Till glory gathers from the brim
of my kingdom. Give me a thunderbolt within
the winter rain. that they will rejoin their God
and go to meet the King. All right, go back to 1 Corinthians
13, which brother called these red horns. 1 Corinthians 13.
Actually, you can turn to 1 John also, 1 John. Now, we have a
very precious thing here. A very special, special and rare
thing here at Central Baptist Church. This thing of unity and
harmony and brotherhood and fellowship. Very, very, very special. Precious, precious thing. Why is that? Why do we have this? What will
keep it this way? What will keep us together? What will keep us from falling
apart? What will keep us from leaving
the gospel? What will keep us from leaving
the church, leaving our families, and so forth? Now, if you answer the grace
of God with all of these, you're right. Absolutely. You are right. It is the sovereign,
saving, keeping, teaching, that is, chastening, restraining,
constraining grace of God that does all of these things. But
there's something behind that grace. There's a principle that is behind
that saving, keeping, teaching, restraining, constraining grace. One word. It was the love of God that caused
him to choose us, to sovereignly choose us. It's the love of God.
The love of God which saved us, a wretch like me, like you. It was the love of God. It is the love of God which keeps
us as the apple of His eye. Like a father does his children,
it is the love of God. Again, as a parent or a well-loved
child, which teaches. And that teaching involves chastening. That's what the word means. It
is the love of God, which restrains us. Restrains us, keeps us from
doing this and that. And as the Apostle Paul said,
the love of Christ love of Christ. So when you're
talking about the saving grace of God the word behind all of
that is love. That's the cause of it. The love of God for us is our
salvation. If God loves me. If God loves
me. And he will say. Make no mistake
about that. The love of God for us is our
salvation down. He says I have loved the with
an everlasting love therefore. With loving kindness I've drawn
with loving kindness I'll keep I'll never catch you with loving
kindness I'll teach you and on and on. And that love of God for us. Is known by the love of God. In the love of God shared abroad
in the heart. The love of God in. All right
look at first John two you know these verses you know them well
but this is a good way to lead up to. Our text first ten or
John two verse ten he that love of his brother abided in the
light and there's no occasion of some stumbling and no scandal
he won't cause one he won't be one. He won't look for one. That's just the fact that's what
they say. Look at chapter three, as I say, and seem to quote often
these days. See, and you know these things
before. We're going to look at them again. Verse one, behold,
what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the
sons of God. Verse eleven, this is the message you heard from
the beginning, that we should love one another. Chapter four. First John four look at verse
sixteen we have known and believe the love that God has to us.
God is love. And he that dwelleth in love
dwelleth in God and God in him and herein is our love made.
Grow mature. That we may have boldness in
the day of judgment because as he is. And we've seen. Clearly how this not only speaks
of. Our standing before God but our
actual character as he is look at it so are we. How was he in this work. Having
loved his own. He loved him. Freedom. There is no fear in love. Perfect
love casteth out fear, because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect
in love. We love him, we do love him,
but because he first loved us. And if a man say, I love God
and hateth his brother, he is a liar. He that loveth not his
brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath
not seen? And this commandment we have
from him, that he who loveth God, love his brother also. So, and he said there, love is
perfected. Back in chapter 2, the love of
God is perfected. That is, it grows, it matures.
Now, where would you turn? You don't know already, where
would you turn to find the character of true love, where it instructs
us very fully how to love? Well, we just read it there in
1 Corinthians 13. OK, go back to the character
of true love in 1 Corinthians 13. Now, we just studied this
one year ago, a little over a year ago, looking at my old note. But I believe I strongly believe
that if we prayerfully, prayerfully and carefully and
regularly consider these verses, consider this passage, that there will be no occasion
for stumbling in us. I'm convinced of that. God's
Word is His power, kept by the power of God. What's that? The
Word of God is His power. If we prayerfully, carefully,
as if not just in, well, individually, but as a church, keep these things
before our eyes, then there will be no occasion for stumble, you
know. That's what he said there. All
right, look at chapter 13 with me. Verse 1, though I speak,
now he had just been speaking of, gifts of healing and so forth,
speaking other languages and miracles and all of that. And
he said, I'll show you something more excellent. Something that
far exceeds God, because those are all going to end. We saw
that. Those are all going to end someday. These things that
men covet so earnestly, I'll show you a more excellent way.
