In his sermon titled 'The Greatest Of These Is Love,' David Green explores the central theme of love as depicted in 1 Corinthians 13. He emphasizes the enduring nature of love, stating that while faith and hope are essential components of the Christian life, love surpasses them as the greatest virtue. Green distinguishes between love as a mere feeling and love as a proactive commitment that manifests through actions. He argues that love is foundational and eternal, surpassing even the most profound spiritual gifts and knowledge. The sermon stresses the importance of living out the principles of love in daily life and encourages believers to reflect on their own expressions of love. Green also draws from both the Old and New Testaments, citing passages that highlight love's preeminence and its role as an identifier of true discipleship. He concludes by pointing to Christ as the ultimate embodiment of love, urging listeners to embrace this love in their relationship with God and others.

Alright, 1st Corinthians chapter 13. We've been here for quite a while in this text. In fact, kind of worn it out. It's got a lot of mileage. But between, well, let's see, what was on the backside here?

Yeah, Chapter 11, 12, and 13. This one has gotten a lot of time in the study and in the pulpit, but that's good. And this has been kind of a series within a series, a series on love, and what a good time it's been. I'll make no claim to originality or no claim to exhausting the text, but I surely enjoyed it And we'll finish this up today as we think about love, the greatest thing in the world. And we'll take our text from verse 13, but I want to go ahead and one last time read the entire chapter.

Let me begin verse 1. 1 Corinthians chapter 13, beginning of verse 1. If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love. I have become a noisy gong or a clanging symbol. If I have the gift of prophecy and know all mysteries and all knowledge, If I have all faith so as to remove mountains but do not have love I am nothing.

If I give all my possessions to feed the poor and if I surrender my body to be burned, do not have love, it profits me nothing. Love is patient, love is kind, is not jealous, does not brag, is not puffed up, it does not act unbecomingly, does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, it does not rejoice in unrighteousness but rejoices with the truth, it bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things, love never fails but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away. If there are tongues, they will cease. If there is knowledge, it will be done away, for we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away. When I was a child, I used to speak like a child and think like a child, reason like a child.

When I became a man, I did away with childish things for we for now we see in a mere dimly but then face to face now I know in part but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known. Verse 13 our text, but now abide faith, hope love these three, but the greatest of these is love. Love, the is love. Love, the greatest in the world. The greatest in the world.

As I thought about this and coming to the end, it's kind of bittersweet. Of course we're not to the end of Paul's epistle to the church of Corinth, but we're getting close. And you know, after having gone through some of the things that we've gone through with the Church of Corinth and those things, it is refreshing to come to this literary passage on love right here in the in the midst of this letter that he wrote to this torn-up church, the Church of Corinth. It's kind of sad that I never had preached a sermon series on this text. And maybe as I thought about why, you know, maybe it was because of the archaic language of the King James, you know, the charity, it just hits a little bit different to my ears than love does.

But hopefully as we've gone through this you've been able to glean something from our studies here and maybe even been encouraged to dig a little bit deeper as we've gone in this. But beyond that, I hope that you're putting this into practice. What Paul is describing here is not love as a feeling. There's enough of that going on in this world. Whether you turn on the Hallmark Channel or read a, I don't even know if these are popular anymore, but Harlequin Romance, you know, those sorts of things.

Some of the adult women in my family used to, when I was a child, they used to read those Harlequin romances. And when I was a teenager, I used to get a hold of those things and try to read through them, too, because I was curious, and the sappy love stories and all that. That stuff, I mean, obviously it sold. There was a niche for that market. But that's not what he's talking about.

Paul is not talking about love as a feeling, because guess what, Love comes and goes. That's why so many of the soap operas and the romance novels and all that. Those women, they were trading boyfriends and husbands and those relationships were coming and going because love is a feeling comes and goes. No, this is love with legs on it. This is action.

And that's true with all of God's Word, isn't it? Sometimes people talk about, oh well, are you going to preach a doctrinal message or a practical message? But the reality is that if you're preaching the Bible, it's all practical. And all doctrine is practical. It's all meant to be that way.

It's the way it's supposed to be. As Paul ended this, what we know is chapter 13. When we zero in here he says, but now abide faith, hope, love, these three, but the greatest of these is love. But now, He says, now, Now, here, today, now, within the life that we as Christians now live, now, today, there abides these three, faith, hope, and love. Faith, first of all he mentions.

Faith. Over in over in 2 Corinthians chapter 5, 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verses 6 through 8. Therefore, being always of good courage and knowing that while we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. We are of good courage and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. So right now here we walk by faith and not by sight.

