1 Cor. 13:1-3
?If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. [2] And if I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. [3] And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.?
?Anything ? Love =Nothing?
Prayer?
Everyone loves the philanthropist!
-Why? Because he is a giver!
-And we, quite honestly, would love to be one the receiving end of the philanthropy. J
A philanthropist is a person who practices philanthropy.
So what is philanthropy?
-It is a ?LOVE of mankind; shown in practical kindness and helpfulness to humanity.?
-Basically, being benevolent.
And Notice?
There is a key word used in that definition?LOVE!
In fact, even one of the roots, of this compound word, PHILAnthropy; suggests just that very thing?LOVE!
-As you might remember, there are THREE types of love, as described in the Bible?
*Eros?depicts the love between a man and a woman.
*Phileo?refers to a love of friendship.
*Agape?characterizes the Love God has for us, and He demonstrated through His only Son, Jesus Christ.
-Same as the word as Charity; that you so often here if you are a KJV?er.
*Agape love is?
-A matter of will rather than feeling?
-The basic element in Christ-likeness?
And the AGAPE love, is the love we are focused on here tonight.
Actually, it is the same love that we each are to be marked WITH, and be known BY; as described in John 13:35, "By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."
-Friends, there is no doubt in my mind, or heart, that this is a quality (love) that God wants each of His Disciples to be recognized with.
-And?
*This is what will separate the saved, from the unsaved?
*This is what will reveal the genuine Christian from the church-goer?
*This is what will divide the religious from those with a relationship?
I John 4:20-21
?If someone says, "I love God," but hates a Christian brother or sister, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we have not seen? [21] And God himself has commanded that we must love not only him but our Christian brothers and sisters, too.? NLT
What this is trying to reveal to the reader is that?
-Our love for God will be expressed in its love for other believers.
-Because that ?perfect love, which casts out all fear? in verse 18; sweeps away all hate too!
So then, possessing God?s love will result in; not only a fearless confidence, but also a LOVE FOR THE BRETHEREN!!!
-And this is the kind of love that we should be demonstrating towards one another?
-This is the kind of love that should be flowing out from us, towards other people?
-This is the kind of love that should mark everything we do, and are?
*Agape love?a love like that of God the Father; this is what should be within us.
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If you think about it?we should ALL be philanthropists?
We should all have a basic love for mankind, shown in kindness and helpfulness towards one another.
-This is the most practical way by which we can demonstrate God?s love to this lost world.
-Being, quite literally, His hands and feet extended; demonstrating GOD?S love in practical ways towards others. (we see this done throughout the Scriptures)
*That is the heart of a Philanthropist.
*That is the true essence of the genuine Philanthropist.
-It isn?t just about millions of dollars?it is the heart.
Do you have a philanthropic heart?
Do you demonstrate the AGAPE type love to this world?
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Isn?t this what Jesus wanted us to get when He told the story of the ?Good Samaritan?? (Luke 10)
-He was giving us a practical illustration of His love as it should be shown to this world.
-He showed us His love in action, as it was being demonstrated to the down-and-out?to the broken and bruised.
*Even when ALL others passed this guy by?
*There was one who stooped low to pick him up?he got him shelter and mended his wounds?and even PAYED to have him cared for until he had fully recovered!
Jesus used this story to prove a point to a lawyer?
This lawyer was questioning Jesus about how to go about inheriting eternal life?
-Jesus then asks him to remember what the Law says?
-What does the law say???
Luke 10:27
?And he answered and said, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself."?
*The lawyer gave the safe answer and told Jesus the typical ?rabbinis summary? of the OT Law.
-However, the lawyer wanted to put limits on this ?love??because he figured there must be those who this love does not apply to?therefore, seeking to limit his duty in love.
-But Jesus drills it home?love is not a matter of theory or philosophy; but rather, it is to be used in PRACTICAL demonstration?very FREELY!
*The Priest and Levite theorized this ?love? issue?
*However, the Samaritan (though he was despised and of a ?mongrel? race) did not rationalize love?he ACTED IN LOVE!
And this is what you and I should be doing with the ?love? that has been invested in us?
-Freely giving to all?
