We come today to the conclusion of chapter 12 and the beginning of chapter 13. Our theme this morning is the preeminence of love. We will see that Love is the key to a life of value; love is the main thing. This chapter is setting forth the quality of love which is the work of the Spirit of God within us reproducing the character of Christ. For the next several weeks we will be studying the most beautiful chapter in the whole New Testament, 1 Corinthians 13. This chapter is justly famous, not only for its majestic language, but for the lofty idealism of its subject matter, and the very practical behavior it describes.
We saw last week that no Christian should feel inferior, no matter how insignificant he thinks that his spiritual gift is because he is a needed member of the body of Christ. We also saw that no Christian should feel superior to other Christians. No matter how gifted one is, he still needs the rest of the body. One cannot function on his own, he needs the other members of the body.
Paul concludes chapter 12 by saying outright what he had already been somewhat implying, that there is an order of priority in the gifts:
1 Corinthians 12:28 (NKJV) And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues.
First . . . The gifts are ranked here in order of honor.
This is a "priority list" for the gifts. This doesn't, however, contradict what we learned last week, that each gift is important and each individual believer is important. To go back to the illustration of the human body, there are some parts that are indispensable, such as the heart, the brain, or the liver. There are other parts that we could do without, but we would be handicapped. Just as some of the body parts are more important to the life of the body, in the same way some members in the body of Christ are more needed for the life and health of the body of Christ. I can live without an eye, but not without a heart. The body of Christ can live without some of the gifts but not without teaching. Teaching is a priority, a necessity.
Notice that tongues are last on the list. Apparently the believers at Corinth were given to abusing the gift of tongues, so much so that there was confusion in their public services.
1 Corinthians 14:23 (NKJV) Therefore if the whole church comes together in one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those who are uninformed or unbelievers, will they not say that you are out of your mind?
In fact, the "tongues members" looked down upon the other believers who did not have this particular gift. So Paul closed by reminding them that we do not all possess the same gifts.
1 Corinthians 12:29-30 (NKJV) Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all workers of miracles? 30 Do all have gifts of healings? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret?
The construction in the Greek demands "No" as the answer to each of these questions. None of the gifts are possessed by everyone. This verse should stand as a clear rebuke to those Charismatics who say that everyone should speak in tongues. We need each other, because we all lack certain gifts; that is his point. Paul then concludes with this sentence:
1 Corinthians 12:31 (NKJV) But earnestly desire the best gifts. And yet I show you a more excellent way.
The word earnestly desire or covet is the Greek word zeloo, (dzay-lo'-o), translated: to have warmth of feeling for or against:--affect, covet (earnestly), desire, (move with) envy, be jealous over. Some scholars are of the opinion that this should be read in the indicative mood: "You are striving after the greater gifts." But most Bible translations present the verse in the imperative mood: "But earnestly desire the best gifts." This reading is supported by two parallel texts that use the same verb in the imperative:
1 Corinthians 14:1 (NKJV) Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy. 14:39 Therefore, brethren, desire earnestly to prophesy, and do not forbid to speak with tongues.
Paul was not urging them to be dissatisfied with their gifts or their place in the body since he had just explained that the Holy Spirit determines this (v18), and that all parts are necessary. The verse is, I believe, addressed to the congregation. It is in the plural; it is not addressed to individuals. Your gifts are chosen for you by the Holy Spirit, and no matter what you "desire" you are not going to get it unless the Holy Spirit has already chosen it for you. But as a congregation we can earnestly desire that the greater gifts be manifested among us.
What does he mean by best gifts?
He means those gifts that build up the church through the Word of God. The teaching of revelation.
1 Corinthians 14:5 (NKJV) I wish you all spoke with tongues, but even more that you prophesied; for he who prophesies is greater than he who speaks with tongues, unless indeed he interprets, that the church may receive edification.
