A MORE EXCELLENT WAy
Notes
Transcript
FOCUS VERSE
I Corinthians 13:1
Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity,
I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.
LESSON TEXT
I Corinthians 13–14
TRUTH ABOUT GOD
God is love, and love is the foundation of everything He does.
TRUTH FOR MY LIFE
I will minister to others in love.
1 Corinthians 13:1–13 (KJV 1900)
1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not LOVE, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. 2 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 remove mountains, and have not LOVE, I am nothing. 3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not LOVE, it profiteth me nothing. 4 LOVE suffereth long, and is kind; LOVE envieth not; LOVE vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, 5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; 6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; 7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. 8 LOVE never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. 9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. 10 But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. 11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. 12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. 13 And now abideth faith, hope, LOVE, these three; but the greatest of these is LOVE.
OH WHAT A MIGHTY GOD WE SERVE!
His power is unlimited. His beauty is for every situation. His knowledge is the basis of all things. His wisdom unfathomable. His pure holiness is the source of all energy.
But the LORD shall endure for ever: He hath prepared his throne for judgment. And he shall judge the world in righteousness, He shall minister judgment to the people in uprightness. The LORD also will be a refuge for the oppressed, A refuge in times of trouble. And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: For thou, LORD, hast not forsaken them that seek thee. Sing praises to the LORD, which dwelleth in Zion: Declare among the people his doings. O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!
4 Every valley shall be exalted, And every mountain and hill shall be made low: And the crooked shall be made straight, And the rough places plain: 5 And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, And all flesh shall see it together: For the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.
12 Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, And meted out heaven with the span, And comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, And weighed the mountains in scales, And the hills in a balance? 13 Who hath directed the Spirit of the Lord, Or being his counseller hath taught him? 14 With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, And taught him in the path of judgment, And taught him knowledge, And shewed to him the way of understanding? 15 Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, And are counted as the small dust of the balance: Behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing.
King James Version (Chapter 40)
To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One.
26 Lift up your eyes on high,
And behold who hath created these things,
That bringeth out their host by number:
He calleth them all by names
By the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power;
Not one faileth.
28 Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, That the everlasting God, the Lord, The Creator of the ends of the earth, Fainteth not, neither is weary? There is no searching of his understanding. 29 He giveth power to the faint; And to them that have no might he increaseth strength.
OH WHAT A MIGHTY GOD WE SERVE!
ְDt 3:24
O Lord God, thou hast begun to shew thy servant thy greatness, and thy mighty hand: for what God is there in heaven or in earth, that can do according to thy works, and according to thy might?
His might is on display for all to see. It doenst matter the situation or what seems to be the insurmountable issue...
Mk 10:27
....With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible.
We have spent the last three weeks discussing the might and power that God has given to his church. It is amazing! We have all witnessed powerful changes in folks lives, miraculous works, impactful words straight from the throne of God. It is such a good life living for the Lord. OH WHAT A MIGHTY GOD WE SERVE!
He has granted his church marvelous gifts and fruits through the Holy Ghost and they are spectacular.
Jesus said if you dont believe in me believe me for the works sake.
Crowds gathered unto him because of the power.
.... and a great multitude of people out of all Judaea and Jerusalem, and from the sea coast of Tyre and Sidon, which came to hear him, and to be healed of their diseases; And they that were vexed with unclean spirits: and they were healed. And the whole multitude sought to touch him: for there went virtue out of him, and healed them all.
When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with [his] word, and healed all that were sick:
30 And great multitudes came unto him, having with them [those that were] lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and cast them down at Jesus' feet; and he healed them: 31 Insomuch that the multitude wondered, when they saw the dumb to speak, the maimed to be whole, the lame to walk, and the blind to see: and they glorified the God of Israel.
Mark 3:8 (KJV)
8And from Jerusalem, and from Idumaea, and [from] beyond Jordan; and they about Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when they had heard what great things he did, came unto him.
23 Now when he was in Jerusalem at the passover, in the feast [day], many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did.
His fame grew by leaps and bounds. All knew him word of mouth. uncles brothers cousins nieces
One of my favorite stories of Jesus is in Mark.
Leper. Desperate lonely abandoned. Physical problems as well as mental, zero self esteem. no one believed in him, no one wanted him, No one felt he had a future.
He heard of Jesus and and came hope against hope. Mark 1:40 “40 And there came a leper to him, beseeching him, and kneeling down to him, and saying unto him, If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.”
Jesus could have done anything to heal him....... Go wash (naaman) put your hand in your robe (Moses) Go have someone pray for you (miriam)
Jesus did something that was unnecessary.
He did just speak and the leper was healed, but before that HE TOUCHED HIM! Lepers were ritually unclean, they could not come into the presence of God. Touching them....
Craving Human touch… Jesus took upon himself the uncleanness. The reputation, the stigma of touching the untouchable. Those that no one else would touch.
Before he brought him healing, he provided the one thing that the leper needed most. Someone that offered hope and love to a desperate lonely abandoned man.
Another story that I love is the next day. Jesus had a some jewish elders come to him on behalf of a centurions servant. The cent. heard of jesus.
sent for him. They besought him. The cent. said the famous scripture dont come in here, you can just say it. I know how it works. Im in authority as well. Just speak the word.
jesus marvelled and did. Great happiness ensued. Servant was made whole from his sickness from a distance a word from the one in authority.
