1 COR. 13:5b-13: “Love
Is…: Part 2”
By
1.
INTRO:
1.1.
In our last study we began
to look at Paul’s definition of what
‘agape’ love truly consists of when we demonstrate it through our lives and
interaction with people
1.1.1. We saw that not only are we
to love in all of the ways that love is defined in 1 Corinthians 13, but God
loves us in all of those ways as well
1.1.2. We saw that we love because
He first loved us, for we would not have known what love is if He had not first
loved us
1.1.3. We saw 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
1.1.4. We saw that more than
anything the goal of our walk with the Lord is to have ‘love from pure heart’
1.1.5. We saw that our maturity in
Christ as well as our effectiveness in ministry will be the extent to which we
love others
1.1.5.1.We saw that love is the
primary fruit of the Spirit in our lives
1.1.5.2.We saw that love is the
fulfillment of God’s laws
1.1.6. We saw that 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!”
1.1.7. We looked at the three Greek
words that were used in New Testament times for love, phileo (friendship love),
eros (sexual lust), and agape (God’s love), and how that agape is the word used
for love all throughout this chapter
1.1.7.1.We saw that the word ‘agape’
means in a nutshell, “unconditional love which is based upon commitment and
choice”
1.1.7.2.We saw that the most
complete definition of this word is right here in chapter 13 of 1 Corinthians
1.1.8. We looked in the first half
of chapter 13 at Paul’s definition of what love is
1.1.8.1.We saw that in this first
half of the chapter Paul defined God’s agape love thusly:
1.1.8.1.1.Love is patient
1.1.8.1.2.Love is kind
1.1.8.1.3.Love is not jealous
1.1.8.1.4.Love does not brag
1.1.8.1.5.Love is not arrogant
1.1.8.1.6.Love does not act unbecomingly
1.1.8.1.7.Love does not seek its own
1.2.
In our study today we are going to finish up our study of Paul’s
definition of God’s agape love, studying through the end of chapter 13
1.2.1. G. K. Chesterton once
recorded the following story of Francis of Assisi, “Francis of
1.2.1.1.Jesus said that whatever we
do to the least of these we have done unto Him (Matt. 25:45). When we consider our command given by Jesus
to love (agape) one another, and this chapter of Corinthians that defines for
us what that love entails, we need to realize that to love others is to love
Christ, and conversely to choose to not love others is to not love Christ.
1.2.2. As we have seen in our study
in the book of 1 Corinthians the past 3 studies as we have looked at how we in
the body of Christ are to love each other and love as Christ loves us, we must
realize that it is our love which shall most impress people and win the lost. It is not our tireless service, not our
living holy lives, not our fearless zeal, but our love that shall most stand
out from the rest of the world and give us a powerful testimony for Christ to
the people of this world
2.
VS 13:5b-7 - “is not
provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, 6 does not
rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all
things, endures all things.” – Paul tells us two more of
the definitions of what love is
2.1.
For this latter part of chapter 13 of 1 Corinthians, Paul completes the
definition of what it means when a person walks in God’s “agape” love:
2.1.1. ‘love is not easily
provoked’
2.1.1.1.That is to say that a person
who is walking in God’s agape love will:
2.1.1.1.1.Have a high tolerance for
people.
2.1.1.1.2.Extend a great amount of
grace to all.
2.1.1.1.3.Will not be quick to get
angry.
2.1.1.2.Ps. 103:8 tells us about how the Lord
Himself is not easily provoked, “8 The LORD is compassionate and gracious, Slow
to anger and abounding in lovingkindness.”
2.1.1.2.1.We Christians ought to be
like our Father in heaven who is “slow to anger”, and not quick tempered.
2.1.1.2.2.When we Christians think of
all of the many many times that the Lord has had good cause to be provoked at
us and deal with us in anger and wrath, and yet how that instead He has been so
patient with us, this should encourage us to deal in the same way with others
and not be easily provoked!
2.1.2. ‘love does not take into
account a wrong suffered’
2.1.2.1.Strong’s Greek Dictionary has the following entry for
this word ‘logizomai’ which is translated ‘take into account’:
2.1.2.1.1.In the King James the word
is translated depending upon the context as
think, impute, reckon, count,
account, suppose, reason,
or number.