Look at verse one. Though I speak with the tongues of men, and
of angels and have not charity. Now, you know that word means
love, don't you? Interestingly, what we think
of as charity is giving, don't we? Well, that's a good definition
of love, isn't it? Husbands, love your wives as
Christ loved the church and gave. Well, everything but principally
himself. So, charity here is love, you
know that. Though I speak with the tongues
of men and of angels and have not charity or love, I am become
a sounding brass or tickling cymbal. That is, no true love
for God, no true love for his people, eloquent speech or preaching
If you will, prophesying is often preaching and scripture. Eloquent
speech or preaching about God is an abomination to God without
true love for God, without a true love for his people. I'll never
forget when I read this as a very, very young man, just beginning to go out and
preach a little bit. One of the old writers said,
it's one thing to love to preach, but it's quite another to love
those to whom you preach. Lots of fellows like to get up
and sound off, Mr. Sounding Bradson. It's a completely
different thing to love those to whom you preach. Say what we will or how we will.
If there's no love, It's meaning. Verse two and though I have the
gift of prophecy and understand all mystery and all knowledge. Though I have all faith so I
could remove mountains and have not love I'm nothing. Doctrine. Theology. Seeming a seeming. Understanding. of doctrine, and
I remind you what he read, wrote here. We know him part. The fact is, if any man think
that he knoweth anything, meaning if we think we have something
perfectly mastered, we need to start all over again. He knoweth
nothing yet as he ought. No subject. He knoweth no subject
as he ought to know. How ought we to know? As children. But the seeming knowledge of
doctrine or theology without a true love to God you can love
doctor. That's a fact we can a person
can love the sovereignty of God. That's a fact. Doctrine or theology without
a true love for others is nothing. It's nothing. It's dead. Some
of the most eloquent persons I've ever known, some of the
most articulate men and women, knowledgeable, seemingly knowledgeable,
that I have known over the years, were the meanest, most self-righteous
people I've ever met. And some of them left the gospel.
If anybody's like that, they don't know the gospel. So eloquence,
being articulate, it's nothing without love. Nothing. Verse
3, and though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though
I give my body to be burned and have not love, it profiteth me
nothing. The giving of alms, sacrificial
service, give your whole life to something. And if there's no true love to
God, His glory, His cause, no true love to those to whom this
service is being done, it profits nothing. Many do these
things in love of praise, he said. So, now, he's going to
show us the character of true love. Now he's going to show
us the character of true love. And before we look at this, I
need to remind us that this is not law, per se, this is grace. It's not by merely trying to
be this way or do this, they don't do it. Not unless this
is truly, you know, and this is in this character. is in every true child of God. And what, besides what constrains
us, what motivates us to love like this, is we read there in
1 John 3, behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed
upon us. That's what moves us to want
to love that way, right? What manner of love, what manner
of love have the father bestowed upon us this manner? All of this
right here. You could very easily, and I've
done this before, mistakenly done this as a whole message,
substitute Christ's name there for charity. But that's not in
the context. That's not the context here, although it's true. He's
instructing us on how we're to love. But the fact is, This is
exactly how our God loves us. This is exactly how Christ loves
us, suffers long, beareth all things and so forth. All right, let's look at it,
OK? This is the manner of love, and this is what motivates us. Verse four, love suffereth long. That means puts up with a long
time. the one in love suffers or endures
all thing I remind you what Peter said is salvation for us. Remember that he said we need
to take into account beloved brethren we need to take into
account he said account that the long suffering of the Lord
is salvation. Why are we going to be safe because
the Lord is going to suffer with us a long time. the day we die
until we're made just like him, and then he doesn't have to suffer
with us anymore. We'll be without sin. That is our salvation. How long, the Lord said, how
long must I suffer with you? Well, he had to suffer with those
disciples until he left them, and then sent the Holy Spirit
to suffer with them the rest of the time. Long suffering. And this long suffering character
within us, It will keep us as a church as
a family and keep our relationship. As husbands wives and so forth
patience is a good word for long suffering. Putting up with patient
and we should keep in mind. How patient our God is with us. How patient my love is kind verse
four love is long suffering and is kind the word kind is I like
the word don't you like the sound of the word the word means tender
compassion. Tender compassion about how kind
is our God. All he has not dealt with us
according to our sin and they are rewarded us for that. Like
as a father pity of his children, so the Lord pity him. Same word,
is kind, tender, compassionate toward his people. And he tells
us, be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one
another, as God for Christ's sake. That's a good motive, isn't
it? Good enough. And this is glorifying
the God, being kind. It brings reproach upon Christ
and the gospel if we're mean. And being kind is not just to
the brethren. Scripture says, do good unto
all men, all men, especially them of the household of the
faith. But a mean and unkind spirit out in the world, that's
not normal. God's people ought to be the
most tender. They are. I mean, ought to be.
