Continuing looking here in chapter
13, and we had read through this
last week, but I'm going to read again beginning in verse 8. It says,
"...charity never faileth, but whether there be prophecies,
they shall fail." Whether there be tongues, they shall cease. Whether there be knowledge, it
shall vanish away. For we know in part, and we prophesy
in part, but when that which is perfect is come, then that
which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spoke
as a child. I understood as a child. I thought
as a child, but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass
darkly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then
shall I know even as also I am known. And now abideth faith,
hope, charity, these three. But the greatest of these is
charity. Follow after charity and desire
spiritual gifts, but rather that you may prophesy. Now, of course,
Paul has been speaking here to the Corinthians who were zealous
in their worship of the Lord insofar as they were at their level of growth
in the Lord, which is really where any of us are. A man cannot
be except what he is as the Lord has made him. And you cannot
cause a man to have knowledge of the things of God any more
than the Lord will give him that knowledge. I mean, you can teach
a man all day long doctrinal things, But it will go over his
head and he will not get a thing out of it unless God is pleased
to apply it to him. And so all of us are at different
places in our Christian walk according to the purpose of the
Lord. And I do not believe that it is the Lord's purpose that
every man have exactly the same understanding. in order to be
walking with the Lord. It's not necessary that that
be so. Now having said that, there's
not a bunch of different ways, there's not a lot of different
truths out there. There are different perspectives
that people have of the truth and there are different levels
of depth that God's people walk in concerning these things, but
there are absolute truths. And Paul dealt in absolute truth,
but he dealt in it in fashion of knowing what men are by nature
and the limitations that they have. So he comes to these Corinthians
knowing that they are at a certain place. And the place that they
are at is not one that is lacking in zeal and spiritual fervor,
but is in some measures lacking in spiritual understanding, and
he is desiring to help them along that way. Now because somebody
is not at a point in their growth where they, as we would say,
need to be, now we know everybody is where God would have them
to be as far as that is concerned, but as we look at it, We believe
that God's people are growing up to the measure of the fullness
of the stature of Christ, and we desire to see God's people
grow up in knowledge and the fear of the Lord. That is a thing
that we desire to see happen. And so it is that the Lord gives
men gifts in the church to help that
process. He does that according to his
purpose and the gifts that he gives are for the benefit of
the body. And that is what Paul is speaking
about here. And he is telling these Corinthians
essentially that growth in the things of God is not measured
by how many gifts you have or what the nature of the gifts.
That is not the sign of anything. But what the sign of the growth
of God's people in the grace of God is, is how well they learn
to love one another. Now, if you want to know somebody
that's grown in grace, you'll find somebody that is, by the
grace of God, loving his brethren. In fact, John said that if we
don't love the brethren, then the love of the Father is not
in us. And so it would behoove us to pay heed to this. I mean, you know, a lot of people
think they have really arrived at some great station when they've
learned some doctrine. And they've become sound in doctrine. And they say, oh man, we've got
it now. But do you love the brethren?
I mean, that's the thing that we ought to be asking the question
of. And that's what Paul is speaking
about here in this chapter. And so he says here that love
never faileth, charity never faileth. Out of all those things that
he talks about here, and when he gets down to the end, he says,
now abide in faith, hope, and love, these three. Now he says,
now they abide. We abide in faith, we abide in
hope, and by the grace of God, we abide in love one to the other. But he said the greatest of these
is love, because guess what? Faith is not a thing that we
will always walk in, because when that which is perfect has
come, that which is in part will be done away. And so there is
coming a time when we no longer will walk in faith, because you
see, when we see, then faith is not necessary. There'll come
a time when we'll no longer walk in hope because when that which
is perfect has come, that hope is realized, then we'll no longer
need hope. But the one thing that is given
to the children of God in the present time that will not change
forever is love one to the other. Now that's what he's saying there.
He said, all these things are going to pass away. But he said,
love never fails. Prophecies are going to pass
away. He said, there's coming a time when that won't be worth
a plug nickel. He said, it won't mean anything.
