A More Excellent Way

Well, happy New Year. I get to bring you the very first message

of the New Year of twenty twenty four. I started this message. This

is a neat story in a way. I started this message to be delivered

February twenty twenty one, when you guys were going to go snowskin. It

was then that I had this ready. So it's almost three years ago exactly

that I was working on this. What's neat, though, is God's sovereignty

and timing is just amazing to see and to go through this and experience this.

Clearly he didn't want me to deliver it. Then there was another time

that I had it and I was going to use it again. No,

not then, and then now this opportunity again, so I'll pull it out

again. And then I started working through it, and then two thirds of

it's gone. And you know, I say that to say that God's worked

on me, but He's also worked on this message. And there were several

times as I was preparing this that I'd get to a stage and I'll be

stuck and I'd pray, Lord, just help me get through, help me

figure out how to move through this part. And it was just really neat

to see how he actually answered those prayers and helped me, help me through

that and put that together. So the other thing that's amazing, I didn't

see the agenda, the itinerary that these guys have put together until yesterday maybe

or day before. The songs, the songs that Tanner picked, I mean,

they are just so perfect with this message. And it's like God's just

so sovereign that He's worked all this out in the timing. We have an

awesome guy, don't we, Jonathan. I have more respect for you every

time I have to do this that I prepare that what you must go through

because I can't tell him many hours I've I've spent praying over this and working

on this. So New Year, Happy New Year, New Year's resolutions.

How many people did New Year's resolutions? Yeah? Me either. I usually

don't do them. I'm going to borrow a line from another pastor in the

area. He was I don't know if he was talking about New Year's resolutions

or not, but he was talking about every year in his life he becomes

more like a gallon of milk. He gets whiter and chunkier. So maybe

I need to do some more resolutions on that part of it. I have

a couple of quotes for you from people that you may recognize, you should

recognize about looking ahead enter the coming year with renewed hope in the power of

God to do through you what you cannot. It's John MacArthur. And then

this one. You should know this one really well. But one thing I

do forgetting what lies behind, straining forward to what lies ahead, I press

on towards the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ,

Jesus, Apostle Paul and Philippians. Last week, Jonathan challenged us in

his message with the words arise and work. It was get up and get

going right. We have a challenge. We have something to do. A

God has called us to do certain things. And if you stop and think

about it, a holy God, a holy God is asked each one of

us to get up off of it and go to work and to serve him.

We get to do that. I mean, just think about that.

We get the privilege of being able to work for a holy God. First

Corinthians seven also says let each person lead the life that the Lord is assigned

to him and to which God has called him. So today we're going to

pick up on some more of Paul's teaching, and it's going to be First

Corinthians thirteen one through seven is what we'll end up reading. We're not ready

yet, but we'll get there in a minute. But we can use this

passage as our challenge for the new year and for the rest of our lives.

Actually, this idea of love, we talked about it in our class

a little while ago. Words have many, many meanings, but today we're

going to specifically talk about an action type of love, but love in this

context as believers love, as believers loving each other. And Paul is challenged

the church at this time to do this. So what does what is love?

What does the world say? There's the world's view of love? What

you think about when you see the world you experience and walk around and live,

And is it is that that that love that you see in the world

look like what you find in the scripture? You know, it doesn't look

like God's definition, right? I wish it was your true? I wish

it was true. John MacArthur also said this, which I kind of like.

This quote says the problem is people can't learn to receive or give love

because they don't even know how to define it. Uh, they think it's

nothing more than a warm feeling. So we'll talk about that a little bit

more. So, what does the word say? I asked, what the

world says? Well, what does the world say? I mean, the

word say? It says a whole lot. I meant that to get to

you, Jonathan or Devin beforehand and and ask you. But I just went

to my Bible app on on my laptop and in the search bar, just

typed in the word love. And just see how many times it came up.

And just the simple word love, not all the meanings and all the

other phrases that imply love, but just that word alone was five hundred and

thirty four times in the Bible, and I forget it was three hundred and

something in the Old Testament and some other number in the New Testament. So

it's definitely a big theme beyond that. And you know, we know Jesus

and Paul and others talk about it an immense amount. So today we'll use

Chapter thirteen as our guide. But I want to set up this for you

because a lot of times Chapter thirteen's used for weddings and marriage ceremonies, things

like that, and while that's fine, it's really not the intent of the

chapter and what it was to be used for. Paul was trying to get

them to this church to really work together for the advancement of gospel, and

he was struggling with them because they were really exhibiting different types of divisive behavior.

