Page:The Last Judgement and Second Coming of the Lord Illustrated.djvu/206

 diminished. Man being the only subject of responsible creation, and a finite resemblance of his Maker, it is clear that He must have a superlative regard for him. How then can it be said that He will terminate the duration of a creature for whose preservation He has displayed so many mercies, and towards whom He has manifested so profound a love?

The essential nature of the Divine love is such that it is not willing to be the property of itself; its unceasing activity is to love others out of itself, and make them happy. Mutual love among mankind is a blessing communicated to them from the Lord; it is a living principle, manifested by the individual, and having as its tendency the transferring of its blessings to others. "Behold how good and pleasant a thing it is for brethren to dwell together in unity." Mutual love is the amiable source of all that is wise and holy, beautiful and happy, in the human character; its reign is the administration of peace and blessedness. The Divine love is the primary source of all those blessings, and, therefore, it must contain within itself all their essential qualities. It desires nothing so intensely as the happiness of mankind. It is as a sun from which issue the heat and light that are shed abroad in the intellectual universe, and from which all things derive their life and blessedness. It is as a Divine magnet, acting, without intermission, upon every variety and condition of human character, to the end that men may be finally crowned with honour and glory. The salvation of mankind is, as it were, the consolation of the Lord, because this is the purpose of all His mercies and of every providence. "He maketh His sun to shine upon the evil and the good, and sendeth His rain upon the just and the unjust." And who can reasonably think of all the mercies which love confers, and not see that they involve the per-