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1 Corinthians 13 Who Do You Love?
1st Corinthians chapter 13 hear the word of the Lord. If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love I'm a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 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 if I give away all I have and if I deliver my body to be burned. But have not love I gain nothing. Love is patient and kind.
Love is not envy or boast. It's not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way. It's not irritable or resentful. It's not rejoice at wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things believes all things hopes all things endures all things love never ends as.
For prophecies they will pass away as for tongues. They will cease as for knowledge it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part. But when the perfect comes the partial will pass away.
When I was a child I spoke like a child. I thought like a child. I reason like a child. When I became a man I gave up childish ways for now. We see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face now. I know in part then I shall know.
Fully even as I am I have been fully known so now faith. Hope and love abide these three, but the greatest of these is love. And the Lord had his blessings to the reading of his Holy Word. Well love is doing well these days.
Everyone is for love. No one that I know of is anti love anybody in here opposed to love any in the opposition to love here. I didn't think so people like stole love. No one wants to be thought of as opposed to anything that is supposedly Loving.
So the argument for gay marriage is simply that if people love each other when I let them marry love is love, right? Everything and anything is justified by saying it is Loving. Love even have his has its own holiday, you know Valentine's Day name for me any other virtue that has its own holiday.
Love is so popular so highly esteemed. Love is so loved that we imagine. That must be the way it's always been. Love has always been that popular. But but it's really not so the ancient Greeks like these Corinthians here listed four cardinal virtues temperance prudence fortitude and justice.
Love didn't make the list. Perhaps it was thought of as too soft. Just to too much self-interest too much about about me so it couldn't possibly be considered a virtue. After all there are reasons to be cynical about love you can understand them.
I think to be cynical about at least what some people call love. And someone said today I love you means I love me and I want to use you. So love for them is it's just a another business deal. It's a way about me getting what I want out of you.
In psychology they describe the kind of personality that is consumed by this kind of Love is the narcissistic personality named after the Greek mythological character narcissus. Who was such a handsome man that one day he saw his reflection in the water and he fell in love with himself.
So he was so captivated by himself. He couldn't tear himself away from gazing adoringly at.
Himself.
So the psychologists describe a kind of person who is supremely in love with himself as Narcissistic like narcissus is technically defined as quoting a pervasive pattern of grandiosity need for admiration and a lack of Empathy the narcissist measures.
Everything is good or bad. By its impact on that person on me. Never mind other people. You can tell them all the wrong things someone has done, but the narcissist will reply. Well, he never did me wrong.
Hitler killed all those people. Well Hitler didn't hurt me. Some studies have supposedly shown that there are more and more of such people especially in the younger generation and that they are coming about because.
Love.
Is so popular. At least what people think of as love. It's not that we love our children more or better now. It's really that we don't love them. Differently than previous generations didn't love them you know in a previous generation a parent who didn't love his children might abuse them or ignore them that if they asked for a Toy or a game or to watch Spongebob Squarepants, they would just tell them, you know, shut up and do your chores.
Now the fashionable way to not love our children is to indulge them. You get them to shut up. By giving them everything they want and better yet give them a credit card. So they don't even have to ask you for the money.
They can just buy it themselves. They can watch anything they want on their TV that's in their room. So you don't have to sacrifice your precious TV time by having Spongebob Squarepants on. They don't love them enough to say no or to Endure disciplining them when they won't listen.
So they give their children whatever they want. They shield them from anything that is unpleasant all discipline and all criticism. Not only from themselves because they won't just discipline or criticize their kids.
But from everyone else correcting their little darling like the teachers the principals the coaches. They tell them everything they do is great that they deserve every good thing. They get they enable Narcissism because they think that that enabling is love the result over long enough a time is producing.
Little narcissist who grew up to be big narcissist someone who supremely loves him or herself. Do such people then they turn out to be more loving and generous? Do they tend to treat others with the same indulgence with which they've been treated?
No, in fact, remember the definition part of it. They lack empathy. They tend to be very selfish to expect others to give them whatever they want. To be ungrateful when they get whatever they want because they think they just deserve it.
They take people and their love for granted you have they often have a difficult time maintaining Long-term relationships because they just use people and when they're done using them they throw them away.
They may appear very friendly to someone who initially treats them with respect and kindness. But as soon as they begin to realize that they are expected to love to. There was love other for the other person that they will turn out to be thoroughly uncaring again lacking empathy.
Oh, they are all for love. At least they say they are. They love love and they may be some of the most vocal people calling out for more love. We need more love. Because they think love is all for them.