2.1.2.1.2.The word means:
2.1.2.1.2.1.to reckon, count, compute,
calculate, count over
2.1.2.1.2.1.1.to take into account, to
make an account of
2.1.2.1.2.1.1.1.1metaph. to pass to one's
account, to impute
2.1.2.1.2.1.1.2.1a thing is reckoned as or
to be something, i.e. as availing for or equivalent to something, as having the
like force and weight
2.1.2.1.2.1.2.to number among, reckon with
2.1.2.1.2.1.3.to reckon or account
2.1.2.1.2.2.to reckon inward, count up
or weigh the reasons, to deliberate
2.1.2.1.2.3.by reckoning up all the
reasons, to gather or infer
2.1.2.1.2.3.1.to consider, take into
account, weigh, meditate on
2.1.2.1.2.3.2.to suppose, deem, judge
2.1.2.1.2.3.3.to determine, purpose,
decide
2.1.2.1.3.This word deals with reality.
If I "logizomai" or reckon that my bank book has $25 in it, it has
$25 in it. Otherwise I am deceiving myself. This word refers to facts not
suppositions.
2.1.2.2.This phrase then tells us:
2.1.2.2.1.That a person walking in
God’s agape love will forgive and forget, just as God does who forgives and
forgets our sins over and over again when we merely confess and repent of
them.
2.1.2.2.2.That he or she will also not
be a grudge bearer, but instead will be quick to forgive others who have
wronged them.
2.1.2.3.We Christians must not be an
active “bookkeeper”, keeping track of everything that people do to us, whether
good or evil. If we find ourselves
keeping score with the people that the Lord has brought into our lives, then we
need to realize that we do not understand God’s “agape” love for us as we
should, and we need to repent of that action.
2.1.2.3.1.One of the things that most
helped my wife and I in our marriage is when we both realized that we were
constantly bringing up what the other one had done in the past because we were
always keeping score, and we agreed to quit.
We realized that this had become ridiculous. After several years of marriage, we sometimes
when arguing would bring up something that the other one did even on our honey
moon. At that point we both made an
agreement that we were going to destroy forever the scorecards or accounting
books, whatever you want to call it, and never bring up something that the
other one had done as a justification for anything that we might do or even
feel now. We agreed that all had been
forgiven between us, and therefore it must never be brought up again. We Christians need to make this same
commitment to all of our brothers and sisters in Christ, family members, people
of this world, etc. If we are walking in
God’s agape love this is what we will do…
2.1.3. ‘love does not rejoice in
unrighteousness’
2.1.3.1.In the scriptures, we are
taught that God’s people are to hate sin and every evil way, for instance:
2.1.3.1.1.Psalm 97:10, “10 Hate evil, you
who love the Lord, Who preserves the souls of His godly ones; He delivers them from the hand of the wicked.”
2.1.3.1.2.Psalm 119:104, “104 From Thy
precepts I get understanding; Therefore
I hate every false way. ”
2.1.3.2.Not rejoicing in
unrighteousness can be taken in two different ways, both of which are true:
2.1.3.2.1.A person who walks in God’s
“agape” love will not rejoice when ‘unrighteousness’ of any kind prevails in
the world.
2.1.3.2.2.A person who is walking in
God’s “agape” love will never rejoice when any non-Christian or brother or
sister falls into any sinning or unrighteousness. They will never be glad when another
stumbles, for this action defames the creator of heaven and earth, and causes
people to be hurt and injured.
2.1.3.3.There was a Christian cult
called “The Children Of God” that I ran into in the 70s. This group led by a man named Moses David
taught his followers that they could do evil in order to serve the Lord, i.e.
to bring about good. He taught his
followers that the scripture in Titus 1:15, “To the pure, all things are pure…,” meant that Christians could commit
sins but because they had been purified by Christ, they weren’t sinning. He taught the girls in the cult to go from
their communes into town and to sexually seduce young guys and then bring them
into the church. However, this cult and
it’s teachings were not from God but from the pit of hell itself, since the
scripture teaches us that the Christian is to be living a life of purity,
forsaking every false way, and hating sin.
