T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
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Does the F a th e r love th e Son? “This is my beloved Son” (Matt. 3 :1 7 ). W hat is the F a th e r’s endearing name for th e Son? “The Son of His love” (Col. 1:13 A. R. V .). Who loved first, God or we? “He first loved us” (1 John 4 :1 9 ). W hat were we when God loved us? “ God commendeth His love to us in th a t while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Rom. 5 :8 ). Could th ere be g reater love manifest ed? “ G reater love h ath no man than th is * * * lay down his life for his friend s" (John 15 :13 ). How much did God love us? “As thou h ast loved me” (John 17 :23 ). How did God prove His love? “God so loved the world, th a t he gave his only begotten Son.” (John 3 :1 6 ). How did th e Son prove His love? “He loved me and gave H imself for me” (Gal. 2 :2 0 ). How did the Spirit show His love? “He shed abroad th e love of God in our h e a rts” (Rom. 5 :5 ). ‘How long will God lqve us? “W ith ' an everlasting love” (Jer. 3 1 :3 ). W hat is th e chief will of God for us? “ Thou sh alt love th e Lord thy God w ith all thy h e a rt” (Matt. 22:37-39). How may we show th is love? “ If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14 :15 ). W hat are H is commandments? “T h at we should believe bn the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love on e' a n o th er” (1 John 3 :2 3 ). PRACTICAL POINTS (1) The source of th e Scriptures is th e Spirit of God. (2 ) P au l was constrained by th e love of Christ to live for Christ. (3 ) The g reatest of all gifts, from th e Giver of good gifts, is the love gift, (4) Who lacks God’s love, lacks both life and light. (5) When God possesses our h e a rt’s love, it is easy to hand over to Him our life.
(6 ) In the person of our Lord Jesus we have love personified. f7) God lives to love, and loves to live in regenerated lives. (8 ) God commends His love; He com municates His love, and commissions His loved ones. v. 1. Love. The verb and adjective for “ love” in classical Greek are used exclusively of affection in which th e element of passion is absent or negli- I _ gible and even of COMMENTS FROM contented acqui- MA.VV SOURCES escence in some K eith L. B rooks object. This ab sence of th e pas sionate element makes it especially suit able to describe divine love.— Camb. Bible. The badge of th e Christian is love (Jno. 1 3 :3 5 ).— Garry. Love alone can give value to any service rendered m Christ’s name.— Sel. By love to God love to your neighbor is begotten, and by love to your neighbor love to God is nourished.— Quarles. Jesus sits for His p o rtra it in these glowing sentences and of Him every clause is tru e. Sub stitu te His name for love th roughout th e chapter and see w hether or not it is an exact likeness.— Meyer. Though I speak. We have all felt th e brazen ness of words w ithout emotion, th e hol lowness, th e unaccountable unpersua siveness of eloquence behind which lies no lo v e— Drummond. Sounding brass. Noise w ithout meaning. Love gives content to all sp iritu al utterance.— Ruth. v. 2. G ift of prophecy— faith . W ith out love, prophecy, knowledge and faith are not w hat they seem and so fail of th e heavenly rew ard.— Jam ieson. v. 3. Bestow all my goods. There may be a lavish hand where th e re is no loving h eart.— Henry. Body to be burned. Missionaries can take nothing g reater to the heathen world th a n th e impress and reflection of th e love of God upon th eir own characters. This is the universal language. From th e day they land, th a t language of love, understood by all, will be pouring forth its unconscious' eloquence. No other g ift can tak e its place.—Drummond. v. 4. Suffereth long. Love has no union hours and no “ la st acts” of kind ness.—King. V aunteth not. If we
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