Scotch Sermons 1880 - 1880 Author:Unknown Author Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: IV. THE RELIGION OF LOVE. BY THE REV. JOHN CUNNINGHAM, D.D., CRIEFF. The love of Christ constraineth us.—2 Corinthians v. 14. " The love of Christ cons... more »trains us,"—to what ? To live not to ourselves, but to him who died for us. In other words, constrained by the love of Christ, and taught by the self-sacrifice of Christ, we ought to live unselfish lives. A consecrated love should be our motive, a Christian life should be our end. I need not proclaim to you the old moral maxim, that merit is to be sought for in men's motives rather than in their outward acts ; and hence the necessity, when judging of ourselves or others, of looking closely to the mainsprings of their conduct. Thus, supposing we live uprightly, what is it that leads us to do so ? Is it the fear of punishment, or the hope of reward ?— is it the pure love of uprightness itself, or the love of that holy Being who enjoins us to uprightness ? Supposing you say the former, then I ask, Can there be any merit in motives so thoroughly selfish ? Supposing you say the latter, then I ask, Is it possible for a creature constituted like man to love virtue for itself or God for himself ? It is important for us as Christians to know these things, for Christianity consists as much in a well-ordered life as in an orthodox creed, perhaps more so. If it preaches faith, it also insists on good works. It involves a law to be obeyed as well as a gospel to be believed ; and it seems to set before us a variety of stimulants to obedience—the hope of heaven, the fear of hell, and love in its multiform outgoings both toward God and man. Well, let me take it for granted that you are all living reputable lives, or, better still, active, useful lives : it is so far good ; but behind that there is the question, What are the feelings wh...« less