Last time we studied I Corinthians 12

and concluded with these thoughts:

 

(1 Cor 12:31 NKJV)  "But earnestly desire the best gifts. And yet I show you a more excellent way."  -- The way of love!

 

We are ready for the great 13^th Chapter!

The love Chapter -- Sandwiched in between two chapters on Spiritual gifts.

 

(1 Cor 13 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.

 

While we are studying “the love chapter,” it should be clear that we are in the midst of a great discussion about spiritual gifts.  Not just any gifts, but the one that was most impressive to them. 

They were being selfish.  Paul is asking, what does it do for others?   We will see this as soon as we begin Chapter 14.

 

(1 Cor 14:1-2 NKJV)  Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy. {2} For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands him; however, in the spirit he speaks mysteries.

 

But even as important as prophecy is, listen to his next statement:

 

(1 Cor 13:2) And though (1) I have the gift of prophecy, and understand (2) all mysteries and (3) all knowledge, and though I have (4) all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. {3} And though (5) I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though (6) I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.

 

How could you do all that, and not have love?

Just out of a sense of duty, or obligation

 

How can you define love?

We can talk about what it does, but what it is is another matter.

(1 Cor 13:4) Love suffers long and is kind;

 

How long is long?  When does one say, “enough is enough?”  We have all seen examples of longsuffering.

 

“kind:”  Paul is good at kindness.

(Eph 4:32 KJV)  And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.

 

 (1 Cor 13:4) love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;

 

“love does not envy;”  Love and envy are almost, if not opposites.  Envy has hostile feelings towards another persons well being.

 

love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;  These two seem to go together. 

 

This is the 5^th time that Paul has used the expression:  “puffed up.”  It seems to have been a serious problem for the church at Corinth. 

(1 Cor 13:5) does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil;

“does not behave rudely.”  A real challenge!  It’s so easy to become rude toward those we are around constantly.  We can become short tempered and say things that should not be said.

 

“does not seek its own,”

 

 

What’s the story behind this picture?

 

    Back in the fifteenth century, in a tiny village near Nuremberg, lived a family with eighteen children. Eighteen! In order merely to keep food on the table for this mob, the father and head of the household, a goldsmith by profession, worked almost eighteen hours a day at his trade and any other paying chore he could find in the neighborhood. Despite their seemingly hopeless condition, two of Albrecht Durer the Elder's children had a dream. They both wanted to pursue their talent for art, but they knew full well that their father would never be financially able to send either of them to Nuremberg to study at the Academy.

        After many long discussions at night in their crowded bed, the two boys finally worked out a pact. They would toss a coin. The loser would go down into the nearby mines and, with his earnings, support his brother while he attended the academy. Then, when that brother who won the toss completed his studies, in four years, he would support the other brother at the academy, either with sales of his artwork or, if necessary, also by laboring in the mines.

        They tossed a coin on a Sunday morning after church. Albrecht Durer won the toss and went off to Nuremberg. Albert went down into the dangerous mines and, for the next four years, financed his brother, whose work at the academy was almost an immediate sensation. Albrecht's etchings, his woodcuts, and his oils were far better than those of most of his professors, and by the time he graduated, he was beginning to earn considerable fees for his commissioned works.

        When the young artist returned to his village, the Durer family held a festive dinner on their lawn to celebrate Albrecht's triumphant homecoming. After a long and memorable meal, punctuated with music and laughter, Albrecht rose from his honored position at the head of the table to drink a toast to his beloved brother for the years of sacrifice that had enabled Albrecht to fulfill his ambition. His closing words were, "And now, Albert, blessed brother of mine, now it is your turn. Now you can go to Nuremberg to pursue your dream, and I will take care of you."

        All heads turned in eager expectation to the far end of the table where Albert sat, tears streaming down his pale face, shaking his lowered head from side to side while he sobbed and repeated, over and over, "No ...no ...no ...no."

        Finally, Albert rose and wiped the tears from his cheeks. He glanced down the long table at the faces he loved, and then, holding his hands close to his right cheek, he said softly, "No, brother. I cannot go to Nuremberg.

It is too late for me. Look ... look what four years in the mines have done to my hands! The bones in every finger have been smashed at least once, and lately I have been suffering from arthritis so badly in my right hand that I cannot even hold a glass to return your toast, much less make delicate lines on parchment or canvas with a pen or a brush. No, brother ...for me it is too late."