2.1.3.4.We Christians must never be
glad when a brother or sister, or even a non-Christian, stumbles and falls into
sin. We should rather grieve and pray
for those whom we hear of falling into various sins and difficulties.
2.1.3.5.However, it seems that so
often that God’s people find a certain morbid curiosity about a brother or
sister in Christ falls into sin. This is
so common for people to do in our culture today.
2.1.3.5.1.You can see this in that so
many people watch Soap Operas and all of the Jerry Springer like talk shows
which constantly display people being caught up in the most evil and unrighteous
of situations. By watching these are
people not actually having a certain satisfaction about the plots which portray
men and women falling into all the depths of sin?
2.1.4. ‘love rejoices in the truth’
2.1.4.1.This is to say that whenever
a person is walking in God’s agape love there is a joy in his or her life
whenever ‘truth’ prevails over lies and evil itself.
2.1.4.2.In Rom. 12:9 we read
about how the Christian is to abhor evil and cling to that which is good, “9
Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good.”
2.1.4.3.When we are loving someone
we must never compromise truth in order to do so. Truth and God’s agape love always come
packaged together.
2.1.4.4.We are to walk in the truth
and speak the truth in love to one another.
2.1.4.4.1.The apostle John wrote in 3
John 3-4 about how that he was glad that the church was walking in truth, “3
For I was very glad when brethren came and bore witness to your truth, that
is, how you are walking in truth. 4 I
have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth.”
2.1.4.4.2.In Eph. 4:15, Paul
exhorted the church to speak the truth in love to each other, “15 but
speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him, who is
the head, even Christ.”
2.1.4.5.Whenever ‘truth’ prevails in
any situation, do you rejoice? You
should, and, if we are walking in “agape” love, we will rejoice whenever truth
prevails.
2.1.4.6.If we rejoice when
‘unrighteousness’ and non-truth prevails, we do not really understand the
“agape” love that the Lord has for us.
God’s love is based upon an accurate reception and appreciation of
‘truth’.
2.1.5. ‘love bears all things’
2.1.5.1.Strong’s Greek Dictionary has the following entry for
this Greek word ‘stego’ which
is translated ‘bears’ in this verse:
2.1.5.1.1.In the King James
translation this word depending upon context is translated as can forbear, bear, or suffer
2.1.5.1.2.The
word means:
2.1.5.1.2.1.deck, thatch, to cover
2.1.5.1.2.1.1.1to protect or keep by
covering, to preserve
2.1.5.1.2.2.to cover over with silence
2.1.5.1.2.2.1.to keep secret
2.1.5.1.2.2.2.to hide, conceal
2.1.5.1.2.2.2.1.of the errors and faults of
others
2.1.5.1.2.3.by covering to keep off
something which threatens, to bear up against, hold out against, and so endure,
bear, forbear
2.1.5.2.A person who is walking in
God’s “agape” love will:
2.1.5.2.1.Forebear in love people’s
short-comings and sins, and instead of talk about them or bring them out in the
open, he will seek to protect that person by keeping as a secret those
faults.
2.1.5.2.2.Not be easily offended and
cast away a friendship because of the loveless condition of a person.
2.1.5.2.2.1.Our tendency as people is to
do what is called ‘86’ someone because of something about them that we
personally do not like or because they have offended us and we are not willing
to forgive them.
2.1.5.2.3.As Christ loved the
loveless, so will the one also do who walks in His love.
2.1.5.3.If we Christians really
understand God’s “agape” love that He has for us we will bear with the
weaknesses of all those that the Lord brings into our lives, believe the best
about all those that the Lord brings into our life (unless we conclusively find
out otherwise), and will endure and persevere in the friendships that the Lord
brings into our life. If we aren’t doing
these things, then we need to repent of our actions, for we are not being
Christ-like.
2.1.5.4.Now I can imagine that you
might be thinking that in relation to ‘bearing all things’ with people that you
can’t just be a doormat for people and coddle them when their hearts are in
rebellion against the Lord, and you are right!
