Love is the greatest thing in the world, as exemplified in 1 Corinthians 13, which defines love by its actions and enduring nature. True love originates from God and is a core Christian virtue, essential for believers to extend to all God's people, regardless of differences. Loving others is a direct result of loving Christ, and cultivating virtues like courage, knowledge, self-control, patience, and godliness strengthens this capacity for love. A Christ-like love, as commanded by Jesus in John 13, is the defining mark of His disciples and a powerful testimony to the world.
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Our subject tonight is the greatest thing in the world. And I want to read the thirteenth chapter of the first epistle to the Corinthians. One Corinthians and chapter thirteen. Now as we read this chapter, I want to substitute the word love for charity in each case. One Corinthians thirteen. Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels and have not loved, I am become sounding brass or a stinking symbol.
Though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, too, that I could remove mountains and have not loved, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned and have not love, it profiteth me nothing. Love suffereth long and is kind. Love envious not. Love wanteth not itself. She has not passed up. Does not behave itself unseen.
Seeketh not her own. Is not easy for both? Thinketh no evil. Rejoice is not in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth. Hear is all things, believe is all things, hope is all things, and beauty is all things. God never saith it. But whether there be prophecies, they shall face, whether there be tongues, they shall see. Whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part. But with that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.
When I was a child, I speak 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 large stature, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then shall I know, even as also I am known. And now abide with faith, hope not. These three, but the greatest of these is love. Now the greatest thing in the world is love, and the greatest love in the world is the love of God in Christ.
Now all love emanates from the heart of God, and because of this you and I are exhorted to love one another as believers. John says in his first epistle, chapter four, beloved, let us love one another. And then he gives a reason for God is love. And everyone that loveth is born of God and knoweth God. He that loveth not kneweth not God. For God is love. Now I hope the love is cleansed that you and I are carrying out that exhortation.
We are told to love all us and who believe. Not merely the They are friends with whom we are particularly associated. But all God's people, wherever they are, by whatever name they may be called. Now there are thousands and thousands of Christians going to heaven under various labels. And you and I may not agree with many of the systems which are in the religious world today. I can't accept them. To me, and any of them are absolutely contrary to the word of God. But I must love the Christians.
There's all the world of difference between loving the system, all these genuine reflections and bowing and scraping and all that sort of thing, which is contrary to the word of God. There's a tremendous difference between that and loving God's people. Now, I love all God's people. Paul loved them. He says again and again that he loves all the things. And I love them too. And as I have opportunity, I seek to help them in the things of God. I love you here tonight, beloved friends.
And I love you intensely. I hope you love me. If you don't, I'm sorry for you. But I know you do love me. And I have received a tremendous amount of love as I have traveled so far through the United States. But that does not limit loving one another to our own community or to our own meeting. We have to love all God's people. Now perhaps you say... There are many Christians who are very difficult to love. Some of course are lovable. Quite easy to love such.
But there are some who are very difficult to love. Well, that is quite true, friend. And you are one of them. I am one of them. You know, we all have our rough edges. And we all fail at times. But we are to love one another, not because of what we are in ourselves. But because we belong to Christ, we are all members of one family, and that makes all the difference. Now I think the reason that so many Christians perhaps do not love their fellow believers as they do, is because they don't love Christ as they should.
You know, friend, if you and I were to love the Savior as we should, if our love to Him were deep, real, sincere, we could have no difficulty in loving our fellow brethren and sisters in Christ. You know, the closer the spokes are to the hub of the wheel, the closer they are to each other. The farther away they are from the hub, the farther they are away from each other. And so the closer you and I are to Christ, and the more real He is to us, the easier it will be for us to love one another as blessings. It ought to be a very difficult thing, beloved friend, not to love one another.
It should be a very difficult thing for brethren to squabble and devise. I don't know whether you have heard this fable of the bears in the woods. It is not a true fable, but it has a splendid lesson. These two bears in the wood, well, they saw the other animals striking around the bottom and tearing one another to peace. They thought they ought to do the same. And they tried. And they failed. They tried again. And again they failed. And the situation appeared to be absolutely headsets and hopeless.
Then one of them suggested this. He said, now ask the curious stone. I place that stone in the center of the dead. I'll stand one side, you stand the other. I'll look at that stone and I will say very, very seriously, that stone is mine. Now you have to lose your temper. And you are to say, it is not yours at all, it is mine. And then you'll quarrel, and then you'll fight, and then you'll tell one another to bits." Well, it was a good suggestion, so they thought. And the stone was secured and placed in the sense of the death.
