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1A) Introduction
1B) Last time we spoke about chapter 12 in which Paul addresses the
subject of Spiritual gifts. We said that in that chapter Paul gives us four
principles governing the use of spiritual gifts
1C) All true Use of Spiritual Gifts results in the glorification
of Christ
2C) The Triune God is Sovereign over the gift
3C) The Holy Spirit sovereignly gives the Gift for the benefit of
the entire Church
4C) The Result of the Gifting of the church is Diversity in Unity
2B) In chapter 13 Paul gives the most important concept in the entire
subject of the use of spiritual gifts, that of motive.
1C) Whatever we do in the service of the Lord God it must be done
out of a heart of love; first to the Lord then to the person to whom we are
ministering.
1D) First we need to define what we mean by love. What we do
not mean is that aspect of love that is a soft, warm and fuzzy sentimentality.
2D) The Greek word is agape, which focuses on the will and
actions rather than the feelings.
3D) In practice, whatever we do, our desire must be for the
other person’s eternal best interest, no matter how they respond.
2C) As we approach this text we see that the Corinthian believers,
consistent with the rest of their activity are seeking to gain position and
prestige in the eyes of their fellow believers by displaying the greater
gifts. (We will get more into that as we deal with the text.
1D) But take this as the first lesson of the passage. We, as
sinful humans are a mess of mixed motives. How often do we do that right thing
but do it with a desire for the praise and pats on the back from others, or
show everyone how smart we are, or maybe even to gain the eternal rewards.
Take from Paul’s words that any motive for our ministry
other than love for the Lord and love for His people detracts from the
ministry.
2A) The Imperative of love (12:31-13:3)
1B) “But earnestly desire
the greater gifts. And I show you a still more excellent way.”
1C) There are two ways to translate this first sentence, either as
a command, like most major translations do, or as a statement, “You are
desiring the best gifts.” I believe this leads to a better understanding of
the passage.
1D) As we saw in Chapter 12 the Holy Spirit is sovereignly
in control of the giving of gifts. To my way of thinking, I can’t believe that
the Holy Spirit would command us to desire something that we have no ability
to obtain. The giving of gifts is settled and orchestrated by God, what does
my desire have to do with anything?
2D) On top of that the tenor of the passage,
yea the entire book, is that of Paul correcting the erroneous doctrines and
activities of the Corinthian believers. As we noted above these people were
seeing to exalt themselves to obtain a greater position in the eyes of men.
Paul states clearly that such activity is not compatible with true Spiritual
ministry. After all, “God resisteth the proud,
but giveth grace to the humble.”
2C) Some might wonder what would be greater than having power and
authority in leadership or teaching?
2B) “If I speak with the
tongues of men and of angels… I have become a noisy gong or a clanging
cymbal.”
1C) What Paul does in this part of the chapter is take five very
prominent, attention-getting gifts and postulate their use to the utmost
degree then state that such use is useless.
2C) The first gift he mentions is the most attention-getting, and
the focus of the following chapter, that of tongues.
1D) Even if you could speak every human language (or even
angelic) would be quite a feat. Just think of the ability to preach the gospel
and teach the word of God in every country in the world.
2D) But I do it out of selfishness it is just a noise.
3D) By the way, what language do angels speak? Whatever
language the humans they are speaking to can understand. He is not suggesting
an angelic exists.
3B) “If I have the gift of
prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge…I am nothing”
1C) Here he groups gifts that seem to work together; prophesy (the
ability to foretell the truth as well as forth tell the Word) knowledge (the
ability to know the Word and the mind and will of God) and faith (to apply and
act upon what you prophesied)
2C) To be such a communicator of God’s Word and will would tend to
make you great in the church. How many great speakers have you heard and love
to listen to! They speak for an hour and you ask is he done already? Others
speak for 20 minutes and you suffer with every word, Is he not done yet?
Yet Paul states that when such is done with no desire to be a benefit to the
hearer, the speaker is nothing.
4B) “And if I give all my
possessions to feed the poor … it profits me nothing.”
1C) Here is the gift of giving. Ananias & Sapphira had this didn’t
they? NOT! The Lord Jesus had a few things to say about people who use giving
to gain attention.
2C) Suppose that you were as rich as Bill Gates and gave it all
away to those who needed it.
3C) If you did it to get an “attaboy” you may as well have taken
your money, cashed it and lit it on fire. At least then it would keep you warm
for a while.
3A) The Characteristics Of Love
1B) “Love is patient, love
is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant,
1C) As we minister to one another (after all that is the purpose
for this series) it is good that we take the time to examine our motives and
see if these characteristics are in some measure in us as we minister.
1D) Patient – Prolonged restraint of anger The idea is when
you are in a situation where an angry reaction is justified, but you restrain
it… for a long time.
2D) Kind – While the above can sometimes be rather passive,
enduring trials, this word is active; it actively seeks to be a benefit to the
other person.
3D) Not Jealous – It doesn’t bother us when someone has this
world’s wealth in abundance (Or at least when we think they do) In fact we are
happy for them.
4D) Does not brag – We do not say things or do things to
promote ourselves
5D) Not arrogant – This is similar to the previous attitude
but deals more with how we view ourselves. I like what Spurgeon writes about
this; Are you more highly gifted than someone else? Remember that all you have
you received from God, making you a debtor to Him. You ought not to be proud
of that which makes you a debtor.
6D) Does not act unbecomingly – No matter what the situation
love will lead us to act in a way that is above reproach. No one will ever say
to us, “What were you thinking?” “How could you?”
