WEBVTT 00:00:00.400 --> 00:00:04.379 You're listening to City Church Manchester. We 00:00:04.379 --> 00:00:07.360 are a church that invites everyone to enjoy Christ 00:00:07.360 --> 00:00:11.259 for the glory of God. If we can serve you in 00:00:11.259 --> 00:00:15.060 any way then visit our website at citychurchmanchester 00:00:15.060 --> 00:00:19.160 .org to find out more. We're going to be in 1 00:00:19.160 --> 00:00:22.000 Corinthians chapter 12 today. We're going to 00:00:22.000 --> 00:00:23.379 read the last little bit and then the whole of 00:00:23.379 --> 00:00:26.179 chapter 13. Let me read that passage for us now. 00:00:28.269 --> 00:00:31.670 And yet I will show you the most excellent way. 00:00:32.450 --> 00:00:36.289 If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, 00:00:36.329 --> 00:00:40.630 but do not have love, I am only a resounding 00:00:40.630 --> 00:00:44.810 gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift 00:00:44.810 --> 00:00:47.810 of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and 00:00:47.810 --> 00:00:51.549 all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can 00:00:51.549 --> 00:00:56.710 move mountains, but do not have love, I have 00:00:56.710 --> 00:01:01.799 nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor 00:01:01.799 --> 00:01:05.480 and give over my body to hardship, that I may 00:01:05.480 --> 00:01:10.180 boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. 00:01:11.319 --> 00:01:16.459 Love is patient. Love is kind. It does not envy. 00:01:16.640 --> 00:01:22.099 It does not boast. It is not proud. It does not 00:01:22.099 --> 00:01:26.780 dishonour others. It is not self -seeking. It 00:01:26.780 --> 00:01:30.980 is not easily angered. It keeps no record of 00:01:30.980 --> 00:01:36.299 wrongs. Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices 00:01:36.299 --> 00:01:41.040 with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, 00:01:41.340 --> 00:01:46.260 always hopes, and always perseveres. Love never 00:01:46.260 --> 00:01:50.379 fails. But where there are prophecies, they will 00:01:50.379 --> 00:01:53.420 cease. Where there are tongues, they will be 00:01:53.420 --> 00:01:57.120 stilled. Where there is knowledge, it will pass 00:01:57.120 --> 00:02:01.260 away. For we know in part and we prophesy in 00:02:01.260 --> 00:02:05.219 part. But when completeness comes, what is in 00:02:05.219 --> 00:02:09.300 part disappears. When I was a child, I talked 00:02:09.300 --> 00:02:12.599 like a child. I thought like a child. I reasoned 00:02:12.599 --> 00:02:15.979 like a child. When I became a man, I put the 00:02:15.979 --> 00:02:20.460 ways of childhood behind me. For now, we see 00:02:20.460 --> 00:02:25.979 only a reflection as in a mirror. Then we shall 00:02:25.979 --> 00:02:31.840 see face to face. Now I know in part. Then I 00:02:31.840 --> 00:02:38.080 shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And 00:02:38.080 --> 00:02:42.300 now these three remain, faith, hope, and love. 00:02:42.539 --> 00:02:46.400 But the greatest of these is love. Wonderful. 00:02:46.520 --> 00:02:48.439 Malcolm's going to come and explain that passage 00:02:48.439 --> 00:02:52.000 to us. Great. Thanks, Sam. Well, good afternoon, 00:02:52.020 --> 00:02:55.180 everyone. My name is Malk. I'm one of the pastors 00:02:55.180 --> 00:02:57.759 here. And don't worry, if it is your first time 00:02:57.759 --> 00:02:59.460 at church, I know what everyone is thinking. 00:02:59.639 --> 00:03:01.979 You haven't accidentally walked into a wedding. 00:03:02.259 --> 00:03:05.599 You are indeed at the right place, a normal church 00:03:05.599 --> 00:03:09.620 service. But chances are, if you have ever been 00:03:09.620 --> 00:03:13.060 to a wedding in a church, chances are you have 00:03:13.060 --> 00:03:16.280 heard that passage read from the front because 00:03:16.280 --> 00:03:19.389 it is. The wedding passage, isn't it? In fact, 00:03:19.389 --> 00:03:21.710 I bet some of you in this room, I bet you had 00:03:21.710 --> 00:03:24.610 this read at your weddings as well. It is the 00:03:24.610 --> 00:03:28.610 passage that we often read to bring us to this 00:03:28.610 --> 00:03:31.210 idea, this beautiful thing that we all want, 00:03:31.310 --> 00:03:36.069 which is love. And it's so famous, I'll go as 00:03:36.069 --> 00:03:39.419 far as saying that if you were to go to... online 00:03:39.419 --> 00:03:42.599 and look at a local Christian Etsy store, one 00:03:42.599 --> 00:03:44.680 of the first coffee mugs, one of the first t 00:03:44.680 --> 00:03:47.259 -shirts you see will say some of the words from 00:03:47.259 --> 00:03:50.460 here. Love is patient. Love is kind. Beautiful 00:03:50.460 --> 00:03:53.020 words. You know, these are words that have gone 00:03:53.020 --> 00:03:55.879 beyond the church, have made it into literature, 00:03:56.080 --> 00:04:01.300 into movies. People know these words. But the 00:04:01.300 --> 00:04:05.599 problem is, I think, that whilst it is often 00:04:05.599 --> 00:04:09.900 read at weddings, The problem is when we associate 00:04:09.900 --> 00:04:13.840 these words with nothing but romance, and we 00:04:13.840 --> 00:04:16.379 all love a bit of romance, right? But when we 00:04:16.379 --> 00:04:19.839 associate it with just romance, we are missing 00:04:19.839 --> 00:04:23.560 out on what the Bible really intends these words 00:04:23.560 --> 00:04:26.759 to do. And I know what everyone's thinking. Like 00:04:26.759 --> 00:04:29.560 me, when you read 1 Corinthians 13, the first 00:04:29.560 --> 00:04:33.230 place your mind went to was Winkle the cat. Now, 00:04:33.250 --> 00:04:34.970 some of you might know this story. It was about 00:04:34.970 --> 00:04:39.329 five, ten years ago. There was a beloved cat 00:04:39.329 --> 00:04:43.009 called Winkle who sadly died. And his elderly 00:04:43.009 --> 00:04:46.009 couple who looked after him when he died, they 00:04:46.009 --> 00:04:47.410 were very sad. You know, he went to cat heaven 00:04:47.410 --> 00:04:49.069 and everything. And they went and buried him 00:04:49.069 --> 00:04:53.829 in his garden. And the man of the house went 00:04:53.829 --> 00:04:56.790 and bought a local scrapyard. He bought this 00:04:56.790 --> 00:05:01.149 little figurine of a man carrying a cross, I 00:05:01.149 --> 00:05:02.959 think it was. And he thought that would be a 00:05:02.959 --> 00:05:06.180 nice little gravestone for little Winkle in the 00:05:06.180 --> 00:05:08.040 garden. And so he bought this thing and he put 00:05:08.040 --> 00:05:09.680 it there and it sat there for years until one 00:05:09.680 --> 00:05:13.680 day, some of you might know this story, his archaeologist 00:05:13.680 --> 00:05:15.959 friend came over for dinner and went into his 00:05:15.959 --> 00:05:19.279 garden and went, mate, what is that? And it turns 00:05:19.279 --> 00:05:24.379 out Winkle's headstone was a first century relic 00:05:24.379 --> 00:05:26.540 that was worth over a quarter of a million pounds. 00:05:26.800 --> 00:05:28.600 It had just been sitting in the garden the whole 00:05:28.600 --> 00:05:31.360 time. Not doing what it was meant to do, which 00:05:31.360 --> 00:05:34.360 is to be observed and celebrated and studied. 00:05:34.660 --> 00:05:37.360 And I think we can do something similar with 00:05:37.360 --> 00:05:40.680 1 Corinthians 13. We can think of it of being 00:05:40.680 --> 00:05:45.560 just a love poem. But if we stop there, we're 00:05:45.560 --> 00:05:47.779 guilty of treating it like Winkle's headstone. 00:05:48.120 --> 00:05:50.579 There's so much more. There's treasure here. 00:05:50.899 --> 00:05:54.220 And I think that what we want to do today is 00:05:54.220 --> 00:05:58.480 get underneath what the Bible says in these words. 