I want you to open your Bibles
now with me to 1 Corinthians 13. A well-known old preacher was asked
one time, what is the secret of your success
as a preacher? The man continued and said, people
hear you, believe what you say, and they seem to remember what
you preach, what's your secret? And he replied, he said, it's
quite simple. There are three things I do.
First, I tell them what I'm going to tell them. And then secondly,
I tell them. And then thirdly, I tell them
again what it is I told them. And somehow they remember it. So that's what I'm going to do
this evening. I'm going to start out and tell
you what I'm going to tell you. And then, the Lord willing, I'm
going to tell you. And then thirdly, I'm going to
remind you that I did tell you. All right? Here's what I'm going
to tell you tonight. Here's what I'm going to preach
about. Four things. The importance of love. Love for Christ and love for
one another. And the scripture tells us three
times here in the first three verses, if I have not love, I'm
nothing. If I have not love, it profiteth
me nothing. If I have not love, I'm a sounding
brass and a tinkling cymbal. So love is. That's my first point. Love is. Secondly, the truth
of love. John said, my children walk in
truth and love. And Paul said in this Scripture
here that love does not rejoice in iniquity. Love rejoices in
the truth. Love rejoices, so love does. Not only is, love is, but love
does. Love acts, does something. It rejoices in truth. Then thirdly,
we're going to look at the permanence of love. It says, love beareth
all things, love believeth all things, love hopeth all things,
love endureth all things, and it never fails. It will continue. So love is, we'll talk about
that. Love does, acts, and love will
continue. And then the fourth thing is
the glory of love. Think about this down here in
verse 12. You just think about the glory
of this manifestation and perfection of this thing called love. Listen. Verse 12. Now I see through a
glass darkly, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part. What a small part I know. But
then I shall know, I shall know even as I'm known. Think about
that. I'm going to know even as God
knows me. I'm going to know Him like He
knows me. My, my, my. All right, let's
go back to love is. Love is. Importance of love. And I want you to go back to
1 Corinthians 12, verse 28. Let's see how Paul starts us
off here. You know, I told you so many
times the Bible wasn't written in chapters and verses. That's
been done later. The Bible was written in books,
epistles. paragraphs, it wasn't written
in chapters and verses. I'm glad we have the chapters
and verses because it helps us to find a scripture more easily. But sometimes these chapter divisions
could be changed, and this is one of them. Here in verse 28
of chapter 12, And God set some in the church, first apostles,
Secondarily, prophets. Thirdly, teachers. After that,
miracles, gifts of healing, helps, government, diversities of languages. In other words, the Holy Spirit.
In the early days of the church, when the apostles were here and
the early believers, before the scripture was completed, God
gave the apostles and certain of the early preachers gifts,
supernatural gifts, unusual gifts, great gifts, prophecy, interpretation,
healing, and tongues, and these gifts were their credentials. These gifts that God gave them,
prophecy and teachers and miracles and tongues and help, these were
their credentials. They were men whom God sent out
to preach with only the Old Testament scriptures. The New Testament
scriptures were written by the Spirit of God using the apostles,
but these men went just preaching what Moses, Abraham, Isaiah,
and all those men preached. And God gave them these supernatural
gifts. Let's look at the scripture and
turn to Mark first. In Mark chapter 16, God gave
these men those gifts as their credentials to prove that they
were sent from God. to prove God was with them. They
weren't just ordinary men, they were men of supernatural gifts. Listen to Mark 16, verse 15. And the Lord said to his apostles,
Go ye into all the world, preach the gospel to every creature.
He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, he that believes
this gospel. But he that believeth not shall
be damned, and these signs shall follow them. These apostles,
these early believers, in my name they'll cast out devils,
in my name. They'll speak with new tongues.
They'll take up serpents. If they drink any deadly thing,
it won't hurt them. They'll lay hands on the sick
and they shall recover. These men had supernatural, unusual
gifts from God. Now turn to Hebrews 2, Hebrews
chapter 2. verse 3 and 4, I believe it is.
Hebrews 2, verse 3. Now, how shall we escape if we
neglect so great salvation, which at the first began to be spoken
by our Lord? Our Lord came preaching the gospel.
God sent me to preach the gospel to the poor. That's what He said.
