the young lad told his masters why he was leaving. This quality led him to despise the spirit of compromise, even where compromise would have been neither unwise nor unfaithful. A thing was either right or wrong, and he could never be brought to see that, at times, in a choice of two roads to a good end, both ways might be possible. He was quite devoid of diplomacy, and occasionally thwarted his purpose by his outspoken manner. It was literally true of him that he feared nothing, but grieving the Master whom he loved and served.

His consistency was as remarkable as his other qualities. "This one thing I do" was his motto in life; the one thing, being to serve his God with heart and soul and strength. Preaching the glorious message of salvation to sinful men and women, and applying the principles of the redeemed life in every practical way he could devise, was the course he followed throughout the twenty years of his public life. He did not divorce the spiritual from the social and the civic, nor keep his Christianity in a watertight compartment, but believed that Christ should rule in the political and the civic realms through His Spirit; and as His servant, Sydney Black brought to the throbbing problems and questions of the day, the same faith and enthusiasm that he gave to his distinctly religious labours; applying the principles of Primitive Christianity in his care for the children, in his work as Guardian and as Member of the School Board. In all things with him it was Christ first. He could have lived an easy, pleasant, self-indulgent life, for means and opportunity were within his grasp; or could have taken a place in the world of politics, and would have won a national fame by sheer force of energy, will and character, but he remained constant to his early ideal, and chose the better part that could not be taken away. He elected to live for God, and spared himself nothing if by any means he might win men for His Master. He took few holidays, regarding them as a hindrance to his work; and when from home, a large part of his time was taken up in planning new labours, in writing to those he was anxious to help, or in thinking out new addresses; all the time stedfastly keeping before him the work of his life. A favourite saying of his was, "Let us crowd into life's little day all the good we can," and his life was a constant and consistent exemplification of the words.

Sydney Black's grasp of Scripture truth was another striking characteristic, and along with it, and because of it, his faith in the Word, the Providence and the Promises of God was unshaken and invincible. He had read much, and was quite conversant with modern religious thought and criticism, but it had no power to unsettle his belief in the testimony concerning the Christ, in the power of His sacrifice, and the reality of His resurrection. He took the Acts of the Apostles as the guide for the Church in matters relating to order and organisation, and was inclined to be impatient with those who could not see the Truth as he saw it. To doubt with him was almost to sin. The way of the Lord was so plain that the wayfarer could scarcely fail to discover the road; if he did so, it was because of the blindness of his eyes or the hardness of his heart. So at least it seemed to this consecrated preacher and servant of God. Yet though he held strongly to his beliefs, he was always courteous to those from whom he differed, and willing to co-operate with them in any effort to alleviate the sorrows or to remove the disabilities of the people. He was a thorough optimist, not in any merely sentimental sense, for he knew, as few men, the evil that abounds; but his confidence that Truth must finally triumph was never shaken, no matter how strongly entrenched the forces of unrighteousness seemed to be. To slightly alter the words of Robert Browning: "He at least believed in soul, and was very sure of God."

The last words very truly express the whole secret of the success which attended the work of Sydney Black. He was very sure of God.

He was charged with egotism by those whose chief activity in life seems to be to spend their time in criticising the work and labours of those more earnest and enthusiastic than themselves; but no man ever attempted a great work for God without being exposed to taunts and misunderstandings. Sydney Black was no exception. He went too fast for some, was too extreme for others, too extravagant in his speech for those who prefer to take their religion sedately. Yet of all men he was the least egotistic. A sentence from a letter written just before he began his work in London exactly expressed his mind: "God has planted within my heart an undying resolve to live, labour and die if needs be, in the service of the people of this great city." "God has planted." In that phrase is the secret of his apparent egotism. He regarded himself as called of God, a servant upon whom the burden of souls was laid by his Lord. What right, therefore, had any one to criticise the work, since the worker had the approval of his conscience and the consciousness of the Divine guidance?

He resented criticism if his critics were themselves doing little, if anything, for his Lord, but none who truly co-operated with him ever received anything but the most loving consideration for any suggestion they might make. He did not often ask for counsel, for he believed, as he half humorously said, "in a Committee of one," and was impatient with those who must first discuss a scheme in solemn conclave before attempting it. To him it was too much like "fiddling while Rome was burning." He could not be said to "suffer fools gladly," but no one could be more tender, more truly sympathetic than he when the sorrowing sought comfort, the distressed needed relief, or the sinful cried out for pardon. With regard to his extravagance of speech, the adjectives were often many and big. But what of that? They were part of his temperament, of his large-hearted endowment of mind and heart, and there were always greater nouns behind the adjectives. Redemption, Grace, Holiness, Life, Love, were his themes, and no adjectives were big enough for him when he set out to speak of the glorious love of God.

His influence upon the Churches of Christ in this country was very marked. He was greatly beloved by the brethren, as much for the charm of his personality as for his powers as a preacher. He loved them for Christ's sake and knew no distinction of rich and poor; he was as glad to be in the home of the poor as in the mansion of the well-to-do. His greeting of each was equally warm and cordial and was entirely free from condescension or patronage. As a guest he was delightful, his cheery face, his warm hand-shake, his hearty infectious laughter made his coming an event to be remembered in many a home. As a preacher of the Gospel he brought about a decided change of view amongst the Churches. For many years the preaching which prevailed had been concerned with the doctrinal presentation of Truth and especially of certain phases, almost to the exclusion of evangelical truth as to sin and salvation.

