The Full Mention Principle
This is the principle by which God declares His full mind upon any subject vital to our spiritual life.
Somewhere in the Word God takes the scattered fragments regarding a particular truth and sets them forth in an exhaustive statement of His mind concerning that truth. If there is a repetition of a subject, it is for a reason. For example, we have two summaries of temptation in II Corinthians 10, and James 1. In II Corinthians we have escaping temptations; and in James 1, we have enduring temptations. Here are several summaries to read and think about:
| The Restoration of Israel | - Romans 11 |
| The Resurrection set forth | - I Corinthians 15—all the truth of the Scriptures on this subject is summarized in this chapter. |
| The Discipline of God’s children | - Hebrews 12:1-11 |
| The nature of the God-Man | - Hebrews 1:1-14 & 2—In Hebrews 1:1-14, the Son of Man is lower than the angels; in Hebrews 2:1-18, He is better than the angels. |
| The Church | - Ephesians 1:2-3. |
| Principles of the Kingdom | - Matthew 5 & 7. |
| Vicarious sacrifice | - Isaiah 53. |
| Law | - Exodus 20 |
| Christian giving | - II Corinthians 8 & 9—This is giving yourself, your all to God! |
SERMON: LOVE-I Corinthians 13 is God's summary of Love. Moody said this chapter should be read every day by every Christian. Christian love is acting like God. Words without love are only words.
GIFT OF PROPHECY (greatest of all gifts)-Although one may have the gift of prophecy and also have the faith to move mountains, but is without love, he or she is a nobody in the spiritual realm-"I am nothing."
Though I give all my goods to the poor, and give the supreme sacrifice of my life, and I do this without love, it is not profitable. The supreme sacrifice of Christ was self-sacrifice, and LOVE was there.
Verse 1-Love must be supreme in HEART.
Verse 2-Love must be supreme in MIND.
Verse 3-Love must be supreme in WILL.
All without LOVE is nothing. LOVE never wears out. A woman gave a tramp a bread and butter sandwich and saw him throw it into the gutter. She said, "That's the last time I will ever feed a tramp." Her LOVE wore out.
"Love envieth not"-Love is not jealous. LOVE says, "He must increase, but I must decrease." Envy is the worst thing in the world. Love is not boastful. He made Himself of no reputation; He was no maker of a parade. He healed the person and told him not to tell it. Dr. Frost prayed, "Lord, keep me humble, but don't let me know it, because I'll boast in it."
A child of God is courteous by instinct. Love is unselfish. If anyone had a right to open His mouth, the Lord Jesus did. Love "is not easily provoked"-not touchy. Love is an ocean and puts out the sparks. Love taketh no thought of evil.
Love "beareth all things"-covereth all things, which is to put a roof over it.
Love covers up the sin of Lot. The sin of David cannot be found in the New Testament. These stories of men and their sins in the Old Testament are the red lights which God puts up to warn us. We find in the Old Testament the record of Solomon's turning away from God, but we will never find a breath of it in the New Testament. Love covereth. I am not talking about soft sentimentalism, as such, nor am I condoning sin. The Lord Jesus was unsparing in His denunciation of the Pharisees and hypocrites, but what He had to say He said to them. When the Lord Jesus said He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things, Peter said, "Not so," and Jesus said, "Get thee behind me, Satan," and He rebuked Peter to his face, but He didn't go behind Peter's back and say unkind things about him to John. He said what He had to say to Peter, not to anyone else.
How about you? Openly and publicly Jesus Christ rebuked Simon for his lack of courtesy. He didn't go into the home of Martha and Mary and tell them about Simon, but He told Simon what He had to say about Simon. Shame on us! Too many times what we have to say to someone we say to someone else, because we haven't the moral courage to face a man or woman and tell him or her about his error, if such it be. When it comes to our associations, what Spurgeon said is true, "Love stands in the presence of a fault with a finger on its lips." We'd better practice the finger on the lips. LOVE COVERETH ALL THINGS.
Love "believeth all things." We are full of doubt and distrust. Some folks doubt everything and everybody.
Love believes all the good of others. We need to be careful how we judge others.
Love "hopeth all things." Love hopes for the good instead of the bad.
Love "endureth all things." Endureth means to persevere or to be patient.
Love will be patient under wrongs inflicted by others.
Love "beareth all things; Love believeth all things; love hopeth all things; love endureth all things. ALL-There is no limit to what love bears, believes, hopes, and endures. When hurt, love bears; when depressed, Love believes; when disappointed, love hopes; when persecuted, love endures.
People have remarked that this is the only chapter of Paul's writings where the name of Jesus is left out. Put the name of Christ in the place of love.
Love "never faileth". He tells of some things that do fail, but Love never fails. Knowledge shall cease. This doesn't mean that we will all be dumbbells after a while, but it means that gifts shall cease. These things are transient, and they do not endure. One thing does endure, and that is Love. These gifts serve a temporary purpose, and until the Word was completed, such signs were needed. Read Hebrews 2:1-4.
"But now abideth"-Now abideth-these gifts have vanished, but Love abideth.
Faith will be swallowed up in sight. Hope will be swallowed up in realization.
Love can say, "Before Faith and Hope was, I am." Faith and Hope lead to the gates of Heaven. LOVE bids me in!
SERMON: The TONGUE.JAMES 3-God deals without tongues; this is of great importance. Some people are clean in life, but have dirty words. Moses, the meekest of all men, was not allowed to go into Canaan on account of his tongue.
TALEBEARERS-Have you gone around talking about your neighbors? We should be swift to hear and slow to speak. We should have more works and less words (the Lord Jesus cursed the fig tree, for it had leaves but no fruit). Yes, the Lord expected fruit, even before the season of fruit bearing. We must be instant in season and out of season.JAMES 3 is the presentation of MASTER, which means teacher. We must have responsibility. The right use of the tongue is the evidence of perfection.
"Never man spake like this man." Why? Because He was the Perfect One. "Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh." Our tongue is a bucket which brings up that which is in the heart. What is in the well of one's heart will come up in the bucket of one's tongue. Many times, they tried to catch the Lord in His words.
JAMES teaches that if we are able to control our tongues, then we are able to control our whole bodies. Men are led to sin by their tongue. The tongue does many good things; it brings tender love; it sways multitudes; it soothes the dying; but, it also damns the living and leads to sin.
HOW GREAT A MATTER A LITTLE FIRE KINDLETH-A fire in Chicago was caused by a cow kicking over a lamp. The tongue is a fire to destroy. Some men today have enough power to speak with their tongues and cause instant death.
The sins of the eyes and hands are limited. They are within themselves a world of iniquity. The tongue may be the instrument of inflicting injury. The whole body is shaken by the use of the tongue. The tongue must be watched.
HELL KINDLES THE TONGUE-the fire kindled by the tongue may be sometimes quenched only by blood.
Wild beasts have been and are being tamed; the tongue can no man tame. You can never trust the tongue.
"...with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips"-Romans 3:13.
Did you ever hear of a slick tongue? Did you ever hear of an oily tongue?
SLANDER always injures three persons. Thus, SLANDER is a triple sin:
| First person injured |
| Second person injured |
| Third person injured |
BUT THE TONGUE CAN BE TAMED THROUGH THE LORD JESUS! It is much easier to start a slander than to stop it. Remember, a man who can control his tongue has reached Christian Maturity!
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