This Is How I...
Among the Ruins • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 2 viewsThe greatest virtue is to love completely.
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But earnestly desire the higher gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way.
Paul ended chapter 12 with a cliff hanger.
We all know that the church at Corinth had a lot of issues.
And here Paul is dealing with another one.
This time, a group in the church grabbed on the the spiritual gift of speaking in tongues.
And that became their thing.
When the church gathered for worship, these folks busted out in tongues.
It was driving everybody crazy.
So Paul is helping them see that they are missing the point of church.
He tells them, with all you ALL are doing, trying to do church right, there is “still [a] more excellent way.”
We know chapter 13 of 1 Corinthians is the love chapter.
There is no greater treatise on love ever written better than what Paul wrote here.
I’ve used it in countless weddings and heard it in scores more.
I’ve preached this passage - just last Christmas as a matter of fact.
In fact, Christians around the world preached this passage at Christmas last year.
But I’ve never heard it preached in the context of the whole Book of 1 Corinthians.
Don’t get me wrong - it is one of those passages that can be preached well all by itself.
But in the context of this letter to this church - it has a different flair.
What Paul wrote easily applies to any interpersonal relationship - from husbands and wives
God, us - to anyone anywhere.
Jesus said, “John 15:17 “These things I command you, so that you will love one another.”
Love one another.
That means love everyone you meet.
That means love your fellow Christians where every you meet them.
Love one another.
But in the context this letter, the love chapter has an additional meaning.
“Seek to do the best you can,” Paul says, “but let me show you a more excellent way to run your church.”
Our text for today is 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 which is the entire chapter.
Look it up and follow along.
I use the English Standard Version.
Most of these words have a great depth of meaning and are open to various nuances in translation.
If you are using the King James, instead of love you’ll read charity.
The reason for that is the translators of the KJV felt like the English word “love” didn’t quite measure up.
It’s too easily colored by sentimentality and romanticism and they know this word is more than that.
And they stood on good precedent when they did it.
In the early church, the Greek language had four words for love.
Three were used all of the time - but one was very rarely used.
That was the word Agape.
So the Christians adopted that word and used it for the way God loves
us and how He wants us to love one another.
He says love is “a still more excellent way” to run the church.
Hear now the word of the Lord from 1 Corinthians 13:1-13
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am 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 up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant
or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;
it does 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 reasoned 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 have been fully known.
So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
This is the word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Let’s dig into this like never before.
1 Corinthians 13:1 “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.”
“If I speak in the tongues of men...”
Do you remember us talking about Pentecost?
Do you remember what happened?
That was the day, 50 days after Jesus’ resurrection, when the Lord Jesus sent the Holy Spirit as He had promised He would.
In a great display of power - there was a sound from heaven like a huge wind
You’ve heard the wind before a thunderstorm in the tree tops - hear that.
Divided tongues that looked like fire danced over their heads.
And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
And in this case, we know that it was other languages because of what the standing around said.
The people standing near them asked, “Acts 2:8
And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language?
That’d be pretty cool, huh?
A couple of 50 of us go to Atlanta, maybe at Five Points and all of a sudden we hear this roar and lights bust out all over our heads
And we bust out preaching in languages we’ve never spoken before.
And people from all over the globe hear us and get saved and start praising God.
And we baptize a couple of thousand people.
If it is the greatest day of your religious life...
“If I speak in the tongues of men...”
That’s what Paul is talking about.
But then he adds -what if they spoke in the tongues of angels?
In the Old Testament, the Jews say the angels have their own language - kind of makes sense, right?
So what if I spoke in the same language as them?
Honest to goodness angel language.
That would give me something to brag about, wouldn’t it?
And there is Paul’s point - “1 Corinthians 13:1 “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.”
I went to a Jazz recital where Anna was in college.
You know - there is some Jazz I like - and then there’s Jazz that just makes you tired.
And this young man was improving his part in a song - and he played the Jazz that is very, very tiring.
He played the same notes over and over and over - the first dozen times it worked
But then you started getting the idea that he didn’t know where to go next.
So it quit being music and it simply became noise.
Paul’s point - you can do the most wonderful things on the planet
You can have the most spiritual experience in the world
But if you do it just so folks can see you and talk about you - it’s just noise
It’s not great - it’s noise.
1 Corinthians 13:2 “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.”
If you look back to chapter 12 verse 28, Paul ranks prophesy as the number two calling in the church.
1 Corinthians 12:28 “And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, ”
Paul was an apostle and that was the biggest deal.
But the second biggest deal is getting to preach Jesus.
“And you could do that - you could understand every secret thing of God - you could know everything about God that is humanly possible to know.
God could give you so much faith that you could speak to a mountain and it would uproot and move.
But if you are doing it so everyone can see you and tell you how great you are
Well - you are nothing - you’re noise again.
You’re the young man improving the same 10 notes over and over and over and over again.
1 Corinthians 13:3 “If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.”
Taking care of the widows, orphans and the poor in the church is a job of the church.
You helped a man and his family with food this week - it’s what we do.
But if you give away everything you have, Paul says.
And back in their day, you could sell yourself into slavery - poor people did that all of the time
And the slave owner would brand - they would place a burned spot on your body to show ownership
You could do this incredible display of self-sacrifice but you do it all for show
You’re the young man improving the same 10 notes over and over and over again.
You are noise - you are nothing - and - and you have nothing.
Sure everyone praises you for your amazing selflessness
But that’s your reward - you’ll receive nothing from God.
8 times in the first three verses, Paul uses the word ‘I’ - and that word is their problem.
