and enemies, and men and women of every age and condition in life. Finally the formal promulgation of Christianity on the first Pentecost was made in the presence of men out of every nation under heaven. Thus did the love of God appear to all men on the three great occasions, the three crucial points, in the work of the Redemption.
Brethren, the revelation of God's love was made with a twofold object — to wean our hearts from earthly things and to win them back to God, or, as St. Paul expresses it, " to instruct us that, denying ungodliness and worldly desires, we should live soberly, justly, and godly in this world." On these two commandments, avoid evil and do good,, depend the whole law and the prophets, for they involve that twofold law of charity according to which we should be ready to give up worldliness and to lay down our lives for God and our brethren, even as Christ laid down His life for us. For our return to God by love is the reversal of our departure from Him by sin, and in every sin there are two elements, aversion from God and conversion to creatures. It is of the very nature of the human heart to love something, and when the heart grows cold towards God and all that are His, when the practices and ceremonies of religion become a wearisome burden, then worldly desires so invade the soul that God is quickly lost sight of and utterly forgotten. How prevalent this evil was when Christ was born! How world-wide it is to-day! Men treasure up the riches, honors, and
