Thursday
Evening Bible Study
October
9, 2014
Introduction
Do people see Jesus? Is the gospel preached? Does it address the person who is: Empty, lonely, guilty, or afraid to die? Does it speak
to the broken hearted? Does it build up the church? Milk – Meat – Manna Preach
for a decision Is the church loved? Target 3500 words
In Paul's day, Corinth was the
capitol of the province of Achaia (southern Greece), and was the most important
city in Greece.
Corinth was quite the cosmopolitan
city. All merchant traffic flowing north and south, as well as east and west,
flowed through Corinth.
Corinth was also the center of the
world’s greatest immorality.
The Temple of Aphrodite stood on
the hill overlooking the city, and every night 1,000 male and female prostitutes
would come down into the city and encourage the citizens to “worship” the
goddess of love.
Paul had established the church in
Corinth in AD 51 on his second missionary journey. He had spent 18 months
teaching and building the church before moving on.
It is now AD 56, and Paul is across
the Aegean Sea in the city of Ephesus. He’s received a
letter telling about the problems and questions in Corinth, and now he’s
writing back.
Paul is writes to the Corinthians five years after establishing the church.
They have questions, and he has answers.
The first issue raised was about the divisions in the church.
(1 Corinthians 1:11 NKJV) For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by
those of Chloe’s household, that there are contentions among you.
The second issue had to do with immorality
(1 Co 5:1 NKJV) —1 It is
actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such
sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles—that a man has his
father’s wife!
The third issue was about lawsuits
(1 Co 6:1 NKJV) —1 Dare any
of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unrighteous, and
not before the saints?
The fourth issue was about marriage.
(1 Corinthians 7:2 NKJV) —2 Nevertheless,
because of sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife, and let each
woman have her own husband.
The fifth issue had to do with eating meat sacrificed to idols
(1 Corinthians 8:1 NKJV) —1 Now concerning things
offered to idols: We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but
love edifies.
We are now in a sixth area – how the church is to “get along”.
Paul has talked about people being parts of the body, and
how we all belong to each other.
Our “part” of the body, our function at church, is
defined by the spiritual gifts that God gives us.
Before Paul talks more about the gifts, he is going to go on a rabbit
trail, but still on the idea of how to “get along”.
(1 Corinthians
12:31 NKJV) But earnestly desire the best gifts. And yet I show you a more excellent way.
13:1-13 Love’s Excellent Way
:1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of
angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.
:2 And 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, but have not love, I am nothing.
:3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the
poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits
me nothing.
:1 the tongues of men and of angels
tongues – glossa
– the tongue, a member of the body, an organ of speech; the language or
dialect used by a particular people distinct from that of other nations
Paul is going to give us examples of the kinds of things that we would tend
to think make people “special” in the church.
Here he mentions the spiritual gift
of tongues, an ability to speak in a language that you have not learned by any
normal means, but simply by an enabling of the Holy Spirit.
Paul does drop a hint here that “tongues” can be either a human or angelic language.
Not every “tongue” will be a recognizable human language.
:1 love – agape – brotherly love, affection, good will, love, benevolence
The Greeks had different words to express what we call “love”.
The word eros had to do with
sexual love.
The word sturge had to do with
the love you feel for your family.
The word phileo might be translated “like”, but carries the idea of an
emotional connection, and is sometimes even translated “kiss”.
None of these words seemed to do justice to the kind of love that God has
for us, and the love we are to have for God and for one another.
The early church decided to adopt another word and make it their own concerning God’s kind of love.
Agape is a love based on commitment,
not on feelings.
You may feel feelings with “agape”,
but whether you have agape or not
depends on whether you make a choice, not whether you feel something.
The commitment of agape has to do
with choosing to give value to another person, not based on whether they deserve to be “valued”, but based on whether you choose
to assign value.
If you are selling things at a garage sale, and you put
your grandmother’s favorite scarf up for sale – you might put a high price on
the item because of its sentimental value to you, rather than the fact that it’s an old piece of cloth.
The commitment of agape is demonstrated with action, in particular with the action
of “giving”. God is the ultimate example of what how agape is done.
(John
3:16 NKJV) For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that
whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
The world was not deserving to be
loved by God.
God chose to value the world greatly, demonstrated on the
price He was willing to pay for the world.
God’s love was demonstrated in
the “giving” of His Son.
