The Greatest Thing Is Love — Ernest Barker

The Greatest Thing Is Love

Our subject tonight is the greatest thing in the world. And I want to read the 13th chapter of the First Epistle to the Corinthians. 1 Corinthians and chapter 13. Now as we read this chapter I want to substitute the word love for charity in each case.

1 Corinthians 13. Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not love, I am become a sounding brass or a stinging cymbal. Though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all marvels, and though I have all faith, through that I could 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. Love suffereth long and is kind. Love envieth not. Love wanteth not itself, is not fastucked.

Does not behave itself unseen. Thinketh not her own, is not easily provoked. Thinketh no evil. Rejoices not in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth. Feareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

God 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. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.

But with them that which is perfect is come. Then that which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spake 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 glass sharply, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then shall I know even as also I am known. And now by this faith hope love. These three, but the greatest of these is love.

Loving All Believers as Members of Christ’s Family

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, chapters 4, Beloved, let us love one another. Then he gives a reason. For God is love. And everyone that loves is born of God and knows God. He that loves not, knows not God.

For God is love. Now I hope, beloved friends, that you and I are carrying out that exhortation. We are told to love all our fellow believers. Not merely the dear 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, many of them are absolutely contrary to the word of God. But, I must love the Christians. There is all the world of difference between loving the system, all these genuflections and bowing and scraping and all that sort of thing, which is constituted of the word of God.

There is a tremendous difference between that and loving God's people. Now, I love all God's people. All of them. He says again and again that he loves all the saints. And I love them too. And as I have opportunity, I seek to help them and receive the 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 some. But there are some who are very difficult to love. Well, that is quite true, sir. And you're one of them. And I'm one of them. You know, we all have our rough edges.

And we all fail at times. But we have 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.

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, friends, if you and I were to love the Savior as we should, if our love for Him were deep, real, sincere, we could have no difficulty in loving our fellow brethren and sisters in Christ.

You know, the closer the folks are to the hub of the field, 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 blessed.

It ought to be a very difficult thing, beloved friends, not to love one another. It should be a very difficult thing for brethren to squabble and divide. I don't know whether you have heard the fable of the bears in the woods.

The Bears’ Fable and the Discipline of Unity

It's not a true fable, but it has a splendid lesson. These two bears in the woods, well, they saw the other animals hiking around the mountain and tearing one another to pieces. 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 helpless and hopeless. When one of them suggested this, he said, Now I'll secure a stone.

I'll place that stone in the center of the den. 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 are 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 tear one another to bits. Well, it was a good suggestion, so they thought. And the stone was secured and placed in the center of the den.

And the bear decided to touch 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 old 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 place.

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's answer.

Thou shalt love. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and mind and soul and faith. Thy neighbor as thyself. 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. Thus far as I know, we have no command in the New Testament to love 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 outflow to those that love us.

The Fruit of the Spirit and the Priority of Love

Now I'm going to ask you, please, to turn with me to the Epistle to the Galatians and chapter 5. Galatians 5 and verse 22. Now the truth of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, peace, meekness, temperance, or self-control.

Again, such there is no doubt. Now the truth of the Spirit is in contrast to the works of the flesh in verse 19. 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, truths of the Spirit. It's the fruit of the Spirit. And I say there are nine properties. 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. They are the first three. We start with love. Now joy is love singing. Peace is love resting. The second three are long-suffering, gentleness, goodness. Now long-suffering, that's love endurance.

Gentleness, that's love greatness. Now gentleness has made me great. Goodness, that's love in action. The last three are faith, or faithfulness, and neatness, and temperance, or self-control. Faith, or faithfulness, that's love character.

Neatness, that's love condescension. That's love holding the reins. Whenever you read the word temperance 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 properties, the writer goes on to say, against such there is no law. There's not a law in this universe who can righteously condemn anybody who manifests these nine ingredients.

And another thing, 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, in chapter one.

2 Peter, chapter one, verse five. Besides this, giving all diligence unto your faith, virtue, the virtue of knowledge, the knowledge temperance, here you have the word again, self-control, to self-control, patience, and to patience, godliness, to godliness, brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness, love.

