Love Is (3)

How many of you know and understand that the foundation of a building is absolutely critical for the stability and life and safety of that building?

I mean, if you build anything structural on a weak, unstable foundation, it’s going to eventually crumble at the base and fall, right?

Well, the same thing applies with your walk and relationship with the Lord! You can pray to Him, read His Word and talk to others about Him, but make no mistake about it. If your relationship with Him, is based solely upon works and deeds and misconceptions about who and what He is, as other misguided people have instructed you upon, then, you may find yourself being one of the ones that Yeshua warned us of in Matthew 7:26-27, where He said,

Matthew 7:26–27 ESV

26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”

In other words, a person who doesn’t heed the words and commands of the Lord and what it means to have a relationship with Him and they go at it their own way; this is a person who is building their house, their “relationship” with Him upon the sand, which is a completely unstable foundation to build upon!

These will be the people who will stand before the Lord, feeling confident in their hearts that they have a sure foundation and a good relationship with Him, only to hear His words as He declared in Matthew 7:21-23,

Matthew 7:21–23 ESV

21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

This is not a place that anyone wants to find themselves standing on the day he/she stands before the Lord almighty!

BUT, Jesus also said from the same passage in Matthew 7:24-25,

Matthew 7:24–25 (ESV)

24 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.

25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.

If you listen to the words of the Christ and follow He and His Father’s commands and you live your life in faith and belief in those words and by those commands, you will be the servant who builds their house upon the sure and eternally safe foundation!!

Your eternity will be built upon the foundation of the ROCK!

Throughout the scriptures, you will see that the Lord God is referred to as our Rock!

Deuteronomy 32:3-4,

Deuteronomy 32:3–4 (ESV)

3 For I will proclaim the name of the Lord; ascribe greatness to our God!

4 “The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he.

Psalm 95:1,

Psalm 95:1 ESV

1 Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!

Psalm 18:2,

Psalm 18:2 (ESV)

2 The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

Isaiah 26:4,

Isaiah 26:4 ESV

4 Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.

In fact, in Hebrew, the Lord God is called, Yahweh Tsuri (Zsu-REE), which means, “The Lord is My Rock!”

I mention this to you this morning about having a sure and solid foundation and the Lord God being that foundation, because you and I, as Christians, need to both know as well as completely believe that we, as the living temples of God, are built upon an unshakeable, immovable foundation!

The Lord God, in the life of a true Christian, is sure and unchanging. When you and I put our trust in Him, our lives are secure, no matter what circumstances or adversity may arise, and try to come against us! Our eternity has been placed upon the only solid, unyielding foundation; Yahweh Tsuri, “The Lord is My Rock!”

Is He the Rock that your life is built upon today?

I sure hope so. Especially in the day and age in which we are living in right now!

You know, the word “foundation” has several different meanings besides being the underlying base or support of a structure, or a building. It also refers to, “an underlying basis or principle for something.”

Like if you were talking about the “moral foundation” of a society. You would be looking at what moral structure is that society based, or founded on. What is it at the core, or the root of that society and its moral construct.

Well, in keeping with that same understanding of the word “foundation”, I would like to tell you all what the underlying basis for Christianity is. That is, I want to share with you what is at the core of the foundation of the church of Jesus the Christ.

Now yes, as we just looked at, our faith and our lives and thus the church, is built upon God, our Rock, our firm foundation, but what is the essence of that foundation. What is at the core of our foundation as a body?

Well, just as we talked about 2 weeks ago, the Bible tells us in I John 4:8 that “God is LOVE.”

Yes, He has many other attributes and characteristics, but they flow from His great and mighty and endless LOVE for His people!

Just as the Lord God stated to Moses in Exodus 34, where the Bible says that God passed before Moses and said, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands.”

And again in Deuteronomy 7:9, God repeats His foundational covenantal decree, where He says, “Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations.”

