We'll really just comment on the first, very, very first part
of this verse. Love suffereth long and is kind. The first three verses of this
chapter are all negative, just to put a little perspective on
what we have here. It doesn't say, for example,
that because of love I would give all my goods to the poor.
It says if I gave all my goods to the poor and had not love,
it would profit nothing. You see the manner in which it's
stated in a negative sense. It speaks of futility, speaks
of impotence, inability. It speaks of worthlessness absent
this one central grace from God, love. Even a faith, it's declared here,
even a faith that does not love God and his people is an empty
sham. And the fact that there is such
a thing as faith like that explains a lot. when we see the religion
of this world and know them by their fruits. This is the blackest of backgrounds,
futility, hopelessness. And then in verse four, there's
a jewel laid upon that background. And we see the first refraction
of the most beautiful light. Love suffereth long. Without love, we can do nothing,
we have nothing, we are nothing. The kind of love that is essential,
the kind of love without which we are nothing, is not easy come, easy go. That's what we're told here.
This kind of love that we're talking about doesn't come and
go, it doesn't fade, it doesn't easily quit. The word means, the word for suffereth long is
does not lose heart. It's not an affectation of the
heart, that is a pretense or a posturing, but it is an attribute
of the heart. It's the kind of heart we have
from God. Not by nature, but the new heart
that God gives in salvation. It's an attribute of that heart.
Love, just as God is love. And he creates within us a right
spirit and a clean heart. A heart that's like his, that is created
in righteousness and true holiness. A heart of faith and love for
him. That new heart is given by God in salvation. And that love suffereth long. Let's make something clear right
away about all of the statements in this verse and in this chapter
about love. This description is so contrary
to our nature. It's so opposed, it's diametrically
opposed to how it is in this world with people, with sinners,
with all of us by nature, that this can't simply be attributed
to the different strengths and weaknesses of the love in different
people. This chapter describes a love
that most people simply do not have. You see the difference? It's so different, it's so contrary,
it's so unlike us. It's not talking about different
strengths and weaknesses, it's a love that we do not have by
nature and most people never will have. A love that suffers
long because you know and I know that what passes for love in this
world is so fickle and so fleeting and so changing, so unreliable, so unpredictable. Remember that this love is the
fruit of God's Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit is this
love that's described in this chapter, and the fruit of the
Spirit is only produced as we abide in Christ. Those that abide
in me, John chapter 15, they bear much fruit. What fruit?
The fruit of the spirit. If you don't abide in the vine,
you're not bearing fruit. You're dead, fit to be burned. And as we know, most sinners,
as they walk this earth, do not abide in Christ. And so that's
why it's evident that they just simply don't have this love. Now, we who do abide in Christ,
we also have the old nature, which does not possess this love.
The old nature doesn't change. We have two natures. And the
old one does not possess this love either, and that's why we're
so prone to lose heart. for the most petty reasons. And again, how different the definition in this chapter
of love is to what we experience, even we who do abide in Christ. This is why friendships built
over decades can be tossed aside without reason. and so-called
marriages of a lifetime can dissolve because of common pride over
petty differences. This love is the love of Christ that's shed abroad in sinners'
hearts when God puts us in Him. It's different love. And the reason its existence
depends upon the vine, Christ, is because the essence of this
love is divine. It's not human in its nature,
except that Christ was made like unto his brethren. He is the
human being in which this love perfectly dwells. He's it. But we have his heart
in us now, and that's why this is an attribute of the heart
that he gives, but so affected by sin that we still see the
difference, don't we? We read this and if it were for
Christ, we would despair. We wouldn't read this and say,
oh yeah, that's me. No, it's not me, but it is my
Savior. This love is said to cover a
multitude of sins. We speak of justification when
we preach the gospel because it's the glorious truth that
because of Christ and his sin-cleansing blood, we actually literally
have no sin before God. Our sin is as far as the east
is from the west from God. It's behind his back. These analogies
are given in the scripture to show that our sin does not exist
before God. He hath beheld no iniquity in
Jacob. Though Jacob's a worm in and
of himself, the Lord has beheld no iniquity in him because he
sees his Jacobs in Christ. He doesn't look to us for righteousness. He looks to our Savior who is our righteousness. All sin is before God and we
just don't have any because we are justified in and by Christ
and what he accomplished for us on Calvary and at the empty
tent. That is wonderful truth, and
we preach that truth. But it's not the whole truth.