:1 sounding brass
brass – chalkos
– brass; what is made of brass, money, coins of brass (also of silver and
gold)
sounding – echeo
– to sound; used of the roaring of the sea
:1 clanging symbol
clanging – alalazo – to repeat frequently the cry “alala” as soldiers used to
do on entering into battle; to utter a joyful sound; to ring loudly, to clang
symbol – kumbalon
– a cymbal, i.e. a hollow basin of brass, producing when struck together a
musical sound
There are a lot of churches that make a great big
deal about the gift of tongues.
Some churches will even go so far as to say that you are
not saved if you do not speak in tongues.
Paul makes is clear that if you have the gift of tongues, but do not have
“love”, that you are nothing but a bunch of noise.
:2 prophecy … knowledge … faith
Don’t forget the context of 1Corinthians 13. Paul
has just used these very same words to describe various gifts of the Holy
Spirit in 1Corinthians 12.
prophecy – speaking for God.
knowledge – special revelation given by God
faith – over and above faith
remove – methistemi
– to transpose, transfer, remove from one place to another
Here Paul gives us an example of the gift of faith – to “move mountains”.
Jesus said,
(Matthew 17:20b
NKJV) …for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed,
you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and
nothing will be impossible for you.
If we knew somebody who had extraordinary spiritual gifts like these, we
would consider them to be “something” special.
Paul says that if you have these gifts, but do not have agape, then you are “nothing”.
:3 feed the poor … body to be burned
Paul’s two last examples are not about spiritual gifts, but about lives
that demonstrate the greatest of “good works”.
When Jesus met the “rich young ruler”, he challenged the man concerning his
attachment to his wealth.
(Luke 18:22 NKJV)
So when Jesus heard these things, He said to him, “You still lack one
thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have
treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”
If we met someone who had been wealthy and they
had given everything to the poor, we would be impressed.
The early church practiced this
sort of giving, but it wasn’t always a sign of
somebody truly following Jesus.
Ananias and Sapphira made a point
of pretending to have sold everything they owned, but really were just lying in
order to be perceived as great people (Acts 5)
Giving your body to be burned is the ultimate
sacrifice. We call those who died for their faith “martyrs”. Equally
impressive.
:3 it profits me nothing
profits – opheleo
– to assist, to be useful or advantageous, to profit
Even great works like these, if not done with agape, do you no good.
Lesson
Love is worth it
For a lot of us, the word “love” conjures up dreams of “romance”.
That’s not to say that Christian marriages should
not have “romance”, sex, or good feelings.
Yet in marriage,
if you learn to work on agape, the
other kinds of love actually are enhanced and can
grow.
As you’re going to see, Paul’s definition of
“love” is not anything like “romance”.
But it’s worth it.
Without agape, you will find that
your life is “just noise”, “nothing”, and “profits you nothing”. Worthless.
:4 Love suffers long and is kind; love does
not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;
Paul is now going to define this concept of agape.
:4 suffers long – makrothumeo (long + burning) – to be of a long spirit, not to lose heart; to be
patient in bearing the offenses and injuries of others
Lesson
Difficult people
This is specifically patience with people. It’s
learning to put up with people who bug you, people who get on your nerves.
There is no greater example of
patience than that of God’s patience towards His people.
God gave them a warning that if
they did not obey the Lord, they would experience God’s judgment (Deut. 28:15,36)
The warning was given around 1500 BC, and all through the history of the
nation of Israel they did just what God warned them not to do, they disobeyed. But God waited until 586 BC until He finally allowed the
judgment to fall.
1000
years of patience!
How long do we
give people before we “lose it” with them?
Peter uses this word to describe God’s “patience” as a reason why Jesus hasn’t come back yet.
(2 Peter 3:9
NKJV) The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count
slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish
but that all should come to repentance.
God has been “patient” for 2,000 years.
God’s patience not only means putting up with us, but
waiting for us to “come around”.
Learn to be “patient” with the people around you.
Some of the people at church can be quite flawed.
The more mature we are, the more “patient” we will be with flawed people.
As some of you begin to grow in
spiritual gifts, be patient with those who aren’t
quite there yet. Don’t rush off and leave them in the
dust. I’ve seen this in other churches where some
people start getting very excited about the Lord, but then as they realize that
others in the church aren’t there yet, they leave to start their own group of
“very spiritual people”. It’s my desire that we not
only be “very spiritual people”, but that we have a heart of love to be patient
for the others to keep up with us.
