The Acts of the Apostles (1911) — PDF Scan 325

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A RIGHER STANDARD 319 bestow all his goods to feed the poor, the act would not commend him to the favor of God. In his zeal he might even meet a martyr's death, yet if not actuated by love, he would be regarded by God as a deluded enthusiast or an ambitious hypocrite. ^'Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up.'' The purest joy springs from the deepest humiliation. The strongest and noblest characters are built on the foundation of patience, love, and submission to God's will. Charity '^dotli not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil." Cliristlike love places the most favorable con- struction on the motives and acts of others. It does not needlessly expose their faults ; it does not listen eagerly to unfavorable reports, but seeks rather to bring to mind the good qualities of others. Love ''rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things." This love never faileth. " It can never lose its value; it is a heavenly attribute. As a precious treasure, it will be carried by its possessor through the portals of the city of God. ^'And now abidetli faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity." In the lowering of the moral standard among the Corinthian believers, there were those who had given up some of the fundamental features of their faith. Some had gone so far as to deny the doctrine of the resurrection. Paul met this heresy with a very plain testimony regarding the unmistakable evidence 21 — Acts