1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.

Love seeks with all its power to cover a multitude of sins - not to obscure, or condone, or ignore them - but to bring about their wholesome covering in a Christ-like way. There must be a close and affectionate oneness and mutual protection among us, such as the world could never know. Or, we just do not have the truth, and we are not the children of God.

There must be a mutual recognition of weakness and a mutual desire to strengthen and help, and not to expose and condemn. There must be no fleshly antagonism. All problems must be handled in the spirit and according to the Law of Christ.

There must be the quiet, peaceful, beautiful unity of mutual love and self-sacrifice. If we cannot rise up to this of our natural fleshly selves, if we do not have the wisdom to subdue the flesh, and discipline and train ourselves to this, then we do not have the mind of Christ, and we are none of his.

So frequently, we need the exhortation in scripture: take heed, watch, always be aware, alert, observant, thinking, meditating, contemplating about the important things - the spiritual things. Take heed for every danger and pitfall, from within ourselves and from without, not in fear and timidity, but in wisdom and enlightenment, always walking carefully according to the light.

"If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light. If a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there is no light in him."

We have no light in ourselves.

Whenever we are not carefully watching and observing the divine light, and following it, we are stumbling, though it may seem we are sailing along very smoothly. For we are following the flesh, and there is no good in the flesh-no light.

Every act, every word, every thought involves purpose and motive. That purpose and motive must be either carnal or spiritual. There is no neutral ground. We have no spiritual momentum of our own. It must come continuously from without, by continually following the light. The moment we forget, we revert to the flesh. Therefore, the exhortation,

"Watch and pray always."

Bro Growcott - Blessed is he that watcheth and keepeth his garments

2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.

Baptism of Spirit

"Now, concerning pneumatics, πνευματικα, brethren, I would not that ye be ignorant."

Having, then, obtained a divine rule, and therefore an infallible one, by which to discern spirits, we are not to be imposed upon by pretenders to spirit, and what they call baptism of spirit. They know nothing correctly about the subject, because they do not give heed to the apostolic teaching.

They only tasted of the powers of the future course of things who had been guided into the truth; and so now, if any man say he hath the spirit in its powers or manifestations; or that he has been converted or born of the spirit; try him by conversing with him about what the apostles taught for faith and practice; and if you find that he is ignorant, you may then certainly know that he is an impostor, deceiving or deceived, or both; he is a false spirit, having never drank into the spirit of God.

A man truly and scripturally enlightened would never claim to be baptized of spirit in the dry time that intervenes between the early and latter rains. He claims only to have been begotten of the truth which is spirit, not to be indued with any of its baptismal powers.

"Spirits," then, is a word apostolically used to designate the gifts of the spirit of God; and those who undertook to teach by the spirit. Of the former, there were "diversities;" and of the latter, two classes. The diversities in the aggregate made up the baptism of holy spirit, which was given for administrations and operations. These exhibitions of power were styled collectively "The manifestation of the Spirit."

The powers were not given to any one for his own private benefit, but for the general use and benefit of the Body of Christ; as it is written,

"to every one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the collective good"

πρό το συμ ερον. This is an important feature in the case. People who pretend to be the subjects of spirit baptism can adduce nothing else but their feelings which all terminate in themselves. No one is profited by any thing they pretend to have received. Not a single scriptural idea do they possess more than before their pretended baptism; nor have they a single power they had not before. They are as ignorant and perverse as ever, and as hostile to the truth when laid before them as pagans.

Not so with the apostolic believer. When he was baptized with holy spirit, he acquired wisdom and knowledge which was advantageous to all who lacked them; he had the gift of faith by which he could remove mountains, if the good of the body collectively required it; he could heal the sick; in work powers; speak to the brethren to edification, exhortation, and comfort, no mean accomplishment in an apostolic community.

He could discern spirits, and so protect and warn the unlearned against the imposition of the false apostles that would certainly arise. He could speak the languages of the nations without previous study, and in them make known the wonderful works of the Deity: all these things the spiritually baptized could do for the benefit of those who were not so baptized and of the Jews and heathen roundabout.

Such a baptism as this nowhere exists upon earth in these times; yet every congregation of believers could glory in such an indwelling of the deity among them by his Spirit in the days of Paul.—Eph. 2:22.

Herald of the Kingdom and Age to Come, Nov 1861

I will kill her children with death

"I will give unto every one of you according to your works."