Whether they be prophecies, they shall fail. They're going to
cease. What will we prophesy about? I mean, because when that which
is perfect is come, that which is in part is done away. Now
this is a principle. And there are several things,
I believe, that are being taught, that Paul is teaching here. And
I believe there is a lesson that he is teaching here that is for
saints in later times, perhaps even more so than it was in those
times. Because, you know, when you are
in the midst of something, you cannot see what will be. All
you can see is what is. Now what we can see, we can see
what has been and what is in the present time, and we can
learn from that. And that's really the unfolding
of God's purpose in the giving of His Word in the saints of
old. Why did He do those things, as
Brother Al pointed out? Why were all these tribes given? And why did Jacob make those
prophecies? Did they understand what in the
world he was talking about at the time? They didn't know what
in the world He meant. To them it was just these prophecies,
just like when the Old Testament saints would read the prophecies
of Isaiah. Do you think they understood
exactly what He was talking about? How could they? Now they had
an understanding that this was Speaking of the promise to come,
but they didn't know what that was, did they? Even the disciples,
as I tried to point out in this week's Grace Gazette, you know,
even the disciples who walked with the Lord and He taught them
every day, yet they were ignorant, really, of His purpose for coming. Now, He told them what it was,
but they couldn't get it. until such time as the Lord saw
fit to send His Spirit to them, the Spirit of truth that would
lead them into all truth. And all of a sudden their eyes
were opened up, and Peter said, Man, this man Jesus is the one
whom we preach to you today. Now, a month before that, if
the Lord had sent Peter out to preach, He might not have preached,
I don't know what he'd have done, but just hypothetically thinking,
he would have probably went out telling, now this Messiah is
going to establish his throne here in Israel, and he's going
to overthrow these Romans, and we're going to triumph. Because
that was still what the disciples thought really right up until
the end, wasn't it, when the Lord was taken away from them?
They said, well, you're fixing to go away. Aren't you going
to go ahead and restore the kingdom to Israel? Aren't you going to
do something? See, they saw everything that
He did, but they didn't know what He did. He died and rose
from the dead. They didn't know what that meant.
All it was to them was, man, this is an amazing thing. I mean,
this man is truly the Son of God, but they didn't know what
to do with that. They didn't know what it meant. They didn't
know what the implication was. But when the Spirit of Truth
came upon them at the appointed hour according to the purpose
of God as He told them to wait there in Jerusalem until you
be endued with power from on high, what was the power from
on high? What was it? It was the Spirit
of Truth. that came to them and their eyes were opened and the
Scripture says they spoke with other tongues. Now, this means
that some of them spoke in languages which they had heretofore not
spoken of, but the amazing thing, to me the greatest miracle that
took place on the day of Pentecost was the empowerment of the Spirit
of God speaking through His people. The Scripture says that every
man heard in his own tongue. Now that's the glorious thing.
You see, the glory is not that they spoke in the words, but
the glory was that men heard the Word. Because you see, that's
what the Lord said. He said when the Spirit has come,
He will lead you into all truth. Now that's what Paul's doing
here in the measure in which God has given him to do it, is
he's laying out the truth to these disciples who had confessed
that they were followers of God. And they were in a measure enamored
with the gifts that the Lord had given among them. And some
of them, were thinking this was a better gift, and others were
thinking this was a good gift. Now evidently, and this seems
to be a true thing, that the gift of tongues that he speaks
about, and that word tongues there simply means a language,
and there was a gift, this gift was given to them, and they thought
this was the be-all and end-all. He said, hold on a minute. He
said, stop and think about this. He said, even if you speak with
the tongue of men and angels, but if you don't have love, it's
of no use. So the purpose of these gifts,
as they are given to the church for operation among the church,
are given for the benefit of the body. And if they are not
spoken and used in a fashion that would benefit the body,
he said, they are of no use whatsoever in that context. And he said,
we know in part, we prophesy in part, we have these things,
but we don't have a complete understanding of what they are
for. He said, when I was a child, I thought like a child. And he
said, some of you are acting like children. Because you're
thinking that you're like a kid on Christmas Day and you've got
this gift and now, you know, this is the thing. You're going
to impress other people with your gift. He said it's no use. He said
it's a useless endeavor. You're wasting your time. Don't
think like a child. When I became a man, he said,
I put away childish things. Don't think of these things in
that way. But he said, think of whatever
it is that you are doing among the saints of God. Does this
enhance the people of God? Not does it enhance me, but does
it enhance the people of God? Is it for their benefit? And
so, when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in
part shall be done away. Now, I think this has several
