A Still More Excellent Way We are in a war, engage it with a higher calling Position in Christ No Divisions God s Wisdom Servants Boast in The Lord Fatherly Warning Keep Church Pure Settle Grievances Not Your Body Marriage Principles Remain with God Build-up Relinquish Rights For The Gospel Run to Win Christian Liberty Imitators of Christ Display God s Glory The Lord s Supper Spiritual Gifts Unified Diversity Excellent Way War with whom? Powers of this present darkness Ephesians 6:12 Lofty opinions raised against the knowledge of God 2 Corinthians 10:5 Passions of the flesh 1 Peter 2:11 1
War with brothers and neighbors? NO Christ died once for all Romans 6:10 While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us Romans 5:8 Are we to engage in it? YES Paul tells Timothy to wage the good warfare (1 Tim 1:18) and to be a good soldier (2 Tim 2:3) 2
Can we engage without fear? YES [John 6:40] 40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. [1 John 4:13-15] 13 By this (our love for each other) we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. [1 John 4:18-19] 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. 19 We love because he first loved us. [1 John 4:21] 21 And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother. Weapons Love, Obedience, Faith [1 John 5:1-5] 1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. 2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. 4 For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? 3
Command [Mark 12:30-31] 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. 31 The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these. Victory Love is the more excellent way to be in unity with God, and with each other. It is His will for us individually and corporately. If we can remember this, we can change the world around us by our love for Him and our love for each other. 4
What is this chapter about? Love of course, but why? Not parenthetical, not from another letter Intended perfectly as is, in context with chapters 12 &14 Love supersedes the gifts and endures beyond them Adds emphasis on corrections needed for Bad behavior, internal strife, divisions Arrogance, Incest, law suits, adultery, idolatry Is this a Christian church? Varieties of Gifts Reminded 12:1-11 Preoccupied with the gift of tongues over all others Formerly demon possessed Currently self-promoting with tongues, thinking more spiritual Causing divisions How to differentiate between them (v3) Same Spirit (v4) Same Lord (v5) Same God (v6) 5
Members of The Body 12:12-27 One body Many members Working in unity All parts need the body; the body needs all parts There cannot be divisions, care for one another (v25) One suffers, they all suffer (v26) Christ s Body Spiritual Gifts in The Church 12:28-31 God appoints the gifts Apostles, prophets, & teachers (benefit the church as a group) Miracles, healings, helping, administrating, & tongues Order to emphasize Corinthian s wrong priorities Not all can be the same Earnestly (whole heartedly) desire the greater gifts 6
a still more excellent way. 1Corinthians 13:1-7, 8a (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. 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. LOVE NEVER FAILS a still more excellent way. Without love these gifts are nothing Even harmful, and deceiving Love enriches adds value Love edifies adds true purpose All ministry with love enriches the whole church Exercise gifts in Truth and Love Out of love for Him and for each other 7
Truth and Love All truth and no love may be brutality, but all love and no truth is hypocrisy. We need both. James MacDonald Who is the Truth? John 14:6 6 Jesus said to him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. Love, or Noisy Gong 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. Love [Agape] Greek. Characterizes God and what He manifested in the gift of His Son Given without earning, not an impulse or feeling, not a natural inclination Seeks the welfare of others regardless of affinity or reciprocation Romantic love [eros] Friendly or familial love [phileo] 8
Love, or Noisy Gong tongues of men and of angels Hyperbole to emphasize extremes or importance Not that men will speak tongues of angels He could have heard such language in paradise (2 Cor 12:4) All times that angels spoke in the Bible, no interpretation needed To use for personal gain is useless (chapter 12) a noisy gong Creates division a clanging cymbal Those without the gift reminded too, not to be jealous, but to love Love, or Am Nothing 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. Hyperbole to emphasize extremes of grand gifts Still do not compare to Love If not given in love, useless to the spiritual growth of the church He says I am nothing the person and the gift are useless Let us be useful 9
Love or Gain 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. Isn t this a demonstration of love? Can this be done without it? Hyperbole again emphasizing extremes A cry for attention perhaps without love Love comes first, would you do these then? [1 John 3:16] 16 By this we know love, that He laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. Deny Self [Luke 9:23-24] 23 And He said to all, If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. A form of self sacrifice not martyrdom Setting aside our own ideas for a full life Being obedient to Christ who gave Himself for us In this manner we best agape love others 10