This was the principal cause of those terrible persecutions so frequent in the reigns of the pagan emperors. They were "judgment beginning at the house of God;" and while many of the Lord's servants no doubt suffered, ecclesiastical history justifies the conclusion that its severity fell principally on the children of Jezebel.

The desire of martydom became a madness, and instead of fleeing from one city when persecuted, to another for safety, as the Lord advised, they sought death by the fiercest torments in expiation of their sins.

The Nicolaitan, Balaam, and Jezebel communities, which were indeed one and the same, are styled by the Lord Jesus "a synagogue of the Satan," συναγογη τον Σατάα. They called themselves Jews; but were not such in reality. The congregation in Smyrna numbered such among its members, but the King of the Jews refused to recognize them as belonging to his people, styling them liars and blasphemers.

Addressing that society and its sister in Philadelphia, he says,

"I know the blasphemy of them who say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie, and are of the synagogue of the adversary." Rev. 2:9; 3:9.

Let the reader mark this well, that for a nominal Christian to claim to be a Jew, and that claim prove to be unscriptural, the Lord Jesus pronounces him to be a blasphemer, a liar, and a member of the adversary's synagogue.

There are very few professors now-a-days but are more zealous to prove that they have no relationship to things Jewish than that they are Jews. They have no idea that the doctrine of Christ places them in any sort of connection with Israel, or Israel's commonwealth. They feel and speak as the enemies of Israel, and care no more for Jerusalem than for Bagdad or Samarcand.

There are some, however, who claim to be Jews to the exclusion of the whole Jewish nation; appropriating all the promises of good for Israel to themselves, and all the curses of God to Jacob. They call themselves "the Israel of God," true Israelites, and the genuine seed of Abraham; while they are as blind as bats, and faithless as sectarian pietism can make them of the "salvation" which "is of the Jews."

Herald of the Kingdom and Age to Come, Dec 1857

3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.

Though I Give My Body to Be Burned

Martyrdom during the second seal period (Rev 6)

Such "miserable sinners," styling themselves "christians," abound in our time; multitudes of whom, tired of the troubles of life, would joyfully suffer death under the delusion that by giving their worthless bodies to be burned, they would by a brief torment acquire posthumous notoriety, and hide a multitude of sins. All this voluntary martyrdom was the result of ignorance and misdirected zeal.

It was no proof of the sufferers being Christ's Brethren. We may admit the piety and sincerity of many of them; but Paul has taught us that giving the body to be burned is no equivalent for the want of that "love," which he, after the teaching of the Christ, says is "the fulfilling of the law" -- hoping and believing all the things testified in the truth (1 Cor. 13). Martyrdom, then, is no proof of a man's being in Christ; and without being in him, he cannot be a christadelphian.

The most it proves is the sincerity and devotion of the martyr to his profession, whatever that may be. Hence, the martyrdom of Huss, Jerome, Cranmer, Servetus, and such like, proved the sincerity of their anti-romish and anti-calvinistic opinions; it did not alter the fact of their being eminently pious members of the Apostasy; the stain of which cannot be obliterated by body-burning, but only by an intelligent belief and obedience of the truth.

Eureka 6.2.7

I will kill her children with death

"I will give unto every one of you according to your works."

This was the principal cause of those terrible persecutions so frequent in the reigns of the pagan emperors. They were "judgment beginning at the house of God;" and while many of the Lord's servants no doubt suffered, ecclesiastical history justifies the conclusion that its severity fell principally on the children of Jezebel.

The desire of martydom became a madness, and instead of fleeing from one city when persecuted, to another for safety, as the Lord advised, they sought death by the fiercest torments in expiation of their sins.

The Nicolaitan, Balaam, and Jezebel communities, which were indeed one and the same, are styled by the Lord Jesus "a synagogue of the Satan," συναγογη τον Σατάα. They called themselves Jews; but were not such in reality. The congregation in Smyrna numbered such among its members, but the King of the Jews refused to recognize them as belonging to his people, styling them liars and blasphemers.

Addressing that society and its sister in Philadelphia, he says,

"I know the blasphemy of them who say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie, and are of the synagogue of the adversary." Rev. 2:9; 3:9.

Let the reader mark this well, that for a nominal Christian to claim to be a Jew, and that claim prove to be unscriptural, the Lord Jesus pronounces him to be a blasphemer, a liar, and a member of the adversary's synagogue.

There are very few professors now-a-days but are more zealous to prove that they have no relationship to things Jewish than that they are Jews. They have no idea that the doctrine of Christ places them in any sort of connection with Israel, or Israel's commonwealth. They feel and speak as the enemies of Israel, and care no more for Jerusalem than for Bagdad or Samarcand.

