1 COR. 13:1-5a: “Love
Is…: Part 1”
By
1.
INTRO:
1.1.
In our last study we looked
at the ministries and offices in the
church which Christ appoints, and then we looked at some of the various ‘one
another ministries’ that the scripture talks about
1.1.1. We saw that these ministries
and offices look similar to the manifestations of the Spirit themselves, and
that this is because they are appointed to us by God as a result of our having
those gifts
1.1.2. We saw also that all of
these ‘one another ministries’ are ministries which we in the body of Christ
are given so that we can tangibly demonstrate the love of God to a brother or a
sister in Christ
1.2.
In our study today, we are going to look at Paul’s definition of what
‘agape’ love truly consists of when we demonstrate it through our lives and
interaction with people
1.2.1. We will see that no matter
to what extent we may show our devotion and commitment to the Lord by serving,
if we are not walking in God’s ‘agape’ love, then our service for the Lord is
worth nothing
1.2.2. We will see that more than anything
the goal of our walk with the Lord is to have ‘love from pure heart’
1.2.3. We will look at the first
half of chapter 13 at Paul’s definition of what love is
2.
VS 13:1 - “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.” - Paul tells the Corinthians that speaking in
tongues, even though it be the tongues of angels themselves, means nothing if
you are not walking in ‘agape’ love
2.1.
As I mentioned in our last study, D.L. Moody said of this chapter in 1
Corinthians that it was so important, that he required that the chapter be read
every day to his bible students at
2.2.
I also mentioned in our last study, that my pastor has said before that
it is no accident that chapter 13 of 1 Corinthians, which defines for us what
walking in ‘agape’ love, stands right in between chapters 12 and 14 which deal
with defining and regulating the gifts of the Spirit within the church. Applying the principles of ‘agape’ love found
in chapter 13 then is such an important key for the health of any church.
2.3.
Often times we Christians just don’t connect the dots between being a
Christian and showing that we are a Christian by how we love others.
2.4.
I would venture to say that each of us if questioned today would say
that we understand that we are supposed to love others and that loving is a
vital part of the Christian walk, however if God were to examine our lives He
would point out to us that in fact there are many ways in which we are not
displaying His love in our lives.
2.5.
Someone once said, “If you were arrested today for being a Christian,
would there be enough evidence to convict you?”
I would modify this a bit and ask, “If you were arrested today for being
a Christian, would there be enough evidence in the way that you love others
that you are in fact a Christian?” This
is a much more difficult question for us to honestly answer…
2.6.
God’s “agape” love is primarily not a feeling, but rather it is
reflected in our actions. It is something
that we do as opposed to feeling. It it
is not easy for us fallen creatures to love with the love of God, for it
requires from us a commitment to love, a discipline in loving, and a
perseverance in loving.
2.7.
This chapter of Corinthians is truly such a key portion of the entire
bible. It is such a sad commentary that
the one thing that Christ commanded His disciples to do, namely, “love each
other”, is the one thing that Christians all through the ages have had a hard
time doing.
2.8.
The Corinthians were deficient in many things in their Christian walk,
however nothing was so destructive as their lack of God’s “agape” love. The Corinthians thought that they had arrived
spiritually, and they had every spiritual gift, however, they were not using
their gifts in “love”.
2.8.1. As a result of this, Paul
wrote chapter 13 so that the Corinthians would realize that they had to express
genuine “agape” love if they were to be approved by God as His vessels for
service.
2.9.
We Christians must always realize that for us who claim to be
Christians that there can be no substitute for God’s “agape love” in our life,
nor is there any excuse for not having it in our life, just as God’s word
states in 1 John 4:8-16, “8 The one who does not love does not know God,
for God is love. 9
By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only
begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. 10 In this is
love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if
God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has beheld God at any time;
if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us. 13 By this we
know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. 14 And we have
beheld and bear witness that the Father has sent the 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. 16 And we have come to know and have
believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in
love abides in God, and God abides in him”.
