1Coríntios 13

Por Nick MacQuacker

If I have not love… (1 Co 13:1-3)

Introduction

1 Co 13 - one of the most well-known passages in the Bible.

Only passage from the Bible I can remember studying in school RE

And it is, of course, a favourite for weddings.

After all it is lovely passage about love that commends itself to everybody who reads it and
which is tailor-made for weddings. Or is it?

Just suppose I am asked to preach on this chapter at a wedding and I begin the sermon with
some points of introduction. Suppose I start by saying that this chapter was really quite a
strange way for Paul to talk about the issue of speaking in tongues in the church in Corinth.
Well, I think there would be some blank looks on the faces of people in the congregation, don’t
you? Suppose I go on to say that this chapter must have caused a great deal of
embarrassment if not a little anger when it was first read to the church in Corinth as they
received this letter. And then suppose I remark that this chapter really was a very big rocket
from Paul to the Corinthians – a loving, but nonetheless stinging rebuke from the Apostle to a
lively young church.

I think many people would begin to think I had got mixed up and was talking about a completely
different passage. Wouldn’t they? I wouldn’t be talking about 1 Co 13 as they understand it at
all.

Well, what is the truth about this passage? What is it all about?

The only way to find out is to find out is to travel back in our minds to Corinth to discover what
Paul intended to say to his original readers, the church in Corinth. Not text to ourselves; but
text to ourselves via Corinth, understanding what it meant to the Corinthians
So, by way of introduction, let’s ask the important question:

Why did Paul write 1 Co 13?

The answer lies in the fact that this first letter to the Corinthians is essentially about two
opposing views of what it means to be spiritual, or to be spiritually mature. Those opposing
views are the view held by the Corinthian Christians and Paul’s view.

For the Corinthians, being spiritual was all about excelling in spiritual gifts, especially the gifts of
tongues, wisdom and knowledge. And they valued these gifts without any comparable concern
for truly Christian behaviour. They slept with prostitutes, took pride in immorality, took each
other to court over financial disputes, quarrelled and divided out of misplaced loyalty to different
Christian leaders, and trampled over each other in a rush to indulge their appetites at the Lord’s
Supper. And all the time, they prided themselves on being spiritual because they were rich in
spiritual gifts.

For the apostle Paul, being spiritual was something completely different. For Paul it is first and
foremost about being filled with the Spirit of God who is the Holy Spirit.

That means behaving as those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his
holy people - to quote Paul’s words in chapter 1 and verse 2. And for Paul, the ultimate
expression of holiness is to walk in love.

In other words, whilst the Corinthians prided themselves on their spiritual gifts, Paul was much
more concerned about the Christian graces; above all the grace of love. It is not that Paul did
not value the gifts. His prayer in chapter 1 tells us that he thanked God that the Corinthian
church had been enriched with so many gifts. But he knew that a church that excelled in gifts
but lacked the grace of love was nothing.

So it is no accident that 1 Co 13 comes in 1 Corinthians.

For Paul, 1 Co 13, wasn’t a matter of, “And by-the-way, now for some thoughts about love to fill
the parchment and send you on your way with a nice feeling.” It was a much needed rebuke
and correction to a proud and loveless church.
And it is no accident that chapter 13 comes in between chapters 12 and 14. Chapters 12 and
14 are the two big chapters on spiritual gifts in the letter. And each chapter brings much needed
correction on that subject to the Corinthians. But Paul cannot possibly write to them on the
subject of spiritual gifts without writing about love. So chapter 13 comes like the meat in the
sandwich, wedged between chapters 12 and 14, telling the Corinthians that in the exercise of
gifts, love must be central – love must be the motivation for desiring and exercising the gifts;
love must be the atmosphere in which the gifts are used.

So, that’s why 1 Co 13 was written. And that understanding should help us to get hold of its
message. We are going to take our time unpacking the message of this important chapter –
three weeks – just verses 1 to 3 this evening.

And in these first three verses, we find Paul shedding some harsh new light for the Corinthians
on their worship services; their ministry and their good deeds.

Firs of all in verse 1,

I Their worship services

Verse 1

Paul is not denigrating speaking in tongues. In chapter 14 he thanks God that he speaks in
tongues more than any of the Corinthians. But he is not at all happy with what is going on with
tongues in Corinth. In chapter 14, he will be very critical of their use of this gift. We will look at
that more closely in a few weeks time.

But for now, let’s note that he did believe that they had been given a gift for speaking in tongues
in praise of God; that is praising God in some language or languages unknown to man. I doubt
that he thought that they really spoke in the language of angels. But it may have felt a bit like
that to some of the Corinthians. Praising God in this way, they may have felt that it was like
being caught up into the worship of heaven.
It would have been such a contrast to their pagan past. You don’t find heartfelt praise in the
pagan temples – there is nothing to be thankful for in the pagan temple. There is no Saviour; no
saving grace; no cross; no knowledge of sins forgiven; no assurance of eternal life; no testimony
of the Spirit to being God’s children. It is characteristic of the Christian church to be full of
praise, to sing and make music in our hearts to the Lord out of an overflowing joy of salvation.

To be genuinely caught up in the praise of God is a wonderful thing. And wouldn’t it be very
wonderful to do so in the language of angels? Would that not be a marvellous thing..

Well says Paul, even if I do that, but have not love, whatever that is, then I am only a
resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.

It is not just that my praise worthless, but I myself am no more than an empty, hollow sound, a
harsh discordant note, without melody or harmony.

But here is the real shock for the Corinthian Christian! I become as worthless as the worship I
left behind in the pagan temple. For we are back in pagan territory – the gong and cymbal were
instruments used in pagan temples for making a great noise and hullabaloo.

Making a noise has always been and still is a feature of pagan practice. Think of Elijah and the
prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. There the prophets of Baal kept on shouting to get the
attention of their gods. Elijah mocked them saying, perhaps your god is deep in thought; or
perhaps he is busy; or perhaps he is travelling – out of the office, back Monday; or perhaps he
has fallen asleep and needs waking up. And so the prophets of Baal shouted louder.

Pagan also bang gongs to drive away evil spirits. In the Far East, you will still find people doing
just that today.

Thirdly, a great noise is used in pagan worship to excite the worshippers and pump them up into
a frenzy.

