And Have Not Charity...

To pray for a safe return for them.

Our pastor is is a guy for any men and I and I and I know time

I spent with him. I, I, I know that you know, he's

a spirit fulfilled man and I I really love the direction he's

taking our church and I just just pray for him.

He needs our prayer every day, not just for this member every

day. We should be praying for our

pastor. All right, so at this time I'd

like to it's not a message per SE, but it's more like a study.

When pastor asked me to, to, to speak The Tonight, I did not

know what I was going to do, please to speak on.

But I look at my notes from way under and I and I came across a

study that I have that I have studied myself and I was like,

ah, there it goes. So the Lord was preparing me for

something. I just didn't know it.

So open your Bible, please to 1st Corinthians chapter 12.

But tonight's lesson is not going to focus on 1st

Corinthians chapter. Chapter 12 is mainly going,

we're going to be focused on chapter 13, which is the love

chapter of first of the Bible. So First Corinthians chapter 12

1 Corinthians 12 · chapter mention

first and then we will spend the West element of our time and 1st

Corinthians chapter 13. So in first chapter 12, God has

imparted gifts to the believers and some were given the gifts of

tongues. Some were given the gifts of

healing, gifts of preaching, gifts of prophecy is said and

even even says that some were given the gifts of, of, of

ministering of the governments and so forth.

And that but there was a problem here.

There was a there was a confusion among the believers in

Corinth because they they thought that OK, we, they can

uphold the gift of tongues higher out of hell at a much

higher level than every, every everyone else.

So if you were to speak the gift of tongue, you were given a

priority over the West. But when Apostle Paul heard of

this news, so he this is when he pinned down chapter 13, we say

which which tell him, listen, I've heard of what you're doing

and it is not a good way that you're going with this, You're

going about this, but I'm here to teach you a new way.

So in chapter 13, the apostle Paul is going to teach the, the

church at Corinth, the members there, a new way of utilizing

the gifts that God have implied to them.

Let us pray and then we'll continue on with the with the

study. Father, we thank you and praise

the Lord for always for your word.

Thank you for being always active in our lives, working and

changing us and edifying us, Lord, and making us more and

more like yourself every day. Lord, apart from your word,

Lord, we can't do nothing. And it is and we, it is a

blessing to have your word, to be able to study it.

And Lord, it is in your word that we find out what you have

for us, the way you want us to live our lives, the way you want

us to, to worship and to praise and to minister to one another

and to love one another. And, and therefore what I want

to thank you so much again for your word.

And I put all that as I we do the study this morning, this

evening, Lord, that you would please speak to our hearts and

Lord, speak through me. Lord, I cannot do anything

without you. And it is you that I depend on.

It is you that that cannot impart wisdom to me, Lord, so

that I can speak what you would want me to say.

And I pray, Father, you'll please be with us in this study

in just name, Amen. OK, so open up your Bible to

chapter 13 if you're not already there.

So Paul started this pen out pen in the letter in chapter 13 he

says do I speak with the tongues of men and of angels and have

not charity? I am I am become a sounding

brass or a triggering symbol, a sounding brass or a tingling

symbol. So you know we may have the gift

of speaking. You know, some you ever heard of

some people who can speak? I mean, they can speak and they

can draw the crowd, right? They can draw attention of

people and say hey, and, and people get, you know, they can

get your attention to be agree with them about just about

whatever they're talking about, because they have a a great way

of speaking. They speak with etiquette or

eloquence of speech, being able to capture people's attention

during any conversation during my during during their audience

and and to believing and agreeing with with their point

of view. However, in our text, Paul is

saying, though we may have such great abilities, if there's no

law behind behind the law, it will become a sounding brass, a

bunch of unnecessary noise. So there's a prerequisite and to

having those gifts that got impart to us.

So our Speaking of speech could be very captivating.

It could be but it's full but if it's full of hate or self

centeredness, selfish self focus or dishonouring to God, it means

nothing. Our speech should be that which

elevates one another and also pleading to God.

And Hebrews chapter chapter 10 verse 24 the word of God says if

you can turn here if you want. And Hebrews chapter 10 verse 24

Hebrews 10:24

verse 24 the word of God says and let us consider one another

to provoke unto love and good works.

So we must be intentionally in our relationship with one

another. We have to study others to

understand how to best motivate them towards love and good

deeds. 2nd, we must model the behavior, meaning actively

practice love and kindness and service as you as be an example

to influence others. Thirdly, we have to engage in

consistent fellowship, that is to avoiding isolating ourselves

instead, but meet, but meet regularly with one another to

create opportunities for encouragement.