He was wanting them to build up the faith in the believers and and

and the people around the church and be a good examples to others in the

area. But they were they were allowing this church, was allowing for perversions

to get into the church, and they were acting almost like they were before

they were saved. So it was Paul was kind of getting on them and

in in in the earlier chapters. Here just my outline, my outline in

the Bible of of this particular book, First Corinthians is talking about a number

of different issues. Divisions, immorality, legal wrangling, people believer suing each

other, arrogance, incests, lack of discipline, unrighteous judges, marriage and

divorce, foods being offered to idols, social snobbery. I'm surprised that's in

here, but that's what it says. Social snobbery, elevating one's spiritual gift

above others. So these are some of the things that he's been talking to

them about prior to chapter thirteen. In here, so he's really speaking to

them on how they should behave as believers. So he also begins in chapter

twelve to talk about their gifts, and earlier in the book, I think

in chapter one he says, you're not lacking any gift this church. You're

not lacking any gift. You have all the gifts as a body, but

you're just using them wrong. So then in fourteen, so that's twelve.

In fourteen he begins to go through how to use them, how to apply

these gifts. So sandwiched in between here is chapter thirteen, of course,

and he's basically saying the only environment where these gifts, gifts of the Holy

Spirit who are given to the church, the best way for them to thrive

are in love. This is the heart of ministry. It's about the church

loving each other. He's already told them they already have all the gifts,

so it's about using the gifts to function with real power versus their human power.

They were more interested in these gifts and trying to get attention versus glorifying

the Lord. Paul ends the chapter of chapter twelve and an interesting transition,

and it says, and I will show you a still more excellent way.

And Kelly emailed me Friday, I think Thursday night. She says, what's

the title of your message? I hadn't thought about it. I hadn't thought

about it at all. So I thought, I'm going to use that a

more excellent, a more excellent way to love, a more excellent way to

be believers and to love each other and to take care of each other.

And that's what Paul has been trying to teach them. And now he shifts

into this what we call love chapter. So if you'll stand, and we'll

read verses one through seven, and then we'll talk about a little bit more.

If I speak in the tongues of men and angels, but I have

not love, I'm a noisy gong or a clanging symbol. And if I

have prophetic powers and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have

all faith so as to remove mountains, but I have not love, I

am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver

up my body to be burned, but have not love I gain nothing.

Love is patient and kind love. It does not envy or boast. It

is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way.

It is not irritable or resentful. It does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but

rejoices in the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes

all things, and endures all things. Let's pray, Lord, I thank

you for this passage. Thank you for this message. I was thinking yesterday

you may have had me prepared this just for me. And if that's the

case, Lord, just help me to see it, help me to see

your love, your word, your teaching the way you intended. I just

thank you for giving us this speak to our hearts today. It's in your

name. You pray Amen. So let's yeah, thank you, be seated.

Let's go through this together. Verse first three verses, he says,

if I speak in tongues of men and of angels, but I have not

love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging symbol. And if I

have prophetic powers and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have

all faith so as to remove mountains, but I have not loved, amhing

if I have, if I give away all I have and I deliver my

body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. It's

a pretty strong statements. Our gifts are really actions more than anything else.

And if we don't put love behind our actions, and if our our actions

don't reveal love, then then we're not we're not doing we're not applying this

the way Paul is trying to teach us. So this is a unique type

of love. You've probably heard of the three types of love. John MacArthur

talks about it, or describes the different types of loves this way. The

err us that it's a love that takes. The filaoh is one a love

that gives and takes, and then a gape a love that gives. And

this is talking about a love that gives. And that's what he's trying to

teach them and to teach us as well. To live this way. It

requires discipline, it takes effort, takes action on our part. So let's

look into it a little bit more. Verse one, he talks about if

I speak in tongues of men and of angels, don't get caught up in

the tongues part. Tongues of men is known languages. It's not something unusual.