There are some, however, who claim to be Jews to the exclusion of the whole Jewish nation; appropriating all the promises of good for Israel to themselves, and all the curses of God to Jacob. They call themselves "the Israel of God," true Israelites, and the genuine seed of Abraham; while they are as blind as bats, and faithless as sectarian pietism can make them of the "salvation" which "is of the Jews."

Herald of the Kingdom and Age to Come, Dec 1857

The Spirit tells us that-

"Love is patient and kind-never rude-does not become angry-bears everything-hopes everything-endures everything" - 1 Cor. 13:4-7.

If we have not got this, we have not got the Truth at all, for he plainly says that without this, everything else is vain. When will we learn that love is sufficient for all things, and that there is NEVER any justification for bitterness or harshness or rudeness or unkindness?

How do we expect to teach the beauty of gentleness and kindness and self-control by manifesting bitterness, harshness, sourness and anger?

These things are out-and-out evil manifestations of the flesh, and if we allow the natural irritable bullying tendency of the diabolos to deceive us into thinking they are essential to firmness and discipline and plain-speaking, then we are pitifully self-deceived indeed.

If we do not first discipline OURSELVES-searchingjy examine ourselves by the light of God's Word-discern the evil, proud, antagonistic motions of the flesh for what they truly are,

how can we presume to guide and instruct others in the Way of Life?

How can harshness breed anything but coarseness and harshness and antagonism in return? Firmness is far more effective when it is gentle and courteous, for then it has the

power of godliness. Of those from whom it is necessary to stand aside in fellowship,

Paul says-

"Count him not as an enemy, but admonish hIm as a brother" (2 Thess. 3:15).

The word for "admonish" is a gentle, friendly one. Paul uses the same word when he exhorts the Colossians to-

"Admonish one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord" (Col. 3:16).

Perhaps our minds go to the words of Christ concerning disfellowship-

"Let him be unto thee as a heathen man and a publican" (Matt. 18:17).

Is there a discrepancy in the spirit of these teachings? These words of Christ truly and seriously emphasize the importance of a clear, sharp distinction and spiritual separation, but-how did Jesus treat "heathen men and publicans"?

True, we cannot picture him taking part in their activities, or allowing himself to be identified with them in any way, but was he cold and rude to them? Did he avoid contact with them?-refuse to speak with them?-condemn them?

Did he not rather seek always to do them good, to treat them kindly, to be friendly and courteous to them, to show them a more excellent way, to persuade and win them to the way of Truth?

Bro Growcott - Our call to holiness

5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;

We are in a very disjointed condition at present. Men are on all hands imperfect, and, of course, brethren too; and if we do not clothe ourselves with something of divine magnanimity that puts up with the frailties and shortcomings of men, we shall never get on at all.

We have to shut our eyes to a great deal. We need not give countenance to faults, but we must not be too critical; we must forbear much and pass things by, or we shall only make a bad job worse. Charity hides a multitude of sins. It exhibits solicitude towards one's neighbour; it looks not only to one's own things, but about the things of others and is rather prone to put a good construction (where such is possible) upon a man's actions, than a bad one.

Seasons 1.46.

6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in [with - YLT] the truth;

This question of charity is much misapplied. It is beautiful - indispensable - that we be charitable; but charity must run on legitimate lines. Let us be charitable to the utmost with our own things: we have no right to be charitable with the things of God, His ways, or His words. He that hath My Word, saith God, let him speak it faithfully.

What would be thought of a revenue officer dispensing alms out of the government funds, or relaxing the claim of dues out of kindly feeling? He must apply to his own purse to meet the claims of charity.

People have no right to be charitable with the Truth of God < that is to hide it, or cloak it, or modify it for the sake of the feelings of men. Yet this is where the cry of charity is always raised; and, as a rule, it is raised by those who are not distinguished by charity in the regulation of their own affairs.

If a man encroach on their rights, if a man do them an injury, if a man speak evil of them; oh, then, there is flaming zeal in duty to myself; but duty to God - well, that is something they are prepared to be very charitable with.

Let us get away from this fog and see that it is not uncharity but the plainest duty and the highest charity to say that men have no hope by nature, and that they can only acquire hope by submission to the institutions apostolically promulgated 1,800 years ago - which consist, in brief, in faith in the apostles testimony concerning Christ, and obedience to the commandments they delivered in his name.

