WEBVTT 00:00:00.170 --> 00:00:03.509 I want to ask you to keep in your prayers the 00:00:03.509 --> 00:00:05.849 Promise Keepers Rally that is planned for August 00:00:05.849 --> 00:00:09.250 4th in Washington DC. A million men will be coming 00:00:09.250 --> 00:00:12.609 together and it's going to be a great day of 00:00:12.609 --> 00:00:14.769 prayer and repentance on behalf of our nation. 00:00:14.970 --> 00:00:17.929 It's called Stand in the Gap. If you've thought 00:00:17.929 --> 00:00:19.989 about going but just haven't made up your mind 00:00:19.989 --> 00:00:21.850 yet, there's still that opportunity. In fact, 00:00:21.929 --> 00:00:24.390 you can get down there and back in the same day. 00:00:25.030 --> 00:00:28.809 on a chartered 747, and you can call this number 00:00:28.809 --> 00:00:32.990 if you have interest in doing that. It's 644 00:00:32.990 --> 00:00:37.490 -8144. Call that number and you'll be able to 00:00:37.490 --> 00:00:39.609 find out the information as to how you can get 00:00:39.609 --> 00:00:42.490 down there to stand in the gap on the same day 00:00:42.490 --> 00:00:47.729 and get back on the same day. Well, there's a 00:00:47.729 --> 00:00:51.210 Peanuts cartoon in which Linus announces to his 00:00:51.210 --> 00:00:54.149 cranky sister Lucy that he's going to be a doctor. 00:00:55.260 --> 00:00:59.359 She says, you, a doctor, you don't love mankind? 00:01:00.700 --> 00:01:04.340 Linus replies to her, I do too love mankind. 00:01:04.640 --> 00:01:09.260 It's people I can't stand. That touches on the 00:01:09.260 --> 00:01:11.180 text that we have to look at this morning in 00:01:11.180 --> 00:01:14.239 1 Corinthians chapter 13 as we think about loving 00:01:14.239 --> 00:01:19.659 people. The Corinthian Christians, like too many 00:01:19.659 --> 00:01:23.909 today, had spiritual eyesight problem. They suffered 00:01:23.909 --> 00:01:29.030 from soul myopia, that is from spiritual nearsightedness. 00:01:29.790 --> 00:01:33.569 They focused on the now and what appealed to 00:01:33.569 --> 00:01:38.150 their sensual experience rather than on what 00:01:38.150 --> 00:01:42.549 lasts and what brings genuine spiritual maturity 00:01:42.549 --> 00:01:48.129 to the individual. John MacArthur writes, Instead 00:01:48.129 --> 00:01:50.849 of being God's salt in Corinth, they were being 00:01:50.849 --> 00:01:53.950 flavored by the culture around them. Instead 00:01:53.950 --> 00:01:56.849 of penetrating Corinth with a spirit of godliness, 00:01:57.689 --> 00:02:00.569 Corinth's spirit of ungodliness had penetrated 00:02:00.569 --> 00:02:04.290 the church. Instead of being obedient to God's 00:02:04.290 --> 00:02:06.549 spirit and controlled by the fruit he gives, 00:02:07.069 --> 00:02:11.789 They were infected by materialism, pride, antagonism, 00:02:12.289 --> 00:02:15.150 selfishness, compromise, indulgence, hatred, 00:02:15.849 --> 00:02:18.610 sexual immorality, jealousy, and virtually every 00:02:18.610 --> 00:02:22.330 other sin imaginable. Instead of Corinth being 00:02:22.330 --> 00:02:26.909 Christianized, the church was being paganized. 