To our scripture reading for this afternoon's worship service, a very familiar chapter in scripture, 1 Corinthians chapter 13. Put your bookmark there as we'll be going through verse by verse this afternoon. Considering and expounding this passage, 1 Corinthians chapter 13. Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels and have not charity, I become as a sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. Though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, And though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains and have not charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned and have not charity, it profits me nothing. Charity suffereth long, as kind charity envieth not. Charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, does not behave itself unseemly, does not seek her own, or is easily provoked, thinketh no evil, rejoices not in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth. bears all things, believeth all things, hopes all things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth, but whether they be prophecies, they shall fail. Whether they be tongues, they shall cease. Whether they be knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we know in part and 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 spake 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. My dear congregation, this morning We were privileged to remember the death of the Lord at his table. This glorious gospel truth that there is no greater love. that a man laid down his life for his friends. Jesus Christ, of course, is the friend of sinners. He laid down his life for wretched sinners like we are. And post-communion we could well summarize that our Christian duty now, very simply, is to love God and to love our neighbor. After all, isn't that what Jesus said? If you love me, keep or obey my commandments. And he went on to say, of course, in several places in the gospel accounts, that the law which he tells us to obey is summarized in love upward to God and love outward to our fellow man. And so we could simply summarize and say our duty, our duty as we walk the Christian life in between communion times is simply to love. Well, today we ought to turn to one of the most well-known or famous chapters of the Bible on love. or as Paul puts it here and calls it, charity. And we'll walk through these verses together and see what the Lord would have us to know. Because after all, that's why the Lord has given us the scriptures. This passage as well, hasn't he? Paul reminds us in 1 Timothy 3 and verse 16 that all scripture is given by inspiration of God. It's profitable for doctrine. That's for teaching, for reproof, that means for testing, testing our Christian faith, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. Then he adds that so that the man of God, the Christian, may be perfect, that is perfected or matured. thoroughly furnished or thoroughly supplied unto all good works. And my prayer today is indeed that as we turn to the Word of God, as we make our way through this passage, I trust that for most of us is a fairly well-known passage, that this passage would equip us and would thoroughly equip us to walk a life of good works as it instructs us in the way of righteousness. And so on 1 Corinthians chapter 13, we find this unmistakable theme of that of Christian love or Christian charity. And the chapter itself breaks itself down into three basic categories, and those will be our three thoughts this afternoon. In the first three verses, we see the absolute need for Christian charity. Secondly, in verses four through seven, Paul lists out the virtues of Christian charity, or what it looks like, how it functions. And then thirdly, the rest of the chapter, verses eight through 13, he details the abiding nature of Christian charity. He lists all the things that will fade and cease and fail, but love charity, it never fails. So Christian charity, the need for it, the virtues of it, the abiding nature of it. Before we get into the particular details of each verse by verse as we go through this this afternoon, Congregation with the Lord's Help, there are two particular matters that we need to keep in mind, need to bear in mind, as we consider this well-known passage. And it helps us to understand really what Paul is saying in the big picture. That's oftentimes when we do read the Bible and we have discussions, sometimes we fixate on one phrase or one word and we can really tear it out of its context and we miss the big picture. because we're so focused on the one phrase or the one expression. And so we have to see a few things about this particular chapter. And the first one, I've already alluded to it with that, is that of context. That of context. In the previous chapter in 1 Corinthians chapter 12, Paul had been speaking about various gifts that the church of Corinth had been given, and really the entire New Testament church had been given. And he speaks particularly about three distinct gifts. First of all, he's referring to, at the end of chapter 12, the gift of prophecies. The gift of prophecies. Now, I, along with many classic Reformed expositors on