Love, the More Excellent Way

Q: What does the Bible say about love in the Christian life?

The Bible teaches that love is the most important virtue for Christians, reflecting God's nature and the essence of true faith. In 1 Corinthians 13, the Apostle Paul emphasizes the supreme importance of love, stating that even the greatest spiritual gifts are worthless without it. Love is essential for believers, not only as a commandment from Christ but also as evidence of true salvation. It encapsulates the heart of the gospel, showing that genuine faith is expressed through love for God and one another. Love is presented as a gift from God, poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, enabling us to love as He loves—selflessly and unconditionally.

Q: How do we know true love exists in a believer's life?

True love is evidenced by a believer's love for others, which is a reflection of their relationship with God. According to Scripture, the true evidence of salvation is demonstrated through love—'By this shall all men know you are my disciples, if you love one another' (John 13:35). This love is not merely a feeling but an active expression of God's grace in a believer's life. It is the first fruit of the Spirit and is vital in fulfilling Christ's commandment. When a person genuinely loves, it indicates their birth from God, as 'everyone that loveth is born of God and knoweth God' (1 John 4:7). Thus, love becomes a definitive mark of those who belong to Christ.

Q: Why is love considered the greatest commandment in Christianity?

Love is the greatest commandment as it encapsulates the entire law and expresses the very nature of God. The essence of Christian ethics revolves around love, which fulfills all the commandments of God. When Jesus declared the greatest commandment was to love God and love one's neighbor (Matthew 22:37-40), He summarized the entire Old Testament law. Love reflects God's character—'God is love' (1 John 4:8)—and is the driving force behind the life of a believer. Without love, other spiritual gifts and actions are rendered meaningless, as indicated in 1 Corinthians 13:1-3. Love is indispensable for maintaining a right relationship with God and others, thus making it the highest calling of believers.

Q: What are the characteristics of true love according to the Bible?

True love is characterized by patience, kindness, humility, and a selfless nature, as detailed in 1 Corinthians 13. The Apostle Paul describes love with a series of positive and negative attributes in 1 Corinthians 13. Love is patient and kind, does not envy or boast, and is not arrogant or rude. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things. These characteristics highlight love's enduring and forgiving nature, emphasizing that true love seeks the welfare of others above self. Furthermore, love rejoices in truth rather than in wrongdoing, reflecting the essence of Christ's attitude toward humanity. Ultimately, love acts not just as an emotion but as a driving force that shapes a believer's interactions with others.

Q: How does love give glory to God?

Love glorifies God by reflecting His character through our actions and relationships. When believers exhibit genuine love for one another, they manifest God's nature, as God is love. This demonstration of love brings glory to God because it showcases the transformative work He has done in the hearts of His people. As Paul points out, acting in love points others to Christ and helps fulfill His command to reflect His glory in the world. Romans 15:7 encourages believers to welcome one another, which glorifies God through our unity in Christ. In essence, love becomes an active testimony of God's grace and mercy, attracting others to the gospel.

