To pray for a safe return for them.
Our pastor is is a guy for any men and I and I and I know time
I spent with him. I, I, I know that you know, he's
a spirit fulfilled man and I I really love the direction he's
taking our church and I just just pray for him.
He needs our prayer every day, not just for this member every
day. We should be praying for our
pastor. All right, so at this time I'd
like to it's not a message per SE, but it's more like a study.
When pastor asked me to, to, to speak The Tonight, I did not
know what I was going to do, please to speak on.
But I look at my notes from way under and I and I came across a
study that I have that I have studied myself and I was like,
ah, there it goes. So the Lord was preparing me for
something. I just didn't know it.
So open your Bible, please to 1st Corinthians chapter 12.
But tonight's lesson is not going to focus on 1st
Corinthians chapter. Chapter 12 is mainly going,
we're going to be focused on chapter 13, which is the love
chapter of first of the Bible. So First Corinthians chapter 12
first and then we will spend the West element of our time and 1st
Corinthians chapter 13. So in first chapter 12, God has
imparted gifts to the believers and some were given the gifts of
tongues. Some were given the gifts of
healing, gifts of preaching, gifts of prophecy is said and
even even says that some were given the gifts of, of, of
ministering of the governments and so forth.
And that but there was a problem here.
There was a there was a confusion among the believers in
Corinth because they they thought that OK, we, they can
uphold the gift of tongues higher out of hell at a much
higher level than every, every everyone else.
So if you were to speak the gift of tongue, you were given a
priority over the West. But when Apostle Paul heard of
this news, so he this is when he pinned down chapter 13, we say
which which tell him, listen, I've heard of what you're doing
and it is not a good way that you're going with this, You're
going about this, but I'm here to teach you a new way.
So in chapter 13, the apostle Paul is going to teach the, the
church at Corinth, the members there, a new way of utilizing
the gifts that God have implied to them.
Let us pray and then we'll continue on with the with the
study. Father, we thank you and praise
the Lord for always for your word.
Thank you for being always active in our lives, working and
changing us and edifying us, Lord, and making us more and
more like yourself every day. Lord, apart from your word,
Lord, we can't do nothing. And it is and we, it is a
blessing to have your word, to be able to study it.
And Lord, it is in your word that we find out what you have
for us, the way you want us to live our lives, the way you want
us to, to worship and to praise and to minister to one another
and to love one another. And, and therefore what I want
to thank you so much again for your word.
And I put all that as I we do the study this morning, this
evening, Lord, that you would please speak to our hearts and
Lord, speak through me. Lord, I cannot do anything
without you. And it is you that I depend on.
It is you that that cannot impart wisdom to me, Lord, so
that I can speak what you would want me to say.
And I pray, Father, you'll please be with us in this study
in just name, Amen. OK, so open up your Bible to
chapter 13 if you're not already there.
So Paul started this pen out pen in the letter in chapter 13 he
says do I speak with the tongues of men and of angels and have
not charity? I am I am become a sounding
brass or a triggering symbol, a sounding brass or a tingling
symbol. So you know we may have the gift
of speaking. You know, some you ever heard of
some people who can speak? I mean, they can speak and they
can draw the crowd, right? They can draw attention of
people and say hey, and, and people get, you know, they can
get your attention to be agree with them about just about
whatever they're talking about, because they have a a great way
of speaking. They speak with etiquette or
eloquence of speech, being able to capture people's attention
during any conversation during my during during their audience
and and to believing and agreeing with with their point
of view. However, in our text, Paul is
saying, though we may have such great abilities, if there's no
law behind behind the law, it will become a sounding brass, a
bunch of unnecessary noise. So there's a prerequisite and to
having those gifts that got impart to us.
So our Speaking of speech could be very captivating.
It could be but it's full but if it's full of hate or self
centeredness, selfish self focus or dishonouring to God, it means
nothing. Our speech should be that which
elevates one another and also pleading to God.
And Hebrews chapter chapter 10 verse 24 the word of God says if
you can turn here if you want. And Hebrews chapter 10 verse 24
verse 24 the word of God says and let us consider one another
to provoke unto love and good works.
So we must be intentionally in our relationship with one
another. We have to study others to
understand how to best motivate them towards love and good
deeds. 2nd, we must model the behavior, meaning actively
practice love and kindness and service as you as be an example
to influence others. Thirdly, we have to engage in
consistent fellowship, that is to avoiding isolating ourselves
instead, but meet, but meet regularly with one another to
create opportunities for encouragement.
