Love in Corinthians
Notes
Transcript
Love is...
Love is...
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.
4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant
5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;
6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.
7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.
9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part,
10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.
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.
12 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.
13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
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—> Before we can get to our text today I’d like to help us establish some ground work for what we are going to be doing in this series.
—> We have a bad habit as Christians and really as people of what I like to call “quote mining sources”. We use certain things that make our point or fit what we are trying to do by lifting them out of their context.
—> Sadly it isn’t just politicians and late night infomercials that do this. We can fall victim to it too. So I want to take the next 4 weeks and sense we are approaching V-Day (Feb. 14th fellas) look at 4 popular passages of scripture that I believe have been lifted out of their context to fit into our nuptials.
—> Paul wrote the letter to the Corinthians, he wrote at least 2 which we have in scripture and most scholars believe he wrote more than that. The Church in Corinth was a church in need of help and Paul was doing what he could to guide them.
—> The wrote to him about many things even things concerning marriage, but David I thought you said we were looking at verses out of context, we are. Paul writes about marriage, divorce, and widows in Ch. 7 and I’m sad to report there isn’t a single mention of love.
—> He then talks about Israel’s history, societal behaviors, the Lord’s Supper, and in Ch. 12 Spiritual Gifts, ending Ch. 12 with a section on the importance of ALL the members of the community and how they are valuable in their own individual way. So now with that in mind...
So now with that in mind...
—> What is love (baby don’t hurt me, don’t hurt me, no more)?
—> But what is love? Its easy to see why this passage is one of, if not THE most used passage in weddings. It drips with love. But what kind of love?
—> You may be aware that in Greek there are multiple words for love. Greek is awesome in that way. It lets you know what the writer is actually thinking you don’t have to guess. This love is “agape”. It is the highest form of love. It is the love that is attributed to God. The kind of love that Jesus displayed for us on the cross.
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.
—> Paul begins by going back to what he just said in Ch. 12. He references tongues, prophesy, wisdom, but he says “no matter what gift I have it is useless for the community unless I have the love of God”
But what is love? Its easy to see why this passage is one of, if not THE most used passage in weddings. It drips with love. But what kind of love.
You may be aware that in Greek there are multiple words for love. Greek is awesome in that way. It lets you know what the writer is actually thinking you don’t have to guess. This love is “agape”. It is the highest form of love. It is the love that is attributed to God. The kind of love that Jesus displayed for us on the cross.
—> Just like we do toady, these Corinthians needed specifics, and sense Paul knows this he gives them specifics. You can see Paul writing along. “but if I have not love, I gain nothing...” and then they’ll say well what is love?
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4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant
5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;
6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.
7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.
—> I want you for a minute to step back. Do we have this kind of love at home, at work, at church, at the store, in the car?
—> I think we have seen this passage wasn’t meant for just our dating and marriage relationships. This goes beyond that and even beyond the church, beyond the community of believers.
—> How do we know this? Because Paul was a missionary. He wanted to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ. That means he wanted the communities he was a part of to spread the Good News, because he knew the difference that Jesus and a relationship with Jesus, makes in a persons life.
How do we know this? Because Paul was a missionary. He wanted to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ. That means he wanted the communities he was a part of to spread the Good News, because he knew the difference that it made.
—> When we look at verses 4-7, that’s who we want to be and those are the kind of people we want to be around.
—> I know I need people to be patient with me at times, and I know I need to be patient with others.
—> No one likes jealous or overly proud people. “If you boast, boast in your weakness” (also Paul) We can have a quiet confidence that brings peace to those around us.
—> We can all be kind and not rude or pushy. Yes, you may have a good idea but no one wants to listen if its being yelled at them.
—> Don’t compromise your integrity for anything but be truthful in all situations, that’s love.
—> to me verse 7 is the epitome of what love is because on this list its the aspects that look most like Jesus
7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
—> God the Father sent his son to bear all of our sin and shame, our doubt and our fears, to give us hope even in the darkest of situations. He endured it all in his life on this earth, even enduring a beating and brutal death on a cross that He didn’t deserve, but because he did that and because we have the Good News that Jesus died on the cross, was burried in the tomb and rose from the dead three days latter. We can say with all confidence “Love never fails.”
—> If you know what that kind of love is share it with someone this week. Share the love you have for Christ Jesus.
—> If you don’t know…I tell you with all sincerity. God loves you! There is nothing you can do or have done that will keep God from loving you, and that love is available to you right now.
—> With every head bowed and every eye closed let’s pray.
8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.
9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part,
10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.
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.
12 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.
13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
1 Cor 13:8b-
Friends, our gifts, our talents, our wisdom will one day pass away because this life isn’t our forever life. This life can be a glimpse at eternity but it is really nothing but a p