Faith, hope and love.
Paul says, “...the greatest of these is love”.
A.W. Pink says that “Love is the queen of all the Christian graces”[1].
Whatever gifts we do not have - if we have love, then we have that which matters most. The Bible says that if love is not at the heart of all that we are and do, then we are just a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal (1 Cor. 13:1). That is a strong language, and it is good that we should examine ourselves in this regard.
Paul says, “...the greatest of these is love”.
A.W. Pink says that “Love is the queen of all the Christian graces”[1].
Whatever gifts we do not have - if we have love, then we have that which matters most. The Bible says that if love is not at the heart of all that we are and do, then we are just a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal (1 Cor. 13:1). That is a strong language, and it is good that we should examine ourselves in this regard.
The
apostle Paul writes this great ‘love chapter’ against the context of manifestations of terrible immaturity in the church. This
immaturity manifests itself in terms of man centredness. The Corinthian
Christians were looking for human heroes and human wisdom (1:10ff; 3:1ff ) rather
than for the wisdom of God (1 Cor. 1:18-31). This mentality is the
mother of all conflict in the
church, and it arises from the age old problem of self –centredness i.e. me-at-the-center. It is rooted
in the human fall, and has become our human
default thinking. Every single person
needs to be delivered from this.
Our great example of a self-less man is the Lord Jesus Christ. (Phil 2:1-11)
In terms
of the immediate context, the apostle Paul addresses the problem of the self -centered use of spiritual gifts (1 Cor. 12). Spiritual gifts were never
given by the Holy Spirit for self -
glorification, but always for the
mutual benefit of the church – “for the
common good” (1 Cor. 12:7) and ultimately always to the glory of God.
Self-
centredness issues from pride. When pride is not properly checked, it always leads to
division in the church. Division in turn leads to deadness for the Holy Spirit is grieved. When a
church is dead it is not because the
spiritual gifts aren’t practiced. It is because
the heart of love is
not beating!
How does one help such a self- centered church?
Listen to Paul’s masterful exposition and solution to this problem in this text. Keep in mind that Chapter 13 forms a part of Paul’s exposition on the exercise of the spiritual gifts. In fact, this chapter is right in the middle of his discourse on spiritual gifts. He is about to make further comments on the use of spiritual gifts in chapter 14, but he stops his flow of thought and introduces the more excellent way. This excellent way is in fact the solution to self- centered thinking and acting in the church.
1 Corinthian 13 divides into three parts
(i)
The priority of love (vv.
1-3)
(ii)
The properties of love (vv. 4-7)
(iii)
The permanence of love (vv. 8-13)
1.
THE PRIORITY OF LOVE (vv. 1-3)
If I
speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong
or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and
understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to
remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away
all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not
love, I gain nothing.
Paul here directs
our attention to the fact that powerful
speaking, prophetic speaking, profound
knowledge and understanding of mysteries,
a powerful faith that would move
mountains and personal sacrifice – all focused on self and without
the vital ingredient called
“love” - are absolutely useless! They
are nothing but an irritating noise in the ear of God. None of these things are wrong in themselves, but if love
for God and men are not at the heart of all we do, then we are wasting our time and efforts. We might as well not do them.
The apostle Paul is about to define the properties of that
love for us in verses 4-7, but
before he speaks we need to be reminded that this
love must not be confused with modern self - centered, feeling
based notions of love. We are talking here about a
godly and God-like love. The Greek Word
for this love is “agape”.
It is in essence an ‘other centered’ love.
The
focus of this love is not ‘self‘ or ‘me’
– but others.
It begins with love for God, and
it continues with love towards
our neighbour. It is summarized by Christ as obedience
to the greatest commandments (Mk 12:30,31).
The source of love is
rooted in God’s own love.
God’s greatest and grandest attribute is His love. GOD
IS LOVE! (1 Jn. 4:8). This is who He is. The most profound
demonstration of the Love of God for us is the gift of His only Son – the Lord
Jesus (John 3:16) who died on the cross for our sin so that
we might enter heaven. This, according to Jonathan Edwards is “a
world of love”. [2]
Being in
Christ means being grounded
and rooted in love (Eph. 3:17). We are told in Romans 5:5 that
God’s love is poured
(a lavish overflowing) into our hearts through the
Holy Spirit who has been given to us. This love not only flows to us,
but from us. This is why the apostle John says, “Beloved, let
us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born
of God and knows God.” (1 Jn. 4:7).
So then,
the exercise of love, based on the example of God’s own love to us becomes our priority and motive for
all that we do and say.
Our own church mission statement (1990)
affirms this priority.
Eastside Baptist Church exists
to,
- love God (Worship);
- love one another (Fellowship);
- love a lost World (Missions & Evangelism).
Central to our church's mission statement is that word “Love”.
But
what exactly does this love look like? Fortunately
we do not have to guess. Paul provides us with a working definition of love.
2.
THE PROPERTIES OF LOVE (vv.
