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1 Corinthians
13:1-13
Summary of
Sermon: Love is self-less service to God and neighbor in the Church.
Scripture
Reflection: Ephesians 4:11-16; John 13
Introduction
(1) Context-
Gifts in church bring unity and order (chapter 13 situated between chapter
12 on unity in church and 14 on order in church).
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The Apostle
Paul wrote in 1 Cor. 1, verses 2 and 10:
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2 To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those sanctified in
Christ Jesus, called to be saints together
with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
both their Lord and ours:
§
10 I appeal to you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
that all of you agree and that there be no dissensions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the
same judgment [lit. “united in mind and thought or
judgment”].
Notice also 1 Cor. 12:4-6:
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4 There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.
5 There are
differences of ministries, but the same
Lord.
6 And there are diversities
of activities, but it is the same
God who works all in all.
§
The Spirit
of God not only provides the true unity of the Church, but it should
permeate every member’s understanding of both their individual
identity as a Christian, and more importantly their corporate makeup in a
body as well! These believers at Corinth failed to understand that what is foundational
to any church’s maturity or success is found in the Spirit’s
gifts, enabling believers to serve Christ, not merely privately as an
individual believer, but as the corporate and visible body of the Church of Christ. Look at
1 Cor. 12:21, 27:
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NKJ 1 Corinthians 12:21 And the eye cannot say to
the hand, "I have no need of you"; nor again the head to the
feet, "I have no need of you."
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RSV 1 Corinthians 12:27 Now you are the body of
Christ and individually members of it.
§
At the
beginning of Chapter 12, Paul addresses one of the most important aspects
of the visible church’s life: that of harmony and unity concerning
spiritual gifts. The gifts that the
Spirit provided were so that the visible church might be built up before
the eyes of the world as a holy, sanctified and mature, and self-less
community! A community identity was
to be their true identity [Repeat]. Look at 1 Cor. 12:11-14:
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11 All these are inspired by one and the same Spirit, who apportions
to each one individually as he wills. 12 For just as the body is one and
has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one
body, so it is with Christ. 13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into
one body -- Jews or Greeks, slaves or free -- and all were made to drink of
one Spirit. 14 For the body does not consist of one member but of many.
§
Paul wanted
all of the Church to know that the congregation was a unified reality as
the Body of Christ and that the gifts they were given were not to be used
merely privately, but in a very public and visible manner. In fact, the primary reason for the gifts
of the Spirit was selfless service to one another in order to build up the
church.
(2) How we
use the word "love" in our daily speech.
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What is
love? How do we define love? Is love manifested merely in words? English is a funny language, we use the
word love to communicate how we
feel about everything practically!
You know, I love cookies; I love a particular show on television;
I love my puppy, my toy, etc. etc. We cannot make a distinction between
saying I love you to our spouses
and the love we have for other things listed above. Now in context of 1 Corinthians, how does
Paul describe love? Is our love for God shown in our love for
his church? Is our love for
ourselves greater than our love for our brethren? Is love teaching our own particular
doctrines and fanciful interpretations of God’s word? Is loving saying
“peace—peace” at all costs, whether truth is being
declared or not; whether error is being embraced; Is love separating from the visible
church in order to “more sanctified”? In the context of 1 Cor. 12:31-13:13, we should question and challenge those who have
such an immature understanding of Christianity! How is love expressed in the visible church?
§
Paul wanted
the congregation at Corinth to understand true love, and for us today to know and remember love
which is “the most excellent way” (1 Cor. 12:31). Let us
take a look at a few things Paul teaches us about love. Remember, this falls after he speaks of
the reality of our being baptized into one body by the Spirit of Christ,
and his giving us gifts in order that we might build up the church. We have a construction project we must
always keep in mind as Paul has already taught in 1 Cor. 3:5-17! Notice in our study just how closely
related is love and the visible church; that is, notice that the context
teaches that true love is found in the church. Do not fail to miss this important
point. Love is not manifested in a
vacuum as we will see, but in the real and visible body of Christ. Love is indeed the regulating
principle of all of our actions as Christians [Repeat].
I.