00:02:28.629 --> 00:02:35.520 Friends, those are frightening words. The Corinthians 00:02:35.520 --> 00:02:38.659 emphasized the things that were passing and temporal, 00:02:38.740 --> 00:02:42.819 not the things lasting and eternal. They were 00:02:42.819 --> 00:02:46.639 caught up with that which is secondary and overlooked 00:02:46.639 --> 00:02:51.000 the significant. And that's why Paul urges them 00:02:51.000 --> 00:02:54.159 in a new direction, to get their focus off of 00:02:54.159 --> 00:02:57.560 the spiritual gifts, as wonderful as they are, 00:02:58.340 --> 00:03:02.879 and onto the life of the Spirit, which is manifested 00:03:02.879 --> 00:03:05.710 in the fruit of love. For you see, after the 00:03:05.710 --> 00:03:09.669 gifts have served their purpose, love will continue 00:03:09.669 --> 00:03:13.830 on. No wonder that he points them in the direction 00:03:13.830 --> 00:03:18.090 of love, calling it the more excellent way, or 00:03:18.090 --> 00:03:21.550 the more excellent direction, than merely getting 00:03:21.550 --> 00:03:25.050 excited about the gifts of the Spirit. For you 00:03:25.050 --> 00:03:29.009 see it is love that will take us to genuine spiritual 00:03:29.009 --> 00:03:33.250 maturity and Christ -likeness. There are two 00:03:33.250 --> 00:03:36.050 reasons that he gives us earlier in chapter 13, 00:03:36.210 --> 00:03:39.030 verses 1 through 7, for eagerly pursuing love, 00:03:39.409 --> 00:03:43.069 these we studied last week. He says that we ought 00:03:43.069 --> 00:03:45.949 to make love the energy and the motivation for 00:03:45.949 --> 00:03:49.389 how we live, first of all, because of the preeminence 00:03:49.389 --> 00:03:52.750 of love, and secondly, because of the portrait 00:03:52.750 --> 00:03:56.189 of love. But as we look in the text for today, 00:03:56.289 --> 00:03:58.469 which begins in verse 8, we're going to see a 00:03:58.469 --> 00:04:01.689 third reason for eagerly pursuing love. and that 00:04:01.689 --> 00:04:08.550 is the permanence of love. Love, that is agape 00:04:08.550 --> 00:04:12.990 love, God's kind of love, is permanent in God's 00:04:12.990 --> 00:04:17.870 new order. Love is the eternal energy that is 00:04:17.870 --> 00:04:21.790 imminent in God and which animates all of his 00:04:21.790 --> 00:04:26.709 deeds. Therefore, when you and I act in love, 00:04:27.829 --> 00:04:30.620 we act in his powerful energy. Paul, would you 00:04:30.620 --> 00:04:34.500 like to have this? There you go. I think Paul 00:04:34.500 --> 00:04:36.480 needs the notes I'm going to be using this morning 00:04:36.480 --> 00:04:39.399 so he can keep up with the slides. It's a good 00:04:39.399 --> 00:04:42.160 idea. By the way, I had a compliment on you last 00:04:42.160 --> 00:04:44.399 week. They said that you stayed right with me 00:04:44.399 --> 00:04:46.379 the whole message and the person who was here 00:04:46.379 --> 00:04:49.319 had been in another talk where the speaker was 00:04:49.319 --> 00:04:51.360 talking one thing and the slides were doing another. 00:04:52.360 --> 00:04:57.629 So, for you. I really appreciate it. Or maybe 00:04:57.629 --> 00:04:59.750 I keep up with you, maybe that's what we do. 00:05:01.730 --> 00:05:04.750 So you see when we act in love, what we are really 00:05:04.750 --> 00:05:08.730 doing is acting in the powerful energy of God 00:05:08.730 --> 00:05:14.529 because love is imminent in God and it animates 00:05:14.529 --> 00:05:18.470 his mighty deeds. Now there are three aspects 00:05:18.470 --> 00:05:20.889 of love's permanence that I want us to look at 00:05:20.889 --> 00:05:23.509 in these verses. The first is The first part 00:05:23.509 --> 00:05:26.949 of verse 8 where Paul simply says, love never 00:05:26.949 --> 00:05:30.829 fails. Here we have the permanence of love's 00:05:30.829 --> 00:05:35.389 power. Love never loses