There ought to be more. But they are the kindest, tenderest,
most compassionate, gracious people. If people are looking
for a kind word, they ought to be able to find it from God's
people. Huh? Now, we're all going to
hang our heads in guilt and shame about all of this, but now you
ought to. I ought to. Every one of us in
here know we've come far short of this, don't we? Yet, you can
see it in one another. It's true humility not to see
it in yourself. It's a true brokenheartedness
not to see it in yourself, but others see it. I assure you. It's like Davis looks in the
mirror and he doesn't see much change today. He doesn't see
much change. Same old Davis. I see him from
Sunday to Sunday and it looks like he's grown six inches. He's
changing. He's changing right before our
eyes, isn't he? God speak from growing and growing. So don't be so miserable. When I say these things, OK,
and whom the father love. Love is kind, be kind one to
another. This is everybody to all men,
be kind people. This is glorifying to God. He
sure is a kind man. The love of God, the grace of
God softens an old hard heart. Look at the next thing. Love
envieth not. Envieth not. Love is not jealous
of the prosperity or the gifts of the one it loves. And the
best illustration I can use of this is a parent with a child. There's no parent that truly
loves their child. who in these or jealous of them
being more prosperous or having more or or or whatever being
more gifted than they were. It's impossible. As a matter
of fact. You want them to have more and
so forth that's what love that's what love is. Love envies not. Love rather prefers the prosperity
of the one it loves over itself. That's right. Here's the scripture. He, Christ, who was rich, yet
for our sakes became poor. And the scripture says, he thought
nothing of it. Who for the joy that was set before him, thought
nothing of it. Who despised the shame, thought
nothing of it. Endured the cross. joy of making
us his people. Love, that's why. Love, love
for his people. Left everything? All the riches,
glory, honor, love, perfect love, left that? To be immersed in
pure hatred. Why? Love, look at this, vaunteth not itself. Love vaunteth not itself, is
not touched up. Well, self-exaltation is self-love. That's what it is. Self-exaltation
is self-love, and it's ungodly. The grace of God causes us to
hate ourselves. The grace of God causes us to
hate ourselves. The grace of God causes us to
deny ourselves. The more one grows in great. The less they really want to
talk about. If anyone does brag on them or
say anything to them. It really you really don't want
to hear. You don't want to hear. Lovers of self love to talk about
themselves. There's been said that their
selves are their favorite they love themselves. And nobody else
does. But they sure do. And they love
to talk about things. But true love is more interested
in the one it loves. And again, I use the illustration
of a parent with a child. But, you know, you don't want
to talk about yourself. You're interested in them. True love is more interested
in the one it loves. Lovers of God. Those who truly
love God. Who do they want to talk about?
Themselves? How much they love God. True lovers of God. Do they want to talk about how
much they love God? Do they go around telling everyone how much
they love God? No. True lovers of God talk about
God's love. Christ love. Don't. And the brethren. Love bond is not itself. It's
not puffed up. Puffed up. If we get up, we're puffed. That
means We're full of hot air. That's it. We get all blown up. It's not because there's anything
of substance in us. It's just a bunch of hot air.
Or what I'd really like to say. Puffed up. And it'll come out.
Ah boy. He's not puffed up. Read on.
Love is not puffed up. Love does not behave itself unseemly. That means an improper or unbecoming
fashion out of character. Now. So we have. Everyone have behaved. In an unbecoming fashion improperly. And we'll. Again. Because we're. We still have
that. epidemic nature in a. The word here is is is a continuing
fashion it's a general tenor of life does not behave that's
not the general characteristic of. They have a character it's a
character of Christ. And though at times because of
whatever. They get out of character, yet
that is not their general character. And like Peter, let me give Peter
an illustration. Peter denied the Lord, didn't
he? He got out of character. He just behaved unseemly, didn't
he? Cursed? But it didn't last, did it? And
he was just horribly ashamed. He went out and wept. As do we. As do we. Ashamed. And ask forgiveness. He was ashamed to show his face.
