Would you turn with me to 1 Corinthians
chapter 13? I've entitled this message, Charity. Now, all Scripture is given by
inspiration of God. and is profitable for doctrine,
for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,
that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all
good works. All Scripture is equally inspired
by God. There is no portion of this book
that is more inspired than another portion. But it's also true that
there are some portions or chapters that just stand out to us. The
first thing that I thought of was Isaiah, Chapter 53, a great
chapter regarding the substitutionary death of Christ. Genesis, Chapter
three, a chapter that tells of our fall in the first gospel
message. You think of Romans, Chapter
eight, what a wonderful chapter. And another chapter that comes
into my mind that just sticks out is 1 Corinthians chapter
13, this wonderful chapter regarding charity. Now, the Greek word
for charity, as probably most of you already know, is agape.
You've heard that before, agape, and people always talk about
agape love. I've heard religious people throw
that around just real loosely. Well, the love that Paul speaks
of in First Corinthians, Chapter 13 is a product of God. And you'll
notice quite often that this chapter is read in marriages. And this should be the foundation
of our marriage and so on, well. This love spoken of in First
Corinthians, Chapter 13 is higher. Infinitely higher than the love
between a man and a woman. And the love that Paul's speaking
of, this charity, is a love that's the product of God. No unbeliever
possesses this love. It's beyond an unbeliever. They're not able. I realize there are earthly loves.
The love of a man to a woman and the love of a woman to a
man. The love between a husband and a wife. That's beautiful.
I'm thankful for that. There's the love of a mother
to her child. Aren't you thankful for that?
The love of parents to their children, the love of children
to their parents, the love of family, a love that we have for
our friends. Those are real. And I'm so thankful
for this. And what would this world be
without love? It'd be a miserable place, wouldn't
it? Thank God for these kind of loves that I've spoken of. I would not in any way take away
from the importance of these loves. But this love that Paul
is speaking of in 1 Corinthians chapter 13 is altogether above
those kind of loves. This is the gift of God's grace. It's what only the believer possesses. Turn with me to 1 John chapter
4. We're going to get back to 1 Corinthians 13 momentarily,
but there's several scriptures I want to read. 1 John chapter 4. Verse 7, Beloved, Let us love
one another, for love is of God. That's the same word that's translated
charity in 1 Corinthians chapter 13. Love or charity is of God,
and everyone that loveth is born of God and knoweth God. Now, do you hear that? Everyone
that possesses this kind of love that Paul's speaking of in 1
Corinthians 13 is born of God. If you're not born of God, this
love is beyond you. But those who are born of God
possess this kind of love. It's a love like God's that does
not draw out. It's not drawn out by the excellency
of its objects. Now, when I'm talking about all
these other kind of loves, the love of a man between a man and
his wife or a parent and their child. As good as those things are,
you know as well as I do that there's some selfishness involved
in every one of those kinds of loves, isn't there? Self-love.
I love Aubrey. She's my daughter. Now, I ought
to love your children with the same love I have for her. But
the way we are, we have a special love for someone that's connected
with us. I love my wife. I love my friends. You see, there's
an element of selfishness It's self-love, isn't it? That's what's
behind it. It is self-love. But the charity
that's spoken of in the Scripture is not drawn out from selfish
purposes. And the example we have of this
is the love of God. You realize that there's absolutely
nothing in us before God that's lovable. Not a thing. Now, I look at this group of
people and I see a wonderful group of people. I love you.
I do. I just feel so privileged being the pastor of this church.
