1 Corinthians 13,1-3
1 Corinthians 13:1-3
October 6, 2002
Intro:
Read Revelation 2:1-5
Ø There is a matter in ministry that is commonly and easily missed.
A- It starts with the desire for perfection to the Lord in our service to Him.
1- We’ll pray for the power of the Holy Spirit.
2- Determine the gifting that we are blessed with.
3- We’ll be obedient to His call in our lives.
a- We then seek to do ministry excellently, BUT, sometimes at great personal expense.
- We can end up with this awesome monument (the ministry) but one strewn with bodies along the way.
b- It is so easy to use people as stepping-stones to achieve success.
- A ministry built in this manner is really a failure in God’s sight.
· The ends NEVER justify the means.
· The means are everything.
- It’s not that we minister It’s HOW we minister that matters.
· Jesus ministry was very hands on and fruitful to those He ministered to and with.
Read Ephesians 4:11-16
B- We are not to be mechanics but Healers.
1- Are people able to come to you to be healed or do you attempt to FIX them.
a- Chuck Smith: Blessed are the flexible for they shall not be broken.
- All people, as well as situations, are not the same.
· We need to bend with the needs of those whom God brings to us.
PEOPLE = Are the target
MINISTRY = Is the means of hitting the target.
Read Revelation 2:1-5
Read Hebrews 6:9-12
Read Matthew 18:11-14
2- Pastor’s Conf. In Vista
a- The shooting
- The Police VS the Paramedics
1 Corinthians 12:31, But earnestly desire the best gifts. And yet I show you a more excellent way.
A- BETTER TRANSLATED: , But “you” earnestly desire the best gifts.
1- You = The Church at Corinth covet (always a negative term) the gifts that exalt you.
2- PAUL SAYS: “I will show you a superior manner of thinking.”
a- These people’s mindset was to covet the better gifts to draw attention to themselves at the expense of ministry and the people.
- To draw attention to myself 2 things will happen.
· I will need to raise myself above all others and the ministry itself (improper purpose of the gifts).
· I will need to lower others (improper usage of the gifts.)
3- Paul closes Chapter 12 telling us “I will show you a more superior way of thinking concerning the purpose and usage of the gifting of the Holy Spirit.”
Ø (We’ll put the cart before the horse) The proper usage of the gifts causes the love of God for His people to be magnified.
Turn to Galatians 5:22-26
A- Fruit of the Spirit = The proof of the nature of someone with the Holy Spirit.
1- The word fruit = singular = love
a- Notice how Galatians meshes with 1 Corinthians.
- Joy VS Thinks no evil
- Peace VS Not provoked
- Longsuffering VS Suffers long
- Kindness VS Kind
- Goodness VS Not rude
- Faithfulness VS Bears all things
- Gentleness VS Not puffed up
- Self-control VS Does not parade
· In Chapter 12 we studied the mechanics of the gifts (working of)
· In Chapter 13 we’ll see the proper application.
1 Corinthians 13:1, Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.
A- Love = agape a sacrificial love
1- The gifts are to operate in love unconditionally.
Jeremiah 31:3, The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying: “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.
John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
B- NOTICE how Paul speaks in the 1st person using himself as an example.
1- Tongues of men: A known language not known to the speaker.
2- Tongues of angles: A personal prayer language.
a- “Since not everyone speaks in tongues (12:28b) I could easily use tongues to place myself in a place of Spiritual superiority.”
- And cause them to feel Spiritually inferior.
· The purpose of tongues would not be achieved.
1 Corinthians 13:1, Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.
A- sounding brass or a clanging cymbal = Idol worship = Car alarm.
1- To exorcise tongues properly in love is to
a- In the tongues of men: glorify God for the purpose of the edification of the body.
b- In the tongues of angles: A deeper time of prayer for a bro or sis.
1 Corinthians 13:2, 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, but have not love, I am nothing.
Ø The gift of prophecy: to proclaim God’s truth to people so that they will knows and understand it.
A- The biblical example of the improper use of prophecy is PERSOANL GAIN”.
Balaam Numbers 22
Caiaphas , John 18:14, Now it was Caiaphas who advised the Jews that it was expedient that one man should die for the people.
1- Then the prophet who ministers in love.
Jeremiah 9:1, Oh, that my head were waters, And my eyes a fountain of tears, That I might weep day and night For the slain of the daughter of my people!
Acts 20:19 “serving the Lord with all humility, with many tears and trials which happened to me by the plotting of the Jews;
a- To prophesy in love is to have a burning desire for people to know God’s truth.
Ø Mysteries and Knowledge
A- Mysteries : The secrets of God once hidden and now revealed.
1- Knowledge: Insight into deeper meaning of scripture.
a- To be blessed with an understanding of God’s word.
- The Guy at the church before CCCV
b- With the absents of love the Word of God is not used for it’s intended purpose.
Matthew 23:15, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.
Ø Faith
A- Not salvation but a faith of what God is able to do through a people.
Matthew 17:20, So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.
1- If you are able to do all these things BUT do not do them in love you are nothing. (no one)
a- Remember their motive they wanted to be someone.
1 Corinthians 13:3, And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.
A- Paul then takes it to an extreme
1- All substance
2- Even you life
a- It profits me nothing
- No Spiritual reward
Matthew 6:1-4, “Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven.2 “Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.3 “But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,4 “that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.
Read 1 Corinthians 4:7
1 Corinthians 13:1-3
October 6, 2002
Revelation 2:1-5
Ephesians 4:11-16
Read Revelation 2:1-5
Read Hebrews 6:9-12
Read Matthew 18:11-14
1 Corinthians 12:31
Galatians 5:22-26
Jeremiah 31:3
John 3:16
Numbers 22
John 18:14
Jeremiah 9:1
Acts 20:19
Matthew 23:15
Matthew 17:20
Matthew 6:1-4
1 Corinthians 4:7