The desire was to emphasise the need for the restoration of Primitive Christianity, to plead for a return to the Apostolic simplicity and spirit; to find the basis of Christian unity in the teaching of the Word of God; and in this connection to call attention to the importance and place of Baptism in the Divine plan. This was a necessary and God-honouring work, and no one emphasised this phase of truth more than Sydney Black, but in addition, he urged upon the Churches the duty of appealing to sinful men to come to Jesus, on the ground of His love, His passion, and of their own great need. Mr. Black's view was that if men could thus be won for Christ, they would readily follow in the way of repentance, to witness an obedient and good confession in the Divinely appointed ordinance of Believers' Immersion. He pleaded with the Churches to put first things first. Instead of antagonising the religious opinions of the various denominations, he would have the Churches present a positive Gospel afire with the spirit of divine love. In his own words: "To dispel the darkness by showing the light." It may be that he put this view with something of crudity and over emphasis, but with such effect, that, as time went on, a gradual change took place in the form and manner in which the message of Salvation was presented; so that while not abating a whit of the insistence upon the foundation truths upon which the Churches are built, there is today a more truly evangelical note of urgency, of personal pleading, and a more constant uplifting of the Saviour of the World. In other words, while faithful to the testimony of the Apostles, the Churches have been led to a clearer study of the Gospels.

The esteem in which Sydney Black was held by his brethren is fittingly shown in the resolution which was passed at the Annual Conference held at Wigan in the year following his death. It was as follows:

That the brethren in Conference assembled desire to place on record their profound sense of loss sustained by the Churches of Christ in the lamented death of our beloved brother Sydney Black. They also express their high appreciation of his rare talents, untiring zeal and consecrated life, all of which he so cheerfully and lovingly laid upon the Altar of service for the Master and for the good of humanity. Furthermore they gratefully acknowledge the grace of God manifested in the noble example which our brother has left behind him, and pray that it may be emulated by the young brethren amongst us.

This reference to the young brethren was specially appropriate, for Mr. Black's influence upon young men was quite remarkable. To them he was at once teacher, companion and friend. He won their respect and inspired their affection. Here is an extract from a letter received recently from one of his young men:

Together with a few other young men, it was my privilege to come into touch with Sydney Black during the most impressionable years of our lives, and his influence upon us will never pass away. We still think of him and speak of him in the most affectionate terms, for we owe more to him that we shall ever be able to tell. Our conceptions of Christian consecration and service are traceable to him. It was his inspiring personality, his contagious enthusiasm and his unselfish devotion that moved us. We love his memory.

He understood the nature of the temptations that beset young men. He invited their confidence, detected their weakness, and was ever ready with wise counsel and admonition to point them to the source of strength.

"God buries his workman, but his work goes on," and today the activities of the Fulham Cross Mission and of the Church of Christ meeting in Twynholm Hall are as vigorous as ever. Under the capable direction of Mr. Robert Wilson Black, aided by the consecrated service of his brother-in-law, Mr. Charles W. Batten, there has been no falling off in efficiency, and the needs of the people are still met by constant and unwearied devotion on the part of leaders and workers. The Church grows in numbers and in grace; the same Gospel story is proclaimed, not, perhaps, with the same characteristic emphasis, but with a zeal reflecting that which burned in its first Evangelist, of whose life this is the record. From the human standpoint it seemed a sad loss and waste of precious usefulness and influence that he should be called hence in the fulness of his powers, and when, ordinarily, life should be at its best, yet so it was, and we can but bow to the Divine decree. His influence abides, the memory of his consuming zeal for holiness, of his irresistible and contagious enthusiasm for the salvation of men, of his faithfulness to principle, and of his genial and winning personality will remain as an encouragement, an example and a joy.

Chapter VI
The Preacher

SYDNEY BLACK'S greatest gift was undoubtedly his power of influencing men and women for their eternal good by his preaching. It was preaching plus personality, for the same address in the speech of lesser men would probably have failed to move. Examining the few addresses which remain in print, one can readily perceive that the effect they produced was due more to the intense and soul-stirring emphasis with which they were delivered, than to the subject matter. That was always clear, usually presented so as to be understood by the lowliest intellect; but it was the pleading tone, the earnest persuasion, the, at times, overwhelming passion with which he would urge his hearers to come to Christ which moved them to surrender. One very marked feature of his sermons was his constant glorifying of the Son of God. He was at his best then, carried away to heights of spiritual ecstasy during which he would pour out his praise in magnificent and soul-stirring language, seldom equalled, and never surpassed, by his contemporaries. Occasionally there would be a descent into pathos, but it would pass unnoticed, or rarely diverted the mind of his hearers from the main object of his address.

There was also the natural exaggeration of fervid oratory, and a habit of repeating certain favourite phrases, which, to those who heard him frequently, was disconcerting. At times also the vehemence of his speaking, and its obvious strain upon himself, would affect his audience with a sense of physical distress; but when all this has been said, it still remains that he was a great preacher, and if the success of a preacher is to be measured by the number of those permanently influenced for Christ, then he was the greatest the community to which he religiously belonged has ever possessed. It was his constant endeavour to secure decisions for Christ. He never preached without expecting results, and he would count the effort lost if no one expressed a desire for the better way. He received many letters from those who were privileged to hear him, nearly all of them expressing sincere thanks for his message. This is one, typical of many others:

Having enjoyed the privilege of listening to your discourses at the Fulham Town Hall, I feel it to be a duty before leaving London to thank you for increased light. I am a member of the Established Church, but have never heard the Gospel so simply and clearly expounded before. ... I was much touched by seeing several rough fellows, who probably had never before entertained a thought of the state of their souls, paying the deepest attention while you expounded the 'Love of God.' I firmly believe you will reach men who would fly at the sight of a white cravat. May God, in whose strength you labour, preserve you and abundantly bless your efforts.

He never hesitated to speak of sin in most unsparing terms; to him it was not a tendency, nor a weakness in man, but rebellion against God, incited by the enemy of souls, who was as real to the preacher at times as if he were visibly present.