2.10. In 1 Tim. 1:5, Paul
wrote to pastor Timothy the goal of their instruction to the church was more
than anything that they have love from a pure heart, “5 But the goal of
our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere
faith.”
2.11. When we read this chapter in
1 Corinthians we
must realize three things:
2.11.1.‘God is love’ as the scripture says in 1
John 4:16.
2.11.2.All of the definitions that
are given in this chapter for love are characteristics of God’s love for us, as
well as characteristics of how we are to love others.
2.11.3.We are to love others with
the same love, or in the same way, that God loves us.
2.12. Love is the fruit that comes
from the life of a Christian, and in fact all of the fruits of the Spirit in
our lives can be ascribed to love.
2.12.1.Jesus said in John 13:35
that “agape” was the true test of a disciple, “35 "By this all men will know
that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another"”.
2.12.2.We will only reach the lost
if we are walking in “agape” love.
2.13. In everything that we do as
Christians, we need to be committed to this maxim: “If you cannot do it in love, then it
shouldn’t be done at all!”
2.14. Walking in God’s “agape”
love is the fulfillment of His law.
Walking in “agape” love is not something that is optional for a
Christian, nor is it something that you do in your spiritual infancy and later
grow out of. Walking in “agape” is
actually a trait of spiritual maturity for believers. Thus, Paul wrote Gal. 5:13-14, “13 For you
were called to freedom, brethren; only do
not turn your freedom into an
opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 14 For the
whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement,
"You shall love your neighbor as yourself"”.
2.15. Their are three predominant
words that were used in the New Testament times and that correspond to and are defined by our English
word “love”:
2.15.1.“phileo”, was a word which was used
in the Greek culture of Jesus’ day and in the New Testament for a “friendship
type of love”.
2.15.1.1.This love is strong when two
people have many things in common and when they have strong feelings of
friendship towards someone.
2.15.1.2.However, this type of love
can easily be offended by selfishness and it only lasts as long as two people
continue to have things mutually in common.
2.15.2.“eros”,
was commonly used in the Greek culture, however it is not used in the New
Testament. It means a “sexual love”, and
it is the word from which our English word “erotic” comes from.
2.15.2.1.This type of love should
actually not be defined as “love” at all, but rather “lust”, for it is
concerned only for self gratification and views others merely as objects to be
used and disposed of.
2.15.2.2.This type of love should be
experienced only within the confines of one’s marriage.
2.15.3.“agape”, was not used in the Greek culture hardly at all and it seems to have
been popularized by Jesus and His followers in the first century. The word “agape” occurs 106 times in the New Testament. This word means “unconditional love which
is based upon commitment and choice”.
2.15.3.1.“Agape” love does not think
of self or what it shall get in return for loving, but rather only for the one
who is loved.
2.15.3.2.When Jesus spoke of His and
the Father’s love for men, He exclusively used this word as the word of choice,
for no other word expressed the type of love that God has for men.
2.15.3.3.It is impossible to find in
antiquity a definition for this word, however as one author has said, “chapter
13 of 1 Corinthians is the best definition for the word “agape””.
2.15.3.4.The Greek word “agape”
occurs wherever we find the word “love” in this chapter, per the New American
Standard translation.
2.15.3.5.The King James Bible
translated the word “agape” as “charity”, however this is unfortunate because
our modern definition of the word “charity” does not at all connote what this
word means in the New Testament.
2.16. In the heathen religions
during Paul’s day, they would often strike a big gong when someone made a
sacrifice, and Paul says that if a Christian does not walk in “agape” love,
then their ministry, no matter what type it might be, is like a noisy
gong.
2.16.1.There is no beautiful music
that comes from loveless ministry, but instead only an obnoxious gong
sound.
2.16.2.Paul says that even if he
could speak with the utmost eloquence in the tongues of men, or even if he
could speak whatever language that angels communicate in, yet if he didn’t have
love, he was just an obnoxious noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
2.17. It appears that the gift of
tongues was used by Paul as an example because the Corinthians seemed to
elevate the importance of the gift of tongues.
