Ten Marks of a Prevailing Church
Mark #3: Uncommon Love
1 Corinthians 13
July 8, 2001
Intro:
A. [Body of Christ, Citation: Billy Waters, Teacher Touch (Colorado Springs: Cook, 1999)]
After an accident in which she lost her arm, a girl named Jamie refused to go to school or church for an entire year.
Finally the young teen thought she could face her peers.
In preparation, her mother called her Sunday school teacher and asked that he not call attention to Jamie.
The teacher promised, but when he got sick on Sunday and had to call a substitute, he forgot to tell the second teacher.
At the conclusion of the lesson that day, which was about inviting friends to church, the sub led the class in doing the hand motions to the familiar children’s poem:
Here’s the church.
Here’s the steeple.
Open the doors.
See all the people.
Jamie’s eyes filled with tears.
A 13-year-old boy realized how she must be feeling.
He knelt beside her.
With one hand apiece, they supported each other, making the church, steeple, and people.
Together they illustrated what real church is.
B. Jesus talked about building a church against which the gates of hell could not prevail.
1. One of the marks of that kind of church is uncommon love.
2. We live in a world that is looking for love in all the wrong places and they are desperately crying out for real love.
3. We have access to the most powerful love in the world and many churches are not demonstrating it to the world.
4. If Somerset is to be a prevailing church, we must have an uncommon kind of love.
5. So today I want us to think seriously through 1 Corinthians 13.
6. And from this great chapter on love, I want to give you three slogans to love by; three slogans that will help us love others as ourselves; first…
I. What I do and what I know are not nearly as important as why I do what I do.
1 Corinthians 13:1-3, If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If 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. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
A. The gift of tongues is just noise without love.
1. 1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.
2. Paul begins with the gift of the Spirit that was getting the most attention in that church.
3. The church in Corinth was going overboard with the gift that he said was the least significant of all the gifts.
4. The church in Corinth viewed the gift of tongues as the true mark of Spirituality; they were wrong about it, but that was their view none-the-less.
5. Paul began this discussion on love by saying that they could speak in tongues all they wanted to and think they were the most spiritual person in the world, but if they didn’t love others, their speaking in tongues was just noise.
B. The gifts of prophecy and knowledge and even faith are nothing without love.
1. 2 If 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.
2. Paul then moves to another area where other people placed a lot of spiritual emphasis; that being what a person knows.
3. There were those who thought that what a person knew was what made him spiritual.
4. If a person could predict the future, interpret the will of God, or knew a lot about the Scripture—this person’s knowledge made him super-spiritual.
5. The more a person knew about God and the Scriptures, the more spiritual they were perceived to be.
6. But Paul said that even if they did have the gift of prophecy and the gift of knowledge and even if they had an extraordinary amount of faith and they didn’t have love, they were nothing.
C. Giving to the poor gains nothing without love.
1. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
2. Paul said a person could do all the charity in the world and if they didn’t do it out of love, they gained nothing.
3. There are all kinds of reasons why some one could give all they had to the poor and not do it out of love.
4. There are those who would do it just to have folks look at them and tell them what a good person they were.
D. So Paul is saying that it doesn’t matter what you know or what you do, what matters is why we do what we do.
1. It is more important how much we love than how much we know.
2. It is more important how much we love than how much we do.
3. Prevailing churches have people who want to study the Word of God, but they do it in order to learn how to love!
4. Prevailing churches have people who want to use their God-given talents in order to show love to others!
5. Prevailing churches know that they can be known as a church that speaks in tongues, but if they don’t love, they’re just a clanging cymbal.
6. Prevailing churches know that they can be known as a Bible teaching church, but if they don’t love, they are nothing.
7. Prevailing churches know that they can give thousands of dollars to the poor and needy, but if they don’t have love they gain nothing.
8. Prevailing churches know that it doesn’t matter how many Bible studies they have, if they don’t love they are nothing.
9. Prevailing churches know that it doesn’t matter how many good deeds the church does, if they don’t do it for the right reason, they gain nothing.
10. Prevailing churches know that how much they love is more important than how much they know.
11. Prevailing churches know that it is more important why we give than how much we give.
12. Prevailing churches know that why they do what they do is more important than what they do.
13. Prevailing churches know that knowing and doing are not what’s most important; loving is what is most important.
14. Prevailing churches don’t ask "WHAT shall we do?" but "WHY shall we do it?"
15. Prevailing churches don’t ask "How much will it cost?" but "Why should we do it?" "Will it give us the best opportunity to LOVE?"
16. Prevailing churches know that in order to prevail against the gates of hell, the most important thing we do is love God and love one another!
II. How I respond is far more important than how I feel!
1 Corinthians 13:4-7, Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
A. Love is not a feeling.
1. So many people miss this.
2. I can’t tell you how frustrating it is to talk to people who use the word "feel" in every other sentence.
a. "Well I feel this way…"
b. "Well I felt that this was the right thing to do…"
c. "Well I feel that you should do something different…"
d. When I talk to people who "feel" a lot of things, I feel like saying, "Well I feel sick!"