I want you to open your Bibles
to the book of 1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians chapter 12. I preached this morning on the
radio. Brother Paul has a broadcast
at 8 o'clock every Sunday morning and he has asked me to to take
the radio broadcast for several weeks and I preached this morning
on the radio and I made this statement. The biggest mistake
that a person can make in regard to his immortal soul is to listen
to the wrong voice. That's the biggest mistake a
person can make in regard to his immortal soul is to listen
to a bad preacher, bad preaching. It all started with our mother
Eve. Our mother Eve listened to the
voice of the serpent and she took the forbidden fruit. Our
father Adam listened to the voice of Eve, his wife. and plunged this race into guilt,
darkness, and sin. Aaron, the high priest, listened
to the voice of the Israelites and made a golden calf and brought
wrath upon the people. Judas listened to the voice of
money and greed and perished a suicide by his own hand. pilot, the governor listened
to the voice of the mob and delivered Jesus Christ to
be crucified. King Solomon listened to the
voices of his many wives and compromised the truth and committed
and corrupted a great nation. So my friends, we'll have plenty of opportunities
in a lifetime to listen to the wrong voice. But by the grace
of God tonight, we have an opportunity that God has given us to hear
Almighty God speak through His Word. You're listening to the
wrong voice anytime you don't hear the Word of God. That's
the right voice. And I'm going to turn to the
writings of the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians chapter 12.
And I want you to listen to the message. This will be the right
voice because it's Paul the Apostle, not Brother Mahan. It's Paul
the Apostle talking to us right here in 1 Corinthians chapter
12, verse 27. And this is what he said, now
you are the body of Christ. You are the body of Christ, which
our pastor just talked about, the body of Christ. And you're
members of that body in particular. You're members, you're one body
and you're one church and one people. You know, John the Apostle
wrote about the body of Christ, and this is what he said about
it. He said, "...I beheld a great multitude, which no man can number,
of all nations, kindreds, people, tongues, who stood before the
Lord, and before the Lamb." And that's who John's writing about
right here. You all are the body of Christ. and his members in particular,
and their multitudes of his people. But they have one voice, one
body, listen to this, one voice, one message, one spirit, one
hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of
all, who's above all, and through you all, and in you all. That's
who we are. We're the body of Christ. Wherever
they are, Zebulon, Ashland, Kingsport, Rocky Mount, wherever they are,
they're all members of the body of Christ Jesus. That's right. And let me read on as we read
this 1 Corinthians 12 and verse 28. And God has said, God did
it himself. He said some in the church, first
apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that
miracles, gifts of healing, helps, government, diversities of tongues. Well, are all apostles? Of course
not. Are all prophets? Of course not. Are all deacons? No. Dead preachers? No. Are all teachers, all workers
of miracles? No. They're still in the body
of Christ. Are all gifts of healing? Verse 30. Have all the gifts
of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do
all interpret? Of course not. Of course not. But I tell you this about them.
They all, number one, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. They
believe in Christ. They have faith in Christ. Secondly, they all have a good
hope. Faith and hope. They all have
a good hope. They have a good hope in Christ.
They have a living hope. They have a blessed hope. They
have a better hope. And they have hope of eternal
life in the Lord Jesus Christ. So they all have faith, every
one of them. They're all Have a good hope. And they all have
something else. They all have love. That's right. They all have love. Listen. Then
he tells us in verse 31, now, you covet, you covet earnestly
the best gifts. If God calls you to be a preacher,
be a preacher. If God calls you to be an elder,
be an elder. If God calls you this, that, and the other, He
sets everybody where He pleases to set them, according to the
will of the Holy Spirit. But He said in verse 31, Covet
earnestly the best cut gifts, but I'm going to show you, I'm
going to show you a more excellent way. I'm going to show you something
better than just being a preacher, or a prophet, or a miracle worker. or diversity of gift, or anything
else, I'm going to show you wonderful, wonderful, wonderful thing. Love. And you know something? The Bible
wasn't written in chapters and verses. That was done later. I don't know when, I don't know