The Corinthians were rude in their expression of this gift, often speaking
when someone else was sharing, and often trying to out-do each other
spiritually using that gift.
2.17.1.Thus, they were often not
expressing “agape” love when they expressed the gift of tongues.
2.18. The Corinthians were not
walking in love or any of the other fruits of the Spirit, hence they were not
walking in the Spirit, yet they were still trying to exercise their gift of
tongues in their meetings. Their
expression of tongues was not being led by the Spirit however, for they were
not walking in the Spirit.
3.
VS 13:2 - “2 And 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.” - Paul tells the Corinthians that even if he
has the gift of prophesy, understands all of the mysteries of God, and enough
faith to move mountains, yet he is not
walking in ‘agape’ love, he is nothing
3.1.
Paul tells the Corinthians that even if they have the gift of prophesy
so that they understand every one of God’s truths revealed in His word, and
even if they have all of the knowledge of God’s word, and even if they have all
of the faith in Jesus so that they can even move mountains through their
prayers, yet they are not walking in God’s “agape” love, they are “a big
nothing”.
3.1.1. The gift of prophesy enables
one to have supernatural insight into God’s truth so that it can be opened up
to others.
3.1.2. Whenever the word
“mysteries” is used in the New Testament it refers to the truth that is
revealed in God’s word. That truth was
not meant to be mysterious, rather it is only mysterious to those who have not
taken the time to seek Him and search out His word.
3.1.3. Jesus taught His disciples
in Matt. 17:19-20 about how their faith could move mountains, “19 Then the
disciples came to Jesus privately and said, "Why could we not cast it
out?" 20 And
He said to them, "Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say
to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain,
'Move from here to there,' and it shall move; and nothing shall be impossible
to you”.
3.1.3.1.The point in this teaching
of Jesus is that Christians, by trusting in God’s promises to them from His
word, can believe and thus see God do the impossible. Nothing is too great for the Lord to do!
3.1.4. Paul wrote in 1 Cor. 8:1
that knowledge itself makes arrogant (or puffs up) but that love edifies
(builds up others), “1 Now concerning things sacrificed to idols, we know that we
all have knowledge. Knowledge makes arrogant, but love edifies”. We can only edify other Christians if we are
walking in “agape” love, for even as beneficial knowledge of God may be, it
simply makes a person arrogant if they do not have “agape” love.
4.
VS 13:3 - “3 And if I give all my possessions to
feed the poor, and if I deliver my
body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.” - Paul tells
the Corinthians that if he even gave all of his possession to feed the poor and
was burned alive for his faith, and yet wasn’t walking in ‘agape’ love, it
would profit him nothing
4.1.
Paul tells the Corinthians that even if they practice self-sacrifice to
the extent that they are continually giving all of their possessions to feed
those who are poor, yet they are not walking in “agape” love, it will not be
profitable to them, God’s kingdom, nor anyone else.
4.1.1. The Greek word for “give” is
in the present tense, thus the sense is “continually giving away all of their
possessions”, describing one who is totally sold out for the sake of helping
others.
4.2.
Paul next speaks to those who would go to the most radical extremes in
their display of service to the Lord and allow their body to burned because of
their faith.
4.2.1. What does Paul’s having his
body burned refer to?
4.2.1.1.Perhaps he was speaking
about someone who would actually set himself on fire in protest or to demonstrate
the sincerity of his faith.
4.2.1.1.1.Setting yourself on fire
because of your faith or zeal for the Lord is not commanded from God’s word,
and are not recommended for anyone to do, for the Lord does not call His people
to such futile acts.
4.2.1.1.2.However, even if someone
performed such a radical act of faith and expression, and yet that person did
not walk in love, what they did would not be acceptable to the Lord, and it
would not profit anyone spiritually, for it is love that edifies.
4.2.1.2.Some teach that Paul in this
verse may have been talking about someone who would allow their body to be
branded, instead of being burned to the death.
4.2.1.3.Most likely Paul is talking
about martyrdom for the faith by being burned alive.
4.3.
