“Love is the Greatest”
Opening Illustration: Open with the Jars of Clay video, “They will know we are Christians by our love.”
Thesis: Paul tells a church which is divided that they need to live and act in love because this is the most excellent way to serve God.
Scripture Texts:
I Cor. 12:31: “…And now I will show you the most excellent way.”
I Cor. 13: 1-13: “1If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. 11When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. 12Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
13And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”
Introduction:
We have talked a lot over the last month about the importance of creating a healing church here at New Life. Today’s text is going to give us more insight and wisdom into how a church becomes known for the power of healing. Paul tells us that there is a way to live as a Christian which is called the “most excellent way.” This is the optimum way to act and to function as a Christian and as a church of Jesus Christ. The premise and the methodology of living excellently is “the way of love.” Paul tells us that this path is greater than all the gifts he just spoke about.
John tells us in I John 4: 7-21 that those who genuinely know God walk in His love. Their life is filled with acts of love toward others. They love because they themselves have experienced the love of the Father through Jesus. This love encounter has transformed their lives and their minds and they therefore live a life of love so as to please their Heavenly Father. John tells us as Christians that we are to love because of the experience of love. He also tells s that God is love so when we live the way of love then we are acting and being like God. This is why Paul in chapter 12 called this the most excellent way to serve God. John goes on to warn the church of Jesus Christ that if they do not live lives of love then the Lord is not in their life. He at the end of his section says, ‘Whoever loves God must also love his brother.” John makes it clear that love is not an option it is a must. We are to love one another in the church as well as the lost of this world. If we choose to forsake the path of love then we chose to forsake God himself.
Love is a subject that is near and dear to my heart. When I first became a Christian I spent a year studying about one subject in the Bible and that subject was love. I was fascinated by the subject and drawn to it like a magnet because I felt unloved and clueless to what love looked like or acted like. Yet the Bible kept telling me that God was love and He loved so much he sent His son to die for us. I learned that to be a Christian meant to act and be like Christ and the first description of Jesus was - He loved the people.
Growing up in the McCartney home was difficult and even hurtful at times. My dad was a man lead by anger and rage. You never knew if in the evening he would walk into the house happy, angry or even a raging lunatic. At different times in my life I observed him beat my mother up mercilessly. He was cruel to her both physically and emotionally. He in my view was very abusive to her and to us. My dad inherited his character traits from his own family that was filled with anger and rage. So I existed quietly in this house until the age of 11 when I went after my dad for beating up on my mom. He picked me up by the throat and threw me into wall for trying to stop his rage on my mother. It was at that point in my life when I choose to take on the rage of anger in my own life and that anger and rage was primarily directed toward my dad. But this anger did take over many parts of my own life. I made a vow to myself to become stronger and to one day pay back my dad for His bursts of anger toward us and my mother. I was going to give him a dose of his own anger with my own fists of furry. So I went into body building, I signed up for the martial arts and I began my training for revenge.
My time came when I was 16. At this point in my life I had gained about 40 pounds of muscle and I could bench 300 pounds. I was fighting in Martial Arts matches and had just taken first place at a regional match in the Heavy weight division. I was on a mission and that mission was revenge. Well the day came when my dad went after my mother and so I went after him, we literally fist fought over the house and I was getting the upper hand when he picked up a large vase off the dining room table and smashed it into my head, dazing me and then I fell to the floor. While I was lying on the floor and blood was oozing out of my head I picked up the telephone laying next to my hand and I drove it into his foot. He then limped away and my mom took me to the hospital for stitches. This fight made me hate my father more. I became even angrier than before and still vowed that his day was coming. About a year or two later after we had moved to Minnesota we got in another fight this time it was over me moving my dog off the couch, when I moved him he grabbed my hand. So I hit the dog for biting me. My father immediately responded with a sarcastic remark, “Would you like me to finish what I started a year ago?” That was it I lit into him with fists of furry. I was stronger and quicker than before and I knew how to fight. This time I was all over him punching on him and I was the one in a rage of anger, I literally was going to kill him. I punched him so hard I bruised his ribs and for the first time in my life I saw fear in his eyes as he started moving away from me. I had my two friends and my 2 brothers pulling me off of him because I wanted to pay him back for all the years of abuse he had dished out on us. I wanted revenge! I to this day believe that God kept me from making the biggest mistake of my life by severely hurting him.
About 6 months later and living a life of anger and bitterness I prayed for God to reveal himself to me. I had become the same type of person that my dad was and I was horrified at my condition. I did not like myself and I did not want to be like this selfish angry ugly man. So I prayed and then God revealed himself to me. I accepted him as my Lord and Savior and discovered for the first time in my life Agape love. So when I became a Christian God took me on a journey to discover the way of love. I by the way am still on this journey and still growing in love. But it has been a wonderful journey and I am looking forward to day when I totally enter into the most excellent way of love.