7D) Seeks not its own – We are not absorbed by our own
schedules or agenda or plan, but consider the needs and desires of others.
[Philippians 2:3&4]
8D) Not easily provoked – Whenever personally attacked, we
do not easily respond in kind.
9D) Thinketh no evil – I used the KJV to more accurately
describe this phrase. Two ways to look at this.
1E) Does not indulge in evil thoughts concerning
others but quickly and easily forgets an injury done to him. In other words
love does not dwell on things people do or say to us.
2E) Nor are we suspicious of others, imputing the
worst possible motives to whatever they do. We give someone the benefit of the
doubt.
10D) Does not rejoice in unrighteousness – Whenever we see
something wrong it gives us no pleasure, even if it may be deserved by that
person.
11D) Bears…believes …hopes … endures all things – We
willingly bear one another’s burdens, believe everything that is true
(Scriptures), place our hope in all that God has planned for us, and endure
every hardship and discomfort while we are moving towards our hope.
2C) It is also scary to look at the reverse of all these
characteristics and compare ourselves to the image that develops.
1D) Think of an impatient, unkind, jealous braggart who is
constantly promoting himself and doing anything to gain attention. This person
couldn’t care less about other people’s feelings or circumstances, but if
anything is said to them they fly off the handle and get into your face. They
hold grudges and impute the worst possible motive for any action of someone
else. They get pleasure when other people sin or fail. They are totally
self-absorbed, cynical, unbelieving and antagonistic to the Word, their only
hope is to live in luxury and die in excess.
2D) To the extent we see that person in us we fail to love.
4A) The Permanence Of Love
1B) “Love never fails; … it
will be done away.”
1C) In this final section Paul contrasts the endurance of love
with spiritual gifts. The way Paul does this is list three particularly
attention getting gifts (prophesy, tongues and knowledge) and shows that they
will some day cease whereas love will continue eternally.
1D) In doing that he points out a truth that is vital in our
day and age; that the gift of tongues at some point future to Paul will cease
to operate.
2D) What I want to do is point out a very common oversight
which leads to a misunderstanding this text.
2C) First, lets look at Paul’s primary topic. In v 8 Paul
contrasts love (which is the only human trait that will last and be used into
eternity) with these three spiritual gifts.
1D) Paul’s point is if these some day cease to operate, then
Love which lasts eternally is far more important to cultivate in our lives
than any spiritual gift. Never forget that this is Paul’s main point.
2D) However the fact that he goes on to discuss the
conditions which bring about the cessation of knowledge & prophesy leads us to
examine this section more carefully. This is especially true in light of the
controversy in our day and age with the various Pentecostal movements.
2B) “…prophecy, they will be
done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is…”
1C) Notice the three gifts, are each tied to a verb saying that
the gift will cease.
1D) Most people tie all three gifts together at this point,
but this is incorrect.
2D) Knowledge & prophesy share the same verb and
construction; future, indicative, passive. Which means that at some point in
the future something will act upon these gifts and cause them to cease
functioning.
3B) Tongues, on the other hand, uses a different verb in a
different construction; future, indicative, middle voice. English has no
middle voice …. The result is that, far from being tied together with
knowledge and prophesy, Paul separates tongues. The meaning is that at some
point future to Paul, tongues would cease in and of themselves. We will see
when in chapter 14.
3B) “For we know in part and
we prophesy in part; but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done
away.”
1C) Notice in this verse Paul does not even mention tongues, the
“perfect” does not affect tongues.
2C) Right now even the best of us know God’s truth & will only
partially and usually rather flawed and imbalanced way.
3C) When the perfect comes we will perfectly know God’s truth &
will and will no longer have any need to preach & teach it to other Christians
for they will know it too.
4B) “But now faith, hope,
love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.”
1C) What need we of faith when we see Him face to face? Like
knowledge & prophesy it too will no longer need to operate.
2C) When all our hopes are fully
realized and we experience the truth that the half had not been told us, all
our hopes will melt into utter satisfaction. [Psalm 17:15 “As for me, I
will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake,
with thy likeness.”]
3C) However our love for God and for one another will continue to
operate throughout eternity.
Lessons for our lives
1)
As we minister to one another and serve one another it is imperative that we
examine our motives. Pride, selfish ambition, desire for praise or position
must be utterly purged from our thoughts. We can do all the right things for
all the wrong motives and be all wrong. We can desire to do what is contrary
to God’s will for the right motives and be blessed.
2)
There is not one of us who can look at the characteristics of love and say
they describe us perfectly. In fact if we were brutally honest we would have
to say that the reverse description more accurately portrays us than the
first. While we examine our motives, let’s also examine our attitudes as well.
When we see ourselves described in the negative, confess it as sin and failure
to emulate the character of Christ, seek God’s forgiveness claiming 1 John 1:9
forsake it, seeking God’s cleansing and go on to do better in His strength.
3)
Know that the best thing we can do to prepare ourselves for eternity is to
love one another. DO not heed the lie that says you can’t love others unless
you first love yourself. That is humanism! The Lord Jesus gave us a new
commandment, to love one another as He loved us – self-sacrificing love. The
old commandment said to love others the way we already love ourselves. Now we
are free from having to consider our self, for Christ has taken care of all
our real (eternal) needs. We are freed to love others with no consideration of
self, just like Jesus did.
4)
This however is only true if you are truly saved, if you have truly come to
saving faith; seen yourself as a sinner rightly condemned to an eternal hell
by a Holy God Whom you have offended. But this holy, awesome Judge also loves
you enough to send His Son to bear in His body the penalty for your sin and
mine.
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