It's not all of the truth, where the Bible also speaks of forgiveness. And forgiveness, for there to
be forgiveness, there must be the acknowledgement of sin. We are still taught to pray.
Father, forgive us of our trespasses. The Lord is not ignorant of what
we are and what we do. We're still taught to pray, Lord,
forgive us. Why? Because we still sin. We are washed and we need not
but that he wash our feet. But we still cry, Lord, purge
me. and I shall be clean, wash me,
and I shall be whiter than snow. That's still our prayer. And so this love, it covereth
sin. It doesn't ignore it. It doesn't excuse it. But it covers it. That's our
Savior's love. And that's the love that he puts
within us, the fruit of his spirit. and notice that it's the fruit
of the spirit. That is love that's born. Fruit
comes from the plant and nutrients that we'll never see and we don't
see how it comes about. Sometimes it seems like something
to be planted in your garden, it grows every day. You could
almost sit there and watch it grow. We don't understand all
that, we don't see all that, but we can see the fruit. So
it is with the fruit of the Spirit. The Spirit is spoken of as you
can't tell where he came from or where he'll go, but you can
hear the sound. You see the evidence. You see the result. The fruit
of the Spirit is love. This is love that can be seen.
This is love that's experienced. But it also has a source, right? The fruit of the Spirit in your
heart, the fruit of the spirit in us, the fruit of Christ in
you, the hope of glory. What is produced as a result
of Christ dwelling in you is that you love him. You love his sheep. You love
his people. You love what he loves. Know
what he said about Joe? He fears me and he loves what
I love, hates what I hate. This is love that loves in spite
of. That's what sufferth long means.
It means in spite. Here's the love that we're talking
about. See if this doesn't define Love
that suffers long. God commendeth his love toward
us in that while we were yet sinners. Christ died for us,
which is what love is. Christ died for us. God commended
his love for us in that while we were yet sinners. Are you
yet a sinner? Then he yet loves sinners if he loves you. You remember that word yet in
the book of Hosea? This love, it bears offenses
and injuries. That's part of the definition.
If you look it up, suffereth long. It means to bear offenses
and injuries. This is seen in Christ in its
perfection. In us, it's refractive. but still beautiful because it's
still Him. Even in us, it's Him. Can we love someone and then
they hurt us and they abuse us and they are gomer and we Hosea? Can we love like that? When God
says, go take unto thee a wife of whoredoms now, that's one
thing. And this is a picture. And he
tells Hosea up front, I'm gonna show you how much I love my sheep,
my people. And here's how I'm gonna do it.
You go love a woman. And that's one thing, God's love
for us is like that. But when God says in chapter
three, go yet and love a woman, who is an adulteress. She was always what she was before,
but now she's an adulteress. Now she was married and still
what she was before. Love her anyway, go yet and love
her. That's this love. This is love
that suffereth long. And God used that as a picture
now. We're not to compare it to a
situation in this life necessarily. We're to compare the power of
that kind of love. Divine love that loved us anyway
while we were yet sinners. He set his affection upon us
and when we yet sin, when we yet fail, when we yet despise
Him, when we yet turn away, when we yet fall and are unfaithful, selfish in everything that we
are. He loves us anyway. According to the love of the
Lord toward the children of Israel, who look to other gods. In the book of Hosea, God commands
this love. You think about this with me.
We have a lot to say about If the Lord continues to bless,
we'll have a lot to say about this love now that he's describing
and how he's doing it. You notice we're not talking
about what it feels like. We're talking about what it does.
It suffers long. God commanded it, didn't he? You go love her. He still does that. He commands
the love. Can we love like that? No. No. Neither would Hosea. Hosea did
because God commanded it. Can I stretch forth my withered
hand? No. Unless he commands it, and with
the command, gives the power. I can do all things through Christ
which strengtheneth me. Without him, what can I do? It's
a no. That doesn't change once we're
saved. Without Him, I can still do nothing,
and I can still do all things through Christ, who strengthens
me. That's how it's been, and that's
how it still is. That's how it was with Lazarus.