In the church, even though we are walking in God’s agape love, we still
have to ‘reprove, rebuke, and exhort’ people in the faith, go to our brother
and rebuke him when he sins (as Jesus’ taught us in Matt. 18), promote and
strive towards living lives of holiness walking upright in the Lord, and even
exercise church discipline at times and remove people from our fellowship.
2.1.5.4.1.During the time since this
fellowship in
2.1.5.4.2.However, even when
administering discipline and correction we in Christ’s church must remember to
be committed to loving one another and being committed to each other in love.
2.1.5.4.2.1.You can tell a brother whom
you are asking to leave the fellowship that you love him but he needs to modify
some of his behavior if he is going to be able to come to the church, and when
he does this you are willing to receive him back into fellowship.
2.1.5.4.3.The question of how we
determine what is the appropriate way to deal with a person in every situation
is a very involved question. Primarily,
I believe that we have to look at this question from three view points:
2.1.5.4.3.1.We must look at the heart of
the person, and deal with them according to the thoughts and motivations of
their heart. Jesus is the perfect
example for us to follow.
2.1.5.4.3.1.1.To the humble and broken,
such as the woman caught in adultery, Jesus gave grace and mercy.
2.1.5.4.3.1.2.However, to the proud and
hypocritical, such as the Pharisees, Jesus gave the Law of Moses.
2.1.5.4.3.2.We tend to judge others
according to their actions, however when it comes to judging ourselves we take
into account our circumstances, background, etc. You’ve heard the saying that you should not
judge a man until you have walked a mile in his shoes. We ought to try to look at others with empathy
for the difficulties that they have gone through in their life before we
determine how to respond to them.
2.1.5.4.3.3.We simply need to ask the
Holy Spirit to give us wisdom and discernment to know how He wants us to respond
to each and every person and situation.
2.1.6. ‘love believes all things’
2.1.6.1.That is to say, a person who
is walking in Christ’s agape love will give everyone the benefit of the doubt
in situations and believe the best about them.
2.1.6.1.1.We need not be gullible
however and if we conclusively find out differently about a person, then we
need to act in a wise and appropriate manner regarding that person.
2.1.6.2.When a person gives us their
word, we should not react in a skeptical way towards them, but believe them.
2.1.6.2.1.However, again we are not to
be gullible, and we are not to be foolish in our dealings with others. However, we should at least give people the
benefit of the doubt we they give us their word, that is, until we might find
out differently.
2.1.7. ‘love hopes all things’
2.1.7.1.Christian ‘hope’ means
“confident expectation”, as opposed to the idea of “wishful thinking” which is
the prevalent definition for the word “hope” in our culture of this day.
2.1.7.2.A person walking in God’s
agape love will trust that a brother or a sister will have done the right thing
in a given decision, trial or temptation.
2.1.7.2.1.We must never have that
attitude about others that we hope their ship sinks.
2.1.7.3.Sometimes I have seen
Christians get pleasure from the failures and sins of others instead of sincerely
hoping that the person has or will do the right things. This is so unlike the love that the Lord has
for each one of us.
2.1.7.3.1.A Campus Crusade teacher of
mine once said, “God loved you so much He was willing to risk His
reputation on you!”
2.1.7.3.2.God believed in each one of
us Christians that He gave to us the gift of salvation, even though He knew
each and every one of the sins and failures that we would commit after coming
to know Christ.
2.1.8. ‘love endures all things’
2.1.8.1.Strong’s Greek Dictionary has the following entry for
the Greek word ‘hupomeno’
which is translated ‘endures’ in this verse:
2.1.8.1.1.In the King James
translation this word depending upon context is translated as endure, take patiently, tarry behind, abide, patient,
or suffer.
2.1.8.1.2.The
word means:
2.1.8.1.2.1.to remain
2.1.8.1.2.1.1.to tarry behind
2.1.8.1.2.2.to remain i.e. abide, not
recede or flee
2.1.8.1.2.2.1.to preserve: under
misfortunes and trials to hold fast to one's faith in Christ
2.1.8.1.2.2.2.to endure, bear bravely and
calmly: ill treatments
2.1.8.2.This phrase then means:
2.1.8.2.1.That a person who is walking
in God’s agape love will persevere in a relationship with another person
through the thick and thin of life, and not be a “fair weather friend”.