00:05:59.040 --> 00:06:03.279 All about what should be the guiding force that 00:06:03.279 --> 00:06:05.579 should drive every single one of our life's direction. 00:06:06.379 --> 00:06:09.220 Quite different to a love poem. The words contained 00:06:09.220 --> 00:06:12.540 here tell you what you should be doing with your 00:06:12.540 --> 00:06:16.779 life. Look at the first verse we read there, 00:06:16.879 --> 00:06:19.100 the very end of chapter 12, halfway through. 00:06:19.480 --> 00:06:22.040 Paul writes to this church in Corinth and he 00:06:22.040 --> 00:06:24.519 starts this bit of his letter off by saying, 00:06:24.639 --> 00:06:31.579 I will show you. the most excellent way. Now, 00:06:31.620 --> 00:06:34.779 more than simply being just a poem about love, 00:06:35.040 --> 00:06:38.420 this chapter of the Bible is meant to be unearthing 00:06:38.420 --> 00:06:41.439 in us one of life's biggest questions, which 00:06:41.439 --> 00:06:45.079 is, what is my life all about? What should my 00:06:45.079 --> 00:06:48.199 life be about? Verse one to three, Paul writes 00:06:48.199 --> 00:06:51.800 to this church and he says, it's possible, church, 00:06:51.980 --> 00:06:54.579 it's possible for you to look like you are living 00:06:54.579 --> 00:06:57.889 a life of fullness. It could be possible for 00:06:57.889 --> 00:07:00.769 you to have all the wealth, all the looks, all 00:07:00.769 --> 00:07:03.970 the treasures in the world, but actually under 00:07:03.970 --> 00:07:07.449 the surface, you could be building your life 00:07:07.449 --> 00:07:11.410 on something that doesn't last. That's Paul's 00:07:11.410 --> 00:07:14.230 point in the opening verses here. And so the 00:07:14.230 --> 00:07:15.790 question I want to throw out in front of all 00:07:15.790 --> 00:07:18.129 of us today, whoever you are, wherever you come 00:07:18.129 --> 00:07:20.110 from, the question I want to put in front of 00:07:20.110 --> 00:07:23.439 you is, what are you living for? What is the 00:07:23.439 --> 00:07:25.699 driving force in your life? Whether you're a 00:07:25.699 --> 00:07:27.860 Christian or whether you're not a Christian, 00:07:27.980 --> 00:07:30.759 all of us, every single one of us, we are living 00:07:30.759 --> 00:07:34.160 for something. And maybe we don't always have 00:07:34.160 --> 00:07:36.800 the time to think through what that is. You are 00:07:36.800 --> 00:07:40.120 living for something today. What is your life 00:07:40.120 --> 00:07:41.899 all about? If you took everything else away, 00:07:42.139 --> 00:07:46.199 what is there? What is the central thing in your 00:07:46.199 --> 00:07:48.839 life? What would you say? Another way I want 00:07:48.839 --> 00:07:49.879 to ask this question that will be on the screen 00:07:49.879 --> 00:07:54.699 is, what are you building? your life on? What 00:07:54.699 --> 00:07:57.699 are you about? And however you might answer that 00:07:57.699 --> 00:08:00.180 question, however we might answer that question, 00:08:00.319 --> 00:08:05.899 I think it exposes what we love. So, you know, 00:08:05.920 --> 00:08:08.680 think of the athlete who's all about getting 00:08:08.680 --> 00:08:11.839 the gold medal. Everything about their life is 00:08:11.839 --> 00:08:14.560 for the love of that medal, for the love of the 00:08:14.560 --> 00:08:16.980 sport, for the love of winning, for the love 00:08:16.980 --> 00:08:20.180 of the challenge, from what they eat, when they 00:08:20.180 --> 00:08:24.350 sleep, where they go, who they marry, what time 00:08:24.350 --> 00:08:26.790 they go to bed. Everything about their life is 00:08:26.790 --> 00:08:29.310 about getting that gold medal one day, right? 00:08:29.850 --> 00:08:33.149 That is their love. That is driving the direction 00:08:33.149 --> 00:08:35.789 of their life. And I think loads of us, maybe 00:08:35.789 --> 00:08:37.870 it's not a gold medal, but I think loads of us 00:08:37.870 --> 00:08:40.029 have a gold medal equivalent. Something that 00:08:40.029 --> 00:08:42.629 we think, that's what my life is about. That's 00:08:42.629 --> 00:08:45.490 what's driving me. I think for loads of us, it's 00:08:45.490 --> 00:08:47.549 relationships. I think it's probably the most 00:08:47.549 --> 00:08:50.870 common answer. It's either the drive for a relationship, 00:08:51.450 --> 00:08:54.370 that we don't have but we long to have. You know, 00:08:54.389 --> 00:08:56.929 I just long for that boyfriend, that girlfriend, 00:08:57.049 --> 00:08:59.929 that husband, that wife, that child. And so everything 00:08:59.929 --> 00:09:03.490 about my life is about getting that or is about 00:09:03.490 --> 00:09:05.509 the relationships we do have and we would do 00:09:05.509 --> 00:09:08.289 anything to keep them. Does that make sense? 00:09:09.409 --> 00:09:11.769 And this is the love that I think drives the 00:09:11.769 --> 00:09:16.190 direction of lots of our lives. We're all living 00:09:16.190 --> 00:09:20.730 for something because we all love something. 00:09:21.309 --> 00:09:23.169 That's the point I'm trying to make. We're all 00:09:23.169 --> 00:09:25.970 living for something because we all love something. 00:09:26.289 --> 00:09:29.570 Love, whether you realize it or not, it is love 00:09:29.570 --> 00:09:34.029 that is leading the direction of your life. And 00:09:34.029 --> 00:09:36.750 here's the sad reality. And it's been such a 00:09:36.750 --> 00:09:38.710 happy afternoon. I almost feel bad bringing this 00:09:38.710 --> 00:09:43.529 into the room. The sad reality is every love 00:09:43.529 --> 00:09:47.649 that we chase after, every love that we build 00:09:47.649 --> 00:09:52.919 our life on will one day end. You know, someone 00:09:52.919 --> 00:09:56.600 else gets the gold medal. And so that love is 00:09:56.600 --> 00:10:00.539 taken away from you. You don't necessarily get 00:10:00.539 --> 00:10:04.500 the relationship you were looking for. Or you 00:10:04.500 --> 00:10:06.860 do get the relationship. But one way or another, 00:10:07.080 --> 00:10:13.559 it ends. Ultimately in death. Because love like 00:10:13.559 --> 00:10:17.720 that doesn't go beyond death. Every love will 00:10:17.720 --> 00:10:20.860 fail us. And I probably don't need to spend too 00:10:20.860 --> 00:10:23.700 much. Too long on this point. Because loads of 00:10:23.700 --> 00:10:26.100 you, probably most of you in this room, have 00:10:26.100 --> 00:10:29.759 experienced that kind of pain already in your 00:10:29.759 --> 00:10:33.340 life. Where you have built your life on a love 00:10:33.340 --> 00:10:36.659 that hasn't lasted. Where your world has been 00:10:36.659 --> 00:10:41.500 rocked by a failing love. That's all of us. We've 00:10:41.500 --> 00:10:46.100 all tasted that. But then comes along the radical 00:10:46.100 --> 00:10:50.100 claim of Christianity. And we see the heart of 00:10:50.100 --> 00:10:53.330 it here. in the words that we've read. And the 00:10:53.330 --> 00:10:55.909 radical claim of Christianity, we've already 00:10:55.909 --> 00:10:58.509 confessed it. We've sung it. We've prayed it. 00:10:59.970 --> 00:11:03.309 And this is the claim, that it's possible to 00:11:03.309 --> 00:11:07.090 build your life on a kind of love that, verse 00:11:07.090 --> 00:11:09.990 8, if you've got your Bible open, a kind of love 00:11:09.990 --> 00:11:14.730 that never fails. Build your life on a love that 00:11:14.730 --> 00:11:18.549 never fails. And that is the love. that Paul 00:11:18.549 --> 00:11:21.529 has in mind when he wrote 1 Corinthians chapter 00:11:21.529 --> 00:11:25.889 13. It's not simply a romantic love. This isn't 00:11:25.889 --> 00:11:29.450 simply lovely poetry to be read in a wedding. 