Saints Made Sinners: I Will Show You a More Excellent Way

Text: I Corinthians 12:31b-13:13

Theme: Love is the motivation for Christian ministry.

Date: 02/13/2022 File name: 1_Corinthinas_23.wpd ID Number:

Lucy van Pelt of Peanuts fame, says to Charlie Brown: “You know what I don’t understand? I don’t understand love!”

Charlie Brown responds, “Who does?”

Lucy says, “Explain love to me, Charlie Brown.”

Charlie Brown says, “You can’t explain love. I can recommend a book or a poem or a painting, but I cannot explain love.”

Lucy responds, “Well, try, Charlie Brown, try.”

Charlie Brown says, “Well, let’s say I see this beautiful, cute little girl walking by …”

Lucy interrupts — “Why does she have to be cute? Huh? Huh? Why can’t someone fall in love with someone with freckles and a big nose? Explain that!”

Charlie Brown says, “Well, maybe you are right. Let’s just say I see this girl walk by with a GREAT big nose ... “

Lucy screams at Charlie Brown bowling him over, “I didn’t say GREAT BIG NOSE,” and Lucy stomped off.

Charlie Brown’s sighs, “You not only can’t explain love, You can’t even talk about it.”

This morning we’re going to talk about love — at least were going to let the apostle Paul talk to us about love. Love, indeed, is a difficult thing to explain. Is it a sensation? Is it a behavior? Is it a feeling? The use of the word has become so polluted in our society. We use the word to refer to affection and compassion, to devotion and emotion. We say we “love God,” that we “love our spouses,” that we “love Mexican food,” and we “love the Super Bowl.” What does the word mean for us as Christians?

For the believer, the best place to go to find an explanation of love is the timeless authority of Scriptures. Just after the Last Supper, Jesus told His disciples: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”” (John 13:34–35, ESV)

We will be known, Jesus said, not by our influence, not by our wealth, not by our doctrinal orthodoxy, not by our programs, not by our religiosity, not by our morality, but by our love for the brethren. According to Jesus, love is THE distinguishing mark of discipleship and the most important virtue believers need to have. For the first three centuries of the Church mutual affection was the characteristic the pagans most closely associated with the early Christians. “My, how they love each other, and how they are ready to die for each other!” they would say.

In this morning’s text, the Apostle Paul paints the most remarkable image of love that has ever been penned by man. It is the greatest, strongest, and deepest thing he ever wrote.

I. PAUL WRITES THAT LOVE IS ESSENTIAL

1. now think about it ... why would an Apostle have to tell a bunch of Christians the “love is essential”?

a. something has gone horribly wrong within the Church at Corinth

b. they are rife with dissent, and schism, and division

“I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. 11 For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers.” (1 Corinthians 1:10–11, ESV)

b. one of the reasons for this division was the abuse and misuse of the charismatic endowments — the grace gifts — of the Holy Spirit

c. chapters 12-14 are Paul’s word of rebuke and correction in their proper use

2. when he gets to the end of chapter 12 he writes, “And I will show you a more excellent way”

a. the more excellent way — it is the indispensable way in which all the gifts of the Spirit are to be ministered — in Christ-like love

b. Paul writes a poem that summarizes the preeminence of love in Christian ministry and church life

3. the saints at Corinth considered six attributes as essential in the Christian’s life

a. Paul refers to these elements in the first three verses

“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.” (1 Corinthians 13:1–3, ESV)

b. do you see them? they are ...

1) oratory

2) prophecy

3) discernment of spiritual mysteries

4) miracle-working faith

5) philanthropy

6) martyrdom

c. Paul told the Corinthian believers they could have all of these qualities, but if they didn’t cultivate the virtue of love, all those other things didn’t matter

1) in vs. 1 Paul claims that without love the use of tongues is nothing but an intrusive, loud, and indistinguishable cacophony of noise that doesn’t edify anyone

2) in vs. 2 he says that powerful preaching, intellectual brilliance and amazing displays of spiritual faith, unaccompanied by love makes him a nobody

3) in vs. 3 Paul reminds us that if he were the world’s greatest Christian philanthropist, or Christendom’s most noted martyr, that if his sacrifices are not motivated by a Christ-like love for the brethren that I gain nothing

4. I couldn’t help but wonder what would Paul write to today’s Church if he were to list the virtues or attributes that seem most important to modern believers?

a. let me suggest some items that Paul might list ...

