"He is the freeman whom the truth makes free, And all are slaves besides." We know no truth, no privilege, no power, no blessing, no right, which is not abused. But is liberty to be denied to men because they often turn it into licentiousness? There are two freedoms--the false, where a man is free to do what he likes; the true, where a man is free to do what he ought. Love is the safeguard of the highest liberty. +II. Love is obedience to the highest law.+--"For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself" (ver. 14). "By love serve one another" (ver. 13). We may be as orthodox as Athanasius and as scrupulous as Jerome, we may be daily and ostentatiously building to God seven altars and offering a bullock and a ram on every altar, and yet be as sounding brass and as a clanging cymbal, if our life shows only the leaves of profession without the golden fruit of action. If love shows not itself by deeds of love, then let us not deceive ourselves. God is not mocked; our Christianity is heathenism, and our religion a delusion and a sham. Love makes obedience delightful, esteems it bondage to be prevented, liberty to be allowed to serve. "Serene will be our days and bright, And happy will our nature be, When love is an unerring light, And joy its own security."--_Wordsworth._ +III. Love prevents the mutual destructiveness of a contentious spirit.+--"But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another" (ver. 15). The condition of the Galatians at this time was very different from the ideal Paul set before them. The quick, warm temperament of the Gauls was roused by the Judaistic controversy, and their natural combativeness was excited. It was easy to pick a quarrel with them at any time, and they were eloquent in vituperation and invective. The "biting" describes the wounding and exasperating effect of the manner in which their contentions were carried on; "devour" warns them of its destructiveness. If this state of things continued, the Churches of Galatia would cease to exist. Their liberty would end in complete disintegration. Love is the remedy propounded for all ills--the love of Christ, leading to the love of each other. Love not only cures quarrels but prevents them.