He wanted them to hold the best gifts in the highest estimation by recognizing that the value of an ability does not depend on how spectacular it is but on how much it strengthens the church. As a congregation they were to desire the best gifts to be manifest among them. Then Paul says this:
"and yet show I unto you a more excellent way," There is no comparative adjective in the text. Comparison is absent, not only in the modern critical texts, but even in the Textus Receptus. Therefore, a translation must omit the idea of comparison. We could translate this "And I still show you a way par excellence." What I think Paul is saying is this: "Seek the best gifts, such as prophecy and teaching, and the way par excellence is to seek those gifts that are operated in love." He is not saying spiritual gifts are good but love is better. What he is saying is that possession of specific gifts is not as important as the way in which the gifts are exercised. Even the best gifts are useless if they are not exercised in love.
In the Greek text the word that is translated way is a word that means road. The Corinthians had been taking a certain road: they were on the road of coveting the lesser gifts, the sign gifts. They were on the road of coveting the spectacular gifts. Throughout chapter 12 Paul has been recommending another road. Paul wants them to take the road of coveting the greater gifts, the more important gifts. He has listed these gifts at the end of chapter 12. Paul wants the Corinthians to change roads. As a church they should covet the greater gifts that would mature the body of Christ. Now he says that the excellent way is the road of the greater gifts being operated in love. So chapter 13 is an advance upon what Paul has been saying in chapter 12. It is also an introduction to chapter 14 where Paul will again take up the subject of spiritual gifts and deal with the problem of properly exercising their gifts. Paul begins that correction with chapter 13, telling us that the proper use of the gifts depends on agape. Without agape the gifts will not function properly. So chapter 13 is a parenthesis that is closely tied with chapter 12 & 14.
Paul devotes the whole of chapter 13 to love which is the essence of the fruit of the Spirit. Showing us that there is a big difference between the gifts of the Spirit and the fruit of the Spirit.
This chapter can be divided into three major divisions. In verses 1-3 Paul deals with the preeminence of love: it is the greatest thing in the world. In verses 4-7 he deals with the practice of love. Then in verses 8-13 he deals with the permanence of love: it shall never fail. This morning we want to look at the first three verses, the preeminence of love.
What Paul is doing here is painting a portrait of an extraordinarily gifted man who has lived a remarkable life, with one deficiency, he lives without loving. Notice how Paul describes this man.
1 Corinthians 13:1-3 (NKJV) Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. 2 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, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.
This chapter is a literary masterpiece. Paul's style changes here because this is a hymn, a song written in praise of love.
The word charity in the KJV is a sad translation of the Greek word agape. "Charity" today makes us think of giving away old clothes or making gifts to "charitable institutions." These activities can be Christian love in action, but Paul is demanding much more. Our culture uses the word love to mean just about everything except what the Bible means by it. So Christians are easily misled into thinking love is primarily a feeling, something we fall in or out of. We equate it with lust or sex, we talk about "making love." The word "love" used here is not the Greek word eros. That word is used to describe erotic love, sensual love, what you feel when you "fall in love," a passionate attraction to another person. That kind of love is not even mentioned in the Word of God, though it is a common form of love today. And the word here is not phileo, which means affection, friendship, a feeling of warmth toward someone else. This too is a universally distributed love, but this is not what is mentioned here. In this chapter as in all of Scripture, love is first of all an action.
The word Paul uses here is agape. This Greek word was rarely used in Greek literature prior to the NT. In the NT, the word agape took on a special meaning; it was used by the NT writers to designate a volitional love (as opposed to a purely emotional love), a self-sacrificial love, a love naturally expressed by divinity but not so easily by humanity. It seems as though the early Christian church took this word out of its obsoleteness and made it a characteristic word for love. In this chapter, Paul displays the divine characteristics of this most excellent virtue, agape.
