You would open your Bible to
1 John chapter 4. While you're turning, I say I'm
honored to be here once again. Me and Sandy, my wife, we were
talking yesterday trying to figure out how long it had been since
we'd been here. I know it's been at least three years because
it's hard to believe I've been almost three years in West Virginia.
And such a delight to be here. You know, time just flies, doesn't
it? I'm so thankful that the Lord in his grace has allowed
our paths to cross. He has given us a blessed hope
in his darling son. And I pray today that the Lord
might be pleased to make himself known to our hearts and open
up our understandings that we may see him. 1 John chapter 4,
we'll begin reading in verse 7 down through verse 12. And
then we'll be looking over in 1 Corinthians chapter 13. It says, beloved, let us love one
another. For love is of God. And everyone
that loveth is born of God and knoweth God. He that loveth not
knoweth not God. For God is love. You can't say
it any plainer or simpler than that statement. He that loveth
not knoweth not God. For God is love. And this was
manifested the love of God toward us because that God sent his
only begotten son into the world that we may live through him.
There is the love of God. It's all in Christ. It's manifested
in Christ. Herein is love. Not that we love
God, but that he loved us. I thought
about that word us one time and I thought, what is that an acronym
for? Useless sinners. That's us, isn't it? That's the
us. And here in his love, not that
we love God, but that he loved us. And he manifested his love,
he sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God
so loved us, we ought also to love one another. No man has
seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth
in us. You think about that. God dwelleth
in us. And his love is perfected in us. Now, 1 Corinthians 13. The love of God. Before we get
into our text here, some things about the love of God. First
of all, love is the commandment of God. This is my commandment
that you love one another as I have loved you. And this is
his commandment that you should believe on the name of his son
Jesus Christ and love one another as he gave us commandment. Listen, love is not a condition
to be met in order to get salvation, but it is the sure result of
God's saving grace in that person. That's it. If we don't have love, this love
that we're going to look at today, we don't have Christ. You notice
I didn't say you, I said we. If we don't have this love, Lindsey
talked about this morning, what a blessing it was to listen to
that lesson. He was talking about the characteristics of God. That's
what we're going to look at today. One of his characteristics, one
of his attributes, and it's his love. And it is manifested and
it is revealed. And a man who doesn't love God,
he doesn't know God. It's that plain, that plain. If we don't have this love, we
don't have the Christ of the scriptures. No matter what else
we may have, no matter what else I may do, If I do not have the
love of Christ in my heart, I just don't know Him. I just don't
know Him. So love is the commandment of
God. Love is the fulfilling of the
law. Many people are trying to keep
the law, ain't they? Still trying by their good efforts
and their merits to keep the law. And for us, apart from Christ,
that's impossible. Apart from Christ, that's an
impossibility. But God still demands it. God still requires
that you keep the law perfectly. Love is the fulfilling of the
law. There in Matthew 22, remember there was a lawyer that came
to our Lord one day and asked him a question. He said, Master,
which is the great commandment in the law? He knew, he's a lawyer,
he's not the lawyer like we think lawyers are. He knew the scriptures
in his head. He says, and he knew the commandments
of God and he said, out of all those commandments, which is
the greatest commandment? And Jesus said unto him, thou
shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy
soul and with all thy mind. This is the first and the great
commandment. And the second is like unto it,
thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments
hang all the law and the prophets. It all hangs on this right here. This is what it hangs on. This
is what carries the weight on these two commandments. The love
of God. is a sure mark in a person's
heart of a saving union with Jesus Christ. As I said in John
4, God dwells in us? You think about that. God dwelling
in the heart of a sinner? This is what our Lord said in
John chapter 13, verse 35, but this shall all men know that
you're my disciples. What's going to be the characteristics?
He goes to this church and he believes this doctrine. What's
the evidence? He said, by this shall all men
know that you're my disciples, if you have love one for another. We know we've passed from death
into life. Why? Because we love the brethren.
We come from different backgrounds. I lived in North Carolina for
50 some years, and now I live in West Virginia. Now that was
a change. And now I'm here this morning in Kentucky. We come
from different backgrounds, different educations, but what unites us
together? What is what binds us together?