00:11:29.529 --> 00:11:33.009 It's something more. And what I want to do for 00:11:33.009 --> 00:11:35.529 the rest of our time is just talk about this 00:11:35.529 --> 00:11:38.590 love, the kind of love that Paul is driving at 00:11:38.590 --> 00:11:43.250 here. And so here's the question. What is love? 00:11:44.169 --> 00:11:45.889 Baby, don't hurt me. Someone was singing it in 00:11:45.889 --> 00:11:49.590 your head, right? What is love? Specifically, 00:11:49.769 --> 00:11:53.610 what does Paul mean when he writes the word love? 00:11:53.769 --> 00:11:55.450 Because he writes it, if you scan your eyes over 00:11:55.450 --> 00:11:58.330 the passage, he writes the word love nine times 00:11:58.330 --> 00:12:01.730 in just 13 verses. So it's clearly, it is the 00:12:01.730 --> 00:12:04.350 theme of this passage. And it's really important 00:12:04.350 --> 00:12:06.769 that we figure out what Paul means by love because 00:12:06.769 --> 00:12:10.970 it's so easy to open up the Bible and to project 00:12:10.970 --> 00:12:14.529 onto the Bible. your worldview rather than letting 00:12:14.529 --> 00:12:17.370 the Bible project into you its worldview does 00:12:17.370 --> 00:12:19.610 that make sense so we need to figure out well 00:12:19.610 --> 00:12:22.350 what does Paul mean by the word love because 00:12:22.350 --> 00:12:25.590 for us when in the English language the word 00:12:25.590 --> 00:12:28.149 love is so broad it's an interesting word when 00:12:28.149 --> 00:12:30.909 you really think about it you know I love my 00:12:30.909 --> 00:12:36.570 wife I also love steak Those are two very different 00:12:36.570 --> 00:12:38.610 kinds of loves. You know, I don't normally desire 00:12:38.610 --> 00:12:42.049 to cook my wife, nor do I normally desire to 00:12:42.049 --> 00:12:44.230 grow old with steak. Though, if I'm being honest, 00:12:44.330 --> 00:12:46.909 saying out loud, I do want steak to be a part 00:12:46.909 --> 00:12:50.870 of my life until the day I die. I love steak. 00:12:51.350 --> 00:12:53.250 I'm getting myself confused here. I love steak, 00:12:53.370 --> 00:12:57.269 which means I like it. But I love my wife. When 00:12:57.269 --> 00:12:59.549 I say I love my wife, what I mean there is I've 00:12:59.549 --> 00:13:02.269 made a promise to her, the promise to forsake 00:13:02.269 --> 00:13:06.899 all others, the promise to in as much effort 00:13:06.899 --> 00:13:10.899 as I can to lay down my life for her. I am utterly 00:13:10.899 --> 00:13:14.159 committed to her. That's the kind of love that 00:13:14.159 --> 00:13:16.519 we have for our husbands and wives, don't we? 00:13:16.940 --> 00:13:19.019 And that's more in line with the kind of love 00:13:19.019 --> 00:13:21.799 that Paul is talking about here. Now, I'm sure 00:13:21.799 --> 00:13:23.860 some of you know this. In the New Testament, 00:13:23.960 --> 00:13:28.299 there are four main words that the Bible uses 00:13:28.299 --> 00:13:31.200 for the word love. And we've got a word that's 00:13:31.200 --> 00:13:34.279 for familial love, like love in the family. There's 00:13:34.279 --> 00:13:37.340 a word that's for friendship love, love between 00:13:37.340 --> 00:13:40.480 friends. And then there's a word for romantic 00:13:40.480 --> 00:13:44.059 love and sensual love. But they are none of the 00:13:44.059 --> 00:13:47.220 words that Paul uses here. Paul uses the word 00:13:47.220 --> 00:13:50.019 which is the most common word used for love in 00:13:50.019 --> 00:13:53.019 the New Testament, which is agape. There it is 00:13:53.019 --> 00:13:56.860 on the screen, agape. It's the love that is all 00:13:56.860 --> 00:14:01.669 about another person's... good. So it's not primarily 00:14:01.669 --> 00:14:06.110 about feelings. Primarily, there is deep affection 00:14:06.110 --> 00:14:09.070 involved, but I've got a little definition there. 00:14:09.230 --> 00:14:13.230 It means a settled purpose to act in a way for 00:14:13.230 --> 00:14:16.429 the good of someone else, regardless of their 00:14:16.429 --> 00:14:18.830 response. In other words, it is saying, I am 00:14:18.830 --> 00:14:21.669 going to choose to do good to this person, even 00:14:21.669 --> 00:14:25.049 if they don't really like me, even if they don't 00:14:25.049 --> 00:14:28.840 do the same for me. I am going to love them unconditionally. 00:14:28.919 --> 00:14:32.639 I am going to act for their good. It's affections 00:14:32.639 --> 00:14:36.519 that turn into actions to benefit someone else, 00:14:36.639 --> 00:14:39.500 despite how they might respond or feel about 00:14:39.500 --> 00:14:41.639 who I am. I think that's a really good definition. 00:14:41.860 --> 00:14:44.139 That's a really solid definition. I didn't write 00:14:44.139 --> 00:14:46.299 it. I'm not bragging. I've got this online somewhere. 00:14:47.039 --> 00:14:49.200 That's a great definition of the word agape, 00:14:49.259 --> 00:14:52.860 but I think the Bible has an even clearer definition, 00:14:52.860 --> 00:14:55.950 actually. And it's... Letting the Bible, I think 00:14:55.950 --> 00:14:58.929 we should let the Bible explain what this word 00:14:58.929 --> 00:15:01.950 means. Let the Bible translate the Bible. 1 John 00:15:01.950 --> 00:15:04.789 chapter 4 verse 8, it's on the screen. It's a 00:15:04.789 --> 00:15:08.230 verse that just says, God is agape, God is love. 00:15:09.350 --> 00:15:13.409 That's the kind of love that God is. And so what 00:15:13.409 --> 00:15:15.590 we're talking about here in 1 Corinthians 13 00:15:15.590 --> 00:15:19.210 is a kind of love, the kind of love that Paul 00:15:19.210 --> 00:15:23.710 is calling the Corinthian church. Two, the kind 00:15:23.710 --> 00:15:25.950 of love that he's saying, build your life on 00:15:25.950 --> 00:15:28.250 this kind of love, it's the kind of love that 00:15:28.250 --> 00:15:30.769 he's saying, you should love one another with. 00:15:31.190 --> 00:15:34.870 It isn't simply romantic love. It's the kind 00:15:34.870 --> 00:15:41.529 of love that God himself is. And it's really 00:15:41.529 --> 00:15:44.690 important that we allow this passage now to challenge 00:15:44.690 --> 00:15:47.590 us, to speak to us, and not all just come into 00:15:47.590 --> 00:15:49.850 this room assuming that we know what love is. 00:15:50.409 --> 00:15:52.470 Because we've heard these words read before. 00:15:52.909 --> 00:15:55.289 Because I just think it's so easy for all of 00:15:55.289 --> 00:15:57.450 us, wherever you're coming from, it's so easy 00:15:57.450 --> 00:15:59.830 for all of us to think that we are building our 00:15:59.830 --> 00:16:03.029 lives on this kind of love when actually we might 00:16:03.029 --> 00:16:05.269 be in danger of building our lives in something 00:16:05.269 --> 00:16:08.169 that's far away from the kind of love that we're 00:16:08.169 --> 00:16:10.889 reading about here. And I don't say that to try 00:16:10.889 --> 00:16:13.490 and be like click bae and get your attention 00:16:13.490 --> 00:16:16.230 or try and scare anyone in the room. I'm saying 00:16:16.230 --> 00:16:18.210 that because that's exactly what's happening 00:16:18.210 --> 00:16:21.190 in the church in Corinth. Now let's just think 00:16:21.190 --> 00:16:24.629 about this a minute. The Corinthian church, they 00:16:24.629 --> 00:16:27.309 were a church like us in this room right now. 00:16:27.389 --> 00:16:32.029 It was a body of people who were turning up every 00:16:32.029 --> 00:16:36.330 week to worship God. They were serving in the 00:16:36.330 --> 00:16:38.309 life of the church. Some of them were leading 00:16:38.309 --> 00:16:41.090 in the life of their church. They could walk 