when they defined the Bible by chapters and verses. But this
is a wrong place to put a division here. Paul said in verse 31,
covet earnestly the best gifts. He'd been talking about the body
and the church and all the people that are in the church of God,
in Christ. But he said, I'm going to show
you a more excellent way. Verse 1, now chapter 13. Though I speak with the tongues
of men and of angels. These fellows, some of them had
the ability to speak in other languages. But though I speak
with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not love, I'm
a sounding brass, and a clanging gong, and a tinkling cymbal."
Not worth anything. Love's the best gift. Read on. And though I have the gift of
prophecy, gift to preach, and understand all mysteries and
theology, and have all knowledge, And though I have faith so that
I can remove mountains and have not love, I'm nothing. I'm absolutely
nothing. That's what Paul said. And this
is not a fella came in the back, in town, in the back of a pickup
truck. This is Apostle Paul. And though I bestow all my goods
to feed the poor, I'm charitable and all, and help the poor out.
Though I give my body to be burned as a martyr and have not love,
All of this will profit me nothing. I'll tell you something more
excellent than all of these things. And that's what I'm talking about.
I'm going to give you three points. One, the importance of love.
He just told us the importance of love. The importance of loving,
loving Christ, loving His Word, loving His people, loving one
another. I'm going to show you the importance of love. Secondly,
I'm going to show you, I want very much to show you the attributes
of love, or the character of love. What is the character of
this love? And thirdly, the glory of it.
The glory of love. All right, let's look at this
one. Importance of love. The importance
of our love to God, and the importance of God's love to us, and the
importance of our love to one another. To love one another
is the commandment of Christ. That's important. It's His commandment.
Listen to this now, Lord. This is my commandment, that
you love one another as I have loved you. That's a commandment.
To love one another is the sure evidence of salvation. It's the
sure evidence. People wonder if you're saved
or not. Here's the sure evidence. Listen. By this shall all men
know you're my disciples if you love one another." That's a sure
evidence of salvation. Thirdly, to love one another
is the first fruits of the Spirit. When the Holy Spirit talked about
the fruits, the fruits of righteousness, the fruits of the Spirit, the
first word He mentioned was love. But He went on with the rest
of it. Joy, peace, love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness,
humility, faith and temperance. That's the first fruits of the
Spirit of God who dwells in the people of God. And then fourth,
that to love one another is not a prerogative. No, sir. To love one another is not a
prerogative, it's not a choice. To love one another is not a
choice. To love one another is not a
work of the flesh. To love one another is the gift
of God. That's right, it's the gift of
God. The love of God is shared abroad
in your heart by the Spirit of God. That's where this love comes
from. It's not a prerogative, It's
not a choice, it's not a work of the flesh, it's the gift of
God, even as faith is the gift of God. Beloved, the Apostle John wrote,
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God, and everyone
that loveth is born of God. Everyone that loveth is born
of God and knows God. and he that loveth not knoweth
not God, for God is love." Old Bonar wrote this years ago, religion
without love is like a human body without life, it needs to
be buried. Religion without love is like
a contaminated well The sign should be worn, don't drink this
water. Religion without love is like
the kiss of Judas. It hides a fatal soul. Religion
without love is a house built on the sand. It's a branch that
will bear no fruit. It's a form of godliness without
the power. It's without life, without God,
and without hope. That's the importance of love. Now, second poem. Now, Paul gave us his first three
verses, the importance of love. Though I speak with the tongues
of men and of angels, and I don't have love, I'm a sounding brass,
a tinkling cymbal. Though I have the gift of prophecy
and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though
I have all faith so I could remove mountains and have not love,
I'm nothing. And though I bestow all my goods
to feed the poor and give my body to be burned and have not
love, it profiteth me nothing. Now then, he gives us the attributes
of love, the character of love. And listen, don't let me scare
you. But there are eight negative attributes, and there are six
positive attributes. And I'll give them to you a minute
on each one. All right? There are eight attributes,