And our Lord came preaching. And his message, look at verse
3, was confirmed unto us by them that heard him. Who? The apostles, the early believers,
Peter, James, John, Apollos, all these other men. The message
our Lord preached was confirmed unto us by them that heard him.
The credential. God also bearing them witness. God bore these apostles witness
with signs and wonders and different miracles and gifts of the Holy
Ghost, all of it according to his own will. Do I need these
credentials? No. I have the scriptures. I
have the finished scriptures, the completed scriptures. I have
all that God has revealed to man, and I don't need any new
revelation or any new helps or any new tongues or new credentials. All I need is thus saith the
Lord. That's what we believe. But some of these people in the
early church were taken up with these gifts and fascinated by
them. Look at verse 29, 1 Corinthians
12, 29. Is everybody an apostle? No. Is everybody a prophet? No. Is
everybody a teacher? No. Are all of them workers of
miracles? Certainly not. Do they all have
gifts of healing? No. Do they all speak with other
tongues? No. Are they all interpreters
and discerners? No. There are some very weak
people, some failed people, some that don't understand much. No, you don't have them. But
earnestly covet those gifts, covet the best gifts. Covet to
prophesy, preach, or declare the Word of God. Covet the best
gift. Paul rebuked these people for
misusing the gifts. Putting too much emphasis on
the gifts. Too much emphasis. And neglecting
that which is most important. The preaching of the Word, and
love, and grace, the fruit of the Spirit. So he rebuked them. Now, look at verse 31. You earnestly covet the best
gifts that God has, and yet I'll show you a more excellent way. I'll show you something more
special, wonderful, and excellent than any of the gifts. And that's
when he said, verse 1, Though I speak with the tongues of men
and of angels, though I have the gift to speak like an angel,
the gift of tongues like Paul. Paul said he spoke with tongues
more than you are. If I had that, and had not love,
I'm not a blessing, I'm not a help, I'm not an encouragement, I'm
a sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal, and that is nerve-wracking
when you're wearing hearing aids. One of those old Chinese gongs,
boom, you know, a tinkling cymbal. You get the water treatment like
the old Chinese did, you know. I have all that, but I don't
have love. A sounding brass and a tinkling
cymbal. Listen to this. And there I have the gift of
preaching. And I understand all the mysteries and all the doctrines
and I have all the knowledge that they could learn at the
feet of Gamaliel. or any of those others, old teachers,
and have all faith so that I could move mountains and have not love.
I'm nothing. That's what Paul's telling these
folks. Have all these things. They're playing with them to
a certain extent. They were fascinated with it.
They were taking their time up with them. And Paul said, you
can have this thing and be nothing. And though I bestow my goods
to feed the poor, like Ananias and Sapphira, though I give my
body to be burned as a martyr, and have not love, he is a prophet
and nothing. Old Mr. Bonar preached a message
from these three verses and came up with a four-point outline.
Listen. Religion, no matter how powerful,
impression it may leave. Religion without love is like
a human body without life. It's offensive and it needs to
be buried. Religion without love is like
a human body without life. It's offensive. Religion without
love is like a contaminated well. They ought to wear this sign
Don't drink this water. It'll poison you. Religion without
love is like the kiss of Judas. It hides a fatal sword. Religion without love is a house
built on the sand. It's a branch which bears no
fruit. It's a religion that has no hope
and without God in this world. Love is. Love is. Love is important. Why is it so important? Well,
I'll tell you. Paul gives it here. He said,
I'll show you a more excellent way. I'll show you something
better than all the gifts and all of these things that the
duties of men represent. I'll show you something excellent.
And I'll tell you why it's more excellent than anything else.
Love is more excellent because love is the greatest thing. That's
right. Now how about it? Faith, hope,
and love. These three. But God said the
greatest is love. And that's the reason in chapter
4, 14, chapter 14, look at chapter 14, when he ended, verse 13, And now about is faith, hope,
and love, these three. But the greatest of these is
love, verse 1, chapter 14 says, follow after love. Make love
your aim. That's the reason I say these
chapter divisions sometimes don't belong there. He said, I'll show
you a more excellent way. Though I have all these things
and have not love, it's nothing. Then when he came down to the
end, he said, now about is three things, faith, hope, and love.