its potency. It never 00:05:35.389 --> 00:05:38.410 fails. The word fail here means to fall down 00:05:38.410 --> 00:05:43.410 to the ground, like petals of a flower fall to 00:05:43.410 --> 00:05:47.110 the ground when the flower is dying. He says, 00:05:47.250 --> 00:05:53.250 love doesn't wither. Love remains fresh. It is 00:05:53.250 --> 00:05:58.610 ever seeking the good of its recipient. The Song 00:05:58.610 --> 00:06:01.709 of Solomon chapter 8 verse 7 says, Many waters 00:06:01.709 --> 00:06:05.490 cannot quench love, nor will rivers overflow 00:06:05.490 --> 00:06:12.250 it. Just as God never changes or fails, so agape 00:06:12.250 --> 00:06:16.209 his love is the same. It persists. It doesn't 00:06:16.209 --> 00:06:21.420 give up. We can see this in Jesus. For it was 00:06:21.420 --> 00:06:25.139 love that motivated him to go to the cross that 00:06:25.139 --> 00:06:28.660 was so beautifully sung about this morning. It 00:06:28.660 --> 00:06:32.180 was love that caused him to die for those of 00:06:32.180 --> 00:06:37.220 us who were hostile to him. As it says in John 00:06:37.220 --> 00:06:40.860 13 .1, having loved his own who were in the world, 00:06:40.860 --> 00:06:44.540 he loved them to the end. That is, he loved them 00:06:44.540 --> 00:06:48.379 to the uttermost. He loved them to the utmost 00:06:48.379 --> 00:06:56.100 degree. Love never fails, but love can be put 00:06:56.100 --> 00:07:00.860 off. Although love is a dynamic force unequaled, 00:07:01.180 --> 00:07:06.480 it can be refused. It can be rejected and spurned. 00:07:06.560 --> 00:07:11.199 Love's unfailingness may not achieve its desired 00:07:11.199 --> 00:07:17.060 end, because love can be put off, and yet it 00:07:17.060 --> 00:07:22.129 doesn't quit. Love never fails in spite of the 00:07:22.129 --> 00:07:27.610 action or the inaction of its object. It just 00:07:27.610 --> 00:07:33.629 doesn't give up. Love can accomplish by its power 00:07:33.629 --> 00:07:38.170 what criticism, nagging, and condemnation can 00:07:38.170 --> 00:07:43.589 never do. Aesop told a fable about the sun and 00:07:43.589 --> 00:07:46.649 the wind, arguing about which one of them was 00:07:46.649 --> 00:07:50.339 the stronger. Finally, the sun said to the wind, 00:07:50.639 --> 00:07:53.639 look at that traveler down there. Let's see which 00:07:53.639 --> 00:07:56.600 of us can get him to take off his coat. I'll 00:07:56.600 --> 00:08:01.180 let you begin. And so the wind blew and the sun 00:08:01.180 --> 00:08:05.759 hid his face behind the cloud. That caused the 00:08:05.759 --> 00:08:07.899 traveler only to bring his coat more tightly 00:08:07.899 --> 00:08:12.879 around him. Then the wind came, the sun came 00:08:12.879 --> 00:08:16.439 out from behind the cloud. shown so warmly that 00:08:16.439 --> 00:08:21.779 soon the man removed his coat. Within that fable, 00:08:22.379 --> 00:08:24.759 we see this lesson illustrated that kindness 00:08:24.759 --> 00:08:29.100 and gentleness will often get results that fussing 00:08:29.100 --> 00:08:34.320 and scolding cannot accomplish. The permanence 00:08:34.320 --> 00:08:36.620 of love's power. Nothing is greater than the 00:08:36.620 --> 00:08:40.419 power of love. Secondly, we see the permanence 00:08:40.419 --> 00:08:43.690 of love's place. beginning in the last part of 00:08:43.690 --> 00:08:50.070 verse 8 through verse 12. He says, but if there 00:08:50.070 --> 00:08:52.690 are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away. 