Meet The Phillipians

Building on what the Lord is teaching as in this season

That you’re justified/ Reconciled/Adopted/ Sanctified

Then with His command to actually participate in His work

Make every effort to live like you’re justified/reconciled/adopted/sanctified

But what drives you to make every effort?

What is the driving force that compels you to be a doer and not just a hearer?

What is the your heart for Christian living?

If your life was a train, what is the single most important characteristic that serves as an engine?

The virtue in our text before us will be and IS that engine the train

1 Corinthians 13:1–3 “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. 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. 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.”

“The most excellent things that ever belong to natural men: most excellent privileges and performances: if we have them all and not have Charity we are nothing” Johnathan Edwards

“ALL THE VIRTUE THAT IS SAVING AND THAT THAT DISTINGUISHES TRUE CHRISTIANS FROM OTHERS IS SUMMED UP IN CHRISTIAN LOVE”

The immediate context

speaks of the Charismatic gifts that most in the church were pitting against each other

Though there;s nothing inherently wrong in desiring and exercising those gifts

Paul’s intention is to show the Corinthian church a more excellent way

The larger context of the Corinthian church

People considered their rhetoric ability as the most important virtue

1 Corinthians 1:20 ESV

20 Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?

1 Corinthians 2:4 ESV

4 and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,

2 Corinthians 10:10 ESV

10 For they say, “His letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech of no account.”

People considered their intellect and their religions affiliation as the most important virtue

1 Corinthians 2:5 ESV

5 so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

1 Corinthians 3:18 ESV

18 Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise.

People considered their material possession and their utilization/usage of them as the most important virtue

1 Corinthians 3:1 ESV

1 But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ.

It is in this context the apostle Paul delivers this spiritual reality

That no matter the ability of the Christian in communication

Whether they’re able to talk to any person in any language fluently and articulate their ideas

Even if they could speak a language only angels could understand

Assertion here that Paul is using Hyperbole in his description not teaching a doctrine of angelic languages

As impressive as this skill may be to us (In fact it is the word record of 58 languages by Ziad Fazah 1998, Center for excellence.com)

Paul says all of that ability is simply a misguided/ aimless use of an instrument that is supposed to bring about joy and harmony and delight to others

If Love is not driving that train

Your articulation of the truth is many languages unless it is motivated by love will end up in a train wreck of empty words and hurt emotions

Your confession of faith in Christ unless fueled and motivated by Love to Him is just hypocrisy

Paul continues by saying that your ability to proclaim God’s will to the culture , possess specific knowledge about the inner workings and secrets of God’s plan with unique ability to apply it, and even if you had such confidence and reliance on God’s ability to thee point that you’re able to make a great impact in your environment

As impressive as those things are

As great of an impact you may bring about in the culture, as many followers you may gain because of your expertise

If Love is not the driving force then you’re of no value

If a strong affection based on a high regard and appreciation towards God and man Your whole life and work is summed up to nothing

Lastly Paul says my ability to exercise charitable donations or self abasement

If I dole out every material possession I have and even become a martyr

If I do it for any other reason than love (an act of the will accompanied with emotion that leads to action on behalf of its object)

There is no profit from my giving my possessions or my life

Practical implications that you need to know about Love being the driving force of your life

This love is not a self attained virtue- it is the result of a transformed life filled with the Spirit of God

Lack of this love in your life/ as the driving force of your life calls into question the presence of the Spirit in your life (not emotional coldness or seasonal dullness but a life that is marked by a lack of love)

1 John 4:8 “8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.”

1 John 4:20 “20 If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.”

This love which motivates you to be a doer is not just an abstract principle or an ideology- it is embodied and manifest in the person and work of Jesus Christ

Make love that flows from the Father through the Son by the Spirit your sole and primary driver of your life