So as we look into this chapter today I want to remind you that Paul is writing this to a church that is divided, in disunity, selfish, and fighting with each other. He did not write this to two people in love at their wedding as we have come to hear this passage quoted. Paul wrote this to angry–sinful-selfish- people. He tells them there is an excellent way to live and that is the way of love.
T.S. – So today let’s explore this chapter and the subject of love and learn about the path and the way of love.
I. Why is love called the most excellent way? (1 Cor. 12:31)
a. John 3:16 will help answer this question:
i. 16“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
1. This passage is the most famous and the most familiar passage of the Bible. It is quoted the most and it’s reference numbers are seen at football games, parades, graffiti, and the like.
ii. Max Lucado calls these numbers, “The numbers of hope.”
1. In his book 3:16 Max shares some reflections on 3:16 from some famous people:
a. CeCe Winans said, “To me, John 3:16 is the very foundation of my faith. It is because of God’s love that he gave and it’s because of God’s love that I am saved forever.”
b. Sheila Walsh stated, “This is the first verse I learned as a child and it changed my life. To most 10 year olds, these would be sweet words to recite to Mom and Dad to make them smile. To me they were a lighthouse in the darkness, a concrete promise when everything else seemed untrue and a hope that could not be extinguished. Over forty years later I wrap the truth of these words around me every day as I look for others who are lost at sea, betrayed and hopeless. All the literature in the world cannot compete with the treasure contained in these twenty-five words.”
c. Mac Powell (lead singer of Third Day) stated, “I love John 3:16 because it is the gospel in a nutshell. It shares God’s great love for us, and our great need for him.”
d. Jeff Foxworthy (Comedian) stated, “This is the promise that bears hope for the hopeless. When we finally realize “I can’t do this on my own” this is the Father responding, “I know, so I’ve done it for you.”
e. Greg Laurie, Pastor stated, “God’s love is not some mere sentiment, but rather something that He showed in a tangible way. God offers to us the gift of eternal life. To receive a gift, you must reach out to accept it, and then open it.”
f. Don Moen, singer/songwriter, “John 3:16. What an amazing scripture-God loved us while we were quite unlovable. He reached out to us when we were unreachable. Knowing that we would fail Him, deny Him, and spurn this unconditional love, he still gave…unconditionally!”
2. Max shares this about our verse from his book 3:16:
a. A twenty-six-word parade of hope: beginning with God, ending with life, and urging us to do the same. Brief enough to write on a napkin or memorize in a moment, yet solid enough to weather two thousand years of storms and questions. If you know nothing of the Bible, start here. If you know everything in the Bible , return here. We all need the reminder. The heart of the human problem is the heart of the human. And God’s treatment is prescribed in John 3:16. He loves. He gave. We believe. We live. The words are to scripture what the Mississippi River is to America-an entryway into the heartland (Page 8).
iii. I add at the core of this verse is that wonderful word Love!
1. Max states, “We’ve all but worn out this word. This morning I used love to describe my feelings toward my wife and toward peanut butter. Far from identical emotions. I never proposed to a jar of peanut butter (though I have let one sit on my lap during a television show). Overuse had defused the word, leaving it with the punch of a butterfly wing (page 34).
2. Max also adds why this is the most excellent way on page 39 of his book;
a. Love explains why he came. Love explains how he endured…’Observe how Christ loved us…he didn’t love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us’ (Eph. 5:2 MSG).
b. This is why Paul calls love the most excellent way – God is it and Jesus showed it to us with his life and death and therefore we too need to embrace it as a way of life.
T.S. – John 3:16 paints the picture for us of why love is the most excellent way and then Paul helps define the picture by pointing out and defining the strokes of love.
II. The comparison between sacrifice and love (1 Cor. 13:1-3)
a. I can speak in tongues and with the language of the angels but if there is no love then it becomes a noise that is annoying to God.
i. Have you ever thought how do I sound to God?
1. Does my life echo the sound of great beauty and harmony?
2. Does it scream the sound of a drum stick banging on a cymbal?
3. What does your life sound like?
ii. Love plays a melody of beauty for the Lord where as gifts without love play a noise that makes Him want to cover His ears.
b. I can have the gift of prophecy and foretell and forth-tell things about God and His ways but it all means nothing if I do not have the attitude of love.
i. It does not matter if I have great knowledge of God’s Word and ways. It means nothing without love.
