Transcript

1 Corinthians 13. Let’s turn over there together, and continue our study through the book of 1 Corinthians, and as I shared with you last time we was together, that now we are looking at a series within a series within a series. It didn’t start out to be that way, but it has turned out to be that way.

Our series is I Corinthians. Then when we got to chapter 12, all the way through, when we get through with chapter 14, we are in the series within the series. And that is understanding spiritual gifts. The apostle Paul begins in chapter 12 giving us a thorough understanding of spiritual gifts. And I believe its going to be a great series for us to refer to from now on out as we talk with people and share with people, perhaps new church members, whomever, who may say, what about spiritual gifts. We can always go back to our study here and say that’s what we believe.

Now we come to chapter 13 in the series within the series within the series. That is a series that I’m entitling Love is Supreme. Love is supreme. In 1 Corinthians chapter 13, still dealing with spiritual gifts, the apostle Paul begins to explain to the church at Corinth, the proper motivation for using spiritual gifts.

Now I do not ever remember hearing a good contextual message on I Corinthians 13. And I don’t know why, just perhaps there are many of them out there, I never heard one, where they actually taught the chapter in its context. When you come to chapter 13 you do see love is supreme, but it is in the context of Paul explaining spiritual gifts, and how they are to be used and how they are not to be used.

And in chapter 13, here’s what Paul is saying. The only proper motivation for exercising and expressing of spiritual gift is love. And not just any love, not the love of this world, listen now, not the love that is natural to the fallen human nature of man. That love that’s attached to sexuality or sensuality. Or that love that’s attached to warm, compassionate, brotherhood feelings and desires. That’s, that’s common to all of mankind. And, and those are God designed and God given, but we Christians function on a higher love. A God given love. A love that is of divine origin, its not of you, you didn’t make it, you didn’t disciple it up, if you will in your life, you didn’t train yourself to do it, its God planted in you, and you’re suppose to die to your flesh, deny the flesh and let the holy spirit express agape, that’s the Greek word for it, agape love, through your life. And this true love, this agape love that’s manifested through your life by the power of the holy spirit is the only proper motivation for spiritual gifts.

So what the apostle Paul is saying in chapter 13 is this. He’s saying, you folks at Corinth have been exercising your spiritual gifts. Including speaking in other unknown languages. Including getting divine direct revelations. Including words of knowledge and wisdom which were divine direct revelations. Including have wonder working faith where you can perform marvelous, uh miraculous feats through your faith, or miraculous healings through your faith. They were performing all of those, but generally speaking, they were doing them, out of fleshly motivations for self glory and self exaltation. And so Paul is giving a strong reproof and rebuke to the way the church at Corinth was practicing their spiritual gifts.

So that’s a brief summary of our last message which I just entitled the introduction to 1 Corinthians 13. And now we’ll start our exegesis of the actual text. And there are three main parts to this chapter.

First of all we’re going to see the primacy of love. That is agape love, it is primary, its superior. Secondly we’re going to see the portrait of this true love, this agape love. Then thirdly Paul wants to point out the permanence of this true love. And we’ll just go as far as we can this morning, and chop it off and finish it up tonight.

So let’s talk about the primacy of love. Now again, not any human based love, not the loves that are common to the fallen man, but that agape love, given when the holy spirit came inside of us, that only he manifests. We don’t do it, we get out of the way and let him do it through us. And this is to be the love that is to motivate spiritual gifts in our life, it is to be the guiding principle of when, how, and the way we use our spiritual gifts.

Now, chapter 13, look at verse 1. Paul says, “if I speak with the tongues of men, and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal”. Let’s just go on down through verse 3, because the primacy of love covers one through three. Verse 2. “And if I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so as to remove mountains, but do not have love [agape], I am nothing. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor and if I deliver my body to be burned, but do not have love [agape], it profits me nothing”.

Now verse 1. In verse 1 Paul deals with the gift of tongues. He deals with it first. And for very obvious reasons. Of all the gifts that the church of Corinth was enamored with, and was misusing, tongues was the chief. I mean, they really wanted to be able to speak in unknown languages. And they were very jealous about the person who could do that, and if you couldn’t do that, oh, you’re just jealous and envious of the guy who could. That was the highest, most esteemed gift in the church at Corinth, and they were just, just enamored with this,

So Paul starts with that gift, as he’s given us chapter 13, as a reproof and a rebuke to how they were exercising gifts in the church at Corinth. And he starts by saying, “if I speak with the tongues of men”. Now that phrase tongues of men just means languages that men speak. And so it shows us that in the New Testament understanding the gift of tongues was the ability to speak a language previously unknown to you. Some men were given during this New Testament birthing period, this church birthing period as recorded in the New Testament, an ability to stand up and speak a language they did not know, but it was a legitimate known language to somebody somewhere. Alright. So he just lays that out.

Now secondly he says, “and of angels”. Now here Paul is using a hyperbole. He’s using the, the greatest exaggeration possible. He’s saying, even if it were possible He’s not saying that it happens, or does happen, he’s just saying, even if it happens that somebody could stand up in the congregation and speak the language that angelic beings speak when they’re in the presence of Almighty God. Now that would be the loftiest and highest language, I mean, if you could do that, you were really spiritual. I mean, it would be one thing to speak Spanish if you didn’t know it, but if you could speak the angelic language, boy you would really be spiritual. And everybody in Corinth would be envious of you and your gift.

Paul says, even if that were possible, he says, I want you to know, generally speaking, its worthless if the motivation and the driving force and the reason for exercising that gift of tongues was not agape love. That love the holy spirit and he alone can manifest in a person’s life.

Paul’s very graphic and to the point as he illustrates how worthless it is. He said, if you do that, and love, agape, is not the motivation he says “you have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal”. Now that phrase noisy gong that refers to something that’s not a musical instrument at all. Its simply a person getting a great old big piece of sheet metal and beating it with a hammer. See, you making a meaningless, nonsensical racket is all you’re doing.

