+I. In its application to the affections.+--"That your love may
abound yet more and more" (ver. 9).
1. _Love to God._--(1) Because of the supreme excellence of His
character. (2) Because of His generous interposition in the work of
human redemption. (3) Because of the benefits He is constantly
bestowing.
2. _Love to one another._--Love promotes brotherly unity--oneness of
feeling, of aim, of effort. Unity promotes strength. To strength in
its combined action victory is given.
3. _Love to the unsaved._--The law of Moses insisted, "Thou shalt
love thy neighbour"; to which the Pharisees made this addition, "Thou
shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy." Christ interprets
the law of love in the command, "I say unto you, Love your enemies."
+II. In its application to the intellect.+--"In knowledge and in all
judgment; that ye may approve things that are excellent" (vers. 9,
10). Knowledge, the faculty to acquire information; judgment, the
faculty to discern its value and use; the one leads to the sources of
truth and appropriates its stores, the other selects and uses what is
acquired. These two faculties necessary--1. _In judging revealed
truth._ 2. _In judging Christian experience._ 3. _In selecting what
is best in all truths._
+III. In its application to the conduct.+--"That ye may be sincere
and without offence till the day of Christ" (ver. 10).