Fourthly, we have to serve tangibly, demonstrate love with

action firstly, practice mutual accountability, and then finally

be patient and forgiving. Look down at verse 2.

Verse 2 says, And though I have the gift of prophecy and

understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all

faith so that I could move mountain and have not charity, I

have nothing. Paul is demonstrating just how

worthless the spiritual gifts can be if I tempt without love

for the believers. So the Corinthians values these

gifts highly, apparently elevating those among them with

the gift of tongues and prophecy as the most spiritual.

Paul has declared that this is not.

This is not true. All the gifts are needed in the

church, and although the gifts are needed in the church, the

gifts can also become meaningless or ineffective when

practicing without love. Moreover, the loveless person

displaying the gifts is nothing and therefore accomplishing

nothing with, with the body within the body of Christ.

So the gift is being wasted on that individual and, and at that

moment and it, you know, and if we look at the previous chapter

like like I just, I just note, I just mentioned chapter 12.

They were taking those they were utilizing those gifts and

thinking that certain members, those especially, particularly

those who speak in the tongues, were elevated more highly than

everyone else. And, and, and Paul had to, you

know, teach them and say, listen, it is not so because all

the gifts are important. All the gifts are important

whether what whether we we we we we be teachers or or or whether

we be you know, preachers or or or missionaries or whatever we

that the gift that God gave us or singing or playing music or

instruments whatever God gave us.

All these gifts are important because these gifts are to be

used to edify the Saints. So moreover, the loveless person

display the gifts is nothing. It is nothing and 1st

Corinthians chapter 12 verse 2829.

It is say that God has said some in the church.

First the apostles, this secondarily prophets 30 teachers

after that miracles, then gifts of healing helps government,

diversity of tongues. These are the gifts that God has

given and these gifts have to be used to glorify God.

These gifts have to be used to minister to one another.

And verse 20 and, and, and verse 29 of the chapter, it says

Apostle Paul asked the question, are all apostles, Are all

prophets, Are all teachers? Are all workers of medicals?

No, the obvious answer is no, not, not.

No one person have more than one gift.

No one person have more than one ability to minister to each

other. And God gave us all specific

gifts and we are to use those gifts for the, for his growing.

You have to use those gifts to to to edify one another.

Look at look at look at verse 3 and verse 3.

It says, and though I bestow all good, all my goods to feed the

poor, and though I give my body to be burned and have not

charity, it profited me nothing. So I can perform that, that

would, that would look good in the public eye, you know, and I

can do and, and, and, and, and do the, the most exciting or the

most, the most powerful act in public eye.

And people would look at me and say, wow, look at what this man

is doing. Or look, wow, look at what this

sister or brother is doing. OK.

But it says that, you know, if these things are being done and

there's no love behind it, it is meaningless.

So, so, So what is this love that Paul is talking about here?

What is this charity? OK, so the love Paul is

referring to here is the agape love.

This love is a love that is without condition.

It's a love that is without restraint.

It's a love that that is the love of God, It's Christ

himself. We cannot do anything profitable

without Christ. So if you were here, you don't

know Jesus Christ. You cannot do anything or

achieve anything in the body of Christ without having him in

your heart, because Jesus Christ is the progress of everything

that we do here. He is the one that gives us the

power and the ability to minister to one another and

songs and scripture and preaching and prophesying and

whatever it is that we that, that, that, that the gift that

God gave us. He gave us those gifts, but it's

not the person that's given a gift that is important.

But what's important is there is who gives those gifts and, and

who the gifts are used for. So we need to understand that

Christ here is what is needed for these gifts to be effective

among us. If we're not doing, if we're

doing it for us, if we're doing all for ourselves, then we're

going about it the wrong way. We need to make sure that Christ

is being magnified. Christ is being glorified.

Christ is being, is, is the one being getting all the out and

glowing for all the gifts for all the things that we do here.

So the agape love, it's, it's, you know, emitting the type of

it's a type of love that puts others first.

A guardian is a godly love. It's a loving, it's a love

without partiality. And and it's a love that is that

in this loving in spite of is loving someone in spite of

beside performing the most powerful and impressive and

spiritual gift. Paul goes beyond and and beyond

that and about to about the self sacrifice a question may perform

so we can perform self sacrificing works.

We can be busy about doing so many things, but being busy

about being busy doing so many things.

