“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love!” 1 Corinthians 13:13
“The end of the commandment is love.” 1 Timothy 1:5
Love is rightly called “the Queen of Christian graces.” It is a grace which all people profess to admire. It seems a plain practical thing which everybody can understand. It is none of “those troublesome doctrinal points” about which Christians are disagreed. Thousands, I suspect, would not be ashamed to tell you that they knew nothing about justification or regeneration, about the work of Christ or the Holy Spirit. But nobody, I believe, would like to say that he knew nothing about “love!” If men possess nothing else in religion, they always flatter themselves that they possess “love.”
A few plain thoughts about love may not be without use. There are false notions abroad about it which require to be dispelled. There are mistakes about it which require to be rectified. In my admiration of love, I yield to none. But I am bold to say that in many minds, the whole subject seems completely misunderstood.
I. Let me show, firstly, the place which the Bible gives to love.
II. Let me show, secondly, what the love of the Bible really is.
III. Let me show, thirdly, where true love comes from.
IV. Let me show, lastly, why love is “the greatest” of the graces.
I ask the best attention of my readers to the subject. My heart's desire and prayer to God is, that the growth of love may be promoted in this sin-burdened world. In nothing does the fallen condition of man show itself so strongly, as in the scarcity of Christian love. There is little faith on earth, little hope, little knowledge of Divine things. But nothing, after all, is so scarce as real love!
