Thompson, Hartley: 1Corinthians 13-02

Good morning. Please turn with me to First Corinthians chapter thirteen, commencing at the beginning of the chapter. Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels and have not love, I am become a sounding bronze or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith so that I could remove mountains and have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned and have not love, it profited me nothing. Love suffereth long and is kind. Love envieth not. Love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not its own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoice it in the truth. Bear it all things, believeth all things, hope it all things, endure it all things. Love never faileth, but whether there be prophecies, they shall be done away. Whether there be tongues, they shall cease. Whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part, but when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child, but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see in a mirror darkly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then shall I know even as also I am known. And now abideth faith, hope, love, these three, but the greatest of these is love. The supreme gift. The supreme gift. During these days of conference, through the ministry of God's word and the intimate fellowship we have shared, we were taken, as it were, to the mountain. And like Peter on that Mount of Transfiguration, our hearts were inclined to say, Lord, it was good for us to have been here. But I want you to think of the fact that while those disciples on the mountain were enjoying that wonderful and immense intimacy with Christ, the other disciples in the valley were having a very difficult time exerting the needed energy to dispel with a problem with which they were faced. There was a man with a lunatic son who wanted so much to see his son relieved of that problem, and his disciples were powerless to deal with it. And so I want us to come down from the mountain for a few moments and dwell on some very practical things that we trust will be an incentive and an encouragement and a challenge to all of our hearts. I think it was Shakespeare who said, the evil that men do live after them, the good is oft interred with their boons. Now, that's not entirely true where the Christians are concerned, because our good works follow, and we know that there is coming a day when we will be rewarded for everything that is done to the praise and glory of God. But there is a sense in which we tend to amplify problems in assemblies. And while every assembly have very many good things that can be said about it. Invariably, there are those little incidentals that create a problem in the assembly of God's people. Why, even Philippi, who is regarded as the model assembly, had just a little knot in the apothecary, a little fly, as it were, in the ointment. And so all of the assemblies have some minute problem or another, some, of course, to a greater or a lesser degree. But Corinth is especially noted for the problems that it had. And I say there is no joy in amplifying these problems, but for the sake of this message, I think it is important to reiterate them once again. Let me mention in passing that one of the problems at Corinth was a partisan spirit. Many of the saints, you see, had degenerated, spiritually speaking, to such a level that they were identifying themselves with individual ministers of the gospel. And there were those who said, we are of Paul, and others claimed allegiance to Apollos. Yet others said, we are of Cephas or Peter. And there was that real exclusive pleat who claimed that they belonged to Jesus. And this kind of divisiveness created a big problem at Corinth, and Paul had to address that issue under the inspiration of the Spirit of God, and he said, who is Apollos? Who is Cephas? Who is Paul? But ministers through whom you have heard the word of God in the gospel and the ministry to the edification of your souls. In essence, he was saying that we, Paul, Cephas, and Apollos, are not to be idolized. Yes, we are to be respected in our own rights, but we are not to be idolized, and certainly we're not supposed to create a sectarian spirit among the people of God. And so he dealt with that partisan spirit. And then there was the problem of an incestuous relationship. Now, it is almost inconceivable that they could have allowed such a thing. But immorality had reached its zenith, so much so that there was a young man who was having an affair with his father's wife. And Paul said to the saints, instead of lamenting and crying before God, instead of dealing with the issue, you are gloating, you have an exaggerated sense of your importance, you are swollen with pride, and you allow such a condition to go unjudged. Then there was another area of problems, disorder at the Lord's table. The rich folk were, in a sense, embarrassing the poorer folk. The lesser fortunate believers at Corinth felt inferior because they could not match up to the others. Some, when they came to the agape feast, brought along their caviar, while others had to bring a conch, as it were. And there were those who were socially elevated above the others, and