Turn back to 1 Corinthians chapter
13. The Word of God is the standard. It's the measuring stick by which
we measure everything. Everything. And I think this
word, love, is probably one of the most misused. an abused word
in the English language. If you want to know what love
is, read chapter 13. We have the standard, the measuring
stick of what love is. This is it. Now, this is it. And you can read this chapter,
and where it says charity, you can insert the word love. And
better yet, you can insert the word Christ. You can put His
name in that place. If I have not Christ, I am nothing. If I have not Christ, I know
nothing about love. I don't know anything about it.
All the world gives us some ideas about it, and we have some concept
of it just by nature, but not until you know Him do you understand
what love really is. And right here it is. Right here
it is. And every now and then, we need
to go back to these places in the Scriptures where we are given
these standards and go over them once again, and look at them
once again. Now, Paul had been correcting
the Corinthians for their divisions. And where there is division,
love is not present. You can just mark it down. Unless
it's over the gospel. If it's another gospel being
preached, we are going to divide. We're going to divide over that.
But anything short of that, we don't need to divide over. We
don't need to have divisions over. Not at all. If you want
to be a Republican or a Democrat, go ahead. That doesn't matter
to me. That doesn't matter to me. But
how God saves sinners matters to me. It matters. God's glory is in that. His glory is in that. So Paul
here is correcting the Corinthians with their divisions, their misuse
of the Lord's table, their misuse of spiritual gifts, And their
attitude toward each other was just, it was awful. It was awful. Actually, you'd walk into that
place, you wouldn't think it was a church. It was so bad. Their division
got so strong. Their attitude got so ugly. But you know what? It was still
the Lord's church. That's the amazing thing. You know what
that's evidence of? God saves sinners. He saves sinners. So Paul closes the last chapter
with, covet the best gifts, those gifts that most honor the Lord
Jesus Christ and edify the brethren, such as what I'm doing right
now, preaching, preaching the gospel. But he says, but I want
to show you, I will show you a more excellent, he doesn't
say another way, he says a more excellent way. And that way is
the way of love, the way Christ loved us. As I quoted earlier,
having loved his own, he loved them to the end. If there is anything for which
we ought to constantly pray for, it is this, that we would increase,
Lord increase, our love to thee. I have written down here, our
love to thee and to one another. But I'm telling you this, if
God increases our love to him, it will automatically increase
to one another. Our love to one another is a
direct reflection of our love to God. It's a direct reflection
of it. And then he says in verse 1,
though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, And had
not love, I am become as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal."
That is preaching without heart. That is preaching without affection,
heartfelt affection for the people that you're preaching to. That's
what that is if I preach without love. If God gave me the gift
to speak this morning in every language and to do it with great
eloquence, If I could speak on the level of angels and have
not love, have not the true root of love for men, for you, which
flows from a true love for God, I have nothing but an irritating,
Paul says, there's nothing but an irritating sound. That's all
it is, an irritating sound. And though I have the gifts of
prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge,
and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains. I watch these TV preachers, they'd
love to have this. They don't love the people they're
preaching to, but they'd love to have these abilities. It would
be a real money maker. Believe me, we'd be real money
makers. If I had all these, this place would really be full. We'd
have to build another building. But if I have not love, I am
nothing. I'm nothing. Just an empty vessel. If I have not love, I have not
Christ. If I have not love, I have not
God. I'm nothing but an empty vessel.
That's all it is. If I could tell the future, if I could preach the mysteries
of the gospel, and if I had all the spiritual gifts that Paul
speaks of back in chapter 12, if I had all those spiritual
gifts, and if I had great faith where I could remove mountains,
troubles, and if I could remove people's troubles and heartaches,
if I could do that, if love is missing, I am useless. That's what Paul said. I'm useless.
It will do nothing for you. Nothing for you. I'm useless
to myself and I'm useless to you. No good, no, listen, no
eternal good will come out of it. Now, there will be some temporal
good come out of it, but no eternal good will come out of it because
God's not in it. God's not in it. If the grace of love is missing,
These gifts would only make me, they would make me more obnoxious.
