1 Corinthians chapter 13, the title of the message is Love in Action. Lord willing we'll begin a trilogy of sermons, a mini-series. The last verse of this chapter lists three virtues, and how about it, faith, hope, charity, or love these three, but the greatest of these is love or charity. And so we'll deal with all three of these, but I'm going to deal with them in the order of importance, starting with love today, love in action. I hope this will be a blessing and a help to us. We need to frequently stop and thank the Lord for his mercy, goodness, love, and the outward tokens of it, his abundant blessings. We certainly, as a church, have much to thank the Lord for. It is only by grace that we stand, amen? And so tonight, that's why we want to have just a praise service. We need to take time to lift our Ebenezer and thank the Lord for his blessings, not only upon our families and personal lives, but upon our church. I've had occasion to Think a lot lately about God's blessings on this ministry, how He has protected us. He's protected Friendship Baptist Church for almost 59 years of its existence. He's protected us from false brethren. He's protected us from false doctrine. We still maintain the distinctives with which this church was founded upon 59 years ago almost. He's maintained the stability of this church. He's maintained the purity of its message, the integrity of its testimony. I won't go into detail, but something happened just a little more than two weeks ago that vividly reminded me of how God kept us from making an unwise decision that would have been horrendous. I just marvel. He has preserved us as a lighthouse for souls, as a greenhouse for our children, tender plants. Some of you have raised your kids, they've gone on, but they were raised right here. He's prospered us. He's prospered us physically, financially, spiritually, so that we can help others. As you saw on the screen just a while ago. Just like that, Abel sent $2,500 to make a huge difference in the lives of hundreds of believers on the other side of the world. That's just one instance. God enables us to keep doing it continuously. And it never fails to happen. We just finished our missions conference just a few weeks ago. And every time we make a new commitment and new people get on board and more than ever has pledged to give to worldwide evangelization, you know what? God blesses us on the home front. The general fund goes up. It never fails. And so I can tell other young pastors that are worried, oh, can we afford to support missions? I can just tell them what God's done for friendship. We cannot out-give God. And it's only right that we should stop, and as I used the expression a moment ago, lift our ebonies or just raise it, give God the credit, the praise for these blessings. And at the same time, we need to examine our hearts to make sure that God can bless us for our motives in giving, that we have the enduring virtues that God can own and bless for years to come, that we have love, faith, hope. I don't know about you, but I don't want God to remove the candlestick at 5510 Falls of Neuse. Because in the 24 years that I've been here, I've seen him remove a whole lot of candlesticks. Well, what are these enduring virtues? I just mentioned them. Biblical orders, faith, hope, love. We're going to begin with love today, so let's read about that in 1 Corinthians 13, verse 1. I'll read the first seven verses. Over the course of the miniseries, we'll certainly read the entire chapter. Paul says, after talking about spiritual gifts in chapter 12, he says, though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels. Have not charity, I am become a 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 as a martyr, have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. Love suffereth long, or charity suffereth long, and is kind. Charity envieth not. Charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly. We'll talk about that. Seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil. Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in or with the truth. Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. And then just to glimpse ahead, Verse 8, charity never faileth. Love is the enduring virtue. It will remain forever, as we often sing in the song, Jesus, I, my cross have taken. Hope, one of the virtues listed here, hope will turn to glad fruition. Prayer will turn to praise someday, if it hasn't already. Faith will turn to sight. But love will last forever. What an exquisite idol here, I-D-Y-L-L, not I-D-O-L, okay? What a perfect poem of love. I'm a kind of romantic guy about poetry. I like poetry. I like good poetry. I love the sonnets of Browning and Shakespeare, but they cannot compare to this. The 13th chapter of Paul's first letter to the church at Corinth is devoted to the praise of Christ-like love. Dr. John MacArthur has stated aptly, I think, love is action, not abstraction, not an abstraction. Now, we could excuse some people for being abstracted. Maybe we'd say moonstruck, right, a guy or a girl that are really struck with love for each other, they'll be a little bit absent-minded sometime. But that's more a symptom of love than an ingredient of love. True love has been perverted in our day, sad to say. by the modern secular society in which we live. Often it means just lust, or at best, mere romantic feeling. But the love described in 1 Corinthians 13, I hope you know, it is agape love. It is