It's this right here. It's the love of Christ. I love
you in spite of all you are. Isn't that right? We bear one
another's burdens. And how can you do that? Only
by the grace of God. Only by the grace of God is that
possible. That's the only way. We know
we've passed from death into life because we love the brethren. Whosoever believeth that Jesus
is the Christ is born of God. And everyone that loveth him
that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him. And this
love of God is shed abroad in our hearts. You think about that. Every believer, when God regenerates
them and gives them a new nature, Christ comes to dwell and sit
upon the throne of your heart and the love of God, the love
of God is shed abroad in your heart. You didn't know anything
about love till he saved you. And until he makes himself known,
we still don't know. We're still learning. It's what Spurgeon said, this
love is the common everyday life of the people of God. It is not
the pre-operative of a few, but it is the possession of all. It is put before you, not only
as a thing greatly to be desired, but absolutely needful. For if you excel in every spiritual
gift, yet if you had not this, had not love, all the rest would
profit you nothing. For unless love is absent, grace
is absent. I remember when God began to
make himself known to me and I'll begin to listen to men who
preach the gospel. I remember a statement I heard
by Henry Mahan years ago and I've never forgot it. He said,
the grace of God makes a man gracious. It makes a man gracious. Love is the fruit of the spirit.
What's the first thing he mentioned? They didn't say fruits. It's
fruit one, but it's all included in one. What's the first one
he named? Love, joy, peace, long suffering. And now we come to 1 Corinthians
13. Now in these verses, in this
chapter, he calls it charity. But when
we think of the word charity, what do we think of? What's the
first thing that comes to our minds? We think about, I know
you've seen on the news all the devastation from the floods in
West Virginia. They've been a lot of charity.
They've been a lot of people give thousands of dollars. That's
charity. There's a lot of people would go and help clean out houses.
That's charity. That's not what we're talking
about. That's not what's described in these verses. He said, verse
one, though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels
and have not charity. Something else I heard from Brother
Henry. He said, if you wanted to, you could write in your Bible
that word charity, you could write down Christ. Though I speak
with the tongues of men and of angels and have not Christ, I
am become as sounding brass and tinkling cymbals. Isn't that
it? Everything else is just charity.
Everything else is just human love, but not with Christ. To speak with the tongues of
men? You know, he's answering, he's dealing with the situation
here in the church at Corinth. They were coveting all these
gifts in verse 31 of chapter 12, but covet earnestly the best
gifts, and yet I show unto you a more excellent way. To be able
to speak, we went to Mexico last January and as I stood and spoke
to these people, they did not have a clue what I was saying
without an interpreter. It would have been nice to have
the gift to be able to speak in a language they could have
understood. What a gift! And I could have
had that gift and be without Christ and it would profit me
and it would profit them nothing. You see what I'm saying? You
know, if a man had the gift to do that, we'd just stand back
and awe, wouldn't we? Say, what a gift! Though I speak
with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity,
I am become nothing more than sounding brass and tinkling cymbals. You know what that is? It's just
a bunch of noise. You know what goes on in religion?
I'll tell you what, just a bunch of noise. And I'll say, I'll
make it personal. And when we come here, and when
we come, we beg that God would meet with us, but when He doesn't
and He leaves us to ourself, it's just sound and brass and
tinkling cymbals. I tell you, when Lindsey stood
up this morning, that blessed my heart. What made the difference?
It's not because that man has just an extraordinary gift, which
God has given him a gift, but what makes the difference is
Christ. It's when you behold Him. Verse 2. And though I have had the gift
of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge, and though
I have all faith, so that I could remove mountain. That's a lot
of faith, isn't it? And have not charity, I'm nothing. We struggle with unbelief every
day. We pray, Lord, help thou mine unbelief. And he said, you
can have all faith to remove mountains. And have not charity,
it profits you not. He said, I am nothing. You know
what nothing is? Nothing is a zero with the edges
knocked off. That's nothing. Isn't it? You know what Paul said? I am
less than the least of all saints. That's nothing. Then verse three, and though
I bestow all my goods to feed the poor. I'm thankful those
people, many people have spent, sent thousands, hundreds of thousands
of dollars to those people in West Virginia and they needed
it. But a man can bestow all, he said all my goods, not part
of them, all my goods to feed the poor And though I give my body to
be burned and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. So am I reading that right, that
a man could sell everything he has and give it to the poor?
