I Peter 4:8

Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.

Quote of Proverbs 10:22 - Hatred stirs up dissension, but love covers over all wrongs.

(I have preached that Peter had a love for the book of Isaiah; Peter also enjoyed quoting the book of Proverbs; I’ve notice that Peter also knew the book of Job – not bad for an overzealous fisherman)

COL 3:12 Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

1CO 13:13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

1PE 1:22 Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart.

I Peter 2: 16 Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God. 17 Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king.

  1PE 3:8 Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble.

14 Greet one another with a kiss of love.

I.                    The importance of love.

How high is this to be on our list?  Above All

How deep is this to go?  Very deep.

ejktenhv"  – deeply

“having love deeply”

So, you think that love is more important than holiness.  Not a chance.  That would be like saying that my head is more important than the rest of my body.  My head does come out on top – thanks to creation (imagine what life would be like if we walked on our heads and put our hat on our feet). 

Heads are good, especially when there is a body attached to it.  Both are needed.

Notice how Peter brings these two together in 1:13-25.

When he starts to wind down this book of I Peter he says it clearly so that no should miss it:  “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.”

How high?  Above all.

How deep is this to go?  Very deep.

II.                 The power of love.

Why is this so important?

It gives us to power to be together and work together.

The cross-reference to Proverbs 10:22 helps bring this into focus.  “Hate stirs up dissension, love covers over all wrongs.” 

Oswald Chambers says that there is no such thing as proud holiness – when pride enters it ceases to be holy.

Without love, we will accomplish nothing.

Well, certainly we can do something good.

No, says the Word of God, without love we will accomplish nothing.

Then what is this that was done when there was no love? Sure looked like we did something.  No, it is nothing (I Cor. 13).

Have you ever tried ice fishing without any ice?  Impossible.

How do you like ice fishing on poor ice?  Scary. 

I know of a man who ice fished on Bad Medicine Lake and he wore a life preserver the ice was so unstable.  I asked him if he ever thought of just not going out.  That was ridiculous, there were big fish to be caught.

There are certain items of the Word that cannot be missed or we will sink.

I remember well the first time Dave A. took me across the ice when there were several inches of water on it.  We were just plowing through the water and slush with that Chevy pickup.  I had one hand on the door handle thinking for sure that we were going down.  Now when I think back, that was pretty obvious to Dave, so he just gunned her all the more.

Didn’t Peter understand the importance of holiness?  Certainly – remember chapter 1:13-16.  He couldn’t state it more clearly or precisely.

There is no cover up or ignoring of sin, but there is Matthew 18 forgiveness set on full throttle.

Without love in the living church of the Lord Jesus Christ, it is just like an English colonial war taking place.  We position ourselves in nice straight lines directly across from each and open fire. 

When we do not love as Scripture says to love, there is no lack of ammunition.  I would not be able to stand and preach today if love were not covering a multitude of sin.

But this rough ex-fisher of fish who became a fisher of men knew what was necessary for any of this to work.

“Do you love me?”

“Do you love the sheep?”

There are two large piles of sin in this church today. 

THE UNCONFESSED SIN

THE CONFESSED SIN

Love is what makes us preach repentance of sin through belief in the shed blood of the Christ.  Ridiculous to the world – but salvation to all who believe.

Love is what makes us forgive all the confessed sin – otherwise we would never be able to come together in the fellowship of the church.

The same love that moves God to provide Salvation through the only begotten Son, is the love that moves us to also cover all that confessed sin.

Love the Lord you God!

Love your neighbor!

Who is my neighbor?  Who would I need to love or who would I be bound to forgive?

This was not just a great parable for the people of Jesus day – it is being worked out among us right here this very day (Luke 10:25-37).

The priest was to holy (set apart) to be able to help his fellow Jew who had fallen.

The Levite (the preacher of OT law) was to good, maybe to busy, or consumed with his important work to help his fellow Jew who had fallen.

The Samaritan was the winner then; the Samaritan is the winner now.  It became very quite when Jesus said such things.   But you see, Samaritans who find the living water that Jesus gives love their neighbors as much as they love themselves.

In Jesus mind, maybe this Samaritan was one of the 5 who had been married to the women who met Jesus at the well of Samaria (John 4).  Better yet, maybe he was the one who was living with her at the time she spoke to Jesus at the well – and he and this woman found living water – forgiveness for everything I have ever done. 

Would Jesus lay such an absurd thought before us?  That sinners who find Jesus and drink of the living water become “good Samaritans”? 

Is it possible that Peter who must have really had a hard time holding his tongue while Jesus was giving living water that day at the well of Samaria – saw something that would later be given to us in inspired Scripture?

If this were true, he may say something like this:

“Above all, love one another deeply, because love covers a multitude of sin.”

(Additional Notes)

How important is it that I forgive others?

8 "Above all" (pro panton) reminds us of the primacy of agape love among fellow Christians. This love is to be "eager," "earnest" (ektene, lit., "strained," BAG, p. 245; NIV, "deeply"). Agape love is capable of being commanded because it is not primarily an emotion but a decision of the will leading to action. (On the necessity of Christians' loving one another, see Mark 12:30-33; John 13:34 f.; 15:12-17.) The reason for us to show love is that "love covers over a multitude of sins." This quotation from Proverbs 10:12 does not mean that our love covers or atones for our sins. In the proverb the meaning is that love does not "stir up" sins or broadcast them. So the major idea is that love suffers in silence and bears all things (1Cor 13:5-7). Christians forgive faults in others because they know the forgiving grace of God in their own lives.