divine love. It speaks of a selfless love. Love that is not just a feeling, it's a choice. It chooses to give. It chooses to sacrifice. It chooses to compassionate. regardless of whether that love is reciprocated. That's what sets agape love apart. Agape love is love in action. Someone said, I like this, it's love with boots on. Love with boots on. And I love to see friendship showing love with boots on, as we're doing this week, as some are doing today. You know, a church like Friendship Baptist can be very correct in doctrine. We can expose that which is false in a good way. We can be orthodox in our practice as well as our doctrine. But love can be conspicuously absent if we're not careful. That was probably what was the case here at Corinth, and that's why Paul wrote this chapter. He had commended them in other places in his first epistle. In chapter 1, verse 7, he mentioned the fact that they come behind, they're not lacking in any spiritual gift. Oh no, the church at Corinth, boy, they were big on that. In chapter 11, verse 2, he said, you keep the ordinances as I delivered them to you. He was fair. He was honest. He was wise. He commended them where he could. But they were lacking in love. The same thing could have been, was true for the church at Ephesus as we read in Revelation chapter 2, where all the A list of commendations is given, all the things that the church at Ephesus was good for. They were standing for the truth. They were exposing that which is error. They were taking a courageous, noble stand. But then John slips in at the very end, nevertheless, this is Jesus talking through John. Nevertheless, I have somewhat against you because you've left your first love. May that never be said of friendship. We can just drift over time and that can be true. We can leave our first love. We can do many commendable things. The form remains, but we deny the power, the power of love. Let's investigate this passage to see what true love really looks like. And I hope we'll be honest in examining our own hearts today. There's quite a few things listed here in 1 Corinthians 13. I encourage you to read it, not only the King James Version, but in some other faithful translations and really get the nuances of meaning. Number one, love is the greatest motivation of our faith. Love is the greatest motivation of our faith. That's found in the first three verses, though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, Have not charity, love, I'm become a sounding brass, tinkling cymbal. Though I have the gift of prophecy and I understand all mysteries and all knowledge, those two go together. And though I have all faith so that I can remove mountains and have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, though I give my body to be burned and have not love, it profiteth me nothing. Would you keep your finger in 1 Corinthians 13 and turn to, I think, a key verse to understand this. the book of Galatians. That would be just a couple of books over. Galatians chapter 5 and verse 6. Galatians chapter 5 and verse 6. For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision," but notice the next phrase, but faith, which worketh by what class? By love. Our faith works by love. You see, faith is the root and love is the fruit. Love is the operating principle and that's what causes faith to blossom. In Jesus Christ nothing avails but love working through faith. Paul spoke to the Thessalonians and in the same breath he said as we find in 1 Thessalonians 1 verse 3, he commended them for their work of faith and labor of love. The two go together, work of faith and labor of love. So certainly in this context, and I don't like to take a I don't like to wrest it from its home. I take it out of context. Love here is the true motivation for spiritual gifts. That's what Paul's talking about in this section of his first epistle. These Corinthians, they were coming behind in no spiritual gift. They wanted to make sure they were hitting all their cylinders, but they were abusing them. And it was selfishness. That's the very context here of this abuse. They came behind in no spiritual gift, but they were doing their own thing. They weren't concerned about edifying others. They just wanted to edify themselves. Remember what Paul did in the book of Ephesians. He gave the purpose for spiritual gifts. In Ephesians 4, verse 12, after listing them, especially the offices, he says, this is for the perfecting of the saints for the work of the ministry. You need to say it that way. Those two clauses need to go together. Perfecting the saints for the work of the ministry, for the edifying or the building up of the body of Christ. And so this purpose, spiritual gifts, by its very nature requires a self-sacrificing love. I don't have time to go into the sign gifts, especially. We've done that in previous years. Maybe it's time to go back through them. There's so much confusion about them. But apart from love, the person who exercised, for example, the gift of tongues, which he refers to there in the first verse, if I speak with the tongues of men and of angels. But apart from love, the person who exercised the gift of tongues was nothing more than a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. That's what it means here. I appreciate our percussion, I appreciate the way Brother Joe does the drums and the cymbals. A cymbal that is clashed at the right time is great. I mean, when you reach an apex, when it's a