this, understand this phrase in the most common sense of the word, and that is, God giving special revelation to individuals about future events. In the Old Testament time, people like Jeremiah or Isaiah, the major prophets, called major because their letters, their prophecies are large, and then all the minor prophets, the shorter prophets, they spoke prophetically, didn't they? The word prophecy can have many nuances to it, different flavors to it, and it can mean, in one sense, just speaking the word. But the Old Testament way, and probably the way Paul is referring to here also in 1 Corinthians 12, is that of speaking about future events, receiving from God, a vision or a dream or information, and then sharing that prophetic truth about future events. And still today, we sometimes refer to people as being prophetic, don't we? Even though, as I hope to show you from this passage, consider from this passage, that it's all done and ceased. That's a thing in the past. But the idea of prophecy is embedded here, is about future events, speaking about future events. And then secondly, Paul is referring to, at the end of chapter 12, the gift of healing, the gift of healing. Now again, in the early New Testament church, Some were given a special gift of healing and occasionally someone would miraculously get immediately and miraculously healed. Jesus gave actually his first disciples this special temporary gift. Matthew 10 in verse 1, And when he had called unto him his 12 disciples, he gave them power, that is authority, against unclean spirits to cast them out and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease. And so there was the gift in the early New Testament church of healing, not only of prophecy, but also of healing. And then thirdly, there was the gift of tongues, the gift of tongues. just like the disciples who at the time of Pentecost in Acts chapter two, they spoke in all various languages, various coherent languages, not incoherent languages, but the gift of tongues is best understood simply as without any prior language training to simply speak coherently in that particular language. For example, if I had the gift of tongues today, I don't, but if I did, maybe I could speak fluent Portuguese to you, or fluent German, or whatever language. That's what the gift of tongues is. It's not an incoherent thing, but it's a coherent thing, but just a different language. And so at the time of the early New Testament church, these gifts were still being used. But the Corinthians, it appears, were somewhat preoccupied, if not totally obsessed by these gifts. And sadly, can add a footnote, sadly, similarly to so many today. And I realize that's my personal opinion, but there are so many that are obsessed about these things, so many preoccupied with these things, that sometimes the very gospel itself gets forgotten in it all. And so Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 12 and verse 31, Keeping this in mind, I will show you a more excellent way. I will show you a better way than all these gifts. And so that's the first thing that we have to remember about 1 Corinthians chapter 13, the famous passage on love, the context in which he speaks these words. The second matter is equally important, and that is this. The word charity, or as many translate it, the word love, throughout this chapter is very clearly Christian charity or Christian love. That's why we have that very name in our theme itself as well. In other words, what the Apostle Paul is not speaking about here is just about love in general. The love that everybody, including unbelievers, is privileged to experience. We must remember, of course, exactly what our president said in his recent State of the Union address, that all people are made in the image of God. And so all people, even in this fallen world, are given the capacity to love because we have been made in the image of God. And that's a wonderful, wonderful thing. But that is not what the Apostle Paul has in view here when he speaks about charity and he speaks about love. It is not just that general love, as wonderful as that is. that people engage in. He's speaking here about Christian love, the love that only can be in the heart and soul of a believer as a result of God's love shown to us through the Lord Jesus Christ. And many, even commenting on this, have rightly noted that you could easily substitute the name Christ for the word charity anywhere in this chapter, and it would make full sense. Just for example, looking at verse one, though I speak with the tongues of men and angels and have not Christ, I am become as a sounding brass or a tingling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, And I could remove mountains and have not Christ, I am nothing. And so you could substitute, you see, the name Christ for the word charity. And really what Paul is writing about here is that we see God's grace to us in His Son, and the need for those who confess God's grace to walk in true Christian love. true Christian love. I trust that that whole concept and idea will become more evident as we make our way through this passage, verse by verse. And so these two things