2.1.8.2.2.I have been impressed at
times how that when a person has created horrific crimes, crimes which deserve
to be punished to the full extent of the law, that there are usually at least a
parent who still loves their son or daughter who has committed these horrific
crimes and who is willing to stick with their child even though to do so means
that they will undergo perhaps much humiliation and hardship as a result of
doing so. The person who truly loves
someone with God’s agape love is willing to stick with the person even when the
rest of the world has discarded and turned away from them.
2.1.8.2.3.Many years ago now I once
attended a church retreat, and one afternoon I went for a walk with a man there
and we decided that we would take an extended walk just to fellowship rather
than go to the next meeting we were to attend.
This man began to open up to me about his life. He told me that he was still after many years
troubled about things that he had done in his life, and though he knew that God
had forgiven him he had problems sleeping as well as with his heart. He had had a couple of heart attacks. Then, he began to tell me about his life. During the 60s he had been employed by the
CIA, and during that time he would go all over the world and hunt down drug
family’s and murder them. He told me all
about the process that they would go through when given an assignment. Then, he told me a story that I will never
forget. He told me that he had been
given an assignment to go to a certain city and to murder a drug family. He had then gone undercover to this city and
had disguised himself to be one of the local people, and then he had gone and
murdered this family. That next week he
was at the funeral of the father of this drug family in his undercover disguise
and somehow the daughter of this man had found out about what he had done. This young woman came up to him and told him
that she knew that he had murdered her father, however she told him that she
wanted him to know that she was a Christian and because she was a Christian
that she had forgiven him and that she loved him with the love of Christ. Then, she told him that she hoped that someday
that he would come to know the love of God in his life. He told me that at that point in time his
entire life had been shattered. He had
to quit his job since he could no longer perform it, and it was soon afterward
that he came to know Christ as his personal Lord and Savior.
2.1.8.2.3.1.You see, the power of loving
people with the love of God is incredible and will cause us to be used of God
in a mighty way if we will just let Him love and live through our lives.
2.1.8.2.3.2.At times we may not feel His
love for others, but during those times we must love people by faith, trusting
that the Lord will give us the power to love them in spite of how we feel or
what we really are desiring at that moment to do.
3.
VS 13:8 - “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.” - Paul tells the Corinthians that love will
never fail or go away, unlike the gifts of prophesy, tongues, knowledge, etc.
3.1.
In this verse, Paul tells the Corinthians that God’s agape love never
‘fails’, which means that ‘it will never pass away or cease to exist.’
3.2.
All spiritual gifts will one day cease to exist, however in heaven and
for all of eternity we shall walk in “agape” love with our Father in heaven and
all of His creations there. The gifts of
‘prophesy’, ‘tongues’, and ‘knowledge’ will not be necessary when men and women
no longer walk by faith, but rather by sight.
3.3.
I will quote my notes from the first part of chapter 12 in which I used
the illustration of scaffolding to show that spiritual gifts will one day be
unnecessary, “Some elevate spiritual gifts too high in importance. Spiritual gifts can be compared to the
scaffolding that is used when building a beautiful building. In order to build a building workers must
place scaffolding all around the building, and this scaffolding allows the
workers to safely get to where the work is to be done and to be able to
effective do the work. However, the end
product that has value is not the scaffolding but the building. People do not drive by a building and admire
it’s scaffolding, they admire the end result which is the building itself. The scaffolding will go away one day when the
building is finished being built, and that building will last and last. Spiritual gifts are necessary for all aspects
of the effective work of ministry for Christians, however when we get to heaven
we will admire the lives of people transformed and built up by God, not the gifts
used in the process.”
3.4.
If we Christians do not learn how to walk in God’s “agape” love here on
earth, we shall not be very prepared for walking by sight with the Lord when we
get to heaven. If we really know God’s
“agape” love for us in our own life, then we will not be able to help but walk
in “agape” love with the people of this world, as well as our brothers and
sisters in Christ.