And the day I decided, you touched it, and said very, very seriously, that stone is mine. And he was expecting the other to say, no, it is not. It is mine. Instead of which he said, all right, o man, if it's yours, you keep it. I don't want it. You see, they tried to quarrel, but they failed. And then it should be quite an easy matter for you and for me to love God's people. Now in the Bible, of all the virtues mentioned, love has the very first plea. On one occasion a scribe came to the Lord Jesus and asked him this question, Master, which is the greatest commandment or the first commandment in the law?
Now you remember no doubt our Lord answered, Thou shalt love. thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and mind and soul and strength thy neighbor as thy servant. Now that's the first commandment. It is the greatest commandment. There's no commandment greater than that. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God. Now that was in the Old Testament. And there, of course, the people were commanded to love God. That, so far as I know, we have no command in the New Testament about God. It ought to be, of course, spontaneous.
We love Him. Why? Because He first loved us. And as we realize His love toward us, in all its immensity, so, friends, our love will go back to Him. Then our love will outgrow to those around us. Now I'm going to ask you please to turn with me to the epistle to the Galatians and chapters five. Galatians five and verse twenty-two. At the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, non-suffering, gentleness, goodness, peace, leakness, temperance or self-control against such there is no God.
Now the truth of the Spirit is in contrast to the works of the flesh in verse nine D. The truth of the Spirit has nine properties or nine ingredients if you like. Now it isn't necessary for me to remind you dear friend that the word here fruit is in the singular and not in the plural. It does not say fruits of the city. It's the fruit of the city. And I say there are nine prophecies. Now the first is love. And love comes first because of its immense importance. Now will you notice these other ingredients are very interesting?
Love, joy, peace. That's the verse three. We start with love. Now joy is love singing. Peace is love rescue. The second three are long suffering, gentleness, goodness. Now long suffering, such love and endurance. Gentleness, that's love's greatness. Thy gentleness, that's made me great. Goodness, that's love in action. The last three are faith or faithfulness and weakness and tension, that's of control.
Faith or faithfulness, that's love character. Neatness, that's love's condescension. Temperance, that's love holding the reins. Whenever you read the word temperance and in the New Testament, of course, it's always self-control. Perhaps you and I know very, very little about that. But having mentioned these nine prophecies, the writer goes on to say, against such there is no law. There is not a law in this universe who can righteously condemn anybody who manifests these nine ingredients.
And another friend, if you and I are manifesting the first one love, then the others will be quite easy, because they are all included in the first. Now will you turn to another passage please. The second epistle of Peter and chapter one. Two Peter chapter one. Verse five. Besides this giving all diligence and to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge temperance. Here you have the word again, self-control. to self-control patience, to patience, godliness, to godliness, lovely kindness, and to brotherly kindness, love.
Now here love comes last, and it comes last because of its impotence. We have some very interesting items in these verses. Beside all this, besides this giving all diligence, add to your faith, virtue. Now we start with faith. That's the foundation. And that's how you and I began our Christian experience. We were saved by grace through faith. Grace was the source of our salvation. Faith was the channel by which it was appropriated. Now we are to add to our faith virtues.
If you like the word, courage. And dear friend, you and I need courage. We need courage in our Christian life day by day. We need courage to testify for Christ at every given opportunity. We need courage to nail our talents to the Master as Christians. We need courage to overcome temptation. We need courage in our service for God. We need courage in loving friends in every single detail of Christian life. And we have to add, or link on to our faith, courage. And then, to courage, we have to join knowledge.
Now, friends, of course, this is divine knowledge. It doesn't refer to earthly knowledge. Of course, knowledge is absolutely essential. We couldn't possibly dispense it. Knowledge is mentioned again and again in the Book of Fabrics. It's one of the most indispensable items in our lives or in any life. That's why we have the schools and colleges and universities that our young people might grow in knowledge. Now friends, here is divine knowledge and we are to add to our courage the knowledge of God, the highest of all knowledge.
Now, for all that I know, some of you young people here may be well versed in the world scientists. You may know a great deal about archaeology, or biology, or sociology, or mythology, or zoology, or any otherology. For all that I know, you may have letters out of your name. You may be a BA or you may be an MA. You may be a BSV or you may be a DSV. Or you may be an LRAS or an XYZ. But friends, remember that this knowledge is divine knowledge. It does not belong to this world.
It belongs to that world. And you and I are to grow in grace under the mouth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And then we are to add to our knowledge Temptless. That is self-control. Now I don't want to be unkind, but I want to ask them, how much do you and how much do I know about self-control? Possibly some of us know very, very little about it experimentally. It's one of the most important factors in our Christian life.