Agape love, is a response to someone who is unworthy of love. This concept of love was derived from the cross. God loved the world and gave his son for it. That was a response to unworthy people, to sinners, to those who were his enemies. That is agape. It is a love that proceeds from the nature of the lover, rather than the worth of the person who is loved. It is a love that gives, a love that seeks the best of the object loved. Agape, is a commitment of the will to cherish and uphold another person. It is the only word ever used to describe God's love. It is a decision that you make and a commitment that you have launched upon to treat another person with concern, with care, with thoughtfulness, and to work for his or her best interests. That is what love is, and this is what Paul is talking about.
Now remember, this chapter comes after Paul has said that all believers are baptized with the Holy Spirit, made a part of the Body of Christ, all of them, without exception. As Jesus put it, we are "in him" by that process. Then all believers have been indwelt by the Spirit. "made to drink of one Spirit." Through that process our Lord's words, "I in you," have been fulfilled. Because of that we all have the capacity to act in love. We all have the capacity to love, but do we all love? No! Why? Because love is a product of a Spirit controlled life. Galatians 5:22 says, "The fruit, or product, of the Spirit is love..." The fruit of the Spirit, like all of spiritual life, comes only from living a Spirit controlled life or walking in the Spirit.
Galatians 5:14-16 (NKJV) For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." 15 But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another! 16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
Apart from the control of God's Spirit we cannot love. I can't love my neighbor no matter how hard I try. How then can we love? The key is in the saying "the law is fulfilled," in verse 14.
Romans 8:4 (NKJV) that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
"The righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us," this is the same word pleroo, (play-ro'-o) What is it that the law requires? It requires love;
Matthew 22:37-40 (NKJV) Jesus said to him, " 'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' 38 "This is the first and great commandment. 39 "And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' 40 "On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets."
In Romans 8:4 in the phrase "Might be fulfilled in us," the verb is in the passive voice. It does not say, "that we might fulfill the law" but "that the law might be fulfilled in us." Agape love is divine love, God is its source and God loves through us as we walk in fellowship with him. Our obligation is to stay in fellowship with him.
1 John 1:6-7 (NKJV) If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
It is tragic when the world takes a chapter like 1 Corinthians 13 (as it does) and divorces it from its true Christian meaning. The unsaved man can no more experience this kind of love than can a marble statue! It takes the indwelling and empowering of the Spirit of God for anyone to display this kind of character in daily life.
Keep in mind that Paul is still dealing with the question of spiritual gifts. Here he is emphasizing the fact that gifts without love are nothing. The fruits of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23) are more important in the Christian life than the miraculous gifts of the Spirit. Whenever the church strives for miraculous experiences rather than Christian holiness and character there will be division, confusion, and carnality.
Verses 1-3 drive home the same truth by repeatedly using five of the spiritual gifts as illustrations of the identical principle: without love the most exemplary use of a particular gift profits a believer nothing.
Obviously this is a hypothetical man. He exists only in Paul's mind. In order to get his point across Paul wants us to imagine that such a man existed. In spite of all this man has, he doesn't have love, and without it he produces nothing of value for God.
1 Corinthians 13:1 (NKJV) Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.
This is not a reference so much to natural eloquence as to a supernatural endowment with glossolalia. The Corinthians were very impressed with the miraculous ability to speak in languages which had been given among them by the power of the Spirit. It enabled the person to communicate the wonderful works of God in a language he had never learned. They were making much of this gift, exalting it above all. Paul here shows that tongues-speaking is nothing without love.
This man not only speaks in the tongues of men, but also of angels. Some have suggested that this a justification for ecstatic speech, or "angel talk". Remember that Paul is dealing with a hypothetical case. Paul's idea of tongues was a known human language. Whenever an angel speaks in the Bible he uses a known human language. I know people today who claim that the gift of tongues enables you to speak with the tongues of angels, but Paul does not say that at all. In fact, it is a pure, arbitrary assumption on the part of anybody that the gift of tongues constitutes the tongues of angels. Angels do communicate, but we do not know how. Nothing is said about it in the Bible. This is the only reference in all the Scriptures to the tongues of angels. Paul's thrust here is to carry this gift of tongues to its greatest conceivable extent. This man can speak in all the languages of men and even in the languages of angels. Even this man, if he does not have love will be able to produce nothing of value for God. He will be like a clattering piece of brass or like a cymbal that makes noise but produces nothing of value for God.
