INTRO.- ILL.- Here are some children’s ideas about love.
- Glenn, age 7 - If falling love is anything like learning how to spell, I don’t want to do it. It takes too long.
- Tom, age 5 - Once I’m in kindergarten, I’m going to find me a wife.
- Kenny, age 7 - It gives me a headache to think about that stuff. I’m just a kid. I don’t need that kind of trouble.
- Regina, age 10 - I’m not rushing into love. I’m finding fourth grade hard enough.
- Angie, age 10 - Most men are brainless, so you might have to try more than once to find a live one.
- Dave, age 8 - Love will find you, even if you are trying to hide from it. I’ve been trying to hide from it since I was five, but the girls keep finding me.
- Ava, age 8 - One of you should know how to write a check. Because, even if you have tons of love, there is still going to be a lot of bills.
- Manuel, age 8 - I think you’re supposed to get shot with an arrow or something, but the rest of it isn’t supposed to be painful.
ILL.- A young man said to his father at breakfast one morning, “Dad, I’m going to get married.” “How do you know you’re ready to get married?” his father asked. “Are you in love?”
“I sure am,” said the son.
“How do you know you’re in love?” asked his father.
“Last night as I was kissing my girlfriend good-night, her dog bit me and I didn’t feel the pain until I got home.”
Brethren, we know that love is not just something that happens between a man and a woman. Love reaches out to all people, regardless of sex, age, rank, etc. And it is the way that all Christians should live!
ILL.- In the 1986 “Crocodile Dundee” movie, Dundee is, of course, from Australia and visits New York City for the first time. As best I recall, he is being accompanied by a female newspaper writer and suddenly finds himself cornered by a gang of young thugs. When Crocodile Dundee does not give them his wallet, one young hoodlum pulls out a switchblade and threatens Dundee.
Crocodile Dundee simply reaches behind his back, while saying, “that’s not a knife,” and pulls out a large Bowie-type knife, saying, “THIS IS A KNIFE!”
As we read I Corinthians 13, we can almost hear the apostle Paul saying to the Corinthians about the world, “That’s not love...THIS IS LOVE!” The world’s version of love is not love! Most of the time it deals with lust.
The world is all messed up about a lot of things, including love. But we must admit that Christians are not without problems in the love department and in other departments. The church at Corinth was plagued with all kinds of problems. If you ever thought our modern day churches were the first to experience problems, think again. The church at Corinth had plenty of problems. THE CHURCH WAS SOMETHING OF A MESS!
The apostle Paul wrote to them saying, “And now I will show you the most excellent way.” I Cor. 12:31b
In a sense, Paul was saying, “You’ve followed the way of the world and now I’ll show you the most excellent way, the way of Christ, the way of true love. The world does not offer true love. This is love.”
PROP.- Let’s examine this “most excellent way” of love in three ways:
1- The preeminence of love (vs. 1-3)
2- The performance of love (vs. 4-7)
3- The permanence of love (vs. 8-13)
I. THE PREEMINENCE OF LOVE
Vs. 1-3 The word “preeminence” means that which is superior, the best thing in life!
ILL.- A certain husband was really downhearted. He said, “Everything in my life has gone wrong. My house just burned to the ground. My daughter eloped with a bum. My wife has left me. All my credit cards are maxed out. My checking account is overdrawn. My cholesterol is sky high. I’m about to have a nervous breakdown. The bank is foreclosing on my mortgage. AND THE CARDINALS JUST LOST TWO TO THREE IN THE NINTH! Imagine that! Two to three in the ninth!”
It sounds to me like all those bad things happened to that man because his priorities were mixed up! Baseball was the most preeminent thing in his life.
The Super Bowl is over. Now it’s basketball season. And then before we know it, it will be baseball season. Then fishing. And gardening. And golfing. And, of course, eating and shopping all ways “in season” and important to people.
We all have our own priority list in life. We have our own ideas as to what is most important in life. But Paul is saying in the first three verses of I Corinthians 13 that love should be the preeminent thing in our lives! Loving people should be one of the most important priorities in our lives!
Rom. 13:8 “Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law.”
Eph. 5:1-2 “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”
I Pet. 1:22 “Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart.”
I Pet. 4:8 “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.”
I John 3:11 “This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another.”
The Scripture is full of admonitions about demonstrating love to one another. Love is supposed to be the preeminent thing in our lives.
- Love is more important than speaking in tongues or the gift of prophecy.
DO YOU SPEAK IN TONGUES? I can say “hermano,” which is Spanish for brother and that’s about the extent of my speaking in tongues. Regardless of the kind of tongue you speak, it means nothing without a heart of love!
ILL.- A younger minister told an older minister, “I love to preach to my people.” The older minister replied, “But do you love the people to whom you preach?”