And then he goes on to make his point even stronger, he says, or a clanging cymbal. Now this was a musical instrument, and its uh, the same thing that we use when the uh cymbals are crashed together. Is that what you call those things you crash together and make that big noise at the end of songs and stuff?  Its called a crashing cymbal. Oh, well that’s a good modern translation, a crashing cymbal. But it is actually the lowest of musical instruments. For example, if Pat worked with me for a minute I could probably play that. That shows you how low it is. I mean, just, he could just say, when you come to this point, just crash them and you’ve done it.

The picture Paul’s making here is one guy’s got a big old piece of sheet metal and he’s just banging it with a hammer, the other guy is just crashing a bunch of cymbals, and Paul said, you’re making a lot of loud, meaningless nonsensical racket, even if you are speaking the language of the heavenly beings. So no matter how high and exalted and lofty and admirable and spiritual you think you are, person in the church at Corinth, you are nothing but nonsense and noise if agape love is not the reason why you want to speak in tongues and the reasons why you speak in that tongue when you do it. Now is that strong?

Paul’s making his point very clear, isn’t he?  Hodge, the great systematic theologian said this about verse 1 of chapter 13. “He said, the tongues talkers in Corinth probably made loud shrill noise when they exercised their gift. Each trying to drown out the others”. I’ve even seen services on TV today where a vast host would just, look like with the loudest possible noise we’re talking in something they would call the gifts of tongues. And its almost like they are trying to see who can be the loudest and gather the most attention. Now I do not know their hearts, and I would not judge them, but that’s obviously what was happening in Corinth, and Paul was saying, as everybody in the church is trying to talk in his unknown language, its just a bunch of racket going on. Like a bunch of clanging of cymbals and crashing of a piece of a metal.

MacArthur in his brilliant commentary said this. “In New Testament times, rites honoring the pagan deities, Cyballa, Bacchus and Dionysus, included speaking in ecstatic noises, that were accompanied by clashing gongs and clanging cymbals and blaring trumpets”. So Paul here has clearly got the point. Unless it is done in love, the ministering gift of languages or speaking in any other human or angelic way amounts to no more than those pagan rituals, it is only meaningless gibberish in a Christian guise”.

So Paul said, you greatly esteemed this gift, but he says, it doesn’t matter what you are doing and how you are doing, how fascinating and even supernatural it is, if agape love was not the motivation, its nothing.

Now he goes to the second thing, verse 2. And he says, and “if I have the gift of prophecy”. Now Paul’s really showing us the primacy, or the supremacy of love, because Paul himself said prophecy is the highest gift, its the gift all people should want to have, if you want to have a gift that will help others, seek for prophecy. So he includes that one now. And he says, “even if I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge”. In other words, even if I hold the office of prophet, and in this day before the New Testament was completed, God would give certain people in the church a divine, authoritative revelation of truth. And they could stand up and prophecy that truth to the church. And they would have an understanding that was previously unknown to the intellectual man.

So he says, even if you are known as one who can stand up in the church and give God’s divine truth that others do not know. And then he adds to that, he builds on that, then he talks about knowledge. He says, even if you have what the prophets, know all mysteries and all knowledge. Now mysteries attaches to prophecies because you understood truth that was mysteries to other men. You understood it and could prophecy it, and the word knowledge kind of connects to it, but its really the intellectual apprehension and cognition of revealed truth. In other words, some guys could take the truth that’s revealed and that’s one of the gifts I believe God’s given me and he’s enabled to take the truth, lay it out, explain it and teach it with an understanding that others perhaps can’t do. You see, even if you have all of that, if agape love is not the motivation for when you do it, why you do it and how you do it, its worthless. Absolutely worthless. You can be the most gifted, skilled preacher on earth, but if agape love is not your motivation, its nothing, its nothing.

Then he comes into another gift that they were fascinated by and that’s the gift of faith. “And even if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains”, hyperbole again, it doesn’t mean that on a weekly basis guys were coming into the church and by faith believing some mountain outside of Corinth would move and it moved. No. He’s saying, if you had the most flamboyant, awe inspiring ability to place faith in God doing something and watch it actually happen, but if agape love was not the motivation behind it, its nothing. Its nothing.

Then verse 3. This is the one that taught me so much. “And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor and if I deliver my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing”. Benevolence, giving all of my possessions to feed the poor, now the word give there is an interesting word, it means to dole out your possessions. Over a longer extended period of time to help others who have great need.

And so it, so’s the picture of one just basically committing their whole life and everything they own, up to the end of life, that when they get to the end, they have doled out absolutely everything they’ve owned to help others. He, even if you did that, if the motivation for doing it was not agape, not this human love stuff, but true holy spirit produced agape love, then it profits you absolutely nothing.

Then he makes it very strong, last part of verse 3, and “if I deliver my body to be burned”, this is martyrdom. This is actually giving your life for something. And Paul is pointing out that there are those who give everything they know, all of their worldly possessions, and give their very life for a cause, but if the, the motivation for what they were doing and the reason for doing it was not true agape love, then its absolutely profits them nothing.

Now here’s a good point. agape love is always self sacrificing. But self sacrifice does not always come from agape love. Agape love is always self sacrificing, but self sacrifice does not always come from agape love. You see, all self sacrifice even for the gospel’s sake, even for Christ’s sake, if it is not motivated by true agape love in the heart, it is worthless, it is nothing.

You see, there are a lot of folks in the church, in the cause of Christ, and just really in the world in general for all kinds of philosophies or kingdoms or causes who are sacrificing themself for selfish gain. You following me. They are self sacrificing for selfish reasons. That’s not agape.

“And it profits you nothing”. Some who would give all that they have, are doing it out of selfish reasons. You see, some do it, listen now, out of legalistic fear. I mean some theological teachings and some religious teachings will tell you that the more you give, the more you sacrifice, and, and we’ve seen the pagan rituals where they would cut themselves and bleed and, and suffer for the cause of their god, there are people around the world  the folks it, during the world war, the Japanese who would give their lives for the emperor. Folks, that’s the ultimate in sacrifice, but it wasn’t agape. And it profit, profited them nothing.