Love
with Gifts and Grace (13:1-3)
§
Paul begins
with eloquence in the church. Not in
and of itself a bad thing, in fact a gift of God, but if the tongues we
speak are of men or even as high as the tongue of the angels and we have
not love as our regulating principle it is not constructive. What we say is not as important for the
apostle as much as how, or from
what motivation we say it. This as
everything else in the Christian life is a matter of the heart. It is not our speech as much as the
motivation of our speech that shows love, lest we just sound like a loud
trumpet or the loud clash of a cymbal.
Paul continues in v. 2, if we have the real gift of prophecy which we
know comes from the Spirit of God, if it is abused or misused without love,
it is worthless. All the mysteries
and knowledge, and even a faith that is impenetrable and believes, if not
founded on love for the brethren, Paul says these are
“nothing.” If a person
does good deeds such as giving away all of his belongings, being a true
philanthropist in society, and even lays down his life to be burned, but
does it without love, it is without profit, Paul teaches in v. 3. This means it is not able accomplish the
reason why the gifts are given in the first place- - to build
Christ’s church so that he may be glorified!
§
Think of all
of the people in this world and even in the church who have wonderful gifts
as those created in God’s image, who use their eloquence, their
wisdom and knowledge, those who are philanthropists who donate to museums
and historical societies and provide for needy children, who do it for
selfish gain and for men to see their works and praise them. Although the gifts and deeds in and of
themselves are good, they are useless… “nothing” if not
motivated by love for Christ and his church! Surely the martyrdom Paul speaks of, the
“giving my body to be burned,” is the greatest and most
selfless act of all, yet if it is done for any other reason than for the
glory of God, even this is vain and unprofitable. In these verses we see that love is the
only means of regulating the right use of the gifts of God, and no matter
how noble or admirable these qualities in the eyes of men, before God (that is, in
“God’s estimation”) they are accounted as
“nothing”.
II.
Love
in Unity (13:4-7)
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You could
summarize verse 4-7 concerning What
Love is, as: “Ultimately, love does not think of self but others
always. It is self-less, the
opposite of individualistic.”
Ultimately, true love is shown in self-less service to God and our Neighbor. Allow me to summarize verses 4-7:
(1) What
love is not... (the negative)
(a)
Love is
not selfish- Love looks away
from self to serve God and neighbor.
(b)
Love is not defensive- Love does not react and withdraw in a corner
when offended- - separating from Christ’s Church.
(c)
Love is not now-oriented- Love realizes that the
Christian community is not yet complete.
People in Christ are “works in progress” and therefore
Christ is not finished with them as of yet!
Thus, the beauty and power of gospel preaching with the Spirit
transforming our minds and our behaviors!
(2) What
love is... (the positive)
(a)
Love is self-less- Love is not primarily interested in
self, it is interested in serving other “selves”.
(b)
Love is offensive- Love takes the offensive, not the defensive as illustrated above,
by reaching out regardless of the offense.
Love is serving, or to change the metaphor, Love is marching forward
in Christian service rather than retreating from the battle in anger (as we
read earlier in John 13).
(c)
Love is future-oriented- Love knows
through enduring and loving service, people will become more complete and
mature in Christ. The serving
together lovingly in Christ’s Church by using the gifts he has given
us by his gracious Spirit, will help to mature the Christian believers so
that they might become more like Christ.
Let’s
tease this out a bit by looking at verses 4-7:
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Notice in
the beginning of verse 4, Paul says that true love is patient or is longsuffering or“suffers long”. No matter how imperfect the church seems
at times, Paul wants us to know that true love is patient in dealing with
it (as he is being with them, as he writes to correct them just because
they are those sanctified in Christ Jesus).
Endurance together in the visible church, striving together,
promotes peace and harmony. Like
marriages that oftentimes go through difficult times, we “hang in
there” together, and in doing so, we actually grow together. We learn to forgive one another and trust
each other and to realize that Christ has had patience on us, and so we
should have patience with our brethren.
In contrast to the world and those who were dividing the congregation
at Corinth, impatience with the church and with Christ’s authorities
in the church brings division.
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The kindness
that Paul speaks of in verse 4 is very closely related to the
patience. Kindness means gentleness
and lenity toward each other, knowing that we have a relationship with one
other to appreciate and understand.