I don’t care if you can speak 20 different known languages or an angelic language or can communicate with the best of them. It means nothing without a heart of love! Without love, our speaking is just a bunch of noise!
- Love is more important than knowledge.
ILL.- A young boy once approached his father to ask, "Dad, why does the wind blow?", to which the father responded, "I don’t know, son." "Dad, where do the clouds come from?" "I’m not sure, son." "Dad, what makes a rainbow?" "No idea, son." "Dad, do you mind me asking you all these questions?" "Not at all, son. How else are you going to learn?"
Some people are educated and some just pretend to be educated. Regardless of our education: high school, college, doctorate, the most important education we can get is how to treat others with a heart of love. Christ came to teach us how to love one another.
I Corinthians 8:1 “Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.”
- Love is more important than faith.
How big is your faith? I’ve never moved mountains. I have trouble moving anthills. But I’ve run into some Christian people who were always positive, always on top of the world, always believed that everything was going to work out for the good. They always seemed to trust the Lord in everything.
ILL.- W. Carl Ketcherside was a man of great faith. He’s with the Lord now. Carl came out of the non-instrument church of Christ and eventually became disgusted with the legalistic attitude that many people had in the church. In fact, Carl was disgusted with all the legalism that existed in all churches!
Legalism in the sense of saying, “I’m all right and you’re all wrong. What I believe is right and what you believe is wrong.”
A man said to Carl one time, “By the way you talk, you’d think that love was the most important thing in the world.” Carl replied, “THANK GOD, YOU FINALLY GOT IT.”
Carl and his wife, Nell, died in their 80’s. Do you know how they spent their last days? They ministered to the “down-and-outers” of the inner city of St. Louis, MO. Carl would talk to drug addicts and prostitutes about the Lord and how He could change their lives for the better.
Carl and his wife exemplified the truth that love is even more important than a great faith. But in my book, they possessed both.
No matter what you talk about (speaking in tongues, preaching, faith, missionary work, etc.) love is the preeminent thing in life! It should be the controlling force of your life! If you don’t love people then what you do or what you say won’t mean much to them or to God.
II. THE PERFORMANCE OF LOVE
Vs. 4-7 Our love should do something, otherwise it isn’t love.
ILL.- My dad, Leo Shepherd, was a truck driver. He hauled livestock to and from the Joplin, MO, stockyard. Dad drove an old International Harvester six-cylinder truck and he had to get under it and changed his own oil. He would grease the fittings, and do most of the labor on it, except for major repairs.
Back then, most people were their own mechanic. We did things for ourselves. Worked on our own cars and trucks. Dad taught my older brother Larry and me how to change oil, how to change the spark plugs, ignition points, and several other things.
I got excited about my cars and tried everything I could think of to make them run faster, because I wanted more speed. Of course, my dad would come along and say, “If it’s running all right, leave it alone!” BUT I WAS NEVER SATISFIED WITH HOW MY CAN RAN! I wanted it to run better and faster!
Some things are best left alone. If they work, leave them alone, but there is one thing that we all need to work on and that’s our love performance. We all could improve in that area!
Here is how our love should perform.
- Love is patient.
ILL.- John and Charles Wesley were blessed with a patient mother. At one time her husband said, “I marvel at your patience! You have told that child the same thing twenty times!” Susanna Wesley looked fondly at the child. She said, “Had I spoken the matter only nineteen times, I should have lost all my labor.”
Mama Wesley had patience and we need to get it. Our Heavenly Father has been suffering a long time with mankind. He is patient with all our numbness and dumbness. Surely we can exhibit some patience toward others!
- Love is kind.
ILL.- Here’s another positive note and vote for Arnold Schwarzenegger. He said sometime ago, “I saw in the last 10 years that I’m getting much more pleasure out of (helping people) than making money and making movies...” Hooray for Arnold! He’s getting more interested in helping people. That’s kindness.
ILL.- Somerset Maughan was an English writer. His mother was an extraordinarily beautiful woman married to an extraordinarily ugly man. When a family friend once asked how such a beautiful woman could have married such an ugly man, she replied, "He has never once hurt my feelings." That’s a part of the kindness of love. How’s your performance?
- Love does not envy.
ILL.- Preacher F.B. Meyer held meetings in Northfield, Mass., and large crowds came to hear him. Then the great British Bible teacher G. Campbell Morgan came to Northfield and people were soon flocking to hear his brilliant expositions of scripture. Meyer confessed at first he was envious. He said, "The only way I can conquer my feelings is to pray for Morgan daily, which I do."
Brothers and sisters, there will always be someone out there whom we will envy, perhaps just a little and maybe a lot. Someone will be always be smarter, better-looking, have more money or more material possessions and it’s easy to think, “He/she doesn’t deserve that job, that house, that car, that boat, that income. They’re no better than I am. I should have that....” Love does not envy others.