And we would stand amazed, wouldn't we? Say, look what that man has
done. And he's not doing it from a
heart of charity. He's not doing it from a heart
of love. He's doing it for a wrong reason. And what about a man who would
actually let them tie his body to the stake and allow them to
burn his body? And he has not Christ, it profits
him nothing. That's going a long way and that's
doing a whole lot of what we would call notable things. But without Christ, It profits
us nothing. That it means nothing. God is
not pleased with it. It's not acceptable in God's
sight because it's not perfect. God demands perfection. Now listen
to me. God demands this morning. Now
everybody listen to me. God demands that you and me love
the Lord thy God with all our heart, soul, and mind and our
neighbor as ourself. That's what he demands. Boy, it got real quiet in there. And what God demands, only God
can give. We read this verse, we read these
verses and we all go, oh me. Oh me. In verses four, down through
the first part of chapter, verse eight, he lists 16. That's a lot. Sixteen characteristics
of Christ and His love. How do we know God loves us?
Lindsay asked questions this morning. I asked you a question.
How do you know God loves you? How do we know God loves us?
He sent his son into this world to die in the place of his people. He manifested his love. And love,
we can say, I can say I love you all day long, but that, if
it's true love, genuine love that's been shed or brought in
our heart by God's spirit, it is going to be, it must be manifested. Manifested. What's the first
one he mentions in verse four? Don't you think about this? This
is describing Christ. Charity, Christ suffereth long. That means he's patient. Is God
patient with you? The long suffering of our God
is salvation. He's long suffering with you
right now. He's long suffering with us as we stand here. The
less long-suffering makes a person patient, and long-suffering with
the thoughts of others. It's not easily offended and
given to wrath. Listen to what it says in 2 Timothy
2, verse 24. And the servant of the Lord must
not strive, but be gentle unto all men and apt to teach. Patient. Remember in Matthew 18, this
man, he owed a great debt. And he came, I think it was to
the king, and he said, would you have patience with me? And
I'll pay you all. Now listen, you know in the back
of his mind, he can't even pay part of the debt. But he said,
would you have patience with me? And he had patience with
him. And you know what he did? He
forgave him the debt. That's what God did for you. You owe
such a great debt, And He showed mercy unto you, He showed longsuffering
unto you, and He forgave the dead. And you know what this
same man did? It's like saying, well, he was forgiven of, say,
a debt of $5 million. Well, he goes out and he finds
his friend, which he owes him, like, say, $5. You know what
he does? He grabs the man around the throat
and he says, pay me what you owe me. What if God did you that
way? And the man said, have patience
with me. And he would not. How much has
God forgiven you? And you know what we do? Somebody
offends us and has owed us something to us and we'll grab him by the
throat and we say, why don't you pay me what you owe me? Patient. The next one. Love is kind. That means it's
tender. It's compassionate. It's what
it says in Isaiah 54, 8, In a low wrath I hid my face from thee
for a moment, but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on
thee. I ask you this morning, do you
need kindness? Kindness, love is kind. Ephesians 2, 7, that in the ages
to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness
toward us. Titus 3, 3, for we were ourselves
also sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers, lust
and pleasure, living in malice. Envy, hateful and hating one
another. But after the kindness and love
of God, our love of God, our savior toward man appeared not
by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to
his mercy, he saved us. So love is long suffering. It's
kind and it envies not. Envy. Wanting what someone else
has. You know why Cain killed Abel?
He envied what he had. Isn't it? He envied him. You
remember Joseph's brothers? Remember what Jacob, his father,
did for Joseph? Remember how he made him the
coat of many colors and he put it on him and it showed that
he distinguished him? It showed his love for Joseph.