It's all for you. You want more of it, right? They assume that love makes me feel good. Love indulges me. They have no concept of a loving father like God. Disciplining every child he receives they hate discipline when it applied to them.
Especially because discipline doesn't feel good. They demand to be loved love me. By which they mean indulged. They will tell people to stop anything unpleasant in the name of love and love for such people comes in a convenient excuse.
Love is so popular. It is even called upon to cover up the most unloving things. We find the same in churches today every church that wants to be known as every church wants to be known as a loving family.
I think y 'all want to put themselves out as that some will tell you that they will. Particularly here is a great southern phrase. We'll love you to death. They're only telling a half-truth. They may they may get you to death but the love part and maybe not.
What they mean, of course is that they are welcoming that they're nice. At least they say they are at least superficially they smile and they're glad to see you. They want to make you feel good so that you'll come back to great visitors for time visitors.
Hope you feel liked and not that we're nice people. So you'll come back now. Is that love? Are they just desperate for another donor? Oh. By the way, a very warm. Welcome to our visitors and all of you.
Love is so popular today, but it's popular for the wrong reason. Love is popular because so many people assume love is about me. If we're all loving it's all gonna be good for me. They might very well be all for love.
They're loudly for love. They just don't know who to love. Who do you love. This chapter divides easily into three parts in verses. In verses 1 to 3 we see that love is an active ingredient. In verses 4 to 7 love is committed and 3rd and verses 8 to 13 love is lasting.
Love active ingredient committed. It's lasting. The Corinthians were impressed by people who could demonstrate or claim to demonstrate spectacular spiritual gifts if someone could speak in tongues or for till the future or have Enough faith to move mountains into the sea if someone was a miracle worker.
Well, that's impressive. That's something what worth watching on TV. Maybe even sending a donation for or going to some Coliseum to see the so-called Apostle or a prophet or healer do his thing. That's what traveling for.
They might not be interested in going to church doing the hard work of learning God's Word or even the harder work of Helping others learn the word. That's not so interesting. Oh, but seeing the spectacular, you know people falling all over at the shouts of be healed.
I Can do that pretty well, can I yeah, I'm from a man in a very expensive suit. I don't have a very expensive suit, but now that's something that's impressive. Paul says that you can have that you can even have a for real.
Really working miracles people are really healed and yet if it's lacking that one active ingredient.
Then it's worthless. To us it may be spectacular. It may be impressive but to God it is. He says nothing. Absolutely, nothing. Like a medicine that's really a placebo. Just a sugar bill hasn't has no active ingredient.
None of the real medicine that you need to actually make you better. Without love. All these gifts that he's writing about from chapters 12 to 14 without love. They're just they're just placebos. They're ineffective.
They don't do anything.
Perhaps we Baptists most elevate the gift of preaching right? That's the one you really want right? Is it the same as the gift of prophecy here? We'll see more next week. But perhaps sometimes and some of us will travel to hear our favorite preacher are we going because we want to be fed the Word of God because we love God or because we just.
We just love that form of entertainment. Preaching just happens to be some people watch the NFL some people like preaching. That's just their entertainment. If our listening to sermons is not mixed with an active ingredient of love that we wasted our time it's nothing and Me if I deliver what everyone says it is a great sermon.
If I if I love the praise and flattery I get. If it's all about me showing off rhetorical skills and pressing you with my ability to preach or my advanced education. You know, this is the heiress passive here.
You know that kind of thing but through it. I never love you our God. It's nothing and I'm nothing. Love is the active ingredient that makes everything and anything we do worthwhile. Someone can be gifted with prophetic powers.
Able to understand and explain the deep things of God knowledgeable about great things. Can parse the Greek verbs has revelations of mysterious things full of confidence carries himself. Like a great leader and so others just naturally follow him or her but if they lack the active ingredient of love.
It's all for nothing. Paul here says that even the most powerful talking. Even speaking in tongues if it lacks the active ingredient of love, it's just it's just empty noise. They're their native Greek cults the worship of Dionysius and Sibyl a use noisy gongs and clanging cymbals.
Some some religions still do that today from their temples that would arise this this noise that they called worship. You can see that in Corinth these pagan temples this gongs and symbols clashing. Coming out of them and so to the Corinthians were bringing their tongues their prophetic, you know utterances.
They're they're they're speech-making with power and eloquence and they were bringing all that together. But without love and they were calling that Worship and the result. Paul says.
It's just the same. That gongs and stuff just a racket.
Love is the commitment to do good to others. So then if we really want to be impressive immortal. It should we do great works of charity. That's got to be love right? Well, if we sell our little things and give away all our money to the poor wouldn't that be true spirituality something worth admiring?