negative attributes of love. Right here, verse four, it says
this. Now watch it. Love, love envieth
not. That's the first, and love does
not envy. What is envy? Well, I'll tell
you what envy is. It's jealousy and pain that a
person feels when someone else prospers, is successful, or more
blessed than they are. Envy, that's jealousy. When you have someone that's
got more and prospers and is blessed more, we envy them. That's
not love. Love does not envy. Secondly,
love voneth not itself. And verse four, love voneth not
itself. Love does not promote itself. Love promotes others. Love is
not, is not an act, does not do acts to be seen of men. It does act for the glory of
God. not to be seen. It doesn't promote
itself. Thirdly, love is not puffed up. What's that mean, preach? You're
puffed up. It's not proud. Love is not conceited. Love is
not arrogant. True love is humble before God
and before men. And watch this, fourthly, love
does not behave itself unseemly. What is to behave unseemly? Well,
love is not rude. Love is not discourteous. Christian courtesy is the offspring of
love. Christian courtesy, kindness,
gentleness. Fifthly, love seeketh not her
own. The person who seeks his own,
listen to this, The person that seeks his own happiness, his
own welfare, his own well-being will never find happiness. You
won't find it in yourself. Because true peace and true love
enjoys nothing alone. Got to have company. What do
you talk when you preach one time about sheep being a gregarious
sheep flock together? You don't find them running out
by themselves. Darcy and I, we loved the Blue Ridge Parkway.
And we liked to ride on the Blue Ridge Parkway. And when we were
together, we stopped at every... We stopped to see the sunsets.
We stopped to see the high places and the valleys and all, you
know. But one time, I was in a meeting
up here somewhere, and she wasn't with me. I got in the car and
started home. I thought, well, I'll just go
the parkway. I enjoy the parkway so much that I'll just go the
parkway. So I went to the parkway, and
I came to one of those places where you stop to look. And I
parked, and I got out and looked. But it wasn't the same, because
I'd turn to her and say, look at that. Isn't that beautiful?
Love and happiness misses somebody with them. They want company. That's right. So I got in the
car and went home. I didn't look at another site
because I didn't enjoy it. Somebody said this, the person
that seeks his own happiness, welfare and well-being will never
find it because true peace and joy and happiness will enjoy
nothing alone. Love is not easily provoked.
Love is not easily offended. Love is not touchy. Find people
that are touchy, you know. Love is not full of suspicions.
What do you mean by that? Well, who cares, you know? What
did she mean when she said that? Touchy, touchy. Love is not easily
provoked. Seven, true love. Thinketh no evil. Now listen
to this. It says, love thinketh no evil. Well now, preacher,
all people have evil thoughts. That's our nature. But what Paul
is saying here is this. Paul is saying that the person
who loves others does not dwell on misunderstandings. Doesn't
think about these things. Doesn't dwell on it. They don't
dwell on misunderstandings. They don't dwell on the weaknesses
of others. They don't dwell on the infirmities
of others. They don't dwell on the false
of others. True love just likes to forgive
and forget. That's right. That's right. Love, thinketh no evil, doesn't
dwell on those things. Let not the sun go down on your
wrath. Forget it. Forgive it and forget
it. And then love, listen to this,
love rejoices not in iniquity. Love rejoices in the truth. Love
does not rejoice when somebody goes wrong. Love is never glad
when somebody goes wrong. Love never hesitates to forgive and forget. But I
tell you what love does, it hesitates to report the bad news. Just covers it up. That's right. So love rejoices not in iniquity. It's not glad when others go
wrong. It doesn't report every offense.
It forgets it. All right, now those are the
eight negative attributes. Now here Paul gives us six positive
attributes. Here they are right here. Verse
4 starts the first one. Love suffereth long. We say that
in the wedding vows, don't we? Love suffereth long. Love suffereth
long and is kind. In the wedding vows we say, in
sickness or in health, in poverty or in wealth, in the good, in
the good that may light our days, and in the evil, that may darken
our ways, but I'm here for the duration. You know, when I joined
the Navy back in 1944, they didn't tell me how long
I was going to be in. That we didn't sign up for a
year or two years or five years or ten years. We signed for what? The duration. And that's what
love does. It signs for the duration. Whether
it's in sickness, or whether in health, whether it's in poverty
or in wealth, whether it's in the good that may light our days
