Well, if you will remain standing and take your Bibles and turn to the book of First Corinthians, First Corinthians, chapter 13. First Corinthians, chapter 13, and of course, we'll be reading the whole chapter this morning. And for context, I'm going to start in chapter 12, verse 21. This is the word of the Lord. But earnestly desire the higher gifts, and I will show you a still more excellent way. If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 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 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 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 with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things. Love never ends. As for the prophecies, they will pass away. As for tongues, they will cease. As for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part, But when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child. I thought like a child. I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. So now faith, hope and love abide, these three, but the greatest of these is love. This is God's word. Let us pray. Our Father in heaven, we thank you for this day and for the gift of your scripture and for the gathering of your people here. And now, Father, we ask that you stamp with your own seal of approval and blessing on the reading and the preaching of your infallible word. Amen. Please be seated. Well, I presume you know that our subject this morning from the text is love. Of all people to talk about love, I would have never thought this in my entire life. Many of you are acquainted with the three major types of love in the original Greek language that we find in scripture. First, there is eros, romantic love, sexual love. The predominant form of love you see on television commercials and in movie theaters. Second is phileo. This is a brotherly love, a love of common goals of cooperative partnership. And thirdly, there is the biblical concept of agape, the love of benevolence. Agape is the love that God shows for sinners like us who cannot show or do anything to earn God's love and who are utterly unworthy of the love that we do receive. Agape is a love that issues forth in action. It's not romantic or sentimental. It is sacrificial, and it is very unique in that it is always given to a person like us who is undeserving. This is the love that is reflected in scripture in passages like John 3, 16. For God so agape the world that he gave his only son. That whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. Or in Romans chapter 5 verse 8, God shows his agape for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. This is the kind of love he expects us to strive to give to others. We are to be holy as he is holy. We are to follow the patterns he has provided. As we saw two weeks ago in our passage about spiritual gifts, the charismata, the gifts of grace, we are given these gifts by the Holy Spirit. And they are given for the common good. And then last week, Tom preached on the latter portion of chapter 12 that spoke about the body having many members and that each part of the body is indispensable. Each part of the body is essential. for the health and the well-being of the whole. That if one member suffers, all suffer. And if one member is honored, then all rejoice together. And then Paul tells us at the end of chapter 12 that we are, however, to desire the higher gifts. And then he says, and I will show you a still more excellent way, the highest. the greatest, the most consequential gift, the most excellent gift a person can receive and then give to others is love. We are expected to use all the gifts that we have received for the common good of the believers. And the highest, the greatest gift is love. It's the sort of gift that keeps on giving. If a person loves God, He or she will love other people. Loving the other person is an outflow of God's love for you. In John 13, verses 34 to 35, it says this, as he was speaking to his disciples. A new commandment I give you, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this, all people will know that you are my disciples if you love one another. Paul writes in chapter 12 here in First Corinthians, verse 31, but earnestly desire the higher gifts, and I will show you a more excellent way. And as we see the highest gift, the more excellent way by far. The greatest of the spiritual gifts, Paul says, is the gift of love, agape love, the gift we receive from God only so we might be able to give it away. Our passage today, the so-called love chapter in the Bible is frequently read at weddings, isn't it? Just a show of hands, how many people have heard this given at weddings? I've heard multiple places, times. After all, we love all kinds of things, don't we, in English? I love my wife and children and grandchildren. I love coffee. I love reading a good book. All kinds of things. But this kind of love, this agape love is different. It is dimensionally It belongs to another world, and yet it is applicable in this world. Paul exhorts the Corinthians to use their gift for the good of the whole, so that the whole church might be stronger and better able to resist the temptations of their pagan past, as well as our human tendency to put our own interests ahead of others. And so he writes, But earnestly desire the higher gifts, and I will show you still a more excellent way. This more excellent way is the way of love, our subject in chapter 13. So let's turn back to the text. Now, this chapter is divided into three distinct sections. The first section is verses one through three. And we'll say it's the necessity of agape love. If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 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 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. In verses one through three, Paul makes his point by using three conditional statements or sentences that all begin with if. First, he tackles the gift that has been giving the most division of the body about these spiritual