00:16:41.090 --> 00:16:44.990 the church walk and talk the church talk. You'd 00:16:44.990 --> 00:16:47.190 walk in and go, wow, this church. This church 00:16:47.190 --> 00:16:49.850 in Corinth, this is an amazing church. They totally 00:16:49.850 --> 00:16:53.970 look like really brilliant, amazing followers 00:16:53.970 --> 00:16:57.509 of Jesus. But as we've been seeing throughout 00:16:57.509 --> 00:17:01.409 this letter, under the surface, we see that this 00:17:01.409 --> 00:17:03.970 church, this young church, have actually started 00:17:03.970 --> 00:17:09.509 to build their lives on failing loves. And I 00:17:09.509 --> 00:17:12.029 think there are just two really common loves 00:17:12.029 --> 00:17:16.849 that we do, that we see in this passage. that 00:17:16.849 --> 00:17:19.049 there are two common loves that we can build 00:17:19.049 --> 00:17:21.690 our lives on, that if we do it, they're gonna 00:17:21.690 --> 00:17:24.109 fail us. So just look at verses one and two with 00:17:24.109 --> 00:17:26.410 me. It'll be on the screen as well. I'll read 00:17:26.410 --> 00:17:28.589 it again. Paul writes to this church and he says, 00:17:28.690 --> 00:17:32.029 if I speak in the tongues of men or angels, but 00:17:32.029 --> 00:17:36.190 do not have agape, do not have love, I'm only 00:17:36.190 --> 00:17:39.150 a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I 00:17:39.150 --> 00:17:41.349 have the gift of prophecy and I can fathom all 00:17:41.349 --> 00:17:44.009 mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have faith 00:17:44.009 --> 00:17:48.380 that can move mountains, do not have love, I 00:17:48.380 --> 00:17:52.619 am nothing. And here's the problem with the church 00:17:52.619 --> 00:17:57.099 in Corinth. They were building their lives on 00:17:57.099 --> 00:18:00.759 failing loves. The first thing I wanted you to 00:18:00.759 --> 00:18:05.380 see is they were mistaking their giftedness for 00:18:05.380 --> 00:18:09.079 grace. They're mistaking their giftedness for 00:18:09.079 --> 00:18:12.460 grace. Let me unpack that. You know, chapter 00:18:12.460 --> 00:18:18.029 13, it comes after, chapter 12 and it comes before 00:18:18.029 --> 00:18:21.529 chapter, thanks for those of you who are joining 00:18:21.529 --> 00:18:24.150 in here, 14 to make sure you're awake. After 00:18:24.150 --> 00:18:26.670 chapter 12, before chapter 14, if you scan your 00:18:26.670 --> 00:18:28.450 eyes either side there, what do you see those 00:18:28.450 --> 00:18:31.650 chapters are about? They're all about the supernatural 00:18:31.650 --> 00:18:34.609 gifts of the Spirit. So if you were here last 00:18:34.609 --> 00:18:36.849 week, we were seeing how Paul was writing to 00:18:36.849 --> 00:18:39.710 this church and he was talking about these abilities, 00:18:40.369 --> 00:18:43.069 these supernatural abilities that come from God. 00:18:43.529 --> 00:18:46.990 to build up the church and to unify the church 00:18:46.990 --> 00:18:51.349 in the mission of making Jesus known. So he's 00:18:51.349 --> 00:18:52.910 just been talking about supernatural gifts. He's 00:18:52.910 --> 00:18:54.970 about to talk about supernatural gifts. And then 00:18:54.970 --> 00:18:56.490 he just stops and goes, hey guys, let me just, 00:18:56.509 --> 00:18:58.630 I'm feeling very romantic right now. Let's just 00:18:58.630 --> 00:19:00.869 write a little poem about love. Why is it here? 00:19:01.630 --> 00:19:03.490 Well, I don't think it's any coincidence that 00:19:03.490 --> 00:19:06.309 it's here because he's writing to a church who 00:19:06.309 --> 00:19:11.130 are super gifted, a really gifted group of people. 00:19:11.150 --> 00:19:14.269 They had You know, amazing leaders. These were 00:19:14.269 --> 00:19:17.890 guys who had heard the apostle Paul himself preach. 00:19:18.150 --> 00:19:20.930 You know, far from what we're experiencing in 00:19:20.930 --> 00:19:24.150 this room right now, St. Paul himself, they heard 00:19:24.150 --> 00:19:27.390 his words. They'd seen amazing things happen 00:19:27.390 --> 00:19:31.730 in their church. Supernatural things, healings, 00:19:31.730 --> 00:19:36.230 miracles, prophecy. And for this young church 00:19:36.230 --> 00:19:39.490 that has just heard about Jesus in this secular 00:19:39.490 --> 00:19:43.839 city of Corinth, They're growing. Despite all 00:19:43.839 --> 00:19:46.700 odds, the church is blowing up. More and more 00:19:46.700 --> 00:19:48.900 people are coming to faith in Jesus. The reality 00:19:48.900 --> 00:19:52.359 is, if this church was in Manchester, all of 00:19:52.359 --> 00:19:54.160 us would be looking down the road at that church 00:19:54.160 --> 00:19:56.559 and going, man, I would like to be them. And 00:19:56.559 --> 00:19:57.980 let's be honest, some of you would go, see you 00:19:57.980 --> 00:20:00.900 city, I found my new church. Because they were 00:20:00.900 --> 00:20:05.119 an impressive group. But the big problem was, 00:20:05.339 --> 00:20:09.380 ultimately... This group, this church, they were 00:20:09.380 --> 00:20:12.380 far more interested in using their giftedness 00:20:12.380 --> 00:20:17.660 to serve themselves instead of serving God and 00:20:17.660 --> 00:20:20.779 serving one another. It's the absolute opposite 00:20:20.779 --> 00:20:25.259 of agape love. You know, instead of a call to 00:20:25.259 --> 00:20:29.059 sacrifice, a call to lay down for the benefit 00:20:29.059 --> 00:20:31.299 of others, they were doing the absolute opposite. 00:20:31.500 --> 00:20:34.640 They were trampling over others that they might 00:20:34.640 --> 00:20:38.740 look. that they might look impressive. They wanted 00:20:38.740 --> 00:20:41.380 people to look at them in the life of the church 00:20:41.380 --> 00:20:43.640 and go, whoa, look at that guy prophesying over 00:20:43.640 --> 00:20:47.400 there. Isn't he super amazing? Look at that preacher. 00:20:47.880 --> 00:20:51.339 Isn't he like just the best? That's how they 00:20:51.339 --> 00:20:55.119 were using their gifts. It was all about... Then 00:20:55.119 --> 00:20:57.460 they want to come across spiritual. They want 00:20:57.460 --> 00:21:00.000 to come across impressive. And so they were using 00:21:00.000 --> 00:21:02.599 their gifts. Instead of pointing to God, the 00:21:02.599 --> 00:21:04.660 one who has given them these gifts, instead they 00:21:04.660 --> 00:21:07.380 were saying, hey, give me the glory. Give me 00:21:07.380 --> 00:21:10.500 the praise because I'm pretty great. They were 00:21:10.500 --> 00:21:16.019 mistaking their gifts for grace. Thinking that 00:21:16.019 --> 00:21:18.140 because they looked impressive, because they 00:21:18.140 --> 00:21:20.279 were doing and saying a lot of the right things, 00:21:20.380 --> 00:21:22.819 then surely they're good. They're a healthy church. 00:21:22.900 --> 00:21:25.519 They're good with God. And what does Paul say? 00:21:26.019 --> 00:21:28.119 Look again, scan your eyes over verses one to 00:21:28.119 --> 00:21:30.920 three. He's saying, you can have all the gifts, 00:21:30.960 --> 00:21:33.799 church, even the amazing ones. You can have the 00:21:33.799 --> 00:21:36.480 gift of tongues. You can have the gift of prophecy. 00:21:36.660 --> 00:21:38.940 You can have the gift of faith, even faith that 00:21:38.940 --> 00:21:42.640 can move mountains, whatever that means. He says, 00:21:42.740 --> 00:21:49.180 but if you don't have love, you are nothing. 