One of the many intriguing features of the New Testament scriptures is how some of the clearest, most definitive teaching of the matters that concern the life of the church are forged in the fires of error and controversy and hostility and divisions immaturity, and yes, even immorality, as the church confronts the world, the flesh, and the devil. And perhaps there is no better example of that than what you find in 1st and 2nd Corinthians, where we find the apostle Paul setting out a number of crucial issues in the dark, pagan, hostile environment of first century Corinth. Things that come to us to help us in our day. Clear teaching involving the centrality of the cross work of Jesus Christ that's to be the center of all of the life of the church regardless of what it may be. The whole issue of apostolic authority and the matter of confronting and dealing with error. The study in the people of God is hard to miss. In these letters, they're saints. Paul refers to them as faithful brethren, chosen, called, Yet we find them to be proud and foolish and of a party spirit. Teaching on the church, where Paul deals with the church as the temple of God in 1 Corinthians chapter 3, as the body of Jesus Christ in 1 Corinthians chapter 12. The matters of worship, its order, and its purity. 1 Corinthians 14. The resurrection. There is no greater chapter than 1 Corinthians 15 that deals with the resurrection of Jesus Christ, which was forged out of a group of the people in Corinth who, in their foolishness, had rejected Paul's apostolic authority and had been subject to the false teachers and were believing that there had not been a resurrection. But what do we get from it? The most definitive teaching you'll find. Also, we find in the Bible, in 2 Corinthians particularly, the trials and tribulations that beset even the most eminent servants of God. We see that in the first chapter of 2 Corinthians in chapter 11 and chapter 12. And there's much more. Critically important matters that are central to the life and the well-being of Christ's church, of our church, here in Mebane, North Carolina. But there is one thing we must have. Or all of those things mentioned, all of those teachings and perspectives that were hammered out that we've just mentioned will be rendered useless, worthless, a zero. as to having any meaningful impact in the church. And that one thing is love. And though the indispensable place of love is addressed in other letters of Paul, other letters from the other apostles, and in the Gospels as well, the most famous and penetrating discourse on the subject is found in 1 Corinthians chapter 13. So if you'd turn there with me, please. I want to say just a word about the context. You'll notice in the very last verse of 1 Corinthians 12, in that chapter where Paul had dealt with the various gifts being distributed amongst the church and the whole issue of the unity of the church being the body of Christ, he says, earnestly desire the greater gifts, verse 31, and I show you a still more excellent way. Well, at first blush, it appears that Paul is saying, look, forget the gifts. They're all right. But I want to show you a better way. I want to show you an alternative. But that is not what Paul has in mind, as I understand it. I think what Paul is trying to teach and show the Corinthians and teach and show us is what is the climate within the church in which those gifts can be exercised. And that's where Paul is going because he comes right back in 14.1 to tell them to desire the greater gifts. So that's what we're looking at. Paul is seeking to lay down these principles that is to govern the climate of the church. So let's look at this chapter very briefly. Obviously, it's a long chapter and we're not going to go into any detail. Let's look at it under three headings. The first is this. The absolute necessity of love. Verses one through three. I'm going to be reading tonight from the New American Standard because I just like the wording better. So I'm sorry. If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels and do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and know all mysteries and all knowledge, and I have all faith so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing. Let's start tonight with a question from the renowned theologian, Tina Turner. Y'all ever heard of Tina Turner? I'm showing my age. One of Tina's most famous songs, what's love got to do with it? Well, the apostle Paul says, everything, everything. I want you to notice what Paul is saying. He is not saying that the extraordinary gifts and good works enumerated here are rendered useless because of some wrong motive. That's not what Paul is saying. Not at all. What he is saying is much more sobering and much more shocking. He is saying that the person is nothing. And that the person's life before God is a zero. Gordon Fee in his excellent commentary on 1 Corinthians writes this, Paul is arguing for the absolute supremacy and necessity of love if one is to be a Christian at all. That's what he's saying. Point being, extraordinary gifts and acts of devotion and service may well be exercised with a graceless heart. It brings to mind