That's what they would do. You look at people who have talent,
but the grace of love is not there. They're so arrogant. They
become so arrogant, so puffed up, lifted up, not even recognizing
God who gives us these things. But if love's there, If love's
there, it'll perfume everything we do. It'll sweeten everything
we do. And Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ,
will get the glory and the honor that He should get, and He'll
get it in a proper manner, in a proper manner with love. It'll
be a return of love. That's what it'll be. One of the greatest gifts is not to be able to stand here
and speak fluently, eloquently, it's to be able to stand here
and speak to you in love. I mean with a heart that just
absolutely loves you and wants the best for you. That's the
greatest gift. That's the greatest gift. And though I bestow, give
all my goods to feed the poor, And though I give my body to
be burned and have not love, it profits me nothing. It's empty,
useless. To me, it's useless. It's not
going to give me any eternal value in it at all. There's not
any in it. We think that men who give such
things must be full of love. There's one thing I've noticed,
and I've been watching a couple of biographies this past week
Very rich men. They gave a lot of money when
they got old. And they were very rich. And
they wanted to leave a legacy. That's what they wanted to leave.
They wanted to leave a legacy. And they didn't give it until
they were rich, old, and ready to die. And this is a good way
to leave a name for yourself. A good way. And most people think
that such a person must be full of love. No. No. The Pharisees did what they did
because they loved to be seen of men. It's to be seen of men. If they're going to give it,
why not give it quietly with no name on it? Their name not
attached to it. Instead of having a camera crew
ready. There have been many Many who
have beat themselves, sacrificed and done many of these things.
And it was absolutely useless because they have not the love
of God shed abroad in their hearts by the Holy Spirit. Useless. This love that Paul's talking
about is of God. It is shed abroad in the heart
by the Holy Spirit. And if this love is absent, God
is absent. If this love is present, the
spirit of Christ is present in you. He's present. It's one of the marks of sonship. I think it's probably the most
distinguishing mark of sonship is this. You love one another. You love the brethren. You can't
keep from it. You cannot keep from loving one
another. You can't do it. If the spirit
of grace is in you, the spirit of Christ is in you, You cannot
help but love. You can't do it. You can't help
but do it. That's why he says the greatest
of these is love. They were having divisions. They
were being lifted up over their gifts. Paul said, this is what
I desire for you above all this, that you love one another. That
will take care of all the problems. It'll take care of all the problems.
There's no profit in anything we do if it's void of this God-given
love. If it's void of it, there's no
profit in it. While the least thing that we do out of a true
love for God and the brethren is priceless. It's priceless. Now, starting in verse 4, we
have the character of love. There is a character that shows
itself when love is present. This is how you know love is
present. And we have the character of it, starting in verse 4. Love suffereth long, long, and
is kind. Love envies not. It rejoices
when something good happens to one another. It rejoices. Love
wants not itself. It's not puffed up. It's like the love of a mother
to a child. She suffers long with that child
when that child is sick because she loves him. That's what keeps
the mother there. It's love. It's not duty. It's
not duty. It's love. Love keeps her there. When the love of God is shed
abroad in the heart, it enables us to suffer long with one another. It enables us to suffer long
with one another. And it's kind when love is present. This love that is shed abroad
in the heart by the Holy Spirit, when it is present, It can take the meanest person
in the world and make them kind. Apostle Paul, he's the perfect
example. This man hated the church. This
man persecuted the church. He put them in jail. He consented
to their death. And listen, at this point now,
after the Lord saved him on that road to Damascus, there was no
kinder man than Apostle Paul. No kinder. It's kind. It softens the heart. The grace
of love makes a person a kind person. A kind person. It envies not. When we are envious, it's evident
love is not present. Love is not present. That's the
work of the flesh. That's a trait of Satan. Not
the trait of love. Love is not grieved when someone
else prospers. or what someone else has been
given gifts to use. You're happy for it. You know,
my right hand is not envious of my left hand. My hands are
not envious of my legs. I'm thankful for every part of
my body. I'll tell you this, I'm equally
thankful for every part of my body. When we love, we love the body.