00:21:50.400 --> 00:21:53.950 Really interesting. In the Greek. The word nothing 00:21:53.950 --> 00:22:01.789 means nothing. Zilch. Emptiness. It's a pretty 00:22:01.789 --> 00:22:05.509 bold thing that Paul writes here. And so he's 00:22:05.509 --> 00:22:08.569 challenging this church. You are challenging, 00:22:08.789 --> 00:22:11.930 sorry, you are building your lives on the wrong 00:22:11.930 --> 00:22:15.130 kind of love. And just before we, I don't know, 00:22:15.150 --> 00:22:18.740 judge them too harshly. let's allow this passage 00:22:18.740 --> 00:22:20.759 to do what it's meant to do and let God's word 00:22:20.759 --> 00:22:24.460 be like a mirror in our lives. That when we read 00:22:24.460 --> 00:22:27.279 it, we allow it to shine into our lives and help 00:22:27.279 --> 00:22:30.000 us see, well, who are we? Because when I read 00:22:30.000 --> 00:22:33.759 this, I think, don't we all do this? Isn't this 00:22:33.759 --> 00:22:36.640 me? Isn't this you to some degree? Don't we all 00:22:36.640 --> 00:22:39.640 know what it's like to have that desire to fake 00:22:39.640 --> 00:22:43.039 it till you make it? To really rely on your impressiveness, 00:22:43.160 --> 00:22:45.740 to rely on your gifts, to rely on whatever you're 00:22:45.740 --> 00:22:49.480 good at to get you through life. And worse than 00:22:49.480 --> 00:22:52.039 that, we then bring that kind of thinking into 00:22:52.039 --> 00:22:55.839 our relationship with God. We think we can try 00:22:55.839 --> 00:22:58.700 and impress God. And we forget those words in 00:22:58.700 --> 00:23:02.200 Matthew 15 where Jesus says to the Pharisees, 00:23:02.200 --> 00:23:04.680 to the people who looked really impressive, but 00:23:04.680 --> 00:23:07.059 actually underneath were empty. He says that 00:23:07.059 --> 00:23:11.220 they honor God with their lips. but their hearts 00:23:11.220 --> 00:23:15.480 are far from him. Let's just, you know, for me, 00:23:15.500 --> 00:23:18.759 as I was in this this week, held this passage 00:23:18.759 --> 00:23:21.240 up as a mirror in my own life. And I was thinking 00:23:21.240 --> 00:23:24.119 about it with preaching. You know, right now, 00:23:24.259 --> 00:23:27.279 I open this book and I have the opportunity to 00:23:27.279 --> 00:23:31.279 speak words of truth, to try and help people 00:23:31.279 --> 00:23:34.160 see the reality, the beauty of this book. And 00:23:34.160 --> 00:23:36.319 yet there can always be this desire in the back 00:23:36.319 --> 00:23:38.119 of your head going, man, I hope everyone in this 00:23:38.119 --> 00:23:40.950 room likes me right now. I hope I don't upset 00:23:40.950 --> 00:23:44.069 anyone. I hope I don't say anything stupid. I 00:23:44.069 --> 00:23:46.190 hope, you know, I look good in front of people. 00:23:47.269 --> 00:23:50.589 That's really dangerous ground. Really dangerous 00:23:50.589 --> 00:23:54.490 ground for us. Because what that means is that 00:23:54.490 --> 00:23:56.890 we're in danger of, I'm in danger of building 00:23:56.890 --> 00:23:59.829 my life, building my confidence on the wrong 00:23:59.829 --> 00:24:04.769 kind of love. I could build my confidence, build 00:24:04.769 --> 00:24:09.180 my life on the love of people. The approval of 00:24:09.180 --> 00:24:11.960 man rather than building my life on the selfless 00:24:11.960 --> 00:24:18.299 agape love of God himself. My heart, your heart, 00:24:18.319 --> 00:24:21.039 the Bible says, is actually really deceitful. 00:24:21.220 --> 00:24:24.680 More deceitful than we probably realize. And 00:24:24.680 --> 00:24:28.700 it will, your heart will put its love and it 00:24:28.700 --> 00:24:32.019 will also look for love in all the wrong places. 00:24:32.720 --> 00:24:35.349 We know this, don't we? I mean, how many of us 00:24:35.349 --> 00:24:37.529 can testify to that fact that we have chased 00:24:37.529 --> 00:24:39.609 after something in our life, looking for it to 00:24:39.609 --> 00:24:41.809 fulfill us, looking for it to be the love that 00:24:41.809 --> 00:24:43.990 we need in our lives, only to find at the end 00:24:43.990 --> 00:24:48.250 that it was empty? It hurt us. It abandoned us. 00:24:48.329 --> 00:24:54.049 It let us down. John Calvin was a famous Christian 00:24:54.049 --> 00:24:57.210 in the Reformation, and he said that the human 00:24:57.210 --> 00:25:02.460 heart is a perpetual idol factory. You know, 00:25:02.460 --> 00:25:05.460 we can so easily, each of us, we can so easily 00:25:05.460 --> 00:25:10.940 make idols out of our gifts and out of what our 00:25:10.940 --> 00:25:14.220 gifts can get us. You know, we fake it to make 00:25:14.220 --> 00:25:17.019 it. We use our gifts, we use our charm, we use 00:25:17.019 --> 00:25:18.859 whatever we're good at to just get attention, 00:25:19.279 --> 00:25:23.299 to get affection, to get admiration from people. 00:25:24.259 --> 00:25:27.779 And when we do that, The danger is that those 00:25:27.779 --> 00:25:30.720 then become the loves that are the driving force 00:25:30.720 --> 00:25:34.400 of our lives. They become the thing that we build 00:25:34.400 --> 00:25:37.039 our lives on. You know, I live for this kind 00:25:37.039 --> 00:25:39.819 of love. This is what I'm about. And then actually 00:25:39.819 --> 00:25:42.039 when I build my life on a love like that, then 00:25:42.039 --> 00:25:45.079 I go out and that's how I love other people. 00:25:45.940 --> 00:25:48.140 Because the love that I'm chasing is the love 00:25:48.140 --> 00:25:50.559 that I'm then going to pass on. The love I build 00:25:50.559 --> 00:25:53.140 my life on is the kind of love that is going 00:25:53.140 --> 00:25:58.250 to come out of me at certain points. And so Paul 00:25:58.250 --> 00:26:00.369 is writing to a group of people who are not that 00:26:00.369 --> 00:26:04.390 dissimilar to us. And he's warning them in chapter 00:26:04.390 --> 00:26:09.589 13. He's saying, hey church, don't mistake your 00:26:09.589 --> 00:26:14.490 gifts for grace. Just because you're gifted in 00:26:14.490 --> 00:26:16.869 the life of the church, just because church might 00:26:16.869 --> 00:26:19.089 be doing really well, it doesn't necessarily 00:26:19.089 --> 00:26:23.049 mean that your life is built on the unfailing 00:26:23.049 --> 00:26:28.930 agape love. But also verse three, he says, don't 00:26:28.930 --> 00:26:32.250 mistake service for salvation. Look at verse 00:26:32.250 --> 00:26:34.049 three with me. You've got your Bible still open. 00:26:34.170 --> 00:26:37.089 He says, if I give all I possess to the poor 00:26:37.089 --> 00:26:40.150 and give over my body to hardship that I may 00:26:40.150 --> 00:26:44.549 boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. 00:26:45.589 --> 00:26:49.630 Now Paul's point is not only that you may be 00:26:49.630 --> 00:26:53.980 gifted in your life. But you might be someone 00:26:53.980 --> 00:26:58.599 who is outwardly ultra committed to really good 00:26:58.599 --> 00:27:03.589 things. You could be like a 10 out of 10. Christian 00:27:03.589 --> 00:27:07.269 on the outside. You are the hardcore member of 00:27:07.269 --> 00:27:10.470 church who turns up early and leaves late because 00:27:10.470 --> 00:27:12.349 you're so interested in serving. You're the one 00:27:12.349 --> 00:27:14.730 who's serving on every team. You're stretching 00:27:14.730 --> 00:27:17.549 yourself across the board. You're tithing even 00:27:17.549 --> 00:27:19.349 more than that. You're not just giving 10%. You're 00:27:19.349 --> 00:27:22.170 giving 20%. It's hurting you that much. I mean, 00:27:22.190 --> 00:27:24.269 Paul says right there, you could be someone who 00:27:24.269 --> 00:27:28.109 gives all that you have to the poor. I don't 00:27:28.109 --> 00:27:30.339 know if anyone in this room has done that. If 00:27:30.339 --> 00:27:32.000 you met someone who gave all they have to the 00:27:32.000 --> 00:27:34.539 poor, you go, wow, what a compassionate, amazing 00:27:34.539 --> 00:27:38.339 person. He says, you could give your body to 00:27:38.339 --> 00:27:41.359 hardship. That literally means you could give 00:27:41.359 --> 00:27:44.299 your body over to be burnt. That's what that 00:27:44.299 --> 00:27:47.059 means. In other words, literally someone who 00:27:47.059 --> 00:27:50.160 is ready to die, someone who's ready to be burnt 00:27:50.160 --> 00:27:53.940 at the stake for being a member of your church. 