crescendo, I love to hear the cymbals, but I wouldn't want to hear them all the service long. No offense, Brother Joe. I don't want to hear a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. That'd be very irritating. sometimes the greatest truths spoken in the most impressive way fall short if they're not spoken in love. Apart from love, the person who exercised the gift of prophecy was nothing. And Paul underscored the importance of prophecy. He wasn't diminishing it. beginning of the next chapter, chapter 14, Paul states that prophecy is the greatest of the spiritual gifts because the prophet, are you listening, speaks for God to the people that they might know and understand. Oh, how we need people speaking for God. We've got people that love to tickle ears. Please be careful about that. If you leave this church for any reason, and there are reasons, But make sure you don't line up with a church where the pastor just wants to tickle your ears. The important thing is not to hear what you want, but to hear what you need. Prophecy, speaking for God. Apart from love, the person exercising the gift of knowledge was nothing. Paul associates the word knowledge with the word mysteries here. Understand all mysteries and all knowledge. When we talk about mysteries, he's not talking about a whodunit Agatha Christie thriller. He's talking about some truth that God has hid in the past, but then has in his own time and for his own purposes, made it known. That's what the word mystery means in the Bible. And so if a man, a lady for that matter, could fathom the depths of all that can be observed and learned from God's universe, and that knowledge keeps expanding all the time, doesn't it? If he could do that, but have not love, he or she is nothing. This underscores how important love is, amen? Listen carefully. Without love, without this divine love, without this agape love, we cannot know what God wants us to know. It's not just a matter of having the IQ that you want. Paul had already said in 8 verse 1, chapter 8 verse 1, knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth. Knowledge puffs up, but charity edifies. we must never make knowledge an end in itself. I have known some theology students, I remember it was true in Chattanooga, Tennessee when I went to Tennessee Temple University, which is no more, but at one time it was the second largest private school in the state of Tennessee, second only to Vanderbilt. Hundreds of people were coming to get trained to be Christian school teachers, preachers and missionaries and many other offices that can be used for the Lord. It was an exciting place to be at. And some people just wanted to stay there and park there. And I'd come back years later and I'd see some of the people I was in school with and they were still in school. They were making a career out of it. They were getting more degrees than a thermometer. In fact, they were killing themselves by degrees. They never did get out and start doing something for the Lord. Don't be that way. Don't just soak it up and not give it out. Secondly, love is the true motivation for faith to do exploits for God, in the latter part of verse 2. Two, Paul said, though I have all faith so that I could remove mountains and have not charity or love, I am nothing. The world, the secular world, media, they pay lip service to faith. They talk about people of faith. And they may even use the expression, the biblical allusion, mountain moving faith. They're impressed with that. Could I say, and as kindly as I know how, God is not necessarily impressed with that. It doesn't take much faith to move mountains. That's not a great thing in God's sight necessarily, although he did commend some people and say, great is thy faith. But love is great in God's sight, and true faith works by love. True faith motivates people to trust God on behalf of others in ways maybe they wouldn't do for themselves. Jesus commended that Syrophoenician woman when He encountered her at the coast of Canaan, Tyre and Zidon. And she was concerned for her daughter who was demon possessed. She was desperate for this daughter to be delivered, healed. And Jesus ended up, after seeming to rebuff her and ignore her for a time, and I don't have time to go into that, it's a tremendous story, it's a tremendous message, but He ended up commending her. One of the few times Jesus commended the faith of a, and this was the faith of a Gentile, oh woman, great is thy faith. Because it worked by love. I think of those four men that brought their paralytic friend to Jesus. They went up on the rooftop. There were so many people in the house, they couldn't get in at the door. They tore up the tiles of the roof. They knew they had to pay to replace that, but they were willing to do that. They loved their friend. They lowered him in the presence of Jesus. Their great love gave rise to their faith, and Jesus said, When he saw their faith, he said, son, thy sins be forgiven thee. Wow. Amazing. One of the first lessons God teaches those of us in full-time ministry is that God can be trusted to supply our own personal and family needs. I've talked to you about that before. I won't go into a lot. One time we just moved from one island to the other and I needed to get our vehicle inspected so I could put it on the road. And we didn't have any money. It took everything we had to get there. And we didn't know anybody. Didn't know anybody in that new district. And God sent a lady by