Introduction: God never has a subject without a predicate, never creates an appetite without a fulfillment, and never gives a gift without a promise that it will be used in some way that will ultimately bring honor and glory to Him.
Real love is a gift of God. It is a fruit of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer. The gifts and callings of God are without repentance. Love never fails; hence, it even accompanies us to Heaven. Before we get to Heaven though, we must live and work here on this earth. The love God gives to us is to be used, not abused nor neglected, here in this life.
- We are to love the brethren, even those who are not very loveable.
- We are to love one another...regardless.
- We are to love the Lord supremely.
- We are to love the lost compassionately.
- We find that God loves us unconditionally.
- We find that God loves the world purely.
- We find that God loves those who love Him.
- We find that God even loves those who hate Him.
Love is not a feeling, but loving and being loved brings a good feeling. 1 Corinthians 13 is referred to as "The Love Chapter" in the Bible. Verses 1-8 describe this kind of agape love given to us by God, "Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, 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 charity, it profiteth me nothing. Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away."
The "Outline of the Month" will be solely on this subject for the next little while. "All the counsel of God" includes, not only the majesty of God, the salvation of the lost, the separation of the believer from the world, the justice of God toward sinners, the wages of sin, and other such subjects, but also includes "love." There is nothing wrong with a preacher preaching on love. It is not only Biblical, but also the greatest of God's gifts, "And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity." (1 Corinthians 13:13) Chapter 14:1 commands us to "Follow after charity..."
1 John 4:7-8 makes a clear statement about love, "Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love." This agape love, spoken of in 1 Corinthians 13 and again here in 1 John 4, is the kind of love that God says will never fail and is the greatest of all gifts. In light of that truth, let's take the next few weeks and learn from Paul what "love is" and what it does according to 1 Corinthians 13.
1. Real love gives worth to work. - 1 Corinthians 13:1-3
"Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, 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 charity, it profiteth me nothing."
- In other words, love is the proper motivation for what we do, not just for the Lord, but for each other.
- Though good may come from doing the Lord's labor without love, "...it profiteth me nothing."
- I immediately think of Jonah, who, for the selfishness in his own heart, did that which the Lord had commanded him. When God brought the revival He had promised to bring if Nineveh would repent, Jonah slithered off to sit, sulk, soak, and sour underneath a tree. He was angered when God did not kill the Ninevites, and was equally angered when God killed the tree under which he was resting. With misplaced values and apparently no love in His heart, God still accomplished His will through Jonah, but it profited Jonah nothing at all.* Love gives worth to preaching.
* Love gives worth to teaching.
* Love gives worth to singing.
* Love gives worth to cleaning.
* Love gives worth to driving a bus (any vehicle used to bring people to church or help them in any way).
* Love gives worth to sacrificing.
* Love gives worth to tithing.
* Love gives worth to helping.
* Love gives worth to witnessing.
* Love gives worth to working in the nursery.
* Love gives worth to getting tired at Vacation Bible Time.
* Love gives worth to working in Children's Church.
* Love gives worth to being in church.
* Love gives worth to anything you do for self, family, church, and others.
2. Real love suffereth long. - 1 Corinthians 13:4
"Charity suffereth long..."
- Simply put, love doesn't quit when the trials come.
- To "suffer long," means to be of a long spirit, to not lose heart, to persevere patiently and bravely in enduring misfortunes and troubles, to be patient in bearing the offenses and injuries of others.
- Love does this...real love does this!
- We are not prone to practice this aspect of love. We are apt to do just the opposite.
- I have said before how sad it is for Jesus' love to go unreciprocated. However, we take it even more personal than that. When our love is offered and there is no reciprocation, we become offended. Most often, we quit loving and practicing love when our love is thwarted.
- Jesus addresses this in Matthew 5:43-46, "Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?" Herein, we find a four-fold command:* Love your enemies. (This is agape love.)
* Bless them that curse you.
* Do good to them that hate you.
* Pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you.- These four admonitions teach us how to suffer long; love, bless, do good, and pray for those who are difficult to love.
- This is not hard to do for those who treat us in a loving way. This is why real Bible love suffers long. Real Bible love is longsuffering to the unlovable.
Conclusion: Are we practicing Bible love as believers? It is a fair question well deserving of an honest answer.
- Love will change your work and service. It will give it real worth!
- Love will change your actions and attitudes toward others.