Now here love comes last. And it comes last because of its importance. We have some very interesting items in these verses. Beside all this, besides this giving all diligence, unto your faith, virtue.

Now we shall be saved. 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 appropriate.

Now we are to add to our faith, virtue. 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 petrify for Christ at every given opportunity.

We need courage to nail our talents to the mast as Christians. We need courage to overcome temptation. We need courage in our service for God. We need courage, dear beloved 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 Proverbs. It's one of the most indispensable items in our lives, or in any life. That's why we have these schools and colleges and universities.

That our young people may 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 I know, some of you young people here may be well versed in the world sciences.

You may know a great deal about archaeology, or biology, or sociology, or ornithology, or zoology, or inebriology. For all I know, you may have letters after your name. You may be a BA, or you may be an MA.

You may be a BSC, or you may be a DSC. Or you may be an LRAN, 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 ten things. That is, self-control. Now I don't want to be unkind, but I want to ask you 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 chapters 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.

Self-Control, Anger, and the Christian Testimony

First of all, it's in the 16th chapter of Proverbs, and verse 32. Proverbs 16, verse 32. He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he that ruleth his spirit, and he that taketh a 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. Friend, can you rule your own spirit on all occasions when everything seems to be up against you?

Well, if you are, friend, 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 a walled 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 friend, if you and I, if we are able to control our own spirit, we are greater than the general who is able to take a mighty, strong, walled city. Now I'm going to say something which may surprise you.

And it is this. No Christian ought 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 say at once, isn't there a passage that talks about righteous indignation?

Yes there is, but 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 of anything at all about building.

If I were to build a house in San Francisco, I really hope I could be the last person to live in it. I could be the first. But I do know this, and you know this as well. That tempered steel is valuable.

It has its use. It is really useful. But when that steel 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, friend, it 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. 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 16 and verse 2. Now would you please turn over to chapter 25 of Proverbs. And the last verse. 25 verse 28. He that hath no rule over his own spirit 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 evaluates it. He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city which is broken down. Now a city with walls in the ordinary way is useful.

And it's useful for comrades. 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 in 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, then, beloved friends, we are just like that. Our 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. Whereas a dear man is in the glory now. Now 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. I've never forgotten it. He said there was a lady who was a Christian, but she had an uncontrollable temper.

She just bowed over at the slightest pretext. Her poor husband was afraid of her. I hope, dear sister, your husband is 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 tasted. She was in one room. Her husband was in an adjoining room. Now the room in which her husband was, there was a lovely chandelier. Well, something happened. That chandelier went away.

There was an awful crash. And the wife heard it in the next room. And instantly she began to join over. And she wanted to give her husband a piece of her mind. Do you ever say that, friend? I would 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 console 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. And he respected what she said. Many, many months had gone by since he heard such a term of endearment. Darling, don't worry. Possibly, my dear, he said. It could not have been avoided.

In any event, it can soon be rectified. That man's cursed he knew his own wife. There was such a difference. Oh, beloved friend, 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 teeth. We've only one tongue. Thank God for that. I don't want to be unkind, but I... 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 of as much harm on the one hand as it is capable of good on the other. My dear friend, self-control is one of the most important factors in your daily experience of life.

Tempting. And then according to Peter we are to link on to self-control of patience. And you know that's what we need. I need patience. I need more of that. Every Christian needs patience. When things go awry, when things go wrong somehow, friend, 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, that applies to you and that applies 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. Let patience have a perfect work. If a man is patient, he 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 epistle. Love the brotherhood. Love every brother, every sister in the assembly or elsewhere. So 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 cold world in which we live, which needs the love of Christ so badly.

Christlikeness and Love as the Christian Standard

But there is one item which I have not mentioned. The item I have omitted from that list is this godliness. To patience, godliness. Now you and I, friends, are or should be godly. Now to be godly is to be Christlike.

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 so then the more I am conformed to the image of Christ down here in this world, the greater blessing I shall be.

And the more I shall glorify God. Now if these things be in you and abound, they make you that you shall neither be narrowed nor untruthful in the knowledge of Christ. Now I want to turn to another passage, please.