4.
VS 13:9-10 - “9 For we know in part, and we prophesy
in part; 10 but
when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away.” - Paul tells
the Corinthians that in this life we can only know or prophesy in part
4.1.
In the Bible, we Christians have only a partial revelation of God,
which He has made known to us, and therefore Paul says in this verse that we ‘know
in part’, and when the gift of prophesy is exercised we can only ‘prophesy in
part’. However, Paul tells the
Corinthians that when they go to be with Jesus that they will have ‘perfect’
knowledge, and we will no longer have a ‘partial’ revelation of God.
4.2.
Isaiah wrote in Is. 11:6-9 about that coming day of His kingdom
when we all shall have perfect knowledge of the Lord, “6 And the
wolf will dwell with the lamb, And the leopard will lie down with the kid, And
the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little boy will
lead them. 7 Also
the cow and the bear will graze; Their young will lie down together; And the
lion will eat straw like the ox. 8 And the nursing child will play by the hole of
the cobra, And the weaned child will put his hand on the viper's den. 9 They will
not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain, For the earth will be full of the
knowledge of the LORD As the waters cover the sea.”
4.3.
Some have taught that in these verses Paul is teaching that when the
Bible is printed that spiritual gifts will be done away with since they will
not be needed. However, this is a
ludicrous interpretation of the scripture.
We need gifting by the Holy Spirit just as much today as in the days of
the early church, and it is because of the lack of these giftings that the
church is so ineffective in our day at winning the lost to Christ.
5.
VS 13:11-12 - “11 When I was a child, I used to speak
as a child, think as a child, reason as a child; when I became a man, I did
away with childish things. 12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face
to face; now I know in part, but then I shall know fully just as I also have
been fully known.” - Paul explains how going from this life to
heaven will be like going from being a child in understanding, speech, and
actions to being an adult and acting like one
5.1.
Paul tells the Corinthians here that the ‘partial knowledge’ that we
will one day have of the Lord is comparable to the reasoning and thoughts that
we had as a child in comparison to those we have as a mature adult.
5.2.
Paul says that when he became a man he ‘did away with childish things’,
and when we get to heaven this partial revelation of God which we have received
in the Bible in this life will be done away with, just the same way that
maturity does away with childish thinking and behavior.
5.3.
In verse 12, Paul compares the ‘partial revelation’ which we have
received in the Bible as similar to the image that we see in a dark room as we
look at ourselves in a mirror. However,
he says that when we get to heaven we shall no long ‘know in part’, but rather
we shall ‘fully know the Lord’, just as we know that He Himself ‘fully knows
us’.
6.
VS 13:13 - “13 But now abide faith, hope, love,
these three; but the greatest of these is love.”
- Paul tells the Corinthians that love
is greater even than faith and hope in the Lord
6.1.
Paul tells the Corinthians in this verse that in this life there
remains the exercise of three important characteristics of our walk with
Christ: ‘faith, hope, and love’.
6.1.1. ‘Faith’ is simply trust in
the Lord and the faithfulness of Him and His word to us.
6.1.2. Christian ‘hope’ is that
confident expectation of God’s promises being fulfilled in our lives.
6.2.
As important and excellent as ‘faith’ and ‘hope’ may be in this life,
both of them will both pass away and be unnecessary when we meet the Lord face
to face. Faith will be replaced by sight
and hope (confident expectation) will be replaced by actual possession of our
inheritance in Christ. However, God’s
“agape” love is supreme of all of these three graces of faith, hope, and love,
and it will remain as supreme for all of eternity.
6.3.
If we Christians have ‘faith’ and if we have Christian ‘hope’ in our
lives, we ought to therein rejoice. However, we must always realize that it is
neither ‘faith’ nor ‘hope that reigns as supreme in our lives. God’s “agape” love is supreme of all of God’s
graces in our lives.
6.4.
We must learn to walk in this life in that “agape” love, since we will
be walking in it for all of eternity.
You see, love will never pass away (or fail).