1) money

2) pleasure

3) health

4) autonomy

5) education

6) power of influence

b. in our culture, attainment of one or more of these elements are considered part of the “abundant life” that Jesus promised to his followers

1) Christianity is, for too many believers, all about having your best life now and believing that the “abundance” Jesus promised is correlated with money, pleasure, health, autonomy, education and influence

5. Paul’s conclusion for the modern church would be equally pointed and clear ...

a. even if we have all the money in the world ... even if our lives are studded with the good things of life ... even if our health is excellent ... even if we have a Ph.D. from the most exclusive university ... even if we have influence over men, even if we have life under control, if we do not have Christ-like love, we have nothing

b. all other virtues, all other characteristics, all other qualities, all other spiritual gifts, all other attainments are nothing without the love of Christ coursing through our lives

A. LOVE IS ESSENTIAL FOR LIFE

1. What is this Thing Called Love? asks American composer and songwriter Cole Porter

a. let me give you a biblical definition ...

2. Biblical love is a divinely inculcated virtue that inclines the human will to cherish God for His own sake above all things, and to cherish other men for the sake of God

3. the biblical passage that best defines this virtue is

“And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”” (Matthew 22:37–40, ESV)

a. noticed I said that Biblical love inclines the human will not human emotions to cherish God and men

b. the true seat of love is not centered in our feelings or our emotions, but is centered in our will — our rational conscience decision-making process

1) does love affect our emotions and our sentiments?

2) of course it does — and often intensely

4. but Godly love, biblical love, is almost always defined by verbs and not nouns

a. Godly love, biblical love, is not a state of feeling, but a state of doing

b. though it’s harder to see in our English Bibles, in vs. 4-7 Paul will tell us seven things that Christian love chooses to do and eight things that it refuses to do

c. he uses verbs to describe each

1) his point is that love is not a static quality or an emotional experience, but an act of the will that chooses to act or not act in certain ways

5. love is absolutely essential in human relationships in general and Christian relationships in particular

a. love has an awesome power for strengthening our relationships, and straightening out our relationships

1) in fact, I believe that our inability to love or to receive love is at the root of most or our personal and societal problems

b. love is the essential ingredient for healthy living, a healthy home, a healthy community, a healthy society, and — in the case of Corinth — a healthy church

B. LOVE IS ESSENTIAL IN THE CHURCH

ILLUS. Thomas Aquinas, a gifted Catholic scholar of the medieval church, once called on Pope Innocent II while visiting Rome. He found the Pope counting a large sum of money. “You see,” said Innocent II, referring to Acts 3:6, “The church need no longer say, ‘Silver and gold have I none.’ ”

To which Thomas Aquinas replied, “That is true, your holiness, but neither can she now say, ‘Arise and walk.’”

1. the Church of the 21st century has lost much of its spiritual authority and thus its influence upon society

a. 1st, we have lost our spiritual authority because we have been more concerned with “being on the right side of history” in the eyes of a secular culture than on “being on the right side of God”

1) over the last century, the spiritual power-brokers of many denominational groups have been more interested in being liked then in being biblical

2) the cost has been high, and that cost has been the abandonment of Scriptural authority

3) rather than the church shaping the culture, the culture controls the church

b. 2nd, we have lost our spiritual authority because we’ve been absorbed with courting political influence rather than courting the lost

1) when the Church is more concerned with confirming the right judge than confronting sinners with a saving gospel there’s something wrong

c. 3rd, we have lost our spiritual authority because we have maximized abundance in this life and minimized the glories of heaven, and the ugliness of hell

1) the early church ministered with great power

2) the were accused of literally "turning the world upside down"

3) the early church did not spread it's message by force or by violence but with the power of a gospel that could transform sinners in the love of Christ

d. 4th, we have lost our spiritual authority because the world sees most Christians just as anxious, and just as fearful, and sadly, just as unloving as they are

2. CDs’ in the bank, prestigious building, well-planned programs, talented leaders, and correct theology do not draw sinful men and help them put their broken lives back together

a. love does

3. the Apostle Paul said love is absolutely essential to our lives and in the life and ministry of the church

II. PAUL WRITES THAT LOVE HAS A PURE ESSENCE

1. in verses 4-7 the Bible teaches us that love will choose to act in certain ways, and will choose not to act in certain ways

