Sermon for 2/8/98
What is Love?
I Corinthians 13:4
Introduction:
A. Steve Winwood- Bring me a higher love.
B. What is love? Love is an attitude- Love is a prayer, For a soul in sorrow, A heart in despair. Love is good wishes for the gain of another. Love suffers long with the fault of a brother. Love gives water to a cup that’s run dry, Love reaches low, and Love reaches high. Seeks not his own At the expense of another, Love reaches God when it reaches a brother.
WBTU:
A. Last week’s sermon. WE need to do things with love, but what is love.
B. World longs to see true love. The Princess Bride.
C. I preached a sermon on this passage many years ago. My first sermon. However, this time we will look at each verse in more depth.
Thesis: Let’s examine 1 Corinthians 13:4 and see what love is and does, and then see what love is not and does not.
For instances:
I. Love is, love does.
A. Love suffers long. (Patient)
1. Patience in regard to persons. Look beyond acts to the person.
2. 2 Timothy 4:2- Preach the Word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, and exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.
3. It is said that Claude, a Christian man, was unjustly imprisoned in the Bastille (a French prison). At the same time another man was imprisoned who was so brutal and ferocious that no one dared approach him. The jailer, recognizing Claud’s Christian character, begged him to undertake to humanize this monster. Accordingly, the humble Christian was shut up with this human brute, which subjected him to the worst kind of treatment. Through it all, Claude’s only reply was to exhibit silence, patience, and mildness under attack. His prayers achieved the rest. The monster at length looked into the face of his companion, suddenly threw himself at his feet, and burst into a flood of penitent tears. He became a new creature in Christ, and even when set at liberty could scarcely be prevailed upon to leave his Christian friend.
4. Long suffering is an attribute of God and Christ. God gives us grace, and God never grows tired of our failings. God could wipe us out at any time and he would be justified because of our sin, but he is long-suffering toward us.
5. The believer reflects this long-suffering of God to the world of wickedness.
6. This is the spirit that has the power to take revenge if it liked, but this person utterly refuses. Not because we are restrained by law.
7. This was not a good virtue in the days of the New Testament. They thought that the big man was the one who went all out for vengeance and was able to intimidate others not to annoy him.
8. A man bought a field next to a farmer who had been engaged in a long-standing dispute with the former owner about the exact boundary line between this field and his own property. When the new owner saw the farmer near the fence one-day, he greeted him with the words, “I’m your new neighbor; and I would like to talk to you about the boundary line between our properties.” The farmer assumed a rough attitude and said, “What about it?” “How much do you claim of this field as belonging to you?” Asked the new owner, who was a Christian. “I claim that your fence is a good two feet over on my property.” Replied the farmer. “Well, then, I want you to reset the fence four feet back on my side,” said the Christian. This completely took the fight out of the farmer, and was the beginning of a new spirit of concession on his part also.
9. Love looks at weaknesses and faults only in most truly realistic manner as God does.
10. Petty annoyances. Jesus and his disciples.
11. Zodhiates- “A young couple came to see me, because the husband had been caught in sin. Both have professed faith in Jesus Christ, and but for that one sin in the life of the husband their lives are in line with their profession. Their pastor also came to see me regarding their problem. It has become his problem also. As I talked with this godly pastor, I could not help admiring him. This case is taking a lot of his time. His desire is not to wash his hands of the sinner but to save him. The man’s wife has the same attitude. It is easy to kick a man when he is down, but it takes real strength of character to lift him up by the grace of God. Too many Christians choose the way of non-involvement and rejections rather that the way of love, because the former solves the problem for them, while the latter involves some personal sacrifice- though it extends hope to the sinner.
12. My nature is to be impatient, hasty, fretful, weary, and rebellious. We need to look to God and then to ourselves.
B. Love is kind.
1. Long-suffering is negative side of service. Kindness is positive side. Not just idle- but answering and being kind. Going out of our way to be kind even in the midst of hatred and evil.
2. The aunt, “I’ve prayed that I will be able to stand you all for at least another day.” This is not kindness.
3. Kindness is a sweetness of actions.
4. Business world- get ahead, is rude.
5. The emphasis is not in the large things, but the little acts of thoughtfulness and gentleness along life’s way.
6. Alexander MacLaren- Kindness does not require us to be blind to facts or to live in a fantasy world, but it does require us to cherish the habit of goodwill, ready to show pity if sorrow appears, and slow to turn away even if hostility appears.
7. Christ never treated anyone as hopeless. His love never grew cold. Christ told us to forgive not 7 but 70 X 7. He was even kind to his enemies. He told them where they were wrong but still he went to the home of Simon the Pharisee.
8. Many things discourage kindness. In Ancient times in the East a common practice among tribes at war was to fill up each other’s wells. Every well thus rendered useless was a public blessing destroyed. It is like a crime against humanity when a well of kindness in a heart is stopped. The world’s need and sorrow are the losers. The thirsty come to drink where before their want had been satisfied, and are disappointed.