Its all a far cry from the joyful and harmonious praise of the Christian church. And yet says
Paul, when I hear you worshipping God without acting in love, it is no different in God’s sight or
God’s hearing than the pagan temple down the road.
And it doesn’t matter whether it is the informal, excited and spontaneous worship of the
Corinthians of the formal and stately worship conducted in a great cathedral, or the worship of
HHEFC, however you characterise it, unless it is the worship of those who are characterised by
love, whatever that is, we are no more than a pagan noise to God.

The Corinthians prided themselves on their gatherings; would have been all excited about their
gatherings because of their spiritual gifts that they exercised when they were together. We
might pride ourselves on our meetings because of the gifts we have that we exercise when we
come together. But if we have not love, our worship services only serve to make a terrible and
discordant noise.

Well, so much for their worship services, what about:

II Their ministry (v2)

Again, let’s get this clear. There is no doubt that they had great gifts for spiritual work and
ministry. Paul did thank God for their gifting. They had the gift of prophecy that we will find Paul
exalting in chapter 14. They had the gift of knowledge – and knowledge was very important for
Paul. Prophecy and knowledge were very powerful gifts to have for ministry; and so is the gift of
special faith that trusts with certainty for mighty works.

Now, says Paul, let’s imagine excelling in those gifts to an infinite degree.

Suppose we had someone in this church who had the gift of prophecy and could fathom all
mysteries and all knowledge. Whatever question about life and the things of God you put to
them, they could give you an accurate and insightful answer. Can you imagine the queue to
speak to them at the end of the meeting?

Or suppose their was someone here with all faith to move mountains. When someone is sick,
their faith is such that a cure always results from their prayers. The doors of the local
community are closed to the gospel. Their faith opens the doors. Money is needed for a new
project; their faith brings in the funds in days. This person has the faith to remove all obstacles
and solve all problems.
Can you imagine such a person?

It really would be something to belong to a church where one person possessed all knowledge;
and another person could remove all obstacles. That’s a church that would go places; and such
people would really be something!

But, says Paul, even if I am that person, gifted for ministry to the n th degree, if my life is not
characterised by love, whatever that is, then I am nothing.

Even if we become a church overflowing with many great and excellent gifts; even if we nurture
and develop the gifts we have most diligently; and bring in the most gifted people; if we have not
love, whatever that is, we are nothing – spiritual zeroes in the eyes of God.

Okay Paul, we get the message. And we can see how the worship services of a church that
lacks love will only strike a discordant note. And we can see that even the most gifted people
don’t add up to much in God’s sight without love.

But what about a church that is rich in good deeds – surely that must count for something –
surely that will not be without reward.

Well, what does Paul say to the Corinthians about:

III Their good deeds

Verse 3

It’s hard to know how well the Corinthians did in doing good deeds and being generous. We
have some evidence from 2 Co chapters 8 and 9 where Paul writes to them about the gift he is
organising to relieve the poverty of the churches in Judea. There Paul says to them, “I know
your eagerness to help” and tells them that their eagerness in this matter has stirred into action
the churches of Macedonia to the north.

So, perhaps they were generous and willing to give.

But suppose, says Paul, that I gave all that I possessed to the poor – that I held nothing back
when it came to issues of welfare.

We are to imagine here a church with a great social programme backed by unlimited generosity
on the part of the church members. Such a church would be a wonderful thing – it would be
able to address many problems in society.

And let us imagine that the spirit of self-sacrifice in this church finds its ultimate expression; that
there are those ready to give their very lives for the cause of the gospel.

Surely such deeds prove something. Surely they will not go unrewarded.

No, says Paul, even if I do such things, if I have not love, whatever that is, I gain nothing.

It is possible to give away everything, for selfish motives. I wonder how many people work in
humanitarian causes because they find such activity personally fulfilling. I have certainly read
magazine articles giving x number of steps you can take to enhance your own well-being; and
included in those steps are acts of kindness towards others; and the advice is this: if you go out
and do good towards someone else, it will make you feel better about yourself. Good deeds
done for the warm glow it gives me.

Going on Matthew 6, I think that Jesus would say that such people have already had their
reward. If I do such things, but have not love, I gain nothing.

And even martyrdom, the ultimate act of self-giving cannot by itself prove my spirituality. The
men who flew planes into the twin towers were martyrs to their cause – but fanaticism is not
love. And if, in my self-giving I have not love, whatever that is, I gain nothing.
Conclusion

What Paul is saying is that spirituality is a matter of the heart. It matters not one jot, how gifted I
am for worship or ministry; or how rich I am in good deeds. If God has not poured his love into
my heart by his Holy Spirit; and if I have not cultivated and nurtured that love so that it takes root
in my heart and fills the inner me; and if my outward actions are not the overflow of love; then I
am unspiritual, immature and worldly. And if I pride myself on my spiritual maturity when I am in
such a state, I am dangerously deceiving myself.

All the spiritual activity in the world proves nothing without love.

Without love, both the individual Christian and the gathered church simply make a noise; they
are nothing and gain nothing.

§ This church in Corinth was brilliantly equipped for worship and praise.

§ It was brilliantly gifted for ministry.

§ And it may be that it was even enabled to excel in sacrificial giving on a scale that is rare
to see.

But the one thing needful, the essence was missing.

Lacking the love of verses 4,5 and 6, they lacked the one thing that is the essence of the
Christian family, both on earth and in heaven. How they needed the grace of the Lord Jesus
Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit!

And how we need to pray for the gracious work of God amongst us! To endow us with gifts,
yes, but much, much more importantly to endow us with his love. And how we need to learn to
recognise and to cultivate that love. For when it comes to love, it is both God’s gift to us; and
our task to abound more and more in love. That is why we need verses 4,5 and 6 and that is
where we will focus next week.

2699 words

If I have not love… (1 Co 13:1-3)

Introduction

1 Co 13 - one of the most well-known passages in the Bible.

Only passage from the Bible I can remember studying in school RE

And it is, of course, a favourite for weddings.

After all it is lovely passage about love that commends itself to everybody who reads it and
which is tailor-made for weddings. Or is it?