must be borne in mind as we consider this passage. First of all, the context in which Paul is speaking about, and then the very nature of the word charity or love itself is decidedly a Christian love. And so these first three verses, we find the need for Christian love expounded. Verse 1, though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels and have not charity, have not this Christian love, I am become as a sounding brass, a resounding gong, or a tinkling, a clanging cymbal. In other words, what the Apostle Paul is saying here is this. We can have a smooth, angelic gift to speak. But if we are not loving like the Lord Jesus Christ, we are like a gong, we are like an annoying cymbal that just makes noise and people want to run away from it. If the love of God in Christ is not motivating our speech, is not motivating our very voice, well, it's just an annoying noise. It's an annoying noise to God. Those speaking in various languages, Paul seems to be alluding to, may do so very, very eloquently, very accurately, as the apostles were doing in Acts 2 at Pentecost. But if it's not done with a heart of Christian love, of Christian charity, It is just noise. That's what Paul is saying. Verse two, and though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith so that I can remove mountains and have not charity, not this Christian charity, I am nothing. You see, you can say, I know a lot. I understand much, my faith is strong, and always trust that all my mountains of problems are nothing, are nothing at all to conquer. But if God's love in Christ doesn't course through our spiritual veins and ooze out of us, in God's sight, it adds up to a big zero, a big nothing. Verse three, and though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned and have not charity, it profits me nothing. You see, I can be helping everybody out with a need, and I can even burn myself out in so doing. That's an application of it. We don't know exactly what he's referring to, whether he's speaking As a hyperbole here, an intended exaggeration of actually burning yourself. Some say he's talking here about a slave receiving a branding. We don't know what actually he had in mind when he's talking about having his body burned or giving ourselves our bodies to be burned. But even in all these extreme ways, if God's love in Jesus Christ is not our motivating influence, it profits us nothing. There's no spiritual profit in it for our soul. And so what the Lord is saying here in these first three verses through Paul is this, love Christian love is absolutely necessary. And that flows, doesn't it, in a double application. Number one, it applies to this. Mankind, if he were to please God, must be born again. You see, we need to be loving God and His Son, Jesus Christ, to do anything aright, to speak, to act. And you see, an unbeliever, the Bible teaches us clearly, does not truly love God and therefore does not have Christian charity or Christian love. A person may be a loving person, but an unbeliever, make no mistake about it, does not love God in the sense that a believer loves God. You see, an unbeliever is physically capable to externally engage in speaking and in doing charity work and helping those feeding the poor, as Paul is alluding to. But God says that for such, If they do it out of the spirit, out of a life that doesn't love God and doesn't have this Christian love, it adds up to nothing. It means nothing. It's not like, forgive me for the blunt illustration, but it's not like an unbeliever can go and help and feed the poor and the needy in society. which is very commendable, and then get up to the pearly gates at the end, and God doesn't say, you know, that is so wonderful. I'm so glad that you tried your best. Why don't you come in for a good effort? No, God says, it doesn't add up to anything in my sight. And it won't profit you spiritually anything. That's a hard truth. And so you see, we need, number one, to be born again. We need this Christian love in our lives. But then secondly, as Christians, The love of God in Christ must be the reason also that we do anything and everything, and the posture in which we engage in all of our speaking and doing. Paul wrote, Some very telling words in 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 14. He says, the love of Christ constrains me. In other words, compels him, convicts him. And he says, actually, he used the collective pronoun, convicts us. And so you see, he is saying that's what compels a Christian to live. That's what compels a Christian to speak. It is the love of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we must keep this in mind, too, even as we seek to live our lives consistent with 1 Corinthians chapter 13, because far too often we as Christians, born-again believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, been given a new life and the new birth and our new creations, 1 Corinthians 5-7, in Christ Jesus, and yet we can do so many things. We have the capability to do so many things for our own personal motivation and our own personal gain. And so it's necessary, also post-communion, that we live our lives with the love of God in