applications, like I said. One is that specific application
there that he's given to them. Now, I think that in the greater
context as it relates to the church in general, there is the
teaching, and I believe, in my estimation, as you look at the
New Testament, You don't see the ongoing of these gifts as
they were laid out here to the Corinthian church beyond that
period of time. It's certainly not very prominent
anywhere else to any other church that Paul spoke of these things
to. Now, did these things exist? Perhaps in some fashion. But
you see, the principle is that when that which is better comes
into the presence than that which was for a temporary way, it goes
out of the way. Now, does that mean those things
don't have a purpose or they don't have a place? Absolutely
not. But when that which is perfect is come, that which is in part
is done away. Now, many of the miraculous gifts
that were given, most especially as they seem to be present here
in the Corinthian church, in my understanding of what the
Scripture teaches, the need for them has largely passed away. Now, if you can find me a place
on earth where the gospel has not been preached, I would like
to go there. I don't believe you will find
a place. The Lord said that he would be witnesses to me in all
nations, and that has certainly occurred. What we're in right
now, in my estimation, is a post-Christian era. That is, the gospel has
gone forth And it's been demonstrated how men have received the gospel
because you can't go anywhere on earth where you can't find
practically every denomination that you can find in the United
States. People there are trying to get
them up some disciples of this kind or other and getting them
churches started so they can get some money rolling in, you
know. And so it's just become a big
endeavor and it's everywhere. You know, you see, you think
of these, like these native tribes and stuff in these places, and
you go there and you find out, well, there's already been four
or five different, you know, sects and denominations there
already trying to get their little foot in the door. And so, it's
that way everywhere. Now, why did I bring that up?
Well, I bring that up to say this. The purpose in the beginning
of the giving of these gifts were as signs unto men until
such time as that which is perfect was come. And the perfection
came when the Scriptures were brought forth by the apostles. Now once the apostles passed
from the scene, these gifts faded out. I mean, you don't find any
evidence of them. And so it is that I believe that's
in essence what one of the applications here that is given concerning
this principle, when that which is perfect is come, that which
is in part is done away. Now there are different levels
of perfection. And so it is, there is a level
of perfection that is yet to come, that he speaks of here,
that has to do with when we see him face to face. For now we
see through a glass darkly. Now that's true at every level
that we're going through, but there is no comparison between
what we shall know and what we shall see when we see Him face
to face. For when we see Him, then indeed,
the full consequence of what this principle sets forth, when
that which is perfect is come, that which is in part is done
away, all of these things will cease completely. They won't
have any use whatsoever. And so it is that we see through
a glass darkly, but then face to face now I know in part. But
then I shall know even as I am known. That is, I will know exactly
what it is that the Lord would have me to know. There won't
be any more questioning. There won't be any more wondering
what the fulfillment of those things that the Lord would set
forth. I shall know even as I am known. And thou abideth faith, hope,
charity, these three. But the greatest of these is
love. And that must ever rest on our
mind. as we go forth in this world
to be salt and light in the earth, as we would preach the gospel,
as we would declare the Word of God. How are we seeking to
be of benefit to our brethren? Are we just trying to straighten
them out? Well, good luck on that. You won't ever get people
straightened out. There ain't but one that can
straighten a man out, and that's the Lord. But you see, by the
grace of God, we can love one another. And love is often telling
somebody the truth, is it not? I mean, love doesn't mean you
don't tell somebody the truth, but love means that you love
them when you tell them the truth. And the reason that you're telling
them the truth is because you love them. It's not that you
want to straighten them out. Now there's a big difference,
you know, in telling somebody what they need to do because
you think they need to do it and telling somebody what they
need to do because you love them and you want them to benefit
from it. There's a big difference in that,
is there not? And so that's what Paul's saying here. Though we see these things in
part, that which is perfect, when that is come, then that's
done away. And so it is, when we have the
perfect understanding of love being that basic groundwork upon
which all that we do towards one another rests upon, All these other things fall by
the wayside, do they not? They don't mean anything, really,
if that be the case. And now by the faith, hope, and
charity. What is faith? Faith is the substance
of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. But when
something is seen, guess what? You don't hope for it any longer,
do you? Because you had it. You know, I mean, if you're trying
to get a loan from the bank to help you out of a jam, and you
are hoping that you get the money one day, but then when you get
the money the next day, are you still hoping you'll get the money?