they snobbed them and looked down at them. The blacks, as it were, sat on one side of the church in Corinth, and the whites on the other side. And there was this great dichotomy between them. And the Apostle Paul said, that should not be. When you come together in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, there should be expressed oneness, and when you come to his table, there should be nothing to mar the unity of the body of Christ. Another problem at Corinth was that of the confusion over gifts, and this one was really a profound problem. The teachers felt they had the superior gift. The preachers thought that they were the number one people. And those who had the gift of healing, why, they lived on cloud nine. And those who were missionaries, every single one of them, in a sense, harbored this misconception that they were superior to the other because of the gift that they had. Now, I sincerely trust that none of the aforementioned is true of the assembly at Spanish Wells, but so it was at Corinth. And as Paul addressed the issue of gifts, sandwiched between chapters twelve and fourteen, he brings to mind something that he felt would set the record straight, not only where the gifts are concerned, but regarding all the other problems at Corinth. Thus he opens chapter thirteen. He says at the end of chapter twelve, covet earnestly the best gifts, and yet show I unto you a more excellent way. Now, I think we all realize that the gifts were given by the Spirit of God for the edification of the body of Christ, for the evangelization of the lost, and for the glory of God. And Paul was saying, if there is any lack of any gift, although the saints at Corinth came behind in no gift. They were really gifted. But Paul says, if there is a lack in your midst, desire that gift, and God will provide it as you need it. But every gift is to be used for the purposes already mentioned. But he says, now I want to show you a more excellent way. I want to develop in your mind a new concept in relation to problems and in relation to the gifts. Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels and have not love, I am become as sounding bronze or a tinkling cymbal. In the first three verses of this chapter, he shows that love is the supreme gift because of its superiority over all other gifts. Thus, he says, although I have the gift of eloquence, supposing it was possible for you to have a firm grasp of every language spoken in the world. You are familiar with the Greek syntax. You knew all about how to conjugate Hebrew verbs. You knew Spanish and French, and you were a real expert in the languages. Paul is here saying, even though one possesses such a gift, such an ability, and even though one may have the eloquence with which to charm and persuade, and persuade an audience, if that gift is not demonstrated and exercised and ministered in love, then all of your ability in that area and all of your eloquence goes down the drain. It is of absolutely no avail where God is concerned. It's like a sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. And so he says, though I have the gift of prophecy. Now, I don't want us to minimize the value of these gifts. These are worthy gifts given by the Spirit of God. Paul is not suggesting that they are inferior in any sense. These are the avenues through which the church is to be edified and to grow and to develop and to change from glory to glory until we are eventually transformed into the very likeness of our Lord Jesus Christ. These are essential to our development, so they are great gifts. But he says, though I have the gift of prophecy. Prophecy was, in a sense, twofold. It was a teaching ministry, as well as a foretelling ministry, the ability to foretell the future. As you know, they did not yet have the complete scriptures. The canonicity of scripture came into being sometime later. And so the prophetic gift was an outstanding gift for persons in the church to be able to say what the mind of God was relative to the future. It was eschatological in its application. And so people with this gift were considered very necessary in the body. But Paul said, if I have this gift, and I understand all mysteries. Our mystery in the Bible, primarily speaking, is the truth that was not revealed before. The Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew thirteen, speaking of the mysteries of the kingdom, gives a number of examples and analogies and comparisons regarding the kingdom of God. But he spoke in a mystery, and when the disciples asked him, why is it that you speak in parables? Jesus said, because those that are outside are not privy to this knowledge. This is reserved for you as believers. And so we are given to understand and interpret mysteries on the word of God. And those persons who were so gifted in the church at Corinth were very important. But Paul says, even though I have this gift, and I will enlarge on this, says Paul, even though I have all knowledge. The word is gnostic, meaning to know. And just imagine that you had knowledge of everything in this universe. Infinite knowledge of all the sciences, of all the arts, of all the humanities, of every little iota in this universe. Supposing you had that knowledge, Paul