:4 is kind – chresteuomai – to
show one’s self mild, use kindness
I think that sometimes I think of “kindness” as the person who sits on the
sofa and smiles at you. I think, “This must be a “kind” person.
That is incorrect.
Lesson
Doing good things
Kindness is doing good things for other people.
John uses our word “agape” and
writes,
(1 John 3:18
NKJV) My little children, let us not love in
word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.
They say that actions speak louder than words.
It’s a good idea to do both
actions AND words.
:4 does not envy – zeloo – to
be heated or to boil with envy, hatred, anger
The idea is of an inner boiling or burning that starts inside you when you
see something another person has and you want to have the same thing for
yourself.
That’s especially hard when someone at work is
promoted when you think it should have been you.
When you love the other person,
instead of being angry for what they’ve received, you
rejoice with them for their blessings.
:4 does not parade … not puffed up
parade – perpereuomai – to boast one's self; a self
display, employing rhetorical embellishments in extolling one's self
excessively
puffed – phusioo – to inflate, blow up, to
cause to swell up; to puff up, make proud; to be puffed up, to bear one's self
loftily, be proud
Love is happy enough without
recognition.
Lesson
Humility
Illustration
Keeping Yourself Out of Sight
A little country
boy was out fishing with only a switch for a pole and a bent pin for a hook,
but he was catching many fish. A city fellow who had
spent much time fishing without any success, though he had the best of fishing
outfit, came across the boy with his long string of fish, and he asked the boy
the reason of his success. The boy said, “The secret of it all is that I keep
myself out of sight.” We must keep ourselves out of sight if we desire to be a
blessing to others.
If we’re going to stay useful to the Lord, we need
to learn the secret of being used by Him, letting Him work through us, and not
drawing attention to ourselves.
The problem isn’t when we initially start letting
Him use us. The problem usually develops after we start to thinking that we didn’t quite get enough recognition for what we did.
I think we don’t
need to go overboard and put a paper bag over our head, or simply stop doing
things so we don’t get recognition. But I think we
should be careful about not tooting our own horn.
Agape is also humble enough to not worry about
being embarrassed about doing the right thing.
:5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own,
is not provoked, thinks no evil;
:5 does not behave rudely
behave rudely – aschemoneo – to act unbecomingly
Lesson
Good manners
This refers to doing things properly, doing things politely, not shaming
other people with your rude behavior.
In church, this involves showing courtesy towards others.
(1 Corinthians
14:30–31 NLT) —30 But if someone is prophesying and another person receives a
revelation from the Lord, the one who is speaking must
stop. 31 In this
way, all who prophesy will have a turn to speak, one after the other, so that
everyone will learn and be encouraged.
Sometimes in a small group, the leader might open things
up for people to share and discuss things. Don’t be
the one hogs all the discussion or prayer time.
Give others a chance to share as well.
:5 does not seek its own
Lesson
Others first
Love is more concerned about the other person’s rights than its own.
Paul wrote,
(Philippians
2:3–4 NLT) —3 Don’t be
selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better
than yourselves. 4 Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in
others, too.
In marriage, things go much better when each partner is
more focused on how to encourage, help, and support the other person
than they are for their own needs.
Selfishness kills marriage.
Selfishness sounds like this, “But what about MY rights?”
:5 is not provoked
The idea is that if you are doing agape,
you are “patient” towards the other person and you don’t
get too quickly provoked to anger.
:5 thinks no evil
thinks – logizomai – to
reckon, count, compute, calculate, count over.
This is an accounting word that
describes entering numbers in a ledger.
Lesson
Keep short lists
If you love somebody, you don’t keep track of the
number of times you’ve been offended.
(1 Corinthians
13:5 NLT) …it keeps no record of being wronged
This will come to the surface when you have fights or disagreements with
others.
This is about pulling out old laundry lists of the things the other person
has done and saying things like, “This is the twentieth time this week that
you’ve done…”
We need to keep short lists of gripes.
(Ephesians
4:31–32 NLT) —31 Get rid of
all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of
evil behavior. 32 Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one
another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.
