Behold I stand at the door and knock; if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame and am set down with my Father in His throne." Verily, brethren, "blessed are the dead which die in the Lord."

II.

THE LOVE OF GOD THE SALVATION OF MAN.

"God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." JOHN iii. 16.

THE Conversation of Christ with Nicodemus, of which these words form a part, was confined to the two great truths, or rather spiritual facts, which chiefly distinguish Christianity, the new birth of the soul by the Spirit of God, and his redemption from condemnation by the offering of the Son of God. Upon these everything most essential in the Gospel kingdom hinges, and even the Sacraments of the visible Church derive their spiritual significance and efficacy from their rela tion to the divine facts, revealed to the inquiring and awakened mind of the Pharisee ruler of the Jews. Upon that part of the great redeeming work which was proclaimed in the text, let us now fix our attention; and may He, with whom is the fulness of the Spirit, apply the word spoken to the souls of all who hear.

This single passage brings distinctly before us the great practical truths most closely connected with the salvation of the sinner, the Gospel

message in its most distinct form; just that declaration of saving truth, saving, when blessed of God's Spirit,-which, if you could say no more, you would wish to hold up before a dying sinner for his acceptance before he passed into eternity, -"God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

We are here taught that

1. Without Christ the world is in a perishing condition.

2. That, through Christ, a way of salvation is opened.

3. That this salvation can be received by all through faith.

4. That it originated in the exceeding love of God towards a sinful race.

1. That without Christ we should all perish, is plainly implied in the text, and in many other passages of the Scriptures. All men stand before God as sinners, depraved in nature, and alienated by evil works. The state of the world is fully declared, by the pen of inspiration, as that of universal guilt and condemnation. St. Paul plainly teaches us, that in this respect "there is no difference; for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." But this truth is implied in the many offers of salvation, and especially in the Divine means used to secure it. That offer is to the whole race without exception. Christ died for all men. He is the propitiation for our sins, and

not for ours only, but for the sins of the whole world. The Saviour's commission to his apostles was, "Preach the Gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned." There is no man who does not stand in need of the salvation which Christ purchased with His blood. All must utter the prayer of the Psalmist, "Enter not into judgment with thy servant, O Lord, for in thy sight shall no man living be justified."

And we may infer, also, the lost condition of the race from the greatness of that sacrifice made for the recovery of sinners. Had it been possible for man to escape from the power and consequences of his guilt without such a Saviour, or by any means less costly, the Son of God would never have taken our nature upon Him, and have exposed his Divine person to the malice, the ignominy and agony inflicted by His enemies. As the sacrifice of the Son of God is the highest manifestation of Divine love, it gives also the fullest and most convincing proof of the extreme peril under which the world had fallen. In the works and ways of God, there is no useless display of means to secure the great purposes of infinite wisdom and love. When, therefore, we consider the amazing plan for human redemption, we behold both the highest possible evidence of the willingness of God to pardon the guilty, and the impossibility of the restoration of man by any other way; as the apostle Peter declared, "There is no

other name under heaven, given among men, whereby we must be saved." And the context forewarns us of the awful peril of neglecting this way of salvation provided by God. "He that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him."

2. But as the text implies the lost state of all men without the Saviour, so it implies that through Christ every man may find salvation. No one who feels in the depths of his own soul the greatness of his own sin against the all-holy and merciful God,—- who compares his life with that standard which his own conscience declares to be righteous, just, and good,- and especially who feels the active power of a sinful nature in the extreme difficulty of subduing any unholy desire; finding ever within himself that which St. Paul describes, that when he would do good, evil is present with him; a constant and powerful tendency to bring the whole man into captivity to the law of sin; no such person can for a moment doubt the necessity of the utmost distinctness and fulness of evidence that salvation is not only possible, but absolutely sure to every one that believeth. Whenever the heart is truly awakened from that deadness and spiritual indifference which is its natural state, to a consciousness of its sinful condition, the guilt of a whole life passed without God, and the power which sinful habits have gained, which seems absolute and irresistible,-the strong and constant temptation is to entire hopelessness,