-Freely demonstrating it?
-Freely using it to bless and inspire others to love and serve God too?
ILLUSTRATION:
Thomas a’ Kempis wrote, ?Whoever loves much, does much.?
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So, what am I trying to say to each of us tonight???
We must apply a measure of AGAPE love to anything and everything
that we do and say! Love is what adds value to anything we do!
Thus?my equation which says?
ANYTHING ? LOVE = NOTHING
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Returning again to?I Cor. 13?
You may ask??Can this be true Pastor??
-I would say?Oh yes!
Let?s read it again?
1 Cor. 13:1-3
?If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. [2] And if I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. [3] And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.?
Oh, the things we do may be keeping us busy doing even GOOD things?but if our activities are void of the Love of God?then they are worthless.
-They will not make a difference?
-They are not genuine?
-They are not credited to your heavenly account?
ILLUSTRATION:
You have heard it said, ?The road to hell is paved with good intentions.?
Well, the same is true; that if you just do good, without love, then it is of no value.
-Why?
-Because?
ANYTHING ? LOVE = NOTHING!
TRANSITIONAL SENTENCE:
I Corinthians 13 tells us that the Gifts MUST be exercised with love!
And I will take that one step further and say?
ALL that we do, in and with our lives, MUST be done with Love!!!
A love that demonstrates the Love of the Father to this world.
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Let?s think about this, and?
Understand the PRIMACY of Love?
I Cor. 13 is trying to help us understand something?
Paul, the writer, is trying to convey to us that LOVE IS NECESSARY in what we do.
-He has already established for us that love is shown through actions?
-Consider the gift of Jesus Christ to this world?
*He was sent because, ?God so LOVED??
*Jesus gave His life so willingly because He loved God, and He chose to obey God.
-Jesus was love demonstrated through actions?
Paul takes on this thought of the necessity of love by engaging us with the gifts so that he may prove his point?
(But, Paul does not degrade the gifts, nor does he say that love is better than the gifts.)
-Rather, what Paul was trying to tell the Corinthian Church is simply, ?without love; the highest, or best of all the gifts, all loose their proper effectiveness, value and reward.?
-And Paul confirms this with seven examples of spiritual ministry?which were all valued by the Corinthians.
*All are listed in verses 1-3.
All of these gifts were HIGHLY esteemed by the Corinthian Church?so much so that they missed the essence of the gifts?
-They lacked in the LOVE?
-And as important as these were to them?they missed the value that the gifts could have given, because they lacked in the LOVE element.
And to break it down?
Without love?without acting in love?the person who ministers such gifts is nothing.
The gift, and the person, is of no value to the local assembly nor the Lord?
-Even if the gifts are acclaimed?
-Even if the message is revered?
-Even if all thought it was the best?
*Why???
*Because it was lacking in the most important value?LOVE!!!
*LOVE is what makes it valuable?life-changing?and effective.
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Basically, what I am trying to say is that?
We can be busy about doing all that we should be according to the WORD of GOD even?but if we lack that one essential thing?LOVE?it is all done for nothing!!!
Proof?
Verse 3, ?And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.?
Some may think that just because they are doing this?they are deserving of a reward.
Even 1 John 3:16-17 says, ?We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. [17] But whoever has the world’s goods, and beholds his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him??
-But, if we do these things WITHOUT love, we will gain nothing?
*Yeah, we may find ourselves blessed, helped and challenged because of it, BUT?
*Our reward for our works will be treated as wood, hay, and straw?they will burn when they are tested for the value of there gift.
1 Cor. 3:13-15
??each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it, because it is to be revealed with fire; and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. [14] If any man’s work which he has built upon it remains, he shall receive a reward. [15] If any man’s work is burned up, he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall be saved, yet so as through fire.?
My friends?there is a primacy, or predominance, of love that is necessary to be strewn throughout ALL that we do for others in the name of Christ!
-Love is the basis, or foundation, that will make it all worth it.
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This is what helps us to?
Understand the PERMANENCE of Love?
Verses 8 ?13 of I Cor. 13 gives us further proof of the need for love.