I want to say something very strong and very clear. When I think about self sacrifice, there’s a lady that comes to my mind, and probably to, a lady that comes to most of our minds, her name is Mother Theresa. And we’ve seen the pictures of Mother Theresa bathing the lepers in India. Tremendous picture, we would think, of self sacrifice. I do not know Mother Theresa’s heart. I have never heard Mother Theresa’s theological position, but I can say this. If she holds the Catholic theology, which teaches that all of your works will determine whether or not you get to heaven, and if she holds to Catholic theology, that teaches that your work that you do on earth will determine how long you will spend in purgatory, getting cleansed out before you get to heaven, if that is Mother Theresa’s theological position, then she is not functioning out of selflessness, it is actually the ultimate of selfishness. She’s doing it for her ultimate gain in the hereafter. That is not agape. Self sacrifice, yes? Self denial, yes. Motivated by agape, no, no. If its out of that legalistic fear, that somehow it will bring praise or blessing either now or in the hereafter, then the real focus is not God, is it? The real focus is not others, the real focus is self. That’s what Paul says. Profits you nothing. Cause it wasn’t motivated by agape.

As a matter of fact, history records in the early church, when Christians were being persecuted, that some fleshly acting Christians would actually give themselves for martyrdom, not for the cause of Christ and the church, but for the fame of their own name. Martyrdom yes, but not motivated by agape, but for self glory. There’s a huge difference Paul says. One brings great eternal reward and dividends, the other profits nothing. Nothing.

If the motive is out of legalistic fear or out of some praise or glory you might bring to yourself by giving, doing that sacrifice, even to the point of martyrdom, then the motive is self and it is neither spiritual nor loving. Now who else but God could have written that. Really rebukes the natural conclusions of man, doesn’t it.

Let’s, let’s form a concluding thought now on these first three verses, the primacy, the superiority, the fact that agape love is the thing, the supreme thing, not your gifts, not the manifestation, not the awe inspiring acts or gifts of the spirit, but agape love Is the supreme thing, the primary thing.

The conclusion of these three verses I think is this. The unregenerate man has no concept of the truth of this text. He can’t grasp it, he can’t get it. And this text is a strong rebuke to the carnal acting believers like those in the church at Corinth. They were selfish, self-centered, and self motivated, and they used their spiritual gifts to that end. And when it came to spirit gifts, the church at Corinth was fascinated with style, not substance.

Style, I mean, if you had the right style in the service, you were something, whether or not you had the substance of agape love in your life or not. They were like the person that would esteem or admire the artists’ brush and canvas, but miss the portrait. They were like the person that would marvel over a craftsman’s tools, but miss the product he created with the tools. They were out of balance. They missed the primary thing, love is the primary thing. It is the virtue that both gave the gifts and guides their usage.

Spiritual gifts are for the expression of love for one believer to another. You know in today’s world and probably in the ancient world lovers often expressed their love through the medium of sending cards in the mail. But those lovers never find a greater fascination in a card then they do the one who sent it. That’s what the church at Corinth were doing. They were fascinated with the gift, but not the God of love who sent it and who guides its usage.

Gifts are not the focus, Paul is saying, love is the focus, love is the primary thing. And gifts are to be managed and exercised by agape love, for the building up of the body of Christ, to the glory of God.

First Paul says, as he continues talking about spiritual gifts and we come to verse 13, verses 1-3, he says, I want to talk about the primacy of love.

Now secondly, let’s talk about the portrait of love. The portrait of love is given in verses 4-7. And what a portrait it is.

Now, I want to introduce this second point with three thoughts, alright. We’re introducing the portrait of love with three important thoughts. Number one, it is a portrait of Jesus Christ. This portrait of love, in verses 4-7 is a portrait of Jesus Christ.

It is as if Paul is the artist painting the portrait and Christ is sitting there modeling for the picture. Because Jesus Christ perfectly lived out all the traits and characteristics of agape love. He perfectly modeled all of them. So first of all, it is a portrait of Christ.

Secondly, it is a partial portrait. Its a partial portrait. You see, I believe if the apostle Paul, want to exhaustively describe the traits and characteristics of agape love that is only produced by the holy spirit. Then he could have spend hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of pages, but he only spends four, five, six, seven, four verses. That’s because Paul is picking out the traits that contrast with the unloving fleshly way the church at Corinth was exercising spiritual gifts.

So Paul picks out a few characteristics of love, that will contrast with the unloving fleshly self centered way the Corinthians were using their gifts. So you do not have an exhaustive portrait of God’s love, but you do have a wonderful and glorious portrait. He’s showing some of the virtuous characteristics of agape in contrast with the deformities of character exhibited by the church at Corinth.

So folks, when you get to verse 4-7, this is more than just a glowing romantic description of love, it is a sharp rebuke to the church at Corinth. I mean, I believe its, that this letter was sent to the church at Corinth, and one of the elders at the church at Corinth began to read the apostle Paul’s letter, I believe the members at the church at Corinth, because of their fleshliness, because they were using their gifts for self exaltation, kept slipping down further in their chairs.

Love is patient, love is kind, and the further Paul went, the lower they got in their chairs in shame, because they realized they’d missed the whole thing. love is the thing, not my gifts and my getting credit because I have a certain gift.

So its a portrait of Jesus, it sis a partial portrait, and thirdly, it is a living and active portrait. All the characteristics of love described in verse 4-7, in the original Koine Greek are verse. Now as they translated out into English, , some became adjectives, but in the original Koine they are all verbs. And that’s, that’s very significant, because verbs show action. And that’s what Paul is trying to point out, that agape never just feels, its acts, and it acts right. Agape never just feels. That’s the way the human flesh fallen base understanding of man views love, well, I feel it or I think, I have this warmth, I have this glow, I have these chills, I have this, I have that, well, that doesn’t mean anything.

I have chills sometimes during church services here. Chills don’t mean anything. Warmth and glow and feelings, and that, all men have that. Paul is trying to show what you feel and what you think is not agape, agape does, it acts, and it always acts right. It always does what’s right. Paul’s point is that agape is, is action. The focus is not on what love is, but on what love does. That’s the key.