It's it's no avail if we're doing it for the wrong purpose

if we're not doing it for the right purpose and and March up

to 10 verse 17. If you don't mind, if you mind,

you can turn there. Mark 10/17.

Jesus here was telling a story about a witch and ruler.

So. And when he was gone forth and

to the and the way there came one wanting and kneeling to him

and ask him, good Master, what should I do that I may inherit

eternal life. So this young man, he must have

thought, you know, eternal life was something he could buy.

You know, I'm after what? He was rich, right?

So. So.

Hey. Yeah.

Jesus, what is it? You name it.

Whatever I am, I am capable of paying whatever it is for me to

inherit eternal life. So he, he wanted the gift of

salvation, but he wanted it his way.

Salvation is a gift. It's not something you can buy.

And here we see this young man offering a service, another for

him to get to eternal life. So, so he thought to himself,

just name it Jesus, whatever the cost, what shall I do?

What good thing should I do? You see, it's not about doing

good things. It's not, you know, I mean, we

have to do good deeds, but our good deeds cannot be for the

purpose of getting something for ourselves.

It cannot be for the purpose of of of, you know, profiting, but

it has to be because of who we're doing it for because of

Christ, you know, and and so and so Jesus said unto him, why call

does that mean good? There is none good but one, and

that is God that knows the commandments do not commit

adultery. Do not kill, do not steal, do

not bear false witness for before not I know thy father and

mother and the MSA. I've done all this, all my

trauma. I've done all of this.

But but you just looked at me and said, hey, one thing that

you lack, go ahead sell everything that you have give to

the poor, come follow me, follow me, pick up, pick up your cross

and follow me. So at that the Bible said the

young man turn around and sadly and walk away.

So you know, to take out the cross means self denial, self

denial, and so must each and everyone of us here do or able

to do if we're going to follow Christ and if we're going to

utilize the gifts that God gave us to minister to each other and

also to glorify God with it. We must there has there must be

a self denial on our part. Just saying give allegiance to

me this on the flesh and let me claim authority over your life.

So let's understand that a call to bear one's cross as part of

the following, as part of following Jesus is a call to be

submitted to Christ as the condemned criminal was to his

death. That's basically what it is.

It's a great commitment. I mean, you cannot, you can, I

mean make it just just Christ, make it make it clear.

You know, it's you know, if we if we cannot deny ourselves,

pick up our cross, we cannot follow him.

But he said we have to deny, we have to deny ourselves, pick our

cross and then we can follow. So it's all going one after

another. We can't do one or not the

other. We can't do it the whole thing.

So in service and and utilize that utilizing the gift that God

gave us. We have to be ready to deny

ourselves to put others before ourselves because that's the

only way we can be able to we be able to utilize the gift that

God gave us. Verse 4, Verse 4 says charity

suffered long as and it's kind charity envieth not charity

vaunted, not itself and it's not puffed up.

So the love of God is patience and bearing the offenses and

injuries of others. It is mild and slow and

avenging, slow and avenging, operating in the love of God as

powerful and effective tools and how we view all those or

ourselves. So our part in the law of

powering up, putting in a love of God is the is what's going to

give us the effectiveness that we need to to view all those as

ourselves, because we cannot view all those as ourselves

apart from the love of God. We have to have the love of God.

The love of God is greater far and every time and every and you

know, it doesn't matter. It doesn't, it doesn't matter

where you are in life, what you're doing in life.

It doesn't matter what circumstances that come into

your life. You know when you have, when you

exercise the love of God, you know you can't go wrong because

the love of God is what keeps, that keeps us.

The possible is the love of Christ constrains us.

It is the is it that love that pushes us to do more and more

for God. You know, we, we, we cannot, we

couldn't serve God apart from Christ.

You know, This is why it's important that we, we treasure

our salvation and that we, we, we, we continually just stay

connected to God and just even just says that I said, without

me, you can do nothing. You know, unless we, we stay

connected to him, we cannot do nothing.

We have to stay connected to divine.

So, so we see that charity is not, is not puffed up.

It's not stuff around. It's not, it's not like I'm

better than you or you better than me.

It's not I'm, I'm up there and you're down here.

It's, it's, we are on the same plane serving the Lord.

That's true love. You know, the Greek word

translated envy means to burn with zeal.

And it is literally sense in a literally sense to be heated or

boiled over with envy, hatred or anger.