Kindness is the outworking of our patience toward our brethren. If you are patient, then you cannot help
being kind! Listen, if we truly know
the depth of our sins before a Holy God who is patient with us, then
certainly we must be patient with our brethren who sins against us!
§
Then Paul
says love does not envy, parade
itself, and is not puffed up. This
can be summed up: Love is not jealous, or boastful, or arrogant. Let’s think of this in context of
the gifts Paul speaks of in chapter 12.
As some at Corinth were doing, they were jealous of other’s
gifts in the Church. In looking away
from the gifts that God has bestowed on them, they failed to understand
their own purpose in Christ’s church.
They envied or were jealous of others having perhaps different, or
what they perceived as better gifts than themselves.
§
Have you
ever envied anyone? Have you ever
asked God why he gifted someone a particular way that you also wanted? Have you ever been frustrated at another
servant in the church because you perceived that their gifts were better
than yours? You might have
misunderstood your purpose and your unique gifts that God has given to
you. We must never do this because
it is not only envious and devilish, but it undermines the church. Because the person whom you think has
better gifts, the one you envy, needs your gifts to build up and encourage
them as well. If you are busy
looking at other’s gifts, you will fail to use your own gifts to
build up the body! Remember, where
envy reigns- - where every one is desirous to be the first or to have
certain gifts (such as being a prophet, administrator, etc.), love has no
place there. As Paul said at the end
of 1 Cor. 12, not all have the same gifts but they are given by the Spirit
for the common good!
§
Very closely
connected to envy is “parading oneself” or
“boasting”. What some
fail to realize is that without love, any of God’s gifts can be used
for selfish reasons, and pride will rule the person. In contrast to selfishness expressed in
boasting or “parading oneself”, the way of love is knowing the
Source of the gifts (which brings humility, as Paul asked the Corinthians
earlier: “What do you have
that you have not received?” in 1 Cor. 4:7). As well as the Source of the gifts, we
also remember to whom all the glory goes, and the goal of the gift- - that
is, building up Christ’s church- - those for whom Christ died,
visibly manifested in the world. Can
you imagine using the gifts God has given you for the tearing down of his
church, even if it was not your intention?
In actuality, if you use your gifts to tear down the church, you are
working closer with your adversary the devil rather than being led by the
Holy Spirit. It is a frightening
thing to think of trying to work individualistically against God’s
good purpose and will.
§
We should
encourage each other in the gifts which each of us have been given. We are often concerned about
“puffing someone up” but this can actually be a false form of
pride, or a reversal of pride.
Although we all know the gifts come from God, our gift might be to
encourage someone else in their gifts and so to help them as they build the
church in way that we cannot. The
reason why we usually do not want to encourage another brother is not
because we have a true doctrine of God’s sovereignty, but it is
because we are a sinful and competitive people who do not want to give
first place to others. We all need
each other, but if we are busy about trying to obtain another’s gift,
we will not only misunderstand the gifts graciously given to us, but we
will also fail to use our own gifts effectively. Someone who is concerned for God’s
glory and the good of his church is not “puffed up”! The proverbial “windbag”
(lit. what the word means) cares only for himself and is extremely
individualistic! Calvin gives good
insight for the false pride that can be manifested with regard to our
gifts, he says:
Self-denial gives us the right attitude toward
our fellow men (Phil. 2:3ff; cf. Rom. 12:10)- “The very vices that
infest us we take pains to hide from others, while we flatter ourselves
with the pretense that they are slight and insignificant, and even
sometimes embrace them as virtues.
If others manifest the same endowments we admire in ourselves, or
even superior ones, we spitefully belittle and revile these gifts in order
to avoid yielding place to such persons…thus, each individual, by
flattering himself, bears a kind of Kingdom in his breast…there is no
other remedy than to tear out form our inward parts this most deadly
pestilence of love of strife and love of self, even as it is plucked out by
Scriptural teaching…Let us then unremittingly by examining our
faults, call ourselves back to humility…You will never attain to true
gentleness except by one path: a
heart inbued with lowliness and with reverence for others (III.7.iv)
§
Paul begins
v. 5 with love does not behave rudely. This means that someone with love as
their foundation does not behave improperly. In connection with the previous verse,
this “rudeness” is acting in a manner which is unbecoming or
inconsistent with true moderation. A
person of love is not “haughty”…he does not “look
down his nose” at others in judgment for instance. For example, rudeness and lack of love
can be displayed when a mature Christian who understands Christian liberty
insists upon the weaker brother partaking with him in a sip of wine. He may desire his brother to have a
proper understanding of Christian liberty, and to even experience a merry
heart, but if he is not compelled by love for the brethren, he is
rude. On the other hand (for those
who said “amen”), when the weaker brother judges the stronger
Christian for practicing Christian liberty, they are being just as rude. This is why Paul teaches the Corinthians
in chapters 8-10 about the importance of love underlining all we do as
Christians in practice. We are free
and have liberty in Christ, but we do not have liberty either to judge or
to impose upon our brethren!