If you go back everything we’ve read about this church up to this point, that is there problem:
First, Paul addresses their factions in chapter 1.
You know what factions say about their church?
This is how I believe and that is more important than you.
In Chapter 5 Paul addresses the immorality in the church.
What does that say?
This is how I want to seek pleasure and that is more important than you.
In Chapter 6, Paul addresses lawsuits.
What does that say about them?
This is how I want to solve my problems and that is more important than you.
Chapter 7, Paul addresses marriage.
What does that say about them?
This is how I want marriage to work and that is more important than you.
Chapter 8, Paul talks about how they choose to amuse themselves.
What does that say about them?
This is how I want to play and that is more important than you.
And in chapters 11 and 12, Paul addresses authority and spiritual gifts.
What does that say about them?
This is how I want to worship and that’s more important than you.
This is how I...
If you skip down to verse 11, Paul calls them children.
1 Corinthians 13:11 “When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.”
Children fight for their own way - they don’t think about anybody else - they don’t care.
Mature Christians don’t act that way.
Mature Christians love the Lord enough to love others as they love themselves.
Now what does that look like? Good words, but
What does love look like?
Starting with verse 4, “Love is patient (towards people) and kind (it responds with good even when it is mistreated);
Love does not envy (it isn’t displeased when someone succeeds beside yourself); Love doesn’t boast (it is not a wind-bag)
Love is not arrogant (it will not put you down to build me up).
Love is not rude (it doesn’t act out of character - the King James says unseemly - it understands manners and chivalry).
Love does not insist on its own way (it isn’t selfish);
Love is not irritable or resentful (Karl Barth said that you neighbor can get on my last nerve in the way he uses his spiritual gifts, but I do not have to allow myself to be provoked by it.)
(“They made me mad.” No, you allowed yourself to be mad
Love does not rejoice at wrongdoing (it doesn’t keep a list of things people have done wrong to it.
Love rejoices - Paul moves back to the positive - Love rejoices in the truth.
Love speaks the truth.
Love lives the truth.
And we know that the truth always points to Jesus.
Love bears all things - it never gives up no matter what.
Love believes all things - it gives others the benefit of the doubt you want people to give you.
Love hopes all things - it doesn’t look back at the bad but looks forward to what is coming.
Love endures all things - Love perseveres.
Love “continues in a course of action even in the face of difficulty or with little or no prospect of success.”
And it does that because it has hope that a better day is coming.
Love never ends - when all else in life fails.
When the earth is consumed in flames - love will remain.
Are you looking at verse 8?
“As for prophecies, they will pass away.”
The very thing Paul says to most aspire to, aspire to speak Jesus - it’s the best thing second only to being an apostle.
But one day preaching will pass away?
Is that because the world has gotten so bad it snuffs it out?
No - keep reading.
“As for tongues, they will cease.”
This very thing you Corinthians are all so enamored with - this thing that makes you special and allows you to show off in front of everyone.
One day, that all goes away.
Keep reading.
“As for knowledge, it will pass away.”
All your degrees, the letters behind my name - the letters I said I wanted but never worked for.
The bachelors, the masters, the doctorates, the certificates, the certifications, the awards for being so smart.
One day it’s gone - all gone.
Why?
Why will they be gone?
Verse 9 - For we know in part.
You know I love Alistair Begg and Steve Brown
As smart as they are and as much as they have taught me.
They only know in part.
Every person we look up to as being so smart and holy - it’s only in part.
We prophesy in part.
We talk about Jesus every week.
He was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, was crucified on a cross, buried in a borrowed tomb
He was resurrected on the third day, He ascended into heaven where He sits at the right hand of the Father.
And that gospel - that good news of great joy - isn’t the half of the story - and we don’t know the other half.
Verse 10 - but when the perfect comes
Remember what we read in chapter 11 verse 26 - we read it every time we do communion
1 Corinthians 11:26 “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”
Until who comes?
Until the perfect lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world comes again
When the perfect comes - the partial - this aggravating lack of clarity
the partial preaching, the partial knowledge, the partial language we speak
That all passes away.
Back in the day they didn’t have mirrored glass - that wasn’t invented until 1835.
They had shiny brass plates.
Have you ever seen your reflection in a piece of metal?
It’s a little wavy - distorted - it’s not exactly right.
And brass tarnishes quickly - so if you didn’t polish it regularly
The reflection you see is even more dim, even more distorted.
That’s how we see Jesus.
But one day not - one day - face to face.
Right now I know in part - I don’t know the half of Jesus
But then I’ll know Jesus
Listen, listen, just like Jesus has known me all along - even as I am fully known.
I’ve heard two preachers say this and now I am at least the third.
If you really knew me, if you knew my deepest darkest secrets, you wouldn’t come listen to me.
And if I really knew you, if I knew your deepest darkest secrets, I wouldn’t come here to talk to you either.
But brothers and sisters, Jesus has known us all - each and every one of us - He has known us all along.
1 Corinthians 13:13 “So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”
One day there will be no need for faith - Jesus will be here, I won’t need faith anymore.
One day there will be no need for hope - why hope for a better day when your best day has arrived.
The day we see Jesus face to face - fully know Him - touch Him and hear His voice.
That’s our hope - and we’ll have it.
So faith and hope will cease to exist.
But not love - because of everything the Corinthians fought about and gloated about and strove to have
Everything we have fought about in THIS church
The only thing that will never end, is love.
That’s the more excellent way, Paul says.
Romans 5:8 “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.
That’s what love does.
Let us pray.