is saying, including spiritual knowledge, knowledge of the scriptures, and the ability to give great expositions of the scriptures. Paul says, even if I have such knowledge. But he does not end there with knowledge, as if that were not enough. He says, and though I have all faith. Now, we always knew how important faith is to the Christian. We're saved by faith, and as our brother implied yesterday, we do not live by works after we're saved by faith. No, the just shall live by faith. So we're saved by faith, and we live by faith. By faith, Abraham, offer of Isaac. By faith, Sarah received strength to conceive seed. By faith, Cain or Abel offered up a more acceptable sacrifice. By faith, Moses chose to suffer affliction with the people of God. Him that cometh to God must believe that he is. By faith, we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God. And so what a high premium we put on faith, and rightly so. We say that faith is the vehicle of the soul. And Paul says, even though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains. Take it literally or spiritualize on it, but let's look at it in a very literal sense. The Lord Jesus Christ was standing against the backdrop of a mountain when he said, if you have faith as big as a grain of mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain, be thou removed and be thou cast into the sea, and it shall be done. It's the quality of faith that is in view there. But Paul says, if I have faith so that I could remove mountains and have not love, I am nothing. But the writer goes on, and though I have, and though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor. That's charity. That's giving out of our abundance. And Paul is saying that I might be the most liberal, most generous Christian alive. And yet, if I give all my goods to be, uh, to feed the poor. And he expanded on this and said, and though I give my body to be burned. Now, if the giving out of our abundance is charity, certainly the giving of ourselves as a sacrifice is exactly that. And Paul said, I can make the greatest sacrifice in the Christian vocabulary. I can give my body to be burned, and yet, if I do not have love, that great sacrifice is a complete wipeout. Because love is superior to all other gifts. And now in verse four and down to verse six, he shows that love is supreme because of its nature. He said, love suffereth long. Love is patient. I think it was Drummond who said that impatience is the vice of the virtuous. That so many Christians would be almost, would be perfect were it not for this simple vice, impatience. And Paul said, love is patient. And when you analyze it and break it down, as he is doing here, we see that love is comprised of simple Christian virtues, one of which is patience. Then he says, love is kind. I think it was Browning who said, the greatest thing you can do for God is to show kindness to one of his children. Love is kind, says Paul. He goes on, love envieth not. Love is generous. That is to say, love is not envious of its competition. It does not compare itself with others. It does not envy the success of others, whether it be material or spiritual or otherwise. The person who is developed, who is being perfected in love, is not envious, says Paul. And that certainly must have struck a very heavy blow to the saints at Corinth, especially as they were having problems with their gifts. And love is not puffed up, it's not proud, it's not arrogant. And the Bible has so much to say in this regard. God resisted the proud, but he gives grace to the humble. Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, and he will exalt you in due time. Pride brings a sneer. And so Paul says to them and to us, love is not puffed up. It does not behave itself unseemly. It is not easily, uh, it seeketh not its own, suggesting, of course, that it is unselfish. And what a selfish, selfish age we live in. And the Christians are a marked out people, and one of the marks of Christianity is unselfishness. A giving place, a giving of place one to another. A desire to see the advancement of others, even where we may be failures ourselves. That is how love works, says Paul. It is not easily agitated or provoked. And some Christians are like inflammable liquid. Just one little agitation, and they are ready to explode. Paul says, love is not like this. Love thinketh no evil. It rejoiceth not in iniquity. I mentioned in Nestor at the last conference, as I was privileged to speak there, how easy it is for carnal Christians to publicize the problems of individuals who are weak and perhaps overtaken at times. And we seem to enjoy getting on the telephone and calling some other brother or sister, or even some unsaved persons, God forbid, and tell them about the hurt in the body of Christ, about some weakness, when in fact, the Bible says when one member suffers, we all suffer with it. When one is promoted, we are all promoted. For we do not exist in a vacuum. We are a body. And so Paul says, you are not to rejoice in iniquity. Love rejoices in the truth. Love beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Commencing at verse eight, he shows that love is supreme because of its permanence. He says, love never faileth, never ceases. It will never be consummated. It will never end. Whether there be prophecies, they shall be done away. There is coming a time when there'll be no further need for the ministry of teaching or preaching, it will be done away eventually. And tongues, tongues shall cease. The same is true of knowledge or the gift of knowledge. It shall vanish away. It will pass with time. Paul said, for, and our brother reminded us of the use or usage of this word for in Romans eight this morning. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. In other words, our knowledge is partial, so no one has total knowledge of all things. And our teaching and preaching shows the imperfections of the vehicles who bear the message. And so we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. Now, I am sure you realize that even two great expositors, like Brother Clark and our brother Nicholson, cannot do justice to this passage in this short time. So I'm just reviewing some of the salient facts in the hope that the Spirit of God will enlighten us where it is necessary. Paul said, when I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child, but when I became a man, I put away childish things. No doubt all of us can interpret that. For now we see in a mirror darkly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then shall I know, even as also I am known. He's speaking, of course, of the development of the gifts to the point where they become unnecessary. The enlargement of spiritual knowledge on the usage of the gifts in the body. Some gifts will pass away before others. Others will remain until the Lord comes to take the church, but he is dealing with the transitory nature of the gifts. And now he says in verse thirteen, and now abideth faith, hope, love, these three, but the greatest of these is love. We have already mentioned faith, and hope is equally as important. Our brother Clark has been emphasizing the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our preparedness for it. But that is what our hope is all about. But John makes it explicitly clear, what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? We were viewing a video last evening, um, at the home of our brother Julian, I think, and, uh, his dear wife's name escaped me just now, Elsa. We were viewing, uh, viewing a video of a wedding after eating sumptuously. I- I- I just couldn't get to sleep last night while I ate so much. I had to confess it to the Lord, but the food was so good. The food was so good. Usually I am quite disciplined in, in those areas, but last night we overdid ourselves, and it was excellent. But, uh, regarding this video, uh, one could look on the face of the couple there at Manawwar who were getting married, and could see that even as they stood before our brother David, who performed the ceremony, that there was a sense of glee and expectation and anticipation in their faces. They were that close to realizing their fulfillment, to exchanging their vows, their hopes and aspiration in this vein would soon be fulfilled. Now, once they are married, hope becomes useless because that which they desired would become a reality. And so, Mr. Sands, I think his name was, need no longer hope to be married. And our dear sister Albury need not hope to be married, because that was realized. And Paul said, as great as hope is in relation to the whole context of Christianity, the time will come when hope will no longer be necessary. It too will pass. We often say at the breaking of bread, we are doing this now, but the time is coming when faith will give place to sight. Well, so it is with hope. We won't need the emblems because we'd see Christ. We won't need hope because we would have already been taken to heaven. But Paul said, there is one spiritual virtue, one gift that is enduring, that is permanent, that will last forever, and that is love. And so, we see why such emphasis should be placed upon this. Now, in John chapter fifteen, the Lord Jesus said to his disciples, as the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you. Now that's the, the agape love. And the Lord Jesus was saying that the love of the Father, the Son is the love with which the Son loves the disciples, without any variation whatsoever. It's the same love. Now, Jesus said to his disciples, you are to love one another in the same way. And the question is often asked, how is this possible? Well, the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who is given unto us. We do not have to work it up, generate it of our own initiative. The love of God is so unbounding, so vast, and so immense, so unfathomable. The very same love that is within us meets all those qualifications, and the only thing that is necessary to its fulfillment is for us to be exercised therein. And thus we are to let love do its perfect work, release it in the body so that overall it will be seen. By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one to another. Number four thirty two, please. More about Jesus what I know, more of his grace to others show, more of his saving fullness see, more of his love who died for me. More, more about Jesus, more, more about Jesus, more of his saving fullness see, more of his love who died for me. Four, three, two.