When this ground is clearly taken, there will be more readiness to insist upon the whole truth as the basis of fellowship with the professed believers in the Gospel of Christ, and less disinclination to take the logical issue and all its responsibilities, as the hopeless position of all who are seeking the favour of God in any other way than the way of His own appointment.

Seasons 2.14.

8 Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.

The spirit-rain of the Pentecostian era

was bestowed upon certain of the saints to qualify them officially, that they might exercise the gifts for the public benefit—"for the building up of the body of the Christ." Paul tells us how long this arrangement was to continue. "Till," says he,

"we shall come into the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God—into a perfect man; into a measure of the stature of the fulness of the Christ."

This limits the gifts to the above apostolic saints; that is to those contemporary with the apostles, but who may have nevertheless outlived them many years. He testifies to this effect very plainly in 1 Cor. 13:8, where he speaks of the cessation of the baptismal gifts of prophesying, of tongues, and of the word of knowledge; "prophecies," says he,

"shall be brought to an end; tongues shall be caused to cease; knowledge shall pass away."

This was finally accomplished when the spirit spued the Laodicean community out of his mouth. The spirit-baptism was withheld because its gifts were abused, as every other good has been that has been committed to the guardianship of flesh and blood.

Herald of the Kingdom and Age to Come, Nov 1861

9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.

...when το τελειον perfection comes, then το εκ μερουζ that which is in part shall be annulled."-13:9. 10.

Now, εκ μερουζ rendered "in part" ... is the same phrase as in 1 Cor. 12:27, is translated "in particular, " and refers to the same thing; namely, to the partial manifestation of the Spirit through the Spiritual Men of the congregations; which consisted of those to whom the Spirit severally divided the gifts as he pleased (12:11; ) and the ιδιωτοι idiōtoi, or those "occupying the room of the private person," or plebeian; rendered "the unlearned" in ch. 14:16.

These two classes of the Temple of God, the public, and the private, brethren, having been all, by the spirit's teaching through the apostles, baptised into one body (ch. 12:13) constituted that body in Christ; but the public brethren were "the members in particular, " the foot, the ear, the eye, the hand, the nose, the tongue, &c.,-of the whole; and constituted thus by the special gifts, called "spiritual."

This was an imperfect state of the "One Body," whose prophesyings, faculty of speaking foreign languages, and revelations, were individual, or "in part, " and not general. But there is a time approaching, when το τελειον perfection will have come; and then the Body of Christ will no longer "know in part, and prophecy in part, " as in apostolic times; but all the individuals then composing it, will, without exception, be qualified in a higher degree than the apostolic "members in particular;" so that the least in the kingdom of the heavens will be endowed with greater accomplishments than all the Spiritual Men of Paul's day put together.

In the apostle's day, even with the Spirit's manifestations through a part of the body, or "members in particular," they could only say,

"We see at present by a mirror in an ænigma, but then (when the reality is manifested) face to face; now I am skilled γενωσκω (speaking for the Body,) εκ μερονζ (by mirror-like partial manifestation) but then (when perfection is come) I shall know perfectly επιγινωσομαι as also I shall be known perfectly," having then attained perfection by resurrection unto incorruptibility and life.-Phil. 3:11, 12; Luke 13:32.

Herald of the Kingdom and Age to Come, June 1856

10 But when that which is perfect is come <perfection comes> [the apocalypse given to John AD 96 thereby completing the Bible], then that which is in part shall be done away <annulled>.

The age of the apostles was the childhood, youth and manhood of the "one body." This body attained the perfection of manhood when all its members came "into the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God." This "unity" was perfected when the Lord sent them a revelation of the times and seasons, by his servant John.-Rev. 1:1.

The faith and knowledge were then summed up in what we now call the Bible, which came to supersede the "Ministration of the Spirit" in a hierachy. Spiritual gifts were withdrawn, and "faith, hope and love" alone remained. Thus, "that which was in part was done away."

Spiritual gifts had answered their purpose. They had enabled Christianity to strike its roots deeply into society, so that no power could eradicate it entirely. God had presented his heritages with a complete book; and he now said to them, "testify,"

"overcome the great red dragon by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of your testimony, and love not your lives unto the death."-Rev. 12:11.

Herald of the Kingdom and Age to Come, Dec 1856

When that which is perfect is come

The body of Christ, whether considered under the figure of a man or a house, belongs to two states; to that before the resurrection, and to that after it. In its former state it has its infancy and manhood. In the days of the apostles the institution was in its infancy, childhood, and, in the time of John's old age and exile, manhood, being three score years and ten.