1. By the way this was the Pharisees problem in the times of Jesus – head knowledge of God and great oratory skills but no love – this loveless speech of the religious rulers negated any value in your message.
c. I can have faith to even move a mountain but if there is no love my gift of faith is useless for the Kingdom of God and it means nothing in the light of eternity.
i. I may choose to step out and do something for God like becoming a missionary in India -- but if I go and have no love it’s pointless!
d. I can choose to give generously to others -- but if I don’t do it in love then my giving is useless – meaningless-- it has no eternal value or reward attached to it.
i. Quote: “You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving” (From Illustrations Unlimited).
ii. Quote: Love is the key. Joy is love singing. Peace is love resting. Long-suffering is love enduring. Kindness is love’s touch. Goodness is love’s character. Faithfulness is love’s habit. Gentleness is love’s self-forgetfulness. Self-control is love holding the reins. Donald Grey Barnhouse
e. I can choose to give up my life for the cause of the Bible but if I do that and have not love as my premise then it to is meaningless.
i. The terrorists whom we have gotten to know give their lives up -- so they claim for God -- but it is done out of hatred and not love so therefore their sacrifice is useless – it’s pointless they just through themselves into Hell and there is no eternal value or reward for them just eternal punishment.
T.S. – Paul tells the Corinth church that there is a big difference between sacrifice with no love and love with sacrifice. Paul then defines the actions of a person who is following the path of love.
III. The defining of the actions of love – Paul tells us what love acts like (1 Cor. 13:4-7).
a. Love is patient - the quality of being patient, as the bearing of provocation, annoyance, misfortune, or pain, without complaint, loss of temper, irritation, or the like.
b. Love is kind - friendly feeling; liking, of a good or benevolent nature or disposition, as a person: a kind and loving person.
c. Love does not envy - a feeling of discontent or covetousness with regard to another’s advantages, success, possessions, etc.
d. Love does not boast - to speak with exaggeration and excessive pride, esp. about oneself.
e. Love is not prideful - a high or inordinate opinion of one’s own dignity, importance, merit, or superiority, whether as cherished in the mind or as displayed in bearing, conduct, etc.
f. Love is not rude - discourteous or impolite, esp. in a deliberate way: a rude reply.
g. Love is not self-seeking - devoted to or caring only for oneself; concerned primarily with one’s own interests, benefits, welfare, etc., regardless of others.
i. Illustration: The Christian Grocer - A Christian grocer was in financial difficulties because his customers thought they could run up their bills indefinitely. They felt that such a saintly man would never press them for payment or take them to court. Their ready excuse was, “We don’t have money to pay our bills.” “How can I pay my creditors, if the people I have trusted do not pay me?” puzzled the grocer. What should a Christian do in such a case—believe all things and all men and go bankrupt? A novel idea came to him. He posted the following notice on the bulletin board in front of his store: “On this bulletin board, thirty days from now, will appear the names of all persons who have been indebted to me for one year or more and who, after repeated requests, have refused to pay! Some have told me that they are unable to pay, but they are able to build homes, drive cars, and have other things that I could have if I had the money due me. I hope I don’t have to put any names on the board, but I won’t be put off any longer!” Results followed immediately. Many paid their old accounts, while others promised to do so on the next payday. This grocer’s action was wholly consistent with Christian love. He refused to believe the falsehoods of others and by so doing didn’t allow them to continue in deceit and dishonesty. Love believes all things that encourages honesty and virtue in others. Love does not believe lies but endeavors to correct them.
ii. Cindy Sigsworth’s – Word from the Lord about giving and tithing!
h. Love is not easily angered - feeling or showing anger or strong resentment (usually fol. by at, with, or about): to be angry at the dean; to be angry about the snub.
i. Love keeps no record of wrongs – instead it forgives and lets them go!
j. Love does not delight in evil – love instead delights in the good and shuns the evil.
k. Love rejoices in the truth – love seeks to live by what is true – what is of God!
l. Love always protects – Love cares for and protects others by shielding them form the injustices of this world.
m. Love always trusts – love trusts with a faith that does not waver in doubt.
n. Love always hopes - the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best: to give up hope.
o. Love always perseveres - to persist in anything undertaken; maintain a purpose in spite of difficulty, obstacles, or discouragement; continue steadfastly.
i. Illustration: Love in Deed and Truth: A young man spent an entire evening telling a girl how much he loved her. He said that he could not live without her; that he would go to the ends of the earth for her; yes, go through fire for her, or die for her. However, on leaving, he said, “I’ll see you tomorrow night if it doesn’t rain.” How often we say we love God yet deny it by our actions. Christ will give His crown of life only to those who love Him in deed and in truth (From Illustrations of Bible Truths).