A. WHAT LOVE CHOOSES TO DO

“Love is patient and kind; ... ” (1 Corinthians 13:4, ESV)

“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.” (1 Corinthians 13:6–7, ESV)

1. the Apostle writes that love is patient

a. the word patient actually means far from wrath and anger and carries with it the idea of persistence

b. love waits patiently on others and circumstances rather than getting angry and acting prematurely without regard to the interests or well-being of another

c. love hangs in there for the long-haul — it constrains us to be patient

2. the Apostle writes that love is kind

a. it shows undeserved generosity, and mercy toward others

3. the Apostle writes that love rejoices in the truth

a. the word is actually delights — love delights itself in truth ... it applauds when the truth of a matter prevails

4. finally, in one of the more memorable affirmations about the nature of Christ-like love, the Apostle sets forth what love does continually without limit — love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things

ILLUS. The early Church Father, Augustine, thinking upon these wrote ...

Love never tires of support

Love never loses faith

Love never exhausts hope

Love never gives up

5. real love chooses to act in certain ways

ILLUS. Many of you are at least somewhat familiar with the testimony of Corrie Ten Boom. She wrote a best-selling autobiography entitled The Hiding Place. It is the story of Corrie and her family and the horrors they experienced after being sent to Ravensbrook Concentration Camp for the “crime” of hiding Jews from the Nazis during World War II.

In the book she tells the story of an experience years after the war when she was giving her testimony to a church in Munich, Germany. In the crowd she saw the former S.S. Guard, who stood watch at the woman's shower room door. She writes in her book: "He was the first of our actual jailers that I had seen since that time. And suddenly it was all there — the room full of smirking men, the heaps of clothing, my sisters pain blanched face.

He came up to me as the church was emptying, beaming and bowing. ‘How grateful I am for your message, Fräulein,' he said. ‘To think that, as you say, Jesus has washed all my sins away!’

His hand was thrust out to shake mine. And I, who had preached so often to the people … about the need to forgive, kept my hand at my side.

Even as the angry, vengeful thoughts boiled through me, I saw the sin of them. Jesus had died for this man; was I going to ask for more? ‘Lord Jesus,’ I prayed, ‘forgive me and help me to forgive him.’ I tried to smile. I struggled to raise my hand. I could not. I felt nothing, not the slightest spark of warmth or charity. And so again I breathed the silent prayer. ‘Jesus, I cannot forgive him. Give me your forgiveness.’

As I took his hand the most incredible thing happened. From my shoulder along my arm and through my hand a current seemed to pass from me to him, while into my heart sprang a love for the stranger that almost overwhelmed me.'"

B. WHAT LOVE CHOOSES NOT TO DO

“ ... 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, ... .” (1 Corinthians 13:4–6, ESV)

1. just reading through those makes me swallow really hard

a. here Paul lists how Christ-like love will choose not to behave

2. the Apostle writes that love does not envy

a. envy or jealousy (as in some translations) is a zeal for one’s self-advancement, rather than the community’s edification

b. envy always leads to comparison — “I’m better than you,” “brighter than you,” “prettier than you,” “richer than you,” “stronger than you” and if I am those things I can “boast” and if I am not those things and you are, then I will “resent”

3. the Apostle writes that love does not boast

a. boasting is the attitude that says, “I don’t need you!” because "I'm better than you," "brighter than you," "prettier than you," "richer than you," "stronger than you"

4. the Apostle writes that love is not proud

a. we lay aside the hubris of self-importance

5. the Apostle writes that love is not rude

a. oh my, how our culture needs to hear this ...

b. the word translated rude here refers to dishonoring others for the delight of it

1) rudeness seems to be the “new normal” in American culture

2) good manners and good behavior are almost out of style

c. from incivility in the work place, to road-rage on our highways, to surliness in our classrooms, bullying, back-stabbing, disrespect, and anger have become “normal” behavior

ILLUS. In the Church at Corinth we see this rudeness on display in their disrespect in how they practiced the ordinance of Communion. “But in the following instructions I do not commend you, ... 20 When you come together, it is not the Lord’s supper that you eat. 21 For in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal. One goes hungry, another gets drunk.” (1 Corinthians 11:17–21, ESV)

6. the Apostle writes that love does not insist on its own way

a. Christ-like love is not self-seeking, but always takes the needs of others into consideration

7. the Apostle writes that love is not irritable

a. Christ-like love is not easily provoked or easily angered even when others are working hard to provoke us

8. the Apostle writes that love is not resentful

a. Christ-like love does not keep score ... it is not obsessed with slights or diggs

9. the Apostle writes that love does not rejoice in wrong doing

a. Christ-like love does not gloat when others fail

ILLUS. The Germans have a word for this; schadenfreude meaning malignant joy. In other words, love does not find a sick delight in the failures or wrongdoing of other people — especially the failures or wrongdoings of a brother or sister in Christ.