It's about known languages, tongues of angels. In my quick study,

not detailed study. It'd be interested in Jonathan or anyone else, but the

tongue of angels. There's no other reference in the Bible for that. So

what Paul's really trying to say is, if I have all these kinds of

superpowers, I can speak every language on the planet, and can somehow speak

a magical language to the angels. But I don't have love, it's worthless.

If I have superpowers but don't have love, it's useless. So that's

the point. Don't get caught up in the language piece. In chapter twelve,

even says Paul's talking to them about their language, and he says,

no one speaking in the spirit of God has ever said that Jesus is accursed.

So apparently they were abusing language and abusing their capabilities and gifts. Verse

two of chapter thirteen is similar. He says, and if I have prophetic

powers and understanding and understanding all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have

all faith so as to rue mountains, but I have no love, do

not have love? I have nothing? Is there anyone that has that kind

of ability. Certainly, Paul says he didn't. I've never met anyone that

has all of that. And we talk in our class all the time about

the word all. In that verse, he says, if I have all

knowledge and all this and all this, I mean, who has that?

We only know one Jesus, right, But Paul doesn't. So again,

what he's trying to say is if I had all these great superpowers, but

I don't have love, I'm nothing. It's worthless. Remember he's talking to

them about a love that gives a act of self sacrifice, a giving type

of love. It's not a self motivated love. First Crisis eight one says

knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. So again, think about it

in that way. So verse three, he says, if I give away

all I have and I deliver up my body to be burned, but have

not love nothing? You know, people, and maybe we have give out

of obligation sometimes, or we give out of guilt maybe, or some other

reason we get to give. We need to think about it that way.

We have the opportunity, we have the privilege. Does God need our money?

Does God need our things? Does he know he doesn't need any of

that. But we get to be a part of giving. We get to

be part of providing and sharing, and we got to do it out of

a worship to a holy God when we give. So quick summary of these

three three verses. A loveless person produces nothing of value. A loveless person

is of no value. Pretty strong. A loveless person receives no value.

So verse four move the verse four. Love is patient and kind. It

loves. It is not envy or boast. It's not arrogant or rude.

It is not insistent in its own way. It is not irritable or resentful.

It does not rejoice and wrongdoing, but rejoices with truth. Love bears

all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.

So, if you read these words, their actions are things that it's

not about how you feel, it's about what. It's a description of what

love does. Love is patient, it's kind, it's not envious, it's

it's also the translation from what I could gather, uh in reading some commentaries.

It's also a type of love that is not just what am I trying

to say. It involves people. Uh, it's not a love of like

around our house every night about nine o'clock we get ice cream. It's not

about ice cream. It's not about things. It's about people. It's about

loving people. It's not about Thankfully, it's dry and warm today compared to

yesterday at least, so it's not it's not about things, it's about people.

So this this idea of being kind and patient and and and all of

this, it's it's it's an action. It's an action towards people. The

other thing, remember, he's still trying to teach this church who's struggling,

who are abusing these gifts that they have. Love is patient. Again,

the idea of love being an action towards people, it's patient. A person

with patience is going to be somebody's gonna be hard to get angry, or

gonna be slow to be angry. It takes strength to show this kind of

patience when somebody is challenging you. Apparently, in that teaching of that day,

the teaching of that day was to retaliate, was to not have patience,

and it did not only retaliate, but do it quickly. So the

culture at the time was just the opposite of what Paul's teaching and so he's

trying to get them to see what a holy God is trying to teach them

and to teach us that it's it's it's just counter to the to the culture

of the time. If you look at a culture that we live in today,

you know we don't. We don't follow the world. I hope we

don't follow what the world calls love and displays as of love. Are you

glad God is patient with us, patient when we sin, when we sin

again, that he doesn't give up on us. Rather, he really keeps

working on us. I mean when we mess up. I mean he just

doesn't give up on us. He doesn't quit on us. I love the

Philippians one six passage. He says, and I'm sure of this that you

began a good work and you will bring it to completion of the day of

Jesus Christ. This is extreme patience. How many times have we failed him?

This week? Maybe today? He still loves us, He's still patient

with us, he's still working on us. He's still trying to bring us

to him, closer to him. Love is kind. He doesn't retaliate.