3. Feelings are God-given and we should pay attention to them because sometimes its the HS that is speaking to us through our feelings.
4. But the truth is that some things the HS wants to tell us don’t feel good and some things the Devil wants to tell us do, do feel good.
5. When the Devil wants us to commit adultery, it will feel good.
6. When the Devil wants us to tell a lie to keep us out of trouble, that will feel better than the consequences of telling the truth.
7. Conversely, when the HS wants us to not try to get revenge, it doesn’t feel good because everything within our flesh really wants to pay the person back.
8. And when the HS wants us to serve others, it doesn’t feel good because our flesh wants to make others serve us.
9. There was an old song that said, "If loving you is wrong, I don’t want be right."
10. And there was another song that said, "How can this be wrong when it feels so right?"
11. The Bible says that we must test the spirits to see if what we’re hearing is coming from the HS or some other spirit.
12. And the way we do that is by knowing what the Bible says.
13. We don’t make our decisions based solely on our feelings, we have to check our feelings against the Bible.
14. And what our society tries to tell us is love, is no where near what the Bible says is love.
15. Therefore we must love people based on what the way the Bible says to love, and not based on how we feel.
16. Love is not a warm gushy feeling, love is a commitment to the well-being of another.
17. Love is being concerned about the eternal condition of another’s soul.
18. Love is wanting to do everything you can do to help that person get to heaven.
19. Love has nothing to do with how we feel.
20. Love often has to be tough love in order to do what is best for their eternal soul, but the difference between tough love and revenge is the attitude of the heart.
B. Love considers others first…
1. Love is patient with people who aggravate us.
2. Love is kind to those who are irritating to us.
3. Love is not envious of others, but rejoices with the success of others.
C. Love examines itself when responding to others…
1. Love is not proud of itself it is only proud of God.
2. Love doesn’t list its own accomplishments.
3. Love is not rude, but polite towards others.
4. Love is not interested in promoting its own interests.
D. Love doesn’t sin when it responds to others…
1. Love is not easily angered but keeps its cool when others do things that offend.
2. Love keeps no record of wrongs by not bringing up things the person has done wrong in the past just to put the person in their place.
3. Love rejoices with the truth by celebrating the victories of others rather than pointing out their mistakes.
4. Love rejoices in the truth by speaking truth and speaking positively of others.
E. Love responds appropriately in difficult circumstances…
1. Love protects others by shielding others from things that could cause them to stumble.
2. Love always trusts by not being suspicious of the deeds and motivations of others.
3. Love always hopes by anticipating the spiritual good that will come out of difficult circumstances.
4. Love always perseveres by willingly putting up with awkward circumstances caused by others.
F. Prevailing churches know that this is how all men will know we are Christians: by our love.
1. Prevailing churches have an atmosphere of love and concern and service to others.
2. When visitors come into a prevailing church, they know they’re in a place that is completely different than any where else in the world.
3. When visitors come into a prevailing church, they can see the way the people love each other.
4. When visitors come into a prevailing church, they can’t believe the loving way they themselves are treated.
5. Prevailing churches have extraordinary love for others.
6. Prevailing churches genuinely care about others when they are hurting.
7. Prevailing churches don’t say critical things about others.
8. Prevailing churches don’t gossip about others.
9. Prevailing churches look for the positive and the good in others.
10. Prevailing churches go out of their way to welcome and serve visitors.
11. Prevailing churches know they can’t just come to church on Sunday mornings and just sit in their pews and go home.
12. Prevailing churches know that loving others is a seven day a week job.
13. Prevailing churches know that when we love others seven days a week, when we come together to worship, there is a special bond that takes place among the people.
14. Prevailing churches know that it is far more important how much we love than how we feel because we allow God’s love to shine through us even when we don’t feel like it.
III. The most important thing I can do is to love.
1 Corinthians 13:8-13, Love 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. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. 11 When 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. 12 Now 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. 13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
A. Paul says love never fails.
1. Paul says the gifts of the Spirit are temporary; for this life only.
2. Paul says the gifts of the Spirit are only partial; for they will be made complete when Christ returns.
3. Paul says the gifts will end.
4. Paul says that gifts are infantile; when Christ returns, we will mature.
5. But Paul says love is eternal.
6. Out of faith, hope, and love—love is the greatest.
7. Why?
a. Because when Christ returns, faith will become sight.
b. And when Christ returns, hope will become reality.
c. And the only thing that will last in eternity is love.
d. There will be no need for faith in heaven.
e. There will be no need for hope in heaven.
f. But there will always be love.
B. I spoke of the Biblical importance of using our God-given talents (which the Bible calls "gifts") last Sunday.
1. Now lest you get the impression that I am nullifying that sermon—listen closely.
2. The gifts of the spirit will cease; they will end.
3. But the gifts of the spirit are to be used in this life to teach us to love.
4. The gifts of the spirits are our professors.
5. The use of talents to serve others is childish in terms of what we will have in heaven, but they are how we mature in this life.
