Love

“So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” — 1 Corinthians 13:13 It must be a precious thing to be greater than faith and greater than hope—it must indeed be precious! And just in proportion as things are valuable and precious among people, so much effort and risk will people take to counterfeit them.

I suppose that in no area of dishonesty in this dishonest world has more time and ingenuity been spent than in making counterfeit money, especially banknotes. Just as wicked people have tried to imitate the most valuable products of human skill for their own profit, so the devil has been trying from the beginning to counterfeit God's most precious things and produce something so similar that people generally would not see the difference. Perhaps in no area has he been more successful than in producing a counterfeit love. I almost think he has perfected it in these days. I do not think he could improve much on the present imitation.

This love—this love—is God's most precious treasure. It is dearer to His heart than all the vast realms of His universe—dearer than all the glorious beings He has created. So much so that when some of the highest spirits among the angelic hosts violated this love, He cast them from the highest heaven to the lowest hell.

Why?

Not because He did not value those wonderful beings, but because He valued this love more. He saw that it was more important for the well-being of His universe to preserve the harmony of love in heaven than to spare those spirits who had allowed selfishness to disrupt it.

So our Lord says: “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.” (Luke 10:18, ESV) The day is coming when He will also see all the terrible results of that first rebellion fall. Hasten that glorious day!

But let us consider for a few moments this precious and beautiful love. Let us first try to define it.

What is it?

First: It Is Divine It must be shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Spirit.

We look in vain for this heavenly plant among unrenewed people. It does not grow in the corrupt soil of human nature. It springs up only where the plow of true repentance has broken up the hard ground of the heart, where faith in a crucified Savior has purified it, and where the blessed Holy Spirit has taken permanent possession.

It is the love of God—not merely love for God, but a love that is like God, comes from God, and is directed toward the same purposes and objects that He loves.

It is a divine work planted in the heart by the Holy Spirit.

Perhaps some of you are saying, “Then it is useless for me to try to cultivate it, because I do not have it.”

Exactly.

You may cut, prune, and water forever, but you can never cultivate what has not been planted.

Your first need is to have this love poured into your heart.

One of the great errors of this age is the belief that human nature only needs pruning, improving, and developing, and then it will turn out right.

No, no!

“Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up.” (Matthew 15:13, ESV) If you want this divine love, you must break up the fallow ground of your heart and invite the heavenly Husbandman to come and sow it there—to pour it into your soul.

Second: It Is a Divine Principle I want you to notice that this love is a divine principle, distinct from mere natural affection.

All people have love as a natural instinct. They naturally love those they like or those who treat them well.

“For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?” (Matthew 5:46, ESV) Wicked people love one another through natural affection, just as a tiger loves its cubs.

There is great confusion among religious people on this subject. They feel pity and generosity toward their fellow human beings, and they may even give their possessions to feed the poor, yet not possess a spark of divine love in their hearts.

Saul, after God departed from him, was not entirely without generous feelings toward his family and kingdom.

The rich man in hell had some concern for his brothers.

But neither of them possessed a spark of this divine love.

Be careful that you are not deceived. Millions are.

Let us notice one or two points where counterfeit love and divine love completely and permanently differ in nature.

First: Counterfeit love is Selfish Counterfeit love is selfish. It is never exercised except to satisfy some selfish motive in human nature. Thousands of motives may inspire it—far too many to list—but we will consider two or three.

We read in this chapter that a person may give away all his possessions to feed the poor and even surrender his body to suffering, yet still be without true love.

What a surprising thought.

Yet there are many examples showing that such a thing is possible.

First, a person may do these things to support and promote a favorite system of belief to which he has become devoted. Just as people become absorbed in politics or in what they consider the good of their nation, they may even be willing to face great danger in order to advance their cause.

Further, a person may do such things in an effort to earn eternal life. Paul did this when he sought to establish his own righteousness. Later he tells us that self was the driving force behind all his zeal. It was all for his own advancement. There was no divine love in it. At that time he was unrenewed, without Christ, and selfish, even while he was doing those things.

Or, third, a person may act simply to satisfy a naturally generous disposition.

I used to say to a generous friend of mine, when he spoke confidentially about his giving and the pleasure it brought him, attributing it entirely to divine grace, “Wait, my friend. I am not sure it is all grace. You enjoy giving more than some people enjoy receiving. Be careful that you do not lose your reward by failing to examine where your gifts are going. Do not give your money to every cause that comes along. Remember that you are accountable to God for your resources, and that God will require an account of how you have used them.”

True love takes the time to examine different needs and seeks the best opportunities to give for God's glory and for the salvation of people.