        More than 450 years have passed. By now, Albrecht Durer's hundreds of masterful portraits, pen and silver-point sketches, watercolors, charcoals, woodcuts, and copper engravings hang in every great museum in the world, but the odds are great that you, like most people, are familiar with only one of Albrecht Durer's works. More than merely being familiar with it, you very well may have a reproduction hanging in your home or office.

        One day, to pay homage to Albert for all that he had sacrificed, Albrecht Durer painstakingly drew his brother's abused hands with palms together and thin fingers stretched skyward. He called his powerful drawing simply "Hands," but the entire world almost immediately opened their hearts to his great masterpiece and renamed his tribute of love "The Praying Hands."

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“does not seek its own,”

 

Stated another way:  It sacrifices.  I don’t know of something similar to the “praying hands” for the sacrifices of motherhood, but they are many.

 

Jim Corner has a great spirit, and can joke about life in Cameroon, but he sacrifices a lot for the cause of Christ.  That’s love in action.

 

Now look at Corinth:  Remember, too, that we are in the middle of the “Spiritual gifts sandwich chapters.”  The Corinthians were seeking what would make them look good.  The application:  Love is always looking out for the other person.

 

“is not provoked, thinks no evil;”

 “it is not easily angered,” (NIV)  The description is consistent: kind, patient, not easily provoked, all the things that make loving people.

thinks no evil;”  Some people have a way of always looking at what others are doing in a bad light.  “He’s just ‘playing sick’ to get out of working.”

 

Consider the wife who always suspects her husband of cheating, even though he has done nothing wrong.  It’s easy sometimes to become frustrated with certain people.  It’s the “Somebody did me wrong song.”  Love gives them the benefit of the doubt. 

(1 Cor 13:6) does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth;

 

“does not rejoice in iniquity,”  The opposite:

“He had it coming!”   “He got just what he deserved!”  “Good enough for him!”  “I’m glad they went of our business, they were just a bunch of crooks anyway.”  And the list goes on.

 

“but rejoices in the truth;”  Phillips translation:  “On the contrary, it is glad with all good men when truth prevails.”

 

(1 Cor 13:7) bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

bears all things: to roof over, (fig.) to cover with silence (endure patiently):--(for-) bear, suffer.

“believes all things,”  Phillips says: “no end to its trust.”

 

“hopes all things,”  I was at the bedside of Rene Beth Simon as she was dying.  Her daughter, Leah,  continued to say, “She’s gonna make it.”  I saw her blood pressure constantly dropping, and didn’t realize what I was watching.  A few minutes later, she was dead.  Leah, hoped to the very end.

 

“endures all things.”   Who’s writing?  What did he endure for the cause of Christ?

 

(1 Cor 15:8) Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away.

 

“Love never fails.”   “Love never fades (like a flower).”   It is always there.  Consider Paul again, and His love of the Lord.  When did he give in, or give up?

 

(1 Cor 15:9) For we know in part and we prophesy in part. {10} But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.

 

Different interpretations have been offered for these verses.   Some make the “in part” to be the New Testament which was incomplete at the time.  (I tend to agree.)  The gifts, of which the Corinthians were so proud, were to confirm the word.

 

(Mark 16:20 NKJV)  And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen.

 

Therefore, when the New Testament was completed, the need of confirming the word would no longer be needed.

 

(1 Cor 13:11) 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.

The church was being established.

The New Covenant was being established.

The miraculous signs were part of the process.

 

The Corinthians were not the “Toys R Us Kid:”  They didn’t want to grow up.  They just wanted to be a kid and “enjoy” the spiritual gifts.

 

(1 Cor 13:12) For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.

 

I have often thought that Paul may here be jumping ahead to the time when we are with the Lord, and then He can answer all our questions.

 

(1 Cor 13:13) And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

 

Love is great because we must love God and our fellow man.

 

(Mat 22:37-39 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. (Matt 22:39) "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."

 

(1 Cor 13:13) And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

 

What about Hope?

 

(Rom 8:24-25 NKJV)  For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? {25} But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.

 

The day is coming when the faith will be sight.

The hope will be realized,

But the need of love will always be with us!

 

Remember:

 

(1 John 4:8 NKJV)  He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

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