Meanwhile.. a days journey away a widow woman was in probably in agony as her son neared death. We dont know how he died, but sometime in the night or early morning this widow’s only son died and he had to be in the ground by sundown. She was in agony. Different world, men providing for women in their household. This son would have been the breadwinner. She had no hope at all. She was broken. Her progeny, her future, her present, everything was tied up here. IT WAS OVER> ONLY THE SUFFERING REMAINED\
Jesus was on the run....Scripture doenst tell us everything. Scripture doenst tell us that Jesus would have had to RUN to make it to Nain by sundown from Capernaum. If Jesus traveled steadily without any breaks, it would have taken almost 8 hours at 4mph. You ever walked at 4 mph? If Jesus travelled at 3 MPH it would have taken 10 hours at this brisk pace.
Did I mention that it was uphill? There was a 700 ft elevation change. Jesus would have left very very early in the morning and have had to push hard all day. He had to power thru. Disciples and many people were with him. power thru people wanting to stop to rest, eat, rr, etc… Im sure some didnt make it all the way. Jesus kept pushing. He was in shape but this would have been pushing the envelope. Everyone would have been soaked through with sweat, muscles aching, feet hurting from walking this hard on this rocky ground.
Not sure if Jesus ignored requests or just said we have to hurry. We have to push. We have to make it.! The way scripture reads “Now when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out,” he just made it.
He came barreling up, out of breath, soaked to the bone with sweat, hair pasted to his head, maybe panting and to a woman with no hope who is burying her present and future, aching and numb, he tells her DONT CRY. (WEEP NOT)
He proved just the day before that he didnt even have to be here but he pushed himself to make it. He could have spoken at that time and erased death before all their eyes.
He could have done anything to heal him....but he did something unexpected, after telling the woman to dont cry. HE TOUCHED IT! (bier not casket) All her concerns, worries, issues,hope and dreams, present and future were laying there dead and Jesus walked up and touched it. He didnt have to .
He said unto him. Arise. and he did! and they delivered him to his mother. She had regained everything and Jesus walked away unclean. You ccouldnt touch a dead body. It brought about uncleaness. All who were with him knew that he had walked up and touched uncleaness. Touched it. He took upon himself the uncleanness.
***
The gifts and fruits are wonderful and they draw crowds. The amazing power of God is magnificient. his power, his might, his authority, his presence!!!!
God looked at Adam and said it is not good for man to be alone. HE NEEDED COMPANIONSHIP. In Peoples lives things occur. Life happens to all people. Circumstances and choices of life sometimes isolate an individual. An isolated person becomes bitter, guarded, and often loses hope. Things seem so bad there is no hope.
Like Capernaum from Nain, Miraculous power seems miles away from Agony. Desperation, pain, undeserved circumstances creates an atmosphere of aloneness. No one knows my pain. No one understands my situation. No one knows my agony. Hurting people living through their times as best as they possibly can.
Miraculous power is amazing. unbelievable. Gods gifts and fruits are beyond amazing. But There are sometimes people need a human touch. Jesus reached into uncleanliness, hopelessness, agonies and made it his own so that he could physically touch another human being.
Ive watched my mother hug hurting people… (discuss)
Philip this week. homeless, buying for another, meeting young man. $700
There are many people in our neighborhood aching for human touch and compassion.
1 Corinthians 12:29–31 “29 Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles? 30 Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret? 31 But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way.”
These gifts operate at peak efficiency when fueled by LOVE. The love that makes Jesus run 8 hours up hill to touch one widow woman’s son. The love that makes Jesus reach into the most unclean situation and touch an individual who has not been touched in what seems like forever. The love that makes Jesus go across a stormy lake in the middle of the night to reach 1 person so plagued by demons that he was insane.
How much more so inside the church! Jesus said by this By this shall all [men] know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. This love that puts us in Galatians bearing one anothers burdens. The gifts were given to edify the church.
hesitation to move when prompted by the spirit*
I know that we want to obey God but sometimes we face that battle of flesh vs spirit in obeying God. how much more effective would the gifts of God and the fruit of the Spirit operate if we used our love for individuals as the fuel to let this happen. We would run up hill 8 hours just to hug a widow woman a funeral and tell her dont cry if we knew and loved this lady.
What if we removed the internal question about is this you God and just love each other and those around us. the gifts and fruit of the spirit will operate through love of each other and our fellow man..
7 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. 8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. 9 In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. 10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another 12 No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. 13 Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.
16 And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. 17 Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. 19 We love him, because he first loved us. 20 If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God xwhom he hath not seen? 21 And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.
If time;
In our modern Western culture, love is an abstract thought of emotion, how one feels toward another, but the Hebrew word אהב ahav [H:157] goes much deeper than simple emotion.
The parent root of this word is הב hav. While this root is not found in the Biblical text, a couple of other derivatives are. The word הבהב havhav [H:1890], a noun meaning "gift" and יהב yahav [H:3051], a verb meaning "to provide," help to supply the fuller Hebraic understanding of אהב ahav [H:157].
We do not choose our parents or siblings, but they are instead given to us as a gift from above, a privileged gift. Even in the Ancient Hebrew culture, one's wife was chosen for him. It is our responsibility to provide and protect those privileged gifts. As a verb, the Hebrew word אהב ahav [H:157] means "to provide and protect what is given as a privileged gift." We are to love God, neighbors, and family, not in an emotional sense, but in the sense of our actions.