There are two passages, I'm going to ask you to turn to them, if you will, in the book of Proverbs upon this. And there we shall see what God thinks of self-control. First of all, it's in the sixteenth chapter of Proverbs, and verse thirty-two. Proverbs sixteen, verse thirty-two. He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty. And he that rulers his spirit. And he that takes the city.
Now this is what God thinks about self-control. He that is slow to anger. Friend, are you slow to anger? Or do you get angry very quickly? Well, if you're slow to anger, you're better than the mighty. Can you rule your own spirit on all occasions when everything seems to bear up against you? Well, if you are, friends, you're greater than the man who takes the city. Now the cities here in those early days, of course, were walled cities. Jericho was a walled city.
And for a general to make up his mind to take up world city, it meant patience, it meant perseverance, it meant courage, it meant fortitude, and quite a number of other necessary items concerning his character. And said, if you and I, if we are able to control our own city, we are greater than the general who is able to take a mighty, strong, warm city. Now I'm going to say something which may surprise you, and it is this, no Christian or ever to lose his or her temper.
Now that may surprise you, but you know it is quite true according to the Word of God. Oh, you see at once, isn't there a passage that talks about righteous indignation? Yes, there is. So that isn't the same thing. Righteous indignation is absolutely justifiable. That's when no Christian ought to lose his or her temper. Now, I'm not a builder. I know very little if anything at all of our buildings. If I were to build a house in time transition, I really hope I should be the last person to live in. I could be the first. But I do know this, I do know this as well.
That tempered steel is valuable. It has its use. It is really useful. But when that peel has lost its temper, its use is gone. It's nullified. Now dear friend, if you and I lose our temper, our use has thereby gone temporarily. And if we lose our temper, means that our testimony has gone. Therefore you and I ought to be exceedingly careful how we live day by day in the home or anywhere else.
We ought to be careful as to what we say and also how we see it. We ought to be careful as to what we do and also how we do it. Well now that's one passage in Proverbs chapter sixteen and verse thirty-two. Now would you please turn over to chapter twenty-five of Proverbs? And the last verse. Twenty-five, verse twenty-eight. He that hath no rule over his own system is like a city that is broken down and without walls.
Now here again we have God's estimate of self-control, what he thinks of it and how he values it. He that has no rules over his own status is like a city which is broken down. Now a city with walls in the ordinary way is useful. and it's useful for commerce. But a city without any walls which is demolished is of no use at all. And where you have a city, beloved friends, whose walls are broken down, the enemy may come at any time and take possession.
Now if you and I do not know how to rule our own spirit, if we don't know how to control ourselves, beloved friends, we'll just like that. How usefulness is gone, and the enemy may come in at any time and take possession. Therefore, you and I ought to be very, very careful how we act and what we say. There's a dear man, he's in the glory now, but I told my friends here that I owe to him a great deal of my Christian life, and he came from America to England. He came on more than one occasion, Dr.
A.T. Pearson. Now he once spoke upon the use and abuse of the tongue, and he gave an illustration, had never forgotten it. He said there was a lady who was a Christian, but she had an uncontrollable temper. She just bowled over at the slightest pitex. A poor husband was afraid of her. I hope, dear sister, your husband's not afraid of you, but he was really afraid of her. But one day she gave herself to the Lord, spirit, soul and body.
And soon after she was tested. She was in one room, her husband was in an enjoyment room. Now the room in which her husband was, there was a lovely chandelier. Well, something happened. That chandelier went west. There was an awful quatch. And the wife heard it in the next room. And instantly she began to groin over, and she wanted to give her husband a peace of her mind. Do you ever see that, Tran? I'd like to give him or her a piece of my mind. Now you're always thinking about the worst piece when you say a thing like that.
She thought she'd like to give her husband a piece of her mind. And then she thought she heard a voice. Did you not give yourself to me, spirit, soul and body? She said, yes, Lord, I did. Did that not control your lips? Yes, Lord. It did. That was sufficient. She went into the room where her husband was. Poor man. He was trembling in his slippers, wondering what was coming. And the first word she said to him was, die.
That nearly swept him off his feet. Many, many once had gone by since he heard such a term of indignance, down, don't worry. Possibly, my deities, he said. It could not have been avoided. In any event, it can soon be rectified. That man's case he knew his own life. There was such a difference. Oh, beloved friends, how careful you and I should be. What we say, because I believe more harm has been accomplished in the Church of God through the indiscreet use of the tongue than anything else.
You and I have two eyes and we have two ears and we have two hands and we have two feet. We've only one tongue. Thank God for that. I don't want to be unkind that I scarcely can realize what would happen if you and I had more than one tongue, some of it. But death and life are in the power of the tongue, says the wise man in Proverbs. It is as capable as much arm on the one hand as it is capable of good on the other. Well, now, friend, self-control is one of the most important factors in your daily experience and mind.