This is an example of rudeness, being immoderate, or
“unseemly”- - that is, to act “unbecomingly” as
some older translations have it. In
Romans 14, Paul teaches us that love cares for one’s brother.
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Rudeness can
be seen in the way members of the church communicate one to the other. The Church is the last place where
rudeness should dwell. I think
Francis Schaeffer captured this well in the early 1980s in his little book The Mark of the Christian. He said:
“I have observed one thing among true Christians in their
differences in many countries: What divides and severs true Christian
groups and Christians- - what leaves a bitterness that can last for twenty,
thirty, or forty years…is not the issue of doctrine or belief which
caused the differences in the first place.
Invariably it is a lack of love- - and the bitter things said by
true Christians in the midst of differences. These stick in the mind like glue. And after time passes and the differences
between the Christians or the groups appear less than they did, there are
still those bitter, bitter things said in the midst of what we thought was
a good and sufficient objective discussion.
It is these things- - these unloving attitudes and words- - that
cause the stench that the world can smell in the church of Jesus Christ
among those who are really true Christians.”
§
Paul then
says Love does not seek its own
or it is not “self-seeking”.
By nature, we are prone to care only for ourselves and aim at our
own advantage. Remember that the
Spirit does not gift us to be individualistic by nature, this derives from
our own sinful tendencies. The
Spirit equips us so we may make up a body of believers. Because we are selfish and “seek
our own,” we look at how we might promote ourselves for our own
good. The remedy for this is
love. With our gifts that we use for
the Church, we can become self-seeking, or seek our own, ailing to give of
our gifts to serve our brethren. We
must be concerned with our neighbors as Christ teaches us and truly more
concerned for their welfare. This is
not achieved in an easy fashion, it is a life-long pursuit. Paul says in 1 Cor. 10:24: “Let no
one seek his own, but each one the other’s well being.”
§
Thus in not
being self-seeking, we can also avoid being easily angered or provoked,
as well as avoid thinking evil of
others who are “out to get us” or getting in the way of our own
success. Another way to say this is,
that if one is easily provoked and angered, or are quick “to think
evil of others”- - one who is suspicious of those who are members and
ministers in Christ’s church, this is a good indication of how
selfish you are! [Repeat]. We can also, by not thinking evil of
others, avoid keeping a record of wrongs from those who have hurt us and
this can help us to forgive them as Christ has forgiven us.
§
Being
selfless because we are united with Christ and have the Spirit, we can be
constantly be on our guard against thinking too much about our own needs
and wants and desires, and focusing on what God’s will and what he
wants us to do for our brethren in the church. In fact, I have heard that when we go
through problems of our own, one of the best ways to get our mind off
ourselves and our own sufferings, is to minister or serve someone
else! To summarize verse 5, you
could ask yourself: “Am I selfish? Do I behave unbecomingly or rudely
to my brethren? Am I easily provoked
and think evil, keeping a long records of those who have
“dissed” me?”
There is a two sided coin here: the truth is that others will be rude to you, but will you be
rude back and unforgiving? Or will
you be selfless and give up your rights, forgiving those who offend
you? To be easily upset is to
actually think of yourself higher than you ought (cf. Phil. 2:1-11).