The phrase "the tongues of men and angels" may be the equivalent of saying he is
able to speak in all languages, both human and divine. Here is a man that can speak all of the 4,000 languages that there are in the world. Only 2,000 of which are in print. This man can speak to anyone anywhere about the gospel of Jesus Christ. There is no language barrier to him. Yet with that ability that is unequaled by man, this man is able to produce nothing of value for God without love. All his language abilities are just noise apart from love.
He is just a sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. In NT times, rites honoring the pagan deities Bacchus and Dionysus included speaking in ecstatic noises that were accompanied by smashing gongs, clanging cymbals, and blaring trumpets. Paul's hearers clearly got his point: unless it is done in love, ministering the gift of languages, or speaking in any other human or angelic way amounts to no more than those pagan rituals. It is only meaningless gibberish in a Christian guise.
Paul goes on to say in the second verse that without agape the most gifted prophet is himself nothing of value before God.
1 Corinthians 13:2 (NKJV) 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, but have not love, I am nothing.
Paul speaks of prophecy in the next chapter as of the greatest spiritual gift because the prophet proclaims God's truth to people so they can know and understand it. The hypothetical man of this chapter has the gift of prophecy and is able to understand all of the mysteries of God. In the NT a mystery is a secret of God made known to man by the revelation of God.
Ephesians 3:1-3 (NKJV) For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles; 2 if indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for you, 3 how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already,
There are many of those secrets that have been made known by God. This man understands all the mysteries of God. He knows all of the counsels of God's mind. He knows all of the facets of God's will. He has the great ability to detect and understand the mysteries of the Scriptures, to unscrew the inscrutable, and to answer all Biblical questions, riddles and parables. This is the greatest of prophets!
This man also has the gift of knowledge. If you remember from our previous studies this was a gift by which the Holy Spirit enabled a first-century believer to know and to instruct the assembly in truth now recorded in the NT. It is the ability to grasp the truth about a present situation seeing, knowing, and understanding as the Holy Spirit sees, knows and understands. It was a flash of omniscience from God himself, revealing what the person normally would not know. The Word of Knowledge is not knowledge that is acquired by diligent perseverance and hard work; it is a direct revelation from God. This includes knowledge both of what God revealed long ago, and of secrets God was just then making known to his people (see Rom. 16:25; Eph. 3:3-6). Here is a man who, like Christ and Paul, could know what people were thinking:
Matthew 9:4 (NKJV) But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, "Why do you think evil in your hearts?
The forth gift that he has is faith, and he has it to its fullest extent. He is not talking here about saving faith, he is talking about the supernatural ability to trust God to do great things. He has the gift to the extent that he can accomplish mighty miracles. "[F]aith . . . [to] remove mountains"—Paul illustrated the great power of faith the same way Jesus did (Matt. 17:20). The idea of moving mountains is a Jewish proverbial saying that conveyed the idea of making the impossible possible.
Here is the epitome of a gifted man: endowed beyond measure with spiritual gifts. Paul says that though that man has the gift of languages and prophecy, and all knowledge, and the gift of all faith and yet he does not have agape he himself is nothing before God. The Greek text at the end of verse 2 does not say that he is nobody, that would be strong. But the Greek text says he is nothing, a zero before God. Are you beginning to see the value of agape? We would be very impressed by this man, but before God he is zero.
1 Corinthians 13:3 (NKJV) And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.
This verse hammers home the point one more time with the most extreme example yet: seemingly total self-abandonment in exercising the gift of giving. He mentions two acts of giving. Both of these we would consider the supreme act of love.
The word for bestow is the Greek word psomizo, (pso-mid'-zo); it means to dole out in small quantities, and signifies a long term, systematic, program of giving away everything one possesses.