Some people think that they can gain God’s favor by giving up things to
Him or doing things for Him or for others, however whatever we give up or
sacrifice for the Lord and others is not acceptable to the Lord if we are not
walking according to “agape” love.
4.3.1. Sometimes I call the money
that some people give to the church or to charities, “guilt money”, because
people think that somehow they will be gaining God’s pleasure by giving or
sacrificing things only.
4.3.2. God wants our hearts, our
love and obedience from the heart, and nothing less will please Him. Prov. 15:8 says, “8 The
sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD, But the prayer of the
upright is His delight.”
4.3.3. In Prov. 16:5 the
author writes, “5 Everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to the
LORD; Assuredly, he will not be unpunished.”
4.3.4. Prov. 28:9 says, “9 He who
turns away his ear from listening to the law, Even his prayer is an
abomination.”
5.
VS 13:4-5a - “4 Love is patient, love is kind, and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act
unbecomingly; it does not seek its own…”
- Paul begins to tell us what ‘agape’
love is and what it is not
5.1.
All of these definitions of “agape” love come from the very person and
character of God Himself. The apostle
John wrote in 1 John 3:16, “16 We know love by this, that He laid down His
life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren”.
5.2.
It is easy to love the lovely and the loveable, however we Christians
need to be like God who loved us even when we were yet sinners, and were
hostile to Him.
5.3.
It is easy to love those who love you, and act in a loving way to
you. However, Jesus taught us that we
are to even love our enemies and those who despitefully use us.
5.3.1. In Matt. 5:46 Jesus
taught His disciples that if they only loved those who loved them in return
that they were no better than the Gentiles, or sinners, for they do the same, “46
“For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the
tax-gatherers do the same?”
5.4.
For the remainder of chapter 13 of 1 Corinthians, Paul gives the
definition of what it means when a person walks in God’s “agape” love:
5.4.1. ‘love is patient’:
5.4.1.1.‘Patience’ is one of the
fruits of the Spirit listed by Paul in Gal. 5:22-23.
5.4.1.2.Strong’s Greek Dictionary has the following definition
for this word translated ‘patient’:
5.4.1.2.1.To be of a long spirit, not
to lose heart
5.4.1.2.2.To persevere patiently and
bravely in enduring misfortunes and troubles
5.4.1.2.3.To be patient in bearing the
offenses and injuries of others
5.4.1.2.3.1.To be mild and slow in
avenging
5.4.1.2.3.2.To be longsuffering, slow to
anger, slow to punish”
5.4.1.3.Someone else once defined
‘patience’ as: “to wait without
complaint”.
5.4.1.4.In the Old Testament, we see
again and again how that the Lord is long suffering and patient with man, year
after year giving him chance after chance to repent. One stood up and spoke as it is recorded in
the book of Nehemiah, Neh. 9:17-22, “17 "And they refused to listen,
And did not remember Thy wondrous deeds which Thou hadst performed among them;
So they became stubborn and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in
Egypt. But Thou art a God of forgiveness, Gracious and compassionate, Slow to
anger, and abounding in lovingkindness; And Thou didst not forsake them. 18 "Even
when they made for themselves A calf of molten metal And said, 'This is your
God Who brought you up from Egypt,' And committed great blasphemies, 19 Thou, in
Thy great compassion, Didst not forsake them in the wilderness; The pillar of
cloud did not leave them by day, To guide them on their way, Nor the pillar of fire
by night, to light for them the way in which they were to go. 20 "And
Thou didst give Thy good Spirit to instruct them, Thy manna Thou didst not
withhold from their mouth, And Thou didst give them water for their thirst. 21 "Indeed,
forty years Thou didst provide for them in the wilderness and they were not in want; Their clothes did not wear out, nor did
their feet swell. 22 "Thou didst also give them kingdoms and peoples, And Thou
didst allot them to them as a
boundary. And they took possession of the
5.4.1.5.We Christians must ask
ourselves if we are as patient with people as the Lord is with us? Of course not, but that should be our
goal…
5.4.1.5.1.If each of us were to sit down
for a few minutes and contemplate how patient the Lord has been with us I think
that we would have a totally different perspective towards how we ought to be
patient with others.
