The words of the Lord are pure words, as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O Lord, thou shalt preserve them from this generation forever. For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth in bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth. It shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. Welcome to another program with Truths to Live By, a ministry of Harriman Baptist Tabernacle in Harriman, Tennessee. You're listening to Brother Benjamin Cooley, I pray we would be a blessing to you today. O sinner, bow down with the Lord of sin, Come to the cross, come to the cross. In Christ's redemption new life within. Come and be justified, justified, justified. With our Bibles open to 1 Corinthians chapter 13, we'll begin our reading today with verse number 4, after a word of prayer. Our Father in heaven, Lord, I come now in Jesus' name. I thank You for the time that we have now to preach Your Word, and thank You for the truth that is before us. Please open our hearts to Your Word, and open Your Word to our hearts. Teach us Your truth, and that it is truths to live by, in this day and in tomorrow should it come. Lord, we love You because You first loved us. In Jesus' name, amen and amen. I Corinthians 13, verse number 4. Charity suffereth long, and is kind. Charity envieth not. Charity vaunteth not itself. is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. We looked last week together at charity and how it adorns. It must adorn the life of the minister, verses 1 and 2. It surpasses tongues. It surpasses faith. It surpasses prophecy, mysteries, knowledge. Without charity, the minister is but sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. Love must adorn the martyr. He who gives his life in service to God and in sacrifice to God and others is nothing, profited nothing, apart from charity. Love provides the advantage whenever, wherever and with whomever we find ourselves to be, let us be servants of God with a love inspired by God Himself and the Holy Ghost, filling our hearts with that love of God, and then we will prove to be a fit servant of Christ. And so love must adorn the member. Now, today we see love and how it is to act. Not how it adorns, not how it provides the advantage, but how it acts. First of all, charity's reputation. Verses 4 and 5. Love or charity is known for its heart. Charity suffereth long. has a patient heart. I wonder what your heart's like today. I wonder what my heart is like today. Charity suffers long. It means that it forbears and it forgives. It suffers long. Why? Because it is long-spirited. It is patient-hearted. Charity knows how to suffer with a smile. It takes pains inflicted by others and turns them into prayers to God for those same people. Who has wronged you lately, dear friend? Why don't you just suffer long? Why don't you take those pains that they've inflicted on you and turn them into prayers to God and the Father for that individual? not only a patient heart, but a practical heart. Charity suffereth long and is kind. This kind of love, it is benevolent. It possesses helping hands. It possesses honest labor. Kindness is doing the smallest things, the kindest of things, in the kindest of way. It's treating others truly how you want to be treated, and not how they deserve to be treated. A patient heart, charity suffereth long. A practical heart, and is kind. But then he says, charity envieth not. Here is a pure heart. Charity has no rivals. It holds no grudges. It offers sincere praise, warm congratulations from a true heart with pure motives. Charity does not run around with envy hiding deep within. No, charity loves. Charity envieth not. It's known for its heart, but then it's known for its humility. He goes on and he says this in verse number 4. Charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up. In other words, charity, love, avoids praising self. It vaunteth not itself. Charity is not a braggart. Charity does not produce a braggart. Charity does not boast, nor ramble on and on, bragging about who I am, where I have been and what I have done. Charity vaunteth not itself and is not puffed up. It avoids promoting self. You won't see self pushed to the front when you see a man filled with a heart full of charity. No, others, Christ and others, not self, not puffed up. It's known for its heart, patient, practical, pure. It's known for its humility. It does not praise self, nor does it promote self. And it is known for its honor. Look to verse number five with me now. Honor in all of its testimony. does not behave itself unseemly. Charity maintains the proper conduct. It is always in keeping with behavior that is proper and fitting for a Christian. It does not behave itself unseemly, no, because godliness and righteousness are in all of its ways. Furthermore, in its testimony, it maintains proper consideration, it seeketh not her own. There is always the placing of self at the back, and the putting of others first in all things. Love is unselfish, and love is more interested in considering the needs of others. But furthermore in its testimony, he says that love is not easily provoked. It maintains proper conduct, proper consideration, but here we find proper control. is maintained. There's no room for sharpness of spirit. There's no room for roughness of language when it comes to love. And I'm not speaking about that stern and sharp rebuke that comes from the Word of God. For brethren, we who are called to preach, we must preach the Word. We must be instant, in season, out of season, and we must reprove, rebuke, and exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. But Bible words, Bible reproof and Bible rebuke is done in love, and these words are carefully chosen. The spirit is kept in check, under control, when others do or say hurtful things. But back to our context here, charity is not easily provoked. It's hard to provoke the one that's full of Christian, Christ-like charity. poke and prod, push and pull, they will not be easily provoked. Not only is there honor in all of its testimony, but there is honor in all of its thoughts. Look at the end of verse 5, please. Thinketh no evil. A life that is filled with charity is not keeping records of wrongs done, that it might one day try to settle the score. How about you, friend? Are you keeping score? Are you keeping records and saying, well, this one said this and this one done that, and one day I'll have my say. One day I'll get back at them. No. Love thinketh no evil. It is always ready to forget and forgive. Such an attitude positions love to represent Christ well in all things, at all times, and before all people. Charity and its reputation. Charity now and its rejoicing. Look at verse 6. It rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth." Charities rejoicing? We see, first of all, when this love refuses to smile. It does not smile in the face of iniquity. It does not find joy, nor happiness, nor any sort of gladness in that which is wrong and ungodly and unholy and unrighteous and against the Lord. and His Word. Love refuses to smile at iniquity, but love rejoices to stand, for it rejoiceth in the truth, and it sympathizes with gladness in its heart with the truth of the Word of God. We thank you for making this ministry a part of your day, and in closing we want to point you to the words of our Lord in Matthew chapter 4 and verse 4. He answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. And truly, it is written, God's word, every word, presents us with truths to live by. You've been listening to Brother Benjamin Cooley. Please send all correspondence to Truths to Live By, P.O. Box 575, Harriman, Tennessee, 37748. Or you can email us at bmarkcooley at gmail.com. And finally, brethren, pray for us. you