00:27:54.319 --> 00:27:57.339 He says, you can be that person. You can look 00:27:57.339 --> 00:27:59.400 like that. Other people go, wow, look at that 00:27:59.400 --> 00:28:05.559 lady. She's amazing. But we can easily mistake 00:28:05.559 --> 00:28:09.559 all of this Christian activity and service for 00:28:09.559 --> 00:28:11.940 a heart that is reliant on love. And Paul is 00:28:11.940 --> 00:28:16.420 saying, no, no. Guys, it's possible. It's possible 00:28:16.420 --> 00:28:20.319 to do loads of Christian stuff, loads of good 00:28:20.319 --> 00:28:27.259 stuff. But without love, it's nothing. It's very 00:28:27.259 --> 00:28:30.460 possible to outwardly look like you are building 00:28:30.460 --> 00:28:33.920 your life on the right things, but inwardly, 00:28:33.920 --> 00:28:38.279 you've never experienced or received the kind 00:28:38.279 --> 00:28:41.839 of love that we're talking about. And so, let 00:28:41.839 --> 00:28:43.140 me ask you the question again that we asked a 00:28:43.140 --> 00:28:46.880 few minutes ago. What are you building your life 00:28:46.880 --> 00:28:53.140 on? Whose love are you living for this afternoon? 00:28:54.089 --> 00:28:56.410 Because here's the point I think Paul is making. 00:28:56.529 --> 00:29:01.410 He's saying giftedness, activity, service, these 00:29:01.410 --> 00:29:03.750 things that you're good at, all of those things 00:29:03.750 --> 00:29:06.809 will fade away. Every single one of them will 00:29:06.809 --> 00:29:09.490 fade away. Look at verse eight. He says, prophecies 00:29:09.490 --> 00:29:12.289 will cease. Tongues will be stilled. Knowledge 00:29:12.289 --> 00:29:17.730 will pass away. And if your life and if your 00:29:17.730 --> 00:29:23.960 love is found in your own giftedness, And if 00:29:23.960 --> 00:29:27.960 your confidence is found in your service, in 00:29:27.960 --> 00:29:32.039 your abilities, in your commitment, then Paul 00:29:32.039 --> 00:29:34.960 is warning you right now that those things will 00:29:34.960 --> 00:29:38.440 fade. And as quickly as they fade, you will fade 00:29:38.440 --> 00:29:43.039 as well. If your life, however, is built on God, 00:29:43.299 --> 00:29:47.259 if it's built on this agape love, then you won't 00:29:47.259 --> 00:29:50.089 worry. when gifts fade and when things change 00:29:50.089 --> 00:29:51.650 because they were never the foundation of your 00:29:51.650 --> 00:29:53.829 life anyway. Your life was built on something 00:29:53.829 --> 00:29:58.390 much bigger, much better. But if you do, Paul 00:29:58.390 --> 00:30:00.170 is saying, if you do choose to set your life 00:30:00.170 --> 00:30:03.130 on you, your abilities, your gifts, your preferences, 00:30:03.210 --> 00:30:06.609 then God, who is a good God, whether you believe 00:30:06.609 --> 00:30:09.430 it or not, he will give you those things that 00:30:09.430 --> 00:30:12.130 you chase after. I actually think one of the... 00:30:12.670 --> 00:30:14.970 The most challenging, maybe the most scary verses 00:30:14.970 --> 00:30:17.950 in all of the Bible is found in Romans 1, verse 00:30:17.950 --> 00:30:22.609 24, where it says that God will give you over 00:30:22.609 --> 00:30:26.490 to the desires of your heart. Maybe some of you 00:30:26.490 --> 00:30:28.609 think, great, I know what my heart desires. I'd 00:30:28.609 --> 00:30:33.009 love God to give me those things. But the point 00:30:33.009 --> 00:30:36.130 that Paul is making here is there is a warning 00:30:36.130 --> 00:30:40.130 here for every single one of us. If you build 00:30:40.130 --> 00:30:44.039 your life, on the failing loves of this world, 00:30:44.220 --> 00:30:48.559 then eventually they will fail you to the degree 00:30:48.559 --> 00:30:53.319 that they can blind you from the fullness and 00:30:53.319 --> 00:30:57.119 the majesty and the glory of what your life is 00:30:57.119 --> 00:31:00.319 meant to be about. They can blind you and take 00:31:00.319 --> 00:31:04.700 you away from God himself. And instead of calling 00:31:04.700 --> 00:31:08.869 you to a life of fullness and glory, The failing 00:31:08.869 --> 00:31:11.029 loves of this world will bring you into a world 00:31:11.029 --> 00:31:16.069 of emptiness and nothingness. And so really, 00:31:16.170 --> 00:31:18.170 1 Corinthians 13 is actually a really heavy passage. 00:31:18.390 --> 00:31:20.470 We read it at weddings like, oh, that's lovely. 00:31:21.069 --> 00:31:25.130 But really, I think when we get under the surface, 00:31:25.150 --> 00:31:29.210 we see that far from being a love poem, it exposes 00:31:29.210 --> 00:31:35.859 our desperate need for true love. And so it sets 00:31:35.859 --> 00:31:38.619 us up nicely for me to ask us, I think, what's 00:31:38.619 --> 00:31:40.000 probably one of the most important questions 00:31:40.000 --> 00:31:44.460 we can ask ourselves. Where is true love found? 00:31:45.420 --> 00:31:49.640 Where is true love found? And how can I go about 00:31:49.640 --> 00:31:52.740 building my life on the kind of love that will 00:31:52.740 --> 00:31:55.579 not hurt me, that won't abandon me, that will 00:31:55.579 --> 00:31:59.099 never fail me? Because it's a real battle, right? 00:31:59.160 --> 00:32:01.099 We're not talking about pie in the sky, Disney 00:32:01.099 --> 00:32:03.380 princess movies here. We're talking about real 00:32:03.380 --> 00:32:07.000 life, nine to five, raising kids, getting sick. 00:32:07.440 --> 00:32:10.099 In all of those things, I want there to be a 00:32:10.099 --> 00:32:14.460 love that won't fail me. I want my desire, I 00:32:14.460 --> 00:32:16.940 want to build my life not on the love of this 00:32:16.940 --> 00:32:20.720 world. I don't want the approval of man. I'm 00:32:20.720 --> 00:32:23.000 battling against the idols of the flesh. Where 00:32:23.000 --> 00:32:27.880 can I go to find true love? It's a real battle, 00:32:27.980 --> 00:32:31.440 right? And maybe like Paul in Romans chapter 00:32:31.440 --> 00:32:34.240 7, we know what it's like to say, I have this 00:32:34.240 --> 00:32:36.599 desire to want to do good. I have this desire 00:32:36.599 --> 00:32:40.380 to want to know love and love like that, but 00:32:40.380 --> 00:32:45.940 I can't do it. I can't do it. No amount of effort 00:32:45.940 --> 00:32:48.779 is helping me build my life on a love that won't 00:32:48.779 --> 00:32:53.000 fail me. My heart fails me all too often and 00:32:53.000 --> 00:32:57.640 I want to change. But how? How? How can we change? 