The Greatest Thing In the World and Other Addresses by Henry Drummond
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page 5 of 118 (04%)
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the commandments. "Thou shalt have no other gods before Me." If a man
love God, you will not require to tell him that. Love is the fulfilling of that law. "Take not His name in vain." Would he ever dream of taking His name in vain if he loved him? "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy." Would he not be too glad to have one day in seven to dedicate more exclusively to the object of his affection? Love would fulfill all these laws regarding God. And so, if he loved man, you would never think of telling him to honor his father and mother. He could not do anything else. It would be preposterous to tell him not to kill. You could only insult him if you suggested that he should not steal--how could he steal from those he loved? It would be superfluous to beg him not to bear false witness against his neighbor. If he loved him it would be the last thing he would do. And you would never dream of urging him not to covet what his neighbors had. He would rather they possessed it than himself. In this way "Love is the fulfilling of the law." It is the rule for fulfilling all rules, the new commandment for keeping all the old commandments, Christ's one SECRET OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE. Now Paul has learned that; and in this noble eulogy he has given us the most wonderful and original account extant of the _summum bonum_. We may divide it into three parts. In the beginning of the short chapter we have Love _contrasted_; in the heart of it, we have Love _analyzed_; toward the end, we have Love _defended_ as the supreme gift. |
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