The Greatest of These

Excerpts from the Sermon by Lester Roloff

When I was a child, I went to a little, one-room school house where one teacher taught eight grades. She had no doubt about God or the Bible. As I would leave for school on a cold Monday morning, the north wind would whip around the corner of the house.

Meanwhile, my mother would manicure her fingernails at an old-fashioned rub board. There would be a big pile of dirty jumpers and overalls on the west porch. The flames would leap above an old, black wash pot, heating water that had been carried by hand. She used lye soap that she made herself. My mother’s precious hands would be down in a No. 2 and a No. 3 wash tub, and yet I can hear her voice lift with the melodies of “What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear,” “Sweet hour of prayer that calls me from a world of care,” and “To the old rugged cross I will ever be true!” And as I entered the door that evening after school, I would smell the fragrance of homemade cookies and a lovely meal being prepared for the evening—yet no complaint from my mother. That, my friend, is love!

Love is the greatest word in the English language. This little word is the greatest thing that’s ever been introduced to man. It’s something that did not originate in this world, but something that this world desperately needs. This word is the “cure-all” for all the world, yet the world knows very little about it. In times of war, hatred, friction, broken homes, denominational prejudice, and iron curtains of misunderstanding, this little word—LOVE—needs to be made known (John 3:16, 19).

Love is the difference between religion and Christianity. It’s the difference between the sincere and the superficial. If works are the law of the flesh, then love is the law of the Spirit. It’s called the “royal law” by James, because every man who lives by love is a member of heaven’s royalty (James 2:8; I Corinthians 16:14).

Love is the fulfilment of God’s Law. Think about the hundreds of years and the millions of sacrifices that it took to arrange the law and the prophets. Yet, Jesus said that love is the fulfilling of the law. All the law and all the prophets depend on two sacred commandments—to love God and to love your neighbor (Matthew 22:37-40; Romans 13:8- 10; 1 John 5:3).

Love is permanent because the day will never come when we won’t need love. The greatest thing in the world is love because it is how we know God (I John 4:8). Love is the only motive for acceptable service to the Lord, as well as the greatest foundation for service to others (Galatians 5:13-14). The love of God is our bond together and our identification badge as members of God’s family (John 13:34-35).

Love is the protection for the heart of the Christian because faith and love provide the breastplate. Romans 8:28 will not work if you take the love out. Jesus, in His last message to the Church, said, “You have left your first love.”

Hear this, if we love right, we’ll live right. The old prophet Micah asked and answered the question of what the Lord requires of us—to do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with Him (Micah 6:8).

Love always builds its nest on the inside, but it controls the outside. Jacob worked fourteen years for the bride of his heart, but it seemed like only a few days because he loved her. So the Christian must submit himself to the highest law known to man—the law of love.

Who enacted this law? God Himself, because God is love. Then Christ put it into practice at Calvary! Who enforces this law? The Holy Spirit. Who ought to practice this law? Every Christian. Just like a doctor practices medicine or a lawyer practices law, we who are under the royal law of love must practice love.

Oh, the parents that have written or said on the phone, “I do not care to have my child back again.” The reason that children are unwanted is because they are unloved. No wonder children have become embittered, and even criminals, at an early age. They’ve never seen love in those who gave them birth. The right kind of love would lock and stop the divorce wheels, delinquency, murder, war, and turn these homes into havens of peace and rest and joy.

Apart from love, we have nothing but deadness, coldness, and hypocrisy (I Corinthians 13:4). Love overlooks gossip and slander. Love is the greatest virtue in the pantry of Christian character. It is the highway—the highest way—to happiness!

Now listen, the greatest of these can only come from the heart of God: “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind” (II Timothy 1:7). The Father grants the gift: “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us…” (I John 3:1). The Son purchased the gift: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son…” (John 3:16). And the Holy Spirit delivers this precious product (Romans 5:1-5).

Remember, love is the first fruit of the Spirit and when one is filled with the Spirit, he’ll be filled with love! Love will make you work and forget about the pay. Love will make you work without complaint. Love will send you to the unlovely. There’s no way to minister to the poor pieces of wrecked humanity apart from the love that Jesus shares.

I see Jesus as He folded His royal robes and bade His Father good-bye—humbly entering this world to be rejected, neglected, despised, and hated…to be hung on a bloody cross, praying and loving those who drove nails through His hands. That is love!

After putting an engagement ring on his bride-to-be, George Matheson went to the doctor and was told that he would be blind in six months. When he went to his sweetheart and gave her the news, she handed the ring back to him. He fell across the bed in that dark and lonely experience, and God gave him this song:

O Love that will not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in Thee;
I give Thee back the life I owe;
That in Thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.

What about your love department? Let Jesus come into your heart, and He’ll share all the love you need. His love supplies all that He requires! Your neighbor needs God’s love today. Your own heart needs to be filled with God’s love today!