You know what his brothers did? They envied him. And what did
they do? They planned to kill him. And
they threw him in a pit. Why did they do all that? Because
they envied him. James 3.14, listen, but if we
have bitter envying and strife in our hearts, glory not and
lie not against the truth. It says bitter envying. Proverbs 27, 4, wrath is cruel,
anger is outrageous, but who is able to stand before envy? David said in Psalm 73, he said,
I was envious of the foolish. This is a man after God's own
heart. And he said, I was envious of the foolish when I saw the
prosperity of the wicked. Why would we ever be desirous
or envious of the wicked? So love is long-suffering. Christ
is long-suffering, is kind. He envieth not. And it vaunteth,
verse four, it vaunteth not itself. What does that mean? It vaunteth
not itself. It's not conceited. You ever
seen people that were conceited? He didn't even want to be around
them. He is proud. He boasts about
what he has, about his own intellect. He prides himself about what
he does. You know what it says about our Lord?
He's God, but he made himself of no reputation. I did a message
the other day on the radio, St. Isaiah 42. It was in a bruised
reed. He won't break and smoke and
flax. He won't quench. He said, behold, my servant,
he shall not cry in the street nor lift up his voice. And you
know, a lot of times when our Lord, when he healed people,
you know what he said? Don't tell anybody. You know
what we would have done if we'd hit? We'd say, go tell everybody.
He made himself of no reputation. He vaunteth not himself. And this is the Son of God. Then it says, love is not puffed
up. What does this word puffed up mean? Back in 1 Corinthians
8, 1 it says, knowledge puffs up. That means to inflate. To
be inflated was one's own ego. Here's what Paul said in Romans
chapter 12, verse three. For I say through the grace given
unto me, to every man which is among you, not to think of himself
more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly according
as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. If you
believe it's because God gave you faith, isn't it? It's a miracle that we're not
raven maniacs. That's exactly right. Isn't it? There's a man in our church,
well his wife comes to our church and he had a stroke back the
1st of June. Paralyzed the right side of his
body. It's a miracle he's alive. He can't control the right, he
can't raise his right hand. What if God left us alone? This means they are swelled up
with self-importance. Arrogance, the person that does
what they do to be seen a man. And let's just be honest. Part
of us likes to be seen. We want somebody to pat us on
the back. But he said, love is not puffed
up. It's not swelled up. It says Romans 12, 10, be kindly
affectioned one to another with brotherly love in honor preferring
one another before yourself. This is totally contrary to us,
isn't it? Totally opposite to who we are by nature. But this
is exactly who Christ is, you know why? This is exactly what
God demands. Who makes you to differ? Why are you sitting here this
morning and not somewhere out in the world, laying somewhere
in the gutter? Why? Who made you to differ? The sixth thing, love does not
behave itself unseemingly. What does that mean? Love is
never rude. Pride, conceit, and self-righteousness
begets people being rude. You see a man, he's a beggar.
If he was to come up to your house and he was to ask you for
something, he would probably, if he had a hat on, he'd probably
take his hat off, wouldn't he? And he'd probably knock on the
door. He'd probably, he might just cut, probably cutting him
hardly his feet because he's so ashamed at who he is. Do you
not have a bowl of beans? Do you not have something for
a beggar? You see what I'm saying? He wouldn't come up and just
start slamming on the door. Come to the door, get me something
to eat. Well, that's not rude. Remember what our Lord said about
Simeon? When the woman came and when
he, our Lord came to Simeon's house and while he was at Simeon's
house, this woman came to him, to our Lord and washed his feet
with tears and dried it with the hair of her head. And you
know what he said to Simeon? He turned to the woman, he said
to Simeon, he said, Simeon, you see this woman? I entered into
thy house, thou gave me no water to wash my feet. You know what
he was? He was rude to her. And she's
washed my feet with tears and wiped them with the hair of her
head. A beggar's not rude, he's polite. Pride, self-righteous, damnable
pride. But that's rudeness. Verse 5, love seeks not her own. Does not seek her own rights
in her own way. Said, I'm going to have my way.
I want to get the last word in.