Do we act like that when people hurt us? I wish I could say

I always react that way, you know. I think of times at work

when people call and and frustrate me. I'm sure all of you have that

person that you work with or you know that when you hear their voice it

grates on you. I see smiles. I have those people that work too,

and you know. But this is love is kind. We shouldn't have

that that guttural reaction when that person calls or confronts us or hammers us.

Remember, kindness is a benefit to someone else. It's a idea of helping

somebody else is to give them something that helps them. Look at look at

how Jesus modeled it. He was rejected, then he was mocked, tortured,

killed. Did he retaliate? No, Praise to God. He didn't

even on the cross. He said, Father, forgive them, for they

know not what they do. Then he rose to life and didn't destroy everything.

Did he have the right to retaliate? Did he have the authority to

retaliate? Did he have that authority? But he loves us. He could

condemn us, he could just destroy it all, but he didn't. Instead,

he came. That's why he came, because he loves us. We

were giving grace and mercy instead of punishment. We deserve now to talk about

kind love. We'll read a passage to you and generally from me. In

this passage, I really lock into the beginning of this, but I want

you to hear the whole passage and pick up on the end of it.

If Asians four two, God made us alive together with Christ by grace,

you've been saved and raised us up with him and seated us with Him in

the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he

might show his immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us. In Jesus

Christ or Christ Jesus. We could spend a lot of time on those words.

Those of us that are believers, we're secure. This gives you where

your position is with Christ right now, at the right hand of the Father.

But I don't want to get off into all of that. To stay

on message. Why did he do this? At the end of this he

says that he might show as immeasurable riches of his grace and kindness towards us.

So Verse four starts with love is patient and kind, but then it

shifts. It shifts into a list of negative actions like jealousy and boastfulness,

arrogance, rudeness, kindness or not kindness, rudeness, selfish, irritable,

resentful, rejoices at wrongdoing. These things obviously kill love. They don't work

with with love. It's like like oil and water, right, they just

don't. They just don't mix, they don't work together. So these things,

when you find some of these things, you often find multiples of them

together versus just one alone. These things divide, and that's one of the

challenges in this church. There was division going on with the peoples, and

Paul was trying to teach them that this behavior is dividing families, is dividing

dividing friends, is dividing even the church, and they have to change how

they're behaving. Just sound like our world nothing but division, nothing but dividing

our country. It's it's it's a it's a crazy time that we live in.

But we know where it comes from. We know these these negative things

that only come from Satan himself rather than a holy God, creates this kind

of division. So Paul again is trying to teach them love and helping them

to build up each other as well as a church. Verse six ends saying

that love is rejoices with truth, and it continues into verse seven saying love

bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

It covers the worst? Do we do that? Do we when when

somebody has wronged us? Or when something's gone wrong? Do we do we?

Do we cover the worst? Do we cover the wickedness? Uh?

With love? Do we do we? Do we love the person anyway?

Do we believe the best in them? Are? Are we not suspicious or

judgmental? Do we love truth? Do we love the Bible? Do we

love the word? The real truth? The real word? Our class this

morning we were talking about a Tim Keller session where he's talking to a bunch

of professionals, professional people in New York City and their version of the truth.

They were starting to talk about this idea of your version of the truth

could be this, and mine can be that, and we're still okay,

this is the truth. This is the truth. We can't make up our

own truth. We have to live on this truth. Hope, love never

gives up on people. How many times if somebody failed you, but you

give up on them. Hope shouldn't give up on people. We should give

people chances, we should forgive them hope endoors or love endoors. It endures

during difficult times. It's easy to love when everything's just wonderful, but it

is an enduring thing and action. Love endures during difficult times, Galatian says.

Galatian six to two says, bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the

law of Christ. The love of Christ is love, So no problem.

Right, we got this. We'll talk about this a little bit more in

a minute. How we how we address all of this? How do we

do this thinking about New Year's resolutions? And how do we How do we

do this love thing better? We'll talk about it again. I want to

add one more thing before we walk away from this passage. The beginning of

verse eight is just too good to leap out. Love never ends. Some

translations say love never fails. So I love the song that was sung earlier.

Paul goes on to say what will fail in that passage? But let's

stay on what won't fail? Love never ends. It never fails. Why

is this true? Why do we know that that is true? He says

it. I believe it is in the word. I believe it but why

do we know, what do you know in your heart that that is true?