You know, but people are funny. People have a way they can corrupt anything. People can still give. They can even give a lot.
But only do.
Do it for something that's for them. Maybe just the sense that they must be really nice people. After all only only really nice people give away so much. They might give for the tax deduction. They might give because they've been told you got to pay the certain amount to be acceptable for God.
They might give for the brick has their name carved on it or for the pew or the piano or the stained glass window with Their with their name on a little plaque with their name. So everyone will know they gave so much.
Or if they're really rich They can have a college building with their name on it. They might give out a lot of money. But it's always with the intention of getting something else they want. Recognition their picture in the paper.
You've seen the picture giving out one of those huge checks. It takes two to hold them. They they want to be the guy in the paper holding one of those. Some might think well the way to solve that problem is by giving anonymously so you don't get any credit from it all but but they know they gave and Maybe they're so narcissistic That the only credit they really care about.
Is from themselves.
So they give for the feeling that they get that they must be really great people. Even if no one else knows that they know it. And that's all they're thinking about. Ever gotten a gift. For Christmas or your birthday or whatever, you know that you realize that it showed that the giver didn't really think about.
You.
About what you needed or wanted or liked. You got a tie. But you don't wear ties. You get a sweater and a color that everyone knows you hate or you're a Tar Heels fan. We got a Duke sweatshirt or vice versa.
Or you're a state fan and got either of those and the giver should have known that. You've got the gift and you kind of feel like you're supposed to be grateful for it. But but you can't because you know.
That that shows.
The giver didn't really think about you if he had taken Just five seconds actually consider you that he or she would not have known better than to give that. You know, why are they giving? Not really because I love you.
Is it so why are they giving? It's because they love themselves. Maybe to buy recognition. At least in their own eyes. They have a sense of moral worth. They're worthy people after all they bought a gift.
That shows they're worth something. So they have can have a feeling like he or she is a really is a good neighbor a good relative. The kind not the kind that doesn't give anything for your birthday. A good citizen a good church member.
Proof least to themselves. That they are loving. Some believe that that is worth paying for. But what are those who pay the ultimate price. No surely they aren't just thinking of themselves. Are they.
Are they willing if they're willing to die perhaps as a martyr? Willing to be burnt to death instead of denying Christ. Isn't that proof that they're noble that they're great. But the Japanese in World War two would rarely surrender fighting to the death.
Well, even well after they had been clearly defeated in battle the Americans would sometimes have to burn them out of their holes. With flamethrowers because they would not give up. They gave their bodies to be burned.
But they had not loved.
That active ingredient.
Perhaps they just wanted to prove to the world or themselves or their family of their courage their nobility.
Their honor.
Just like the givers who give for the name on a building. They wanted a name they wanted fame and they thought it was worth paying for even if they had to pay for it with their lives. People can love themselves.
To the point of destroying themselves. Who do you love? Love of self so natural to us as sinners. So people who are so compulsive and Overwhelming that we are willing to kill ourselves. In our quest to love ourselves is the opposite of the love described here.
This is not the narcissistic love so common in our society. Each of the ways love is described in verses four to six is a way of describing the commitment of love. But committed to who? The narcissist is committed to himself.
Love is.
Committed to others.
Here.
Chapter 13 in this context, especially to other Christians.
To church members.
To other members of the body. Here's the part of 1st Corinthians 13 that's middle section that is often read in. And weddings. I don't think that's. I don't think anything wrong with that. But that's not really his intention.
Is it it is. I think many people like it is though. This was just about marital love. We think that in this culture because that that's the love. That returns me the most reward. It's so easily made About me that appeals to narcissistic people who think love is about being able to use other people.
But that's not what this passage is about. It's about people in the church who were forgetting to remember from chapter 11. Discern the body. Think about the other members. They were forgetting to think about the other people for whom Christ died.
It's about Christians who think the Christian life is it's just them. And Jesus walking on the beach. There's only two sets of footprints on the sand after all. It's there's no one that you're committed to walk together in Christian love.
It's about the church. Notice love is is patient. It's committed to the other. And so does it. It doesn't throw up its hands and give up when it finds that the relationship after it isn't all about me.
After all, it's patient when it which means it's putting up with things that tempted to be impatient. Like you'll never know if love is patient and love is tempted by impatience. Loved understands others don't exist for our convenience.
So when they aren't convenient to us. Like maybe they require visiting maybe in a nursing home or Transportation they require help. They require money when they try our patience. We if we're loving. Don't get impatient and give up.
Go away. Love is kind. Because if we're committed to the good of others we was we're committed to their good even if they're not worthy and so we We have that sort of lubricant of kindness. We think about the impact of our actions on others on the who We're supposed to be committed to.