Love is Patient and Kind 4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. In the NIV: 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. In the NASB: 4 Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly. Love is Patient and Kind Impatient and unkind? Family members, coworkers, nearby drivers React when provoked? Keep things in perspective Hold everything accountable before the Lord Every thought captive Trust Him, remember our faith, please Him He provides the ability to endure provocation patiently 11
Love is Not Proud The NIV included Proud Jealousy, envy, boasting, bragging, arrogance, rudeness All stem from the same heart motivation PRIDE Bury our pride every morning Receive the grace of God [Lamentations 3:22-23] The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; 23 they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. Love is Not Selfish 5 It [love] does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; Direct counter to the Corinthians actions (continued) Rudeness during worship, disorderly conduct at Lord s supper, self-satisfaction, neglecting the needy, lawsuits to name a few Selfishness comes from pride too Others; member of His body, child of God, for whom Christ died Give irritations and resentment to God no matter how small [Ephesians 4:32] 32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. 12
Love - not Unrighteousness 6 it [love] does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Unrighteousness is an affront to God Do we rejoice (take any joy) in unrighteousness? Vulgar comedians or movies Secular music that does not edify At the cost of quenching the Spirit, or ruining your testimony It is natural to be attracted to these things What about gossip? Love not Gossip Simple question about someone Disclosing others sins or habits Differences of opinion or priorities leading to assumptions Bad for both the talker and the listener Protect each other from ourselves God s manifold witness has many facets, let s trust Hurt or grieved when brother or sister or our Lord is maligned? 13
Love Rejoices with The Truth The Truth here is God s, not factual truth Rejoice in the Lord (Philippians 3) in God s Truth Righteousness is predicated on God s Truth It starts and stops and is measured here in His Truth Love rejoices in God s Truth Doctrine matters, Love does not overlook truth, test all spirits (1 John 4) Rejoice over each other, our sacrifices, helps, offerings, our walk Genuinely happy about our shared adoption as His children - Eric Love Bears all Things 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. NIV: 7 It [love] always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Bears [Srego]: to cover or support, basically to protect all things that are acceptable to God s righteousness and will For edification and building up of Christ and the church here Natural tendency tattling, enjoying the depravity Go to bat for each other, stand in the gap, protect 14
Love Protects Cover each other s sins; protect us from ourselves [Proverb 10:12] 12 Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses. God covered [up] our sins [1 John 2:2] 2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. Love Trusts Do we naturally tend to trust people? Okay, politicians may be an acceptable exception It is easy and natural to be suspicious and cynical Give benefit of the doubt among this family Assuming the best; helping to make right [Galatians 6:1] 1 Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. 15
Love Hopes Even when trust and belief are shattered Hope for the best outcome for them and the family Helping to restore and reconcile Love refuses to take failure as final Love Endures To endure [Hupomeno], to persevere under pressure Cannot persevere without love Don t become weak; lean on the enduring love of Christ Love refuses to stop protecting, believing, and hoping Does rejection stop you from sharing the gospel? Continually praying for a lost friend or family member? 16
The Enemy Satan looking for who he can devour Turning us in on ourselves (like this country now) Turning even our spiritual gifts against each other Ruining our ability to love each other or the world [ ] wants us to have no testimony by deed or word Love Never Fails In the wars of this life, love is our strongest weapon Fashioned by God through Christ Jesus our savior Are you listening to your flesh? (captain on the Bounty) Our flesh is jailed and powerless, but we keep listening Truth in love growing in love [Ephesians 4:15-16] 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into Him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. 17
Let us put on the whole armor of God [Eph 6:10] and polish it with LOVE, get out of the fortress, and fight the good fight of faith [1 Tim 6:12], pressing on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus [Phil 4:13] who is at the right hand of God and who intercedes for us. Who will never let us be separated from the love of God [Rom 8:34, 39]. Be encouraged by Romans 8:31-39 Will we be found in His love and loving others when the Master, the Bridegroom, returns? Live like He is coming [back] today! 18