or the evil that may darken our ways, I signed up for the duration. Love suffers long. I buried a
lady a few years ago. She, I don't know how old she
was, but it was John Horan's mother. Now, Barbara Horan's
mother, Miss Billings, and Miss Billings had two or three children,
but she had one daughter that mentally was totally off and
physically. And she took care of that daughter
over 40 years, almost 50 years. And when I preached her funeral,
the daughter was sitting there. She lived with her mother and
she suffered long and kind. And the girl was sitting there
and she didn't know what was going on, but she knew something
was wrong. And she cried out as I spoke. And her sister was
sitting beside her and put her arm around her. And Barbara took
her home with her and started suffering kind and long. That's love. You know, this thing
that people talk about love nowadays that I love and then I turn to
hate, that's not a God. That's not a God at all. Love
suffers long and is kind. And look at this sixth verse
here. It says, love rejoices in the
truth, rejoices in the truth. Love rejoices in the truth of
the gospel. Love rejoices in the truth of
those who preach the gospel. And love has a wide heart and
delights in the spiritual growth of others, doesn't it? Love does.
Love rejoices in the truth. You know, I read something here
about Solomon. Turn to 1 Kings. 1 Kings chapter
4. 1 Kings chapter 4. And 1 Kings
chapter 4. Chapter 4, verse 29. 1st Kings 4, 29. It says here about Solomon, it
says 4, 29. Here I've got it. Alright. And God gave Solomon
wisdom and understanding and exceeding much and largeness
of heart. Even as the sands of the sea
showered. You know where that term came from, big hearted?
There's old big hearted right there. Big heart. Large heart. Solomon had a large heart. A wide heart. Room for everybody. Why not? But why not? That's love. That's the love
that God gave us in Christ Jesus. Big hearted. Love God's people. Love His people. The weakest
of them, whomever, love. Yes, sir. All right, let's see
verse 7 here, number 3. Love beareth all things. What does that mean, preacher?
Well, I looked it up in Strong's Concordance, and that's one of
the best things you can do, is look up a word in Strong's Concordance,
and you know what it's saying? It says, bearing means to cover
all things with silence. That's exactly what it says.
To cover it with silence. To cover with silence. To cover,
conceal rather than expose. That's not love when you expose.
But you know the same thing, the strange thing is that people
expose the sins of Somebody else's children, but they hide their
own children's sins. You never hear them talk, tell
all their cooking folks. They tell everybody else, but
love covers it, conceals it. And I tell you this, love not
only covers all things with silence, but love is a strong power that
refuses to quit loving. Just don't, I'm not going to
quit loving. It's not going to quit loving
the people. I'm going to love them anyway. We must. But why? God gives us that heart
of love that you love people in spite of the things they do
or say. You still love them. And love
beareth all things. And then he said love believeth
all things. Somebody said this one time in
reference to this love believeth all things. It's better to believe
the best of a brother and be disappointed than to act at once
and expose the worst of the brother and lose a friendship. It's better
to believe the best and be disappointed than to believe
the worst and lose a friendship. And love, listen to this, love
endures all things. beareth all things, believeth
all things, hopeth all things, and endures all things." It means
perseverance. Love perseveres. God's sheep
do not quit believing, they do not quit loving, they do not
quit giving, and they don't quit forgiving. Because God did a
work of grace in their hearts. The believer is going to hold
his way. He that's washed and sanctified and justified is going
to hold his way and get stronger and stronger in the grace of
God. And what's this? And love never fails. Verse 8, love never fails. Why? It's the gift of God. How
can it fail? It's the gift of God. It's the
Spirit of God in us. And that, like I said a while
ago, what people call today love that one day turns to hate, that's
not love at all. Love never fails. Peter replied,
when our Lord asked Peter, do you love me? Peter said, you
know, Lord, you know all things. You know I love you. You know
everything. You already know that. I love
you. Now watch this, verse 8. Now
prophecies will fail. Prophecies and preaching. Because
our preaching is imperthy. Oh good gracious alive. Have
you ever preached a sermon that you felt absolutely confident
you did your best? It's impossible. It's just love
It's just impossible. Prophecies will fail. Preaching
will fail because it's imperfect. And tongues will cease. That's