Love is not envy. Because being for others love is not not displeased at their success. That's glad that they've succeeded. Love doesn't boast. Because the loving person is not so impressed with himself.
Love, is it rude? Because others feelings and their needs are.
Considered.
Love doesn't insist on its own way because love gives itself rather than asserting itself. Love isn't irritable or touchy because the person who knows who to love Knows that there's other there's more important things than just my feelings or any perceived slight that you know some Perhaps felt insulters that maybe someone has accidentally or perhaps even on purpose Given us my hurt feelings.
Aren't the biggest deal in the world to the person with love. The loving person doesn't cut off a relationship ship because he or he or she didn't get what she wanted because the other person didn't do What she wanted so love is not resentful.
Isn't not keeping an account a list of offenses harboring a sense of injury brooding over every perceived violation. What we think are our rights. Meditating on what he what he what he did to me. He didn't visit my family in the hospital.
So I'm unfriending him. Love keeps no record of wrongs but narcissists. They keep no record of rights. Of right kind generous things done to them since they take that for granted. They even consider it to be guilty them to be reminded of the good things that were done for them because that reminds them.
That they aren't grateful. Love does not rejoice in the wrong because people who are glad about the wrong are only thinking of the advantage to themselves. You know the lost money they found not the one who lost it.
Love does not take pleasure in hearing how someone else anyone else suffered and injustice. Love rejoices in the truth because the true lover believes that truth is good for him or her and others. Even when it doesn't feel good.
There's a Russian saying The opposite of a friend is not an enemy but a flatterer. Love really does care about the long-term Good of the other person not just being liked by them now. Love bears all things believes all things hopes all things and doers all things.
Love never fails. But all things from who. Who is never failed. Here by the way of all places is the most in my opinion. The most ironclad proof in the New Testament of the importance of a covenanted church membership.
You can't have the kind of love he's describing here without loving specific People okay. It's not just a feeling you have got a vaguely toward everybody. It's particular people a particular local church without being a committed church member if the church is like a restaurant.
Like many people view it think of it today. We're we're just customers coming in and out getting our service. Going where it is good for us. There's no no body to consider. There's no other members that were attached to then if the staff at one place, is it serving us like we want?
Well, we'll just skip off somewhere else. You aren't gonna bear all things. It out back. Are you? No, of course not. You'll go to Red Lobster instead. You're gonna bear anything. You're not gonna hope anything or endure anything.
Certainly not gonna endure anything. You you are not gonna put up with lousy service. Because you're the customer and the customer is King and you don't get if you don't get service that you like. If you're not told how great you are.
What we think of as love you'll go somewhere else. Where you can have it your way. It doesn't matter if you sign your name to a covenant if you repeat it once a month before the Lord's Supper. It doesn't matter what kind of commitment you make if you don't have love.
You will fail to keep it. Perhaps one of the most depressing things I've ever seen out of a so-called Christian is when one what wrote about the church something like I Thought it was all about me. That comes from having no love being taught that you don't have to love at least not the church.
You'd love your wife or your husband not the church. The church is all about you. It's like a it's a service provider, you know, you have Comcast you have dish Network you have your church. That this chapter really is all about romance and as for your commitment to the people for whom Christ died.
Just love yourself. Who do you love? Well, love is very popular today at least in name. But so often it's just a loving feeling. Have you lost that loving feeling. A feeling that makes us feel feel good and when the feeling is gone.
So is the so-called love it's gone gone. And then so are we if we don't have love. The love here is a commitment to do good to others. It doesn't show when most of our English versions, but most of the descriptions of love here are verbs.
Love suffers long it does patience it patience. Love covers it. Believes it hopes it endures all things. Love is not a feeling in ourselves. Love is a verb. It's actions outward toward others. Mary has friends in Singapore when we when she told them that one of our members was sick.
They didn't just say well, I hope she gets better. We'll put her on our prayer list. They figures well, she could use a vacation. Help with medical bills and so forth. One couple use their timeshare ownership to give a week's stay.
At a resort in the mountains others together gave about seven thousand dollars. We we've had members here. Give each other free child care. Do lawn mowing when they're away and they can't mow their own lawn and give them a trampoline for their children a playground.
Even loan the money to make their business possible. Love acts it produces generosity for others other members of the body and Generosity produces community. Generosity is God's way of producing community.
You give a gift or maybe you get a gift. Receive a gift and you realize man.
I'm loved.
These people have loved me and you feel connected. You're part of the you realize you're part of a community a body and so you.