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Furthermore,
Paul says in v. 6 love does not
rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth. On the surface of things, one would hope
this to be obvious. But this helps
us as a congregation in the area of gossip and ill talk of others. In other words, we avoid bearing false witness about others,
particularly those in Christ’s church [Pause]. Not only does
love not rejoice in iniquity or sin as a way of life, so when we know
someone who is struggling with a particular sin, we do not rejoice in their
weakness, but we rejoice in the truth and power of God’s forgiveness,
and their ability to overcome the sin because of the Spirit’s power
and dominion over their heart! Any
kind of wrongdoing or injustices, we look to the truth and what it reveals
about these matters. In these
matters we must remember Paul’s words to the congregation at
Phillipi:
Finally, brethren, whatever
things are true, whatever things are noble,
whatever things are just,
whatever things are pure,
whatever things are lovely,
whatever things are of good report,
if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy --
meditate on these things (Phil. 4:8).
§
Concerning the “rejoicing in the truth,” there is a
doctrinal aspect to this we want to consider! Some would say that true love and unity
is when no has any doctrinal problems with others. This is not true love or unity. Doctrinally as a visible confessional
church, we rejoice in the truth of what we confess; that is, because our
confession contains the system of doctrine taught in Scripture, it tells
everyone what we believe concerning Scripture! In the early 20th century, the
banner or motto for Liberalism was “love and unity” in all
things. You may recall that
Liberalism denied the resurrection and deity of Christ among other
important essential truths of Scripture.
Reinhold Niebuhr, a thelogian of the 1960s, articulated a beautiful
summary of Liberalism. He said
Liberalism is summed up thus:
A God without wrath,
brought men without sin, into a kingdom without judgment, through a Christ
without a cross.
§
The so-called “love and unity” Liberalism promoted was
not Scriptural. No matter how many
essential doctrines of Scripture these denied, their foundation was love and unity. Let me make myself clear: this is not love-
- nor is it Christianity as J. Gresham Machen said in his timeless book Christianity and Liberalism,
published in 1923. Dr. Machen said
that Liberalism was neither loving nor Christian because it denied sinful
men the truth of Jesus Christ!
Liberalism made the teaching and whims of man, rather than
Scripture, the rule of doctrine and life.
This was neither true nor loving. Thus the reason we must only speak where
Scripture speaks and base our doctrines on what Scripture says explicitly
and implicitly, or that which can be deduced by good and necessary means,
is because Scripture is our only rule for doctrine and life. Our motto is not merely “love and
unity” but love and unity based on Scripture alone (Scriptura Sola) and the whole counsel of God (Scriptura Tota). I know,
now you ask what about the little differences in belief, those minor
disagreements that churches have in what Scripture teaches. Well, Augustine said it best: “In essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, in all things charity” (unitas, libertas, charitas). This is good advice.
§
In v. 7,
Paul gives the church four important action verbs for the church to
memorize: Love bears, believes,
hopes, and endures all things.
This is Paul’s summary statement that takes us back to his
initial truth spoken in v. 4: Love
suffers long or is patient and love is kind.
§
What do
these 4 verbs communicate: (1) “Love Bears”; love endures, or
“puts up with”; (2) “Love Believes”; or love
“keeps the faith” or love “trusts”; (3) “Love
Hopes”; love hopes in, or hopes for; love “has high
expectations in God’s work”; (4) “Love Endures”;
love endures, stands firm or “never gives up”.
§
The reason
love bears all things and endures all things is that it is part of the
patience or longsuffering; to believe and hope is part of the kindness [Repeat]. As sinful people we are naturally
spiteful to those who have “burned us” and we do not easily
forgive, but become suspicious of others rather than being kind and
trusting of others. We must learn to
trust those in Christ’s visible church no matter how imperfect, just
because they are our family and their gifts are from the Spirit of God in
order to build us up in the Church.
Avoid being spiteful and suspicious of others just because someone
has proven unfaithful to you in the past.
Love must trust. Part of the
believing and hoping in “all things” is giving the
“benefit of the doubt” to someone, so that your foundation
might be love and not suspicion.
This is particularly important for those in Christ’s church.
§
Paul reaches
the climax in v. 8 of his letter with these wonderful words: Love never fails (lit. “Love
never “comes to an end”). Here is a full summary of all that
Paul has taught up to here. Love
truly endures forever despite imperfect men and our own sins. Although the present sinful age is
temporal and passing away, in contrast love will remain!
III.
Love
Endures and Matures (13:8-13)
(1)
Gifts now...
(2)
Love now...
(3)
Maturity and completeness in Christ...THEN.