I think it's great. I love you dearly. Also know this, when
God looks at you and I, apart from the Lord Jesus Christ, he
doesn't see anything but wounds and bruises. and putrefying sores,
and there isn't anything about us, what we are by nature, the
way we're born into this world, there isn't anything about us
that's lovable. Do you believe that? That's what
Scripture teaches. That's what Scripture says of
us. But God doesn't have to find a reason in you to love you. Isn't that good news? That's
the gospel. God doesn't have to find a reason
in you or me to love us. He finds the reason in Himself. He loves because He is love. The scripture says in 1 John
4, 8, God is love. What a wonderful description
of our God. He is love. Now back in our text in 1 Corinthians
13, Paul says in verse 29, are all
apostles, chapter 12 verse 29, are all apostles, are all prophets,
are all teachers, are all workers of miracles, have all the gifts
of healing, do all speak with tongues, do all interpret? The
answer to that question is no, they don't. Now he says covet
earnestly the best gifts and yet show I unto you A more excellent
way, a way that's better than gifts. Now, I would love to have
the gift to preach the gospel so clearly, so powerfully. I
covet that gift. I have, I covet the gift to do
a lot of things. But this is more important than
any gift. This is greater than any gift,
the love he's speaking of. He says, this is the more excellent
way. And if you want to be ambitious about something, if you want
to covet something, here's what the Lord give me the grace to
love my brother. Give me the grace to love my
brother the way you love him. Now, that's what to be ambitious
about. Not so much to have gifts, but to have this love he speaks
of. As a matter of fact, look at chapter 14, verse one. He
says, follow after charity. That is literally pursue charity. Make this your aim. If there's
something that you want to be ambitious about, if there's something
you want to ask the Lord for special grace to help you in,
make this it. Follow, pursue after charity. This thing of loving your brother
and sister in Christ. That's the greatest thing that
you and I can follow. Notice what Paul calls it in
verse 13 of chapter 13. We're going to look at this more
next week, but he says, now abideth faith, hope and charity, these
three. But the greatest of these is what? Charity. It's greater than faith. It's
greater than hope. That's awful great, isn't it?
The greatest of these is charity. Now, I've already said that only
the believer and every believer has this love. They have it as
a result of being born of God. He that loveth is born of God,
the scripture says. The only reason you have that
love is because you've been born of God. Now, let me give you
some other things the scripture has to say about charity. First,
it's the fruit of the Spirit. Galatians 5.22, now the fruit
of the Spirit is what? Love. And I really believe the
other fruits mentioned are actually just branches of this one fruit. The fruit of the Spirit is love
that manifests itself in joy, peace, gentleness, long-suffering,
and so on. The fruit of the Spirit is love. Turn with me to Matthew chapter
22. Verse 35. Matthew 22, verse 35. Then one of them, which was a
lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, Master,
which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him,
Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with
all thy soul. And with all thy mind, this is
the first and great commandment, and the second is likened to
it. Thou shalt love thy neighbors thyself. On these two commandments
hang all the law and prophets." That's a pretty high resume,
isn't it? On these two commandments hang all the law and prophets. Turn over to Romans chapter 13. Verse 8, O no man anything but to love one another, for
he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. Now that's an amazing
statement, isn't it? Verse 9, to this, thou shalt
not commit adultery, thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal,
thou shalt not bear false witness, thou shalt not covet. If there
be any other commandment, it's briefly comprehended in this
saying, namely, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Love
worketh no ill to his neighbor, therefore love is the fulfilling
of the law. Paul said this regarding love
in Galatians chapter 5, verse 6, he says, For in Christ Jesus,
neither circumcision avails anything nor uncircumcision, but faith
which worketh by love. Love is defined by what it does. Our Lord said, he that keepeth
my commandments, he it is that loveth me. If you love me, keep
my commandments. It's not talking about just admiring
his commandments. It's talking about actually keeping. And what are his commandments?
Is this a reference to the Ten Commandments? Well, let me ask
you this. Have you ever kept the Ten Commandments? You haven't
kept one of them. In Christ, I've kept them completely.
But in and of myself, no, I've not kept one. But I've kept his
commandments. Turn over to 1 John chapter 3.