gifts within the Corinthian church, the gift of tongues. If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. While this phrase, the tongues of men and of angels, may be a reference to the gift of tongues, it may also refer in a broader sense to the eloquence of men and angels. Now, I'm going to punt here. I'm going to set aside any comment about the gift of tongues until we get to chapter 14, where Paul addresses that subject in great depth. For now, I'll just say that Paul is not saying that tongue speakers literally speak the language of angels. But that no conceivable spoken language, whether human or angelic, replaces the necessity of love for our brothers and sisters in Christ. The issue at hand is that the Corinthians were used to rather being enthralled with eloquent speech and flowery words. But people who are eloquent at speech do not practice love necessarily. In fact, Paul calls them nothing but noisemakers. Paul compares them to a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. Gongs and cymbals were part of the temple worship practice. By Greek pagans. So Paul, in effect, was saying that words without action are as useless as the stuff that goes on in a local pagan temple. And discussing the gifts of the spirit. Such as speaking in tongues apart from the biblical connection to love our sisters and brothers. risks distorting our understanding of the spiritual gift's true purpose. In verse two, Paul continues along the same line of argument. 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 have not love, I am nothing. Here again, he attacks other Corinthian favorite gifts of the spirit, that of prophecy and knowledge. In First Corinthians 1229, prophecy is listed just below the office of apostle. Yet even the gift of prophecy, if not exercised in love, always amounts to nothing. The same is true for understanding mysteries. That is, God given insight into the things of Christ. It's the same for mysteries apart from love. It comes to nothing. Same for the gift of knowledge and the gift of faith, if the person who possesses these gifts does not show love for other members. Of Christ Church. Paul says in verse three that if I give away all I have and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. Even if a person sells all he has and gives it over to the poor, but does it minus the agape love he owes. And even if he sacrifices himself in a remarkable fashion, he gains nothing. Because he's lacking in love. And he therefore gains nothing. Well, the second section has to do with verses four through seven. We call these the qualities of agape love. Love is patient and kind. Love 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 with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. As we've said, if the gifts of the Spirit are to be understood, we must recognize their ultimate purpose. And that is to equip the members of the body of Christ, the church that is, so that we love one another. We may say we love our church. We may enjoy seeing the people assemble, the wonderful music, the solid teaching, the fellowship and assistance in times of need. But the ultimate task is being honest with ourselves. Do we love God and do we love his people? In this section of our passage today, Verses four through seven, Paul describes the qualities of agape love. And so let's look a little more closely at these qualities. Love is patient. It's the opposite of being short tempered. And it's directed to people and not circumstances. Love is kind. By the way, this is the only time that this word is used in the Bible. The idea is that the work of the Spirit is to enable us to serve one another, since love is kind or good in response to those who treat us even improperly. Love does not envy or boast. It is not displeased with the success of others, nor does it lord it over others. Love is not proud, not seeking to exalt oneself at the expense of others. In fact, the well-being of others is always kept firmly in mind. Love is not rude. It does not act by opposing good form with others by being bad-mannered, discourteous, offensive, or vulgar. Love does not insist on its own way. Nor is it excessively irritable or resentful toward others. Love does not rejoice in wrongdoing. That is, it does not keep a list of wrongs that are to be eventually righted. It does not delight in the sins and misfortunes of others. Love rejoices in the truth. And it speaks the truth even when the truth hurts. Then Paul writes that love bears, believes, hopes and endures all things. Because love does not easily give up on yourself or someone else. And circumstances are not easily allowed to make changes in your outlook. Love protects. and it trusts and it hopes. Love gives the benefit of the doubt to the other. Love looks forward to the time when we will be able to see things the way God sees them and not merely through temporal circumstances. Love is steadfast and it will remain when everything else is gone. Concerning the qualities of agape love, We have an example about how we should act in love, don't we? In Philippians chapter 2, in a well-known passage to us all, Paul writes, Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. The third section of our passage today are the last few verses, verses 8 through 13. We call this the character of agape love. And it says this, love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away. As for tongues, they will cease. As for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child. I thought like a child. I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, then I shall know fully, even as I have been known fully. So now faith, hope and love abide, these three, but the greatest of these is love. Paul, in this section of six verses, now talks about the characteristics of agape love. And it seems he does so that he might remind the Corinthians that their preoccupation with the gifts of tongues must be put in its proper place, a place that resides well below that of the love of God and our