Christ Jesus, moving us, convicting us, motivating us to do what we are called to do. Sometimes, and I begin with myself, congregation, sometimes we wonder why we feel so empty inside. And I asked myself after, why did I just do what I did? Was it because God's love in Christ was motivating me to do that or was it because I just wanted to promote myself in some subtle way or overt way, one way or the other? Was it all about me or was it all about God? You see, heaven is going to be all about God in Jesus Christ. And God wants us to prepare for that day by living, by living, loving God and loving our neighbor. And so this is number one. This is foundational. This is where Paul begins in these first three verses, that Christian charity, Christian love is absolutely necessary for the Christian church, is absolutely necessary. Because everything, he states it all in the negative, doesn't he? If you don't have, you can do all these things, but it's just a noise. All the speaking is just a noise. Verse one, the gift of prophecy and understanding all mysteries and having all faith and they could remove mountains and have not charity, it just adds up to zero. And I bestow all my gifts to feed the poor, doing all the charity works, all the kind things for everyone else. We can engage in all these things, and I've not charity, it profits us nothing. And he's saying it, don't you sense, with a pastor's heart, in other words, you don't want this. You don't need this. This is just not good for us. And so, the conclusion, the only conclusion that we can draw from this is that Christian charity is absolutely necessary. It's absolutely necessary if we would live the Christian life with spiritual profit and to the glory of God. And that's where we want to be, don't we? Between now and next Lord's Supper in our Christian walk. We want to give God the glory. We want to receive spiritual profit just as we seek that others would receive spiritual profit. Well, then we have to do things and engage in things and speak with the love of Christ constraining us, convicting us, motivating us. That's number one. But then, how then is this Christian charity, this Christian love revealed? What does it look like? Well, in the next several verses, it seems like Paul anticipates that very question. He says, you want to know what it looks like? I'll tell you what it looks like. I'll tell you what it looks like. I won't tell you the application of how all these things turn out, but I'll tell you in principle what it looks like, the virtues, the characteristics of this Christian charity, this Christian love. And it begins that list, and it's quite a long list, in verse 4. Charity suffers long. And what he is saying here, very simply, is that this Christian charity, functioning in the heart and life of a Christian, is patient. It's slow to anger. is like God, doesn't lose its temper. Charity suffers long, is patient. Secondly, charity, this Christian charity, is kind. Not only does kind things, but has a motivation of kindness and thoughtfulness with it as it functions. Paul, he said it just in other words in Ephesians 4 in verse 32. He says, be kind one to another. And then, like he's talking to kindergartners, he says, how do you do that? Forgiving one another, even as God in Christ Jesus forgave you. You see, forgiving one another is one of the greatest ways that we can actually show kindness to one another. And he connects, as we've been seeing as well in Bible study, and every time Paul writes, he connects everything to Jesus Christ. Be kind one to another, even as God in Christ has forgiven you. Charity is kind. Then, charity, or this Christian love, it envies not. You see, when we operate out of Christian love, We don't turn green with envy when our neighbor has something that we want. And we're just, why did they get that? And why didn't I get that? And we have this phrase, don't we, that we turn green with envy. I don't know exactly how the green color came in there in the proverb in America. But you see, envy, it's so corrosive. Proverbs 14, verse 30, that tells us that envy is rottenness to the bones. In other words, envy just rots us out from the inside. In other words, it's something that we shouldn't be doing if we would know what's good for us. Paul goes on to say here, Charity vaunteth not itself. Simply an old word that means it doesn't parade itself. And he completes that thought by saying it's not puffed up. Literally, it's not proud. Remember my grandma used to say, you know, when we did something, she says, I bet you lost a shirt or two on your buttons, or a button or two, rather, on your shirt when you did something. In other words, you're all puffed up, you're all proud, and you're popping buttons. You're so puffed up. You're feeling so good. But Paul says here, Christian charity, Christian love doesn't function that way. It's not proud. You see, pride can come in so many forms, can't it? So many subversive forms, too, like self-pity. That's actually an expression of pride. All the way right through to arrogance and everything between. But any form of pride, you see, is not an expression of Christian love. Verse five, Christian