But he did. He came running back to cry.
And we do, we act out of character and we improperly and unseemly. We behave at times that later
we're so ashamed of ourselves and we will. Ask forgiveness. Because we love them, we love
those who act this way toward a time when we hate ourselves
for doing it. So, love seeketh not her own. Verse 5, love seeketh not her
own whatever, rights, rights, will, own will, welfare, happiness. true love seeks those things
for a loved one. Greater love hath no man than
this. See, all of these things can be summed up in my life,
my rights, my will, my welfare, my happiness, my life. This is
my life, and I want it to be. Greater love hath no man than
this. And he laid down his life for his friend. Now, who's that
speaking of? And if you love I said if my
commandment that you love one another. And what are we. And the law love. Is not easily
provoked. That seeking not your own will. Make it so you don't. Become
easily for both. If somebody violates your rights
if you really think. Low thoughts of yourself. The only way we get really offended
is if we think too highly of ourselves. Isn't it? Isn't that
so? Are you offended? Me? Me? How could she have done that?
To me. Who are you? I'd say the only
one that could really honestly say that is the Lord Jesus Christ. See, in many things, we offend
all. We're offensive. And so, you know, we deserve
to be offended. But Christ is the only one who
is unoffensive, inoffensive. don't want to say that. But he
didn't. He took it when he was reviled,
he reviled not again, but took it patiently. And so should we. Because we're
nothing. We're nothing. As Spurgeon once
said, if somebody says bad things about you, just be glad that
they don't know the whole truth. Love is not easily provoked to
anger, that is. Not touchy, not resentful, not
easily offended. Because, now here's, love is
not easily offended, easily provoked, because love thinketh no evil. That is, love is not suspicious
of the loved one. Love is not, you know what is
suspicious? of people that motive action
words and all you know what is right. That's right self-love
and self-righteousness. Suspects evil and others. It
suspects evil and others. We're looking at Matthew the
gospel of Matthew. And all of the injunctions or
commands that our Lord is giving us listen to all of the commands
that our Lord is giving us is for us personally. Not for us and closing chapter
seven verse one people say judge not in other words when the Lord
tells us something. I'm not talking about, you're
not their judge. If we judge ourselves, we'll
not be judged. So love thinketh no evil. Love
is not suspicious of a loved one. Self-righteousness is. Love is not suspicious. And we've
all had it happen, you know, we've all been Misconstrued or
misunderstood, or we've all, you know, people took something
wrong and got and. And we couldn't understand why
they did that, because they got in a self, a state of self righteousness. That's why I wouldn't do that,
you did it. Be done with that, let's be done
with that. Love, thinketh no evil. If we're going to think
evil, let's think it about ourselves. Not anybody else. But we know
ourselves. We don't know the hearts, the
motives of other people. We don't. God's the only one
that does. Love thinketh no evil. And this also means love intends
no evil. Love does not think any malice
toward a loved one. It may rise up your own. It may
at times act unseemly and rise up and act like they're going
to kill you, but it can't. Yeah, we're going to see that. Love means no malice, really. It can't. It's not in its character
as Christ. Verse six, love rejoiceth not
in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth. And we're talking
about Love for God, as well as love for one another. Love. Love. Love for the truth. It
says here, love rejoiceth not in iniquity, but in the truth. Rejoiceth in the truth. Romans 1, 2 Thessalonians 2,
both tell us that ungodly, unbelieving people hold the truth in unrighteousness. It says they, they, what's the word? It says that
they agree with, let's say, have pleasure in them that do these
things, wicked things, have pleasure in them. Second Thessalonians
says they believe not the truth, but have pleasure in unrighteousness. Now this is the, when God Almighty
puts a new heart in a human being, it causes them to love righteousness,
love holiness. A God lover loves everything
that's like God, Godliness, and hates sin, hates iniquity, especially
in sin, especially in sin, and hates any form of sin. sin was
sport. Here's the illustration. Sin
was sport to the sodomites, wasn't it? As it is today. Sin is sport. It really is. Slander, malice, hatred, violence,
wickedness, all manner of uncleanness and debauchery is sport. But lot Believers take no pleasure in
these things, even though they themselves might succumb to that
temptation, but they take no real pleasure in it. Paul said
that in Romans 12. He said, what the Romans 6, what
pleasure, what fruit did you have in those things that you
took pleasure in and no longer have? None. Salvation is from
sin. And it gives you a hatred of. Whereas you see it. Especially
in fact. That you're loathed and vexes
you. Vexes the righteous soul. Rejoices in the truth. And this
also means it wants to get to the truth of a matter. It doesn't
want to believe slander, lies, gossips. Which is iniquity. Isn't it? I look at the next
