The Way To Go

The Way To Go

1 Cor. 12:31b - 13:13

Feb. 11, 1996

Introduction

I.       The Necessity of Love

          Love is the superior and necessary way.

          Without love, gifts are worthless.

          A.      The way of Christianity is found in love.

31*  But eagerly desire the greater gifts.  And now I will show you the most excellent way.

     B.      It is not found in the noise of heightened spirituality.

1*  If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.

     C.      It is not found in power trips of knowledge or faith.

2*  If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.

     D.      It is not found in self-exalting martyrdom.

3*  If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

II.      The Character of Love

          Love is the essential character of the Christian.

          Love is concerned to give itself, not assert itself.

          A.      Love is:

4*  Love is patient, love is kind.

     B.      Love is not:

It does not envy,

it does not boast,

it is not proud.

5*  It is not rude,

it is not self-seeking,

it is not easily angered,

it keeps no record of wrongs.

6*  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.

          C.      Love always:

7*  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

III.    The Permanence of Love

          Love is of an enduring nature.

          Gifts are merely temporal whereas love is eternally pre-eminent.

          A.      Gifts are impermanent.

8*  Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.

          B.      Gifts are incomplete.

9*  For we know in part and we prophesy in part,

          C.      Gifts are imperfect.

10*  but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears.

          D.      Gifts are preliminary.

11*  When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.

          E.      Gifts are representative.

12*  Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

          F.      But love is both now and forever.

13*  And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.