00:08:52.789 --> 00:08:55.889 If there are tongues, they will cease. If there 00:08:55.889 --> 00:08:59.350 is knowledge, it will be done away. For we know 00:08:59.350 --> 00:09:02.029 in part and we prophesy in part, but when the 00:09:02.029 --> 00:09:05.409 perfect comes, the partial will be done away. 00:09:06.149 --> 00:09:08.509 When I was a child, I used to speak as a child, 00:09:08.629 --> 00:09:11.990 think as a child, reason as a child. When I became 00:09:11.990 --> 00:09:17.490 a man, I did away with childish things. For now 00:09:17.490 --> 00:09:20.190 we see in the mirror dimly, but then face to 00:09:20.190 --> 00:09:24.409 face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know 00:09:24.409 --> 00:09:29.669 fully, just as I also have been fully known." 00:09:29.669 --> 00:09:33.549 The permanence of love's place. Spiritual gifts 00:09:33.549 --> 00:09:41.100 have only a temporary place in God's plan. Spiritual 00:09:41.100 --> 00:09:46.000 gifts have only a temporary place in God's plan. 00:09:46.960 --> 00:09:49.940 Prophecy and knowledge. Well, it says here they'll 00:09:49.940 --> 00:09:54.600 be done away. It's future, passive in this verb. 00:09:57.340 --> 00:09:59.740 There's no effect that is given. It simply says 00:09:59.740 --> 00:10:02.500 they will be done away in time. The answer is 00:10:02.500 --> 00:10:07.440 when. Verses 9 and 10 seem to answer that. It 00:10:07.440 --> 00:10:12.419 is when the in part experience of the present 00:10:12.419 --> 00:10:18.840 is also done away. When the perfect comes, he 00:10:18.840 --> 00:10:24.919 says, when that which is full grown comes. And 00:10:24.919 --> 00:10:27.139 then he gives the illustration of a child growing 00:10:27.139 --> 00:10:29.720 to adulthood, a beautiful illustration of what 00:10:29.720 --> 00:10:33.679 he's trying to say. He further describes this 00:10:33.679 --> 00:10:37.919 perfect or this full grown or this mature experience 00:10:37.919 --> 00:10:46.009 as being when we are face to face with God. Bible 00:10:46.009 --> 00:10:48.389 commentators differ over what this means, but 00:10:48.389 --> 00:10:52.649 I think the best understanding is, in a broad 00:10:52.649 --> 00:10:56.750 sense, it is the eternal state that is to come. 00:10:57.590 --> 00:11:01.549 It's more than Christ's second coming. For even 00:11:01.549 --> 00:11:03.470 after that, in the millennium, there's going 00:11:03.470 --> 00:11:06.350 to be prophecy and knowledge. Gifts will still 00:11:06.350 --> 00:11:10.200 be in existence. But he is pointing beyond that 00:11:10.200 --> 00:11:12.440 to the eternal state, to the new heavens and 00:11:12.440 --> 00:11:15.379 the new earth. And he says, then when we are 00:11:15.379 --> 00:11:20.399 face to face, when we will fully know, just as 00:11:20.399 --> 00:11:24.039 God now fully knows us, then, he says, there 00:11:24.039 --> 00:11:27.980 will be no need for the spiritual gifts. You 00:11:27.980 --> 00:11:32.220 will notice that he singles out tongues in verse 00:11:32.220 --> 00:11:35.460 8 in a particular way, for he uses a different 00:11:35.460 --> 00:11:40.100 verb of tongues. He says they will cease. This 00:11:40.100 --> 00:11:43.519 is in the future middle voice. It's reflexive, 00:11:43.539 --> 00:11:47.519 which means they will cease in and of themselves. 