Do not automatically attribute your generosity to the Holy Spirit if it is not of that kind, for you will receive no reward for it, either in this life or the next.

False love begins with self and ends on earth.

Here is one way to distinguish it from God's love.

The devil's love focuses primarily on the earthly side of human beings and gives less importance to the spiritual side. In this respect it directly opposes divine love, which views people as whole beings and always gives first importance to the soul.

We see plenty of counterfeit charities these days.

The other day I picked up a so-called religious publication and read the glowing praise it gave to a certain man who had recently died. I thought to myself, would anyone imagine this was a Christian publication in a Christian country?

There was not the slightest recognition of a soul. There was no reference to the man's spiritual condition or eternal destiny. One or two ordinary human qualities were highlighted and praised until he appeared to be something extraordinary. But there was no mention of a soul, no mention of God who will judge him, and no mention of heaven or hell.

People often say, when speaking about godless or even wicked individuals, “You must be charitable. You must not judge.”

Satan does not care how much of this one-sided love exists. The more there is, the better it serves his purpose. It makes people more comfortable in their sins and helps lead them more easily toward destruction.

My friends, are you more concerned about relieving temporal distress than you are about feeding famished souls? If you are, you may know where your love comes from! Don't misrepresent me, and say that I teach all of one, and none of the other. God forbid, for, if any man "has this world's good, and sees his brother in need, and shutters up his bowels of compassion from him, where is the love of God in him?" But, on the other side, if he sees him spiritually famishing—dying for want of the bread of life—where is the love of Christ in him, if he does not minister to this spiritual destitution? I know that real Christianity cares for body and soul. Bless God, it does; but, always mind that it sets the soul FIRST. I know the Master fed the multitude; but, before that, He had them with Him three days, trying to save their souls, and when they got hungry in the process, then He made them sit down, and fed their bodies. He always looked after the soul first, and so does everyone possessed of Divine love.

Why? Because Divine love has opened his eyes. He realises the value of souls. He sees them famishing. He sees them being damned, and he cannot help himself. His desire to save them rushes out of him like a torrent; he beholds them, and has compassion on them. Try your love by this mark: Do you contemplate the dying, famishing, half-damned souls of your fellow-men? Do you look abroad on the state of the world, and the state of the church? Do you think about it? Do you go into your closet, and spread it before the Lord, as Hezekiah and Jeremiah and Hosea did? Do you look at it, and turn it over, and weep over it, and pray and cry, as Daniel and Paul did? Try yourselves, my brethren, my sisters, by this mark.

Divine love is always centered on that great question of infinite love: Matthew 16:26 : “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?

Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?”

Oh, I can never get it out of my ears or away from my heart! How clearly I see the emptiness and vanity of everything compared with the salvation of the soul! What does it matter if a man dies in a poorhouse—if he dies on a doorstep, covered with sores like Lazarus—what does it matter if his soul is saved? It is your belief as much as mine that the soul is immortal, and that the death of the body is only its entrance, if it is saved, into a glorious future of everlasting joy, progress, and holiness.

Does a child remember how he used to cry over his lessons when he becomes a man? Does he dwell on all the little difficulties of his school days when he is enjoying the benefits they brought him? In the same way, all our sufferings, trials, and sorrows here will seem far less important if we save our souls and help save the souls of others.

This divine love makes everything else serve the salvation of souls; it uses everything else to save and bless the inner and spiritual person. Do you remember the occasion when the Master had fed the multitudes, and when they came to Him again to be fed, He said: “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.” John 6:26 You might have said, “Quite right; the people want food; they are hungry.” But do you hear the divine sorrow expressed in these words—that they were so spiritually dull that they valued earthly bread more than heavenly bread? Give people as much physical bread as you can, but make sure you give them spiritual bread first, for this is a mark of true love.

Do you have this love? Every soul knows whether it does or not. People are often so unreasonable in matters of religion; they talk about not knowing. But you can discover in two minutes whether you love God or yourself more. Tell me that a woman does not know whether she loves her husband or herself more! Nonsense! What is the proof? She seeks to please him and is willing to sacrifice herself for him; in fact, she makes his interests her own.

Do you love God most? Are you willing to set aside your own interests and seek His? Do you have this divine love, born from Heaven and leading to Heaven? If not, my friend, determine that you will have it now. Begin to cry earnestly to God for the Holy Spirit to pour it into your heart. Give up your arguments and excuses, and come to the foot of the cross and ask Him, “Come, Lord, break up this poor, sinful heart of mine, and pour this beautiful, pure, divine love into it.” Then you will no longer seek your own interests, but the things that belong to Jesus Christ.