4-7)
[4] Love is patient
and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant
[5] or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not
irritable or resentful; [6] it does not rejoice at wrongdoing,
but rejoices with the truth. [7] Love bears all things, believes
all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love
is so profound that it cannot be described or explained in
one simple word.Paul has to use
15 different verbs to explain
what love is or what it is not.
Seven verbs teach us what love is, and eight teach us what love is not .
Seven verbs teach us what love is, and eight teach us what love is not .
LOVE IS
|
LOVE IS NOT
|
Patient (lit. long
suffering)
|
Envious (lit. jealous)
at the root of envy is the spirit of covetousness which is
forbidden in the 10th
commandment
|
Kind (Gr. chresteuomai - good, gracious); Christ – like
|
Boastful (lit. to speak conceitedly; to brag). If envy is
wanting what my neighbour has then boasting is to make others envious of what I have.
|
Rejoices with the truth: Christian love is actively engaged in doing that which is
right in God's eyes ; it is actively engaged
in a deep commitment to
God’s truth, as it is revealed in the Bible.
|
Arrogant (lit. “puffed
up , inflated” – NIV “proud”)
|
Bears all things: There are two aspects attached to the Greek word "stego".
(i) the idea of "covering " in the sense of concealing or excusing the faults of others, instead of gladly disclosing them. That would support the translation of the NIV. (ii) "to bear - to bear in silence, all annoyances and troubles" (Charles Hodge), hence supporting the ESV/KJV. |
Rude (lit.”acting contrary to form”) - acting without regard or consideration to
others.
|
Believes all things: Charles Hodge says that “love
is not suspicious, but readily credits
what people may say in their own
defence…”. “Love always gives the
benefit of the doubt” (Leon Morris).
This doesn't imply that we must blindly and
naively swallow all that is presented
to us at face value. Matthew Henry
says it well: "Indeed Love does by
no means destroy prudence (caution /discretion). Wisdom may dwell with love,
and love may be cautious."
|
Insist on its own way (lit. not
selfish). “Selfishness is a very
small world inhabited by one man “
|
Hopes all things: Christian hope is not grounded in uncertainty, but in Him who holds the future and the destiny of all people
in His hand. Christian love hopes
the best with regard to our Christian brothers and sisters.
|
Irritable – the Greek word
(paroxuno) has to do with
sharpness – that which we sense when
our temper rises (NIV – not easily
angered)
|
Endures all things - NIV “always perseveres” . The Greek
word hupomoneō is a military term - to sustain
the assault of an enemy.
|
Resentful –KJV thinketh
no evil; NIV keeps no record of
wrongs
|
Rejoice at wrongdoing :
This statement must be understood in relation to all that
is said before. Whenever biblical love sees envy, boasting, arrogance and rudeness,
selfishness, irritability
or resentment, it cannot be
happy with that.
|
These 15 verbs indicate a call
to action.
They are all written in the present continuous tense,
indicating an ongoing action and a
habitual practise, ingrained by
constant repetition.
Dr Wayne
Mack reminds us of the importance of sound habits. He writes,“Habits are learned ways of living. A habit is created when
something is done repeatedly , until it becomes a pattern. Habits may be
actions, attitudes or patterns of thinking that have become so ingrained, that
they are second nature. Hebrews 5:14
for example speaks of people who have become mature, because they “ have their powers of discernment trained by constant practise to distinguish
good from evil.”[3]
1 Cor. 6:9–11 describes people whose lives have been characterised by adultery,
immorality, homosexuality, thievery, greed, drunkenness and slander. Paul
says to these Corinthians, “And
that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you
were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our
God.”
Those
sinful lives had been changed for
better! Through consistent practice,
unbiblical habits can be unlearned and biblical habits can be learned.
We can
learn to love in a biblical way.
We can
learn to be patient, to be kind.
We can learn not to be envious.
We can
learn not to be irritable of
resentful.
We can learn not to
rejoice at wrongdoing.
We can learn to rejoice with the truth.
We can
learn to bear all things, believe all things,
hope all things, endure all things…
All these things can become living truths in our lives. However it is important that we must plan to
change in these areas. And not only plan – but put it into practice! We learn in order to respond
in God’s way and with God's help. This is called discipleship.
This is a call
and reminder to put the emphasis, where
the Scripture puts it. We can have all the spiritual gifts in the
world. That proves nothing about us. The proof
of an authentic Christian
church lies in the fact that love (defined according to verses 4-7) is found at the heart of all that we
do.
How are you doing in this regard?
We need to
examine ourselves in this regard - the priority of love. Much
blessing may yet be absent, because we fail to take seriously the
priority of living in biblical
expressions of agape love.
In John 13:35, Jesus makes this weighty observation:
"All men will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one
another."
I submit then
to you, that the Spirit of God is saying to our church, “if you do not have love,
you have nothing, and that if you do have love, whatever else
we may lacking presently we have what matters most.”
May the grace
of our Lord Jesus be with us all to
hear and obey.
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