the passage that Martin R. Jones says is the most sobering passage in all of the Bible, Matthew 7, 21 and following. Many will say unto me in that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? Did we not work many miracles? And I will say unto them, away from me, you workers of iniquity. Sobering and dark, I agree, but it's real. It's the truth and the reality. I want you to notice with me what I'm calling Paul's teaching on the character of love. We find that in verses 4-7. And before we read through this well-known passage, let me say this. First, we will not go through and try to examine all 15 of these characteristics that Paul gives of love. You know what those things mean. And that should give you some sense of relief that we're not going to get stuck in that tedious exercise tonight. But secondly, and more importantly, I want you to notice that these characteristics of love are in the original language verbs. They are not adjectives. This is not a description of what love looks like, but what love acts like. Not what love is, but what love does. So as we read through the text, the question we need to ask of ourselves is not, do I understand it? Do I understand what those things mean? The question is, am I doing it? Am I living out in my life this activity of love that I see in these verses? Am I engaged in the acting and the doing? That's the question. Let's read together. Follow as I read verses four through seven. Love is patient. Love is kind and is not jealous. Love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly. It does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered. does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth, bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things, and the first phrase in verse eight, love never fails. And you know, that's a difficult passage for a Christian to read, because as you read it, it resonates in your heart how far you are from it. But I'll help you on that here in just a few minutes. Third thing I want you to see is the permanence of love. We've looked at the necessity of love, the character of love, now the permanence of love, and we see that in verses 8 through 13. Love never fails, but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away. If there are tongues, they will cease. If there is knowledge, it will be done away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away. When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child. When I became a man, I did away with childish things. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, just as I also have been fully known. But now faith, hope, and love abide these three, but the greatest of three of these is love. I do want to say something about verse 10. difference among theologians as to what Paul is speaking of. There are some, which is a minority of good expositors, that believe that Paul is speaking of a place of maturity in the church, the completion of the canon, all of the Word of God being brought together and the church grows up and the church is mature. There are those that I believe are right in that Paul is speaking eschatologically. He is speaking toward the eternal state, toward the end time. That is more in keeping with the context of these verses. This helps us if we see it as the eternal state. It helps us understand what Paul is saying when he says love is the greatest. It is because it is permanent. That's why it's the greatest. It's eternal. Love is the very essence of God. According to 1 John 4, 8, the one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. Faith, you won't need it anymore. Hope will be fulfilled, but love will never end. Love is permanent. It is who God is, and it's who we will be perfectly in that day. Now, with that ever so brief overview completed, let's use that as a backdrop to go back to verses four through seven with several observations that I hope will help us to apply those 15 characteristics. both the positive and the negative, what love does do, what love does not do. And of course, we'll deal with them, as I've already mentioned, as a unit, not necessarily individually. The first thing I want you to notice, or the first observation I want to make, is the presupposition that underlies verses four through seven. Now listen to me carefully. because I think this will help you. Whenever the Bible speaks to the subject of ethics, how we are to act, how we are to behave, how we are to govern our lives as the children of God, there is always an underlying presupposition as to the human condition, which is sin. For example, the Ten Commandments. You shall have no other gods before me presupposes that fallen human beings are going to worship idols. Thou shalt not commit murder presupposes that fallen human beings will have a disregard for human life. Thou shalt not bear false witness presupposes that fallen humans are going to lie. Thou shalt not commit adultery presupposes that people will not keep the marriages pure. You get the picture. And as we struggle as Christians with verses 4-7, we need to keep that in mind. As we are confronted with the ideal of Scripture, as it relates to the activity of love, it is