We know, as John put it, we know that we're of God, but we've not seen God. We know that we're of Christ, but we've not seen Christ, have we? We know we're headed to heaven, but We've not seen heaven. We want my faith, not my sight. The writer of Hebrews, when he wrote that that that famous Chapter on faith, Hebrews chapter 11, he defined faith this way in Hebrews chapter 11 In verse 1 and going down to verse 2, he said, Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen for by it the men of old gained approval." Faith, the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

But, oh, buddy, there's coming a time, there's coming a time, there's coming a day when faith will become sight. Sight. We read it last week, we preached it last week, We read it just a while ago, but in verse 12 of our text, in 1 Corinthians 13 and verse 12, he said, For now we see in a mere dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, just as I also have been fully known." There's some things we know, but it's dim. We know, but it's dim.

Someday, someday things will be so much clearer, so much clearer. Faith will become sight. Now we see in a mere dimly, he says, but face to face is coming. Then face to face. Now abide faith.

But not only faith, hope. Hope. What is hope? We talked some about hope before. Hope we use the word hope like, well I hope it doesn't rain today, or I hope it does rain maybe, depending on how the weather's been or perhaps it might be.

I hope that I hope that polar vortex thing that they were talking about a couple weeks ago, I hope that's gone and they're not it's not coming down like they said it would. That we'll have a warm Thanksgiving. Some people talk about they hope for a white Christmas and all those sorts of things. You know, they hope for things. But it's a wish.

It's a wish. It might be and it might not be. It might happen, it might not happen, but That's not what Paul is talking about when he says, now abide faith, hope, and love, these three. No, no, for the child of God, hope is something else. In fact, in Hebrews chapter six, Hebrews chapter six, There's a lot of questions about Hebrews.

We don't know for sure who wrote it. In fact, Hebrews may very well have been a sermon. You can sit down and read Hebrews straight through. Take you about 45 minutes or so, it could have been a sermon. It might have been Paul that wrote it or preached it, it could have been Apollo, it could have been somebody else, but we don't know for sure, but whoever it was, this is the Word of God.

And what we find here in Hebrews chapter 6 and verses 17 through 20 is this. In the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of his purpose, guaranteed it with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and confirmed, and one which enters within the veil, where a forerunner has entered for us Jesus having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. As the writer of Hebrews says here, he says, he says, this hope is an anchor for the soul. It's much more than some wish or some pie in the sky thing that might happen.

No, no, nothing like that. It's steadfast. It's solid. Why? We're talking about a hope that you can take as an anchor for your soul.

It depends on the certainty of Christ in all things, no matter what's going on in the world. Combines faith, hope, and love. Don't forget love. Faith, hope, and love. Oh, we've got to have faith and hope in this life, but let us not forget about love.

In this In this, in this text, in this passage and in this In this 1st Corinthians chapter 13 and then also in 1 John, there's much said about love, and we've been looking at love quite a bit, and we've seen that. Do you know in some circles, in some pulpits, in some churches, love is hardly ever spoken of? Spoken of. In fact, Jesus asks the question, or rather makes the statement that because of iniquity, that the love of many would grow cold. Maybe that's why it's repeated so much in so many places.

Maybe that's why John writes about it so much. Maybe that's why Paul takes the time to write to the Church of Corinth to mention it here. Indeed in some in some circles you take a series of sermons and write and preach them on love, people scoff and they say, oh no, that's not necessary. You need to focus in on faith and hope. But our text says these three abide now, faith, hope, and love, and the greatest of these is love.

Jesus said in John chapter 13, verses 34 and 35. A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. He didn't say by your faith, by your great faith, everyone will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another." He didn't say, by your faith, by your great faith, everyone will know that you are my disciples. He didn't say, by your great hope, that everyone will know that you are my disciples.

He said, by your love. By your love. Over in the book of James chapter 2, James chapter 2, beginning James chapter 2, beginning of verse 14, As James is talking about faith, he says, what use is it my brothers if someone says he has faith, but he has no words? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothing in the need of daily food, and one of you says to them, Go in peace, be warmed, and be filled, yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?

Even so, faith, if it has no works, is dead by itself. But someone will say you have faith and I have work, show me your faith without the works and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that God is one, you do well, the demons also believe in shudder. You're willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless." And so James is taking faith, and faith is something that we all agree is a sign of belief, and he says, but faith without works is dead. And he uses the illustration example, and he tells us that you believe that God is one.

Even the demons, the devils, they also believe that way. And not only do they believe that way, but they tremble, they shudder. Now someone reading this might say, yeah, I do believe that. I do believe that there is one God. And in my faith, my faith is not without work.