ILLUS. The 17th century French author François de La Rochefoucauld, who wrote extensively on the merciless nature of human conduct, said, “There is something not altogether disagreeable to us in the misfortune of our best friends.”

1) love shudders at such a thought

b. love does not take pleasure in saying, “I told you so” or “Now, you’ll get your comeuppance. I’ve been waiting for this.”

10. real love does not act in ways contrary to the example of our Savior

a. nothing can make true love reel or sway, totter or wobble – not the achievements of others, not one’s own achievements, not the injuries caused by others, or the failures of others

III. PAUL WRITES THAT LOVE IS ETERNAL

1. the Apostle also writes that love never fails

a. the Greek word which we translate fail has several shades of meaning — all of which paint some beautiful word-pictures

1) it means a love that grips tight and never lets go unlike the petal of a flower, which turns loose, falls to the ground and decays

2) it means a love that never loses its strength, unlike the traveler who becomes weary after a long journey

3) it means a love that never leaves its place of responsibility, unlike the sentinel who becomes distracted and leaves his post

b. in any of these picture, the meaning is basically the same

c. love – real love — has a stick-to-it-ness, that endures to the end and nothing can ever make if waver

2. as I bring this message to a close, one more thought ought to be pointed out

3. love and the actions and expressions that proceed from a loving heart are the only things in this world which will have eternal significance

a. all those things which some in the Corinthian church put so much emphasis on — prophecy, speaking in tongues, and knowledge — will one day fade away

b. likewise, all those things which some in the church today put so much emphasis one — CDs' in the bank, prestigious building, well-planned programs, and talented church leader will also fade away

4. what mattered then and what matters now is a heart of love that expresses itself in meaningful ways

a. that means we will love the Lord, our God with all of our heart, and all of our soul, and all of our mind and all of our strength for His own sake

b. it means we will love men for the sake of God

A. ETERNAL LOVE IS ONLY POSSIBLE THROUGH THE GRACE OF CHRIST

1. in 1 Peter 1:22 (KJV) the apostle wrote: "Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:" KJV

a. the Greek word fervently has no real adequate English word to translate it

b. the original word literally means to stretch

1) accordingly, Dr. Jack MacGorman, one of the great Baptist theologians of our day, coined the word stretchingly to try and translate the word

2) his translation of 1 Peter 1:22 reads. " ... See that ye love one another with a pure heart stretchingly."

2. the word stretchingly pictures exactly the kind of love God wants us to have for one another

a. Jesus is the ultimate example

3. Christian love must absorb any and every blow

a. the impact may be in the form of a sharply barbed word

b. it may be an unkind remark

c. it may be an untrue accusation

d. it could be some unethical action, some immoral conduct, or just plain old antagonism and dislike

e. or it can even be the unintentional and totally innocent remark that gets taken out of context

4. to love one another stretchingly means that after the impact of each blow to our body, or mind, or spirit or emotions, we are to return to our original position and shape

ILLUS. Many years ago, my pastor, Martin Brocket, told me that one of the most difficult things a Christian must learn to do is to toughen the skin without hardening the heart.

a. love absorbs the blow, preventing permanent damage to either our spirit or the other person and then, with a divine resiliency, returns to a Christlike posture

b. only the love of Christ shed abroad in our hearts can accomplish that feat

6. love is a virtue that acts, it is a discipline we must cultivate

CON. In the play My Fair Lady, Eliza Doolittle is being courted by Freddy, who writes to her daily of his love for her. Eliza's response to his notes is to cry out in frustration:

Words! Words! I'm so sick of words! . . .

Don't talk of stars, Burning above, If you're in love, Show me!

Don't talk of love lasting through time. Make me no undying vow, Show me now!