Fourthly, we have to serve tangibly, demonstrate love with
action firstly, practice mutual accountability, and then finally
be patient and forgiving. Look down at verse 2.
Verse 2 says, And though I have the gift of prophecy and
understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all
faith so that I could move mountain and have not charity, I
have nothing. Paul is demonstrating just how
worthless the spiritual gifts can be if I tempt without love
for the believers. So the Corinthians values these
gifts highly, apparently elevating those among them with
the gift of tongues and prophecy as the most spiritual.
Paul has declared that this is not.
This is not true. All the gifts are needed in the
church, and although the gifts are needed in the church, the
gifts can also become meaningless or ineffective when
practicing without love. Moreover, the loveless person
displaying the gifts is nothing and therefore accomplishing
nothing with, with the body within the body of Christ.
So the gift is being wasted on that individual and, and at that
moment and it, you know, and if we look at the previous chapter
like like I just, I just note, I just mentioned chapter 12.
They were taking those they were utilizing those gifts and
thinking that certain members, those especially, particularly
those who speak in the tongues, were elevated more highly than
everyone else. And, and, and Paul had to, you
know, teach them and say, listen, it is not so because all
the gifts are important. All the gifts are important
whether what whether we we we we we be teachers or or or whether
we be you know, preachers or or or missionaries or whatever we
that the gift that God gave us or singing or playing music or
instruments whatever God gave us.
All these gifts are important because these gifts are to be
used to edify the Saints. So moreover, the loveless person
display the gifts is nothing. It is nothing and 1st
Corinthians chapter 12 verse 2829.
It is say that God has said some in the church.
First the apostles, this secondarily prophets 30 teachers
after that miracles, then gifts of healing helps government,
diversity of tongues. These are the gifts that God has
given and these gifts have to be used to glorify God.
These gifts have to be used to minister to one another.
And verse 20 and, and, and verse 29 of the chapter, it says
Apostle Paul asked the question, are all apostles, Are all
prophets, Are all teachers? Are all workers of medicals?
No, the obvious answer is no, not, not.
No one person have more than one gift.
No one person have more than one ability to minister to each
other. And God gave us all specific
gifts and we are to use those gifts for the, for his growing.
You have to use those gifts to to to edify one another.
Look at look at look at verse 3 and verse 3.
It says, and though I bestow all good, all my goods to feed the
poor, and though I give my body to be burned and have not
charity, it profited me nothing. So I can perform that, that
would, that would look good in the public eye, you know, and I
can do and, and, and, and, and do the, the most exciting or the
most, the most powerful act in public eye.
And people would look at me and say, wow, look at what this man
is doing. Or look, wow, look at what this
sister or brother is doing. OK.
But it says that, you know, if these things are being done and
there's no love behind it, it is meaningless.
So, so, So what is this love that Paul is talking about here?
What is this charity? OK, so the love Paul is
referring to here is the agape love.
This love is a love that is without condition.
It's a love that is without restraint.
It's a love that that is the love of God, It's Christ
himself. We cannot do anything profitable
without Christ. So if you were here, you don't
know Jesus Christ. You cannot do anything or
achieve anything in the body of Christ without having him in
your heart, because Jesus Christ is the progress of everything
that we do here. He is the one that gives us the
power and the ability to minister to one another and
songs and scripture and preaching and prophesying and
whatever it is that we that, that, that, that the gift that
God gave us. He gave us those gifts, but it's
not the person that's given a gift that is important.
But what's important is there is who gives those gifts and, and
who the gifts are used for. So we need to understand that
Christ here is what is needed for these gifts to be effective
among us. If we're not doing, if we're
doing it for us, if we're doing all for ourselves, then we're
going about it the wrong way. We need to make sure that Christ
is being magnified. Christ is being glorified.
Christ is being, is, is the one being getting all the out and
glowing for all the gifts for all the things that we do here.
So the agape love, it's, it's, you know, emitting the type of
it's a type of love that puts others first.
A guardian is a godly love. It's a loving, it's a love
without partiality. And and it's a love that is that
in this loving in spite of is loving someone in spite of
beside performing the most powerful and impressive and
spiritual gift. Paul goes beyond and and beyond
that and about to about the self sacrifice a question may perform
so we can perform self sacrificing works.
We can be busy about doing so many things, but being busy
about being busy doing so many things.