our duty and our desire to do it all. But the real of scripture is that as a redeemed sinner, I will never perfectly, without blemish, accomplish the mission. Now that is a subtle but critical balance if you want to maintain your sanity. And what happens many times is we all just seem to claim sinnerhood and throw up our hands. Well, I'm just a sinner. I can't accomplish that. And we just go on past it. But I tell you, you can do it. You've been given the power to do it. If you're a Christian tonight, you're indwelt by the power of God and Jesus Christ through His Spirit. And you, along with the apostle Paul, can say as he said in Philippians 4, I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. And what Paul meant was, I can do all things God has called me to do through Him who strengthens me. And I can do this. Second observation. Paul's prescription for verse 4-7. Fully aware of the presupposition that we are sinners, Paul prescribes what it is we are to do as we consider this seemingly impossible goal. I want you to notice chapter 14 verse 1. What does Paul say? Pursue love. Interesting word. To follow after. to hunt it down, to follow after it with intensity and with perseverance. And that's the question we have to ask. Are we chasing love? Are we hunting love? Are we looking for it with intensity and focus? Deep in our hearts, we have to answer the question. Am I involved in exercising my soul in the virtuous activity of love, as stated in verses 4 through 7? Regular, conscious, consistent pursuit. Have you thought about it? Have you considered it? Is it a part of your meditating? Are you making any effort toward that goal? The Apostle Paul tells his young son in the faith in 1 Timothy 4.8, train yourself for godliness. For while bodily exercise or bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. Some of you go to the gym on somewhat of a regular basis. Some of you go out walking. To what end? Well, we try to keep our health. We try to make sure we be able to continue to stand upright for as long as possible. Then we ought to be exercising ourselves in that which is eternal, that which has impact upon the last day. I don't care how many muscles you die with or what you look like when you die, when you may have the atlas body or whatever, it ain't gonna amount to a hill of beans. But what you've done with verse four through seven is going to have an impact. All right, we've looked at the presupposition of these verses. We looked at Paul's prescription of these verses. And now our last observation is this, and we'll spend a little time here. The profitable use of verses four through seven. If you agree that we should be pursuing love as described in our text with a view to growing and developing spiritually, How can you use these verses in a very practical way to help you to that end? And that's what we're asking of these texts. Well, the first is this. You can use these verses for private worship. You can use them in private worship as a tool to worship God. There is nowhere in Paul's writings that he better captures the beauty of the life and ministry of Jesus Christ than in these four verses. If you want a glimpse of Christ, here he is in a lyrical portrait of words. As you read it, substitute his name for love, and you'll have it. But you've got to personalize it. You've got to bring it into your own life and experience with Christ. Let's read through the verses, substituting our Lord's name there. Jesus Christ is patient. When you think of yourself, has He not been patient with you? Oh Lord, You have been patient with me. Jesus Christ is kind. He is not jealous. He does not brag. He is not arrogant. He never acts unbecomingly. He does not seek his own. Christ is not provoked, although I've done plenty to provoke Him. But He's not provoked. The Lord Jesus does not take into account a wrong suffered. How many wrongs have I done Him? Yet He does not mark iniquities. He doesn't take into account what I've done. He does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but Jesus Christ only rejoices in that which is truth. As it involves me, Christ bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things. Jesus Christ never fails." And when you read through those verses in that sense, it will stir your love and emotion for Christ Jesus. And that's what we're about in our private worship, because we all have a tendency sometimes to fall into the perfunctory duties rather than having our viscera, that means innards, stirred for Christ. Second way that we can use it is in self-examination and confession. This use of the passage, I'll be honest with you, is not very pleasant. It's not pleasant. And I realize that. But in light of verse one through three that we've studied, the absolute necessity of love, if we call ourselves Christians, we need to do this. We should engage in the exercise of self-examination. So here we go. As you read these texts, substitute your name for love. Now, I'll be honest with you, I'm going to read through this, but I don't have the courage to put my name in there. So I'm just going to use the first person singular pronoun, I. But think about it, as you look at that