In the Bible, a generation was anywhere from 40 to 70 years, somewhere in that ball park, and so God is metaphorically saying (He’s not making a literal fixed number with this statement), but rather He’s saying, that to those who love Him and keep His commandments, His love for them stretches out 40-70,000 years!

The point being, no human lives 40-70,000 years. So, God’s LOVE for us goes beyond the boundaries of our lives and keeps going.

And then when we cross over into eternity and are out of the confines of time, where He exists, then we will experience the full measure of that LOVE forever!

So, who we are as a people and what we are building our lives upon right now, is the firm, immovable, unshakeable foundation of the LOVE of God; the ROCK of LOVE!

So, now that we have established an understanding about who and what our lives as believers are founded upon, let’s look more closely at what this looks like in practical application in the life of a believer.

Before we look at the main passage together this morning, I want to go back to the question that I asked you guys about last week in my message, which ties in with our main passage. I read to you last week, what the apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 12:31, where he said,

1 Corinthians 12:31 ESV

31 But earnestly desire the higher gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way.

My question to you last week, was this. Was Paul saying that there are other higher gifts than those that he talked about in chapter 12, where he mentioned the 9 manifest gifts of the Holy Spirit? (The gifts of the Holy Spirit are: word of wisdom, word of knowledge, gift of faith, gift of healing, working of miracles, gift of prophecy, the distinguishing of spirits, gifts of tongues and the gift of interpretation of tongues.)

Are we to zealously go after some hidden trove of spiritual gifts for our lives and if so, to what effect?

In order to answer this, I believe it best to look at the body of people who Paul was addressing in this letter and in doing so, gain some perspective and understanding that will help us make sense of this.

As I always stress...............when it comes to reading the Bible, context and background information is very important!

The believers in Corinth had just come out of a background that was steeped in paganism and spiritual occultic worship.

These people’s lives had been centered around every form of mysticism that you could imagine, both in the homes and throughout their society.

So, when they heard the gospel message for the first time and they learned that there was really only ONE TRUE GOD and that the Son of God had made a way for them to be with the ONE TRUE GOD, they were all in.

And as soon as they became spiritually born again, many of them were receiving the empowering gifts of Holy Spirit in their lives.

And this became a quest for these people! They became zealous for these gifts, because this was very much like the background they had just come out of; ecstatic utterances and seeking higher knowledge and prophetic words through the spirits and the likes of such things, was a power that they very much desired!

And they didn’t just desire these gifts, but they were almost competing and boasting about the gifts that they were receiving!

And within the Body of Christ in Corinth, this pursuit of spiritual gifts was causing rifts and division between the people.

So, upon learning of what was going on, Paul stepped in and addressed the matter, which is what we read of in this letter that he was writing to the church of Corinth.

Paul, knowing very well about their background and their zeal for spiritism and occultic power, knew that he had to head this off and explain to them that, in the kingdom of God, Holy Spirit and His power and the gifts that He chooses to bestow upon individuals, is not something to boast of or to covet for personal gain and pomp and heir!

He had already addressed with the people about their sinful natures having taken them over again and because of this, they were being driven and lead by jealousy and quarreling amongst themselves.

He told them that they were like immature, spiritual babies, who were still sucking on the milk bottle and who were not ready for anything more mature and deep in true spiritual knowledge!

And then, in chapter 12 of I Corinthians, Paul breaks down for them, what the 9 manifest gifts of Holy Spirit are.

But rather than go into a lengthy discourse and teaching about each gift and how and why it is best used within the body of believers, Paul then begins to teach them that it doesn’t matter what gift a person has been given, because within the Body of Christ, EVERYONE is equal and just as important!

Even if someone doesn’t show a spiritual gift before others, they are just vital to the body as someone who speaks in other tongues and prophecies and has amazing words of knowledge!

As Paul said, “Yes, there are many parts, but only one body.”

As he closes out this section of his teaching, Paul points out to the believers that not everyone is going to become an apostle or a prophet, or a teacher, or work miracles, or possess the gifts of healing. Not everyone would speak in tongues, or be able to interpret those tongues.