love does not behave itself unseemly. Literally, Christian love doesn't behave itself rudely. You see, Christian love seeks to be gracious and polite, being thoughtful, not rude and vulgar. Seeks not her own, Paul goes on to say. You see, Christian love doesn't seek to be constantly congratulated. Not that we shouldn't compliment and congratulate one another. We should. We should. But you see, the point is, we shouldn't live for that. Seek's not our own. It doesn't seek to put itself in the spotlight, but God in the spotlight. is not easily provoked, he goes on to say, is not easily angered. You know, some people, they snap at you like a hungry alligator when they're poked. But Christian love doesn't do that. It's patient. It's not easily angered, not easily provoked. He goes on to say, thinks no evil. Christian love doesn't immediately assume the worst of people. It first examines the facts before and doesn't rush to judgment. Proverbs 18 and verse 13 affirms this truth. He who answers before listening, it's a folly and it's a shame to him. Thinks no evil. Not that we think that people are perfect and will never do anything wrong. No, that's foolishness. We know the Bible. We know that we have the capability of doing wrong, but this doesn't rush to judgment about the next one. Isn't that true so often in our lives? I know it's true in my life. I think wrong about somebody and then I'm completely wrong. I'm completely wrong. I rushed to judgment. I shouldn't have. Christian love thinks no evil, but rejoices not in iniquity, verse six, but rejoices in the truth. You see, Christian love doesn't delight in sin. That's what Paul is saying here. And doesn't delight in all that is wrong. There's so much in this world today that delights in that which is wrong, just plain wrong, isn't complete opposition to God's word. But you see, Christian love does just the opposite. Doesn't rejoice in iniquity, but Paul says here, rejoices in the truth. And what is the truth? Well, the truth of Jesus Christ. I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life, he says. And so we could say it this way, what Paul is simply saying is that that Christian charity loves the true gospel that is found alone in the person and in the work and in the message of the Son of God. It rejoices in gospel truth. When we hear that Jesus Christ has come to seek and to save the lost, and when we hear also that the application of whom I am chief, we are deliriously happy. with that gospel message, because Christian charity rejoices in that truth. It is so happy to hear that. Rejoices not in iniquity, but rejoices in truth. And then verse 7 rounds out this section. Bears all things, believes all things, hopes, hopeth all things, endureth all things. This is a summary verse of what he had just been really saying all along. Let's just look very briefly at these phrases. First of all, bears all things. beareth all things. There's an idea here, again, a repetition of the concept of patience. You bear long with somebody, like God bears long with us, is patient with us. But then embedded also in the word bearing is the idea of carrying, isn't there? When you bear something, you carry something. I think Paul is alluding to that when he also expounds on the principle in Galatians 6 and verse 2. He says, bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. And so you see, Christian charity is revealed in praying for your neighbor. Christian charity is revealed in praying for your fellow man, praying for those who have a burden, who have a challenge, who have a need. That's how we fulfill, he says, the law, Galatians 6.2, the law of the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, Christian charity bears, bears All things. We don't just say, you know, well, I'll pray for that, but is that really necessary to pray for? No, bears all things. Secondly, believes all things. Again, the idea here is not becoming immediately suspicious of our fellow man. Third, hopeth all things. In other words, not seeing everything and everyone as a failure. Sometimes people can have that very negative view. Well, Christian charity is not like that. Hopeth all things always has a sense of hopefulness. It's realistic, yes, but a sense of Christian optimism, we could say. And then finally, endureth all things. Endureth all things. And here's the idea of steadfastness and perseverance. As opposed to the idea of flightiness and buzzing around like a bumblebee here, there, and everywhere. But the idea of enduring. Jesus says, he who endures to the end shall be saved. So this idea of consistency. So beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. That's how Christian charity manifests itself, shows itself, reveals itself. And notice a little word that is in front of every one of these as well, or following rather, every one is coupled with this bearing and believing and hoping and enduring. And that's the little word all. That's why this is really a summary verse before it moves on to the next section. And what Paul is saying here is that there is a comprehensiveness, you see, to how Christian charity functions. It's not just when I'm out in public with others or when I'm with my church friends, but it's in all of my life. There's not one single area of my life that Christian charity somehow forgets about. There's not one area of our lives that ought to remain untouched. 