1 Cor. 13:8-13
?Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away. [9] For we know in part, and we prophesy in part; [10] but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away. [11] When I was a child, I used to speak as a child, think as a child, reason as a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things. [12] For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I shall know fully just as I also have been fully known. [13] But now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.?
How can we know that all what I said is valid?
Well, these verses lay it out for us?again revealing the need and priority of love?\
-In that, LOVE NEVER FAILS!!!
There will be a day when there will be no need for the gifts of the Spirit?
There will be a day when the demonstration of love from our lives to others will not be necessary?
There will come a time when all that will be know is love?God?s Love!
-That time will be when Jesus returns for His Church and we are with Him forever in Heaven!
-And what will be the only element that will remain after these events have occurred???
*LOVE will remain.
That is why verse 13 rings out so true and real?
1 Cor. 13:13
?But now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.?
-There will be the day that we will need no more faith?because we will see Him face to face! We will know beyond all shadow of doubt!
-We will no longer hope because our hope will be had?it will then be a present reality!
-BUT, love will continue on.
*God?s love will be fulfilled and shared throughout all eternity!
*God?s love will be our sustenance, our life, and our continued joy shared!!!
Rejoice my friends for the great joy we will know in God?s Love; unhindered, unblemished, and so very real and pure!!!
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Since we have come to know the need for love?
Since we have come to know the longevity of love?
Become familiar with, and?
Understand the PROFILE of Love?
1 Cor. 13:4-7
?Love is patient, love is kind, and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, [5] does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, [6] does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; [7] bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.?
Paul reveals the genuine description of love?our Biblical basis of what love is.
And how it should be revealed through us.
Paul lists 12 Characteristics to describe the kind of love that is necessary to be manifested within our demonstration of God to this world.
-This is how we let our light so shine?
-This is how we should rebuke and reprove?
-This is the way we should share the gifts of the Spirit?
-This is how things should flow through us?
*Patiently?
*Kindly?
*Without envy?
*Without pride?
*Self-less?
*Without anger?
*Etc?Etc?Etc?
Dear saints?Love should mark each of us in all that we should do!
-And within these verses, we see Love ?fleshed out? for us?
-This is how it should manifest itself within each of us?
ILLUSTRATION:
In his book Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis wrote, "Do not waste your time bothering whether you ’love’ your neighbor; act as if you did. As soon as we do this, we find one of the great secrets. When you are behaving as if you loved someone, you will presently come to love him. If you injure someone you dislike, you will find yourself disliking him more. If you do him a good turn, you will find yourself disliking him less."
-What is C. S. Lewis saying?
-JUST DO IT!
-Put the Word into action in your life, and love one another, and it will come easier and easier as you practice it!!!
Are we practicing love???
Are we living it out???
Is love evident in all that we do???
Could we afford to have a little more LOVE realized with who and what we are???
-Make it your goal?
-Just do it!!!
-Because?ANYTHING ? LOVE = NOTHING.
IN CONCLUSION:
1 Tim. 1:5
?But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.?
What is this verse trying to say?
-The most supreme goal of all instruction from God?s Word is not just a gain in Biblical Knowledge?
-But the goal of instruction is an inward moral transformation that will be expressed in the outward life of the individual through?
*Purity of Heart?
*A Clear Conscience?
*Faith, without Hypocrisy?
*And, LOVE!!!
ILLUSTRATION:
Augustine said?
?In essentials, unity. In non-essentials, liberty. In all things, charity.?
-Love MUST be in all things and at all times?
The verse that is called ?The Bible in a Nutshell? is John 3:16?
-It is a verse about the Great Love of God!
It has been said that the Bible is all about God?s Love Sickness for His Creation?
What marks all that God has ever done?is His love?His agape love for His creation.
And my friends?God, likewise, desires that we, in conjunction with Him, would be His hands and feet extended by demonstrating and sharing His love with other people.
ALTAR CALL:
Do you desire to share His love?
Do you need to be more liberal with His love?
Do you need His love in you, so that you can share His love with others?
SALVATION?
REDEDICATION?
Do you need to share more love in what you do? Prayer for those!
SEEK AFTER A CHANGE IN HEART?NEED FOR LOVE?
SONG:
More Love, More Power