Will you turn to John chapter 13 and verse 34. John 13, 34. A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another as I have loved you, that ye also love 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 commandment. What is it? Why that 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. What did the old commandment say? Thou shalt love one another, thy neighbor, as thyself. Now the new commandment says, the Lord says, Ye shall love one another as I have loved you.

Now brother and sister, the standard is calibrated. And you and I are to love one another as Christ has loved us. How greatly has he loved us. By saying he has loved us in such a way he could not love us more.

He poured out his soul unto death. He just gave 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 Lord is saying far, far better aim at perfection. Even though you fall short of it. That aim is in perfection 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 ye love one another. Now I've often said, If only we who are known as brethren,. If only we as a company of God's people,.

Had been absolutely united down the years. Had there been no division. Had there been no uncertainnesses. Had there been no misunderstandings. 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 way.

And it wasn't long before he got in the thick end. Thick end of the way. And consequently, There have 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 say that, Well unless a believer has a letter of commendation, That's a 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 was held. 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.

A 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 the 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 her letter? No, she hasn't brought her letter. But she'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 letter. 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, Do you know you have been thoroughly inconsistent?

Sir, why? How? She said, during the meeting, You sang a hymn. Hear every saint that loves thy name,. Our willing hearts embrace. And yet you have refused a dear child of God, Just because she hasn't brought her letter.

Well, they were honest enough to acknowledge their fault. And things have been different from that time to this. Oh, beloved friends, 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 ought to have been received, And they ought to have been welcomed, And they ought to have 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 you please refer to Ephesians chapter 3 and verse 32. I'm sorry, it's verse, chapter 4.

Chapter 4, verse 32. Be kind one to another, tender hearted, forgiving one another, Even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you. Our friend, you and I ought 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 deserved. And because He's been so kind to us, we ought 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 friend, 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 is not just for us according to our sins. Neither is He for us according to our iniquities. He might have. As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.

Oh friend, 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? Peter, you know, once said to the Lord, how often shall my brother offend against me and I forgive him?

Till seven times? No Lord, said the Lord, not seven times Peter. Seventy times seven. And he went even farther than that. Now he said, if thy brother trusts up against thee, and say I'll repent, forgive him.

If he trusts up against thee seven times a day, and seven times a day say I'll 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 leakier, so you have to ask seven more. Now dear friends, whenever you have to forgive me, you can. And long 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 brethren, being cast into a pit, thrown as a slave for twenty pieces of silver, Joseph forgave them.

He said, forget the past. Let bygones be bygones. Let the past bury its past. I forgive you, forgive you freely. Now the last passage is the most extraordinary passage in my judgment. It's in 2 Corinthians chapter 12 and verse 15.

2 Corinthians 12, the 15th verse. I will very gladly spend and be spent for you, though the more abundantly I love you, the less I desire. You know, dear friends, no wonder a really great man could have written these words.

Paul’s Self-Giving Love and the Blessing of Unity

Paul said to these believers, to his brethren, I will very gladly spend and be spent for 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, the more abundantly I love you, the less I desire.

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 myself at a love's altar. I treat myself at your disposal. Now brethren, use me.

I'm a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ on your behalf. So the more abundantly I love, the less I desire. All things I wish I could expound that passage, as it should be expounded. He said to these Corinthians, 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 situation. Oh what a lovely Christlike disposition. God give us something like that. I must love you. You may not love me as you are, but I love you. Above all things. So, have fervent love among yourself, for love shall cover a multitude of sins.

Oh dear friend, you'll allow me to say this. If there's real love among the brethren, in this fall, in pastime, real love, Christlike love, there's bountiful blessing. God will speak of that. How good and how pleasant I think it is for brethren to dwell together in union.

Yes. May the Lord command the blessing. Even life forevermore. Where? Where there is unity, where there is love, there'll be salvation of souls. There'll be an extension of Christ's peace. God will be glorified.

And hundreds of people around this district may have cause 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 you. Talk to you and to me, friend.

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 that good life. Get it out of the way.

And let nothing hinder your spiritual progress. Oh God, our Father, and notice how often we are saved.