re learning the love of Christ, we
shall be brave to do the right, come what may.

Again, the love of Christ is wonderful in its effect on our _work_. It
is a common saying that such and such a work is a labour of love; and,
believe me, that is the best done of all which is done for love. Did you
ever watch a young mother making the clothes for her first child? Never
before has she bestowed such care, such thought, such patience, on her
sewing, every stitch is prompted by love.

Long ago, there was an old Cathedral somewhere abroad, I cannot tell you
where. On one of the arches was sculptured a face of exceeding beauty.
It was long hidden, but one day a ray of sunshine lighted up the
matchless work, and from that time, on the days when the light shone on
the face, crowds came to look at its loveliness. The history of that
sculpture is a strange one. When the Cathedral was being built, an old
man, worn with years and care, came to the architect, and begged to be
allowed to work there. Fearing his age and failing sight might cause the
old man to injure the carving, the master set him to work in a dark part
of the roof. One day they found the stranger lying dead, with the tools
of his craft around him, and his still face turned up towards that other
face which he had carved. It was a work of surpassing beauty, and
without doubt was the face of one whom the artist had long since loved
and lost. When the craftsmen looked upon it, they all agreed--"this is
the grandest work of all, it is the work of love."

We, my brothers, are all set to do some work here in the temple of our
lives, and the best, the most beautiful, the most enduring, will be that
which we do because the love of Christ constraineth us.

And yet once more, the love of Christ is wonderful in its _power of
pardon_. Have you ever known what it is to have sinned grievously, and
to have repented truly? Have you felt the shame, the sorrow, the misery
of knowing your sin, and the exquisite sense of relief when you knew that
you were pardoned? Have you known the power of Christ's absolving word?
Have you felt that He has given the prodigal the kiss of pardon, that He
has carried the lost sheep home once more, that He has said to _you_--"I
will, be thou clean, depart in peace?" To know this is to know the love
of Christ. Are there no prodigals here now who have not yet arisen and
gone to their Father? Are there no weak, tempted women straying into
d