Now let’s do a running commentary, verses 4-7, as we look at this doing, active agape love, that ought, now listen, that only the holy spirit can manifest through your life. Don’t you grit your teeth and say, I’m going to do it that way from now on. Failure from the beginning, totally in the flesh. That’s your strength. That’s your ability. What you’ve got to do is say God, I don’t want to exhibit this kind of love, this is contrary to me, this is unnatural to me, but God, please get me out of the way and you flow this through me. That is the right attitude. Get honest about your flesh, get honest about the way our flesh feels and the way our flesh thinks and say God, I don’t like my stinking flesh, get me out of the way, and you flow this agape through me, or it won’t happen, I promise you that God. That’s what Jeff Noblit has to do, and if you’re a fallen sinner like me, that’s what you have to do.

Now let’s look at the characteristic of this agape that the holy spirit flows out through you. Well, he begins describing it and again these are traits that contrasts with the fleshliness of the church at Corinth, particularly as they practice spiritual gifts. The first one, love is patient. When the holy spirit if flowing agape through your life, you will be patient. Which means you will be slow to be roused to resentment. You’re slow to be roused to resentment. It means you patiently bear with provocation. You patiently bear it when somebody provokes you. It means you are not quick to assert your rights, because if agape is flowing through you, you died to self anyway, and self is dead, you don’t have any rights. You’re not quick to assert your rights. And you are not quick to resent an injury.

When agape’s flowing through you and somebody truly wrongs you, your response is, well, praise the Lord, I don’t know what he’s trying to teach me, I don’t now what he’s trying to accomplish, but Lord it don’t matter. I’m doing pretty good for a guy that ought to be in hell. That’s agape. Only agape can do that, only the holy spirit can produce that, you can’t do that. He must do it through you. Love is patient

. And then he goes on, the next characteristic he gives us in verse 4, love is kind, now you understand these characteristics overlap and intertwine. Love is kind, that just means its inclined to perform good. Inclined to perform good. Its disposed to usefulness. In any and all situations, agape says I want to do what’s good for that person in that situation. Never what’s bad or hurtful or what’s demeaning to them. Its not quick to resent evil, but is disposed to do good in return. Only agape can do that.

He goes on, the third characteristic listed in verse 4 is not jealousy. I love this definition I found of jealousy. Jealousy is any wrong feeling, excited in view of the good of others. Any wrong feelings, excited in the  view of the good of others. In other words, you’re sitting over here in church, and you’re just, things hadn’t been going good, and you’re just kind of getting by, and you look over here in the middle section and here’s Joe Blow. Everything’s working good for Joe Blow. His business is doing good, his kids are doing good, his wife’s pretty, everything about Joe is great. He even got a key spot on the committee at church, and you’re over here struggling and suffering and barely surviving. You know what agape would do? Agape would do, praise God for his goodness to Joe, boy God is good. You know what the flesh would do. He don’t deserve that, I deserve it more than he does.

Woe is me, should we all just dig up the carpet now and stick our face in the dirt and go home. It really points out when Jeff Noblit’s in the flow or whether the holy spirit is flowing the agape doesn’t it. Whew.

Next one, does not brag. This is what the holy spirit produces, this agape love that does not brag. That means does not seek to win admiration or applause. Does not see, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t get admiration or applause, but the heart attitude is, God don’t let me do this, don’t let me approach this, don’t let me start this business, don’t let me teach this Sunday school class, don’t let me pastor this church, oh God, don’t let me do it for my applause and my attention, because if I do, and if that rules and reigns, then we’re sunk, its worthless. But oh God, through the enablement of the holy spirit, let the general pattern and attitude of my heart be agape, not for me, but for your glory. Folks, I just have to pray that on a daily basis, or I drift back off in the flesh again. I have to ask God to keep me in the flow of agape and out of the flow of Jeff. Jeff stinks.

Well, does not brag. Then he goes on, verse 4 is not arrogant, that’s just conceited and boastful, they tie together. Now can you imagine what a rebuke this is for the church at Corinth, this letter has hit town, somebody stands up to read it, and probably just in the service before the letter was read they were popping up all over the building with a word of knowledge and word of wisdom, another tongue, trying to find out who was the most spiritual, so they can get the attention. And then Paul’s letter’s read. Wow. That would be tough, wouldn’t it. Paul doesn’t pull any punches. You know why?  Because he agape-d them, he loved them enough to rebuke them and reprove them when it was proper to do so.

Now let’s go to verse 5, he continues here. Does not act unbecomingly. Does not act unbecomingly. It just means agape is going to motivate you to do nothing of which one would be ashamed. The whole deportment of agape is becoming. Have you seen brothers and sisters, maybe some of your young people can answer this question better than a lot of folks. Have you seen a Christian that really far out in the way they act or dress. Or maybe you’ve seen Christians who are really far out in, in their appearance, and its just unbecoming. Agape wouldn’t do that. Because listen, when a person’s real far out in their dress, whether it be stuff that’s just too tight, and too sensuous in their dress, or whether it be wild stuff, maybe a boy with all kind of earrings or tattoos or purple hair, or a thousand and one things, and adults have their own way of doing it, and kids have their way. But any time they do unbecoming type things, you know what they are saying, really, generally speaking, this is what they are saying. I’m insecure and I need some attention. I’m insecure, I don’t like myself, I want some attention.

But hey listen, when you are walking filled with the holy spirit, you, listen, you are walking in the understanding of the unconditional love of Almighty God. And the unconditional acceptance of Almighty God and when you’re walking in the unconditional love and unconditional acceptance of Almighty God, you are secure, and therefore you don’t have to do anything to show off or gain attention. You don’t do anything that’s unbecoming, don’t walk in that.

Well, next in verse 5 he says it does not seek its own. Ties in very strongly with the others we’ve talked about it. It just means its disinterested in self gain. Its disinterested in self gain. Now that doesn’t mean that a man shouldn’t work hard and try to get a good salary or a raise or a promotion, he’s not talking about that. But what is the underlying motive for all of that. If its for the glory of God and the good of God’s work and God’s kingdom, that’s the key. Because the bottom line value and motivation in a spirit filled believer’s life is not self. But the kingdom of God. And God’s glory.

Does not seek its own. Then he goes on, is not provoked. That just simply means not quick tempered. How, how can a man be quick tempered when he’s dead. You walking in the spirit, you’ve died to the flesh. Nothing to offend. You can go insult a dead man down at the funeral home all day long, he’ll never get mad, he’s dead. Well, we’re suppose to be dead to the flesh and walking, hey, you can’t, hey, by the way you can’t do this, give it up, forget it, its over. Only the holy spirit can manifest this through you. Is it hot in here or are we just all under conviction?  Kind of hot this morning.