Just suppose I am asked to preach on this chapter at a wedding and I begin the sermon with
some points of introduction. Suppose I start by saying that this chapter was really quite a
strange way for Paul to talk about the issue of speaking in tongues in the church in Corinth.
Well, I think there would be some blank looks on the faces of people in the congregation, don’t
you? Suppose I go on to say that this chapter must have caused a great deal of
embarrassment if not a little anger when it was first read to the church in Corinth as they
received this letter. And then suppose I remark that this chapter really was a very big rocket
from Paul to the Corinthians – a loving, but nonetheless stinging rebuke from the Apostle to a
lively young church.

I think many people would begin to think I had got mixed up and was talking about a completely
different passage. Wouldn’t they? I wouldn’t be talking about 1 Co 13 as they understand it at
all.

Well, what is the truth about this passage? What is it all about?
The only way to find out is to find out is to travel back in our minds to Corinth to discover what
Paul intended to say to his original readers, the church in Corinth. Not text to ourselves; but
text to ourselves via Corinth, understanding what it meant to the Corinthians

So, by way of introduction, let’s ask the important question:

Why did Paul write 1 Co 13?

The answer lies in the fact that this first letter to the Corinthians is essentially about two
opposing views of what it means to be spiritual, or to be spiritually mature. Those opposing
views are the view held by the Corinthian Christians and Paul’s view.

For the Corinthians, being spiritual was all about excelling in spiritual gifts, especially the gifts of
tongues, wisdom and knowledge. And they valued these gifts without any comparable concern
for truly Christian behaviour. They slept with prostitutes, took pride in immorality, took each
other to court over financial disputes, quarrelled and divided out of misplaced loyalty to different
Christian leaders, and trampled over each other in a rush to indulge their appetites at the Lord’s
Supper. And all the time, they prided themselves on being spiritual because they were rich in
spiritual gifts.

For the apostle Paul, being spiritual was something completely different. For Paul it is first and
foremost about being filled with the Spirit of God who is the Holy Spirit.

That means behaving as those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his
holy people - to quote Paul’s words in chapter 1 and verse 2. And for Paul, the ultimate
expression of holiness is to walk in love.

In other words, whilst the Corinthians prided themselves on their spiritual gifts, Paul was much
more concerned about the Christian graces; above all the grace of love. It is not that Paul did
not value the gifts. His prayer in chapter 1 tells us that he thanked God that the Corinthian
church had been enriched with so many gifts. But he knew that a church that excelled in gifts
but lacked the grace of love was nothing.

So it is no accident that 1 Co 13 comes in 1 Corinthians.

For Paul, 1 Co 13, wasn’t a matter of, “And by-the-way, now for some thoughts about love to fill
the parchment and send you on your way with a nice feeling.” It was a much needed rebuke
and correction to a proud and loveless church.

And it is no accident that chapter 13 comes in between chapters 12 and 14. Chapters 12 and
14 are the two big chapters on spiritual gifts in the letter. And each chapter brings much needed
correction on that subject to the Corinthians. But Paul cannot possibly write to them on the
subject of spiritual gifts without writing about love. So chapter 13 comes like the meat in the
sandwich, wedged between chapters 12 and 14, telling the Corinthians that in the exercise of
gifts, love must be central – love must be the motivation for desiring and exercising the gifts;
love must be the atmosphere in which the gifts are used.

So, that’s why 1 Co 13 was written. And that understanding should help us to get hold of its
message. We are going to take our time unpacking the message of this important chapter –
three weeks – just verses 1 to 3 this evening.

And in these first three verses, we find Paul shedding some harsh new light for the Corinthians
on their worship services; their ministry and their good deeds.

Firs of all in verse 1,

I Their worship services

Verse 1

Paul is not denigrating speaking in tongues. In chapter 14 he thanks God that he speaks in
tongues more than any of the Corinthians. But he is not at all happy with what is going on with
tongues in Corinth. In chapter 14, he will be very critical of their use of this gift. We will look at
that more closely in a few weeks time.
But for now, let’s note that he did believe that they had been given a gift for speaking in tongues
in praise of God; that is praising God in some language or languages unknown to man. I doubt
that he thought that they really spoke in the language of angels. But it may have felt a bit like
that to some of the Corinthians. Praising God in this way, they may have felt that it was like
being caught up into the worship of heaven.

It would have been such a contrast to their pagan past. You don’t find heartfelt praise in the
pagan temples – there is nothing to be thankful for in the pagan temple. There is no Saviour; no
saving grace; no cross; no knowledge of sins forgiven; no assurance of eternal life; no testimony
of the Spirit to being God’s children. It is characteristic of the Christian church to be full of
praise, to sing and make music in our hearts to the Lord out of an overflowing joy of salvation.

To be genuinely caught up in the praise of God is a wonderful thing. And wouldn’t it be very
wonderful to do so in the language of angels? Would that not be a marvellous thing..

Well says Paul, even if I do that, but have not love, whatever that is, then I am only a
resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.

It is not just that my praise worthless, but I myself am no more than an empty, hollow sound, a
harsh discordant note, without melody or harmony.

But here is the real shock for the Corinthian Christian! I become as worthless as the worship I
left behind in the pagan temple. For we are back in pagan territory – the gong and cymbal were
instruments used in pagan temples for making a great noise and hullabaloo.

Making a noise has always been and still is a feature of pagan practice. Think of Elijah and the
prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. There the prophets of Baal kept on shouting to get the
attention of their gods. Elijah mocked them saying, perhaps your god is deep in thought; or
perhaps he is busy; or perhaps he is travelling – out of the office, back Monday; or perhaps he
has fallen asleep and needs waking up. And so the prophets of Baal shouted louder.

Pagan also bang gongs to drive away evil spirits. In the Far East, you will still find people doing
just that today.

Thirdly, a great noise is used in pagan worship to excite the worshippers and pump them up into
a frenzy.
Its all a far cry from the joyful and harmonious praise of the Christian church. And yet says
Paul, when I hear you worshipping God without acting in love, it is no different in God’s sight or
God’s hearing than the pagan temple down the road.

And it doesn’t matter whether it is the informal, excited and spontaneous worship of the
Corinthians of the formal and stately worship conducted in a great cathedral, or the worship of
HHEFC, however you characterise it, unless it is the worship of those who are characterised by
love, whatever that is, we are no more than a pagan noise to God.