T.S. – Paul makes it clear in this section of Scripture what love looks and how love acts. Paul then tells us to make sure we live the life of love because it is the only thing that will last in the end.
IV. Love is the only power in the universe that will never fade or pass away (1 Cor. 13:8-10).
a. Show pictures of the city of Corinth
b. Prophecies will cease but not love.
i. When we get to Heaven Prophetic words will be obsolete.
c. Tongues will one day be useless and become quiet but not love.
i. When we get to Heaven tongues will no longer be unique everyone will speak the same language of love.
d. Knowledge one day will become outdated and old news but not love.
i. One day we will meet Jesus and understand many mysteries so knowledge will be not as valuable.
e. There is a day coming when these Gifts of Spirit will not be needed but we will always need the way of love.
i. Love is God and Heaven is governed by God therefore the government will be run on the foundation of LOVE!
ii. So this way of love is the eternal way of God and therefore is what we will carry with us into eternity.
T.S. – Love is the only force which we will take with us from here to eternity and this is one of the reasons it is called the greatest gift of all – we can take it with us into Heaven and it will be totally relevant to life in Heaven.
V. Love is the greatest spiritual act of a lifetime (1 Cor. 13:11-13).
a. Paul says it’s time to grow up and embrace the way of love.
i. It’s the greatest way to serve God as a Christian.
1. There is no substitute for love!
ii. It’s the only way into Heaven so we need to lose the performance agenda and pick up the agenda of love.
iii. Love is the language and the lifestyle of Heaven so we need to embrace it now and speak it now.
1. Illustration: Love Demonstrated: A class of little girls was learning to spell. They spelled a number of small words, such as “pig,” “cat,” “dog,” “cow,” and amused themselves by imitating the sounds that these animals make. Then little Mary was asked to spell “love.” She didn’t stop to give the letters, but ran and threw her arms around the teacher’s neck and kissed her on the cheek. “We spell ‘love’ that way at our house,” she said. The girls laughed, but the teacher said, “That is a beautiful way; but do you know another way to spell ‘love’?” “Oh, yes,” cried Mary, “I spell love this way,” and she began to put the books in order on her teacher’s desk. “I spell love by helping everybody when they need me.” (From Illustrations of Bible Truth)
b. Paul tells us that out of the three great perspectives of life: faith, hope and love – love is the greatest because God equals love!
i. The bottom line is this LOVE is the greatest way to live – it’s the greatest way to survive in this world, it’s the greatest because it’s rooted in John 3:16!
1. God is love and we need to be like God!
a. Illustration from Illustrations Unlimited: Once, while riding in the country, I saw on a farmer’s barn a weather vane on the arrow of which was inscribed these words: “God is Love.” I turned in at the gate and asked the farmer, “What do you mean by that? Do you think God’s love is changeable; that it veers about as that arrow turns in the winds?” The farmer said, “Oh, no! I mean that whichever way the wind blows, God is still Love.” Charles H. Spurgeon
2. Love is the key to greatness – it’s the key to meaning in life –it’s the key to entrance into Heaven.
c. The acrostic message of Love:
i. L –Love
ii. O- Offers
iii. V- Voters
iv. E- Eternity
Conclusion:
How important is love to create a place of healing?
Illustration “Love Needed”
Some years ago, Dr. Karl Menninger, noted doctor and psychologist, was seeking the cause of many of his patients’ ills. One day he called in his clinical staff and proceeded to unfold a plan for developing, in his clinic, an atmosphere of creative love. All patients were to be given large quantities of love; no unloving attitudes were to be displayed in the presence of the patients, and all nurses and doctors were to go about their work in and out of the various rooms with a loving attitude. At the end of six months, the time spent by patients in the institution was cut in half (From Illustrations of Bible Truths).
We need to administer this lifestyle in the church – the church must choose to love if they want to be a place that facilitates and creates a healing environment.
In Summary:
1. Love is called the most excellent way because it’s God’s only way of dealing with others! It’s rooted and revealed in John 3:16!
2. There is a difference between sacrifice with love and sacrifice without love. The later way means nothing to God and will not live on into eternity.
3. Paul makes it clear in this chapter what love looks like and how love acts in the life of a Christian. Love has distinct character traits.
4. Love is the only power in this universe that will live on into eternity. This way of God has eternal value and we need to latch on to it.
5. Love is the greatest because God is love. The truth is without God you cannot love therefore we need to embrace God and His ways with all of our hearts.
Altar Call:
Have prayer team members come forward to pray for people.