Here is a view of Sydney Black as a preacher, taken from an account of his mission in Glasgow in 1893:

When Sydney Black steps briskly to the front of the platform one realises at once that he is a man with a message, and we may add, who does not spare himself in its delivery. Every moment bespeaks energy. Of tall, commanding presence, he is a dark-haired, dark-bearded, pleasant-featured man, the picture of health and happiness.

His voice at first does not fall pleasantly on the ear, but as one becomes more accustomed to it this harshness is not noticeable. There is no difficulty in following him. Each heading in his subject is logically and lucidly enunciated, then when the truth he has been propounding is laid bare, his whole being bends to the task of driving it home.

One cannot but be impressed by his magnificent memory. He never speaks from notes. Scripture passages, either as rendered in the Revised or Authorised Version, are all quoted from memory. In this respect he is almost, if not quite, unique among our Evangelists. He has also a rich repertory of anecdote; poetry, sacred and secular; and quotations from standard authors, from which he liberally and effectively culls in the course of his addresses. Plainly he is an omnivorous reader, able to take a comprehensive and masterly grip of the social and the logical questions of the day.

The most striking characteristic, however, is his intense soul-stirring earnestness; and this Pauline zeal, combined with the talent to play deftly the whole gamut of human emotions, undoubtedly explains his success in winning souls for Christ.

His oratory is not merely the kind that pleases the ear, it deeply stirs the heart, because his pleading is the compassionate pleading of one touched by the magic spell of Christ's love for his brother man. He evidently realises that the Evangel of Christ is a 'savour of life into life or of death into death,' much too solemn a matter of speak of lightly. And yet while that is so, he is not without humour of a healthy, exhilarating quality.

In place of extracts from Sydney Black's addresses it has been thought more desirable to present one sermon of his, slightly abridged, which illustrates his powers of exposition and appeal. It will form a fitting conclusion to the book. It is upon the theme in which he delighted most, "The Love of God," and upon a text which has been the basis of all great evangelical appeal from time immemorial.

The Extreme Resource of Divine Philanthropy

Basis of sermon:

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life" (John iii. 16).

The ancient Greeks and Romans were constantly agitating themselves with the question, 'What is the summum bonum of our life?' or, 'What is the chief end of man?' Would to God that in this nineteenth century, and in this great big city of ours, we Christians were continually asking ourselves, 'What is our summum bonum, as redeemed men and women?' What is the outcome of all our efforts and all our machinery? What is the ideal conception of Christian desire and ambition? Amid all the trivialities of our terrestrial experience what is the pearl of great price to secure which we would part with all other pearls? What are the elements which will assuredly abide when we have done with this fleeting and fantastic world?

Our text is to answer these practical questions. Herein lies a concise compendium of the permanent elements of the Christian religion. Here we have the everlasting Gospel in a nutshell. God help us to preach it with the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven! In this multum in parvo discourse our Divine Lord, in dispensing His midnight theology to the Jewish ruler, clearly intimates that love is the centre and circumference of the religion enforced by the world's final Speaker.

In expounding this passage, then, tonight, may we fix your earnest attention upon six points, which would appear fairly to cover the ground traversed by the heavenly Speaker on this ever memorable occasion.

I. Firstly, we have here presented to us -

THE GREAT GIVER.

'For God so loved the world that He gave ...' Yes, indeed, God Himself is the Giver. Now, in order rightly to appreciate a gift, it would seem essential to know something about the giver. To a thankful and worthy recipient the intrinsic value of a gift is as nothing compared with the personality whose esteem and regard it embodies. A gift of small intrinsic value may be esteemed as of greater worth than all the riches of Croesus, or the wealth of the Indies, if behind it lies a big, throbbing, affectionate heart.

And is it not thus with the eternal God? If we would estimate aright the wealth of His magnificent gift, may we not devoutly enquire what there is attaching itself to His distinguished Personality which lies behind the gift? While on the one hand the smallest manifestation, in actual value, of a heart of affection, is highly esteemed and treasured; on the other hand, taking all the environments into account, the size of our present is surely somewhat of a gauge of the size of our hearts. In this latter particular our Great Giver infinitely excels. He had a heart that could encompass the world, and His present was - Himself!

Not only is it necessary to know something about the Giver, but it seems also equally essential to know the Giver Himself. Indeed, this is life eternal. Paul did not say concerning his Lord, 'That I may know about Him,' but 'That I may know Him.' (Phil. iii. 10.)

Of one thing, dear hearers, we may rest assured, and that is, if we desire to know the Great Giver we have come to the right theologian to get to know. We have indeed a splendid revelation of God in the Johannine writings. It is certainly true that for the most part John, like other sacred writers, leaves the student of God's nature and character to form his own conception - though sometimes it may be crude - from what is recorded of His action in religious history; but in at least three concise, crisp, comprehensive phrases he has set forth once for all the great limits within which our thoughts on the Divine nature must be confined.

The first statement is in the fourth Gospel, in John's narrative of our Lord's words concerning the sincere worship of God, and is as follows:

(a) 'God is Spirit' (John iv.24). The second is in his first epistle:

(b) 'God is Light' (I John i.5). The third is in the same epistle:

(c) 'God is Love' (I John iv.8, 16).

It may be well to note that recent criticism has made it clear that these incisive phrases do not merely denote 'properties' of God, as God is merciful, or God is tender; but that their content is that of the essential aspects of His nature, regarded from different standpoints. May we venture briefly to look at them in the most reverent spirit. And as we regard them, we shall doubtless be struck with the evolution of thought which they present, each conception being taken up and developed by the succeeding one.