1 Corinthians 10 31. Therefore, whether you eat or whether you drink or whatsoever you do, do it to the glory of God. And so Paul is saying that Whether you're traveling, whether you're at home, whether you're on vacation, whether you're in the shopping mall, whether you're with this friend or that friend, it really doesn't matter. Christian charity is that which ought to be driving you, motivating you, convicting you, and holding you, all the time, everywhere. That's the way it works. There's a comprehensive nature to it. These are the virtues, the characteristics of Christian charity. And now, sometimes good Christians can go through these verses, these very convicting verses in verses four through seven. And we can look at this and we can lay our lives down beside this. And we can say, oh my, oh my, oh my, that is not me. And we can come to the end of verse seven and we can be ready to throw in the towel and say, I will never, ever, ever be what verses four through seven tell me to do. But what Paul is not saying here is that everyone is perfect. he realized himself. He's saying this is what it looks like in its ideal form. And what he's implying with this is strive for that. Strive for that, even though you're going to fail all the time. There's many good godly people throughout scripture who failed, striving for these virtues. But yet he holds the standard high, doesn't he? And he says this is what it looks like in its purest form. And so reach for the stars, reach for Jesus Christ, the star of heaven, to help you and to assist you to walk the Christian life, to aspire to this Christian charity, to seek to pattern your lives after this list, this lofty list of biblical christian virtues of christian charity but then lastly and finally we see the abiding nature the abiding nature of christian love paul here he's changes course as it were right in the chapter itself and he launches out into a into a whole area and at the same time, a whole new area, but at the same time he's harking back again to the list of the prophecies and the healings and the other things that he was speaking about before. And he begins by this definitive statement and he says, charity never fails. This Christian love, it does not fail. It will never cease. The love of God in Christ Jesus will continue forever. It will continue forever throughout time. And even when time ends, the love that we may have for God in Christ Jesus will continue and continue and continue and continue. Because that's what heaven will be, isn't it? Loving God, loving God and our neighbor. And so charity, you see, never fail. Three little words that really contain a world of truth. They never fail. But, and then comes the but, and I don't want to spend a whole lot of time here, dear congregation. Books have been written about what Paul says next in verse eight. I just want to touch on it very briefly. But whether there be prophecies, they shall fail. Literally, they shall come to an end. Whether there be tongues, they shall cease. They shall come to a conclusion, come to an end again. Now, what is Paul saying? Well, obviously, first and foremost, he's saying that There's something that's going to end and something that's going to continue. And that which is going to continue is the Christian love. And that which is going to end are these other things, the prophecies, the tongues. They shall come to an end. Now, to really make a big, long story very, very short, the classic Reformed view on gifts, that is, prophecy of future events, healings, and speaking in tongues, that is, in various languages, these have, and I say that definitively, have, as in past tense, ceased. The classic Reformed view, and has been since the middle of the 15th century, summarized also in creedal form, summed up also in the very first chapter of the Westminster Confession of Faith, is that of cessationism. In other words, these things have ceased, just as the text is alluding to. They have now ceased. And the debate, just to give you a little flavor of where this whole discussion is and has gone in the Christian church, is that There's many people who say, yes, they'll cease, but the question is when. When will they cease? And many don't believe that they will cease until Jesus Christ comes back again. There's good reason, and we don't have time to expound it all this morning, or this afternoon, rather, to believe that These gifts have now ceased, not that they will cease sometime in the future, but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail, they shall come to an end. Tongues, they shall cease, they shall conclude. But charity continues on. And then he goes on in the middle of verse eight and to the end of verse 10, and he says, whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we know in part and prophesy in part, but then that which is perfect is come, and that which is in part shall be done away. And what Paul has in mind from about this