It's it's no avail if we're doing it for the wrong purpose
if we're not doing it for the right purpose and and March up
to 10 verse 17. If you don't mind, if you mind,
you can turn there. Mark 10/17.
Jesus here was telling a story about a witch and ruler.
So. And when he was gone forth and
to the and the way there came one wanting and kneeling to him
and ask him, good Master, what should I do that I may inherit
eternal life. So this young man, he must have
thought, you know, eternal life was something he could buy.
You know, I'm after what? He was rich, right?
So. So.
Hey. Yeah.
Jesus, what is it? You name it.
Whatever I am, I am capable of paying whatever it is for me to
inherit eternal life. So he, he wanted the gift of
salvation, but he wanted it his way.
Salvation is a gift. It's not something you can buy.
And here we see this young man offering a service, another for
him to get to eternal life. So, so he thought to himself,
just name it Jesus, whatever the cost, what shall I do?
What good thing should I do? You see, it's not about doing
good things. It's not, you know, I mean, we
have to do good deeds, but our good deeds cannot be for the
purpose of getting something for ourselves.
It cannot be for the purpose of of of, you know, profiting, but
it has to be because of who we're doing it for because of
Christ, you know, and and so and so Jesus said unto him, why call
does that mean good? There is none good but one, and
that is God that knows the commandments do not commit
adultery. Do not kill, do not steal, do
not bear false witness for before not I know thy father and
mother and the MSA. I've done all this, all my
trauma. I've done all of this.
But but you just looked at me and said, hey, one thing that
you lack, go ahead sell everything that you have give to
the poor, come follow me, follow me, pick up, pick up your cross
and follow me. So at that the Bible said the
young man turn around and sadly and walk away.
So you know, to take out the cross means self denial, self
denial, and so must each and everyone of us here do or able
to do if we're going to follow Christ and if we're going to
utilize the gifts that God gave us to minister to each other and
also to glorify God with it. We must there has there must be
a self denial on our part. Just saying give allegiance to
me this on the flesh and let me claim authority over your life.
So let's understand that a call to bear one's cross as part of
the following, as part of following Jesus is a call to be
submitted to Christ as the condemned criminal was to his
death. That's basically what it is.
It's a great commitment. I mean, you cannot, you can, I
mean make it just just Christ, make it make it clear.
You know, it's you know, if we if we cannot deny ourselves,
pick up our cross, we cannot follow him.
But he said we have to deny, we have to deny ourselves, pick our
cross and then we can follow. So it's all going one after
another. We can't do one or not the
other. We can't do it the whole thing.
So in service and and utilize that utilizing the gift that God
gave us. We have to be ready to deny
ourselves to put others before ourselves because that's the
only way we can be able to we be able to utilize the gift that
God gave us. Verse 4, Verse 4 says charity
suffered long as and it's kind charity envieth not charity
vaunted, not itself and it's not puffed up.
So the love of God is patience and bearing the offenses and
injuries of others. It is mild and slow and
avenging, slow and avenging, operating in the love of God as
powerful and effective tools and how we view all those or
ourselves. So our part in the law of
powering up, putting in a love of God is the is what's going to
give us the effectiveness that we need to to view all those as
ourselves, because we cannot view all those as ourselves
apart from the love of God. We have to have the love of God.
The love of God is greater far and every time and every and you
know, it doesn't matter. It doesn't, it doesn't matter
where you are in life, what you're doing in life.
It doesn't matter what circumstances that come into
your life. You know when you have, when you
exercise the love of God, you know you can't go wrong because
the love of God is what keeps, that keeps us.
The possible is the love of Christ constrains us.
It is the is it that love that pushes us to do more and more
for God. You know, we, we, we cannot, we
couldn't serve God apart from Christ.
You know, This is why it's important that we, we treasure
our salvation and that we, we, we, we continually just stay
connected to God and just even just says that I said, without
me, you can do nothing. You know, unless we, we stay
connected to him, we cannot do nothing.
We have to stay connected to divine.
So, so we see that charity is not, is not puffed up.
It's not stuff around. It's not, it's not like I'm
better than you or you better than me.
It's not I'm, I'm up there and you're down here.
It's, it's, we are on the same plane serving the Lord.
That's true love. You know, the Greek word
translated envy means to burn with zeal.
And it is literally sense in a literally sense to be heated or
boiled over with envy, hatred or anger.