The next one does not take into account a wrong suffered. I like the New American Standard’s phrase, cause it puts it perfectly. Does not take into account a wrong suffered. In other words, it does not lay the evil that it suffers to the charge of the wrong doer. In other words, if you do a man wrong whose walking in the spirit, in agape love is flowing through his life, if you do him wrong, he doesn’t say, I bless God, I’ll file that one away brother. And I’ll have it in the data bank of my mind, and I’ll remember and I’ll be resentful and I’ll hope you get it back one day and if I ever get half a chance I’ll help you get it back. That’s flesh, that’s not agape. Does not file away in the data bank of the brain a wrong suffered so  you can get them back one day. Its not agape. Agape just doesn’t do that. Now Jeff will do that. But agape won’t. Agape doesn’t do that.

Number six, boy, what a marvelous job the holy spirit does. Of course, he always does things perfectly. As he balances these truths out with verse 6. Notice verse 6 does not take, rejoice in unrighteousness. In other words, does not sympathize with evil but good. You see, on a worldly human level they would take these first traits and say, well, you know, we shouldn’t deal harshly with this person living in adultery, or we shouldn’t really y deal with this person whose, whose abusing alcohol, or shouldn’t really, because we’re suppose to be patient and kind. Hey, Paul says uh uh, agape doesn’t rejoice with what’s wrong. Are you following me. Agape, listen, agape can be firm, and bold and strong. But the spirit and the reasoning for firmness and boldness and strength, is never for self, but for God’s glory.

That’s why he says it rejoices with righteousness, would not rejoice with unrighteousness. That’s what he means does not rejoice with an unrighteousness, but then later verse 6, rejoices with the truth. Has common joy with the truth. In agape there’s room for real righteous indignation. Like when Jesus tore the Pharisees to shreds with his tongue. You could not be verbally more insulting than Jesus was. And that means Jesus wasn’t kind, wasn’t patient, wasn’t all those, no, it meant that in agape those guys were destroying people with their false doctrine and hypocrisy, and Jesus needed to set the record straight for the good of people and the glory of God. That’s agape, agape would do that. It always rejoices with what’s right. And in that case it was right for the Pharisees to receive the rebuke.

So you can’t take these and just lay them out in the world in general and say in all situations these are the conduct. No, its more the mode, listen now, its more the motive and the reasoning of the heart for what you do, then just analyzing what’s done on the surface, are you following me?  Because if you analyze Paul and Jesus on the surface and not know their heart, you would say they violated some of these in their ministries, but they never did. Because their motive was out of patience and kindness and goodness and all those other great traits, but they were rejoicing with what was right, and never rejoicing with what was wrong.

Now look at verse 7. Bears all things, it means you’re predisposed to conceal the thoughts of others, rather than gladly disclose them. You’re predisposed to want to conceal the thoughts of others, rather than gladly dispose them. We’re not talking about faults that could hurt a ministry of a church. We’re not talking about scandalous things, we’re talking about brother to brother, sister to sister, somebody has a fault or a weakness, and, and you got it within your power to really make them look bad or just kind of not say anything about it, agape is going to say forget it. Let it just go on. Don’t try to make them look bad, unless what they are doing is hurting the overall cause of Christ, and the health of the body. Then exposure is important. The Bible says to expose things that are evil. That’s not a contradiction, depends on the situation.

Hope bears all things, then it says hopes all things, that means hopes for the best. Agape is even for the person that’s injured you the greatest. Agape says they are just a common fallen sinner like you. The only reason you may not have that trait of self centered injury to others, or maybe the reason you’re not injuring others the way they are, is because God’s had more grace on you, and so you’re saying, I hope they come to Christ, I hope they get that straightened out, I hope for God’s good in their life. I want to tell you, one of the greatest things that God’s ever taught me to do, and I wish I could say I’ve done it with perfection is that when somebody injures me willfully and openly, as an act of the will the holy spirit enables me to pray for their good. Pray that God will bless them and God will be good to them, and that has protected my heart from bitterness and resent, resentment more times then I could tell you.

Bears all things, hopes all things, then endures all things. That, that word endures is a military term. And it means literally to sustain the assaults of the enemy. Now it doesn’t necessary mean the enemy satan, but any enemy that persecutes or brings suffering. This is a stronger picture here. It means somebody is really out to blow you away, I mean, you’re really persecuted, you’re really suffering. Now in this day and time, it might, might have meant jail, it may have meant your life, but he’s saying you endure that. And it doesn’t mean that you don’t try to get out of it, when Paul was released from prison he left, but it meant while Paul was there he didn’t grow resentful, he didn’t grow bitter. Agape won’t do that. It will endure that season of persecution, without bitterness, without an ugly spirit. And without resentment.

Let’s get a brief glimpse of this truth. Look at Acts chapter 5, and we’ll be through, as, I’m sorry, Acts 7:55. Notice the example of Stephen as he was full of the holy spirit and therefore the holy spirit was manifesting agape love through his life. Stephen is about to be stoned to death because of the gospel of Jesus Christ. He has no fault whatsoever to deserve what they are doing, but notice how he responds, verse 54. Acts chapter 7. “Now when they”, that’s his enemies, “heard this, they were cut to the quick, and began gnashing their teeth at him, but being full of the holy spirit, he gazed intently into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. And he said, behold I see the heavens opened up and the Son of man standing at the right hand of God, but they cried out with a loud voice and covered their ears and rushed upon him with one impulse. And when they had driven him out of the city, they began stoning him and the witnesses laid aside their robes at the feet of a young man named Saul. And they went on stoning Stephen as he called upon the Lord and said Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And falling on his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, Lord, do not hold this sin against them. Having said this he fell asleep”.

The key phrase is back up there in verse 55 when it said being full of the holy spirit. That’s how in his dying moments being stoned to death who knows what a brutal painful death that would be, he could cry out with a full sincere heart, say God forgive them. They have no idea what they are doing. God forgive these folks. Stephen couldn’t do that, the holy spirit could do it through him. Agape.