This is what is being referred to, the keeping of his commandments. Verse 23, 1 John chapter 3, and
this is his commandment, that we should believe on the name
of his son, Jesus Christ. I keep that commandment. You
do too, if you're a believer. You believe on his name as you're
all in salvation. You're trusting his name only
as the name that will bring you into heaven. You keep that commandment,
don't you? I believe on his name. And what's
he say next? and love one another as he gave
us commandment. And he that keepeth his commandments,
there's his other commandments, and I keep that one. I love his
people. I do. There's some commandments
I actually keep. He that loveth me is the one
who keeps my commandments, and every believer keeps these commandments. I do believe on his name, and
I do love his people. Love, as I said, is defined by
what it does, not just by what it says. You know, I love you
can be such a powerful, powerful, wonderful statement, or it can
be totally meaningless. It's one of the two. But what
is it that puts the meaning behind it? When someone says, I love
you, it's the actions that are behind the words. Just saying
I love you doesn't mean somebody says, I love everybody. Well,
what in the world's that thing? You know, people, I've heard
people say, I love everybody. Do you really? Do you really?
I mean, it's one thing to say that. It's another thing to do
it. Your actions will prove whether
or not you really love. I love that passage of Scripture
in 2 Corinthians chapter 8 where Paul is talking about giving.
And you know what he says regarding giving? He says to prove the
sincerity of your love. What proves the sincerity of
your love is not saying I love, but it's giving. It's what I
give. It's how I give. It's my motive
in giving. That proves the sincerity of
my love. Love is defined by what it does. Not what it says, but what it
does. Turn with me to Matthew chapter 5. Love, this charity,
causes us to do more than others. Look at Matthew chapter 5. Beginning in verse 43. You have heard that it hath been
said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy. But I say
unto you, Love your enemies. Bless them that curse you. Do good to them that hate you
and pray for them, which despitefully use you and persecute you, that
you may be the children of your father, which is in heaven, like
father, like son. There's a family likeness here.
This is what this is a reference to. There's a family likeness.
For he maketh his son to rise on the evil and on the good,
and he sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you
love them which love you, what's the big deal? What reward have
you? Do not even the publicans the
same? I mean, they do that. There's nothing supernatural
about that. There's nothing powerful about
that. And if you salute your brethren only, what do you more
than others? Do not even the public, and so
be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father, which is in heaven,
is perfect. You know, this love that we're
speaking of, that we're going to get ready to look at in 1
Corinthians 13, is actually the end of the commandment. 1 Timothy
chapter 1, verse 5 says that the end of the commandment, the
goal of the commandment, the purpose of the commandment, is
charity out of a pure heart. I've already read that passage
of Scripture that says it's what's most important above all these
things. This is what's most important
above all these things. Put on charity, which is the
bond of perfectness. And let's look at one other Scripture
before we get back to 1 Corinthians 13. Turn to John chapter 13.
Verse 34. A new commandment I give unto
you, that you love one another, as I have loved you, that you
also love one another. By this shall all men know you
are my disciples." By what? What is the evidence
he gives? Is it by your theology? By your
doctrinal statement? Now you know I'm not in any way
taken away from the importance of those things. But what is
the evidence our Lord gives? By this shall all men know that
you're my disciples, if you have love one to another. Now how I love the Lord Jesus
Christ is seen in how I love you. That's the only way it's
really manifested. Now let me repeat that. How I
love Christ is seen in how I love you. Now, let's go back to first
Corinthians, chapter 13, this wonderful chapter regarding charity. Verse one. We're going to look
at the first seven verses in the first phrase of verse eight. Paul says, though I speak, with
the tongues of men and of angels." Now, remember, the Corinthians
were enamored with the gift of tongues, or the ability to speak
in other languages. And they were abusing this thing.
You really get into that in 1 Corinthians chapter 14 when he talks about
what they were doing with it. And they actually had this gift.
They were able to speak in other languages. If I had the gift
of languages or tongues, I could start speaking in Aramaic or
Spanish or French or Russian or any of these languages. And
these people had these gifts and they were actually using
them to show off. They're trying to show everybody
how spiritual they were, and there were others who probably
didn't have the gift and were faking it. They'd come up with
all kinds of different languages, and they'd start speaking in
some kind of gibberish and say, well, this is a heavenly language,
is what they were talking about. And they were enamored with this,
enamored with it. And what does Paul say? He says,
if I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, if I can have
the language of an angel, Michael or one of the archangels, and
have God's charity, all this language I'm using, becomes nothing
more than a sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. It's an offensive
sound. Now, there were people who had
these gifts. The apostles had transferred
through the laying on the hands these gifts, and they had these
gifts, but they didn't have grace in their hearts. That's a scary
proposition, isn't it? I don't want to be in that crowd.