So in the context of First Corinthians chapter 13, the idea

1 Corinthians 13 · chapter mention

is that love does not focus on personal desires.

It is not eager to increase possessions.

So God's type of love is is selfless, not selfishness.

In Exodus of the 7th scene, you can turn there as well, please.

Exodus of the 7th scene, God gives God.

God was given give the general as well the commandments there.

And with that commandment, it says, thou shalt not covered thy

neighbor's house, thou shalt not cover thy neighbor's wife, nor

his men servant, nor his maidservants, nor his ass, nor

his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbors.

So we see that God repeat the same thing again.

And Deuteronomy chapter 5, verse 21, he said the same thing

Deuteronomy 5:21

again. And I guess God know us really

well that we people will forget. So he repeats the same thing and

and the line chapter 5 is 21. He says neither shall thou

desire thy neighbor's wife, neither shall thou covered thy

neighbor's house, his shield or his his men servant or his men

servant, his axe or his ass or anything that is thy neighbor's.

And we also we see in Romans chapter 13 verse 10, we also see

Romans 13:10

that love is for is the fulfilling of the law.

Love fulfills the law. He says love working not I'll to

his neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfilling

of the law. And if love is the fulfillment

of the law, envy is also excluded because when you have

the law of Christ, then you're not going to envy, you're not

going to to cover it. And here God is saying the Lord

is the Lord is saying that we need to, we need to get rid of

envy. We need to replace our the envy

and, and, and, and coverageousness with, with love

because only when we love that we will not cover nor envy.

So. So anyone who truly loves will

be confirmative to God's commandments and envy will be

excluded. When you are conformed to God's

commandment, envy is excluded. There's no room for it.

So in contrast to God's command, the Corinthians believers were

waking some spiritual gifts as more important than others and

envying those that had their opinion.

Sorry, envying those who had in their opinion, the best gift.

So again in chapter 12, Paul points out that the difference

gifts, the different gifts are meant to serve one another and

to build up the church. No one, no one person has all

the gifts, but each child is child of God has a has at least

one one gift and loved and and and love demands this that each

gifts be used to serve others and not self.

So in Proverbs chapter 14, verse 30, verse 30, we also learn that

Proverbs 14:30

envy writes the bone. The sound heart is the is is is

the life of the flesh, but envy the whiteness of the bones.

So at any time you crave what someone else has, rather than

being grateful for what God has given you, you are hurting

yourself. So instead of envying others,

others, you are commanded to love them, you are committed to

love them. So because true love, the true

love, you know the love of God will rejoice when others are

blessed. You know when you have truth in

your in your heart, you will rejoice when you see your

brother and sisters being blessed by God.

So there's no room for envy. Love does not seek to benefit

yourself. Love is content with with with

what is what what it has. Because love focuses on meeting

the needs of the loved. 1 So true love always focus on

meeting the needs of the loved ones of them that it does, that

you love, not yourself. Love should not be prideful,

arrogant, healthy, superior, Snooty, snobbish or clarish.

Jesus just told the Jesus just tell us that.

And even when Christ walked the earth, we see that he

demonstrated that really well. He said that son of a man have

nowhere to lay his head, you know, and and yet Jesus was the

most busiest person on earth when he walked the earth because

he he went about, you know, healing, feeding, preaching the

gospel, raising the dead, healing the blind.

He that's that was that was his thing and and just never, never,

never show any sign of selfishness.

And what he was doing because he was doing was he was doing it

because he why because he loved. He is love, He has that I got

the love, a love without restraint, a love without

constraint, a love that is not for this itself.

You know Christ love is the love that we all should have.

It's the love that we all should practice in our lives.

So love that behave itself unseemly seeketh not her own, is

not easily provoked to get no ills.

So meaning love is not acting in unbecoming manner.

The Greek word for unseemly is ashkemonia.

I try, I try to process that, but it's waste.

Open is ashkemonia, which suggests someone who is tackless

or thoughtless or inconsiderate of others.

It can also mean to behave disgracefully or to be a void

avoided of proper department. This speaks of someone's conduct

or manner of presenting themselves.

So in first Corinthian 13, verse 5, Paul describes love as not

behaving unseemly in a, in a, in a, in a number of ways.

So we're going to look at some of these, some of these ways

first. First of all, it says we are not

to OK, not needless exposing all those faults.

We are not too needlessly exposing all those faults.

That's number one. Number two, we are not to listen

eagerly to unfavorable reports and #3 we are is a seeking to

bring to mine all those good qualities.