Is it possible for such a man to do this without love? Yes! Many men have done such things for vanity sake, or to attempt to merit God's blessing. There are many reasons why people give away things. Sometimes they give because they are deeply concerned about a certain cause or a need. They are willing to sacrifice their own possessions in order to meet that need. But sometimes people give for very selfish reasons, although it may appear to be a generous gift.
Many cults and pagan religions place great emphasis on the giving up of possessions, and on sacrifice of various sorts. Yes, you and I may be generous without love. We may give away all that we have but if we do not have agape we gain nothing of value from God. Agape is always self-sacrificing, but all self-sacrifice does not necessarily come from love.
"I give my body to be burned" This is the reading in some ancient manuscripts. But the three earliest manuscripts read, "I give my body that I may boast." According to the Greek, there is but a one-letter difference between the first reading and the second: kauchÎsomai (I may boast) and kauthÎsomai (I may be burned). Good arguments have been advanced by scholars in support of each reading. But those who support the second reading, "I may boast", point to the earlier attestation, and to the fact that martyrdom by burning was a phenomenon yet unknown to the original readers of this epistle.
Gordon Fee pointed out that in Clement of Rome's letter to the church in Corinth (c. a.d. 96), Clement spoke of those who delivered themselves to bondage in order to ransom others, or to raise funds for distribution to the poor. These were then branded with a hot iron to mark them as slaves. This could very well be what Paul was referring to.
Paul may have been thinking about the fiery ordeal of Shadrach, Meschach, and Abednego (see Dan. 3), in which case the first reading would be the one he wrote. Whatever the reading, the verse says that love produces willingness to give sacrificially and to suffer, but that this giving and suffering have no value if they exist without love.
Paul is not minimizing these gifts; he is simply saying that they will have no good effect on the individual or on the church unless there is love in the life of the Christian in the exercise of his or her gifts.
If this guy visited FBC we would think he was a spiritual giant, a super Christian. But God says, "if that man does not have agape he will gain zero". Why is this? It is because God examines the heart. Man looks on the outward, but God looks at the heart. God is very concerned about your motives, and your motive is the acid test of the value of what you are and what you do in the service of God. The worth of your gift or service is determined by the inner attitude of your heart toward God and men. From this negative we can draw a positive conclusion. When love is the motive behind every act then all our service becomes of value.
Nothing can underscore that fact more than these words. This is what life is all about. We are set here to learn to love, and to live without learning to love is to have wasted our time, no matter how impressive our achievements in other ways may be.
Write down five zero's and then add them up. What do you get? Zero! Life minus love equals zero. The loveless person produces nothing, is nothing, and gains nothing. The only right motive for the exercise of your gift or your service is love. And this love is the fruit of the Spirit, Gal. 5:22.
It is evident that the Corinthians were using their spiritual gifts with an attitude of competition and not of love. The church was divided and the situation was getting worse because the very spiritual gifts that were supposed to build up the church were doing more harm than good! Preaching without love is just much noise. Praying without love becomes an empty speech. Giving without love is just a ceremony. Is it any wonder that Christ asked Peter, "Do you love me?" (John 21).
In the next section the Apostle goes on to show us that love must be practical. Love is not an intangible thing; it is not just an ideal you talk about. It is something that takes on shoe leather and moves right down into the normal, ordinary pursuits and aspects of life. That is where love is to be manifest. Nothing is more helpful, in reading a chapter like this, than to ask yourself the question. "Am I growing in love? Looking back over the last year, am I easier to live with now? Am I able to handle people more graciously, more courteously? Am I more compassionate, more patient?" These are the measurements of life. This is why we were given life that we might learn how to act in love. Nothing else can be substituted for it. There is no use holding up any other quality we possess if we lack this one. It is the paramount goal of every human life, and we do well to measure ourselves by it.
Service is a matter of the heart, and so is salvation. The only way you'll get to heaven is by faith, not by anything you do. Are you trusting Jesus Christ and him alone for your salvation? Put your trust in Christ alone and he will save you.
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