§
Briefly, I
want to make a few comments on these last few verses in conclusion. Paul says in v. 8 no matter what the
gift: prophesy, tongues, knowledge, these are not permanent. However, what the gifts founded upon the
love of Christ works in us is profoundly permanent. These are used to bring us to maturity in
Christ through endurance and loving service.
§
In v. 9,
Paul says because we do not know all, we do not prophesy with all knowledge
in this present age. These gifts
that Paul speaks of are temporal, but are gifts given for an eternal purpose and goal. The gifts are given now by the Spirit in
order to build up and purify a church, a bride which will dwell with God
forever. But as with the temporal
nature of the present age, so in the future when the “perfect”
comes or the age to come is fully revealed, there will be no more need for
these kind of gifts. As Paul says in
v. 10, these which give us part of the future now, like the Spirit who is
our first-fruits or down payment now, are part of the Age to Come while we
yet live in the present age. But
when the perfect comes, when all things are renewed, then we shall see face
to face. We shall dwell with God and
see our Savior face to face.
§
What Paul
wants us ultimately to understand is that the gifts are given now as a
foretaste, as we await our Savior to return, in order to equip us to
persevere and to purify us on the Day of the LORD. However, even though the gifts are
temporal as the present age, the Giver himself is eternal and the faith,
hope and love we have in Him as we serve in his Church now, will always
continue because these are the attributes of our Great God and Savior Jesus
Christ. Now, as we serve his Church
and work to build it up and give of ourselves self-lessly, so our faith and
hope are founded upon love that endures forever. These three remain: faith, hope and love-
-but the greatest of these is love!
Conclusion
1)
Now if we are honest with ourselves, any
study of love leaves us all feeling pretty inadequate and guilty of failing
to be truly loving. These kind of
studies leave us with a sense of our own selfishness and the great
abundance of love we have for ourselves and the little love we have for
others. We are not always patient or
kind; we boast and are proud; we are self-seeking and easily angered; we do
not always bear all things, believe, hope and endure all things! But there is one who did! This is why Christians need to constantly
hear and receive the truth of the gospel!
In spite of our sins and our
imperfections, Christ loved his church so much that he selflessly laid down
his life for us. He has forgiven our
sins, including our tendency toward individualism, and he has given to us
of his Spirit in order to conform us into his image. Thus the reason the Corinthians then, and
us now, in all our imperfections as believers can truly say we are
“sanctified in Christ Jesus” because we are in union with
him. He has justified us by faith
alone and he has, and will continue to sanctify us together as his
people! One note: regardless of
popular individualistic theology, Christ died not merely for the salvation
of individuals, but for a people [pause]. That is, Christ died for individuals who
make up a body, a church, a community (he laid down his life for his sheep-
- his church!). Is our method of
witnessing the gospel, communicating the importance of a community-centered
theology; one that promotes the visible church, or is it communicating an
individualistic kind of salvation that ultimately tears down the visible church?
2)
Remember church: imperfections and all,
those who have been baptized by the Holy Spirit into Christ’s Body,
are sanctified and holy, as Paul taught the Corinthian church in 1 Cor.
1:2. He who began a good work in you
will complete it so that he can
present to Christ a holy, pure and undefiled bride. Paul teaches the Corinthians then, and us
now in 1 Cor. 6:11: “…but you were washed, you were sanctified,
you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit
of our God.”
3)
As we read in John chapter 13 in the
beginning of our worship, the Lord Jesus speaks his final words, gives his
final teaching, final prayers, and his final meal with his disciples. Before Jesus teaches them to love one another, he gets down on
one knee, drapes the towel over his bended knee, and washes the filthy feet
of his sinful disciples. This is
exemplary, and self-less service
of love. That’s why Jesus
said: By your love for one another,
will all men know that you are my disciples. Our love and service in the church will spill over into our service in our
community and in our evangelism to the lost! But we must begin here…that is, in
being and loving as the church, in the church, for the church!
Benediction Prayer
Go this day Church in the power of
the Spirit, knowing that Christ loves you and that you must learn to love
the brethren and to build up his church.
We must repent of the times we have used our gifts for the tearing
down and hindering of Christ’s church rather than for the building up
and construction of his holy temple!
CRB
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