The Corinthians prided themselves on their gatherings; would have been all excited about their
gatherings because of their spiritual gifts that they exercised when they were together. We
might pride ourselves on our meetings because of the gifts we have that we exercise when we
come together. But if we have not love, our worship services only serve to make a terrible and
discordant noise.

Well, so much for their worship services, what about:

II Their ministry (v2)

Again, let’s get this clear. There is no doubt that they had great gifts for spiritual work and
ministry. Paul did thank God for their gifting. They had the gift of prophecy that we will find Paul
exalting in chapter 14. They had the gift of knowledge – and knowledge was very important for
Paul. Prophecy and knowledge were very powerful gifts to have for ministry; and so is the gift of
special faith that trusts with certainty for mighty works.

Now, says Paul, let’s imagine excelling in those gifts to an infinite degree.

Suppose we had someone in this church who had the gift of prophecy and could fathom all
mysteries and all knowledge. Whatever question about life and the things of God you put to
them, they could give you an accurate and insightful answer. Can you imagine the queue to
speak to them at the end of the meeting?

Or suppose their was someone here with all faith to move mountains. When someone is sick,
their faith is such that a cure always results from their prayers. The doors of the local
community are closed to the gospel. Their faith opens the doors. Money is needed for a new
project; their faith brings in the funds in days. This person has the faith to remove all obstacles
and solve all problems.

Can you imagine such a person?

It really would be something to belong to a church where one person possessed all knowledge;
and another person could remove all obstacles. That’s a church that would go places; and such
people would really be something!

But, says Paul, even if I am that person, gifted for ministry to the n th degree, if my life is not
characterised by love, whatever that is, then I am nothing.

Even if we become a church overflowing with many great and excellent gifts; even if we nurture
and develop the gifts we have most diligently; and bring in the most gifted people; if we have not
love, whatever that is, we are nothing – spiritual zeroes in the eyes of God.

Okay Paul, we get the message. And we can see how the worship services of a church that
lacks love will only strike a discordant note. And we can see that even the most gifted people
don’t add up to much in God’s sight without love.

But what about a church that is rich in good deeds – surely that must count for something –
surely that will not be without reward.

Well, what does Paul say to the Corinthians about:

III Their good deeds

Verse 3
It’s hard to know how well the Corinthians did in doing good deeds and being generous. We
have some evidence from 2 Co chapters 8 and 9 where Paul writes to them about the gift he is
organising to relieve the poverty of the churches in Judea. There Paul says to them, “I know
your eagerness to help” and tells them that their eagerness in this matter has stirred into action
the churches of Macedonia to the north.

So, perhaps they were generous and willing to give.

But suppose, says Paul, that I gave all that I possessed to the poor – that I held nothing back
when it came to issues of welfare.

We are to imagine here a church with a great social programme backed by unlimited generosity
on the part of the church members. Such a church would be a wonderful thing – it would be
able to address many problems in society.

And let us imagine that the spirit of self-sacrifice in this church finds its ultimate expression; that
there are those ready to give their very lives for the cause of the gospel.

Surely such deeds prove something. Surely they will not go unrewarded.

No, says Paul, even if I do such things, if I have not love, whatever that is, I gain nothing.

It is possible to give away everything, for selfish motives. I wonder how many people work in
humanitarian causes because they find such activity personally fulfilling. I have certainly read
magazine articles giving x number of steps you can take to enhance your own well-being; and
included in those steps are acts of kindness towards others; and the advice is this: if you go out
and do good towards someone else, it will make you feel better about yourself. Good deeds
done for the warm glow it gives me.

Going on Matthew 6, I think that Jesus would say that such people have already had their
reward. If I do such things, but have not love, I gain nothing.
 And even martyrdom, the ultimate act of self-giving cannot by itself prove my spirituality. The
men who flew planes into the twin towers were martyrs to their cause – but fanaticism is not
love. And if, in my self-giving I have not love, whatever that is, I gain nothing.

Conclusion

What Paul is saying is that spirituality is a matter of the heart. It matters not one jot, how gifted I
am for worship or ministry; or how rich I am in good deeds. If God has not poured his love into
my heart by his Holy Spirit; and if I have not cultivated and nurtured that love so that it takes root
in my heart and fills the inner me; and if my outward actions are not the overflow of love; then I
am unspiritual, immature and worldly. And if I pride myself on my spiritual maturity when I am in
such a state, I am dangerously deceiving myself.

All the spiritual activity in the world proves nothing without love.

Without love, both the individual Christian and the gathered church simply make a noise; they
are nothing and gain nothing.

§ This church in Corinth was brilliantly equipped for worship and praise.

§ It was brilliantly gifted for ministry.

§ And it may be that it was even enabled to excel in sacrificial giving on a scale that is rare
to see.

But the one thing needful, the essence was missing.

Lacking the love of verses 4,5 and 6, they lacked the one thing that is the essence of the
Christian family, both on earth and in heaven. How they needed the grace of the Lord Jesus
Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit!

And how we need to pray for the gracious work of God amongst us! To endow us with gifts,
yes, but much, much more importantly to endow us with his love. And how we need to learn to
recognise and to cultivate that love. For when it comes to love, it is both God’s gift to us; and
our task to abound more and more in love. That is why we need verses 4,5 and 6 and that is
where we will focus next week.

2699 words

Love that lasts (1 Co 13:4-7)

Introduction

What is love?

We know that we can fall madly in it. We are told that it makes the world go round and that it is
all we need. Besotted couples declare undying love for each other. Cynics say that love is
blind and that marriage is a great eye-opener. We know we love our children; and we know that
our children love ice-cream and chocolate. Christopher, our nearly three year-old says to us, “I
love it when…” We know that people are hungry for love and we are grateful for those that love
us. We know that the world could do with more of it. But what is love?

We scratch our heads, struggling for a definition and then we turn to 1 Co 13, verses 4 to 7; and
think we have found one. After all, surely a paragraph that begins with the words, “Love is…”
must be defining love.

But is that what this paragraph is? A picture of love?

Do we have here a mini essay about love?

Did Paul go into his study, mug of coffee in hand to write a composition about love? Did he set
himself the task of putting down in one short paragraph a summary of all that he had learnt
about love as a Christian?

When white light is shone through a prism it breaks up into all the different colours that are
present in white light. And this paragraph has been likened to that – Paul mentally shining love
through a prism, breaking it up into all its constituents parts for analysis and description.

