1 Corinthians 13:8-10 Charity never fails: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease… It will never fail as — I. AN ELEMENT OF MORAL POWER. It is the strongest — 1. Sustaining power. 2. Resisting power. Love builds around the soul a rampart, invulnerable. 3. Aggressive power. We have not only to bear up under trials, and to resist temptations, but we have battles to fight. There is nothing so aggressive in the moral world as love. Man can stand before anything sooner than love. II. A PRINCIPLE OF SOCIAL UNITY. Deep in the heart of man is the desire for union with his fellow, isolation and division are naturally repugnant to his social nature. His ingenuity has been taxed for ages in the invention of schemes for union. As the result we have confederations based on political sympathy, material interests, theological dogmas, mere carnal affinities; but we are only one with those we love. But we can only love the lovable. III. A SOURCE OF SPIRITUAL HAPPINESS. Love is joy. 1. It expels from the mind all the elements unfavourable to happiness. 2. It generates in the mind all the elements of spiritual joy. (D. Thomas, D.D.) Parallel Verses KJV: Charity 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. |
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