And then fourthly, not being selfish or changeable, not being

dependent on human place, not work, not working for profits or

rewards, being strong and mighty and his purpose to overcome

evil. So also provides fortune or the

description of love in first Corinthians chapter 5, verse 13,

1 Corinthians 5:13

all of which are action, action verbs that involves choosing to

set oneself aside and serve others.

So, so there's no doubt in, in studying this, this, this, this

passage that, you know, we cannot see like what the true

Christian living is. I mean, it's not about us

really. It was never about us from the

very beginning. And it makes it clear here that,

you know, our lives. God gave us the life that he

gave us to minister. We have to minister to others.

Yes, we have to love God first and foremost.

We have to love God first and foremost.

We also have to love our neighbors.

We have to minister, have the attitude of ministering to each

other. It's not about us.

It's really not about us at all. So the way God God, God's word

contrasts those behaviors with working honestly, it's another

Greek word you came on us makes it clear that they are unseemly.

So rejoicing not in iniquity. That's love.

Love we just not iniquity. Look at verse 6 verse 6 says

love. We just not iniquity, but we

rejoice in truth. The phrase rejoice not just not

comes from the Greek phrase Euchares.

The word, the word oh means no or not.

And the word care is from the word Cairo, which is the Greek

word for joy. So if so, it carries the the

idea of being glad about something.

You see, the attitude of our mind towards sin is a great, I

mean is the is, is a, is a great test of the truth of the

religion, of the religious feeling.

So talk about it, think about it.

True love rejoices, not inequity.

True love takes no pleasure in seeing an adversary fall into an

error of sin by which his reputation should be blasted.

So in this interest and this context, the contrary, the man

influenced by this by this love is, is is truly sorry for either

the sin or value of even an enemy.

So if you truly love like Christ love, you will you will not even

you will not even rejoice over your enemy being punished or

your enemy being being hurt, but you will feel sorry for them.

You will put in a seat for them. This is what this is not what

Christ says. Turn the other cheek.

It says if if someone asks you to to go a mile or two, if

someone asks you to give him your, your, your clothes.

Give me a clue. Also.

It's it's, it's it's the idea that you know, we should not

rejoice over our enemy in such a way that that would that would

create or do what I'm looking for is that will cause that that

person to even question God's justice or God's character.

So when our lives are bound by Christ who is loved, we will

take no pleasure and sin nor repeat them, but desires that

our sins may be forgiven forever.

But rejoice and the truth. So we mourn over the wicked sin

by by seeing it's right, by seeing it rightly before the

holy, before holy God, seeing our sins the way God sees them.

The true grief over our sins comes from contemplate,

contemplation, contemplating our say, our Savior, and not

comparing our character to those around us.

So when we grew over our sins, we are agreeing with God about

our sins and we're not. And because we agree with about

our sin, we about sin, we're contemplating God, the Christ

our Savior. And we're not, we're not busy

comparing ourselves to those around us because This is why

this is where envy and and and and cognition is set take place

is when you are looking around you and you are pointing fingers

or you are paying attention to those around you, either

yourself. See, God says that we all have

sinned and come through the glory of God.

And it is not for us to judge it not for us to point for someone

else. And again, true love will not

point fingers at someone else, but true love would help that

person instead. And also true love will cause to

evaluate our own lives before we even go to someone else.

Understand. Am I making sense?

So so verse 7 says we're almost done.

We not sure we should be done right now so love buried all

things believe all things hope all things and those all things

love and those all things. Christ face hard times OK and

Christians face hard time. Those who choose to love as

Jesus does do not stop loving when life becomes difficult.

Love the love for God and others and those through tough days and

long right unknown nights. However, whereas to to build all

things we are we have to build all things seems to refer to

patience in the face of provocation.

To endure all things takes a longer view and our context.

Then to endure all things means that we are willing to to remain

a difficult situation for the sake of one another rather than

seeking our own ease through an escape.

Notice the next phrase, believing all things.

This means that we must be willing to trust one another.

Perhaps one of us are struggling to believe all things about

others in the church. I would encourage that rather

than assuming failure or bad result in someone's life, get a

dose of agape love. Because agape love that the

brother of God always expected the best in orders and I hope

this was a blessing to you. All right, let's pray.

Father, we thank you and praise you for your word.

We thank you for the truth of it, Lord, and I pray that you

would please use it in our heart and help us go to to that.

It would draw us close to you. We love you in Jesus name, Amen.