But is that really what Paul is doing here?

Or, is this, as some have suggested a picture of Jesus?

Is Paul writing about what it was like to see the God who is love made flesh?

If so, it is an accurate description. You can replace the word ‘love’ with the name Jesus Christ
and the paragraph makes perfect sense. Jesus Christ is patient, Jesus is kind. Jesus does not
envy and so on. Indeed, the name, Jesus is the only name that fits here. Only Jesus has lived
this paragraph to the letter.

But again, is that really what Paul set out to do? Was he consciously giving us a picture of
Jesus?

No. Paul didn’t set out to give us a complete picture of love, or a picture of Jesus. Paul was
writing to the church in Corinth, addressing the disgraceful behaviour of the Corinthian church.
And what Paul has left us with is a description of the Corinthians.

It’s a sort of negative, mirror-image picture of the Corinthians.

Paul is making statements about love. But as he does so, he is selecting and tailoring those
statements to address what was wrong in the Corinthian church. So his statements mirror the
situation in that church.
This paragraph begins with two positive statements about love: verse 4ab

And it ends in verse 7, with four statements about what love always does: verse 7

But in between come eight negative statements telling us what love does not do, and only the
last of these has a positive counterpart, telling us what love does.

So at the heart of the paragraph is a whole list of things that the Corinthians were doing that
they needed to stop doing if they were to walk in love. Here is a whole list of :

I Things that the Corinthians needed to put off.

Love does not envy; but they did envy. In chapter 3 and verse 3, Paul says to them, ‘You are
still worldly. For since there is envy and quarrelling among you are you not worldly?’ Of course
there is no shortage of envy in the world. It is not hard to find envy in the world. But in the
church?

Love does not boast. The word means ‘behave as a braggart.’ It suggests attention-seeking;
self-centred actions by which I call attention to myself. Love does not boast. But the
Corinthians did boast; about their wisdom, about their knowledge, about their gifts.

Love is not proud. It is not puffed-up. This describes people who are full of their own self-
importance. But the Corinthians were puffed-up. Five times in this letter, Paul has to tell the
Corinthians that they are puffed-up – proud of the very things that should make them red-faced
and ashamed. Again, we know that the world is full of puffed-up people; arrogant and full of
themselves – proud for all the wrong reasons. But in the church?

Love is not rude – or better, love does not behave shamefully or disgracefully. And yet Paul had
had to tell the Corinthians that their treatment of one another at the Lord’s Supper was
shameful. Out in the world, there is nothing strange about shameful treatment of others.
People are treated shamefully everyday – promises made and broken without a thought; people
conned and abused; friendships used and then discarded. Shameful behaviour is not strange in
society. But Paul is writing to a Christian congregation. He is having to say this to Christians.
And so we could go on.

Love is not self-seeking. But the Corinthians were. Love is not easily angered, but we can
easily imagine that with the envy and strife that prevailed in the Corinthian church, people were
easily angered. Love does not keep a record of wrongs. It does not keep a private file of
personal grievances that can be consulted and nursed whenever some new offence, real or
imagined is perceived. But presumably, this was exactly what was going on in Corinth in the
lousy atmosphere of envy, pride and self-seeking.

Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. There is a form of self-righteousness
that adopts the tabloid attitude; gossiping about the misdeeds of others; taking the moral high
ground whilst secretly revelling in crudeness and vulgarity; feigning shock and horror when
someone else falls whilst being secretly gladdened. But love does not do that. And love does
not enjoy endless discussions about what is wrong with the church and with the places where
we work. Rather, love will join with others in rejoicing over the truth. If there is a report of
something right or truthful going on, love will quickly rejoice over it.

All these things that love does not do and that love is not are commonplace in the world. We
know that from our own experience. But the shock; the horror; the disgrace is that these things
were to be found in the Corinthian church. The shock, the horror, the disgrace is when they are
found in churches today; the shock, the horror, the disgrace is when these things are found
amongst us.

These were things for the Corinthians to put off.

These are the things that should not be found amongst God’s holy people.

But of course, the negative is not enough. There were things to be put off. But if they were to
walk in love, there were:

II Things the Corinthians needed to put on

We have already mentioned the positive statements at the beginning.

Firstly, love is patient. It is long-suffering. This doesn’t just mean that love is willing to wait a
long time, but that love is willing to endure injuries without retaliation. Love is patient with the
faults and the offences of others.

But more than just being passively unresponsive in the face of provocation; love is kind – active
in goodness; quick to pay back in kindness what is received in hurt.

And then at the end of the paragraph in verse 7: Love always protects (that is a possible
translation, but love endures all things is better); love always trusts; always hopes, always
perseveres.

Literally, Paul says: Love bears all things; it believes all things; it hopes all things; it endures all
things.

By this, he means that it is characteristic of love to put up with everything and anything, to
persevere even in the face of frustration, disappointment and injury. There is nothing, says the
NEB translation that love cannot face.

And the reason for that faith always believes and hopes. Paul does not mean that love is naïve
and gullible, always believing the best about everything and everyone in the face of the
evidence.

The Bible never encourages us to put our faith in people; or to put our hope in human nature,
but only in God.

So, Paul must be saying that love never ceases to trust God on behalf of the loved one; and
love never gives up hope that God’s grace might yet be seen in the life of the loved one.

And it is this faith and hope in God that enables love to persevere in the face of disappointment
and injury.

And notice that it is this note of perseverance that is the dominant theme. Apart from all the
things love is not and love does not do, Paul is really only saying one positive thing about love.
And that is that it perseveres in suffering injury without retaliation, continuing to respond instead
with kindness; and that this sort of persistent, enduring love is fuelled by faith and hope in God.
This very specific word about love spoke directly into the Corinthian church. For the sensitive
and godly Christian, life in the Corinthian church must have been very hard to endure. As
excitement over the spiritual gifts wore off and realisation grew as to just how loveless this
community was, it would be very hard to put up with. At the very least it would be very easy to
have written the whole church off as a bad show; to have given up on the church. And if you
became a victim of the rivalry, pride and self-seeking attitudes of others, it would be very hard
not to retaliate in kind.

And so a word from Paul, telling you that love doesn’t give up; that love continues to be patient
and kind, even in such a church; love continues to have faith in God and hope in God, even for
this lot – such a word would be very timely, and greatly needed.