What's he gonna do? And that's how it was with Simon
in the porch of the palace. and at Pentecost. He could do nothing and he could
do everything. And hinged upon his Savior, it
still does. There's no merit in my love.
We have a capacity to love that this world doesn't have. That's
just true. Everybody doesn't abide in Christ
and everybody's not going to bear the fruit of love, not this
love. But it's not us being better
than others. Don't ever think that. It's Christ in us, the
hope of glory. And kind This is a ray of light that sheds
very bright when the Lord sheds it even through us Even through
us He said I am the light and he
said you are the light I believe we know exactly what
he said. This is the life that flows within
us from the life source. Divine, our savior. Light that is so beautiful. And I'm so glad that love is
kind, aren't you? Love is kind. If God has shed abroad his love
in your heart, that love is kind. Love rebukes. Love disciplines. We can see
that in scripture too. I could turn to it for you. You
know it's there. Love corrects, but love is kind. In all of that,
it's kind, and I'm so glad. The smoking flax the Lord will
not quench, and the bruised reed he will
not break. The king of love says, sleep
on now, and take your rest. It is enough. He's so kind towards
sinners. Listen to the rest of that verse.
He said it is enough sleep on take your rest Behold the hour is come and The
Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners That's enough
Christ giving himself for our sins and Rest in Him. How kind is that love? And His ambassadors, you know
what they say? I would to God that not only
you, but also all that hear me this day, we're both almost and
altogether such as I am, except these bonds, except this sin. I'll ask you this again, I've
asked you this before. How many people could you name
that if you had one word to describe them, it would be this one? Kind. I can think of a few, can't you?
I could easily pass over some. And you could too. May God give us this love. You
see, this is not a lot of things that love can be. This is one
love that is all these things. This is an attribute of God that he passes on to his children.
He imparts to his children But more than that, it's our
salvation. If love is defined by what God
did for us, and it is, herein is love. Not that we love God,
but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation
for our sins. Then love is our salvation, if
that's what it is. And it is. It's Christ and what
he did on the cross, what he accomplished for us. That's the
definition of love. You won't find a better one.
It's something done. It's something accomplished. Not a feeling, but an attribute
that's seen in action. To love indeed is to love. But who? And the only reason
I ask that, I don't want us bragging on me and you know that, saying,
you know, this person's so kind and that one, I don't know about
that. It's not about comparison. It's about this. What about me? What about me? May God give us
this love. Turn with me to Titus chapter
three. Verse three, Titus 3.3. Titus 3, 3, for we ourselves
also were at one time foolish. And this is of course in the
spiritual sense. We know that we're still, we
still don't know anything as we ought to know. We're fools. But let's talk about ignorant
of God, disobedient. Rejecting God and his word, his
gospel. Deceived. We thought, you know,
everybody thinks everything's okay with them and the man upstairs
until it's not, by the grace of God. Serving diverse lusts and pleasures. In other words, all about me,
whatever makes me happy. That's what it's about. Living in malice and envy. Not only all about me, but when
it's all about you, it ain't all about anybody else. So you
hate them. You despise them. You sell them for what you could get. Hateful. And hating one another. But, We could talk about how the world
just doesn't see that. We don't hate each other. We're
buddies. We're best buddies. Just a quick illustration. I'm in a group that is about
prepping, you know what prepping is, you know, preparing for the
end of the world, and it's all, you know, when it all falls apart,
what's gonna happen? We laugh about that, but it's
not that funny anymore, is it? It's getting less funny, less
a subject for joking. But anyway, they're always talking
about your, I forget what they refer to it as, but your, support
group, you want to be there, join these little clubs, you
know, we're going to be we're all going to get together when
it happens. And we're all going to be. And every once in a while,
I can't help but comment on there and say, your group is going
to be about three or four people at the most that won't eat you
when it comes down to it. And it's been three or four is
probably way overstated. Now, this church now, I feel
comfortable with most of y'all. But you know what I'm talking
about, hating one another? Yeah, we're best buddies. Let
me buy you a beer until it comes down to it, me or you. And I say, you need to quit thinking
that way. Don't you form little clubs and stuff, because I'm
telling you right now, 99% of them will kill you to save themselves
or somebody they love. But anyway, just a little illustration
that people hate each other. They just don't even know it.
