Alba 12-28-2025
LOVE REJOICES IN THE TRUTH
I Corinthians 13:6
A man told of the terrible experience he had with an advertisement he saw on television. He said that they told him that he could get one type of car for $100.00, and later they said he could get one house for $1000.00, but he would have to join their group. According to them the membership fee was $99.00, but if he could call at that minute, they would reduce it to $39.99. So he joined immediately. However, on their website there was no car for $100.00, and there was no house at all. But they had already taken his credit card and charged it several times before he canceled his membership. He said, “Be vigilant, be sure of the details of the business you are about to go into.”
That man was scammed. Don't you hate when that happens? Hopefully it hasn't happened to you. It is wise to take that man's advice so you can avoid the evil intent of scammers, “Be vigilant”. I don't think that anyone rejoices when that kind of evil is done to someone. Which brings us to our text for today. First Corinthians 13:6 says that love, “does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth.” (NKJV) Other versions help us to get a good understanding of what is meant by “iniquity”. The NIV simply says, “evil”. The NLT says, “injustice”. The ESV says, “wrong doing”. The NASV says, “unrighteousness”. So if love is present, real love, agape love, there is no pleasure taken when bad things happen or are done, whether its to yourself or to others.
To rejoice in evil, is not only to justify it, but to make wrong appear to be right. Which is exactly what Isaiah was calling God’s people out for when he wrote these words in Isaiah 5:20, “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” Those words seem to be a pretty accurate description of our modern culture.
Can you think of examples where our society has called something evil as if it were good? I can think of several. In the Spring of 2024 the White House did not celebrate Easter. Instead it was declared to be Transgender Day of Visibility, a social movement that rejects God's design, and there were people indecently parading around that day. Thankfully this past Easter the White House planned faith filled events.
And here is something else. Just this fall there were people rejoicing in the killing of Charlie Kirk. Many have been devastated by that act. Any killing should be seen as wicked and evil. But there were some who seemed happy about this wrong doing, this evil, this unrighteousness. To me, that shows that the political divide in this country has become the devil's playground.
What we are dealing with is good vs. evil. Romans 1:32 describes some of the things we are seeing and says that though there are people who, “knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.”
We need to learn the lesson that love does not rejoice (delight, applaud, cheer or celebrate) doing and participating in evil and wrongdoing. The point of 1 Corinthians 13 is about living out God’s kind of love in our relationships. Psalm One sums it up quite well. It says, “Blessed is the man
Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper.”
But then it warns: “The ungodly are not so, But are like the chaff which the wind drives away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the ungodly shall perish.”
And Psalm 97:10 call out, “Hate evil, you who love the Lord” (NASB) If we are going to be people of love (and Jesus said that is the way people will know we belong to Him), then there should be no occasion in which we would rejoice in any evil or unrighteousness. Instead, what we should be looking for and rejoicing in are the things that bear out with truth. But even that can be difficult. Sometimes we don't like to hear the truth.
Especially if we are not doing things quite right and someone offers words of correction. None of us like to be “told”. Even if what is being said is true, we often feel abused in some way. If the correction comes from a person who truly cares about you, then the words of Proverbs 27:5-6 should be remembered. They say, “Open rebuke is better than love carefully concealed. Faithful are the wounds of a friend, But the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.”
God's Word was given to us to know and understand the amazing love of God. But the Bible also is given to us in order to correct any wayward direction we may be going. We need to allow the “Word of Truth” (II Timothy 2:15) to be applied to our lives so that we can live in the truth of God's Word. That is when we will rejoice in the truth. Psalm 33:4 says, “For the word of the Lord is right, And all His work is done in truth.”
David, the shepherd boy who became king, often spoke of his love for the direction given by God in His Word. For example Psalm 119 is a praise of thankfulness for God's Word. Verses two through six lay the ground work for all that follows in this Psalm. They proclaim, “Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, Who seek Him with the whole heart! They also do no iniquity; They walk in His ways. You have commanded us to keep Your precepts diligently. Oh, that my ways were directed to keep Your statutes! Then I would not be ashamed, when I look into all Your commandments.”