Paul doesn’t just want to rebuke the wrong-doers; he wants to encourage those who are about
to give up on love. They may feel that they have seen bad behaviour from their Christian
brothers and sisters just too many times; they may feel that they have been hurt and offended
just too often; but love endures; love perseveres. When the experience is bad, love hopes for
better; and when hopes are repeatedly disappointed, love still courageously holds on.

And this is what Paul himself did with this troublesome Corinthian church. This must have been
the most painful church for Paul. Just four years old. So lively, so gifted and yet so badly
behaved; so full of pride and so unwilling to listen to its founding apostle; so quick to find fault
with him; and so quick to think that it had outgrown him. It must have been so tempting to Paul
to have given up on the Corinthians.

But he didn’t. He persevered in love. Sometimes his love was tough love; but it was always
love. Sometimes the words that he needed to use were hard for them to hear; but they were
always spoken or written in love. Between writing the letters which we call 1 and 2 Corinthians,
Paul wrote another letter which we do not have. About that letter, Paul says in 2 Co 2:4

I wrote to you out of great distress and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to grieve you
but to let you know the depth of my love for you.

The Corinthians caused him much heartache, but he continued to love them and did not hold
back from trying to help them grow in Christian maturity and godliness.
So Paul was no armchair teacher of Christian ethics. He knew what it was to persevere in love
in hard places.

The attitude of love that the Corinthians needed to put on was the attitude that characterised
Paul himself; whilst at the same time, they needed to put off the attitudes listed in the middle of
these verses.

So, that was the message for the Corinthians. But what about us?

III How should we respond to these verses?

1. Understand that these verses were not written to non-Christians

One of the biggest mistakes that the church has made historically is to encourage non-
Christians to try and love like this without telling them that they must first be reconciled to God.
And that goes from well-meaning Christians in school assemblies telling children that they
should not be mean and selfish; to national church leaders who call on the nations to live in
peace, without calling on them to repent and be reconciled to God. This is the danger for us as
Christian parents; that we believe the gospel, but all we convey to our children is Christian
ethics.

The upshot is that many non-Christians think that the essential Christian message is be good,
try harder and be loving.

But that is not the essential Christian message. Of course more love and goodness in the world
would be a wonderful thing. But that is not the essential Christian message.

And if you are here tonight and you are not a Christian, you need to know that essential
Christian message is not 1 Co 13.

The essential Christian message is be reconciled to God through his Son, Jesus Christ on the
basis of Christ’s death on the cross.
The love of 1 Co 13 is not root but fruit. It is not the root of the Christian life, but a fruit of being
rooted in Jesus. You cannot love like this without becoming rooted in Jesus by turning to Jesus,
confessing your sin and putting your faith in him, submitting to his authority.

Jesus himself put it this way, when he said to his disciples:

"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much
fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”

The love of 1 Co 13 is part of the fruit. And to bear that fruit, you need to be rooted in Jesus.

Having said that, you could become a Christian tonight through reading these verses if you
understand what I have just said. You could read these verses and be convicted of your own
failure to be the loving person you thought you were. You could read these verses and say, well
the problem is that I do envy; and I am boastful or proud; I am self-seeking or easily angered.
These words have opened me up and left me exposed. I am not as lovely as I thought. I am
not as loving as I thought.

By this standard, I have failed. I need God’s forgiveness. And you could go home and you
could pray with this passage in mind.

You could confess you failure and your sin in the terms of this passage and pray for forgiveness
in Christ’s name; pray for you guilt to be taken away; for a new start; for Jesus to come into your
life and to enable you to begin to love in this way; as you commit yourself to submitting to him
as the rightful boss in your life.

If you are not a Christian and you have been convicted of your sin and failure this evening; then
you need to do just that. Don’t just go away resolving to try harder. You need forgiveness and
for that you need Jesus. You also need the power to live differently; and for that you need
Jesus. You can’t do the love of 1 Co 13, without Jesus.

Secondly, and in a similar vein,

 2. Understand that for Christians, these verses are not just a pep-talk

This is the danger. These verses can sound like the speech given by some dignitary at a school
prize-giving, telling us to be noble and to be kind; a pep-talk motivating us to go out and try and
be nicer people.

To the Corinthians, these verses were a challenge to be transformed; they were a rebuke for
their lovelessness; and an encouragement to persevere in love. And the effect should have
been to drive them to Jesus for help.

These verses are two edged. First-of-all, we think, ‘Wo! That’s not me!”

I can’t put my name there, in place of love. I can’t say, Nick is patient…

I am convicted of my own failure and I am driven to Christ to seek forgiveness. Feeling naked
and exposed, I want to be clothed in his righteousness.

But, secondly, there is the other edge to these verses. These verses are not just an impossibly
high standard that convicts me of failure. These verses are God’s standard for the church; this
is what love in the Christian community should be.

And so I am driven to Christ for help. I know I cannot attain to this standard by myself. I need
help. I need the transforming power of His Spirit at work in me. I need help to walk in love in
this way; I know I can’t bear this fruit without Christ.

And so I could find myself turning these verses to prayer as a Christian. Asking Christ to forgive
my lovelessness and to make me anew; praying that I might be able to put on this love.

As a church, we need to be asking again and again to be made more loving; not because we
are particularly bad; but because even the most loving churches are called to abound more and
more in love. Love is central. It is the essence of the Christian family. Without love we are
nothing. What every church needs is not more events and activity, but more love.
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Love and eternity (1 Co 13:8-13)

Introduction

Well this is now our third week looking at this great chapter. And we have been discovering
some things about this chapter that may have surprised us. We have discovered that it is not
the general essay on love that we perhaps thought it was. That this is a passage rooted very
much in the situation of the Corinthian church and dealing with Corinthian issues.

We have seen that the whole of this first letter to the Corinthians is essentially about two
opposing views of what it means to be spiritual, or to be spiritually mature; the view held by the
Corinthian Christians and the view held by the Apostle Paul.

For the Corinthians, being spiritual was all about excelling in spiritual gifts, especially the gifts of
tongues, wisdom and knowledge. And they valued these gifts very highly whilst seeming to
have little concern for truly Christian behaviour and truly Christina character. The church was in
a moral and ethical mess whilst, all the time, they prided themselves on being spiritual because
they were rich in spiritual gifts.