So the greatest of these is love. Make love your aim. Follow after
love. And love grows. Let me show you
over in, if you'll turn to 1 Thessalonians. I want to show you something
in 1 Thessalonians chapter 3. 1 Thessalonians 3 and verse 12
and 13. And the Lord make you to increase
and abound in love. You don't have all of any guilt
or any grace to perfection. The Lord make you to increase
and abound in love toward one another and toward all men, even
as we do toward you. To the end, make love your goal,
your aim, your end. to the end that he may establish
your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even before our Father
at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Turn to 2 Thessalonians. Make love your aim. Abound, increase
in love. And in 2 Thessalonians 1, verse
3, we are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as
it is meat because your faith does what? It grows. It grows like love. It grows. It grows exceedingly. And the
love of every one of you towards one another is abounding. It's growing. Abounding. We're not talking about something
that you run up on and it's there and it's there in all its fullness
and completion and perfection, absolutely not. But your love
and faith groweth exceedingly and abounds and continues to
grow. It's more excellent, number one,
because it's the greatest. Number two, it's more excellent
because it's godlike. It's God-like. Who is God? What is God? God is love. That's who God is. So it's more
excellent because that's who God is. That's what God is. God
is love. And thirdly, it's more excellent
because it fulfills the whole law. That's right. The Lord said all the law is
fulfilled in one word. I should love one another. The whole law is fulfilled in
one way. I need to make this my aim, shouldn't
I? Because it's more, it's the greatest
of all, it's godlike, it fulfills the whole law, and fourthly,
love is the chief evidence that I'm studying. It's the chief
evidence. By this shall everybody know,
all men know, you're my disciple. How are you going to know that
you're his disciple? Because you love, love God, love
his word, love his people, love his grace, and you're abounding
and growing exceedingly in the gift of love. Love is. Secondly, love does. Love does. What does love do? Well, love is a gift. It's not
a product of human nature. It's a gift. Like faith, love
is a gift. That's right. Love is the gift
of God. God gave it. And love is a gift
which God gives us and sheds it abroad in our hearts. by the
Holy Ghost that's given to us. And we become partakers of the
divine nature. Love is of God. It's the gift of God. And love is shed abroad in our
hearts by the Holy Spirit. So love does. What does love
do? All right, now don't let me scare
you now. But there are 14 attributes of
love. Fourteen attributes. I'm going
to go over them, but it's not going to take me nearly so long
as you think it will. There are fourteen attributes,
but we're going to look at them just briefly one at a time. Fourteen
attributes. Eight of them are negative. Six of them are positive. And
they're right here in front of us. And we'll skip the first
one because it's a positive. Verse four. Start with verse
four. Love suffers long and is kind, and we're going to wait
on that until we get to the sixth, but here it starts with the eight
negative attributes. Here they are. Love envieth not. Envy, what is envy? Envy is one
name for many evils. Envy is one name for many evils,
but love doesn't envy. Love is one name for jealousy,
covetousness, hatred, malice. All of those things come under
envy. But chiefly, envy is the pain which one feels when someone
else prospers, is successful, is talented, or has something. He envies what people have. That's what envy is. It's the
pain that someone feels in their hearts because someone else,
prosperous, is successful, talented, gifted, beautiful, or whatever.
But love doesn't envy. To prove that, you can have the
most successful son or daughter, most prosperous son or daughter,
most beautiful son or daughter, and you don't envy them. You
love them. They're yours. Isn't that true? We can just apply that that way. In fact, you hope the old boy
beats you 500 miles. That's right. He's your son. So secondly, he says, love bondeth
not itself. What does that mean? Love does
not promote itself. Bondeth not itself. It doesn't
promote itself. Love does not act to be seen
of men. Love does not act to be praised
of men. That's what our Lord said, when
you do your alms, don't sound the trumpet. Let not your left
hand know what your right hand is doing. Do it as under the
law. When you pray, don't stand on the straight corner to be
seen of men and heard of men. Enter your closet, shut the door.
Love doesn't promote itself. You find people promoting themselves,
they don't love. We care more for the well-being
and welfare of those we love than we do ourselves. All right,
love is not puffed up. See, that love is not puffed
up. What does that mean? It's not
conceited. Love's not proud. It's not arrogant. True love
is humble. True love says, who makes me
to differ? What do I have I didn't receive?