- Love is not self-seeking. Or selfish.
ILL.- Two friends who met for dinner in a restaurant. Each requested filet of sole, and after a few minutes the waiter came back with their order. Two pieces of fish, a large and a small, were on the same platter. One of the men proceeded to serve his friend. Placing the small piece on a plate, he handed it across the table. "Well, you certainly do have nerve!" exclaimed his friend.
"What’s troubling you?" asked the other. "Look what you’ve done," he answered. "You’ve given me the little piece and kept the big one for yourself." "How would you have done it?" the man asked. His friend replied, "If I were serving, I would have given you the big piece." "Well," replied the man, "I’ve got it, haven’t I?" At this, they both laughed.
Love is considerate of others. Love thinks of others.
Here is the performance of love.
Vs. 4- 7 CEV “Love is kind and patient, never jealous, boastful, proud, or rude. Love isn’t selfish or quick tempered. It doesn’t keep a record of wrongs that others do. Love rejoices in the truth, but not in evil. Love is always supportive, loyal, hopeful, and trusting. Love never fails.”
How’s your performance? Do you need a tune-up? The Master Mechanic can do it and we need to let Him.
1- The preeminence of love
2- The performance of love
III. THE PERMANENCE OF LOVE
Vs. 8-13
ILL.- A funeral happened to pass by an armored truck at an intersection. Since the truck couldn’t get through the procession, the driver pulled out and joined it.
An onlooker saw the armored truck in the funeral procession and said to a friend, “WHAT YOU DO KNOW? YOU CAN TAKE IT WITH YOU.”
I think we all know that we can’t take it with us. Some have tried by having it buried with them, but it all does is rot in the ground.
ILL.- Many years ago three prestige automobiles in the country were the Pierce Arrow, the Peerless, and the Packard. Then, the Hudson, Nash, and DeSoto. And later the Edsel. All are gone.
Every car I’ve driven has eventually “bit the dust.” I didn’t drive them until they bit the dust, but I know that’s happened to them. Yours too. It seems that every material thing wears out eventually. Nothing material is permanent. Not money. Not cars.
ILL.- Thomas Mann was a German writer and won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1929. He always worked on each book for a very long time. Even when the manuscript was supposedly ready, he continued to work on it. When he kept changing things in The Magic Mountain, his publisher finally called him up and wailed, “We’ll never get this book out! You’ve been working on it for eternity!”
“After all,” was his calm reply, “I’m writing it for eternity!”
Brothers and sisters, even though Thomas Mann said he was writing for eternity, it’s doubtful. The words of man are earthy but I’m not sure they are eternal.
Mark 13:31 “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.” The only sure eternal, permanent word that I know is the Word of God.
There is something, however, that we do which is eternal.
Vs. 8 “Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease, where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.”
ILL.- Boyce Mouton is one of the finest preachers I’ve ever known. He preaches at the First Christian Church of Carl Junction, MO. And before Carl Junction, He preached at the Fairview Christian Church of Carthage, MO, when I was ordained there in 1968. I listened to him preach for years and marveled at his insight, memory and ability to illustrate Scripture.
As good as Boyce’s sermons were, I don’t remember anything he ever said. In some ways, that’s sad, isn’t it? However, I remember something very vividly about Boyce. I remember going out of Fairview Christian Church after the service was over and his kids were hanging on him. They were hanging all over him. DO KNOW WHAT THAT MEANT TO ME? It meant those kids loved their daddy and why did they love their daddy? Boyce must have loved them dearly and demonstrated his love to them.
That, brothers and sisters, is eternal! Love never fails and love never ceases. Genuine love lingers on into eternity! Most of us will be remembered for the love that we have demonstrated or showered on people.
Great preaching is wonderful. It is edifying. It is encouraging. It is helpful. BUT GREAT LOVING IS EVEN MORE WONDERFUL! And it will last and last. And when we’re dead and gone from this world we’ll be remembered most for our acts of love rather than our talents and abilities.
Love is the permanent thing! Speaking in tongues will cease. Prophecy and preaching will cease. Great speaking in any form will cease. Great knowledge will cease. BUT LOVE IS PERMANENT!
CONCLUSION-----------------------------------------
ILL.- A long time ago, a little five-year-old boy lived in an orphanage. He habitually stole from the other children. The superintendent of the orphanage tried talking to the boy, but it didn’t work. He just kept right on stealing. The superintendent tried all kinds of discipline, but nothing seemed to work.
Finally, someone suggested, “Let’s lavish love on him.” And in different ways the people who worked in that orphanage began to show love to that boy. They began to show interest, to listen to him, to play with him, to hug him, etc. AND SUDDENLY, FOR NO APPARENT REASON, THE BOY STOPPED STEALING. “Love never fails.”
The love of God has never failed and our love will never fail. Commit yourself to a life of loving others.