(a) Firstly, then, God is Spirit. This conception would appear to denote God in Himself and His Being. It certainly expresses no moral relation to the universe. It is a purely metaphysical, yet supremely necessary statement. It is rather suggestive of Divine nature than Divine personality. It informs us what God is rather than who He is. It implies that God is not one out of numerous spirits, but Spirit - absolute, eternal, unchangeable Spirit. If you refer to the margin of the Revised Version (John iv. 24), you will find not 'God is a Spirit,' but simply and accurately, 'God is Spirit.' This conception lifts Him into the infinite regions, millions of miles above the narrow limitations of time and space. It is the monopoly of the Apostle of Love. Definition was the Johannine forte. He initiates us into absolutely startling and magnificent ideas of God. This conception is not hinted at by the monotheistic writers of the Old Testament. True, the Spirit of God is there portrayed in helpful and significant manifestation; but the noblest Hebrew thought of God's nature was literally steeped in references, from which it is impossible for us to extricate ourselves from the idea of limitation. 'Thus saith the Lord, the heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool: what manner of house will ye build unto Me?'

The fact is God is Spirit, He is utterly beyond the soaring imagination of mankind. He transcends human ken. That God is only cognisable through the knowledge of His attributes is a truism. No object can be known by us as a bare existence. It is only as possessed of qualities that any being can exist or act. In the sense in which some speak of knowing God in Himself there is no God to know. Thank God, we possess something more tangible than the ridiculous abstractions of German philosophers, who have got out of their depth. 'The essence of God,' says Professor Flint, 'is simply the nature of God as inclusive, not exclusive, of all the perfections which belong to God, and which distinguish Him from His creatures.' Indeed, it is impossible to know that He is unless we have some slight recognition of what He is.

The material vision of God is impossible. 'No man hath seen God at any time.' But there is a glorious moral and life-giving view of God through the Christ. From the exclusive standpoint of this metaphysical definition of John, God can neither be seen nor known.

(b) And now John takes the next step in this Divine development of thought. He informs us that 'God is light.' He does not suggest that God 'is a light,' or even 'the light of the world,' but that 'God is light.' It is another and a nearer definition of God's nature, and not of His dealings. It simply means that God is absolute intellectual and moral truth, as the antithesis of falsehood. It introduces us to the kingdom of mind, and to the area and environment of action, as they relate to truth. God is all-knowing and supremely holy. With Him is no ignorance of mind as He calmly surveys a realistic and idealistic universe. No foul, dark spot can be discerned upon His robes of unapproachable purity. O thou daring intruder, who dost thoughtlessly and unpreparedly rush into the presence chamber of Jehovah, take off the shoes from thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.

This light, then, is not simply the sphere of His abode, for He Himself is light. In Him is no darkness at all. Here we have infinite self-distribution and diffusiveness throughout the whole creation of God. That which is pure, glorious and stately permeates it through and through. It is the revelation of a God of spotless purity, of supreme dignity, of inviolable rectitude, of almost Greek symmetrical perfection. It is the dazzling sunbeam of burning light from the clear sky of awful sacredness. Like the seraphim in Isaiah's vision, let us veil our faces and cry, 'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts: the fulness of the whole earth is His glory.'

Though this idea of God in His moral relations to the entire universe is not distinctly a Hebrew one, yet it appears to underlie the thought of the Divine glory, even in the Hexateuch. We read of Sinai and its tragic wonders, 'And the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel.'

(c) John now leads us on to a magnificent height, as he assures us that 'God is Love.'

This is the third and culminating definition of God. That glorious display of Divine effulgence might almost have intimidated us from Him, but see here how the golden sceptre is extended that we may touch the top of it and live! Here is Personality definitely and beneficently revealed. It is not now simply what God is, but what relations does He sustain to us as individuals? How does he treat us?

The Greek word, as we shall see, expresses self-sacrificing personality. The idea is not merely that of unlimited self-diffusiveness, but a self-diffusiveness which seeks and obtains an immediate response. Here we have God enticing a recognition not only of glory, but of goodness.

The 'Spirit,' then, of which we have spoken is pure, refined, unadulterated, spontaneous love! And the 'Light' we have described is Love Shining! Alleluia! The mystery is solved.

This love is original. It is not evolved. It answers to God's inmost nature, and finds its only source in Him, and not in man. In the Old Testament, as a recent writer points out, love is an attribute of God. In the New Testament love is the Being of God. This is indeed, the crowning stroke of the Johannine theology, and of the Apostolic writings.

Thus does the Great God approach us, to speak unto us. Today, if thou wilt hear His voice, harden not thy heart, as in the provocation. Here and now we are to be plied with the demonstrations of an Eternal Father's love, which are verily beaming upon a guilty and rebellious race from a Saviour's countenance, and descending upon it with softest, sweetest, tenderest accents from a Saviour's lips.

O sin-tossed men and women, this is the God that offers you the gift. We entreat you to accept it by opening your moral, physical and spiritual natures to the Giver. O mystery of mysteries! O problem of the ages! The Giver and the Gift are ONE!

II. May we now briefly consider somewhat more in extenso,

THE GREAT MOTIVE prompting the Gift. It is almost unnecessary to point out that the motive is 'Love.' 'God so loved the world that He gave ...'

Have we any adequate conception of this great quality? We have just noticed its outshining, as God's nature, in its personal relation to the human family. Let us now look a little more narrowly into this intensely important quality, for herein lies the very kernel of the Gospel. The verb ... aã  , to which the Greek word translated in this passage 'loved' belongs, may be traced in Greek literature from the time of Homer. But it is wonderfully instructive to note that the kindred noun ...  ã belongs exclusively to the range of sacred literature. It is first found in the Septuagint, which was the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures used by our blessed Lord Himself. While, however, it is found but fifteen times in the Septuagint, and not once in the Pentateuch, it is found in every book in the New Testament, excepting the Gospel of Mark, the Acts of the Apostles, and the Epistle of James.

Now there are several things in connection with the remarkable quality represented by this word that we may here note. Dr. Westcott has recently pointed out very lucidly the various relations in which it is found in the New Testament.

