The Unholy Three
(Pastor Craige LeBreton)
A little over two thousand years ago…a young church…situated in…
The city of Corinth…the capitol city… of the Roman province of Achaia…
Received a letter…this letter came from the man…
who had planted this church…this man…was the Apostle Paul…
In this letter to the church at Corinth…
As Paul addresses the church members…he addresses their behavior…
And specifically…the type of behavior…we as Christians…
should exhibit…towards each other…
many issues and concerns are addressed…but the thirteenth chapter…
of this letter…sets a standard…….a new standard…….he raises the bar…
so to speak……for the members of the church at Corinth…
and for all of us…….
Paul points the reader…in the direction… that Christ would have us go…
This letter sets a standard…for all Christians t live by…
In order to understand it’s context…follow along as I read…
The thirteenth chapter of I Corinthians…paying particular attention…
To Paul’s use of the word…Charity…Or Love…
Text I Corinthians chapter 13
Paul tells us…that there are three things…that have enduring value…
For all of us…
They are: Faith…Hope…and Love…
How do we…as members of one of Christ’s…new Testament Churches…
Apply these values…?
How do we apply these values…in our lives??? How do they…fit in????
I have been taught that….Faith…Hope…and love…
Correspond…to the three tenses…of time…
Faith has to do…with the way…we perceive…or look at the past…
Love….is the way that…we live in the present…
And Hope…guides the way…we approach the future…
According to this point of view…as a Christian…we should approach…
The past with faith…
The present with love…
And the future with Hope…
Whenever we talk about a person of faith….
We are talking of someone…who looks at the past…as being God’s past…
This is a person…who sees the history of the world…and their own life…
As being the story…that God has written…for them…
God has written…His story…God has written His Word…
His Holy Scripture…How He sent…His only son…to die for our sins…
On the cross at Calvary…then be buried…and resurrected on the third day…
Then ascend back to the father…to intercede …on our behalf…
This is God’s story…
And when a person of faith…examines his or her own life…
And then examines the life of a lost man…that person of faith…
Can truly say… “I have seen God at work…in my life…and in his world…
A person of faith has developed…a perspective…with eyes…and ears…
Opened to God…and to what God has done…in their life…
Faith is a way of beholding….or cherishing yesterday…cherishing that day...
That day when they repented of their sins…with a Godly sorrow…
And accepted Jesus Christ…as their savior…
On the other hand…there is another way…at looking at yesterday…
It is the opposite of Faith…the word is resentment…
Resentment of the past…resentment of the things…that have happened…
To you…resentment of the way…you have been treated…by your friends…
By your parents…by your pastor…by God…
Resentment is a destructive way….of looking at the past…
It is a very unholy approach…to yesterday…you may resent…
your boss’s authority…you may resent…having to do a menial task…
you may resent that others…have more than you…but any way…
you look at it…resentment will cause you to struggle…against faith…
you cannot be faithful…and resentful at the same time…
faith must do away with resentment…or resentment will destroy…
your faith…
Tell me…when you are being resentful…toward something…or someone…
Are you able to be faithful…at the same time????
Or do you discover…that resentment has made you into…something
Or…someone that you…do not really like…
Think of the things that you resent…think of the people you resent…
And then…try to think of yourself…as a child of God…at the same time…
Honestly…it can’t be done!!!!! Resentment is an unholy thing…
If we let it take over…any part of our life…the price we will pay…
Will be a loss in FAITH!!!!
The second thing that Paul…calls enduring for Christians is…Hope…
Hope is that attitude…toward the future…that helps us to wake up…
Each and every morning…filled with joy….Hope is that realization…
That tomorrow is…going to be a good day…
A good example of that…feeling of hope…comes in the way we feel…
On that first morning of vacation…you know you do not…have to get up…
Your alarm clock is set…but you find yourself…lying there…awake….
And ready to go…it’s that wonderful feeling…that the day…or week ahead..
Is filled with new adventures…you can’t wait to begin…your day…
This is what Paul means by hope…He means being vibrantly alive…
To the possibilities of tomorrow…for all Christians know…that tomorrow…
May be the day…………..the day that Jesus Christ returns!!!!!
That is what you and I…are intended to have as Christians…
That attitude of hope…in and for…Christ’s return…that every day…
Is a new adventure…and we are alive…and looking foreward…
To the possibilities of tomorrow…and the prospects of the future…
The future with Jesus Christ…
It is knowing that God has great plans….waiting for us…in His kingdom…
Now the opposite of Hope…is a very destructive thing…
The opposite of Hope…might be called…self pity…
Think of the person…who lives in the state…of self pity…
What a terrible state of mind…!!!!!!
To see yourself as a victim of life…to look ahead…with nothing but gloom..