5.4.1.5.2.We Christians need to act
towards others in the same way that our Father in heaven acts toward us.
5.4.1.6.If we Christians stopped and
considered the “agape” love that the Lord has for us, we would not find
ourselves being impatient with others.
5.4.2. ‘love is kind’:
5.4.2.1.God is kind to men because
of His “agape” love for them.
5.4.2.2.‘Kindness’ is one of the
fruits of the Spirit listed by Paul in Gal. 5:22-23.
5.4.2.3.We Christians have to always
ask ourselves if we are kind as the Lord is kind to us? Do we measure up to Jesus in regard to His
kindness to men? Of course not, but
again that should be our goal…
5.4.2.3.1.I have found some groups of
Christians who for some reason have come to the erroneous conclusion that
because they are God’s people and special to Him as a result that they do not
need to be kind to the people of this sinful world that is in rebellion against
the Lord.
5.4.2.3.1.1.Jesus taught His disciples
in Matt. 5:44-45 how that this kind of attitude is foreign to the nature
of the Lord, for He is kind to the just and the unjust and sends His rain upon
both, “44 “But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who
persecute you45 in order that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven;
for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the
righteous and the unrighteous.””
5.4.2.3.2.Some other groups of
Christians tend to not be kind towards anyone, Christian or non-Christian. Again this is so contrary to the love that
God has for mankind.
5.4.3. ‘love is not jealous’:
5.4.3.1.I find that jealousy is a
sin that is often underneath our actions as Christians. The jealous person seldom even considers that
he is acting in a jealous way. However,
underneath criticism that some people speak towards others, stories of gossip
that are told about others, or just not liking someone is actually jealousy
towards that other person because of something that they possess which we
ourselves do not possess.
5.4.3.2.What a destructive sin
jealous towards others can be. This sin
damages so many people and causes divisiveness in so many churches.
5.4.3.3.If we Christians were to
stop and consider the ‘agape’ love that God has for us, we would not be
‘jealous’ of a brother or a sister.
5.4.3.4.We have already seen that we
are to ‘weep with those who weep’ and ‘rejoice with those who rejoice’, and if
we just did that we would find no place for jealousy in our lives.
5.4.3.5.We should be able to be
thankful whenever someone else is blessed or rewarded in any way, if we know
how that God loves us unconditionally.
5.4.4. ‘love does not brag’:
5.4.4.1.Strong’s Greek Dictionary has the following
definition for this word translated ‘brag’:
5.4.4.1.1.To boast one's self
5.4.4.1.2.A self display, employing
rhetorical embellishments in extolling one's self excessively
5.4.4.2.When a person brags, I
believe that it is because he doesn’t realize how much God truly loves
him.
5.4.4.3.A bragging man tries to make
himself look better than he thinks he actually is. He does this so that people will like or
accept him because of his having achieved some special status or feat. However the very thing that he hopes to gain
he doesn’t get, the acceptance and being liked by others. Bragging you see causes people to be pushed
away from us.
5.4.4.4.Braggers are always making
you aware of their achievements and or how they can do something better than
others. These people have never realized
that true greatness is something that is a gift from God anyway, and that it is
God who should get all of the praise and glory.
When you think about it there is nothing that anyone has that didn’t
come from God in the first place, therefore knowing that how could anyone brag
about anything?
5.4.4.5.If we were to be like Christ
we would want in love to praise others and not ourselves and our own feats and
achievements.
5.4.4.6.The one who brags does this
because he doesn’t realize in his own experience the “agape” love that God has
for him.
5.4.5. ‘love is not arrogant’:
5.4.5.1.Strong’s Greek Dictionary has the following definition
for this word translated ‘arrogant’:
5.4.5.1.1.1) To make natural, to cause
a thing to pass into nature
5.4.5.1.2.2) To inflate, blow up, to
cause to swell up
5.4.5.1.2.1.To puff up, make proud
5.4.5.1.2.2.To be puffed up, to bear
one's self loftily, be proud
5.4.5.2.We Christians must be
careful not to become arrogant in our attitudes towards each other.