So in the context of First Corinthians chapter 13, the idea
is that love does not focus on personal desires.
It is not eager to increase possessions.
So God's type of love is is selfless, not selfishness.
In Exodus of the 7th scene, you can turn there as well, please.
Exodus of the 7th scene, God gives God.
God was given give the general as well the commandments there.
And with that commandment, it says, thou shalt not covered thy
neighbor's house, thou shalt not cover thy neighbor's wife, nor
his men servant, nor his maidservants, nor his ass, nor
his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbors.
So we see that God repeat the same thing again.
And Deuteronomy chapter 5, verse 21, he said the same thing
again. And I guess God know us really
well that we people will forget. So he repeats the same thing and
and the line chapter 5 is 21. He says neither shall thou
desire thy neighbor's wife, neither shall thou covered thy
neighbor's house, his shield or his his men servant or his men
servant, his axe or his ass or anything that is thy neighbor's.
And we also we see in Romans chapter 13 verse 10, we also see
that love is for is the fulfilling of the law.
Love fulfills the law. He says love working not I'll to
his neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfilling
of the law. And if love is the fulfillment
of the law, envy is also excluded because when you have
the law of Christ, then you're not going to envy, you're not
going to to cover it. And here God is saying the Lord
is the Lord is saying that we need to, we need to get rid of
envy. We need to replace our the envy
and, and, and, and coverageousness with, with love
because only when we love that we will not cover nor envy.
So. So anyone who truly loves will
be confirmative to God's commandments and envy will be
excluded. When you are conformed to God's
commandment, envy is excluded. There's no room for it.
So in contrast to God's command, the Corinthians believers were
waking some spiritual gifts as more important than others and
envying those that had their opinion.
Sorry, envying those who had in their opinion, the best gift.
So again in chapter 12, Paul points out that the difference
gifts, the different gifts are meant to serve one another and
to build up the church. No one, no one person has all
the gifts, but each child is child of God has a has at least
one one gift and loved and and and love demands this that each
gifts be used to serve others and not self.
So in Proverbs chapter 14, verse 30, verse 30, we also learn that
envy writes the bone. The sound heart is the is is is
the life of the flesh, but envy the whiteness of the bones.
So at any time you crave what someone else has, rather than
being grateful for what God has given you, you are hurting
yourself. So instead of envying others,
others, you are commanded to love them, you are committed to
love them. So because true love, the true
love, you know the love of God will rejoice when others are
blessed. You know when you have truth in
your in your heart, you will rejoice when you see your
brother and sisters being blessed by God.
So there's no room for envy. Love does not seek to benefit
yourself. Love is content with with with
what is what what it has. Because love focuses on meeting
the needs of the loved. 1 So true love always focus on
meeting the needs of the loved ones of them that it does, that
you love, not yourself. Love should not be prideful,
arrogant, healthy, superior, Snooty, snobbish or clarish.
Jesus just told the Jesus just tell us that.
And even when Christ walked the earth, we see that he
demonstrated that really well. He said that son of a man have
nowhere to lay his head, you know, and and yet Jesus was the
most busiest person on earth when he walked the earth because
he he went about, you know, healing, feeding, preaching the
gospel, raising the dead, healing the blind.
He that's that was that was his thing and and just never, never,
never show any sign of selfishness.
And what he was doing because he was doing was he was doing it
because he why because he loved. He is love, He has that I got
the love, a love without restraint, a love without
constraint, a love that is not for this itself.
You know Christ love is the love that we all should have.
It's the love that we all should practice in our lives.
So love that behave itself unseemly seeketh not her own, is
not easily provoked to get no ills.
So meaning love is not acting in unbecoming manner.
The Greek word for unseemly is ashkemonia.
I try, I try to process that, but it's waste.
Open is ashkemonia, which suggests someone who is tackless
or thoughtless or inconsiderate of others.
It can also mean to behave disgracefully or to be a void
avoided of proper department. This speaks of someone's conduct
or manner of presenting themselves.
So in first Corinthian 13, verse 5, Paul describes love as not
behaving unseemly in a, in a, in a, in a number of ways.
So we're going to look at some of these, some of these ways
first. First of all, it says we are not
to OK, not needless exposing all those faults.
We are not too needlessly exposing all those faults.
That's number one. Number two, we are not to listen
eagerly to unfavorable reports and #3 we are is a seeking to
bring to mine all those good qualities.