I feed the hungry and clothe the poor, so check, check. And so I'm showing the love that I need to have for who I need to have it. But then Paul comes along in 1st Corinthians chapter 13 and reminds us Verses 1 through 3. If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and do not have love, I become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and know all the mysteries and all knowledge, if I have all faith so as to remove mountains, but do not have love.

I am nothing. If I give all my possessions to feed the poor, if I surrender my body to be burned and do not have love, it profits me nothing." Paul reminds us that we can take even the best of things, and outwardly it may look good. It may even look loving and caring, and yet we do it without love. You see, you can take what seems outwardly as great faith, and take that faith and do some wonderful works, but in your heart You despise the work that you're doing. You despise the people you're doing it for.

To go through the motions. The old hypocrite can do that motivated by a checklist or to be seen by men you see and so that they can say look what I did I'm better than the devil's and outwardly it may seem that way but inwardly there's no difference. Where is the love? Faith, hope, love, and The greatest of these is love. Let this be your motivator.

How is it the greatest then? And here it is in the Word of God. Not something that I made up, not something that sounds good on a keychain or a bumper sticker, or as a slogan, but the greatest of these is love. What does he mean here? How is it the greatest?

Well, he says, now abides faith, hope, love, these three, but the greatest of these is love. Well, first of all, in the here and now, the greatest is love. First of all, love encompasses all of these. Go back with me to verse 7 First Corinthians 13 and verse 7 love Excuse me It bears all things it meaning love love bears all things believes all things Hopes all things endures all things So love believes all things and hopes all things. You see you can take love and you can say love believes all things and hopes all things, but you can't say that the faith loves all things and hopes all things.

You can't take it like that. You have to take it the way the Scripture lines it up, and love believes all things and hopes all things. Love is supreme in the temporal life. Now don't misunderstand. Now don't misunderstand.

You can't have love without faith in Christ, and love without about hope in Christ and things that you're going to heaven. There are people out there who have that sort of idea and it's a misdirected idea. And you've seen them. Maybe you have friends like that. Maybe you've passed by their buildings.

They call themselves churches and they hang the rainbow flags out and all that sort of thing. They say, anyone's accepted and all of this. They've got a lot to answer for on judgment day. In fact, Paul, as he goes through this, he's very, very clear. He's very clear on these things.

He says, he says in verse 6, that it does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth. That's why this church, the Sovereign Grace Baptist Church, is not a church that will accept and embrace immorality, including adultery and homosexuality and those things. We're not going to hang out a rainbow flag and say everybody's accepted. That's why even the Church of Corinth was wrong in what they were doing when they didn't put out the fornicator, but put in its proper perspective. But now abides faith, hope, love, these three.

But the greatest of these is love. And so in the life here and now in the Christian life, the life in Christ, the greatest is love. But not only in the here and now, But in the life to come. I spent two sermons talking about that love is eternal. Love is eternal.

And we'll repeat that in the context of verse 13. Gifts, ministries, faith, hope, All of these things will someday cease. They'll be done away with. Churches, kingdoms, tribes, fellowships, all of these things will be done away with someday. They will be done away with because they will have come to a have come to a point where they will no longer have their purpose and meaning no more.

But when we see our Lord face to face, love will still be. Love is eternal. As I mentioned before, 1 John chapter 4 and verse 8, God is love. God is love. God is not faith.

God is not hope. The Bible doesn't say that. God does not have faith. God does not have hope, but God is love. As I said, one of these days, faith will become sight.

Our hope, what we've hoped for, will become no longer hope. We're there, you see? But love, as long as there's God, there's love. The greatest of these is love. It's true here now and true on in eternity.

So as Paul lines these things up for the church of Corinth, he puts love in the perspective in the perspective of the fact that there's all these gifts, but love. Love never fails. He reminds them that here and now, faith, hope, and love, these three, but the greatest of these is love. Do you get what Paul is laying out? Do you understand what he's saying here?

There's something to be said here about this. Do you know love that he's talking about? Do you know the love of God? Do you know the love of Christ? Do you know Jesus?

Here in the Word of God, I point you to Him. In fact, as we bring this to a close, I want to go back to a text that we looked at a while ago in John chapter 3. John chapter 3. Verse 16. And on down to verse 21.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, that the world might be saved through him. He who believes in him is not judged. He who does not believe has been judged already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. This is the judgment that light has come into the world.

Men loved the darkness rather than the light for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the light and does not come to the light lest his deeds be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been done by God." So I point you to the love of Christ. I point you to Christ who died on the cross, who was buried, rose again, conquering death, hell, and the grave. The only hope that we have is Jesus.

May God have a blessing to the preaching of His Word.