So when we look at verse 4-7, where actually reading a description of the way a spirit filled believer lives his life, and that’s Paul’s point. He said, you’re not spiritual because you spoke in another language. You’re not spiritual because you had great faith and called a miraculous event to occur. You’re not spiritual because you have the gift of healing and you seen supernatural healings take place. You’re not spiritual because you have a word of knowledge, or a word of wisdom or a prophecy, you understand mysteries that others don’t understand. he said, that’s not what makes you spiritual. It is the love of your heart. And the character of love in your lifestyle. That is what makes you spiritual.

So Paul is saying, this text describes the life of a child of God. Matured by many seasons of fellowshipping with the God who is love. I don’t now where you are, and you don’t know where I am exactly, but has the holy spirit spoken to your heart that and your class or in your gift of service, or giving or mercy or teaching or leading or whatever else you do, choir, singers, musicians. Somebody else got to play the horn I didn’t get to play it, somebody else got to sing a solo, I didn’t get to sing it, flesh, not agape. I ought to been able to teach that class, I ought to been able to lead that committee, flesh, not agape. As we function as a church family, you know what the strength of this church is. God’s given us an unusual number of folks, who as a pattern, walk in agape. They don’t care. They walk in agape. Now none of them have arrived, and I certainly haven’t. But as a general rule, God’s given us a number of folks who walk in agape. So there’s nothing to fuss and fume and fight over. I mean, you want to fight and you violate, you try and teach against the virgin birth of Christ, we’ll fight. Amen! In righteous indignation. We’ll stand there. On the inerrancy of Scripture, but all the piddling incidental stuff we are not going to fuss and fight over because agape wouldn’t do that. We just don’t function in that realm.

So we have had a real challenge this morning. To check out, hey, I don’t want you to do better, I want you to die. You can do this. You gotta let Him flow it through you. Paul said, that is the statement of true spirituality not what gifts you do or do not have, or what manifestations have happened in your life because of some gift that you have.

—

So love is supreme, Paul is saying. Not spiritual gifts. He showed us first verses 1-3, the primacy of love. He showed us second, verses 4-7, the portrait of this love. And now thirdly he’s going to show how it is supreme by showing us the permanence of this love. And that is in verses 8-13.

So I want us to look together now at the permanence of his love, beginning there in verse 8. We’ll do a running commentary and this shouldn’t take long if you listen quickly. He says there, first of all, “love never fails”. Now the words here are very significant, the word never here refers to time and not to frequency.

Paul’s point is this. There is never a time, there is no time, no dispensation, or no age in which love will fail. This agape. Now we’re not talking, human emotion, that kind of love will fail. Human sentiment, human feelings of love, they will fail. As a matter of fact, your emotions will be perfected in heaven, you’ll not have those same emotions and feelings. All that kind of love will pass away, the sexual love, even though good and God given, that’s going to pass away. But this agape, this love you got when you received the holy spirit, that only he can produce through you, that love never fails, there is never a dispensation, age or season, when that love will fail.

And then let’s take a closer work, at the very word fails. That word fails means a final falling. It means you fall and you stay fallen. Its the picture of a leaf off of a tree or a flower petal that falls from its place, and it lands upon the ground and there it withers and decays and it is no more. So Paul says, love will never fall and stay fallen. It is true and abides for all ages. Love never falls and withers and decays. It is permanent. It is never to be abolished. Because love, agape, is of God. He possesses it, he produces it. And God never fails. Love is the supreme characteristics of the life that God gives because it is the supreme characteristic of God himself. When God gives life he gives you himself. And love is the chief characteristics of himself. 1 John 4:16 simply says, “God is love”.

So what’s Paul’s point. Paul’s point is this. You folks at Corinth are so highly esteeming the spiritual gifts, and you’ve got them so out of place. You put them up on a prominent place where they do not belong, and he said, I’m trying to tel you, spiritual gifts will fall. And will wither and will decay. They are temporal. No matter what your theology is about which gifts last longer and which gifts are useful in all ages and dispensations, ultimately speaking, all gifts are temporal. They fall and wither and go away. But love never does that.

Now he continues on there in verse 8, if you’ll look, he says, love never fails. But “if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away, if they are tongues, they will cease, and if there is knowledge, it will be done away”. Now notice the difference in verbs here. For prophecy and for knowledge he said, they will be “done away with”. Now that, that, that verb there to be “done away with” is different from the verb when it says “tongues will cease”. Now when it says prophecy and knowledge will be done away, that is a passive verb. And the passive verb here, in the Koine Greek means that someone or some thing will cause the gifts of prophecy and knowledge to cease and stop. Some thing or someone will act on those gifts causing them to stop. That’s what the passive means. Now I believe these two gifts are representative of all the gifts, he just threw two of them out there.

But now the word where he says “tongues”, he doesn’t say tongues will be done away with, he says “tongues will cease”. And the word cease here is clearly a middle voice verb, and that is significant in the Koine Greek. And the middle voice means there is an intentional voluntary action upon one’s self. In other words, the cause for ceasing comes from within. The cause to cease was built within the gift of tongues, is what Paul was saying. Its like a battery that has so much life and so much duration, but the battery has a built in limitation, its not going to last forever.

So in essence he’s saying, tongues will stop by themselves. You may argue about when that is, but that’s what the middle voice verb means. Now someone or some thing, passive voice, will cause prophecy and knowledge to stop. But tongues middle voice verb, will stop by itself. It will act on itself it has a limiter if you will, an ending point built in to that very gift.

MacArthur said it this way. The gift of tongues will stop by itself, this distinction is inarguably. He’s saying, great scholars are perfectly agreed no matter what their theological persuasion, that’s what the middle voice verb means in that situation.