Illustration
Hole in the pocket
F.W.Boreham tells
of the happy soul whose home is the Other End of Nowhere. He has two pockets. One
has a hole in it and the other is carefully watched
that no hole develops in it. Everything that he hears of a hurtful nature -
insult, cutting remark, gossip, unclean suggestion, or any such thing - he
writes on a piece of paper and sticks it into his pocket with the hole. Everything which he hears that is kind, true, and helpful,
he writes on a piece of paper and puts it in the pocket without the hole.
At night he turns out all that is in the pocket without the
hole, goes over all that he had put into it during the day, and thoroughly
enjoys all the good things that have come his way that day.
Then he sticks his
hand into the pocket with the hole and finds nothing there, so he laughs and
rejoices that there are no evil things to rehearse. Too many of us reverse the
other, putting the evil things in the pocket without the hole so that we can
mull over them again and again, and the good things in
the pocket with the hole so that they are quickly forgotten.
:6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in
the truth;
:6 does not rejoice in iniquity
There’s something in us that just loves to hear bad things about people. It’s what makes gossip fun.
We ought to be grieved if we
should hear bad news.
We need to learn to recognize gossip when we see it and learn to stop it.
:6 but rejoices in the truth
Truth is what helps us grow.
Sometimes the truth hurts.
Sometimes we don’t want to hear what people have
to say to us, especially if we’re extra sensitive and have a hard time with
criticism.
Sometimes criticism comes from people who want to hurt or control us. But sometimes criticism is the truth and it can help us.
(Proverbs 27:6
NKJV) Faithful are the wounds of a friend, But the
kisses of an enemy are deceitful.
:7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes
all things, endures all things.
:7 bears all things – stego –to
cover; to protect or keep by covering, to cover over with silence
Lesson
Covering sin
Love is reluctant to drag into the light of day the faults and mistakes of
others.
This doesn’t mean that we turn a blind eye when
there’s something need to be fixed or changed.
We need to confront things that need to change, but we need to be careful
how we go about it – not quickly dragging the mess into public view.
When someone has confessed, and turned from their
sin, and paid their debt, there’s a time to keep it quiet.
Sometimes men and women like to
gripe and complain about their spouses when they are with other people.
Very few people
should ever know the sins of your spouse.
(1 Peter 4:8
NKJV) And above all things have fervent love for one another,
for “love will cover a multitude of sins.”
When a husband meets his wife’s
friends, he should be greeted with exclamations like,
“Oh, so you’re Mr. Wonderful!” and
not, “So that’s what the snake looks like”.
Wesley’s Covenant
In 1752 a
group of men signed this covenant concerning their friendship:
1. That we will
not listen or willingly inquire after ill concerning one another;
2. That, if we do hear any ill of each other, we will not be
quick to believe it;
3. That as soon as
possible we will communicate what we hear by speaking or writing to the person
concerned;
4. That until we
have done this, we will not write or speak a syllable of it to any other
person;
5. That neither
will we mention it, after we have done this, to any other person;
6. That we will
not make any exception to any of these rules unless we think ourselves
absolutely obliged in conference.
Wouldn’t that make for a great friendship?
:7 believes all things
I think this is talking about the ability to “believe the best” for
someone.
It’s giving the other person the benefit of the
doubt.
It’s allowing them to be innocent until proven
guilty.
:7 hopes all things
Illustration
I remember hearing about tests done
with laboratory wharf rats. These are the rats that
live under the piers along the waterfront.
One group of rats were placed in a large container of water, in the dark, with
no place to stand on, they had to keep swimming. They all drowned within
fifteen minutes.
The second group
were placed in a similar container, yet every ten minutes the lab
technician would open the container, take the rats out, stroke them a few
seconds, and put them back in the water. They didn't
have time to rest, they just got a little encouragement. These rats went on
swimming for over 12 hours (or something like
that...).
Love doesn’t lose hope for those it loves.
:7 endures all things – hupomeno (“under” + “remain”) – to stay
under the tough times and not run; to preserve
Lesson
Love doesn’t run
We often want to run from difficult situations.
If we “love”, then we will learn to endure the difficulty.