And then he turns right back around and tells them to pursue/desire the higher, the best gifts and that he would show them a more excellent way!

Doesn’t that seem contrary to what he was trying to achieve with these people? Doesn’t it sound like he just told them not to be zealous and jealous about having these gifts, and then he tells them to go after them?

And then in chapter 13, the continuation of his teaching, he clarifies the whole matter for them and for us as well!

Now before we jump into chapter 13 and look at what Paul said about the gifts of the Holy Spirit, let me say something to you. I just told you that the people of Corinth were a people who were from an occultic background and that of marked idolatry and sexual perversion at marked levels.

And because of this, their old fleshly/sinful nature had crept right back into what they were trying to do with the spiritual gifts in the church body.

Well, the church in America has not come from a background that is so different from that of Corinth. I say this because, we hold many idols in our lives, and are taught to do so from the time we are small children. We learn coveting and creating idols in our lives from the TV and and all of the social media around us!

The enemy has slipped the occultic into our lives in such a gradual and incremental fashion, that people do not even recognize it, or give it a second thought! Witchcraft and sorcery, are just imaginary, fun novelties that you watch and dabble in, but they are not harmful. That’s just religious mumbo, jumbo, right?!!

Thanks to Hollywood, the devil’s little workshop, we have become a nation that is fascinated with the macabre and horror and demonic media! As well as all of the sexual perversity that they produce!

And in saying that, the city of Corinth had nothing on us as a nation, when it comes to sexual sin. We have access today to every form of sexual perversity and every vile and disgusting sinful act of the flesh at your fingertips, 24/7, via the world wide web and especially via what they refer to as the “dark web”.

And so, when people come to the Christ in this nation, now more than ever, they are much like the people of Corinth, in that they have come out of a state and background of idolatry and pride and sexual sin and mysticism.

And many of them do not even really know that these things are going on in their lives, or that they are even wrong in doing them!

Which goes back to our lesson 2 weeks before. People MUST be taught the truth of God’s Word and about repentance.

The devil is a master at camouflaging sin and keeping it under the radar, to where even Christians do not recognize idolatry and sexual sin.

Paul said in Ephesians 5:11, that we are too, “Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; but rather, we are to expose them.”

People need to know what God’s Word says about sin and what sin truly is, versus what man says it is!

And even in the modern church of America, just like in Paul’s day and time, there are Christians who have become zealous and desiring of the power and the gifts of Holy Spirit, but without a true understanding about those gifts and why they are given and to whom they are given!

People teach within churches today that those gifts are an à la carte sort of thing, that we can pick and choose for our personal lives!

And churches hold entire services and week long services, devoted to sitting in the buildings and trying to force the hand of a Holy Spirit and somehow make Him dump out gifts and power on everyone!

This is the very thing that Paul was trying to cut off with the church of Corinth!

And even when the gifts are manifesting within the church body, in a correct fashion, as Paul teaches in chapter 14 of I Corinthians, those same gifts are to be used in restraint and in a decent and orderly fashion.

And I say in “restraint”, because some people have the mindset that they do, or say things in the fashion that they do, because they don’t want to be in error and “grieve the Holy Spirit”.

You will never grieve Holy Spirit by operating in and by spiritual restraint and by asking Him for direction and making sure that it’s Him moving and stirring you to step out and say, or do something.

You WILL grieve Holy Spirit by sin in your life, according to what Paul wrote in Ephesians 4:29-32.

Sin causes sorrow and grief to God’s Holy Spirit, not restraint as His child!

The gifts of the Holy Spirit should never be a source of confusion for the body of Christ!

Each person has control over those gifts and how and when they are administered, as I Corinthians 14:32-33 teaches us,

1 Corinthians 14:32–33 ESV

32 and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets. 33 For God is not a God of confusion but of peace. As in all the churches of the saints,

Each person is to allow their gift to be used in accordance with Holy Spirit and for the good and the building up of the church body!

