The Love of God.

 
MR. NOTT, missionary in the South Sea Islands, was, on one occasion, reading a portion of the Gospel of John to a number of the natives. When he had finished the sixteenth verse of the third chapter, a native who had listened with avidity and joy to the words, interrupted him and said, “What words were those you read? What sounds were those I heard? Let me hear those words again!” Mr. Nott read again the verse― “God so loved,” &c., when the native rose from his seat, and said, “Is that true? Can that be true? God love the world, when the world not love Him! God so love the world, as to give His Son to die, that man might not die! Can that be true?” Mr. Nott again read the verse― “God so loved the world,” &c., and told him it was true, and that it was the message God had sent to them; and that whosoever believed in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. The overwhelming feelings of the wondering native were too powerful for expression or restraint. He burst into tears, and retired to meditate in private on what he had heard. There is every reason to believe he afterward enjoyed the peace and happiness resulting from the love of God shed abroad in his heart.