And then fourthly, not being selfish or changeable, not being
dependent on human place, not work, not working for profits or
rewards, being strong and mighty and his purpose to overcome
evil. So also provides fortune or the
description of love in first Corinthians chapter 5, verse 13,
all of which are action, action verbs that involves choosing to
set oneself aside and serve others.
So, so there's no doubt in, in studying this, this, this, this
passage that, you know, we cannot see like what the true
Christian living is. I mean, it's not about us
really. It was never about us from the
very beginning. And it makes it clear here that,
you know, our lives. God gave us the life that he
gave us to minister. We have to minister to others.
Yes, we have to love God first and foremost.
We have to love God first and foremost.
We also have to love our neighbors.
We have to minister, have the attitude of ministering to each
other. It's not about us.
It's really not about us at all. So the way God God, God's word
contrasts those behaviors with working honestly, it's another
Greek word you came on us makes it clear that they are unseemly.
So rejoicing not in iniquity. That's love.
Love we just not iniquity. Look at verse 6 verse 6 says
love. We just not iniquity, but we
rejoice in truth. The phrase rejoice not just not
comes from the Greek phrase Euchares.
The word, the word oh means no or not.
And the word care is from the word Cairo, which is the Greek
word for joy. So if so, it carries the the
idea of being glad about something.
You see, the attitude of our mind towards sin is a great, I
mean is the is, is a, is a great test of the truth of the
religion, of the religious feeling.
So talk about it, think about it.
True love rejoices, not inequity.
True love takes no pleasure in seeing an adversary fall into an
error of sin by which his reputation should be blasted.
So in this interest and this context, the contrary, the man
influenced by this by this love is, is is truly sorry for either
the sin or value of even an enemy.
So if you truly love like Christ love, you will you will not even
you will not even rejoice over your enemy being punished or
your enemy being being hurt, but you will feel sorry for them.
You will put in a seat for them. This is what this is not what
Christ says. Turn the other cheek.
It says if if someone asks you to to go a mile or two, if
someone asks you to give him your, your, your clothes.
Give me a clue. Also.
It's it's, it's it's the idea that you know, we should not
rejoice over our enemy in such a way that that would that would
create or do what I'm looking for is that will cause that that
person to even question God's justice or God's character.
So when our lives are bound by Christ who is loved, we will
take no pleasure and sin nor repeat them, but desires that
our sins may be forgiven forever.
But rejoice and the truth. So we mourn over the wicked sin
by by seeing it's right, by seeing it rightly before the
holy, before holy God, seeing our sins the way God sees them.
The true grief over our sins comes from contemplate,
contemplation, contemplating our say, our Savior, and not
comparing our character to those around us.
So when we grew over our sins, we are agreeing with God about
our sins and we're not. And because we agree with about
our sin, we about sin, we're contemplating God, the Christ
our Savior. And we're not, we're not busy
comparing ourselves to those around us because This is why
this is where envy and and and and cognition is set take place
is when you are looking around you and you are pointing fingers
or you are paying attention to those around you, either
yourself. See, God says that we all have
sinned and come through the glory of God.
And it is not for us to judge it not for us to point for someone
else. And again, true love will not
point fingers at someone else, but true love would help that
person instead. And also true love will cause to
evaluate our own lives before we even go to someone else.
Understand. Am I making sense?
So so verse 7 says we're almost done.
We not sure we should be done right now so love buried all
things believe all things hope all things and those all things
love and those all things. Christ face hard times OK and
Christians face hard time. Those who choose to love as
Jesus does do not stop loving when life becomes difficult.
Love the love for God and others and those through tough days and
long right unknown nights. However, whereas to to build all
things we are we have to build all things seems to refer to
patience in the face of provocation.
To endure all things takes a longer view and our context.
Then to endure all things means that we are willing to to remain
a difficult situation for the sake of one another rather than
seeking our own ease through an escape.
Notice the next phrase, believing all things.
This means that we must be willing to trust one another.
Perhaps one of us are struggling to believe all things about
others in the church. I would encourage that rather
than assuming failure or bad result in someone's life, get a
dose of agape love. Because agape love that the
brother of God always expected the best in orders and I hope
this was a blessing to you. All right, let's pray.
Father, we thank you and praise you for your word.
We thank you for the truth of it, Lord, and I pray that you
would please use it in our heart and help us go to to that.
It would draw us close to you. We love you in Jesus name, Amen.