If it is truly Holy Spirit, then it will not compete with others and bring chaos and confusion to others when the gift is being exercised.

And in saying this about confusion within the body, let me mention something and ask you all to be mindful of something.

During the time that we are entering in to sing and worship the Lord God through songs of praise and worship, don’t interrupt other people during those times.

Don’ t try to start a conversation with someone during that time, or even tap them on the shoulder just to mention something.

Unless that “something” is detrimental to their health and well being, like “hey, your hair is on fire”, just don’t bother someone during that very special time!

Does everyone understand and agree with that? Good, then let’s move on!

Paul showed us that we are to be mindful of what is going on around us and sensitive to how Holy Spirit is moving at that time, before we step out in faith and let Him move through us.

SO THAT, the end result is that the body of Christ is being blessed and strengthened by those who are using a particular spiritual gift and that, ultimately, almighty God in Heaven, is being GLORIFIED by those gifts!! AMEN?!!

So, back to Corinth and how Paul handled this situation. At the start of chapter 13 Paul takes three of the big and most desired spiritual gifts that the church in Corinth were going after and he elevates the use of those gifts through the roof, to make his point.

Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13:1-3,

1 Corinthians 13:1–3 ESV

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 says, if I can speak EVERY language known on the earth and in heaven and if I have such amazing powers of prophecy and my wisdom and knowledge is such that I know everything and if my faith is literally so strong that I can cause whole mountains to be removed from before me........

If I have all of these gifts that you Corinthians desire and at the highest and most elevated form of these gifts that can spiritually be given to mankind by God.......

And yet, if these gifts are not being used in and through true LOVE, AGAPE LOVE, God’s LOVE, then these gifts are worthless and pointless!

You become nothing more than a loud, obnoxious nuisance and a hindrance to the body of Christ and nothing more!

Paul was saying to the church at Corinth and to us today as well, if you are not operating in your spiritual gifts out of the love of God, then your gift is useless and worth nothing in the kingdom of God!

Because, without love, that gift is nothing more than your flesh being elevated and your acting out in pride!

So, I believe that Paul was saying to the church in chapter 12, verse 31, where he said, “But earnestly desire the higher/greater gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way”, that when the gifts of Holy Spirit are paired up with and operating out of the perfect love of God, those gifts then become the higher and greater gifts.

If you give a message in tongues and you do so out of agape love for that person, those persons that you are speaking to, then your gift was then elevated to the higher, greater gift!!

Agape LOVE changes the outcome of the gift and blesses both the receiver and the one operating in that gift, because the power of God is flowing through the gift when His love is the conduit!

And then in chapter 13, Paul writes one of the most well known sections of the Bible, which is commonly called the “Love Chapter” of the Bible. This set of verses is read in numerous wedding each and every year. Both in the Christian, as well as secular weddings, because of the beauty of what Paul says.

But make no mistake about it. Paul was NOT speaking of any other form of love, such as the world might try to interpret it to be, when he speaks about love in these verses. He is speaking ONLY about the Agape LOVE of God in the life of a true and faithful Christian!

If you want to know what true LOVE looks like in your life and how you can tell if you’re operating out of true love towards others, then these verses are the litmus test for you in your walk with the Lord.

Just as AGAPE LOVE is the litmus test that proves and validates to the world that you belong to the Christ and that you are a part of His body, according to Jesus in John 13:35, so also are these verses the measure and the litmus test of whether your love for others and how you operate, is truly the selfless, perfect love of God!

In closing today, we are going to read Paul’s writings here in this passage and then hopefully, next week, we will break these verses down and apply them to our lives! Turn with me please in your Bibles to I Corinthians 13:4-13 and we will close out reading this together.

1 Corinthians 13:4–13 ESV

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.

As I started off with, we are built upon and founded upon, the perfect, self-less, sacrificial love of our Father in heaven! It is the core of His body and it is the be the core and essence of how we live our lives!

When you and I look at this description of love in I Corinthians 13, does it look like your life?

Next week we will take a closer look at this amazing passage!