Difference in character does not rest in appearance, manifestation, or pretension. A balloon may be bigger than a substantial house or a rock; an inflated bladder larger than a block of gold. The balloon may be more shapely and more beautifully adorned, but few would prefer it as a permanent dwelling to a house. The balloon would be more attractive to the great mass, unless at a time when there was a general realization of peril and need of shelter. The gently swaying motion of the great balloon would attract the crowd, while the modest house would be passed by unnoticed. The balloon would make way for itself as truly as a house. Its swaying and veering in the wind would make for itself a wider field than would be demanded by its dimensions if it were quiet. The house modestly assumes to possess no more ground than that on which it stands. Finding the house in his path in a field, one would turn out of its way barely enough to pass. Finding the balloon swaying in the wind, held by anchor and guy-ropes, one would give it a wider berth. The house pretends to nothing that it is not; the balloon to much more than it is. The difference in true worth between the two lies in foundation and material. The house has for its foundation the enduring rock. Rains may descend, floods may come, tempests may blow; but the foundation remains secure, its security all the more evident. The foundation of the balloon is mere air, soft and cushiony, but fitful and fickle, at one time a calm then a storm; now a gentle zephyr, anon a tempest of destruction; and the balloon, resting upon it for a foundation, may this minute be safe and the next blown to destruction. The material of the house is tested wood, iron, stone, and brick. Bit by bit it has been builded up, the superstructure advancing no more rapidly than the parts below were made secure and solid. When the top is reached, it is a solid, strong structure, capable of resisting the strongest winds and withstanding the fiercest tempests. How many times we see these two types of character manifest among men. The one is like the splendid balloon, presenting a gorgeous appearance, manifesting itself gloriously, making great pretensions. To-morrow it is a heap of torn and tattered silk and a mass of tangled ropes, while those who trusted in it are mangled corses. The other is like the modest house, standing firm year after year, a refuge in time of storm, a shelter from the heat, a home for the way-wandering, enlarged from time to time as needed, on the same plan, of the same material. We admire for a moment the one; we trust in the other. God has revealed in a word the difference between the two characters: “Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth,” or to put it in simple Anglo-Saxon, “Knowledge puffeth up, but love buildeth up.” The man of knowledge is “proud in that he knows so much.” He assumes to instruct all, and looks down upon those of humble pretensions. He coruscates, shines, sparkles, gleams, arouses admiration, enthusiasm, and is gone like a brilliant comet, leaving behind only a fading trail of nebulous dust. But to the man who loves God, Christ the all in all. Love drinks in the sunshine of His promises, the refreshing showers of His Spirit, and gathers out the living stones of His truth; and so, atom by atom, stone by stone, mass by mass, the character is builded, growing by Love’s life into a living temple for the eternal habitation of His Spirit. Knowledge makes a brave appearance in gentle breezes of prosperity, as it sweeps majestically along, but in the time of the fierce tempest it collapses. Love only binds the Foundation Rock the closer and stronger by the mighty life-clasps till it becomes a very part of the Eternal Rock. “Love envieth not; love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not its own. Love never faileth; but . . . whether there be knowledge, it shall be done away. . . . But now abideth faith, hope, love, these three; and the greatest of these is love;” for love builds an eternal habitation.