point on in the chapter is this, the future of heaven, when all things will be perfect. Verse 10, but when that is perfect is come. It can only be understood as the glory to be, then the partial will fade completely away. But, he says, love will continue on. And then Paul, inspired by the Spirit, he uses two illustrations to teach the difference between present and future. First of all, he uses, in verse 11, the illustration between childhood and maturity. He says, Some people, they quote that. in when people who are adults doing childish things. Well, that's not what he's saying here. He's using it as an illustration in his particular context. And he's saying this, just like when we're grown, our childhood is behind us. Well, that's also the special gifts in the church. They're behind us. They're a distant memory. As the church matures, Those other things, they're a distant memory. That is, all except love. Love continues on. Charity, verse eight, never fails. So that's the first illustration he uses. between child and maturity to illustrate the difference between present and future. But then the second illustration he uses to demonstrate, to illustrate rather, between present and future is this, verse 12. The difference between a reflection and the real thing. For now, he writes, we see through a glass or a mirror, darkly or dimly, But then, he's referring to glory, future glory, then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know even as also I am known. Let's remember, of course, that in Paul's day, mirrors were not like the mirrors that we have today. Now, the material on the back of the mirror, I actually don't even know what it is. I don't think it's mercury anymore, but you get a pretty accurate, perfect reflection, don't you? When you look in the mirror, it's not like, well, you can't see it. It's a perfect reflection. And even some mirrors are magnified. Didn't know your nose was so big when you look in some of these mirrors. then mirrors were polished metal or even water. And so it was dim. It was dim at best. And you see, Paul says, this is the level of knowledge we have in this life. It's dim at best. But he says, when the perfection of heaven will be ushered in, it will be perfect knowledge coupled with that perfect love. And you see, what the Apostle Paul is doing, he is speaking here now in these last verses, he's speaking about future, he's speaking about heaven, even as he speaks to the Corinthians in their present life, to motivate them on to live the life of Christian charity, so that they look forward, even as they are walking forward. Now we see through a glass, a mirror, darkly, dimly, but then, then face to face, now I know in part, but then shall I know even as also I am known. There's a future, Paul says, when all that is partial and broken and dim and half, it will be perfect, whole and complete. And then that love that's continuing on right now, it will go over the Jordan and it will continue on forever and ever and ever and ever. And all those gifts of prophecy of healing, of speaking in tongues, that ceases, that's done away. But this love, this love continues forever and ever and ever. All the way through to glory. And so he speaks at the very beginning warning negatively about the necessity of love. He goes through in the middle section very practically to show what this love actually looks like and at the end he shows how There's certain things have ceased, love continues on and love will continue on forever and ever. And he says, now forget those things which are behind and press forward to those things which are before you. And look to the future of glory and where it'll all bring you one day. And then he sums up in verse 13. and now or or but now and now that is in this time now in this time in this life he isn't where brings them back down to earth now in this time abides faith hope and charity love these three these virtues but the greatest of these is charity, is love. And we conclude asking this question, dear congregation, why is love the greatest virtue? Why is love the greatest virtue? Oftentimes we hear about faith, don't we? Being the queen grace, that you can't do anything right without faith. Now why is love the greatest virtue? Well, I think you can get into rather esoteric discussions all about theology and detailed discussions, and we can get lost in the details. But very simply, love is most God-like. See, God doesn't need faith, even though he's the author of it. God doesn't need hope, even though he is the one who is the God of all hope, who gives us hope. But in 1 John 4 and verses 8 and 16, these words, God is love. God is love. Love is his very nature. And when we express true Christian love, we are most like God. And so to sum it all up, Christian love is the greatest virtue for a Christian to express. Now abides faith, hope, and charity, love. But the greatest, the greatest, the chief of these is charity. I want to close this afternoon with one verse from 1 John 4 and verse 10. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation, that is the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, We also ought to love one another. Amen.