Illustration
There
were two travelers that had a
fearful encounter with a huge bear. One traveler, in great fear, climbed his
way into a high tree, giving no thought to his friend. The other, with no
chance to go anywhere, remembered that bears often lose interest in the dead
and so fell to the ground pretending to be dead. The bear came along side and nuzzled and sniffed at his face and ears. Thinking
the man to be dead, the beast walked away. When the bear was long gone, the man
up the tree climbed down and asked his friend what the bear had whispered to
him, ‘because,’ he said, ‘I noticed that his mouth was at your ear for a long
time.’ The other said, as he stood dusting himself off, ‘It is no secret what
he told me. What he said was that I should be careful about having friends who,
when danger comes, leave their friends in the lurch!’
:8 Love never
fails. But whether there are prophecies, they
will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there
is knowledge, it will vanish away.
:8 fail
… cease … vanish away
fail – katargeo
– to render idle, unemployed, inactivate, inoperative
cease – pauo
– to make to cease or desist
vanish – katargeo
– to render idle, unemployed, inactivate, inoperative
In the last chapter, Paul was talking a lot about spiritual
gifts and how they affect the makeup and ministry of the church.
Yet spiritual gifts like prophecy, tongues, and the word of knowledge will
one day be unnecessary.
They will stop being needed and stop functioning. Paul
will explain this over the next couple of verses.
:8 Love never fails
fails – ekpipto
– to fall out of, to fall down from, to fall off
We tend to think of this as if “love always wins out”.
God’s kind of love is a pretty powerful thing, but
it’s still possible for a person to resist it.
You can love others with agape
love, but there is no guarantee they will change.
Keep in mind the context.
Prophecy, tongues, and the gift of knowledge will all one
day cease.
Unlike spiritual gifts, agape
love will never cease. It will not cease to be needed
nor cease to be used.
This is why it’s the “more excellent” way.
:9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part.
:10 But when that which is perfect has come, then
that which is in part will be done away.
:11 When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I
understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put
away childish things.
:12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then
face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.
:9 know … prophecy in part
Spiritual gifts like the word of knowledge and the gift of prophecy are
necessary now because we don’t know or understand
everything.
We only have “partial” knowledge of God and how He is
working – at least for now.
:10 when that which is perfect has come
This is the phrase that determines when spiritual
gifts like prophecy, tongues, or knowledge will cease to function.
These spiritual gifts are the “partial” that will be replaced by the
“perfect”.
What is the “perfect” thing that eliminates the need for the “partial”
things?
Can you tell from the context? (vs. 11-12)
It is related to a “child” becoming a “man”
It is related to seeing “face to face”.
It is related to “knowing fully”.
These are all things that happen when we get to heaven, or when Jesus
returns.
We will be fully mature
Paul refers to our resurrected bodies like a mature plant that grows from the
“seed” of our current bodies.
(1
Corinthians 15:42 NKJV) So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption.
We will see Him face to face
(Revelation 22:4
NKJV) They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their
foreheads.
We will have full knowledge
(1 John 3:2b NKJV) …but we know that when He is
revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.
There are those who will teach that these spiritual gifts are no longer
functioning as they did in the early church.
They say that the “perfect” thing is the Bible, and point to:
(Psalm 19:7 NKJV)
The law of the Lord is
perfect, converting the soul; The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the
simple;
They will say that when the church finalized and agreed on
what books should be in both the Old and New Testaments (the “canon”), the
Bible was “perfect” and there was no longer the need for things like
“prophecy”, and “tongues”.
They will say that these spiritual gifts ceased operating
around AD 300.
One of many problems I have with this view is the fact
that David wrote Psalm 19 around 1000 BC, long before the completion of even
the Old Testament, let alone the New Testament.
To say that David is saying that God’s word is “complete”
and shows no need for the spiritual gifts is quite silly, especially since the
gifts wouldn’t even start operating for another 1000 years.
:11 I put away childish things
Paul is saying on this side of heaven, we are like children.
When we get to heaven, or when Jesus returns, we will have graduated into
full “adulthood”.
We will have “full” knowledge, not “partial” knowledge.
We will have no need for gifts like the “word of knowledge” or “prophecy”
because we will have complete knowledge.
:12 we see in a mirror, dimly
On this side of heaven, our knowledge of God is clouded and imperfect.
It’s like looking through a dirty, cloudy mirror.
When we get to heaven, or when Jesus returns, we will see God face to face.
We will have full knowledge and no more need for gifts.
:13 And now abide faith, hope, love, these three;
but the greatest of these is love.
Faith, hope, and love will go on and on. Love is
the greatest.