00:32:59.299 --> 00:33:01.859 This is what I think the big secret, the big 00:33:01.859 --> 00:33:09.339 uppercut of 1 Corinthians 13 is. Your love can 00:33:09.339 --> 00:33:13.240 only change once you've been changed by love. 00:33:13.900 --> 00:33:18.680 Your love can only change once you've been changed 00:33:18.680 --> 00:33:21.740 by love. And this is a central claim to Christianity, 00:33:22.000 --> 00:33:25.299 that it's only when you and I... in our brokenness, 00:33:25.299 --> 00:33:28.339 in our weakness, in our lovelessness, is only 00:33:28.339 --> 00:33:33.740 when we receive the love of God himself, when 00:33:33.740 --> 00:33:36.359 we build our lives on a love like the one that's 00:33:36.359 --> 00:33:39.099 being described here, only then can we move from 00:33:39.099 --> 00:33:43.490 emptiness to fullness. It makes me think of those 00:33:43.490 --> 00:33:46.390 words in John chapter 7, where Jesus is amongst 00:33:46.390 --> 00:33:49.230 the crowds, and he says to this group of people 00:33:49.230 --> 00:33:50.769 who are looking for love, who are looking for 00:33:50.769 --> 00:33:53.490 life, who are full of questions, he says, whoever 00:33:53.490 --> 00:33:58.029 drinks living water, out of them will flow living 00:33:58.029 --> 00:34:00.829 water. In other words, Jesus is saying, whoever 00:34:00.829 --> 00:34:04.309 builds their life on the agape, on the love of 00:34:04.309 --> 00:34:07.509 God, out of them, that kind of love is going 00:34:07.509 --> 00:34:10.579 to flow. It's an amazing claim. And this is where 00:34:10.579 --> 00:34:13.000 the Corinthians are getting it wrong. Because 00:34:13.000 --> 00:34:18.079 no amount of giftedness in their church, no amount 00:34:18.079 --> 00:34:23.059 of service could change them. The only thing 00:34:23.059 --> 00:34:26.260 that is able to change their hardened hearts, 00:34:26.519 --> 00:34:28.900 the only thing that's able to change the direction 00:34:28.900 --> 00:34:33.920 of their lives is love. And what is this love? 00:34:34.440 --> 00:34:38.179 Let's read it. Verses four to seven. Love is 00:34:38.179 --> 00:34:41.420 patient. Love is kind. It does not envy. It does 00:34:41.420 --> 00:34:44.599 not boast. It is not proud. It does not dishonor 00:34:44.599 --> 00:34:47.739 others. It is not self -seeking. It is not easily 00:34:47.739 --> 00:34:50.099 angered. It keeps no record of wrongs. Love does 00:34:50.099 --> 00:34:52.780 not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. 00:34:53.099 --> 00:34:57.199 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, 00:34:57.380 --> 00:35:01.179 always perseveres. Love never fails. Here's something 00:35:01.179 --> 00:35:04.760 I can tell you. None of us in ourselves are able 00:35:04.760 --> 00:35:11.159 to love like this. person who this scripture 00:35:11.159 --> 00:35:16.639 is truly about. And who is it? Who does this 00:35:16.639 --> 00:35:20.380 sound a lot like? Who is it who is love is patient? 00:35:20.619 --> 00:35:23.619 Who is it who says my heart is that none should 00:35:23.619 --> 00:35:28.599 perish but that all should come to eternal life 00:35:28.599 --> 00:35:33.579 in me? Who is it who is kind? Who when the woman 00:35:33.579 --> 00:35:36.179 was caught in adultery he came alongside her 00:35:36.179 --> 00:35:40.070 and instead of condemning her He loved her and 00:35:40.070 --> 00:35:43.610 raised her up out of the mess of her life. Who 00:35:43.610 --> 00:35:46.070 is it who is not envious, who does not boast, 00:35:46.190 --> 00:35:49.449 who is not proud? Who is it who left the glory 00:35:49.449 --> 00:35:52.789 of heaven itself, who came down off his throne, 00:35:52.909 --> 00:35:55.809 who came down, humbled himself into this world, 00:35:55.889 --> 00:35:59.570 born in a manger, born into the muck of life 00:35:59.570 --> 00:36:02.809 for the benefit, not of himself, but of others. 00:36:03.530 --> 00:36:06.869 Who is it who does not dishonor others, but instead 00:36:06.869 --> 00:36:10.429 is the lifter of the lowly? He doesn't look down 00:36:10.429 --> 00:36:13.329 on the weak and says, you disgust me. He lifts 00:36:13.329 --> 00:36:16.989 them up. Who is it who is not self -seeking? 00:36:17.329 --> 00:36:21.789 Who, for the joy set before him, endured the 00:36:21.789 --> 00:36:24.789 cross? Who didn't live for his own glory, but 00:36:24.789 --> 00:36:26.949 lived for the benefit of others? Who is it who 00:36:26.949 --> 00:36:30.550 is not easily angered, but is slow to anger? 00:36:31.079 --> 00:36:34.840 Who is rich in love? Who is compassionate? Who 00:36:34.840 --> 00:36:38.960 is it who keeps no record of wrongs? Who is it 00:36:38.960 --> 00:36:42.000 who says, I take your sin, I take your iniquity, 00:36:42.079 --> 00:36:44.960 I hurl it into the depths of the sea and I will 00:36:44.960 --> 00:36:47.900 never bring it up to stand against you ever again. 00:36:48.679 --> 00:36:51.639 Who is it who does not delight in evil? Whose 00:36:51.639 --> 00:36:55.019 hands have never typed the wrong thing on a laptop? 00:36:55.099 --> 00:36:57.579 Whose words have never cursed? Whose feet have 00:36:57.579 --> 00:37:00.699 never been quick to rush into an evil situation? 00:37:01.199 --> 00:37:04.800 Who is it who rejoices with the truth? Who more 00:37:04.800 --> 00:37:09.440 than that says, I am the truth. Come to me. Who 00:37:09.440 --> 00:37:12.480 is it who always protects like a shepherd who 00:37:12.480 --> 00:37:15.440 guides his sheep? through the valleys, even the 00:37:15.440 --> 00:37:18.800 valley of death, keeping his sheep safe against 00:37:18.800 --> 00:37:21.780 the wolves of this world? Who is it who always 00:37:21.780 --> 00:37:25.760 trusts, who always hopes, who knows that there 00:37:25.760 --> 00:37:28.840 is a glorious future ahead of us? Who is it who 00:37:28.840 --> 00:37:31.940 always perseveres, even to the point of being 00:37:31.940 --> 00:37:36.039 nailed on a cross where he bled and he died and 00:37:36.039 --> 00:37:41.380 he endured the sin of this world? Who is it who 00:37:41.380 --> 00:37:48.250 never Love has a name. And his name is Jesus. 00:37:50.110 --> 00:37:53.610 That's who this passage is about. There is only 00:37:53.610 --> 00:37:58.150 one place where we will find a love like that. 00:37:58.429 --> 00:38:01.510 There is only one place where you and I can run 00:38:01.510 --> 00:38:05.110 to to find a love that will not fail us. And 00:38:05.110 --> 00:38:10.110 it's the love of Christ. And just two things 00:38:10.110 --> 00:38:14.690 to wrap us up here. When we come into that kind 00:38:14.690 --> 00:38:18.210 of love, when we run to that kind of love and 00:38:18.210 --> 00:38:20.510 build our lives on a love like that, the first 00:38:20.510 --> 00:38:23.130 thing is, it's a love that says, come as you 00:38:23.130 --> 00:38:27.210 are. Come as you are. You know, Jesus doesn't 00:38:27.210 --> 00:38:30.710 scan this world looking for the gifted people 00:38:30.710 --> 00:38:33.469 of the world. Going, well, I'll have you on my 00:38:33.469 --> 00:38:35.250 team. You know when you're a kid and you pick 00:38:35.250 --> 00:38:37.630 one at a time for your football team? That's 00:38:37.630 --> 00:38:40.800 not how Jesus operates. He doesn't look and say, 00:38:40.860 --> 00:38:43.599 what can you offer me before I consider giving 00:38:43.599 --> 00:38:46.840 you this love? You don't need to impress him 00:38:46.840 --> 00:38:49.659 to get his attention. You know, that's Paul's 00:38:49.659 --> 00:38:51.579 point in verse one there where he talks about 00:38:51.579 --> 00:38:54.199 this clanging cymbal. He's talking about this 00:38:54.199 --> 00:38:57.079 picture of pagan worship where the worshipers 00:38:57.079 --> 00:38:59.039 would go to the temple and they'd over and over 00:38:59.039 --> 00:39:01.059 again clang the cymbal to get the attention, 00:39:01.219 --> 00:39:02.960 to wake the gods up, to say, hey, look at me, 00:39:03.079 --> 00:39:05.980 look at me, look how great I am. We don't need 00:39:05.980 --> 00:39:10.559 to do that with Jesus. This love says no. Just 00:39:10.559 --> 00:39:14.699 come as you are. It's like the best host of the 00:39:14.699 --> 00:39:19.840 best house. Don't bring wine. Don't bring the 00:39:19.840 --> 00:39:22.119 dessert. Just come as you are. Don't even worry 00:39:22.119 --> 00:39:24.920 about showering. In fact, Jesus goes beyond that 00:39:24.920 --> 00:39:27.440 and says, not only do you not have to bring your 00:39:27.440 --> 