I want to have the grace of God in my heart. Now, he says, if
you have all these gifts so that you could speak with the tongues
of men and angels, if you don't have charity, It's offensive,
verse two. And though I have the gift of
prophecy. And I have the gift to foretell the future and it
happens. And if I can understand all mysteries,
I can tell you what all the different layers of the different materials
over the tabernacle, what it represents. And I can tell you
what all the different colors in the tabernacle represent.
I can tell you all the mysteries of the Scripture. I've got the
accurate meaning of them. I understand all mysteries. And
so that I have all knowledge. My doctrine's correct. It's 16
ounces to a pound. I mean, I'm right on with what
the Bible teaches. I've got it down. Though I have
all knowledge and though I have all faith so that I could remove
mountains, somebody actually has the ability to work miracles. Maybe the apostles had laid their
hands on somebody and you know, they were wrong sometimes as
far as what, who they thought were believers and who they weren't.
Perhaps they laid their hands on some unbelievers and transferred
these gifts and they could heal the sick. They could raise the
dead. You know, Judah's good. Jews
had these miracle working abilities. All the apostles did. But he
says, if I have all that and have not this love that I'm speaking
of, what good does it do me? He says, I am nothing. It doesn't mean a thing. Verse three, and though I bestow
all my goods to feed the poor. Now, that's very commendable,
isn't it? I tell you what, if somebody in here sold everything
they had and gave it all away to feed the poor, I'd be impressed.
I mean, that's a very commendable thing. But if I do that and don't
have charity, if profits mean nothing, it doesn't mean a thing.
And look what he says next. Though I give my body to be burned. Now, what he's talking about
is the ultimate act of self-sacrifice, so we would think. Let's say,
let's say I'm going to be burned at the stake for what I preach.
And I hope, by the grace of God, I'd be willing to be burned at
the stake for what I preach. I hope, by the grace of God,
I'm willing to die for what I believe and what I preach. I am, I believe. I believe I'd die for the truth.
I believe I'd die for the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
how precious He is to me. But Paul says, if I would give
my body to be burned as a martyr for the truth, You can have an
element of pride in that. I'm not going to bend. I'm not
going to bend. I'm going to die rather than
bend. You can do that for a totally
bad motive. He said, what we would think
of as the greatest act of self-sacrifice, if I give my body to be burned
for the cause of God and truth, but I don't have this charity
in my heart, it profits me not a thing. All I've proved by that
is I've really never known the Lord. He's never really done
a work of grace in my heart. And that's how important this
thing of charity is. So you can see it's scary how
far you can get in religion. You see that from what he says
in these first three verses. And still not have the grace
of God in your heart. Now he goes on to describe this
charity. And it's so important. I want
to read the first thing I want to point out about these next
three or four verses. Love is what love does, and he
describes what love does. But can't you see where we could
take the name of Christ and put it in the place of charity, and
it would read just as well with it. Let's read it with Christ's
name. Now, that's not the way we're
going to look at it, but we see that Christ is the embodiment of what charity
is. Would this not describe the Redeemer? Christ suffers long and is kind. Christ envies not. Christ bonds
not himself. He's not puffed up. He doesn't
behave himself unseemly or rudely. He doesn't seek his own. He's
not easily provoked. He thinks no evil. He rejoices
not in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth. He bears all things. He believes all things. He hopes
all things. He endures all things. Christ
never fails. And you can see where you could
put the name of the Lord Jesus in that and it would read just
fine. Christ Jesus Himself is the embodiment
of charity. But this is also the love that
I myself must possess, or I've never experienced the grace of
God. Now, let me repeat that. What he describes in 1 Corinthians
13 is not some ideal we strive for. It's something I must possess. You know, we were talking this
morning about the imparted righteousness of Christ, new nature that's
given to the believer in the new birth. This is what it does.
