Miracle of love
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What are 3 reasons for spiritual gifts?
1. Edify the Church
12 So also you, since you are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek to abound for the edification of the church.
2. Affirm the apostles.
12 The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with all perseverance, by signs and wonders and miracles.
3. Affirm the Word
20 And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them, and confirmed the word by the signs that followed. And they promptly reported all these instructions to Peter and his companions. And after that, Jesus Himself sent out through them from east to west the sacred and imperishable proclamation of eternal salvation.
Working of Miracles
Working of Miracles
This is the supernatural power to intervene in the ordinary course of nature and to counteract nature laws if necessary.
20 And He said to them, “Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.
“Nothing will be impossible to you.”
The ability to do the impossible. To work various kinds of miracle including and not limited to healings.
Powers by which they were enabled at particular times to work miraculously on others; ejecting demons, inflicting punishments or judgments.
20 “But if I cast out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
Again the Great Commission says,
17 “These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues;
Notice what Jesus tells them in John,
12 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father.
Working of Miracles can be called sign and wonders.
3 how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard, 4 God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will.
lets now look at 1 Corinthians 13
1 If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.
I love the words of James Packer when he says
“The Greek word agape (love) seems to have been virtually a Christian invention -- a new word for a new thing (apart from about twenty occurrences in the Greek version of the Old Testament, it is almost non-existent before the New Testament). Agape draws its meaning directly from the revelation of God in Christ. It is not a form of natural affection, however, intense, but a supernatural fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22). It is a matter of will rather than feeling (for Christians must love even those they dislike -- Matt. 5:44-48). It is the basic element in Christ-likeness.” James Packers
Corinthians 12 began to tell us about the gifts and their importance to the body.
But Corinthians 13 gives us the balance (that’s the most important thing) while chapter 14 gives us the order of the gifts in church.
1 If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
Notice Paul make its clear that you can have the gift or the manifestation but not have love.
That’s why it is not important that in our desire to see the gifts released to the church we don’t forget the main thing.
And what is the main thing?
LOVE.
2 If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.
Notice Paul makes it very clear that love is more important that prophecy, word of knowledge, discernment, and faith.
More than I want to be a gifted church I want to be a loving church.
I want you today to understand something very important about God.
And that is “He is Love”
7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
And everyone who loves is born of God. Not everyone who speaks in tongues. Not everyone who prophecies, not everyone who has faith to move mountain but every one who loves.
He who does not love does not know God…
This speaks of intimacy. You may know of God
You may know a side of God.
God you don’t know the God who is LOVE.
Love For God is express through your for people.
So what is love and how do we express it.
1. Love suffers long and is kind;
2. love does not envy; love does not parade itself,
3. is not puffed up;
4. does not behave rudely,
5. does not seek its own,
6. is not provoked,
7. thinks no evil;
8. does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth;
9. bears all things,
10. believes all things,
11. hopes all things,
12. endures all things.
13. Love never fails.
Paul says
8 Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part; 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away.
When we get to heaven all these thing will pass away but love will last
I want us to focus on verse 11
11 When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things.
Paul says here GROW UP!!!!
Stop being a hater.. get the hate out of your heart. Learn to love. Be like Jesus
12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known.
12For now we see in a mirror, dimly,
normal people struggle to love.
13 But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.
Surely at the end of the age when all things pass away.
The question is not did you learn to prophecy?
Did you speak in Tongues?
But did you learn to do the greatest thing and that is to love