text in your Bible, put your name right here. I am patient. I am kind. I am not jealous. I do not brag. I am not arrogant. I never act unbecomingly. I never seek my own. I'm not provoked. I never take into account a wrong suffered. I do not rejoice in unrighteousness. I only rejoice with truth. I bear all things. I believe all things. I hope all things. I endure all things. I never fail. That's devastating, isn't it? That's devastating. Trust me. I know. how devastating it can be. We move from seeing the beauty of Jesus Christ to the ugliness of our own heart. But we are not without hope. Do not factor out the Spirit of God. The verbs of four through seven are simply a description of the activity of the Holy Spirit in the lives of God's people, producing the fruit of his ministry. The paraclete, another helper that Christ has sent into our hearts to give us the strength and the power. But to grow in this activity of love, you've got to be ready to die. To grow in patience, you've got to die to a desire for an untroubled life. If you want to grow in kindness, you've got to die to harshness and vindictiveness. Love is not jealous. Love is not arrogant or rude. You must die to the desire for unrivaled attention. And you must die for the desire of being thought more highly of yourself than you ought. Die to offensive behavior and conversations. Love does not seek its own. It is not provoked. Does not keep records of wrongs suffered. You must die to your own desires of being right all the time. You must die to irritability and impatience and frustration. You must die to bitterness and desire for revenge. Need I say more? Now you see Paul's logic now, don't you? In verse 14-1, when he says, pursue love, It is the only activity that will renovate interpersonal relationships and bring about the peaceful united climate needed in Corinth for the proper exercise of the gifts that have been given to the church for the edification and building up of the church. That's the only thing that's going to renovate that church that was divided and aggravated and agitated with one another. That is the root problem in Corinth. And this is the only thing that'll fix it. I've got just a couple of minutes. I would like to just make an application or two. Love, as we have read in our text, purposely, actively exercised in the way we are instructed, will renovate your relationships, will renovate your marriage, will renovate your relationship with your children, It will renovate the relationships of brothers and sisters and your siblings. All of your relationships will be renovated if you are in the process of seeking after and pursuing love as we see stated in 4 through 7. It will also renovate our church life. The foundational problem, as I mentioned already in Corinth, was rooted in interpersonal relationships. Those who were sanctified in Christ, saints by calling, who called upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, could not, would not dwell together in peace and unity. Paul's apostolic resolution? love, exercise, as we see it in verse 4 through 7. This is where peace and unity and being of one mind in the life of our church is to be found. Paul writes in Colossians 3.14, put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony that binds, that word could be translated, glues the church together. And that glue and that bond of the church is not found in documents. It's not found in constitutions and covenants and confessions. It is not documental. It is experiential. in the hearts of God's people. And if you're looking to those things, which are important in their place, they have a place, they're important. Listen, there's nothing that relates to the church of Christ that is unimportant. Nothing, zero. Everything's important. But only some things are central, central to the life and well-being of the church. And that is what binds us and glues us together. Brethren, if we would be constant and consistent in pursuing those verbs, whatever differences we may have, Whatever ice may have formed between some relationships among us will be melted in the warmth of Christian love. It will happen. But we must be engaged in the practice. How you doing with it? I'll give you a good test. Go home and ask your wife. You can ask mine. Hopefully she won't tell you all the truth. But it's kind of like, you know, at the end when she throws dirt on my coffin that she'll be able to say, well, he tried. Go home and ask your husband, your children, ask your kids. Do they see these things in you on any kind of a persistent basis? Obviously not perfectly, obviously flawed. We understand that. But is it there? Work on it. Work toward it. By the grace of God. And we'll renovate all of our relationships. Let's pray. Our Father, we thank You for Your Word. We thank You for Your truth. We pray that You would help us to relate to that truth in a way that honors You and glorifies Jesus Christ. Help us all to that end in our homes, in our work, here in our church. that we might, oh Lord, truly be those who you said people would recognize that we belong to you because of our love for one another. Bless us to that end, we pray, in Christ's name.