To dread the future…Self pity is a state…in which you lack confidence…
You view new experiences…as a threat…every new day…
Is a potential day…of hell…and every word…that comes to you…
Is a word of doom…
You need to learn that…there will be days…that your hair is not right…
You may even find that your hair is gone….
You wont always have…what others have…you will at some time…
Be treated poorly…you may not want to…get out of bed
You may not want to…go to church…
We have all suffered this disease…at one time or another…
We have all…at one time or another…let ourselves slip into thinking…
That nothing good…was coming our way…
On the other hand…our Christian lifestyle insists…that there is no place…
For self pity…you cannot be self pitying…and hopeful…at the same time…
Once again…we find two attitudes…that cannot live together…
In the same person…without one giving way to the other…
One is a holy thing….for hope…keeps life whole…and complete…
The other…self pity…leads to an existence…filled with sadness…
And without joy…
Once you know Jesus Christ….as your personal savior…
You can take the bad days…and place your burdens…on Christ…
For there is…no self pity…in Jesus Christ…there is only hope…
Choose one…choose hope…
Now we come to love…the most important…of the Holy attitudes…
According to Paul…
Paul spends a great deal of time…talking about charity…or love…
In the thirteenth chapter…of his letter to the church…at Corinth…
Paul takes great pains…to spell out in detail…what he means…
Notice that he is not…speaking of love…in emotional terms…
Paul wants to be very clear…that he is speaking of love…
In concrete terms…love…in Paul’s terms…is measured…
In our behavior…
Love is action…love is shown…love is doing the right things…
And the just things…the concerned things…and the helpful things…
Love is finding ways…of being constructive….and positive…
We must not…talk about loving someone…if we are unwilling…
To be caring in our deeds…
Paul states in verse 3
And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.
Lost person…your good works…will not save you…
A repentant heart…and the love of God…will save you…
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
As in the case of Hope and Faith…Love also…has an opposite…
If love is a positive…then the opposite of love…is going to be a negative…
The unholy opposite of love…is criticism…
The first reason for saying this…is because criticism…is so widespread…
Criticism is in our homes…it is in our schools…it is even found…
in our churches…
Satan has infected…nearly every person on earth…with this malignant germ
As with any disease…some cases are mild…and some cases are severe…
But if there is such a thing…as a world plague…it’s name is criticism…
Keep in mind…in using this word…I am focusing upon…
The things we all know…
Fault finding…picking on the weak…mean gossip…about a so called friend.
In this context…criticism…is the unholy opposite…of love…
We know that love…is the greatest…creative force in the universe…
For we know…God is love…
The great destructive force…the great destroyer…is criticism…
If you wish to destroy…an idea…or an institution…or another person…
If you want to see your wife…or your girlfriend…begin to waste away…
Before your very eyes…Just start to criticize her…this applies to parents…
And their children…as well…Parents…if you want to see…your child…
Wither away…just criticize them…
You can choose your method…you can state your criticism harshly…
“You’re good for nothing….” Or… “Your life is a waste”
You can be subtle… “that’s nice….but your doing it wrong”…
You can criticize…with a deceiving smile…or a deceptive voice…
You can come right out…and say it…or you can pretend…
That you are simply…trying to be helpful…
One of the darkest moments…in Christian history…was known as…
The Inquisition…Hundreds and thousands of lives…were snuffed out…
Prematurely…in the name of religion…a critical religion…
History tells us…of the life of Joan of Arc…
History tells us…that the leaders of the religion of the day…
actually put a girl to death…burning her at the stake…because…
they could not…tolerate her…they hid behind the excuse…
that they were trying…to save her soul…
Men cannot save souls…only repentance…and belief on Jesus Christ…
Will assure your salvation…
Ultimately…
Jesus Christ was unjustly tried…sentenced to death…and crucified…
At Calvary…by his critics…
His critics…that could not tolerate…or accept His truth…his way…
And His love…or His life…
We realize that we may say…that criticism of one another…
Is given in love…but…in the process…it is possible…
To cut each other…to shreds…we may call it honesty…
Or we may call it helpfulness…or simply call it…loving concern…
For the offenders soul…
But let us take the test……
Does it build?????…..or….. Does it destroy?????
The person who uses criticism…to be helpful…rather than using love…
is like the person…who uses a sledge hammer….
To kill the fly…that has landed on his brothers head….
You get the picture……..
Today and every day….there are three Holy words….
Faith…..Hope……and Love….
There are three other words…as well…
We all need to take a look…into our own hearts…
We all need to make a choice…
Where there is resentment…choose faith instead…
Where there is self pity….choose Hope…
And where there is criticism….turn it to Love…
For I am convinced…that every Christian holds three great qualities…
Faith….Hope… and Love….
And the greatest of these is love…