thing love Barrett all things that of slander lies gossip and
so forth. Love Barrett all thing the word
bear there actually literally make cover with silence. Normally I don't you know look
up too many words I think we can get bogged down looking up
the Greek this is good enough work. The Greek scholars who
put this wrote out the best English word. But I looked at a bear. Sometimes it means carry. Right,
but the bear the infirmities of the bear one of those burdens
that it bear one of those burden means carry. But here it literally
means cover with silence. That's good. Love covers with
silent, conceals, hides. Scripture says, we that are strong
in faith, that is, ought to bear the infirmities of the weak,
the infirmities. Bear, cover with silence. If
somebody comes up, a young believer comes up to us and reveals their
utter ignorance of something. And instead of, well, you We've all done it we've all said
things spoken out loud and it was obvious we didn't have a
clue what we're talking about. We've done it in front of older
believers and what did they do. Right. I think it was Brother
Bob told me the story when he one time he was in the men's
study. watching and you. You were saying something about
your favorite first time you read. He said, I'll never forget
something to this effect. He said to the man, my favorite
verse in John 22. Was that was that what you said? Something that my favorite verse
in John 20. It's only 21 chapters. John. We've all done these things.
Well, what did they all do? They all jump all over him and
say, you ignorant fool. You don't know nothing. Just
sit down and shut up. And bear with him. Cover with silence.
Never bring it up. Never bring it up. The we that
are strong, that is, in the faith, ought to bear, that is, cover
with silence the infirmities, the ignorance, the faults. Well,
he's just young. He's just young. young enough
and she just unsettled. He's just unsettled or whatever.
He's just in a bad state or whatever, you know. Just cover it over. Love cover it. A multitude of
sin. Now let me remind us all. Is this not the manner of love
that God has given us? He covers all our sins. Not just
a multitude, but all of us. He bears with. Covers with silence. Every ignorant word we utter. There at all. But the next thing
love believe that all that we don't hope with all things in
there with all that love believes the best about the one that love. And I just believe that God has
done a good work in him or her, and he will perfect that which
concerns her. That's what love believes. Well,
she ain't gonna make it. That's not what love says. Love
says, I just believe that God has done a work, and I believe
he will perfect that, that he that hath done a good work will
finish it. Sure didn't look like as much
hope for me. Hope, love, hopeth for the best.
See, love, hopeth. for the bad we hold out hope. For the worst. People that we
love a mother with her serial killer son on death row is holding
out hope. He's a good. That's what love that holds out
hope. Oh. Oh my. Thank God, people put up with
me. Love endures. Endureth all things. Love is
willing to endure it all. To the end. Quoted again, Christ said, the
scripture says, having loved his own, he loved them to the
end. In hope. We love people in hope of a good
end. We hope it turns out all right.
That's what we want, you see. That's what love wants. That's
what love desires and wants it to turn out alright. So you hope
and endure and believe to the end, as long as there's life,
there's hope. As long as there's hope, there's endurance. Right? To the end, in hope of
a good end. God saves thieves on the cross. Yes, he does. There's hope. Verse
8. Love never fails. I wish I had 30 more minutes
to talk about God, who is love, never failing. Huh? We could start a whole new message
on this. God is love. Love never fails. Did you hear that? God is love,
he never faileth. What? Name something. I'm going to save somebody. Don't
try? No. No, you don't understand.
When you try something, that means you might fail. God save,
he never. That's another message. God never
faileth his people, God never faileth his son, shall not fail. Don't you love that verse? Isaiah
42, He shall not fail. He shall not fail. He can't.
His name is love. His name is Savior, Jesus. His
name is God. God can't fail. He shall not
fail, nor even be discouraged. If you know the end from the
beginning, known unto God are all his works from the beginning
of the world, what is there to be discouraged? Oh, it's not
turning out. It's turning out exactly the
way I prefer. Not even discouraged. Sitting
on a throne. When you're sitting, seated,
seated, you're not anxious about anything. You walk the floor,
you know, their God, their Jesus is outside, and he's walking
the floor, and he's knocking on doors and all that, hanging
over the banister. He's seated. You never fail. And as I said, that's another
message. This is this one. Love never faileth. If we love
somebody, we never fail. It's just a fact. That's just a fact. And I like
that. I feel like I may fail, but I
like that that says that, don't you? I'm so happy that says that. If the love of God is truly in
me, I'm going to love this man. And. I like that. Love never fails. Now he goes on. Let's just real
quickly finish this up. He says prophecies. You see,
people were desiring to prophesy. They wanted to get up and preach.