(a) In the first place it is used to connote the feeling of the Divine Father for the Divine Son, 'The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into His hands.' John iii.35.

(b) Again it describes the feeling of the Father towards a ruined world, 'For God so loved the world ...' John iii.16.

(c) It refers, thirdly to the feeling of the Eternal Father for loving and obedient men, 'If a man love Me, he will keep My word: and My Father will love him. John xiv. 23. And again, when Jesus came to a certain point in that intercessorial prayer of infinite tenderness, and in referring to His disciples, He said, 'That the world may know that Thou didst send Me, and lovedst them even as Thou lovedst Me.' John xvii. 23. O wonderful revelation! All the intensity of absolute love lavished upon the Divine Son by the Divine Father is lavished upon the little company of disciples, and lavished upon you and me! When we think over it, and try to realise it, we are free to confess to you that we are so overwhelmed with the conception that we can scarcely proceed with our remarks.

Then this love is reciprocal. For, again, the same word is employed to describe:

(d) The feeling of the Divine Son for the Divine Father, 'That the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave Me commandment, even so I do.' John xiv. 31.

(e) Again it expressed the feeling of the Son for His followers, both individually and collectively, 'Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister, and Lazarus.' John xi. 5. And again, 'Now before the feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour was come that He should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved His own which were in the world, He loved them to the end.' John xiii. 1.

From these and kindred portions, it must be abundantly evident that God is love, both in His nature, and in His revelation of Himself. Now this great quality, so far as it relates to mankind as its object, is not spontaneous emotion produced by some beauty, merit or devotion in the object upon which it is centred. On the contrary, it is an expression of character determined by will. In this sense ...  ã is the unselfish and voluntary impartation to others of what we are, and of what we have. It expresses self-abnegation as the direct antithesis of self-assertion.

God, then, in His nature is pure unselfishness. The creating and upholding of the world are in essence a continued manifestation of His nature, but his self-abnegation in Redemption is the very consummation of the Divine counsel in creation, in the very teeth of the horrible intrusion of self-assertion, which is moral suicide. Now in view of the fact that ... aã  occurs in heathen as well as in sacred literature, and that ...  ã appears in the Septuagint, Archbishop Trench, in his splendid work on New Testament synonyms, points out that they could not have been understood in their true and startling significance until Jesus Christ came into the world - the Revelation of Divine unselfishness. In truth ...  ã is a quality 'born within the bosom of revealed religion.' This noun never appears outside revelation, because the quality it represents does not appear. It is hard to understand the significance attached to the verb in the writings of Homer and others, seeing that amongst the ancient Greeks and Romans there was no possible raison d'^tre for its true usage. The ethics of Greece and Rome were based on fearful self-assertion, both in the state and in the individual. But the very essence of this word is unselfishness. The explanation would seem to be that the Divine Spirit, in taking of the things of God and revealing them unto us by His own selected instrumentality, has sanctioned and perhaps suggested this glorious connotation of a word used in a far different sense by the cultured ancients.

Even Judaism was a stranger to this conception of God. it was profoundly ignorant of absolute unselfishness. The world was utterly without any manifestation of it until Jesus Christ came to reveal the nature of God. And when He appeared He said, 'Ye have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: but I say unto you, Resist not him that is evil: but whosoever smiteth thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.' And again, 'Ye have heard that it was said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy: but I say unto you, Love your enemies, and pray for them that persecute you; that ye may be the sons of your Father which is in heaven.'

According to the moral law, men were expected to love one another, but to do so in the way in which God loves us demanded a new revelation, which should alter the centre of the gravity of ethics, and place mankind in a completely new relationship to God and to each other. It has been well said that before Jesus Christ came love was in men's hearts, but not the love deliberately exercised by an unselfish nature.

There was (1) Natural love - the affection manifested by those through whose veins the same blood flows. This is the love of kith and kin.

There was (2) Patriotic love - the affection for Fatherland and for each other, exercised by those of the same nationality.

There was (3) Admiring love - produced by noble deeds, and frequently expressing itself in shrines and temples.

There was (4) Grateful love - evolved by deeds of courage and self-denial, enacted on man's behalf by his fellow-man.

And there was (5) Complacent love - produced by lovable qualities in the object of its attraction.

All these are beautiful and sacred forms of love, but, taken en masse, they most inadequately portray the love of God. The peculiarity and uniqueness of God's love are its thorough disinterestedness. God's love is not relative; it is absolute. It is not produced by any beauty, merit, nobility, or community of nature and purpose in its object. True, we love because He first loved us, but we nowhere find that He loved because we first loved Him! Did you ever think of that? God cannot help loving you because He is love. If God did otherwise than love you He would change His nature and cease to be God. He was a loving Father from all eternity. He was the everlasting Father before He was a Creator, Judge, or Supreme Ruler. Creation and providence are but prior manifestations of the Divine unselfishness, which culminated in the beautiful babe of Bethlehem, and the tragedy of the cross of Calvary.

Dear hearers, no mother ever loved her child with a tithe of the love with which God loves you. He has lavished upon you - and cannot do otherwise - all the resources of His infinite nature and world-embracing affection. He loves you - not because you deserve to be loved - not because you have accomplished anything to merit His love - not because you asked to be loved - not even because you needed His love, but because He is love. O if thou wert only half as willing to be saved as God is to save thee, thou wouldst here and now surrender thyself wholly to Him. Listen, then, to His declaration, as He gently draws us to His adorable self, 'I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for Mine own sake.'

He is able, willing, and anxious to forgive thee, and to change thy stubborn heart for His own sake. O that thou mayest be willing in the day of His power!