what it says. And tongues will cease. Whether they be tongues, they're
going to cease. Why? Because it's going to be
one language. One language. One body, one language. And then knowledge. Knowledge
is going to vanish away. And I'll tell you why, because
we know in part. We know so little. Oh, we know
in... Look at verse 9. We know in part.
We prophesy in part. Yeah. But God's love for us and
our love for God and our love for one another will not fail,
will not cease, will not vanish away. Honestly, it'll grow. it'll grow. Anything that's alive
grows. Anything that's got life, and
we've got life. We've got the life of God, and
we expect to grow. Grow in grace and the knowledge
of Christ Jesus. Grow in grace. Grow. And then verse 10, watch this
now. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in
part should be done away. When I was a child, I spake as
a child, understood as a child, I thought as a child. When I
became a man, I put away those childish things. And now we see
through a glass darkly, but then face to face. Now I know in part,
but then shall I know even as also I am known. And now, and
now. abided faith, hope, and love. These three. But what's the greatest? To love God. To love each other. To love His Word. To love sinners. And you know, that next chapter,
verse chapter 14, verse 1, follow after love. You know what they
say, make love your aim. I'm going to show you a more
excellent way, love. And then when he gets to chapter
14, verse 1, he said, and make that your aim. You've probably
heard me give this story before, but I'm going to give it again
because somebody might be here that hadn't heard it. And I tell
things over and over again. I don't remember where I got
this, but it's supposed to be a true story. Up in one of the big cities,
New York or somewhere, there were a lot of tenement houses
and poor people and welfare people. And the two little boys, eight or nine or ten years old,
two little boys, they were sitting on the steps of a tenement house. and two brothers, and they were
talking, and in a few minutes, a big, beautiful, bright red
car came driving up. Right in front of these little
boys, they're sitting there looking at that big, bright, beautiful,
brand-new automobile pulled up. And they looked at it, and then
they got up and walked toward it, and walked all around that
car, Touched it, you know, prettiest thing either one of us had ever
seen. And at that time, the man that
was driving it got out and walked around. And he said to those
little boys, he said, you like my car? And the older brother
said, we sure do. That's the prettiest thing I've
ever seen in my life. He said, where'd you get that?
I bet that cost you a lot of money. Where'd you get that car,
mister? He said, my brother gave it to me. Your brother gave it
to you? They were both shocked. The older
brother said, you mean that your brother free for nothing? He
just gave you that car? That's right. My brother gave
it to me because he loved me. He turned to his little brother,
and this is what he said. He said, Jimmy, I wish I could
be a brother like that. The man said, what did you say,
son? He thought he said, I wish I could have a brother like that.
He didn't say, he said, I wish I could be a brother like that. And the man went away shaking
his head. And that's what I'd like to be, a brother like Paul
described right here. Love, the importance of it, the
attributes of it, and the glory of it. What is the glory of it?
It gives glory to God. Anytime that you act like a believer,
you give glory to God. And anytime you act like you're
not a believer, the same opposite is true. That's just so. Thank you, brother. Thank you.

Love, the More Excellent Way

What does the Bible say about love in the Christian life?

How do we know true love exists in a believer's life?

Why is love considered the greatest commandment in Christianity?

What are the characteristics of true love according to the Bible?

How does love give glory to God?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

Joshua

Articles

Featured Authors

Podcast

Sermons

Featured Preachers

Books

Browse by Format

Music

Recent Comments

About

Legal

Subscribe

Account

Articles

Featured Authors

Podcast

Recent Comments

Sermons

Featured Preachers

Books

Browse by Format

Collections

Music

About

Legal

Subscribe

Love, the More Excellent Way

What does the Bible say about love in the Christian life?

How do we know true love exists in a believer's life?

Why is love considered the greatest commandment in Christianity?

What are the characteristics of true love according to the Bible?

How does love give glory to God?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

More from Henry Mahan

Related Sermons

Same Scripture

Articles by Henry Mahan

Books by Henry Mahan

Joshua

Where this book stands in the tradition

Plato

Augustine

The Western Christian Tradition

This Book