with an envelope from a lady on Cayman Brack, the island where we had been, that had just the money and cash we needed get the headlights changed so they were beaming the other way because we drive on the wrong side of the road down there. And then to pay for the inspection. You say, Pastor, you remember that very vividly. Yeah, you don't forget things like that. And you know what God taught me through that? Son, I sent you here, I'm going to take care of you, and you can trust me for the ministry too. amount of money involved in those headlights was just a drop in the bucket compared to what I've had to trust him for for ministry needs since then. Love is the true motivation for benevolence and martyrdom, verse 3, and though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, though I give my body to be burned, Paul said, have not love it profiteth me nothing. So love is self-sacrificing. But you can't just because you see an act of, a sacrificial act, that doesn't mean it's motivated by love. Sometimes the motive can still be self. There can be a desire to be praised, revered, emulated, appreciated, even famous. You know what God says about that? When we do something out of that motivation, verily I say unto you, you've got your reward. Don't look for any more. Americans are the most generous, sacrificing people on the top side of this planet. But not all the philanthropy extended from the most prosperous country in the world pleases God. Let's make sure we do what we do, we give what we give out of love to God and to man. Otherwise, it'll go up in smoke. be part of that wood hay and stubble. If not, how are we any different from the suicide bombers in Gaza, and Syria, and Iraq who claim to love Allah, but they hate the infidels. So they try to blow them up. They're going to find out, much to their chagrin and shock, that they're not going to wake up in heaven with 72 virgins. They're going to wake up in hell with all the butchers and mass murderers of history, the offscouring of humanity. They have not love, the love of Christ. Beloved, great love and great faith go together. Without love, even if you have spiritual gifts, if you have knowledge, Faith, even if there's outward sacrifice, there's going to be emptiness, vanity on the inside. Well, let's keep going. Love, secondly, is the greatest manifestation of our conduct. In verses 4 through 7, Paul gives a graphic description of love in action. That's what we're talking about today, the behavior of love. This is very heart-searching, and I hope that's the way we'll treat it as I teach through these verses. Agape love, divine love, it's more than just a feeling. It's a love that goes beyond, goes beyond what most would consider their duty. First of all, we can find out from verse 4 that love is patient and kind. Charity or love suffereth long and is kind. Love envieth not, love vaunteth not, itself is not puffed up. But first of all, it suffers long. That literally means it's long-tempered. We talk about somebody with a short temper. We don't appreciate that. So the thing we would appreciate is the opposite, long-tempered. This speaks of the virtue of patience and of not retaliating, and this is exactly the way our Savior was in 1 Peter 2 verse 23, who when He was reviled, He reviled not again. When He suffered, He threatened not, but committed Himself to Him that judgeth righteously. Oh, the patience of Christ. Have you ever made a study of that? the long-suffering, the patience, the gentleness, the meekness of Christ, whether it was with sinners that He had to deal with and He had to put up with their hardness of heart, or whether it was His own disciples before they received the Holy Spirit, and they just manifested great ignorance and slowness to believe, and He rebuked them. But you can just tell that even in reading, the tone, the gentle, patient tone with which He rebuked them. Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? O fools and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken." Love does not retaliate, but in the place of retaliation exhibits kindness. It's amazing how that kind of love over time can break down the hardest of hearts. Brother Jan has challenged us along this line with our witnessing to our families. We've been emphasizing bringing the gospel home this year. Some of them may never believe unless they see love in us and longsuffering. Abraham Lincoln certainly was not without his faults. It's easy to canonize a fellow, sanitize him over time. But there were some things Abraham Lincoln did that were worth commending. He had a political enemy early on before he became president, the 16th president. His name was Edwin Stanton. Edwin Stanton was not very kind towards Abraham Lincoln. He called him a low cunning clown. He called him the original gorilla because of his gangly frame. Do you know that Abraham Lincoln never responded to that slander? But when he was elected the 16th President of the United States of America and he needed a Secretary of War, Abraham Lincoln chose Edwin M. Stanton. His friends were shocked. They asked the inevitable question, why? And here was his answer. Because Stanton is the best man for the job. Years later, when Lincoln's body lay in state, slain by an assassin's bullet, John Wilkes Booth, Edwin M. Stanton looked down into his coffin with tears and said this, there lies the greatest ruler of men the world has ever seen. His hatred and disdain had been utterly broken down