PART THREE A New World In The Making

THE GREATEST THING IN THE WORLD

THOUGH I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not love, I am become as a sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. nd though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that 1 could remove mountains, and have not LOVE I am nothing And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not Love, itprofiteth me nothing.

Love suffereth long, and is kind;

Love envieth not;

Love 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.

Love 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. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that
which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when 1 became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. And now abideth faith, hope, Love, these three; but the greatest of these is Love.—I COR xiii.

EVERYONE has asked themselves the great queston of antquiy as of he modern world: What s he summum bonum—the supreme good? You have fe before you. Once only you can ve t. What is he noblest object of desire, the supreme gift to covet?

We have been accustomed o be old hat the greatest thing n he relgious world s Faih. That great word has been he key-note for centuries of the popular relgion; and we have easiy earned o ook upon t as he greatest thing n he world. Well, we are wrong. If we have been old hat, we may mss he mark. I have aken you, in he chapter above, to Christaniy at is source; and here we have seen, "The greatest of hese s ove." It s not an oversight. Paul was speaking of faih just a moment before. He says, "If I have all faih, so hat I can remove mountains, and have not ove, I am nothing. "So far from forgetng, he deliberately contrasts hem, "Now abideth Faih, Hope, Love," and whout a moment's hesitaton, the decision fals, "The greatest of these is Love."

And t is not prejudice. A person s apt to recommend to others their own strong point. Love was not Paul's strong point. The observing student can detect a beautful enderness growng and ripening all hrough his character as Paul gets old; but the hand hat wrote, "The greatest of hese s ove," when we meet t first, s stained wh blood.

Nor s his eter o he Corinthians pecular n singlng out love as he summum bonum. The masterpieces of Christaniy are agreed about t. Peter says, "Above all hings have fervent ove among yourselves." Above all things. And John goes farther, "God s ove." And you remember he profound remark which Paul makes elsewhere, "Love s he fulfilng of he aw." Dd you ever hink
what he meant by hat? In hose days men were working heir passage o Heaven by keeping he Ten Commandments, and he hundred and ten other commandments which they had manufactured out of them. Christ said, I wl show you a more simple way. If you do one hing, you wl do these hundred and ten things, whout ever hinking about them. If you ove, you wl unconsciously fulfil the whole aw. And you can readiy see for yourselves how that must be so.

Take any of he commandments. "Thou shalt have no other gods before Me." If a man ove God, you wl not require o ell him hat. Love s he fulfilng of hat aw. "Take not His name n vain." Would a person ever dream of taking His name n vain f they oved Him "Remember the Sabbath day o keep t holy." Would hey not be too glad to have one day n seven to dedicate more exclusively to

he object of heir affecton? Love would fulfil all hese aws regarding God. And so, if they oved Man, you would never think of

elng hem o honour heir father and mother. They could not do anything else. It would be preposterous o ell them not to kil. You could only nsult them f you suggested hat they should not steal -how could they steal from those they loved? It would be superfluous

o beg hem not to bear false wness against their neighbour. If they

oved heir neighbour it would be he ast thing hey would do. And you would never dream of urging hem not o covet what heir neighbours had. They would rather their neighbour possessed t than

hemselves. In his way "Love s he fulfilng of he aw." It is he rule for fulfilng all rules, the new commandment for keeping all the old commandments, Christ's one secret of the Christan lfe.

Now Paul had earned hat; and n his noble eulogy he has given us he most wonderful and original account extant of he summum bonum. We may divide t nto hree parts. In he beginning of he short chapter, we have Love contrasted; n he heart of t, we have Love analysed; owards he end we have Love defended as he supreme gift.