We love ourselves. We know that. We love ourselves.
We nourish and take care of it. And that's the way it is in the
body of Christ. We love one another. We nourish
one another. We take care of one another. Solomon said love covers a multitude
of sins. How is it an old mom just can't
believe that her son would do such a thing? That doesn't sound
like my son. My son wouldn't do that. My daughter
wouldn't do that. That is love trying to cover
a multitude of sins. That's exactly what that is.
That's exactly what it is. I'm sure glad God has covered
a multitude of my sins and your sins. There's a lot of things
we don't want anybody to know. There's a lot of things passed
through our minds we don't want anybody to know. And God covers them
up. He doesn't reveal them. Do you
realize how embarrassing it would be, how awful it would be, if
He put us on display? That would be terrible. But His love has covered a multitude
of sins. And it's not puffed up. Pride
and love don't mix. Love will not dwell in the same
house as pride. The grace of love is a humbling
grace. It is truly a humbling grace. When we see what God has
done for us in Christ, it's humbling. It is truly humbling if you see
it, if you see it. And it does not behave itself
unseemly, rudely, rudely. Seeketh not her own, is not easily
provoked, thinketh no evil. I tell you, when I read this
thing, you just want to crawl. You just want to sit down and
just crawl on the table. Because this is a description
of true love. And even though we do not have
these things or love perfectly, these things are here. These
things are present. They are present. And they do
grow. They do grow. And it doth not behave itself
unseemly, rudely. And it seeketh not her own, is
not easily provoked, and thinks no evil." Show me a rude person,
a rude person, and I'll show you someone void of love. I'll
show you someone who's lost. A rude person. Christ was meek
and lowly. He was never rude. Never. And
it seeks not its own. A rude person seeks its own.
Love seeks the best. It seeks the best for its object.
It does. Love concerns itself with the
well-being of others. Did not Christ deny himself?
Did he not become poor that you and I might be made rich? Did
he not do that? He did. Love seeks the best for
its object. Love's concerned with the well-being
of others, and it's not worried about itself as much as it's
worried about you. About the object of its love.
Concerned with the others. Christ always sought, the Lord
Jesus Christ, always sought the best for his children. You'll
never read in the Gospels where the Lord relieved himself of
any suffering. When Satan in the wilderness,
Satan came to him and said, take these stones and turn them to
bread. He hadn't eaten for 40 days and 40 nights. He could have done that. He'd
fed 5,000 with a little boy's lunch. He could have turned those
loaves Throw stones into bread and got rid of his hunger. Taken care of. But he didn't
do it. He never relieved himself. Everything
he suffered, he suffered to the end. But he sure relieved us. He sure has relieved his children. Love thanks no evil. That's why when he said, when
he was reviled, when he was reviled, what does it say? He reviled
not. He reviled not. He didn't say,
I'll get even with you. I'll get you when this is over.
He reviled not. No animosity in his heart whatsoever. Love thinks no evil. That's why
it is not easily offended. That's why it is not rude. That's
why it seeks not its own, because the thoughts of the heart are
motivated by love. What we're reading here in chapter
13, this is it. This is the standard. This is
the measuring stick, right here. And rejoice is not in iniquity.
It takes no pleasure in sin. It takes no pleasure in doing
sin. And it takes no pleasure in someone else falling into
sin. It takes no pleasure in it. It finds no pleasure in it
whatsoever. And love rejoices. Now listen,
it rejoices in the truth. Do you rejoice in the truth?
When you hear the gospel, when you hear the truth, does it cause
you to rejoice? Do you remember what we looked
at last week? When Mary, she was pregnant with
the Lord, she walked into the room where Elizabeth was. And
Elizabeth said, when you walked into the room, the child leaped
in my womb. Have you ever sat under the gospel
and you heard the gospel preached? You heard someone standing here
preaching the gospel and you felt that? You felt like it just
leaped in you? I have, and I know you have.