Temporary. And then, according to Peter, we are to link on to self-control patience. And you know that's what we need. I need patience. I need more of this. Every Christian needs patience. When things go alive, when things go wrong somehow, friends, and circumstances tend to upset us how we need to exercise patience. I often think of the exhortation. He had need of patience. And friend, I reprise to you and that reprise to me. Now when you and I practice impatience, that leads very often to irritability.
Now irritability leads very often to bad temper. Bad temper leads undoubtedly to loss of testimony. Patience. That patience has got perfect work. If a man is patient, James A. is a perfect man. And then to patience, we are to add or to link brotherly kindness. Now brotherly kindness, of course, is love to the brethren. Peter speaks of that in his literature.
Love the brotherhood. Love every brother, every sister in the assembly or elsewhere. It's how to, brotherly love we are to exercise, love in all its character. Love not only to one another, but love first of all to God and then love to Christ, and then love to our fellow saints and love to this whole world in which we live, which needs the love of Christ so badly. But there is one item which I have not mentioned.
The item I omitted from that list is this godliness. To patience, godliness. Now you and the items are or should be godly. Now to be godly is to be Christ-like. The Lord Jesus Christ was God manifest in the human form. And if I have to be like God, then I must be like Christ. And Paul said, the more I am conformed to the image of Christ down here in this world, the greater best thing I shall be, and the more I shall glorify God. Now if these things be in you and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be married nor unfruitful in the knowledge of Christ.
Now I want to turn to another passage please. Will you turn to John chapter thirteen? And verse thirty-four. John thirteen, thirty-four. A new commandment I give unto you, that he loved one another, as I have loved you, that he also loved one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, that ye have loved one to another. Now here are our Lord's words, and then here is our greatest, our absolutely perfect pattern.
And he says, here, now I'm going to give you a new command. What is it? Why let you love one another as I have loved you? A new commandment, of course, suggests that there was an old commandment, a previous one. And do you remember what the old commandment says? Thou shalt love thy neighbor. What does the new commandment say? Thou shalt love one another as Christians. For did the old commandment say, Thou shalt love one another thy neighbor as thyself? Now the new commandment says, The Lord says, He shall love one another as I have done to you.
Now, brother and sister, the standard is calvary. And you and I are to love one another as Christ is love us. How greatly has he loved us? Why, friends, he has loved us in such a way he could not love us more? He poured out his soul unto death. He just gained himself for us. Now he says, that's the standard for you. You see how I've loved you? Now love one another. Now I don't say that we've ever attained to it. I don't suppose we ever shall, so long as we are in this world. But the love itself far, far better, aim at perfection, even though you fall short of it.
That aim is imperfection and attain to it. I am to love my fellow believers as Christ has loved me. What a standard! What an ideal! And he says, By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples. that we love one another. Now I've often said, if only we who are known as virgins, if only we as the company of God's people have been absolutely united down the years, had there been no division, had there been no unfetterednesses, had there been no misunderstanding, Our testimony today, whether in the United States or in Great Britain or anywhere else, our testimony will be irresistible.
And those who do not attend our meetings, who are not in our company, even many of them admit that themselves. But you know, the enemy got in the thin end of the wedge. And it wasn't long before he got in the thick edge, end of the way. And consequently, there had been all these terrible divisions and misunderstandings right down the line. It's one of the worst things that could possibly have happened, and yet it has happened. You know, I cannot agree with our dear friends who they say that Well, unless a believer has a letter of commendation, that believer cannot break bread on Sunday morning.
You know, I can't say amen to that. I remember on one occasion, away in Liverpool, in England, a meeting with hell, and the brethren were very strict. And they would not allow anyone to break bread unless he or she had a letter with him or her. Sister in that meeting had a very dear friend. He was a lovely Christian. And she took her to the meeting. And she said to me, brethren, here's my friend.
She's a devoted Christian. She loves the Lord. She wants to remember him in the breaking of bread. They said to her, has she brought a letter? No, she hasn't brought a letter, but he's a very out-and-out Christian. Sorry, but she must sit at the back. She must not be allowed to break bread if she hasn't brought her left. When the meeting was over, the sister who was in fellowship and who had brought her friend there went to one of the brethren and she said, You know you have been thoroughly inconsistent. She said, Why, how?
He said during the meeting, you sang a hymn. Hear every saint that loves thy name, our willing heart and grace. And yet you have refused a dear child of God, just because she hasn't brought her love. Well, they were honest enough to acknowledge their fault. And things have been different from that time to this. Oh, beloved friend. I do feel that down the ages, down the years, we perhaps have discouraged as many people as we have encouraged.