by the long suffering and kindness of Abraham Lincoln. Beloved, let's be kind to everybody. It is true everybody's having a hard time. Be kind in your family circle. Your children can be vexing at times. Don't retaliate that way. They'll be choosing your nursing home someday. Be kind on the job. Be kind to your class. Be kind even to your enemies. Be kind to your pets. The Bible says the righteous man regardeth the life of his beast. And you're waiting for it, so I'll say, yes, be kind to cats. God created cats. He really did. He created them to test your sanctification and perfect you. Love is not jealous, boastful, or arrogant. That verse 4 goes on to say, charity envieth not, vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up. It's not boastful or arrogant. It is genuinely happy to see others succeed. And before we think that we've got that, let's talk a little bit more. John the Baptist proved his love for Jesus. when as the crowd started dwindling away from Him, and He was a powerful preacher, attracting people to come way out there into the wilderness. It wasn't easy. You just didn't find Him on the street corner. You had to go hunt for Him. But people flocked to Him. But then they started dwindling, the crowds. They started attaching themselves to another lowly, miracle-working Nazarene, Jesus. And John the Baptist said, this is my joy. This my joy is fulfilled. I'm just the friend of the bridegroom. He must increase and I must decrease. Boy, would to God we could be that way. Love doesn't brag. Jealousy is wanting what somebody else has, but bragging is trying to make others jealous of what we have. Parents, we all think our kids, every crow thinks theirs is the blackest. Like one preacher said, that's not a halo, honey, them are horns. What's your first reaction when you hear Somebody who's about your age or class or rank or someone who's about the age or class or rank of one of your children or grandchildren, and they're honored and rewarded or promoted. Is your first instinct to think of how that makes you feel by comparison or your child by comparison? Then you have an ego problem. You've got an ego problem. And that can only be cured by a good dose of agape love. This gets down where we live, folks. I don't care how many times we've read 1 Corinthians 13 or even memorized it. Love is not jealous. It envieth not. It doesn't boast. It vaunteth not itself. It's not arrogant. It's not puffed up. And then love shows good manners in verse 5, doth not behave itself unseemly. It does not act unbecomingly. It is never rude. It is never overbearing. Love is not ill-mannered. I'm just going to be plain about this. When you use poor table manners, when your children use poor table manners, somebody needs to do some course correction. Don't be like Ernest T. Bass at Aunt Bea's table. When you fail to rise as a woman enters the room, when you refuse to be chivalrous and show good manners, if you forget to say thank you with a smile to that clerk or waitress or family member, you know what message you are sending? You are sending a message. You're talking. You're saying, I don't esteem you very highly in love. You owe that service to me. Abraham used good manners, even among the heathen people around him. And when it came time to bury his dear wife, Sarah, and he went to the surrounding monarchs, chieftains, and craved a place he was going to offer to buy it, they said, no, take it. You're a mighty prince among us. Heathen! You're a mighty prince among us. Then we see that love does not demand its own way. Middle part of verse 5, seeketh not her own. Love seeketh not her own. Love is not selfish. That's the key to this entire passage. Lack of love just shows selfishness. Love is not peevish. It's not squeamish. It's not too transparent about one's feelings. Some people think that's a virtue to just say whatever's on their mind and use no restraint. Well, I don't mean anything by it, but I just tell it like it is. You're going to regret that. That's not smart. That's not Christ-like. This matter gets to the heart of what true love really is. Love doesn't try to manipulate people just to have its own way. Love just doesn't try to monopolize the conversation. I mean, when you get in the room with some people, you know you're not going to get a word in edgewise. They suck all the oxygen out of the room. Love doesn't seek its own pleasure, but instead it finds its highest pleasure in bringing joy to others. Love is gracious. Love is considerate. It's sad to say some Christians forfeit the opportunity for witnessing to the unsaved or even being a blessing to fellow believers because they think they have to say the first rude thing that comes to their mind. Again, we need to imitate our Savior in this. As the son of man, he testified, as it's recorded in Matthew 20, verse 28, he came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, to give his life a ransom for the many. He did not seek his own welfare. He sought the welfare of others. May God help us to be like that. The latter part of verse five, or at least the C part of verse five, is not easily provoked, is not easily provoked. Thinketh no evil. God commands fathers through Paul. Two different places in the epistles, I think once in Ephesians, once in Colossians. Provoke not your children to wrath. Dads, we need that. I know it's not Father's Day. I'm getting a jump on this. But dads, don't provoke your children. Don't get exasperated with