00:39:30.099 best to come to this kind of love, the credential 00:39:30.099 --> 00:39:34.000 is bring your worst. Bring who you truly are 00:39:34.000 --> 00:39:37.639 to him. Jesus says, come to me, all you who are 00:39:37.639 --> 00:39:41.880 weary, heavy laden. guilty, carrying the weight 00:39:41.880 --> 00:39:44.619 of this world. Come to me and I will give you 00:39:44.619 --> 00:39:47.639 rest. Bring me your errors. Bring me your sin. 00:39:48.460 --> 00:39:51.699 Bring your worst. That's what the love of Jesus 00:39:51.699 --> 00:39:55.179 says. Come as you are. And secondly, it's a love 00:39:55.179 --> 00:40:01.099 that covers the cost. You know, the Corinthians 00:40:01.099 --> 00:40:03.860 were living like they could earn this kind of 00:40:03.860 --> 00:40:06.099 love by their religious activity. Look how amazing 00:40:06.099 --> 00:40:08.239 we are. Look how gifted we are. Look at all this 00:40:08.239 --> 00:40:09.460 stuff we're doing. We're giving everything to 00:40:09.460 --> 00:40:11.820 the poor. Some of us are even being burned at 00:40:11.820 --> 00:40:14.599 the stake. And Paul's saying, no, that's not 00:40:14.599 --> 00:40:17.820 how you get this kind of love. This love isn't 00:40:17.820 --> 00:40:20.679 given at the cost of its receiver. This love 00:40:20.679 --> 00:40:23.639 is given at the cost of the giver. Why? Because 00:40:23.639 --> 00:40:28.440 it's an agape love. It's a cross -shaped love. 00:40:29.519 --> 00:40:33.820 It's a love that has paid the price, that has 00:40:33.820 --> 00:40:37.960 done the work. that you and I might be the receivers 00:40:37.960 --> 00:40:42.460 of this love. It's a love that says, I love you 00:40:42.460 --> 00:40:45.639 regardless of how you feel towards me. Just think 00:40:45.639 --> 00:40:48.780 of those words in Romans 5, while we were still 00:40:48.780 --> 00:40:51.940 sinners, while we were still running away from 00:40:51.940 --> 00:40:53.760 this love, while we were still building our life 00:40:53.760 --> 00:40:57.039 on the loves of this world, still, Jesus said, 00:40:57.199 --> 00:41:02.420 still, I will go to the cross for you. Despite 00:41:02.420 --> 00:41:07.380 how you feel towards me, here is love. So the 00:41:07.380 --> 00:41:10.619 invitation is now rest in that love. Hear this. 00:41:11.300 --> 00:41:15.800 Jesus cares very little about your gifts. He 00:41:15.800 --> 00:41:20.300 cares a lot about your love. So rest in his love. 00:41:21.159 --> 00:41:24.900 Don't try and impress him. His love is offered 00:41:24.900 --> 00:41:29.159 to you at his expense. And here's why I'm going 00:41:29.159 --> 00:41:31.389 to wrap up here. Here's why 1 Corinthians 13, 00:41:31.530 --> 00:41:35.869 I think, is just so beautiful. Because this kind 00:41:35.869 --> 00:41:37.889 of love that we're talking about here, it has 00:41:37.889 --> 00:41:42.050 no end. Look at verse 13. Paul says, and now 00:41:42.050 --> 00:41:46.130 these three remain, faith, hope, and love. But 00:41:46.130 --> 00:41:49.610 the greatest of these is love. Why is that? Have 00:41:49.610 --> 00:41:51.250 you ever stopped to really ask yourself, that's 00:41:51.250 --> 00:41:53.190 the end bit of the wedding, isn't it? We all 00:41:53.190 --> 00:41:55.949 go, that's lovely. What does it mean? Why does 00:41:55.949 --> 00:41:58.469 he write that? Here's what I think it means. 00:41:59.500 --> 00:42:03.179 Paul is saying, there is a day coming where you 00:42:03.179 --> 00:42:06.719 won't need faith anymore. He's saying there is 00:42:06.719 --> 00:42:09.880 a day coming where you won't need hope anymore. 00:42:10.599 --> 00:42:17.480 Why? Because, he says it right here, we will 00:42:17.480 --> 00:42:25.199 see him face to face. We will see him. All the 00:42:25.199 --> 00:42:28.260 promises of God will be fulfilled in that moment. 00:42:28.969 --> 00:42:31.110 And so we don't need faith anymore because we 00:42:31.110 --> 00:42:33.070 can see him. We don't need hope anymore because 00:42:33.070 --> 00:42:36.710 we are with him. But we will always have his 00:42:36.710 --> 00:42:41.550 love. Love never ends. His love never fails. 00:42:41.909 --> 00:42:45.269 It won't fail you then. And church, it won't 00:42:45.269 --> 00:42:49.289 fail you now. God's love will never fail you. 00:42:49.869 --> 00:42:52.510 And so just hear this as we close. Every other 00:42:52.510 --> 00:42:54.610 love, according to the Bible, ultimately is going 00:42:54.610 --> 00:42:57.469 to fail you. But there is only one love that 00:42:57.469 --> 00:43:00.800 we can truly... Truly no, won't fail us because 00:43:00.800 --> 00:43:04.239 it's the only love that has passed through death 00:43:04.239 --> 00:43:08.239 and now stands in eternity. Not even death can 00:43:08.239 --> 00:43:11.380 separate us from this love. And so let's close 00:43:11.380 --> 00:43:13.639 with this question. Which love are you building 00:43:13.639 --> 00:43:18.219 your life on? Which love is driving your life? 00:43:19.000 --> 00:43:22.440 Because Jesus claims that there is a love available. 00:43:23.099 --> 00:43:25.679 Whoever you are, whether it's your first time 00:43:25.679 --> 00:43:28.480 in church or your millionth time in church, whether 00:43:28.480 --> 00:43:30.500 you're coming from a strictly religious background 00:43:30.500 --> 00:43:33.219 or you've never ever opened a Bible in your life, 00:43:33.300 --> 00:43:36.739 Jesus' claim is that there is a love that is 00:43:36.739 --> 00:43:40.099 available to you and it is a love that will never 00:43:40.099 --> 00:43:43.340 fail you, will never leave you and never forsake 00:43:43.340 --> 00:43:47.500 you. Don't you want to be loved like that? And 00:43:47.500 --> 00:43:49.480 don't you want to learn to be able to love other 00:43:49.480 --> 00:43:53.099 people like that? Then we can turn to Jesus. 00:43:53.800 --> 00:43:56.920 We can call out to him. We can let go of the 00:43:56.920 --> 00:43:59.639 failing loves of this world and we can build 00:43:59.639 --> 00:44:04.639 our lives on the one love that will never, ever 00:44:04.639 --> 00:44:11.179 fail. Let me pray for us. Oh Lord, we thank you. 00:44:12.159 --> 00:44:14.320 We thank you that we can have confidence that 00:44:14.320 --> 00:44:19.099 God, you are a God who loves us. We thank you 00:44:19.099 --> 00:44:21.800 that you call people like me, people like us, 00:44:21.880 --> 00:44:24.719 people who know what it's like. To chase after 00:44:24.719 --> 00:44:28.659 the wrong loves of this world. To build our lives 00:44:28.659 --> 00:44:30.880 in the wrong places. God, I thank you that you 00:44:30.880 --> 00:44:34.099 have not abandoned us. And instead, in your love, 00:44:34.139 --> 00:44:39.699 you call us to yourself. To turn to Jesus and 00:44:39.699 --> 00:44:42.480 to build our lives in a love that will not fail 00:44:42.480 --> 00:44:46.500 us. Oh Lord, I pray that your word now would 00:44:46.500 --> 00:44:49.139 just be planted deep in our hearts. Lord, that 00:44:49.139 --> 00:44:52.400 we would be assured of your love as we turn to 00:44:52.400 --> 00:44:56.090 you. And Lord, that we'd be convicted of the 00:44:56.090 --> 00:44:58.309 love that maybe, the loves that we've put in 00:44:58.309 --> 00:45:00.230 the wrong place. God, help us to change. And 00:45:00.230 --> 00:45:02.610 thank you that you have not abandoned us, but 00:45:02.610 --> 00:45:04.929 you have given us yourself, that we may have 00:45:04.929 --> 00:45:09.170 life and love and fullness. And so Lord, speak 00:45:09.170 --> 00:45:12.289 to us now, even as we sing and as we pray. Come 00:45:12.289 --> 00:45:14.349 and meet with us. We pray these things in your 00:45:14.349 --> 00:45:15.309 name. Amen.