Well, if I received it, why would I be puffed up? Love is grateful, but it is not
arrogant. It is not proud. Fourthly, love
does not behave itself unseemly. Love does not behave itself unseemly. What does that mean? Love is
never rude. Love is not rude. Love is not
discourteous. It's courteous to the most simple
person. It's not rude in the face of
people that are in a station lower than our station, or what
we think we are. Christian courtesy is the offspring
of a Christian's character. He's courteous. He's not rude. And that doesn't matter where
he is, whether he's in a school, or whether he's at work, or whether
he's at play, or whether he's a high people or a low people. He's not rude. He's not discourteous. Not a Christian. Not a believer.
Love is never, never behaves itself in an un-Christian fashion
toward others. They're kind. Be a kind one to
another. Tender-hearted. All right. The
next negative. Love seeketh not her own. Love
does not seek her own. The person who seeks his own
happiness without concern for the happiness of others He doesn't
love. A person who seeks his own well-being
and welfare at the expense of others, he'll never find happiness. He'll never find joy. He'll never
find peace. Because one old man said one
time, true love doesn't enjoy anything alone. Isn't that a
good statement? I didn't say that. True love
never enjoys anything alone. God said it's not right that
man should live alone. You've got to have somebody to
share it with. Love seeketh not their own. Love is not easily provoked.
What does that mean? True love is not touchy. Now
we grow in these things. True love is not resentful. True
love is not easily offended. The person who must be always
petted, pampered, and humored, otherwise he'll become offended,
is full of suspicion, and he's never content. But love is not
easily provoked, touchy, resentful. Love, now listen to this, love
thinketh no evil. Preach everybody things that
come through your mind that are evil. Yeah, but that's not what
Paul's talking about. That's not what he's talking about.
All people think evil thoughts. You know that, I know that. That's
not what Paul's saying. You know what he's saying? He's
saying this. The person who loves, loves others,
does not think upon the wrongs that others have done. or the
misunderstanding in which they've been involved, or the false,
or infirmities. He doesn't think on those things. Love feeketh no evil. He doesn't
think on those things. He forgives them. He forgets
them. He does not remember the evil
that's been done to him, or against him, or the things that have
been said about him. He just forgets it, forgives
it. and doesn't think about it. That's
what Paul said over here, if I could turn to it, in Philippians. Let's turn over and see if we
can find it together. Philippians chapter, what sort of things are good, what
sort of things are good report, what sort of things are lovely.
There it is, finally, Philippians 4.8. Brethren, what sort of things
are true? honest, just, pure, lovely, of
a good report. If there be any virtue, any praise,
think on those things. That's the key. Forgetting those
things which are behind, I press forward towards the mark of the
prize of the high calling of Jesus Christ my Lord. Love thinketh
no evil. That doesn't mean that we never
entertain a lustful thought An ungodly thought that just, they
like the birds that fly through there. They don't build a nest
for them. That's what somebody said. When
they fly through, don't build a nest. Get rid of them. But
this thinking. Don't think on wrongs and hard
feelings and just forget it. Don't hold any grudges. go in
grace. And then love rejoices not in
iniquity, it rejoices in truth. I think this is good, I read
this somewhere. Love does not rejoice nor find
pleasure in my own sins, heaven help me. Love doesn't rejoice
and find pleasure in my own failures, Nor does love rejoice and find
pleasure in the sins and failures of others. Rather, love grieves
over sin and grieves over failures and finds no pleasure in repeating
them nor hearing them repeated. That's pretty good. It rejoices not in them. Did
you hear what somebody said? I don't want to hear it. I'd
be much obliged if you just wouldn't bother me with it, you know.
That's what he's talking about here. That's right, it rejoices in
the truth, not in iniquity. All right, now those are the
eight negatives. Here is quickly the six positives. It says here in verse 8, love rejoices in the truth. Now, back
here at chapter 13, verse 4. Here's the first positive. See,
verse 4. Charity. Love suffers long and
is kind. I use this in weddings when I
marry people. In sickness, in health, in poverty,
in wealth, in the good that may light our ways and the bad that
may darken our days. If you want proof of love, love
suffers long. That's right. It's long-suffering. That's right. It continues in
long-suffering. And then the next thing up here
says love rejoices in the truth. That's in number six, verse six. Love rejoices in the truth, the
truth of the gospel. Love rejoices in those who walk
in the truth. Love has a wide heart and delights
in the spiritual growth of others in the kingdom of God. Love rejoices
to see someone grow in grace and grow in the knowledge of
God and grow in faith. It makes glad our hearts to watch
people grow in truth. And then love beareth all things. That has a two-fold meaning.