But sadly tragically The narcissist never feels generosity. Everything given to him or her they think is deserved. So they'll take the gifts for granted and they'll keep a careful account of the wrongs committed against them real or imagined and abandon betray and Fail those who love them.
Love never fails. Narcissist always do. Love is all about others. So, who do you love? Well, the Corinthians like many today were impressed by the spectacular. They pursued those things because they would they would serve spectacular.
They thought would serve the one they loved themselves. But they couldn't see that the spectacular gifts were in reality childish things childish ways. It's like a dim candle compared to the brilliant full light of the Sun.
They were a poor reflection compared to the unveiled face-to-face encounter that we will have. They didn't realize that those things that they think were so spectacular. Will one day?
Cease.
That they're temporary. They all come with expiration dates on them. They didn't know that love lasts and the last six verses Paul illustrates that love. Unlike all the the showmanship that so impressed them.
Did it last? Even.
Prophecies speaking in power by the Holy Spirit will pass away as Impressive as that is to many people either though. Either could be the foretelling of the future or the preaching of God's written word.
That will pass away when it's no longer needed. But if love went into it. If love went into setting up the chairs or singing a song or driving the van or the bus or Giving an offering into teaching Jim jr.
Or or letting the guys play basketball and sharing the word with them if that was done in love. Then that love will last speaking in tongues will cease. As much as some people want to push and prod everyone into pursuing that one gift as important as some people think it is it will cease and Be no more.
It will be like training wheels on your bike and for so long. They seemed like they were just part of the bike. They were permanent part, but then we didn't need them anymore and.
We grew up.
Even knowledge will pass away either the intellectual ability to understand great theology to learn the original Greek and often fall into the trap of developing a spirit of contempt. This arrogance a scoffing attitude toward others who don't know as much as you do.
A Loveless knowledge will pass away and so will a gift of knowledge is getting special insight in revelation from the Holy Spirit. That will no longer be necessary. All these gifts that of the spirit that that the Corinthians were were so Obsessed and impressed by which many still pursue today often forsaking the word turning their off their brains so that they can get some new revelation.
All of them.
Are temporary.
Therefore this time in between the first and the second comings of the Lord Jesus between the rule of God introduced on earth when Jesus came when the penalty for our sins was paid for as he is our Passover lamb was sacrificed in our place when he rose from the dead Triumphant over sins between that on the one hand and when he returns To complete the installation of the kingdom of God on the other hand, and that's where we are.
That's where we are now and that's when the gifts are for before the perfect comes. The perfect whom we'll see face to face is Christ. And in this in-between time The power of the Spirit is with us to empower us to to use us to give us the tools to help us to reach others.
But the gifts he gives.
Are all temporary.
Only the love that is shed abroad in our hearts will last when the Lord Jesus returns He is the perfect. The gifts are the partial.
He is the mature.
The gifts are the other childish. To seek the gifts but forget about the love is to seek his hand and to forget about his face. All these things that people today spend so much time obsessing arguing dividing about chasing after maybe boasting of maybe sometimes showing off.
All of them will in the end be thrown away. Like your childhood teddy bear. Yes, they are can be useful. For now we need to pray for the power of the gifts of the Spirit. But remember when he pours them out on us that they're only for this time that they will expire.
One day they give us only a glimpse a.
Blurry image.
Like looking into polished metal that passed for a mirror in Paul's day. You can see the bare outline. You know in polished metal general appearance of yourself. But the details.
Would be obscure.
So is so is our view of God today. Even the best prophecies the most eloquent preaching the most awe-inspiring displays of supernatural power can only offer a blurry glimpse, but when he comes the perfect Then we will fully know him Just as we are fully known.
So when that day comes When we see him Our gifts and our works what we gave and acquired will not matter. But only the faith that believed in him Before we saw him the hope that trusted in his promises and the love.
It wasn't all about ourselves.
So.
Who do you love. You're supposed to love the same people that Jesus loved on the cross. Who did Jesus love. Jesus was not dying for himself. Was it just trying to make a name for himself? He was showing his love for the utterly unlovable for others.
For the church most of all for the father and the father to love the unlovable by sending the most loved For us. And it wasn't just a demonstration as you show God just proving something, you know, see this is how much I love.
No, it was what we needed. We were cut off from God then God acted. Love is a verb is committed it acts and so God acted for us. Sending Jesus for us for us people for us people who are so unlovable. So self-loving that God loved us by sending his son to do for us.
What only he could do. Live the perfect God loving life that we wouldn't so that life that he lived could be credited.
To us and.
He could take the just punishment for our self-centeredness for our.
Self-love.
Amazing love. How can it be that you by God would die for me?
Let that love Transform, you know.