This is what that new nature does. It loves. It loves. Now, let's look at how love is
described in verse four. Charity suffers long. It's long suffering. And it's
patient toward the object of its affection. Always, always. Love is long-suffering,
it's patient. Is God long-suffering? Well,
you know He is. Oh, how long-suffering He is
toward His children. God is long-suffering to us,
for not willing that any should perish, but that all should come. to repentance. That's a reference
to every one of his people. And God's people are long-suffering
toward one another. They're patient. And then he
says charity is kind. It's not mean-spirited. Charity
is kind. That means gracious and easy,
mild and pleasant. It doesn't hold people's feet
to the fire. It doesn't put people under the law. It is kind. and gracious. The word actually
is easy. When our Lord describes Himself
and His yoke, He says, My yoke is easy. That's where that word,
that's the same word. My yoke is God. My yoke is easy. And my burden is light. Well,
what's the light about it? He bears the weight of it. What's
the easy of it? It's Him. He's kind. You're the
Lord's kind. Love is It's not mean. It's kind. And then he says next in verse.
For charity suffers long as kind charity envious. Not. You know, you don't envy
somebody you love, do you? Not if you love them and you
have children, are you envious of their prosperity? If you love
them, you want them to have it better than you. You really do.
You want that for them because you love them. Love does not
envy. If I envy you, that means I don't
love you. Love doesn't envy. Look, I want
the best for you. And if God blesses you, if I
love you, I rejoice in it just as much as if it were me being
blessed. As a matter of fact, I feel like I am the one being
blessed when you're blessed. I feel that way. If I love you,
Love doesn't envy. If I'm envying somebody, if I'm
jealous of what they have or how they're being blessed or
whatever, all I say about that is I don't love them. Love does
not envy. And then next it says in verse
4, love or charity vaunteth not itself. That means it's not a
bribe. It's not self-promoting. It does not push itself. It's not an attention seeker. That's not what love does. It
doesn't self-promote. If I love you, I want you promoted
above me. If I'm promoting myself, all
I'm proving by that is I love myself. Love is not self-promoting. Love doesn't push itself forward.
It takes the back seat. It backs back. It wants the object
of its affection to be the one who's promoted. That's what love
does. Love does not vaunt itself. And it's not puffed up. He says next in verse four, it's
not puffed up. You know, physically, I remember. First time I ever got sick, I
gained something like 27 pounds in one weekend. I got real puffy
looking. Got puffed up. That's when I
went to the doctor. I was puffed up. I was swollen.
You know, when you're sick, your body gets swollen. And this is
a picture of spiritual sickness. Swollen. Puffed up with pride
and self-importance. Love doesn't do that. Love is
not puffed up. You know, love is lonely. Love
is humble. You know, it's as God is my witness,
and I say this very carefully, I say this very carefully, but
it's not hard for me to esteem you as better than me. I mean
that. I mean that. You see, I know
me. I know me a whole lot better
than you know me. And I can't imagine anybody having the things
going on in their heart that I've got going on in my heart.
I can't. I just think surely they're not like that. I wouldn't
like them if they were. I'm just kidding. But love is
lowly. It's not puffed up with pride. Verse 5. Love does not behave
itself unseemly. It's not rude. and indecent. If you love somebody, you're
not going to treat them in a rude, harsh fashion. That's just contrary
to love. Love does not behave itself unseemly. It seeketh not her own, is what
it says next. Love seeketh not her own. It's not seeking its own good,
but the good of the object of its affection. That's what love
truly does. It seeks the good of who He loves. It seeks not our own. It's not
easily provoked. It's not touchy and irritable
and flies off the handle at the drop of a hat. That's not the
way love works. It's not always easily offended
and so on. Boy, don't you hate being around
somebody where you've got to walk on eggshells around them?
You're going to offend them. It's difficult being around people
like that. You know, folks like that are
hard to love, aren't they? Now, you love them anyway. You love
them, but wouldn't it be a lot better to be easy to love than
to be hard to love, wouldn't it? May God give us grace to
be folks that are easy to love. I love that scripture in Hebrews
chapter 13 or Hebrews, Hebrews chapter 10, where it says provoke
one another to love. Not to irritate, but to love.