No. Why? Because you've got the money.
And so it is, when God's people are brought into the very presence
of the Lord, we will no longer hope that we're going to be in
the presence of the Lord, we'll be in the presence of the Lord.
And then we shall know, even as we're known, we will have
that concept fully planted in us. But the one thing that will
never cease is the love, the glorious love that He has for
us, because that love He has for us is everlasting. And that
love that He has given to His children, He said, as I have
loved you, so love ye one another. That shall be in full effect. And so follow after love and
desire spiritual gifts. That's a good thing. A man ought
to desire to be spiritually given the things of God, should he
not? I mean, isn't that part and parcel of what it is to love
the way of God, is to be filled with His Spirit? to be walking
in obedience to those things that He would have for us, to
have everything that He would give us? I mean, do we go through
life thinking, well, you know, the Lord has all these things
to give, but I don't want any of them? Would that make any sense? No. I mean, would a hungry man turn
down food? You know, I'm starving to death,
and well, here, take these barbecued ribs and eat them. No, I'm not
going to eat them. I don't want them. No, we desire
spiritual gifts. We desire the food of God. We
desire the things of God, whatever He will do with us. We want that,
do we not? Now, why do we want them then? That's the point. And that's
what he's getting at. Fall after charity and desire
spiritual gifts. Now, I think that he's specifically
speaking here about, he's upgrading them and the desire for spiritual
gifts because he knows that in their childishness, the things
that they're impressed with is the miraculous stuff. I mean,
you know, if you want to gather up a crowd, I mean, you go plaster
you up a poster and tell them you're going to have a Holy Ghost
revival and there's going to be healing the sick and, you
know, giving sight to the blind and growing out legs and doing
all kinds of stuff, you know, that you're going to do. And
you're going to gather a certain number and mindset of people
who are coming to see those things. They did it in the Lord's day,
didn't they not? He said, you've just come to
see the miracles. And men don't change. That's just the way men
are. But that's childish, is basically what he's saying. That's
childish. Don't be concerned about that.
He said, desire spiritual gifts. But if you want a spiritual gift,
desire that you might prophesy. That is, that you might tell
God's people something that will be useful to them. Because he's
going to go on to describe what this prophecy is. Now I'm going
to stop there because we're going to get into his description of
the speaking in tongues and the prophecy and the contrast between
the two, the advantages of both. Both have a place, but they're
not the same place. But the ultimate end of both
should be the same, and the usefulness of them should be the same. So
may the Lord give us a heart and mind after these things,
and give us understanding of them, and that we're not approaching
it from a childish standpoint, just desiring some miracle thing
to happen. You know, some of the people,
their whole mantra is, expect a miracle. Expect a miracle. The reason you don't have miracles
in your life is because you don't expect them. Paul said, don't
worry about miracles. I mean, God may do miracles.
I believe God does miracles now. I don't think miracles happen
every day. It wouldn't be a miracle if something
happened every day, would it? You know, some people call anything
that happens is a miracle. Well, no, anything that happens
isn't a miracle. It may be a great blessing that's
poured out, But a miracle is something that absolutely has
no explanation. It's like a blind man sitting
by the roadside and he says, Jesus, have mercy on me. And the Lord gives the man his
sight. And the man whom everybody knew
in that whole town was blind from birth suddenly can see. And he didn't lose his faith
next week and go back blind. He kept on seeing. Why? Because
there was a miracle that took place. You know, it wasn't something
that was shady. It wasn't something that you
wondered about. You know, somebody gets up on
stage out of a wheelchair and dances around, and then later
on you see them and they're back in the wheelchair. You know,
that's not a miracle. is those things that cannot be
explained and that are in reality true. But Paul said, don't be
concerned about those things.