Now let me tell you, kind of backing up and giving some overview of some things that we have hit upon in the last several message as we were talking about spiritual gifts. I believe the gift of tongues, the biblically described gifts of tongues, of the ability to talk in a known language, but unknown to the word, one using it. Along with other special gifts, whereby men were given, now listen, divine direct revelations for God, that were authoritative for the church. All of those gifts, I believe those ceased at the end of the apostolic era. I categorically reject that any one is going to receive a direct divine authoritative word that is binding on the church today. I believe with all of my heart, when God completed the New Testament, through those apostles that walked with Jesus, and were superintended by the holy spirit to be able to write infallibly and inerrantly God’s word, when those men finished, God said I’ve given my last divine authoritative binding revelation for my church. Nobody’s going to pop in here next week, I am convinced, and stand up and say, hey, open up your Bibles, back there where there’s a blank page and start writing, I’ve got another divine, authoritative word. The question is not, has tongues ceased, or the divine direct authoritative gift of prophesying ceased or some divine authoritative word of knowledge or wisdom ceased, the question is, has God stopped writing his Bible. That’s the real question at hand.

Now there are a lot of folks who like to say, no, those gifts still function, but its not Bible. Well, what is it. If its from God, its God’s word, amen. If, if its from God, its inerrant. If its from God, its authoritative. The question is not then are those gifts functioning, the question is, is God still writing his book. I believe with all of my heart, those type gifts ended with the apostolic era, and I did an exhaustive work from the scripture, sharing with you why that is my position. And if you want that, its under the title “Why signs gifts are not normative for the church today. ” And you can order that through Anchored in Truth ministries and get you one of those. So that’s what I believe and that’s been our general belief from the beginning. Now its not a line of fellowship. It doesn’t mean we don’t love brothers and sisters who hold to a different position, but I’m telling you, once you hold that yes, God is still giving, direct divine authoritative revelation, think about the Pandora’s box you’ve opened. That means anywhere at any time, anybody can stand up and say the wackiest thing and you can’t refute it. Because God told it to me, so the church, so you’ve got to listen to me and you’ve got to honor it. I just believe that that ended with the apostolic era, and there’s an abundance of biblical conclusions to why I believe that.

Well, let’s go on to verse 9. Now Paul shifts back away from tongues and he’s talking again about prophesy, prophecy rather and knowledge as gifts. And he says there in verse nine, “for we know in part”, that would be the gift of knowledge, “and we prophecy in part”. That would be referring to the gift of prophecy. Now here we have the Corinthians, the church at Corinth, now listen, at this point in time, when Paul writes this to them, they have only a small portion of the New Testament scripture. Really only what Paul’s written to them. And they have what other revelatory works from God that they have gotten through the gifts of tongues, or word of knowledge, or word of wisdom, whatever. So they really only have partial knowledge, and, and partial understanding of God’s revealed truth. But even for us in the church today, even those of us who have the completed canon of scripture, who have the full revelation that God has intended for us to have.

Now listen, we have all that is adequate to make us complete for God’s purpose in, in this dispensation when we have the completed Bible. That’s why 2 Timothy 3:6-16 said “all scripture, is given by inspiration of God, and is adequate” and is adequate “to make every man equipped and complete”. Its all that we need. We’re not looking for anything else. But even though we’ve got the completed New Testament, we’ve got much more than the church at Corinth had, as far as God’s word and God’s revelation to man, nevertheless, that is still only partial. Its not the full yet. The full will be, will be when we see him face to face. Its still only partial. And so while we are down here, now listen, in this imperfect, and I use that word in the sense of incomplete state. By the way, you are not complete yet. You are a being in the process of becoming. Now its sure that you are going to become that, but you’re still in the process of becoming what you really are. We’re not glorified yet, we’re not complete yet.

So while we as God’s children, function in this incomplete state, we will use some spiritual gifts to function in this incomplete state. That’s what he means, we know in part, we prophecy in part. We’re using these things during this incomplete, imperfect state.

Now, l, watch him as he continues on in verse 10. But when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away with. Now whatever spiritual gifts that did not cease at the end of the apostolic era, those gifts that have continued on, and through all the years of the church age, those will all come to a conclusion when the perfect comes. Now what is the perfect.

Now there’s a lot of argument about this and a lot of different purviews and perspectives on this, some say the perfect’s the word of God. I don’t believe that is what its saying. I believe that may be part of the truth, but I just cannot believe, and that’s one reason why my sermon is short, I cut out a bunch of stuff I was going to say about that. I just don’t believe that’s what God is saying, when he says when the perfect comes. I believe what he’s talking about is the eternal state. When we get with our Lord Jesus and we are finally fully and wholly perfected, all the self centered, ugly, worldly sinful flesh is removed, we have glorified bodies and we’re like our Lord, that’s the perfect state that’s coming. And when that state comes, all gifts will then be obsolete. You won’t need to gift of teaching, you won’t need to learn. You won’t need any gifts of prophecy, or any gifts of tongues, or any gifts of anything else. Because you’ll be in the perfect state.

Now when God used the men of old to write the Old Testament, God gave us part of his revealed truth. And then during the, the founding of the church, God gave men special, unique endowments for signs and wonders and miracles and special revelations and truths as he began to found his church. And then using those men he wrote the finished canon of scripture, the New Testament. And he put all of that together. But folks, even though we have the writings of the Old Testament prophets, even we, though we have the fulfillment of those prophets, written by the apostles of the New Testament, and even though we have the completed canon of scripture, we still have only a glimpse of the glories of God. And here’s what he’s saying, now that we’re functioning down here with all of this truth, still its only a glimpse, hey, when you see him, listen, when you see him, when you gaze on the glories of heaven, who wants to look back at a glimpse any more.

So down here we function in this limited arena of understanding, this, this limited knowledge of our heavenly Father, and in this type of arena, and in this incomplete state, we use spiritual gifts, but when we see him and are with him, those are no longer needed, they will all pass away. As one man said, “when the sun rises all lamps are turned off”. That’s what it will be like when we get there. Now what’s Paul’s point.

Paul’s point to a church that is immature and carnal acting and has glory, glorified in the gifts that they have. Paul’s point is, the gifts aren’t the thing, the God of love is the thing. And his love is going to be permanent and forever. All these things, these tools, these gifts, God gave you to use to serve him while you’re down here, those are going to pass away any way when you get in that perfect state. So quit focusing on the secondary thing and start focusing on the main thing the God of love. And living in that love and exercising that love and letting that love flow through.