5.4.5.3.We read in Phil. 2:3
that the Lord wants each of us as Christians to think of others as actually
being more important than we are, “3 Do nothing from selfishness or empty
conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more
important than himself.”
5.4.5.4.We saw already in 1 Cor.
8:1 that having knowledge causes one to be puffed up, or arrogant, “1 Now
concerning things sacrificed to idols, we know that we all have knowledge.
Knowledge makes arrogant, but love edifies.”
5.4.5.4.1.It is amazing how quickly,
easily, and often we Christians can sometimes go from being in the place of
realizing how totally unworthy we are to receive anything from the Lord, to
being puffed up with pride and arrogance and thinking that we are really better
or more spiritual than others.
5.4.5.4.2.A person can become puffed
up with pride and arrogance when he possesses just a little bit of knowledge as
well as when he possesses a lot of knowledge.
Jeremiah wrote in Jer. 17:9 about how the human heart is utterly
deceitful and beyond understanding, “9 “The heart is more deceitful than
all else And is desperately sick; Who
can understand it?””.
5.4.5.4.3.We Christians must not allow
our pride to cause us to be puffed up towards others because we think that we
have arrived spiritually or because we believe we understand more than
others. God will bring us to a place
where He will cause us to be mightily humbled if we travel this path.
5.4.5.5.Sometimes I have observed
that Christians can begin to act arrogant towards non-Christians as if they
feel like they are better than the non-Christian because they don’t do some of
the things that the non-Christian does, or even just because Christ has come
into their life.
5.4.5.6.We Christians do not really
comprehend the “agape” love that the Lord has for us if we are getting arrogant
and prideful and ‘puffed up’ with ourselves and our abilities. The arrogant person sees himself as being smarter,
better looking, or better off than others, and thus he looks down his nose at
others. We don’t need to puff ourselves
up when we know just how much that the Lord loves us.
5.4.6. ‘love does not act
unbecomingly’:
5.4.6.1.This means that if someone
is walking in “agape” love, he or she will not act rudely or crudely.
5.4.6.2.We Christians need to always
check our manners and ask the Lord to reveal to us whether or not we are
actually ever acting in a rude or crude way.
5.4.6.3.If the answer to that query
is that we are acting in that way, then we need to realize and admit that we
are not walking in God’s “agape” love, and do something about it, repent.
5.4.7. ‘love does not ‘seek his
own’:
5.4.7.1.This means that a person
walking in God’s “agape” love will not be selfishly looking out only for
himself and his needs and desires. In fact,
that person will be selfless and look after the interests, needs, and desires
of others.
5.4.7.2.In Matt. 6:3, Jesus
taught His disciples about the selflessness that they needed to have in their
lives in all of the good deeds that they might do, saying, “3 “But when
you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.””
5.4.7.3.We Christians need to always
check ourselves as to whether or not we are actually looking out only for
number one, or whether or not we are actually seeking for the good of others
instead of ourselves. If we are looking
out just for “number one”, then we need to realize that we are not really
understanding God’s “agape” love that He has for us, and we need to change our
actions, repent.
5.4.7.4.Each of us as Christians
need to realize that in the big scheme of things that we really all that
important to God. It is wonderful that
He blesses us and uses us, however none of us are irreplaceable. God really doesn’t need any of us for He
could raise someone else up or use someone else just as easily as He might use
us.
6.
CONCLUSION:
6.1.
Brethren, let us follow Paul’s exhortation then to consider how to
stimulate one another to love and good deeds
6.2.
Lets realize that the real measure of our spirituality is not measured in
the amount that we know or any of our gifts or talents, rather it is in the
degree to which we will allow the Lord to love others through our lives, and be
a channel of love for God to flow through to others
6.3.
If we are to try to “out do” one another, let’s try to “out do” one
another in loving just as Christ loves, from a pure heart
6.4.
Again, let’s make a commitment to love one another