It's just like, it's just, boy, you know, it just lifts you up. Lifts you up. It rejoices in
the truth. It loves to hear the truth. And
it loves to hear the truth told. Loves to hear men speak the truth.
And it bears all things. It bears all things. Because
it knows that all things are of God. Now, it's just not consistent
to believe that all things are of God and then turn around and
be upset about everything that's going on. That doesn't work.
They don't go together. If all things are of God and
that you truly believe that, you'll find peace in that whatever
happens, whatever goes on. And you're able to bear on things.
Because you know all things are of God. Love is that grace that
keeps the mother by the bedside. Money keeps the doctor. Love
keeps the mother and the father. Love keeps the brethren together
through all their ups and downs. We'll have the ups and downs
and misunderstandings. Somebody's going to have a bad
day. Somebody's going to have a badder day, if that's a word. But love
keeps it together. Love is such a bond that it can't...
I'm not talking about human love. I'm talking about that kind of
love. I'm talking about the love that's of God. It keeps you together. It is such a strong bond that
keeps you together. And love, listen, it believes
all things. Love believes all things. It believes all things
that's in the Word of God. It believes God. Believes all
things. Love believes God. Believes all things about God.
Love believes all things concerning the gospel. And love tries, in
this flesh, love wants to believe the best of each other. Because of sin, we struggle with
it. Because of sin, we fall. But
love believes the best of each other. It believes the best. And it hopes all things. Love
hopeth all things. You see, it says, love believeth.
Paul said there, in the end of this, he says, now by the faith,
hope, and love. Without love, there's really no true faith.
And without this true love of God, there's no real hope. It's
a false hope. Because it's evident the love
of God is absent. And if that's absent, God's absent.
Christ is absent. And it hopes all things. It never
quits. It does not quit. It continues on. It continues
on. It never gives up hope. Love
knows that the Lord is faithful and will do as he said. And it
continues on. It endures all things. It endures all. You notice here,
it believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. That's very inclusive, isn't
it? All. Trials, sorrows, sickness,
disappointments. It endures these things. The
grace of love in the heart keeps a believer going when there seems
to be nothing to go for. And you can't even detect it. But you go anyway. You read,
you study, you pray, even when things are so bad you can't even
look up, you just keep on going. Because love's there. I'm telling
you, it's that driving force. It's that driving force that
keeps you believing, keeps you hoping, keeps you loving, keeps
you coming. It's that love. And listen, love,
that is this love that is shed abroad in the heart by the Holy
Spirit, it never fails. Do I fail? Yes. I fail, yes. But does this love that God gives
fail? Never. It never fails. It's of God.
It will never cease in this life. Faith is going to give way to
sight. Hope is going to give way to
reality. But love, it's just going to
increase. It's just going to increase.
It never fails. But where there be prophecies,
they shall fail. Where there be tongues, they
shall cease. Where there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. All these
gifts shall cease, and many of them have. Many of them have
ceased. But love, it must cease. Paul says we know in part, we
preach in part, and the most that anyone knows spiritually
is in part. We are going to be amazed how
much we don't know or didn't know when this is over. We'll be amazed. But when that
which is perfect is come, when we shall enter into heaven, and
when we are in God's presence, then that which is in part shall
be done away with. This imperfect knowledge that
we have, it will all be done away with. And we'll know even
as we are known. Paul said, when I was a child,
I spake as a child, I understood as a child. That's about what
we know. About that kind of understanding
compared to what we are going to know in comparison to that. Someday, we are going to reach
full maturity in Christ in heaven, and we will not think and act
like children anymore. Not one time will we ever be
upset with one another. Ever. Not one time will we say,
what does he mean by that? Not one time. Not once. Love will be perfected. Now by
the faith, hope, and love, these three, but the greatest of these
is love. that God increased this gift.
What's faith without love? What's hope without love? Paul
said nothing. It's nothing. Love gives every
true work its sweet smell.