neighbor. Paul says that love never ends. It has an abiding quality because it describes Christians not only in this age, but in the age to come where perfect love will be manifest. The charismata, the gifts of grace, the spiritual gifts we have been talking about for the past few weeks are only, listen to me, they're only for this age. They're only for this age because of their equipping function. They will pass away. They will cease. But love never ends. Now, it's not that the spiritual gifts are unimportant. Paul exhorts us to earnestly desire the spiritual gifts because they are important to our present existence. But spiritual gifts are not permanent. Love is. Paul tells us that love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away. As for tongues, they will cease. As for knowledge, it too will pass away. The very gifts that the Corinthians put so much weight in, so much credence and value, those are the gifts that will cease. But love never ends. Paul also says that when the perfect comes, meaning when the complete comes, when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. At some future point then, prophecy, tongues, knowledge, teaching, all those gifts, all the charismata will cease to exist and exercise their function to equip the saints. And they will pass away. They will pass away because the age to come will be fully realized. Jesus will assume his position as judge of the universe. He will raise the dead to be reunited with spirits. Every human, believer and non-believer, and every angel, obedient and fallen, will be judged. And all things in heaven and earth will be made new. Love will never end. Love will remain when everything else is gone. It is the higher gift, a still more excellent way that endures. For in the presence of God, we no longer need the gift of prophecy, the gift of tongues, or the spirit-given knowledge. These things will pass away with this evil age. They will no longer be needed. Well, follow me now, if you will. If you are courageous, follow me into the dark, the terrifying realm of sermon application. You know it was coming, didn't you? We've been talking this morning about the most excellent way, the qualities of agape love. It is a love that starts with God, because God is love and he gives his love to us through the Lord Jesus Christ. Intentionally, sacrificially, at a great cost, And he expects us to do the same. It helps us to assess who we are and how we act with our fellow believers. So let's ask ourselves in this local congregation of believers some questions about how we're doing against these qualities. Do we love each other like we should? And let me suggest that when you consider the qualities of this love, that when you apply them in your mind, that you do so not to persons or people in the congregation who are your closest friend, but to the person who you hardly ever speak to. The person with whom your relationship is completely superficial. And perhaps even a bit hostile. Think about that for a moment. Do you have someone in mind right now? If you don't get someone quick. Because I'm driving on here. And when you think about this person in the congregation with whom you are distant in your interaction. Consider for what we all ought to be striving. Now, I'm not suggesting that we can reach the standard of Christ, but he must be our example. And think about his example that Paul describes in the book of Philippians, he humbled himself. This kind of love of which we speak, it's not eros or phileo, it is agape, a sacrificial love that is dimensionally different. It belongs to another world, as I've said before. And yet, in an incomplete way, it is applicable in this world. It's been said that Christians live on the horizon, the place where heaven meets earth. We stand with our feet planted on the earth and with our eyes directed toward the horizon. We look upward into the heavens. And those two, earth and heaven, meet at the horizon. This is where we are. The natural meeting with the endless supernatural. This horizon living is where Christians are. We are drawn to God because God is love. Love never ends because God is love. Yet we seem to be unable to reflect his love to others. Here's what J.I. Packer says in his book, Knowing God, when he talks about God's love, the most excellent way and how it ought to motivate us. Here's what it says, quote. Is it true that God is loved to me as a Christian? And does the love of God mean all that has been said? If so, certain questions arise. Why do I ever grumble and show discontent and resentment at the circumstances in which God has placed me. Why am I ever distrustful, fearful, or depressed? Why do I ever allow myself to grow cold, formal, and half-hearted in the service of God who loves me so? Why do I ever allow my loyalties to be divided so that God has not all of my heart? John wrote that God is love in order to make an ethical point. Since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. Could an observer learn from the quality and degree of love that I showed to others? To my wife. To my husband, to my family, to my neighbors, to people at church, to people at work, Could any of these people learn anything at all about the greatness of God's love to me? Let's pray. Our Lord and our God, you have honored us by calling us through the proclamation of the gospel, not by human wisdom or reasoning, but by your love and your power. Remind us that we are and will be bound up and sealed in Jesus Christ and him crucified. Help us to run our race that is set before us, that we might be able to claim the prize that is imperishable. And that we would recognize and respond to the spiritual gifts that you have given us and the realization that love for you and for each other is the supreme gift with which we have been blessed. We ask that you put lost people in our path. Cause us to see their need and then to act upon it. Give us a whole heart for loving you more. Be our sword and our shield in the authority of Christ we pray. Amen.