She doesn't seek her own. Our Father, our Lord always sought
the will of the Father. He said, not my will. But time
be done. Like I've already made mention,
he made himself for no reputation and took upon him the form of
a servant. Another one in verse five. Love
is not easily provoked. Have you ever seen somebody wanted
to provoke you? Just stand in your face. What if they stood
in your face? What if they walked up to you
and they cleared their throat and spit right in your face?
That'd be a pretty good example of provoking you. And then take
it. Walk up, you have a beard on. Walk up and they grab your beard
and they jerk it off and say, what are you going to do about
it? And you stand there and take it. It's not easily provoked. Not easily provoked, but he can
be provoked. Luke 11, 53, listen, he said,
and as he said these things, our Lord said these things unto
them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to urge him vehemently
and to provoke him. And it says in Psalm 78, verse
56, Yet they tempted and provoked the Most High God. He can be provoked. But He's
not easily provoked. If God was easily provoked, not
a one of us would be in this building this morning. You think how we've provoked
Him. Then it says, love thinks no
evil. It's not carried about with a
suspicious nature. Always looking for faults rather
than the best in somebody. You know what, we're always,
I don't know if it's just me, you always think the worst, isn't
it? Somebody says something and you say, well, this is what I
thought they meant and they might not even meant that. Thinks no
evil. You say, why do we do that? I
wish we didn't, but we do. I'm just being honest. This is what he said, Luke 6,
32. For if you love them which love you, what thing have ye?
For sinners also love them that love them. But if you do good
to them which do good to you, what thing have ye? Yeah, for
sinners do the same thing. But if you lend to them for whom
you hope to receive, what thing have you? For sinners also lend
to sinners, hope to receive the same thing again. Love your enemies
and do good, and lend hoping for nothing again. Then in verse
six, love rejoices, not in iniquity. What does that say? Love doesn't
rejoice when one of your enemies falls. You think if somebody provoked
you, and they've done everything in the world to make you mad,
and then when they fail, you'd say, man, they're getting what
they deserve. Let me show you a picture. David, God's chosen
king. King Saul. Everywhere David went,
Saul tried to kill him. He threw a javelin at him one
day. He hunted David like a dog. One day, David's hiding in a
cave, and just so happened, Saul comes in and lays down and takes
a nap. And David's friends say, kill
him. Now's your opportunity to kill
him. And David cuts his skirt, and his heart smoked him. David
wasn't killing him. And you know what happens? You
know what David said? One day, the Lord will take care
of Saul, and he did. What did David do when Saul died?
He wept like a little boy. He said, why is the mighty fallen? What am I saying? God give me
grace to do that. God give me grace to do that. Job said, I do not rejoice in
the destruction of mine enemies. Rejoice is not an iniquity, but
it rejoices in the truth. Someone said, what a man is he
wishes others to be. If he is evil, he delights to
point out the evil in someone else. And I thought about the
prodigal son's, his elder brother. Remember when the prodigal came
back home, the older brother came back from the field, and
you know what he said? He said to his father, this your
son, not my brother, this your son, hath wasted his goods with
harlots. No word do you read in that chapter
it ever mentioned. Now he may have wasted his money
with harlots, but it's not mentioned there. But he wanted to bring
it up. Love rejoices in the truth. Then
love bears all things. What does that mean? That mean
love covers with silence all things. It says in Proverbs 10,
verse 12, hatred stirreth up strife, but love covers all sins. Oh, the grace of God that puts
away our sin. Proverbs 11, 13, a tail bearer,
revealeth secrets. But he that is of a faithful
spirit conceals the matters. Have you ever had somebody tell
you something and you would just wish they had never told you? I've had people tell me things
and the next time I see that person, the very thing I shouldn't
think of is what came to my mind. And I said, man, I wished I didn't
even know it. What am I saying? Love hides
the matter. And as I thought about this,
you know who I thought about? Remember when Noah was on the ark? He comes off the ark and the
only ones left is Noah and his family. Everybody else is dead.
And you know what Noah does? He makes him a vineyard. And
you know what he did? He got drunk. And Ham came in and found him
naked. Whatever that means, I don't
know. And you know what he did? He went and told his brother.