The problems is that we will not be able to rejoice in the truth if we don't know the truth. The truth about God, about Jesus, about salvation, about how a Christian should live; all of this is found in the Bible, God's Word. Honestly, the few moments we have here on Sunday morning are not enough for you to get hold of enough truth to sustain you through the week. I am glad you are here, but if you really want to be someone who rejoices in the truth, take time with your Bible through the week. Allow it to speak to you in the circumstances of your life, and ask God if there is anything you need to change or make better.
John 8:31-32 says, “Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, 'If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.'” What does Jesus say how the truth shall make us free? The answer is to abide in His word. That is when we will know the truth. And that is when we will find freedom.
Oh, there are some who will counter that, saying that if you try to follow the do's and don'ts of scripture, it will take all the fun out of life. But they are wrong. There is always more fun when there is freedom. Of course, some think that unrestricted behavior is freedom. But again, they are wrong. It is not. There are dangers if a child is allowed unrestricted behavior. If you really care, you don't let a child play in the middle of a busy highway.
And there are dangers when unrestricted behavior is acted upon sexually. That can result in diseases that are life threatening as well as cause marriage breakups and harm to a family.
But again, some may counter with saying that not just following the direction of the Scriptures does not mean that anything goes. There are non-believers who don't live with unrestricted behavior. But then the question is, what is it that gives them direction for how to live. Usually it is made up as they go along. What ever feels good or right to them, they do it. Not everyone may experience the worst consequences of their behavior, but God shows us the best way to live.
His commandments are not given so that we won't have any fun. They are there to protect us and keep us from actions or things that we would later regret. It is out of love that God tells us the truth about life and the consequences of activities that are out of bounds of what we were created to do. His truth is found in His Word, and we are called to rejoice in the truth. And we have good reason to do so because the One who is the Way and the Truth and the Life is revealed in His Word. That is more than enough reason to cause us to rejoice.
The joyous message was first heard by the shepherds who were out in the fields, keeping watch over their sheep at night. It was then that an angel appeared to them and gave them the Good News that the Savior all had been looking for and praying for had arrived!
Luke chapter two verse ten and following records the message saying, “Then the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.' And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: 'Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!'” What an amazing thing this was.
What were the shepherds to make of this, and what would they do? Well when the angels were gone they said to themselves, we had better check this out, let's go to Bethlehem and see about this. A preacher recently said that the shepherds must have been from Missouri because they said “show me”.
And what did they find in Bethlehem? Well, they had been given very specific directions. They were given the name of the town, the particular place in the town, that there would be a baby, the baby would be wrapped in cloths, and of all things, the baby would be lying in a manger, not a crib, not a bed, but in a place where animals were fed. And guess what! They went to Bethlehem and they found the baby who was wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger, just as they had been told. Let me repeat that. It was just as they had been told.
When God gives His Word, He tells the truth. The shepherds found that out. And if we will take the truth of scripture into our hearts and follow that truth in our lives, we will also find out that what God has promised is just as He has said in His Word. Because His Word is truth.
His message to us is best summarized in that familiar verse, John 3:16. Because God does loves us so much that He gave His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, who died on that cross to purchase our redemption. And His promise is that by an obedient faith in Jesus we will not perish, but will have everlasting life. That is a truth we can rejoice in.
And once that truth is assured in our hearts, it will help us and guide us to live and love the truth. So in our relationships with the people that we love, lets be careful not to give any place for evil, but to be truthful and rejoice in the truth.
CLOSE:
When I was young I was aware of several people, usually children, who had contracted polio. Now there is a vaccine which protects against the disease. But before that was available, polio was a dangerous, often crippling, disease.
A wise physician told a polio victim’s parents, “Your child will walk again, if you keep up a regular course of exercise that I will prescribe for him, and if you do not wait on him hand and foot, but insist that he try to help himself.”
At first the exercises were painful, and the child cried out. But though the parent’s hearts were full of pity, they believed what the doctor said was true, so their concern for their boy's future would not let them give in. They continued hour after hour, day after day, month after month, kindly but firmly encouraging their little boy to exercise his partly paralyzed legs, and to follow as nearly as possible the routine of a normal child.
By the time he became a young man, this once crippled youngster was able to walk without the trace of a limp. Is not this an illustration of the way that God loves us? There are times that can be difficult, times when things aren't just the way we would like them to be. But His Word encourages us to keep going and keep trusting. And it shows the way we are to love and help others. If we believe in and rejoice in the truth, good things can happen. And the best thing that can happen is to know Jesus as Savior.