Love covers and conceals and hides rather than exposes. We
have that with our children. We cover up our children's faults
pretty effectively because we love them. Well, that goes for
everybody else too. Love covers a multitude of sins. Love conceals and hides rather
than exposes our failures and faults. But another thing this
barricade means is this. Love, like a strong tower, will
hold up under all kinds of assaults and enemies and refuse to quit
loving. You've seen that through your
lifetime, and I've seen it to an extent. We keep on loving,
and we hold up. We cover the things that are
unpleasant, hide them from view, but we have that strong tower
underneath our children, our friends, and our loved ones,
and we hold up. with infirmities and afflictions
and a lot of things like that. I know dear people with a strong
tire wear have taken care of loved ones through long sicknesses
and long difficulties and never tire. They just love them. They're
not going to quit. They're going to hold them up. So love beareth all things and
love believeth all things. What can I do with that? Love
believeth all things. Well, I found something that
I think is good here. It's more than just believing
the best. It's more than optimism. But it's better to believe the
best of a brother and be disappointed than to believe the worst and
destroy a friendship. Love refuses to believe an evil
report unless it's substantiated. And then, He'll hope that it'll be resolved. He believeth that it will. And
then he hopeth. Love hopes all things. Love is
based on an expectation. Love expects that the object
of love will someday come back. Someday it'll be back. And they
venture off but love, like the Particle's son's father. He loved him. He mistreated him,
left, and that old man evidently stood by the door for a long,
long time. Watch it there, boy. And when
he saw him coming over the ridge, He ran and didn't bring up unto
the past. The boy did. He said, Lord, I'm
not fit to be called your son. I've sinned unto heaven and again
to your side. Just make me a servant. He never
paid any attention to that. Forgot it. And embraced him,
put the ring on his finger. I hope they'll be back. Don't
you? Love hopeth all things. Hopeth all things. It's not over yet, is it? It's
not over yet. And love endures all things.
True love is persistent. Its persistency is not the proof
of its power, it's the very essence of it. Persistency. Persistency. All right, love is, love does,
and now love never fails. Now verse 8, charity never fails. Never fails. Now whether there
be prophecies We preach as best we know how, but it's so, so
imperfect. It's so imperfect. The very best
preaching you can listen to or a man can do is so imperfect.
And so whether there be prophecies, they're going to fail. And whether
there be tongues, if some delightful words spoken People speak in
all different languages, you know, the gospel in French and
Russian. But they will fail too. One day
there will be just one language. All these tongues will cease.
Whether there be knowledge, we know in part. It's going to vanish
away because verse 9 says we know in part. We're such a small
part. Brother Mews said one time, I
love that old man, He could define things in such an unusual manner. He said, you could take everything
I know and put it in a thimble. Take everything I know, put it
in a thimble, and it would rattle around like a peanut in a boxcar.
Now that's in part. That's as clear as I can make
it. We know in part. If a man thinks
he knows, he knows nothing like he ought to. That's what Scripture
says. But thank God. Here's the glory of love. Love
never fails. Here's the glory. But when that
which is perfect is come, when Christ comes, we're made like
him, then that which is in part shall be done away. Tongues and
gifts and preaching and knowledge When I was a child, I spake as
a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child. When I
became a man, I put away those childish things. And that's what
we're going to do, too, one of these days. For now we see through
a glass most dimly, but, boy, bless your heart, then face to
face. Now I know in part, such a small part, then I know I shall
know even as I'm known. We'll awake with his likeness,
conform to his image, and we're going to know as God knew us. So, now about his faith, hope,
and love, these three. But I'll tell you what's the
greatest. His love. His love for me. His love for
you. Christ's love for us. And our
love for him. You love me, Peter? You know
all things, you know I love you. Let's make love, let's make love
our aiming. Pray that God will make it grow
exceeding, abound abundantly toward everybody.