Treat people in such a way as they're provoked to love you
because of the way you treat them. You see, love is not easily
provoked. Thinketh no evil. It's not suspicious. It's not suspicious. It thinks
the best of the object of its affection. Verse six, it rejoices
not in iniquity. It doesn't rejoice in a fall
into sin in any way. You never rejoice when people
fall. Not if you love them. No, it
breaks your heart. It makes you sad. It troubles
you when people fall. You love them. It doesn't rejoice
in iniquity, but it rejoices in the truth. That's what it
rejoices in, the truth. Verse 7, love bears all things. And you know what that word bears
means? It means love covers all things. You know, if the Lord
Jesus Christ loves you, he covers everything, doesn't he? And if
you love somebody, you don't want to expose their faults.
You don't want to talk about them and tell everybody about
all the problems they have and say, boy, they're like this and
they're like that. No, you want to cover their fault. That's
what you do if you love somebody. If you really love somebody,
you don't want their dirty laundry out, do you? You don't want them
exposed. That person you love, you don't
want anybody to know about any weakness they have or any problem
they have. You want it covered. Love covers
all things. It believes, he says next, all
things. That means it believes the best.
It puts the best construction on what somebody does. It gives
the benefit of the doubt. It gives the benefit of the doubt.
That's what it means to believe all things. And next it says,
it hopes all things. What it can't see, it still hopes
for. Even when it's disappointed.
How many times has somebody you love disappointed you? Oh, you've
been so disappointed in the way they've treated you or what they've
done. But you're going to still hope they're going to do better
the next time if you love them. It's not three strikes and you're
out. It's if your brother sins against you seven times in a
day and he comes back and says, forgive me. You forgive him again.
Continue. That's what love does. It bears
all things. It covers all things. It believes
all things. It always hopes for the best.
And what it can't see, and when it's let down, it goes ahead
and hopes for better the next time. You pray for them and you
ask the Lord. It's a very optimistic thing.
You know, the grace of God is optimistic, isn't it? It's such a reason for optimism.
Salvation is of the Lord. Therefore, I can have hope for
all things, can't I? Isn't charity beautiful? And
it endures all things. It cannot be run off. It puts up with all things. You
can't run off love. Love never fails. You know what that means? It
never ceases. It goes on and on and on. Charity does not and cannot say,
I don't love you anymore. It can't do it. Love never ceases. It never fails. Now, all human
loves can cease. There's no doubt in my mind there
have been people who have been in love with one another who
feel like they don't love each other anymore. our society, why
it even happened between parents and children and so on. Any kind
of human love can cease. But this love can never cease
because it's not there because of the loveliness of the object
of its affection. It's there because it's the gift
of God, the fruit of the spirit. Love never fails. And love is the grand characteristic
of a believer. God is love. And like father,
like son. And love is the greatest thing
in the world. That's what he tells us here.
Now abideth faith, hope, and charity. These three. But the
greatest of these is charity. And it is the greatest. I want
to close by looking at 1 John chapter 3. Now, we were looking at these
earlier verses. about the doing of righteousness
and not sinning and so on, that the new nature doesn't sin. Well,
here's what the new nature does. It doesn't sin, but here's what
it does, beginning in verse 11. For this is the message that
ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. Now this Cain, who was of that
wicked one, slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because
his own works were evil in his brothers. Righteous. Marvel not,
my brethren, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed
from death unto life. Now, how do you know it's gone?
Because we love the brethren. It's a powerful statement, isn't
it? He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. Whosoever hateth
his brother is a murderer. And you know that no murderer
hath eternal life abiding in him. Hereby perceive we the love
of God, because He laid down His life for us, and we ought
to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath this
world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his
vows of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God
in him? Let us not love in word, neither
in tongue, but in deed and in truth. Make love your aim. May God make that the prayer
of everybody in this room. that our ambition, our pursuit,
that which we follow, is love. Let's pray together.