So tongues, the biblical description of tongues, talking in a known language, yet a language unknown to the one using it, the gifts of signs and wonders and miracles and healings, and all the gifts that involve authoritative, direct, divine revelation, I believe those ceased at the end of the apostolic era. Other gifts continued on. The gift of knowledge, I believe, continues on. Its a man’s ability to understand this book. The gift of prophecy, a man’s ability to take these truths and proclaim truth boldly and with power and authority. And many other gifts, like teaching or like administration or leading or service or mercy or helps, many of those gifts keep continuing on until the perfection comes and when the perfection comes, all of them are done away with. So let’s don’t glory in the gifts, let’s glory in the God of love who gave the gifts.

Now he continues and he gives two analogies. In verse 11 he uses the analogy of childhood and in verse 12 he uses the analogy of a mirror. First of all, verse 11, childhood. He says, “when I was a child, I used to speak as a child and think as a child and reason as a child, and when I became a man, I did away with childish things”. Here’s what Paul is saying. He’s saying one type of behavior is appropriate or fitting for children. But that same behavior that’s appropriate and fitting for children is completely inappropriate and unsuited for mature adults. As a matter of fact, a child’s thoughts are true, they are not false. Its just that they are inadequate for mature adult living. And that’s what he’s saying, spiritual gifts are not wrong, spiritual gifts are not false, but they were suited or they were adequate for only that imperfect state. When you were down there in the physical bodies. They are inappropriate for that and incomplete state but they have no place in the mature or the completed or the perfected state that is to come.

So here I think we also see another one of Paul’s reproofs to the church at Corinth. I think Paul is sort of drawing a picture and he’s saying, see a little boy there on the ground playing, little three or four year old boy. Well, its proper for that little boy to play with trucks and with cars. And see over here there’s a little girl, is just a three or four year old little girl, and watch her, she loves to play with her doll, and the baby bottle that she has for her little doll. But if you see a 30 year old adult man playing with trucks and cars all day long, or a 30 year old adult woman playing with that baby doll and that baby bottle, well, you’d say, now something’s wrong. That’s inappropriate. That doesn’t fit. And I think Paul is trying to say to the church at Corinth, here you are, making a fuss over cars and trucks and baby dolls. You need to grow up a little bit, and look at what really matters. Agape love. And walking in the spirit so he can shine that love through you, using spiritual gifts to minister and edify your brother and sister in Christ.

Now look at verse 12, he goes to the second analogy here, the analogy of a mirror. He says, “for now now” here during this incomplete state, “e see in a mirror dimly”. Now the word mirror probably refers to uh polished metal, they would take metal and polish it very nicely and they would get somewhat of a reflection. It was, it was what they used for a mirror. Now, it was a true picture but it was nothing like the real thing. He said, that’s what we have down here, we’re exercising our spiritual gifts, we’re exercising them under the authority and the direction of the truth of this Bible, the word of God, but as we follow the word of God, understand the word of God, we follow God and we know God but its not going to be anything compared to the real thing when we see him face to face.

Now he says we see in a mirror dimly. That’s an interesting word, it literally means a riddle. And that analogy or that expression was used often when the Old Testament prophets would prophecy about the coming kingdom and the coming church age, and the coming Savior. Haven’t you studied those Old Testament prophecies they are in a riddle. They are not just clear and plain spoken, so often you have to study and get the insight. And so, so Paul is saying, even though we have a lot more than the Old Testament we have the writing of the New Testament apostles and the completion of the New Testament, but nevertheless, its still sort of a riddle. Compared to what its going to be like when we’re really with him. Face to face.

What a glorious truth that is. I guess in a modern analogy its the difference between a photograph and the real person. The photograph is true, but it can’t be compared to the real person. That’s what he means when he says, now we see in this mirror dimly. Its the true reflection, but then face to face. “Now I know in part but then I shall know fully just as I also have been fully known”. And then notice verse 13. “But now abide” in this present life, in this incomplete state, “now abide faith, hope, love, these three, but the greatest of these is love”. Agape.

Now love is greatest because really it is the basis for both faith and hope. Think about it. Let me give you four thoughts or five thoughts here rather. Why is love the greatest. Because first of all, we could have never loved him if he didn’t first love us. The Bible says, we love him because he first loved us. We didn’t chose him, he choose us. So love, hey, you never could have had faith in him or hope in him, if he hadn’t loved you first. Love is the basis. Of the whole thing.

So first of all, we can only love him because he first loved us but number two, we believe in and we place faith in those that we love. Have you noticed that in life. I want you to know I believe in my wife, I trust her, I have faith in her, its because I love her. I believe in my children, its because I love them, I want to tell you, I place faith in my Lord, I believe in him, because I love him.

Love is the basis for our faith. Thirdly, we hope in or hope for and delight in those that we love. Don’t we? We have hope, expectation, of positive and good things, from that person, because we love them, and they have a love for us, and that’s why we place our hope in God and in his promises because we know he loves us, and because he’s in us with that agape love, we love him back. So love is the basis for our hope that we have in him.

Number four, faith will be swallowed up by sight. When we’re there with him. So love’s greatest, love’s still around, faith will be gone. When we, we we will not need faith when we’re with him and when we see him.

And then number five, hope will be completed in reality. So love, it never fails. It never falls away and withers and decays. Hey, the spiritual gifts, those gifts are for a temporal season, for a specific time in this incomplete state. They will not endure forever. Hey, even the great virtues of faith and hope and others, they too will disappear and be gone, but love, hey, we walk in love now, and we use love rather uses spiritual gifts now for the good of the church and the glory of God. Hey, we live in faith and hope now and love is the basis for our faith and hope, and even in that perfected state. We will enjoy and walk in love for all eternity.

The old song writer said,

“Face to face with Christ my Savior.
Face to face, what will it be,
When with rapture I behold him,
Jesus Christ who died for me?

Only faintly now I see him,
With the darkened veil between,
But a blessed day is coming,
When he glory shall be seen.

What rejoicing in his presence,
When our banished grief in pain,
When the crooked ways are straightened,
And the dark things shall be plain.

Face to face, oh blissful moment,
Face to face, to see and know,
Face to face with my Redeemer,
Jesus Christ who loves me so.

Face to face I shall behold him,
Far beyond the starry sky,
Face to face in all his glory,
I shall see him by and by”.

Paul talks about the permanence of love. My friend, love is supreme.