9. Jesus poured out love, and man rejected it. He helped people, and they turned about and joined His malingers. He came to love His nation, and they nailed Him on a cross. Yet amid all this rejections of His love, the heart of Jesus never lost a trace of his gentleness and compassion. Even on the cross he forgave those who nailed him there.
10. Little children. They trust and do not question motives.
11. This is impossible to show kindness and love to people who will misuse us and repay good with evil. Christian love is not earth-born affection; it is born out of heaven, out of God’s own heart.
12. A widow whose children had left her one by one to go to America heard each of them promise to save money and to send for her very soon. Time passed; the children married and had children, but no mention came of sending for the old mother. She longed to see them, but thinking they lacked the means, she saved up enough money herself to pay them a surprise visit. Alas, her reception was the reverse of what she had fondly anticipated. Her children, who had prospered, seemed annoyed at their mother’s coming, criticized her old-fashioned dress and speech, and had no room for her. The disappointed woman came back and entered a home for the aged, where she proved a blessing to all about her, shedding on those around her the love that her own children had rejected. No bitterness remained in the heart of the aged saint. “It seems to me that I knew what our Lord suffered,” she told a friend, “When He came to His own dear people and they gave Him the cold shoulder. Just think! He came unto his own and His own received Him not! I can understand how that wounded His loving heart.” What would have been our response?
II. Love is not. Love does not.
A. Envy
1. Opposite of patience and kindness. This is tested in conflict. Self is prone to envy and jealousy.
2. The older brother in the story of the prodigal son.
3. Love rejoices over blessings of others, whether spiritual or material. We are pushed because we are not what God wants us to be, not because we see others who are better.
4. Even when Jesus was going toward Jerusalem, the disciples were envying each other.
5. Only love can be trusted to make comparisons. Paul said, “I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content.”
6. There is good jealousy, between husband and wife; God is a jealous God.
7. Envy is the child of hate. Envy prefers to grumble at the success of others rather than work hard to achieve the same success. Envy is as rottenness in the bones.
8. At the cross the people made fun of Jesus. Why? Matthew 27:18- for they knew that they had handed him over because of envy. They saw the great miracles and the great teachings and they were jealous.
9. Cain and Abel.
10. An incident is related in Greek history of a wrestler who was so envious of Theagenes, the prince of wrestlers, that he could not be consoled in any way. After Theagenes died and a statue was erected to him in a public place, this envious antagonist went out every night and wrestled with the statue, until one night he threw it over, and it fell on him and crushed him to death.
11. Envy poisons the heart.
B. Parade itself (boast)
1. WE need to pray to rid ourselves of envy.
2. A Christian should not judge another by worldly standards. This is usually what people boast about. The story is told of a Persian prince who, dressed as a poor man, went to a feast. He was pushed about, could not get to the table, and soon had to withdraw. He went home, dressed himself in his best gold robe and slippers, and returned to the feast. The guests made room for him, and the host rushing up cried, “Welcome, my lord! What will your lordship please to eat?” The prince stuck out his jeweled foot and said in a mocking tone, “Welcome, my lord’s slipper! Then fingering his golden robe, “Welcome, my lord’s robe! What will your lordship please to eat?” Turning to his surprised host he said, “You ought to ask my lordly clothes what they would like to eat, since the welcome was solely to them.”
3. Love’s values are different. Love lives in order to give and not to get.
4. Nothing in a Christian is more beautiful than the way it makes a man’s true wealth dependent upon generosity to others. Envy is to die- hoarding of possessions and wealth.
5. You cannot love God and hate those whom He has blessed. Self thrives on boasting. We need to stop making money to buy things to impress people we don’t like.
6. The self is so deceitful! The self is jealous of what others have, as though its own lot was so bad. Yet in the next breath it boasts of its own possessions as though these were vastly superior to what others have.
7. We need to boast in the things that are important. The Bible says, “He who glories, let him glory in the Lord.” Galatians 6:14- But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.
8. Let love boast about great things, useful things. Everything we have came from the Lord. We should boast in Him.
C. Puffed up (Proud)
1. Some may say that I do not envy because I am so proud of myself.
2. Revelation 3:17- Because you say, “I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing”- and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked.
3. We can forgive foolishness, but to brag about evil and call it good is to compound evil.
4. Behind boasting lies conceit, overestimation of one’s own importance, abilities or achievements.
5. That which is truly great has no need to puff itself up for public display. It is all empty boasting.
6. Basketball bragging.
7. Matthew 23:12- and whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.
Conclusion:
A. Love is so complete and universal, we miss it. So many times love does not reign supreme.
B. World has little patience, kindness, takes no pleasure in brothers prosperity. Finds bitterness in the thought of it.
C. Love is not centered on itself. It is centered on God and then on others.
D. 2 Corinthians 5:14