During these years its administrations were in part, that part consisting of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers; so that the knowledge and the prophesyings were in part and not distributed to every member of the body. But in process of time that perfection came by which the body could sustain itself without the baptismal gifts; and then

"that which was in part was done away."

The manifestation of the spirit being withheld, all that remained to the body was

"faith, hope, and love; these three; the greatest of which is love"

as defined by Paul in 1 Cor. 13: 4–7. There was a manhood when the baptismal gifts ceased; and there shall be a manhood when we shall know experimentally even as we have known theoretically. This is the post-resurrectional maturity of the "perfect man," or body of Christ, every member of which will see "face to face."

That which is perfect will have come in the full sense

Herald of the Kingdom and Age to Come, Nov 1861

The Apostolic Ministry

To make the communities of Christ's brethren effective for their objects, Christ, by the Spirit, appointed and qualified a variety of officials, in the first century, whom Paul enumerates as -- 1, apostles; 2, prophets; 3, teachers; 4, miracles; 5, gifts of healing; 6, helps; 7, governments; 8, diversity of tongues. Their appointment by the Spirit made them the responsible overseers of the one body, whom the members were bound to obey. This ministration of the Spirit, and this presence of divine authority in the ecclesias, continued during the days of the apostles, and the generation next ensuing.

After that, an apostacy arose in the apostolic community, after the analogy of the case of Israel, in their first settlement of Canaan; who "served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the Lord that he did for Israel" (Jude vii).

The apostacy prevailed more and more, as the Apostles, by the spirit, predicted would be the case (2 Tim. iv 1-4 ; ii 17), until all trace of primitive truth disappeared, and the spirit of the Lord was withdrawn from all association with an empty Christian name. Whatever genuine profession may have existed since then, has not been honoured by a return of the Spirit's witnessing and governing presence.

The Ecclesial Guide

11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

Discernment, we have said, is necessary to profitably extract the lessons of childhood. This is a scriptural warning. There are qualities inherent in childhood which we must resolutely put away. 

It is these things, sadly enough, to which we tend to cling.

The smallnesses, the limited perception, the narrow out­look, the desire for amusements, the petty quarrels, the fussing over trifles, the frivolity, the foolishness, the love of pleasure, the playing of games, the silly talking, the day­dreaming, the lack of ability to face and analyze facts, the fatal attraction of novelty and colour, the immature love of bright toys and shiny playthings, the lack of self-control, and of courage to think and to be different-these things, upon becoming men, we must firmly put away.

"Brethren, be not children in understanding: in understanding be men"

-1 Corinthians 14:20.

Bro Growcott - As Little Children

13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

Put on the new man

Put on, therefore, as God's elect, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering. . . . Above all these things put on love, which is the bond (or girdle) of perfectness" (Col. 3:10-14, R. V.).

Without love our spiritual attire is incomplete. What is love? For the truth on this vital question let us turn to Paul, and not to unenlightened man. Wrong thoughts on this subject have led to cruel mistakes. Imperfect knowledge has caused many an exemplary brother to be unjustly condemned, and many a worldling (in whom the genuine article has been wanting) to be lauded to the skies.

A man can give all his possessions to the poor, and his body to be burned in the cause of religion, and yet lack love. What is Bible love? It is a product of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22), it is of God (1 Jno. 4:7). It is no blind feeling inherent in the flesh-its root is not there. It is an intelligent, discriminating, truth-loving, truth-obeying quantity (1 Cor. 13).

It is exceedingly comprehensive in its attentions-it does not confine itself to one object, but extends to many. It is a something which even goes out towards our enemies-to those who hate us. It is a principle which rises above, nay, which controls all our natural affections, curbing some and stimulating others. There is, perhaps, no better definition of love-the love which is of God-than that given by John,

"This is the love of God, that we keep his commandments."

Bro AT Jannaway

The Christadelphian, March 1910

Holy and blameless in love

What then, is love? When we read 1st Corinthians 13 we are apt to think that we have got to the bottom of it. Here is a full explanation, we feel. Love is a combination of all the best characteristics -- meekness, long-suffering, kindness, patience, etc.

But that is not true. Paul there isn't telling us what love is, but what it does. Electricity isn't light and heat and motors and dynamos -- it is the POWER behind all these things.

John tells us what love is, and his conception is much deeper than just a combination of its manifestation. He says, "God is love." Let us go a step further. Jesus says God is Spirit. And what is spirit? Spirit is power -- the power behind every power -- the power in and by and through which all things exist.

