I Corinthians 13-4- 11-2-08 PM

“Clear The Record”

I Corinthians 13:5 (Series - 4 of 7)

FBC Winona – Sunday, November 2nd - PM

I Corinthians 13:1-5 (focus on 5)

1If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.

5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.

Love is not rude

·         Being rude comes from a lack of love for those around us

·         Corinthian Christians were models of this kind of behavior

·         Going back to I Corinthians 11:17-22, “17In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good. 18In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it. 19No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God's approval. 20When you come together, it is not the Lord's Supper you eat, 21for as you eat, each of you goes ahead without waiting for anybody else. One remains hungry, another gets drunk. 22Don't you have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you for this? Certainly not!”

·         This selfishness, this rudeness, spilled over into their worship.

·         William Barclay says “Love does not behave gracelessly” – love is gracious

·         People need to see the meekness and gentleness of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:1)

·         If they don’t see this clearly in us, they are less likely to see Him clearly

Love is not self-seeking

·         The root of fallen human nature is in wanting to have its own way

·         RCH Lenski, Bible commentator said, “Cure selfishness and you have just replanted the Garden of Eden.”

·         Adam and Eve rejected God’s way so that they could have their own

·         Self replaced God – the opposite of righteousness and the opposite of love

·         Philippians 2:4, “4Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.”

·         The Corinthians were not using the gifts to edify the church but to build up themselves

·         Story - The story is told of a chauffeur who drove up to a cemetery and asked the minister who served as caretaker to come to the car, because his employer was too ill to walk. Waiting in the car was a frail old lady with sunken eyes that showed years of hurt and anguish. She introduced herself and said she had been sending five dollars to the cemetery for the past several years to be used for flowers for her husband’s grave. “I have come in person today,” she said, “because the doctors have given me only a few weeks to live and I wanted to see the grave for one last time.” The minister replied, “You know, I am sorry you have been sending money for those flowers.” Taken aback, she said, “What do you mean?” “Well, I happen to be a part of a visiting society that visits patients in hospitals and mental institutions. They dearly love flowers. They can see them and smell them. Flowers are therapy for them, because they are living people.” Saying nothing, she motioned the chauffeur to leave. Some months later the minister was surprised to see the same car drive up, but with the woman herself at the wheel. She said, “At first I resented what you said to me that day when I came here for a last visit. But as I thought about it, I decided you were right. Now I personally take flowers to the hospitals. It does make the patients happy and it makes me happy, too. The doctors can’t figure out what made me well, but I know. I now have someone else to live for.”

Love is not easily angered

·         Angered = provoked = “paroxuno” – a convulsion or sudden outburst of emotion or action

·         Love guards against being irritated, upset, or angered by things said or done against it.

·         Paul does not rule out righteous indignation - Love cannot rejoice in unrighteousness

·         Example – Jesus cleansing the temple (Matt 21:11-12) – righteous anger – not personal

·         When Jesus was personally attacked – not once did he become angry or defensive

·         Paul was only angered by things that anger God – heresy, immorality, misuse of gifts

·         When everyone is fighting for his own rights, no one can really succeed or be happy.

·         Everyone grabs, no one gives, everyone loses – It always costs more than it gains

·         Telling our wives or husbands we love them is not convincing if we continually get upset or angry at what they say and do

·         Telling our children that we love them is not convincing if we often yell at them for doing things that irritate us and interfere with our own plans

·         “I lose my temper a lot, but it’s all over in a few minutes” – so is a nuclear bomb

Love keeps no record of wrongs

·         Logizomai – take into account – a bookkeeping term that means to calculate or reckon

·         Its intent is to make it a part of the permanent record that can be consulted whenever needed

·         In personal matters, it is not only unnecessary but harmful

·         Romans 4:8, “8Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him."

·         2 Corinthians 5:19, “19that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.

·         Acts 3:19, “19Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord,”

·         Resentment is careful to keep books – love keeps no permanent record of wrongs

·         Someone suggested once that love does not forgive and forget, but rather remembers and still forgives.