I'm a good preacher. Let me preach. They're going to fail. Someday
nobody's going to preach. Someday nobody's going to preach. Someday no man's going to want
to open his blasted mouth. Why? He's going to preach. That's right. That's why Paul
says someday it's all going to fail. Be done with that. He's talking
about this is childishness. Be done with that. He's Paul
as a child, as a Pharisee wanted to preach. I wanted to, you know,
be somebody. He became a man, a man like Christ. Just be happy to let somebody
else do it. I'll be glad someday when I don't have to talk about
it. Just hear him. Because I've never,
the half has never been told. As a matter of fact, I've butchered
most of it. prophesying who says and I better
be careful, but. Well, it'd be tongues languages.
Some fella came up to me one week. We first moved here and
we were living on Main Street. Fella knocked on the door and
he was, I don't know what he wanted, but he wanted to talk
religion to me and he came in and all he wanted to do was just
give the Greek to this Greek to that Greek to this Greek to
that. I didn't know much more. But I didn't have all I said
to him, sir, I said there are five-year-old kids over in Greece
that no more grief than you do. They don't know the truth. That doesn't mean a thing. We
just read where it says, so I speak with the tongue of men of angels
and have not true love. He loved to hear the sound of
his own knowledge. He's more active and get word that he loves
out of his own. Beside we read you read over
there in first Corinthians. The cross of Christ is made of
no effect if I speak with wisdom. And that's exactly what he did
he just translated the meaning out of every passage. It's all going in he said tongues
they shall cease. Brother Walter Gruber has got
a command of the Spanish language. But he doesn't go around showing
it off. I bet you say you've never heard
him utter words. Most people if they knew another
language they'd be bragging about it, showing everybody. It's going
to cease. It's not all going to cease.
Whether it be knowledge, supposed knowledge, It's going to vanish
away because we just know. We know. We prophesy in part. But when
that which is perfect is come, what's that? It's who that who
is that Christ when he's come, that which is in part, it's all
going to be done away with. As I said, there's one that's
going to speak. It's one who knows all it says
when I was a child when I was a child. I speak as a child. I understood the child. Talk
like a child acted like a child and my understanding was fickle
and finite as a child and I thought as a child but when I became
a man. The way these childish things over there in chapter
fourteen says be not children in understanding but in malice.
But now he said read on. We see through a glass. Darkly
dimly. Don't we? So darkly, so dimly. Nobody has ascended up into heaven.
Nobody. Paul's the only one that did. And yet he, he didn't say that
he was the one. He was anonymous. 2 Corinthians
12, remember? He said, I knew a man. He spoke
in the third person. I knew a man who went to the
third heaven and heard things unlawful to utter. He's too humble. We see through a glass darkly,
dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then
shall I know even as also I am known. God, you'll think back on how
ignorant you were. Now abided faith. We do live by faith. We just
live by faith. Hope. Hope. We're saved by hope, he
said. Charity. These three keeps us
going. The greatest of these, they will
never end. keep on. Someday faith will give
way to reality. Someday hope will give way to
sight. Faith to sight, hope to reality,
but not love. It's going to just be perfect. Okay, what manner of love, this
manner, that the Father hath bestowed upon us? And this, he
said, is my commandment to you, that you love one another, because
I love you. Alright, stand with me. Our Heavenly Father, keep
us in Thy love. Lord, You said in Your Word,
keep yourselves in the love of God. Surely, this is what that
means. Keep ourselves looking prayerfully,
carefully, constantly at Thy Word, at how You love us through
Christ our Lord. What manner of love. He loved
us with and how Christ's greater love had commanded He should
love us. So Lord, may the love of Christ
constrain us to love one another. And may it keep us, Christ keep
us, and the love of Christ shed abroad in the hearts of your
people. Keep us. There should be no occasion for snuffling
with any of us. Lord, may each of us examine
ourselves to see whether we be of this faith and this love. It's in Christ's name, amen.