We are led to conclude from these considerations that God's nature being unselfishness, and his motive unselfishness, God's nature and God's motive are one. God is always true to Himself, and hence absolutely disinterested love is at the base of all His dealings with mankind. We Christians, too, always find our natures and our motives identical; but, alas! alas! we have a lower nature as well as a Godlike nature, and we continually have to probe ourselves to find out which nature it is our actions embody. O that we may keep the spirit nature in the ascendancy! God help us to starve out the old nature by persistently feeding and sustaining the new. So shall our motives ever be identical with the God-imparted gift of unselfish love!

III. "Now arises the question, how far was the Divine unselfishness prepared to proceed? That question must be answered under our next head,

THE GREAT GIFT.

'God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.' What does that mean? It means that God had a heart as big as the sun, and that His gift is correspondingly vast. It means that unselfish love is never fully satisfied until it gives itself. It means that Divine love was prepared, in the interests of mankind, to proceed until it could not take another step! It means that when God gives Himself, it is the extreme resource of Divine philanthropy. That little word so equals all that follows of our text. It assures us that God could not manifest His unselfish self to the world in any more striking and beneficent fashion. It declares to us the moral impossibility of God doing other than He has done, providing His love is to be the basis of the world's regeneration.

O perishing sinner, here indeed is glorious news for thee! Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and God shall shine upon thee! God is here pouring forth upon thee all the resources of unlimited love. What a revelation!

Love is self-sacrifice as opposed to self-seeking. Love is life. Selfishness is death. Love is communion. Selfishness is separation. God has shown the dimensions of His great heart by the dimensions of His great sacrifice.

And so God's great gift exactly represents the extent of His love. And what is that? Boundless! Unlimited! Eternal! What is the gift? The Authorised and Revised Versions tell us it is 'His only begotten Son.' The word in the original, however, is æo ¢ î , which was never intended in the Johannine writings, or in sacred literature generally, to signify 'only begotten'; but simply only or unique. It refers to the absolute oneness of the Being of the Father in a way altogether singular. The idea is not that of generation. That insoluble truth is represented by another phrase entirely in the New Testament. The idea undoubtedly is, in this connection, that of a personal existence of a really unique character. We are quite surprised that in the Revised Version we have 'only begotten,' instead of 'unique,' and that the original simple conception has been permitted to have incorporated with it an idea of generation, which only became associated with it many decades after John wrote. We are unable to explain how this conception can have been admitted, seeing that the same word, according to nearly all the ancient authorities, is applied to God Himself in John i. 18. Indeed we have this stated in the margin of the Revised Version; and to speak of 'the only begotten God' savours of heresy, which almost makes one shudder.

Our text indicates, then, that God gave His unique Son. He had, and can have, but one Son of this completely unique character and substance. And note carefully, God must have had the present to give before He could sacrifice Himself in giving it. The history of the Divine Son begins not in the manger in Bethlehem, but with all eternity. The Eternal Logos is the Eternal Son. Of the Son, we read in Col. i. 15-17: 'Who is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation; for in Him were all things created, in the heavens and upon the earth, things visible and things invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things have been created through Him, and unto Him; and He is before all things, and in him all things consist:' It was surely real self-abnegation which sent down from yonder sapphire throne the Son, 'who, being in the form of God, counted it not a thing to be grasped at to be on an equality with God, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, becoming obedient unto death, yea, the death of the cross.' God gave, and truly He had something to part with!

And moreover, this was not a loan, but a gift! Jesus Christ is not lent to the human race, He has come to stay. And so the life and death of the Son of God link hands in human experience. God has given the dying Christ for us, that He might give the living Christ to us. And we must come to His death before we can get to His life. 'For if, while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, shall we be saved by His life.' Theologians dream of a 'limited atonement.' We tell them, in view of these things, that a 'limited atonement' involves a 'limited incarnation.' If Jesus only died for some, he only lived and lives for some. Let there be no mistake here. He came to His life and then to His death. We come to His death and then to His life. That is to say, dear soul, if thou wouldst have the Son of God as thine own permanent possession, thou must place thyself in a position in which He will come to stay, by plunging into the fountain opened in Judah for the guilty conscience, and by clinging to the virtue of His death. Thus, freed from a burdened conscience, thou art ready for transformation in to the Divine likeness by the power of the Indwelling Guest - the Unique Son who, by His Spirit, comes to abide!

O that we could more effectually impress this two-fold consideration upon every seeker in this congregation. From the inmost soul we assure the, O man, that we literally abhor that conception of our salvation provided by the Son of God, which represents both it and Him as a species of life-saving apparatus! Do not, we entreat thee, go away with the erroneous idea that God sent His unique Son into the world for the sole purpose of providing a way of escape from impending wrath. He most certainly did that, but a thousand times more than that Jesus Christ came down from heaven to earth to lift us up from earth to heaven - legally, morally and spiritually. That is exactly the reason why God's gift is permanent and abiding. That is why His Son has come to stay. The restoration of holiness is the grand aim and ideal of the whole scheme of redemption. Dost thou say Christ lived, and died, and rose again to rid thee of thine accusing and guilty conscience, and that thou seekest no sacrifice beside? Aye, but we tell thee, He died to make thee a better man.

''He died that we might be forgiven;
He died to make us good."

He died to save us from the guilt of sin. But He also died to save us from the power of sin. He died to procure forgiveness for sins of deepest dye. But he also died to eradicate the horrible plague infecting the whole human race. 'Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; Who healeth all thy diseases.' He died to pardon the reeling drunkard; but he also died to put out the fiery thirst, and to radically restore the blasted home. Thus, through Jesus' pardoning blood, we may be justified as to sin, that it may not condemn; we may be sanctified as to sin, that it may not reign, and we may be glorified as to sin, that it may not be!

O guilty soul, rest thy burdened conscience on the merits of His blood, and then open thine heart for the reception of God's unfailing Gift - the Unique Son - the Divine Spirit - the new life - the unselfish love!