6. And if we don’t learn to love, there is no way we are ever going to make it to heaven.
7. Prevailing churches know that our talents will not be needed in heaven, but they are certainly needed in this life!
8. And prevailing churches now that even if we could employ every single one of the gifts of the Spirit in our own lives, if we don’t learn to love—then they are useless!
9. Prevailing churches know that all of the things that we do are not nearly as important as why we do it because everything we do will be burned up except for the love that we have demonstrated.
10. The only thing that we will do that will last forever is the way the we love others.
11. Prevailing churches know that the most important thing we do is love one another because it is the only thing that we will do that will last through eternity.
12. Prevailing churches know that it doesn’t matter what they do as long as the reason they are doing it is love.
13. Prevailing churches know that if they have any other motive for doing something, it will be pointless.
14. Prevailing churches know that doing things is important so that we can demonstrate God’s love.
15. But prevailing churches know that the reason they do what they do is far more important than what they are actually doing.
16. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
Conclusion:
A. How are we doing at love?
1. Is ours an uncommon love?
2. Do people know that we are Christians by the way we love others?
3. Or do they wonder whose we are because they can’t see the love of God in us?
4. How are we doing at love?
a. Do we ask ourselves the reason why we’re doing what we’re doing?
b. Are we responding with the way this chapter describes, no matter how we feel?
c. Is demonstrating God’s love to others the most important thing we do?
B. [Lessons from a Tavern, Citation: Charles Swindoll, Leadership, Vol. 4, no. 1.]
An old Marine Corps buddy of mine, to my pleasant surprise, came to know Christ after he was discharged.
I say surprise because he cursed loudly, fought hard, chased women, drank heavily, loved war and weapons, and hated chapel services.
A number of months ago, I ran into this fellow, and after we’d talked awhile, he put his hand on my shoulder and said, "You know, Chuck, the only thing I still miss is that old fellowship I used to have with all the guys down at the tavern. I remember how we used to sit around and let our hair down. I can’t find anything like that for Christians. I no longer have a place to admit my faults and talk about my battles--where somebody won’t preach at me and frown and quote me a verse."
It wasn’t one month later that in my reading I came across this profound paragraph:
"The neighborhood bar is possibly the best counterfeit that there is to the fellowship Christ wants to give his church.
It’s an imitation, dispensing liquor instead of grace, escape rather than reality--but it is a permissive, accepting, and inclusive fellowship.
It is unshockable.
You can tell people secrets, and they usually don’t tell others or even want to.
The bar flourishes not because most people are alcoholics, but because God has put into the human heart the desire to know and be known, to love and be loved, and so many seek a counterfeit at the price of a few beers.
With all my heart," this writer concludes, "I believe that Christ wants his church to be unshockable, a fellowship where people can come in and say, ’I’m sunk, I’m beat, I’ve had it.’ Alcoholics Anonymous has this quality--our churches too often miss it."
Now before you take up arms to shoot some wag that would compare your church to the corner bar, stop and ask yourself some tough questions, like I had to do.
Make a list of some possible embarrassing situations people may not know how to handle.
A woman discovers her husband is a practicing homosexual.
Where in the church can she find help where she’s secure with her secret?
Your mate talks about separation or divorce.
To whom do you tell it?
Your daughter is pregnant and she’s run away--for the third time.
She’s no longer listening to you.
Who do you tell that to?
You lost your job, and it was your fault.
You blew it, so there’s shame mixed with unemployment.
Who do you tell that to?
Financially, you were unwise, and you’re in deep trouble.
Or a man’s wife is an alcoholic.
Or something as horrible as getting back the biopsy from the surgeon, and it reveals cancer, and the prognosis isn’t good.
Or you had an emotional breakdown.
To whom do you tell it?
We’re the only outfit I know that shoots its wounded.
We can become the most severe, condemning, judgmental, guilt-giving people on the face of planet Earth, and we claim it’s in the name of Jesus Christ.
And all the while, we don’t even know we’re doing it.
That’s the pathetic part of it all.
C. Which kind of church is Somerset?
1. Is Somerset a safe place where we can share our battles, frustrations, and sins?
2. Or is Somerset a place where someone with problems will be accused, judged, and gossiped about?
3. Is your home a safe place where someone can come and confess their sin and be nurtured back into the grace of God?
4. Is your telephone number a number that people feel confident in calling and knowing that it won’t be used to after that to tell others what they confessed?
5. If Somerset is to be a prevailing church that the gates of hell cannot prevail against, then we must incorporate these slogans into our lives and into our church…
a. What I do and what I know are not nearly as important as why I do what I do.
b. How I respond to others is far more important than I how I feel.
c. The most important thing I can do is love.
d. (Repeat them with me.)
D. How do you need to respond to God today?
1. Do you need to receive His love?
2. Do you need to come and pray about your commitment to love?
E. Song of commitment: "They’ll Know We Are Christians by Our Love."