They don't even know it. It's pretty obvious when you
see people, the way they talk to one another, But this world, that's just by
nature. But here's the remedy to that. The kindness. That's what we're
talking about. This love is kind to people that
flat don't deserve it. We tend to romanticize sin like,
oh, he's just an old sinner, you know. No, there's nothing
funny about that. God ought to put us in hell. and laugh at us while we're crying
for mercy. He ought to throw us straight
in hell as fast as he can and mock us on the way down. That's
what we deserve. But after that, the kindness
and love of God our Savior toward man appeared. A child is born, look. Glory
to God in the highest and peace on earth and goodwill toward
men, toward sinners, toward wretched, vile, hell-deserving sinners. Not by works of righteousness,
which we, did I have you turn there? Titus three, yeah, I had
you turn there. Look at that. not by works of
righteousness which we have done. He wasn't kind toward us because
we were good to him. He was kind to us in spite of
the fact that we hated him. The kindness and love of God,
that's what we're talking about. It is embodied, it is Integral to the nature of our
Savior, He is love, He is kindness, He is mercy. According to His
mercy, He saved us. By the washing of regeneration
and the renewing of the Holy Ghost, we're new creatures. Which
He shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ, our Savior. that being justified by his grace,
we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. You see the kind of love we're
talking about? The love of the Savior dwells
within us. Christ dwells within us. That's why we're capable of love
that we're not capable of by nature. We couldn't honestly
say to the Savior like Simon did, I love you. As we are by nature, we're the
children of wrath by nature, even as others. And this is a
have or have not. We need to understand that. John
539, search the Scriptures, the Lord said to the religious Jews,
for in them you think you have eternal life. They studied the
Scriptures and they trusted their knowledge of the Scriptures.
You think you have eternal life in your understanding of the
Scriptures, but you need to search them again. Keep searching because
they are they which testify of me. That's all they did. The scriptures
don't teach us how to live. They show us that we don't know
how to live. They drive us to the state that
the law is not a set of rules that we're to strive to follow.
Yes, we love the law of God after the end. Man, that's God's character
in writing. His holiness. But I can't measure
up to that. That's not the point, the purpose
of the law. It was a schoolmaster to bring
us to Christ, to show us our need, not give us reason to pat
ourselves on the back, or even to despair, except that
we despair of all else but Him. It's a have or have not. Listen,
you will not come to me that you might have life. I don't
receive honor from men, but I know you, that you have not the love of
God in you. That's why they hated him. That's
why they wouldn't come to him. That's why they searched the
scriptures and missed him. because they had not this love
in our text in them. It's a have or a have not. And I'll tell you what, if it's
a have in your case, it's only by God's grace through his Holy
Spirit. Listen to Romans 5.1, therefore
be justified by faith. You know what, I'm through, so
let's turn there. Let's look at this together in Romans 5.1,
please. Romans 5-1. Therefore being justified by
faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ
by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein
we stand and rejoice in hope of the glory of God and not only
so but we glory in tribulations also knowing that tribulation
worketh patience and patience experience, and experience hope,
and hope maketh not ashamed, because, all of this is because
the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost,
which is given to us. You see that word because? Faith
because of love. Hope because of love. Now about a faith, hope, and
love, but the greatest of these is love. Steadfastness, experience,
peace, because of that love that God should have brought in our
hearts. by the Holy Ghost, which is given
unto us, having love for Christ, which cannot be lost. Though it wax and wane, it cannot
be lost because it is the gift of God in us. And it brings about
all these other benefits. That's why the Lord didn't ask
Simon, are you steadfast? Did you learn your lesson now?
Are you reliable now? Are you faithful? Can I count
on you? No. He didn't ask him that. And let
me ask you this. Could Simon have answered yes
to any of that? He learned better than that,
didn't he? He learned better than to say,
I'm with you no matter what. He couldn't have said yes to
any of that. But do you love me? Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you. You see, we love him because
he first loved us. May God bless us in this. This is divine love, isn't it?
The love of our Savior. May we abide in the fine to the
extent and in so much as this fruit by His grace. Let's pray together.