Why do we know love won't fail? First? John four eight says

God is love, and we know that God is the Great. I am,

I am, I always was, I am now and I always will

be. Lover Love will never fail ever, John one. One. In

the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the

word was God. John eight fifty eight. Jesus says, truly, truly,

I say to you, before Abraham I was, before Abraham was I

am. Isn't that encouraging that he always is and always will be and is

always there and will never fail us. It's it's it's this truth that lover

and love never ends. It's it's an encouraging, encouraging passage. So so,

so what do we do with this? I I sometimes look at at

some of these challenges and and and say, well, how am I gonna?

How am I gonna address this? Let me go make a bunch of

resolutions, us resolutions. Let me go make a list of things that I

should do and remember to do. But that's a big list, right.

I love how Jesus just simplifies things. I love the way he does that,

and it's it's a way that it just makes it easier on us.

And I'll get to that in a minute. But why can't we do it?

Why can't we do it ourselves? Galatians five talks about the flesh and

who we are. It's a long list of stuff that not very nice,

immoral, impure, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, all

these things that we don't want to be labeled. So that's us, that's

who we are, that's in our flesh. So how do we how do

we overcome that? How do we how do we handle that? How do

we do what Paul's trying to teach us to do when we know that's who

our flesh is. Well, the good news is we can't do it ourselves.

Well, why is that good news? Why is it good news that

we can't do this? Why can't we mustard up inside of us? Because

we don't have it inside of us. But only a holy Jesus, the

Holy God, can do that. He is the only one that can give

us the power and the never ending love that's in him, that gives us

the ability to love others. Without that, we can't do anything without his

love. Without his love inside of us in our lives, we will never

have the things that He wants for us. The forgiveness of God. If

you ever really stop and think about the forgiveness of God that when we sin,

we fail him, If we ever really grab hold of that, it'll

really cause you to think about how you care for other people. If you

look at your own sin and your own failings and what He has done for

you, and how he loves you and how he cares for you, in

a way, it'll change how you feel towards others, and your patience and

your kindness towards others. So this is not really about doing things better this

year, creating a long list of things. We don't have that power to

do it on our own. Remember, our nature is not designed that way.

So it's about receiving the love of our Lord into your hearts. Let

his love open your heart so open up to you. For those of us

who've been trying to do better, stop, I mean just stop trying on

your own to do better. You can't do it. Let a holy God

do it through you. Let him love you. Just accept the fact that

he loves you. If you don't know this kind of love. Remember,

he gave himself for you. He came here. He didn't have to come,

but he came here so that you can know that kind of love.

Don't intellectualize it like I did. I remember sitting at the table with my

father as a little boy and talking about there there must be a god.

Just look outside, look at the trees, look at the sky, look

at everything. Intellectually, in my mind I knew that there had to be

a god, There had to be a Jesus. I believe that, but

it was only in my head. It wasn't until the eighties when we were

in Tennessee that he actually grabbed to my heart and let me let me see

his love that way. He came to this world because he loves us,

he loves you. He came to offer a love that, as the song

said, and as this passage has never ends, it never fails. He

knew he came think about before he came, the Jewish people, all the

things, the levitical law that they had to go through. He came because

he knew they couldn't keep that up. He could never they could never perfect

it, they could never complete it. So he came because he knew they

couldn't do it on her own. This is this is a an amazing love

and kindness coming up. Tanner. I think that we're about to wrap it

up. For those of us that are already saved and you want to be

better this year, let's just just stop and just let the holy love of

a holy God just wash over you. Let him regenerate that love in you.

Think about the fact that he loves you, specifically, each one of

you. A holy God that has the authority and the privilege and the rights

and whatever he wants to do to punish us, doesn't, he loves us.

For those of you that aren't saved, just again, know that he

loves you. He knows your name, he knows the hairs on your head.

A holy God knows who you are. He sacrificed himself because he knows

you, and he loves you. He wants a relationship with you, he

wants to talk with you. So trust him. Just let him love you.

He loves you regardless of what you think, or what you try to

do, or what lists you try to create for yourself. Just let him

love you. Come to him now, Come talk to him where you are.

Come to the Altar Jonathan Elders will be here. Tanner, would you

leave you? Jesus pained and all to him