The more we analyze it, the more we conclude that there is no power but true love. It is the love of God that conceived and maintains the universe in motion. This is not far-fetched. All things, we are told, were made for Christ -- he is the nucleus of all. But why was Christ made? He was made, we are told, to be the supreme manifestation of the love of God. The whole creation is designed as the setting for the highest expression of the love of God, and the power of God.

Love is power. Power is that which does things -- accomplishes things. Now clearly the highest and greatest power would be that which has the highest and greatest accomplishments.

We say that God's offering of His Son is the greatest manifestation of His power, because it accomplishes the most. It is the power by which He draws men upward and forward -- the power by which He transforms them from carnal to spiritual -- by which He drives out the natural and infuses them with holiness.

It is the power by which His whole purpose is moving forward. By love, God is gradually developing a host of beings who will reflect His glory and His divine attributes. Beings who, because of the divine attraction which is love, have freely chosen the hard but glorious upward ascent to Him. What power but love could accomplish this?

Love is power. God's love, we have seen, is at the bottom of all mechanical power, for it is the mainspring of the universe. But there is something else. Two thousand million people are in constant motion upon the face of the earth. What is the power behind every action that they make? It is love. Of course, it is not love in the pure and exalted sense in which we have been considering it. When Paul speaks of love, we understand him to mean holy love, the spirit or power of holiness -- true love, as God intended it to be.

But the spirit of the prophets is subject to the prophets. Love can be misplaced and debased. It can be a power for evil just as for good. But still love is the power that moves every human creature in every human act. What, for instance, was it that dictated the course of Demas? Love of this present world. And of Diotrephes? Love of pre-eminence.

Repeatedly we are told: Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. We must love. All living activity is impelled by love. Loving is synonymous with living. Even in the simplest acts, we set our love upon a result, and that is the power that moves us to accomplish that result.

And here lies the vital importance of setting our affections high. We cannot create the power. God does that. We are born with power and desire and will. But we can choose in what direction that power is to move us. If we set our love on the world, we are drawn down to the world; if we set our love on ourselves, we shrivel up within ourselves.

But if we set our love on God, that marvellous power that energizes us makes contact with a greater and unearthly power -- we are drawn to God and He is drawn to us, and in accordance with the universal law of magnetism, as we approach Him the attraction becomes greater and greater, until finally we are swallowed up into His substance.

"As many as receive him, to them he giveth POWER to become the sons of God" (John 1:12).

We are drawn toward whatever inspires our love. That mysterious magnetism is the secret of all movement and activity. God could force us, or could teach us with cold reason. It did not need the death of Christ to persuade us that obedience to the Supreme Power of the universe is the only sensible course.

But God loved us, and He manifested that love in the most powerful way possible. Therefore we love Him, and are drawn toward Him. We want Him, not because He is Almighty and can do us a lot of good, but because He loves us and we love Him.

Every act is propelled by a drawing toward some object or end in view. We are born with this tremendous and incalculable power. See what labours men will perform, what hardships they will endure, what they will sacrifice to accomplish their ends! It is an irresistible, terrifying power, stronger than life itself, and when the magnet is brutality or gain, love is a destructive force.

But there is no magnet like the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Herein is the wisdom of God. If He appealed merely to our self-interests, there are often many stronger attractions than that. Men will give up all their self-interest and lay down their lives for a person or cause that they love.

But God holds before us the highest possible manifestation of love and power -- the offering of His Son, who himself joined in that love with every fibre of his being; and looking upon him we are irresistibly drawn toward Him. Lesser powers and attractions fade -- a power outside ourselves carries us forward. This attraction is divine and eternal; others are light, passing shadows.

Therefore, we see why Paul so strongly emphasizes the necessity of looking upon Him --turning our hearts and minds in His direction -- setting our affections upon Him -- allowing his light free course into our souls -- bringing ourselves into the focus of His glory -- directing the mighty inborn power of love toward the fountain of holiness, and permitting nothing to obscure the vision or blot out the light.

So we find the power that He has given us to become the sons of God, and that power is love. We must love these things -- and they are ours. We can be rooted and grounded by the power of love. We can forbear one another, be bold to speak the Truth, edify the Body, walk in the steps of God, all by the power that He has given us, the secret of which is love.

In his final words, after divers exhortations, Paul closes the epistle with a vision of this two-way current of transforming power still before him --

"Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ..."

"Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ with an imperishable love."

Bro Growcott