IV. Again our text suggests to us the thought of

THE GREAT MULTITUDE.

May we then hastily notice the area over which this Divine philanthropy extends, 'God so loved the world ... that whosoever ...'

From the signification of ¢åæo as the material universe - a frequent New Testament signification - there succeeded, very naturally, that conception of it as the framework of things in which man lives and moves; which exists for him; and of which he may be regarded as the centre (John xvi.21). And then, finally, it came to signify the men themselves - the sum total of those living in the world, as in our text and John i. 29.

This is, then a cosmopolitan word - that adjective being derived from it. It is absolutely impossible for us to escape inclusion within its scope. He who tries to limit it, to prop up the strangled myth of a 'limited atonement,' is guilty of a philological monstrosity, which would be positively amusing if it were not so cruelly distressing. Be assured, then, doubting souls, that God's unselfishness is as unlimited objectively as it is subjectively. God's very nature and essence preclude the idea of the exclusion of a single soul from within the pale of this infinite assurance.

And, as if this were not sufficient, and to give mankind a double assurance, we are here confronted, in the relative clause, with the word whosoever. Truly here are pastures where the impartial Shepherd leads about the disconsolate and dubious of His universal flock. O wandering sheep, come home, come home!

THE WORLD! WHOSOEVER!

Every letter is worth a world! Every letter weight a ton! These blessed expressions are broad as the heavens, deep as the eternal ocean, and vast as eternity itself. God be praised, there is no distinction with Him. If His love be absolute and not relative, it cannot, of a necessity, be bounded or limited. We say deliberately that to exclude one, God must change His nature.

Our text suggests to us that God so loved the world that he wants more children. His desire is to permanently enlarge the boundaries of His family. He has a unique Son, but even He does not exhaust the resources of His love. He wants millions and millions more sons and daughters, and to bring this about, He sends down His only and dearly beloved One to fit them, and love them, and fetch them!

V. And once again may we call your attention to

THE GREAT RESULT.

It surely devolves upon us to point out the result of accepting the gift our philanthropic God is offering to us. In other words, so far as it relates to a lost world, we are to view the design of the birth, life, death, burial and resurrection of the Son of God.

The result described here is two-fold, negative and positive, 'That whosoever believeth on Him (1) should not perish, but (2) have eternal life.'

The Gospel of Jesus Christ never leaves the human race, or any part of it, in a merely negative position. The ideal it sets before us can never be reached until we take a positive and decided stand upon its feasible proposals. The Gospel, as we have before hinted, is often presented as though it simply signified the being saved from everlasting punishment, and the escaping - by the skin of our teeth - from impending wrath. It is all this, but infinitely more. True, we must come out of the darkness ere we can stand in the light. True, we must 'cease to do evil' before we can 'learn to do well.' True, we must put off the old man ere we can put on the new. But yet, in our estimation, the Gospel denotes not so much the coming out of darkness, as the standing in the light, and feeling its sunshine - not so much dying unto sin as living unto God. A message which only suggests salvation from guilt is only half a Gospel, and only half a truth. And what is worse, it is the selfish half. It leads men to consider neither God nor His Son, nor their fellows; but only that most despicable of all motives for being good - to get off to heaven as quickly as possible.

What then, is the eternal life so positively promised to those who believe in the Son? We appeal to the apostle of love once more to report to us how our Divine Lord Himself defines it to us, once and for ever. 'This is life eternal that they should know Thee the only true God, and Him whom Thou didst send, Jesus Christ' (John xvii. 3). Does it seem strange to thee to be told that life is knowledge? Art thou asking thyself, as thou considerest the definition, 'Is the spirit's life the study of religion? Is the great eternal future a university of sacred learning? This may be the scholar's heaven,' you continue, 'but it has very little charm for me.'

But may we remind you that knowledge is a word of more than one significance. The knowledge of God which is termed life, is little akin to that knowledge of Him called theology, or the universe interpreted through the idea of God. There is indeed a mighty distinction between knowing God and knowing about God. There is the knowledge of God gained from the study of sacred literature; and the direct knowledge emanating from experience and feeling. By the former we know God's mind; by the latter we feel God's heart.

Astronomy tells us there is a sun; that it is ninety-six millions of miles from the earth; that certain gases are in its vicinity; and that the earth sustains a certain relationship to it in the solar system. Now, all this is very interesting and fascinating, but, beloved hearers, I know there is a sun, not because astronomers tell me so, but because I see it; and I know that the sun is warm because I feel it.

So it is in the spiritual realm. I know there is a 'Sun of Righteousness' because I see Him reflected, as in a mirror, in the lives and faces of redeemed humanity. And I know that 'Sun' is warm because I feel my breast beating and pulsating in unison with God's great heart.

Thus the knowledge of God, which is eternal life, is not that knowledge - very important in its place - which comes by adding fact to fact, and inference to inference, in long and laborious research, but that knowledge which is an immediate, irresistible and penetrating force in our lives. In other words, it is the gift of the Holy Spirit!

Whence, then, comes this great gift of life? From what source does the Holy Spirit emanate?

Now we have seen that God is Spirit, that God is light, and that God is love. We venture just here to add a fourth Johannine definition, and point out that God is life, in relation to all who would enter His Spirit-endowed family. We here pass from the idea of God Himself to the revelation of God in man. God is the source of eternal life. We have seen that God is Spirit, and that this spirit is love. We have seen that God is light, and that this light is 'love shining'; now we see that God is life to all who will fling open their natures to receive Him; and that this life is also love because this life is God, and God is love. We have seen that this love is unselfish, because absolute. And if God dwell in us, and God is love, and love is unselfishness, then it must follow that pure absolute unselfishness dwells in us, and

THIS IS ETERNAL LIFE!