So, whilst the Corinthians prided themselves on their spiritual gifts, Paul was much more
concerned about the Christian graces; above all the grace of love. It is not that Paul did not
value the gifts. He thanked God that the Corinthian church had been enriched with so many
gifts. But he knew that a church that excelled in gifts but lacked the grace of love was nothing.

And this comes to the fore in this 13th chapter, right in the middle of the teaching on gifts that
comes in chapters 12 and 14.

The message to the Corinthians that they must get a better perspective on the gifts; but that will
only be the case when they get a right perspective on love. In the exercise of gifts, love must be
central – love must be the motivation for desiring and exercising the gifts; love must be the
atmosphere in which the gifts are used.

So then, we come to the final part of chapter 13 and three more points designed to shock the
Corinthians into getting a better perspective.

The Corinthians may already have been reeling from verses 1 to 7, but they were in for a further
shock when they heard verses 8 to 11, where Paul tells them that:

I Spiritual gifts are for now and not

then

Love says Paul, in verse 8, never fails – that is to say it never comes to an end; it never
becomes invalid; never ceases to function and to matter. But: verse 8b-10

The framework of now and then dominates this whole final section of the chapter.

The now is this present age, where the individual Christian and Christian church continue to
experience all sorts of imperfection. The then is the eternal future. It is the heavenly age of
heavenly perfection which will only come about with the coming of Christ and the end of this
present age. It is the life that Christians, in some sense at least, immediately enter into at
death.

So the now is this life and this age in which even the greatest and best Christian experience is
characterised by imperfection; the then is the next life and the age to come which are
characterised by perfection.

But the shocking thing for the Corinthians was that Paul told them that their much-vaunted
spiritual gifts are only for the now, not the then.
The Corinthians believed themselves to have already entered into the life of heaven. They
thought themselves superior to other Christians. In the Corinthian church, heaven had come
down to earth. And for the Corinthians, the proofs of this were their prophecy; their tongues and
their knowledge.

To the Corinthians, their prophecy was the teaching of heaven; their tongues were the worship
of heave; their knowledge gave them heavenly understanding.

They thought that their gifts showed that they had arrived; that they were the ones who enjoyed
the fullness of the Spirit and the heavenly life.

But no, says Paul. These gifts are the very things that show you, like the rest of us, have not
arrived. These gifts are not the marks of heavenly perfection; but earthly imperfection.

When perfection comes – when you really do enjoy the experience of heaven, there will be no
more use for prophecy, or tongues or the utterance of knowledge.

Prophecies will pass away; tongues will pass away; knowledge as a special revelation of the
Spirit will pass away. These things are all, even at their best imperfect; and they all have an
expiry date which is the day when perfection comes. The gifts are only needed now, whilst our
present imperfection continues.

We will leave them all behind in glory. All our most-prized gifts; all our church buildings; all our
services; all our sermons; all our bibles; all our theological textbooks and handbooks to
Christian living – we will leave them all behind. We will have no use for them when perfection
comes. And our present use of them is a daily reminder that we are presently stuck in an age of
imperfection.

Spiritual gifts, just like all the paraphernalia of the Christian life are for the interim; and so the
continued exercise of these gifts in Corinth was a sign that the Corinthian church was, like every
church this side of the return of Christ, very much stuck in this present age.
This fact alone should lead them to a more sober assessment of the significance of their gifts;
and a more sober assessment of what the gifts indicated about their own spiritual maturity.

Paul pushes his point home with verse 11

When you are a child you see nothing childish about your ways. You talk like a child and see
nothing childish about your speech. You think like a child, but of course you see nothing
childish in your thoughts. You reason like a child, but since you can reason no other way, you
cannot see anything childish about your reasoning. But when you grow up; when you enter
adulthood, then you see just how childish your talk and your thoughts and your reasoning have
been and you are keen to put such childishness behind you. You are embarrassed by the way
you thought; you are glad that you cannot remember half the things you said. You squirm when
someone shows you a video of yourself as a child.

So it will be when we belong to the age to come. Our present speech and thinking and
reasoning which seems to us now to be so mature, will seem like mere childishness;
embarrassingly so, were it not that embarrassment would spoil the perfection of that age.

So, let’s get things in perspective. If we are ever tempted to be puffed up by our understanding
or our gifts or our theological knowledge or our passionate worship of God, remember that it will
all look like childishness when we are in glory.

The spiritual gifts we make so much of now are just for now and not for then. Get them in
perspective Corinthians; get them in perspective Haywards Heathens!

II Spiritual knowledge now is not like

it will be then

Notice how Paul puts himself and the Corinthians in exactly the same boat in verse 12
We should rejoice in what God has revealed to us. We should rejoice in the knowledge that we
do have.

In 2 Co 5, Paul says that:

God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the
light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

The light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ is indeed glorious knowledge.

It is glorious to know the gospel. Even what has been revealed to us now has depths that can
be explored for a human lifetime.

But our spiritual knowledge now is not like it will be then.

Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror.

Corinth produced some of the finest bronze mirrors in antiquity. So, the emphasis is probably
not on the quality of the image, but on the indirect nature of seeing in a mirror.

That is to say that our knowledge of God is indirect. We see God indirectly. It is not face to
face knowledge. The knowledge of God that comes through the Word of God and the
preaching of the Word, through prophecy and the utterance of knowledge is all indirect.

The image of God that we have in Christ through the Spirit is not a distorted image. It is a true
image, what we know, we know truly. But it is as yet an indirect image. None of us has seen
God face to face.

Our present vision of God in the gospel, great as it is, is nothing compared to the real thing that
is yet to be. It is like the difference between a photograph and seeing someone in person.
And so our knowledge of God in this age, in the now, is necessarily incomplete. Now I know in
part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

God knows me through and through. Not only does he know my action and my words, but he
knows my thoughts and my motivations; all the purposes that drive me. In psalm 139, David
says of God, you are familiar with all my ways. God’s understanding of me is greater than my
understanding of myself.

In the then, in glory, I shall know even as I am fully known. This does not mean that I will share
in God’s knowledge of all things. But I shall know God even as I am fully known by God. On
that day, I will be freed from all my misconceptions and all my inabilities to understand. My
knowledge of God will contain no false impressions and will not be limited by what can be
known in this age. On that day, I shall fully understand; I shall fully know his character and all
his attributes; I shall fully understand all his purposes; there will be no more mystery.