He said, you know what I seen Daddy do? And you know what the
brothers did? They took a coat. They didn't
look on their father's nakedness. They went back and they covered
it up. Silently. I can tell you, you don't have
to look far to see sin in us. You ain't told the half of it.
But love beareth all things. Love believeth all things. Someone said, it is better to
believe the best of a brother and be discouraged than to believe
the worst and to destroy a friendship. I thought, what a statement.
It is better to believe the best of a brother and be discouraged
than to believe the worst and to destroy a friendship. Love
believeth all things, love hopes all things. What love cannot
seek, it hopes for. What's that saying? It never
gives up. I've got a little granddaughter,
she's four years old and she acts like a four year old. But I hope if the Lord watches
over her and she gets older, that she matures. What am I saying? You act just like a four-year-old,
don't you? But we hope that in God's grace,
he will, as Lindsay said this morning, grow us up, mature us. What it can't see, it hopes,
for it never gives up. I wasn't gonna tell this, but
I am gonna tell it. My sister, my oldest sister, she had two
daughters, and one of her daughters is actually living with us. When
she came to live with us, she was basically homeless. She called
me. She was probably eight hours away. She wouldn't have called
me, but she was desperate. She's staying with us. She had
no Social Security card. She had no ID. She has no driver's
license. She has nothing. And you wouldn't
believe how hard it is to get those things. She now has a driver's license.
She now has a car. She now has a job. And she drives
herself back and forth to work every day. There was times I thought this
will never happen. I'm not as young as I used to be. I don't
have as much patience as I used to have. I remember teaching
my three girls to drive. To try to teach somebody now,
it's a big difference. But hope, but love hopeth all
things. And I remember telling Sandy,
I remember Sandy called me when I went to Mexico. Sandy was there
with her alone and she said, I can't, I can't take it anymore. I'm without hope. This can't
get any better. Love hopeth all things. And to
see her now, man, that just blesses my heart. One day you didn't have anything. Now you have a license. Now you
have a car. Now God gave you everything you
have. Love hopeth all things. If you don't have hope, what
do you have? Love endureth all things. What does that say? Love endureth
all things. It will endure trials, sorrow,
sickness, disappointment, hurt feelings, and offenses. It says
in Psalm of Solomon 8, 7, many waters cannot quench love. You can't stop it. You think about how much God
loves his people. How it's shed abroad in your heart. And you
know what it does? Listen to me. It will cause you
to love others. It will cause you to be long-suffering. It will cause you to be kind.
It will cause you to be patient. Then it says love, the last one,
never faileth. Christ never faileth. It will
endure to the end. It never ceases in this life
or in the world to come. He loves us with an everlasting
love. He will never stop loving us.
If He could have, He would have stopped a long time ago. He would
have never loved us to start with. Verse 8, love never faileth,
but where there be prophecies, they shall fail. Where there
be tongues, they shall cease, they'll stop. Where there be
knowledge, it'll vanish away. For we know in part, and we prophesy
in part. But when that which is perfect
is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. When
I was a child, I spake as a child. I understood as a child. I thought
as a child. But when I became a man, I put
away childish things. For now we see through a glass
darkly, but then face to face. I know in part, but then shall
I know even as also I am known. And now abide us faith, hope,
and love, these three. But the greatest of these is
love. Faith will one day give way to
sight. Lindsay, one day we're going
to see him with undimmed eyes. Hope. He says the world is without
hope. But we're not without hope. He
is our hope. We're looking for the blessed hope. But when we
have the blessed hope, we won't need hope anymore. We've got
the reality when we have Him. Faith will give way to sight,
hope to reality. But love will go on. that in the ages to come He may
show the exceeding riches of His grace and His kindness toward
us through Christ Jesus. We can only imagine what it's
going to be like in eternity. But we're always going to behold
Him as the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, and
I can see Him say, come here, Mike. Let me remind you once
again. You remember this right here?
You remember this right here? I did all this because I loved
you. He'll endure forever. Oh, to see him one day with undimmed
eyes and to love him with an unseeming heart. May God fill us with his spirit
and enable us to bear one another's burdens. pray for one another,
exalt everybody before us, above us, and realize that we're nothing
to nobodies. And He is everything. Amen.