your kids. Don't get easily angered. Don't get irritable. Doesn't mean that there's never any righteous indignation that we need to manifest. Do you think Jesus might have been a little worked up when he took that whip of cords and drove those money changers out of the temple? Yeah, I think so. Paul goes on to say in verse 6 that love rejoiceth not in iniquity that is in unrighteousness. So we don't rejoice in unrighteousness. There is such a thing as righteous indignation, but this refers to someone offending God and others, not ourselves personally. Make sure you understand that distinction. Some translations render this, love keeps no record of wrongs. Love doesn't keep a little black book so that injuries can be brought up again at a convenient time. Aren't you glad God's not that way to us? against us. There is therefore now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus. He doesn't keep a black book against us. You know it's amazing how long a memory some people have when it comes to personal hurts and injuries and offenses. Some people won't speak to someone for years. They may even forget what the offense was, but they know that it's a point of honor not to speak. Let's not be that way. Let's not make an issue of petty offenses. If every fault required a personal confrontation, then our whole time at church would be spent, once we get here at the time we leave, confronting and resolving petty disputes and conflicts and annoyances. Now, sometimes there are offenses that need to be dealt with, and you can't sweep them under the rug. You got to talk to people. Faithful are the wounds of a friend in that regard. But I want you to notice Proverbs 17 and verse 9. Proverbs 17, verse 9. The Bible says, He that covereth the transgression seeketh what? Class? You're not there yet. All right, wait a minute. He that covereth the transgression seeketh what? Love, there we are, but he that repeateth the matter separateth very our chief friends. You know, the Bible tells us, the writings of the Apostle Paul, that it'd be better to be defrauded, that means personally wronged, taken advantage of. It'd be better for that to happen than to harbor a grudge or to air a dispute before others. The Apostle Paul had ethical credibility to say those things. He was a good example of what he was talking about. He was a hard man to offend. As he said in Philippians chapter 1 verse 16, there were those who were trying to add affliction to his bonds, but they were still preaching the gospel. And he said, I therein rejoice. That's hard to say. Somebody that personally is giving you a hard time, trying to make life miserable for you, but they're still giving forth the gospel, and you say, praise God. I heard about a man, I can't remember who it was, but the reputation got out about this man that if you did him an injury, you would secure his friendship forever. The next, love is eager to believe the best. Taking things out of order, if you will allow me to. I'll skip over verse 6 for a moment. We'll come back to it. Look at verse 7. Love beareth all things, believeth all things. Love is not suspicious or cynical. As we read from Proverbs 17, we cover a transgression. That's a great thing. When we do that, we don't expect more of the same wrongdoing. We long to see people not only forgiven, but restored and cleansed. Paul talks about this in Romans chapter 14, where he talked about the fact that there are going to be the weaker brother and the stronger brother. Both of them think they're right. Maybe one is in position and the other isn't, but the one who's right in position can be wrong in disposition and he cannot act in love toward the weaker brother. Paul said, who art thou that judges thy brother? And then he goes on to say, God is able to make him stand. All right, I'm going to really meet you where the rubber meets the road this morning. when you have a difference with your brother, or your sister, and you feel they're wrong, maybe they've wronged you. Maybe they're wrong in their position, their interpretation of a verse. Do you want to see them exposed, or do you want to see them stand? God is able to make them stand. Is that our desire? This is not as easy as it sounds, is it? Now, there are times when we need to demand fruits meet or fitting for repentance, as John the Baptist preached. It's recorded in Matthew 3, verse 8. We need to be wary of feigned or hypocritical repentance. For instance, when somebody wants to join this church, and we've had several recently, praise the Lord. We don't just let them come forward on a Sunday morning, the first time we've seen them, and they say, hey, God's inclined my heart, I wanna join this church. And so we ask them at the altar, are you sure you're safe? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, all in favor say aye. We don't do that. Because if you wanna invite trouble, you just start, get some unregenerate people into the church that have been a problem elsewhere. But we must be willing to believe the best, amen? Disposed to forgive even after multiple offenses, as Jesus told Peter, 70 times 7. Let's be careful. We are separatists here at Friendship. We are independent Baptist church, independent Baptist church. And my father used to say, and he was an independent Baptist too, he said, but some of us get as independent as a hog on ice. I don't know exactly what he meant, but I can just imagine. And sometimes we can get really negative about people with whom we disagree if we're not careful. And if we don't put a check on that spirit, we can easily assume they're not right with God. God can't bless them. God can't send revival to that church. Oh boy, we better be careful with that one. That may be just the place he sends revival first. Love does not glory in another's sin or downfall. Now we'll go back to verse 6. Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in or with the truth. Now we can be guilty of rejoicing in iniquity in a number of ways, but let's just divide it up into two basic ways. We can delight in our own iniquity. That's wrong. Justify our own sin. But let's not be secretly glad for another's sin because it makes us look better. quiet. Our hearts can be so perverse here. You're probably going to do a double take when I say this, but I've known single believers who hope that their estranged spouse commits adultery so they have a license to remarry. That's rejoicing in iniquity. Would you be careful what you read and watch and talk about with others? That rules out gossip, the glamorizing of sin. I think of what we read in the Old Testament, I think it was David's response when he heard that Saul had died and Saul sought his life. If anybody should have been glad that Saul was dead, it would have been David. But no, when he heard about it, he said, tell it not in Gath, publish it not in Ascalon. And he mourned the death of Saul. There should be nothing entertaining or pleasurable to the child of God when we hear the fall of another believer. We should never discuss the sordid, salacious details. By the way, be careful when you talk about sin. The Bible says in Ephesians 5 chapter 5 verse 12, it is a shame to even speak of those things that are done of people in secret. We can just speak so matter of factly about the salacious details of sin. It doesn't even bother us. You better be careful because when you do that. Sin can be revived in your heart. just by talking about it in others. We need to be prayed up when we have to deal with sin. Sometimes we do. As we read in the one chapter book of Jude, verse 23, hating even the garments spotted by the flesh. Is that true of you when you have to deal with sin? Then there's a matter of gossip. I mentioned that. Oh, the lips of a gossip. You know what? The lips of a gossip would soon be silenced if they never found any eager listeners. I hope you would rather be considered a dull conversationalist than to let your ears become garbage cans for malicious hearsay about one of God's elect. Let's get down where we live, where the rubber meets the road. Lastly, and this is as far as we'll get today, we'll pick up where we left off next week, God willing, love is devoted to truth in everything. Rejoiceth not in iniquity, we talked about that, but then it goes on to say, but rejoiceth in, or it could be some translations render it, with the truth wherever it is found. And beloved, that's what our attitude should be. Let the truth of God appear, whatever the source. Now, Moses appealed to God at the burning bush, and he was using that as a cop-out when God told him what he wanted him to do, and he tried to evade it. And Moses said, Lord, send by the hand of whom thou wilt send. That wasn't commendable in Moses, but that's a principle that really is commendable here. Lord, use whoever you want to. I'll rejoice in it. It doesn't have to be our group. It doesn't have to be our denomination. Just let your truth be proclaimed and your name be glorified. Amen? If we truly comprehend the sublimity, the beauty, the permanence of agape love, I think our first and foremost request and prayer would be, Lord, evermore give us not this bread, but this love. I'm not preaching this message because I think there's a problem at Friendship Baptist Church that needs to be dealt with. I'm not reacting to anything. But I would warn us all with our concern for doctrinal correctness, with our zeal for the truth, with our earnestly contending for the faith once and for all delivered to the saints, with our passion for ministry, for missions, with our well-designed programs and activities. Let us not be bereft of love. Let us seek above everything a baptism of love. Love will teach us how to pray for others. Love will cure our selfishness and our apathy and our complacency. Love will cure our reluctance and our timidity and our fear and witnessing because when we really are burdened for someone on their way to hell, we'll forget ourselves. Love will bring heaven and earth, heaven to earth as we enter into the very passion of Christ. Love will get the attention of a skeptical world because Jesus said, by this shall all men know that you're my disciples. if you have love one for another. We're beginning to learn what love really is. Let's make sure we put it into practice. All God's people said, let's pray. Father, thank You for Your love for us. When we weren't seeking You, You sought us. When we were Your enemies, You didn't return things in kind. Please help us to enter into the passion of Christ, to feel in our hearts the meekness, the gentleness, the long-suffering of Jesus, to put on bowels of mercies, as the Apostle said. O Spirit of God, teach us. Would you shed abroad in our hearts the love of God? Yes, let it gush forth. the meaning of Romans 5, verse 5. Please bring these things to our remembrance. Rebuke us where needed, but most of all, help us to change for the glory of God. We pray in Jesus' name, amen.