For this reason, the charismatic gifts of prophecy and knowledge will cease; not because they
are weak and fallible, but because they will be superseded by a new way of knowing God. The
theologian Karl Barth made this point very well when he said, ‘because the sun rises, all lights
go out.’

All our ways on knowing God now are like artificial lights compared to the rising of the sun itself.
Spiritual knowledge now is not like it will be then.

And so we must hold to what we know with humility. We are not know-it-alls and we must never
act like know-it-alls.

We must never think that we have all the answers. And we must never give the impression that
we have all the answers. We should not be afraid of saying we don’t know. What God has
revealed we know and know truly. But we only know in part. There are many limits to our
knowing in this age. And we should never be afraid of confessing that. When someone poses
some theological question that the Bible doesn’t answer, we have to say, we don’t know the
answer. When someone questions some strange providence of God in their lives, we have to
confess that we don’t know why this or that has happened. Now we know in part; only then
shall we know fully.

But how we can look forward to that day when we do know fully as we see God face to face and
bow before him in wonder and adoration, enraptured by the beauty of his character and glory of
his grace to us in Christ.
 · Spiritual gifts are for now, not then

· Spiritual knowledge now is not like it will be then

And thirdly,

III Spiritual character is both for now

and for then

Paul ends this marvellous chapter by saying: verse 13

Now the commentators get quite confused by this. They can’t understand why Paul suddenly
introduces faith and hope into the conclusion of an argument that has been about the essential
requirement of love.

But I don’t think that it is too hard to see what Paul is saying at the end here when we remember
that ‘faith, hope and love’ is Paul’s favourite shorthand for describing a genuine, life-changing,
character-transforming, saving work of God in the life of an individual or a community.

Just turn with me to 1 Thessalonians 1 and see what Paul said to the very young church of the
Thessalonians: verse 2-5a

He knows that they have been chosen by God for salvation because there is evidence of a real
work of the Spirit in their lives: the gospel coming to them with power and with deep conviction.
But what is the evidence? It is the faith, love and hope for which Paul gives thanks in verse 3.

And, in turn, there is concrete evidence of their faith, love and hope in their work, their labour
and their endurance.
Where there is concrete evidence of faith, hope and love, Paul sees concrete evidence of a
genuine work of God for salvation.

Turn back to Colossians and we see the same thing – Colossians 1: verse 5

We might contrast this with the words of

Jesus in Matthew 7 at the end of the Sermon
on the mount:

21
"Not everyone who says to me, `Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who
does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22Many will say to me on that day, `Lord, Lord, did
we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many
miracles?' 23Then I will tell them plainly, `I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'

Great spiritual gifting; even being used by God for spiritual service is no proof of Christian
reality. It is only the enduring and growing reality of faith, hope and love in our lives
demonstrated in concrete action that proves that we are the genuine article.

It is not the gifts that the Spirit gives to us for the interim that count; it is the character that the
Spirit works in us for eternity.

So, back in 1 Co 13: verse 13

It is the implanting of faith, hope and love in us that remains the most important in the now. And
it is faith, hope and love that will remain for eternity.

Now, we might wonder why faith and hope will remain for eternity. Surely, when we see face to
face we shall no longer need faith? Surely, when our hopes are realised, we will no longer need
hope. But that is to fail to see that faith and hope represent an attitude towards God that will
endure and be of great worth in eternity.

There is a sense in which faith will be made redundant by sight. But in another sense, faith is
simply thankful trust in God, deep appreciation for him and committed submission to him. Will
there be any time in eternity (if we may speak of time in eternity) when we shall stop exercising
thankful trust in God for the continued enjoyment of all that we will be enjoying? And will be
there be any time when our hopes for the continuation of all that we are enjoying will not be
rooted in our knowledge of God.

Surely we can see that seeing God face to face will mean that our faith and hope will blossom
into an absolute and complete and unwavering trust and security in God. Faith and hope
represent a trusting dependence on God, the work of God’s Spirit in us, which will last for
eternity.

And so will love. But why is love the greatest?

Surely it is because love belongs to the very nature of God himself in a way that faith and hope
do not. Someone has put it this way:

Does God trust? Does he put his faith in anyone? If he did he would not be God.

Does God hope? Are there things in the future to which he looks forward? If God hoped, he
would not be God.

Does God love? If God did not love, he would not be God.

So, we can see that when God implants love in us, he is implanting his own nature.

Here is the point of the whole thing. God is love. God created us to be creatures in his image
and the purpose of salvation in Christ is to remake us in that image. So, man saved by God,
must in the end love like God.
Spiritual character is both for now and for then: verse 13

Faith and love represent the right attitude of responsible creatures to their Creator. Love
represents the character of the Creator himself.

Conclusion

So what can we say as we come to the end of this chapter?

Just two things:

The first concerns the way this chapter has been used by anti-charismatics. Some have
argued that Paul is teaching in this chapter that the supernatural charismatic gifts of tongues,
prophecy and knowledge would cease at the end of the era of the Apostles or with the
completion of the canon of scripture. But I firmly believe that that argument cannot be sustained
from this chapter. The only interpretation of the now and the then of this chapter is that the now
is this present age and the then is the age to come.

There may or may not be other things we can say from elsewhere in the NT about our
expectation of such gifts after the Apostolic era, but this chapter does not tell us what to expect.
This chapter simply tells us that the gifts are for this age and not the age to come.

Secondly, we must have a right perspective on all our spiritual gifts. They are not an end in
themselves or the proof of anything. They are merely tools given to us by the Spirit for the
accomplishment of his goal which is the creation of true Christian character in the church. The
purpose of the gifts is that the church might be built up in faith, hope and love. So our purpose
as we employ our God-given gifts should be that we build one another up in faith hope and love.

The only things that will remain are the things that God works in us and what God makes of us.
The gifts are simply a means to an end and they will pass away.
Thirdly, we must take hold of the central message of this chapter which is that love is the
defining mark of the church and the essential ingredient.

God is love. And if we claim to be the children of God, then others should perceive the family
likeness.

How can a bank be a bank without any assets?

How can a petrol station be a petrol station without any petrol?

How can a school be a school without any children?

How can a church be a church without love?

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