Now the old question is answered, 'Will God indeed dwell with man?' Listen to the words of Jesus: 'He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. But this spake He of the Spirit, which they that believed on Him were to receive.' Thus it appears that the unselfish God is to be reproduced in us, and we can only be Christians just in so far as we realise it.

It is further very instructive to notice that the identical Greek words we have already referred to, as describing the feelings of the Divine Father and Son, reciprocally and otherwise, are actually employed to describe the feeling of men: (1) for the Father, (2) for the Son, (3) for the brethren, and, (4) for life. So that we are expected to love God, and Jesus Christ, and one another, with absolute, God-imparted, disinterested affection. This is 'life eternal' for 'the love of God hath been shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which was given unto us.' We are to be miniature 'Suns of Righteousness,' walking about this dark, sin-stricken world, lighting men and women to eternity. That is to say, we are to incarnate the 13th chapter of 1 Corinthians, which presents us with a luminous exposition of the characteristics of this love - all of which are fraternal! And how far are we to go? We answer, 'Just so far as Jesus Christ went.' His love for us led Him to Calvary; and if that same love dwells in us, we must, if needs be, toil up to our Golgotha for our brethren!

Death is the antithesis of this. If to live is to know God, and Jesus Christ; then to perish is to be ignorant of God and Jesus Christ. If life be 'the communion of the Holy Spirit,' then to perish is to hold communion with Satan - the eternal Ego - the embodiment of selfishness. If 'life' is the Great Spirit taking possession of our little spirits; then 'perishing' is dying to our spirit's highest and purest interests.

O men and women, here and now we place before you life and death, blessing and cursing, love and hate, God and Satan. We entreat you, we implore you, at once - without a moment's delay - to choose life, blessing, love and God!

VI. Lastly, a word upon

THE GREAT CONDITION.

'That whosoever believeth on him ...' Here we have the age-abiding principle of faith presented to us, as the condition of life eternal. This is both Scriptural and scientific. It is precisely what we have been anticipating. If life be the experimental knowledge of God in Jesus Christ, how can we possess such knowledge unless we believe on Him? How can we commune with one in whom we do not implicitly trust? But ere the Divine Spirit, the Saviour's Representative, can take complete possession of our natures, and we thus become possessed of the power of an endless life, we must clearly demonstrate that our faith is implicit and unwavering. This must be accomplished by our attention to some specific act of obedience, as a pledge that the Spirit's work shall hereinafter be in no wise hindered in our lives by wilful self-assertion, which is the root of all sin.

During our Lord's earthly ministry, He invariably looked for 'faith in action,' ere He recognised and rewarded it as the genuine article. Blind Bartimeaus had faith; but a faith that importunately cried out, 'Thou Son of David, have mercy on me.' Jairus had faith; but not a faith that indolently stayed at home, but that went out and fetched the Son of God. The poor woman with the issue of blood had faith: but it was a faith that laughed at impossibilities, and cried, 'It shall be done.' And it was done; for her trembling touch sent a blood-staunching shock of healing power from the Great Physician right through her stricken frame. In these and all other cases, before life, healing or cleansing are imparted by the Son of God we see 'faith in action.' In these cases we notice faith crying out to Jesus; and faith laying hold on Jesus.

So it is tonight with every applicant for eternal life. Your faith must be 'faith in motion,' or it is the faith of demons. True, you cannot address your Lord in person: you cannot fetch Him to your dwelling; nor can you touch the hem of His apparel; but you can, and you ought, aye, and you must - if you would enter into life - surrender in one specific act of faith and love, to the claims of Him who said, 'He that believeth and is immersed shall be saved.' This beautiful symbolic act is heaven's own appointed means, by which we are enabled not only to come 'into Christ,' to 'put on Christ,' and, as believing penitents, to receive 'the remission of sins'; but also to pledge ourselves to be henceforth led by the Spirit's teaching, filled with the Spirit's love, and to exchange the self-assertion, which is living death, for the Indwelling God, which is eternal life.

Depend upon it, there is no faith alone in this much abused passage. In fact, literally rendered, it would read, 'Whosoever believeth into Him,' or, in other words, 'whosoever exercises such simple trust as impels him to come into Him.' The faith which is crowned with eternal life is the faith that leads us to 'put on Christ'; and if we have Christ on, we must necessarily be in Him. We have come into Him because we have sincerely trusted His living love and dying merits. But how do we come into Him? Let Paul inform us. He says, 'Ye are all sons of God, through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were immersed into Christ did put on Christ' (Gal. iii. 26-27). That is very simple. It is self-explanatory.

O that many in this congregation tonight may thus be begotten by the Spirit, through faith, and be born of water, in this highly important act of consecration, and thus allow the Divine Spirit to have all His own way with them!

We now leave these matters with you. We implore you not to let the day of patient grace go by. Now that a way at once so palpable and so accessible has been provided - when, in the lack of all righteousness of your own, the righteousness of God in Christ is held out to you, that you may robe yourself in it, and appear before heaven, invested in all its honours, and crowned with its eternal rewards - when God has thus embarked the very credit of His honesty upon the fulfilment of His assurance, that if you will but close with Christ, and accept of Him as proffered to you in the gospel, you shall receive with Him an unfaltering benediction here, and a blissful eternity hereafter - when these things are urged upon your attention, week after week, by pastors, teachers and evangelists, and the many remembrancers of Him who never leaves Himself without a witness in the world - O say, say, say, we beg of you, how will you be able to stand the day of impending judgment, if it shall be found that heedless, careless and insane, amid all these invitations, you still deliberately decide to grovel in the depths of selfishness and carnality, moved by no terrors in the ominous indications of vengeance, and by no fascination in the offered mercy of God?

Beloved hearers, my last message to you tonight is this - and as we may never all meet together again on earth to remind each other of it, may God help you to remember it, in life and in death - 'God loves you! God loves you! GOOD NIGHT!'"