We have just, as it were, sent people away when they also been received, and they also been welcomed, when they also been loved. and we've missed opportunity after opportunity. Now I know that that is not here and I thank God it is not here. That's the fact. Well now I want to refer to two other passages. Will please refer to Ephesians chapter three and verse thirty-two. I'm sorry, it says chapter four.
Chapter four, verse thirty two. Being kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you. I'll bring you and I out to be kind one to another. And why? Only because God has been so kind to us. And God has been kind to you, friend, and he's been kind to me. He has been kind to us far, far kinder than ever we deserve. And because he's been so kind to us, we have to be kind one to another.
Not unkind. But kind to one another. Very often we say an unkind word behind another's back. One of the worst possible things you can do. And then not only are we to be kind one to another, we are to be tender-hearted toward one another. That doesn't mean to say that we are to be chicken-hearted. It says just what it says. We are to be tender-hearted. And then the reason we are to be tender-hearted to one another is simply because God has been so tender-hearted to us.
And how tender-hearted he has been. He has not dealt with us according to our sins. Neither rewarded us according to our sins. Iniquities. He might have. As far as the East is from the West, so far as we removed our transgressions from us. Oh, friends, God has been tender-hearted to us. We ought to be tender-hearted toward one another. And then we ought to forgive one another. And how often are we to forgive one another? Oh, Peter, you know, one said to the Lord, how often shall my brother ascend against me and I forgive him?
Till seven times? No, Lord, said the Lord, not seven times, Peter. Seventy times servant. And he went even farther than that. Now he said, if thy brother trusts us against thee, and say I repent, forgive him, if he trusts us against thee, seven times a day, and seven times a day say I repent, forgive him, seven times a day, how many times a week, forty-nine times a week, how many times a year? Well, seven times three hundred and sixty-five.
Two thousand, five hundred and fifty-five times a year. And of course this is leisure, so you have to ask seven more. Now dear friend, whenever you have to forgive me, you can't. And now before you get to two thousand, five hundred and fifty-five times, you will have forgotten where you are. And you'll have to start all over again. Forgive one another when it is necessary, just like Joseph did, after the ill-treatment he had received from his death, being cast into a pit, soared as a slave of twenty pieces of silver.
Joseph forgives them. He said, forget the past. Let bygones be bygones. Let the past bury a star. I forgive you, forgive you free. Now the last passage is the most extraordinary passage in my judgment. It's in Eucharist chapter twelve and verse fifteen. to Corinthians twelve that he sees both. I will very gladly spend and be spent for you.
Though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved. You know, dear friends, no one but a really great man could have written these words. Paul said to these believers, dear brethren, I will very gladly spend the misspent to you. I love you. I could not love you more. I love you because I love my Savior. And I'm willing to do anything for you. Reverend. The more abundantly I love, the less I love.
In other words, he said, I must love you. I could not do otherwise. I always remember death. If the death of brotherly love, I lay in my stances and loves also. I treat myself with your displeasure. Now brethren, use me. I am a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ on your behalf. So the more abundantly I love, the less I be loved. Oh, friends, I wish I could expound that passage as it should be expounded.
He said to the Kharjnkeans, whatever your attitude is toward me, my attitude toward you is one of love. You may misunderstand me. You may misinterpret my words or my actions. The more abundantly I love you, perhaps the less you love me, but that's not my responsibility. My responsibility is to love you, as Christ has loved me. Oh friend, what a heart. What a situation. Oh, what a lovely, bright light disposition.
God give us something like this. I must love you. You may not love me as you are, but I love you. Above all things, have fervent love among yourselves, for love shall cover a multitude of things. And oh, dear friend, she will allow me to say this. If there's real love among the brethren in this whole entire science, real love, Christ-like love, there's a bountiful blessing.
God will feed on us. How good and how pleasant a thing it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. Yes. Many of them all command the blessing. Even life will have no more. Where? Where there is unity? Where there is love? There will be salvation of souls. There will be an extension of Christ's peace. God will be glorified. And hundreds of people around this district may have caused to thank God. that they heard the word of God through your lips, and above all, that they saw it in your life.
Now God bless this. Talk to you and to me, friends. We all need it. I need it. I don't want to be harsh. I don't want to be unkind. But I do want to be faithful. And if you have any grudge against any brother or sister, oh, friends, get up to Christ. Get it out of the way, and let nothing hinder your spiritual progress. Amen. So we pray. Oh God, our Father, I notice how often we are saved.