00:11:49.419 --> 00:11:52.759 Whereas the other gifts that he mentions, knowledge 00:11:52.759 --> 00:11:57.080 and prophecy, will be acted upon and done away. 00:11:58.240 --> 00:12:00.159 Now there's a reason for that and we'll get to 00:12:00.159 --> 00:12:03.059 that in a couple of weeks. But the implication 00:12:03.059 --> 00:12:05.100 that I want you to see this morning is this. 00:12:05.450 --> 00:12:09.929 that love is never outgrown. Love is forever. 00:12:11.029 --> 00:12:14.850 Love is forever. The spiritual gifts are for 00:12:14.850 --> 00:12:19.429 a limited time, but love is forever. It is vital. 00:12:21.210 --> 00:12:25.129 It is as much a part of eternity as it is the 00:12:25.129 --> 00:12:30.110 present. The spiritual gifts are for time, but 00:12:30.110 --> 00:12:36.019 love is for eternity. Now he talks thirdly about 00:12:36.019 --> 00:12:39.759 the permanence of love's priority in verse 13. 00:12:40.120 --> 00:12:44.299 Love's priority. He says that there are three 00:12:44.299 --> 00:12:48.700 graces or virtues that abide. Three of them. 00:12:49.679 --> 00:12:55.299 Faith, hope, and love. He points to these graces 00:12:55.299 --> 00:13:00.399 as those things that lead us on toward this ultimate 00:13:00.399 --> 00:13:04.179 consummation when we will be mature. when we 00:13:04.179 --> 00:13:09.240 will be face to face. There's nothing that surpasses 00:13:09.240 --> 00:13:13.559 faith, hope, and love. These lead us on toward 00:13:13.559 --> 00:13:17.279 that mature experience when the gifts will be 00:13:17.279 --> 00:13:21.960 done away. Faith is reliance. It is dependence. 00:13:23.059 --> 00:13:27.820 Alan Redpath defines it as, trust that rests 00:13:27.820 --> 00:13:32.799 upon evidence and leads to action. It is not 00:13:32.799 --> 00:13:36.340 blind faith. It is faith that knows fully well 00:13:36.340 --> 00:13:39.700 what its foundation is. And because of that, 00:13:39.840 --> 00:13:44.980 it is willing to risk all in responding to what 00:13:44.980 --> 00:13:49.379 God says. It leads to action. It is obedience 00:13:49.379 --> 00:13:54.480 that follows God, believing that He will not 00:13:54.480 --> 00:13:59.639 and cannot fail. And then there is hope, says 00:13:59.639 --> 00:14:04.399 Paul. Hope is a certain expectation. It is confidence 00:14:04.399 --> 00:14:09.220 in the future. It is the assurance of God's promises. 00:14:09.899 --> 00:14:17.919 Hope is optimism that is anchored in God. Faith, 00:14:18.379 --> 00:14:22.340 hope, and love. Love is that which seeks the 00:14:22.340 --> 00:14:26.879 welfare of another. It does so at personal cost 00:14:26.879 --> 00:14:30.139 and despite the response of the one who is loved. 00:14:31.480 --> 00:14:35.120 Love, agape love, can only be described by words 00:14:35.120 --> 00:14:43.960 like extravagant, lavish kind of love. Agape 00:14:43.960 --> 00:14:48.000 love doesn't give a beggar a bowl of soup. It 00:14:48.000 --> 00:14:55.299 takes the beggar home and lets him stay. And 00:14:55.299 --> 00:14:58.539 isn't that exactly what God has done for us? 00:15:00.419 --> 00:15:04.740 sinners, beggars. He has loved us to the point 00:15:04.740 --> 00:15:09.440 that he invites us to his home to stay. We only 00:15:09.440 --> 00:15:11.600 need come through the door that he has provided, 00:15:12.299 --> 00:15:17.639 and that door is Jesus Christ. That is God's 00:15:17.639 --> 00:15:21.340 kind of love. These three graces abide, they 00:15:21.340 --> 00:15:25.059 endure, they continue on and will into eternity. 00:15:25.620 --> 00:15:29.039 But he says love is the greatest. Love is the 00:15:29.039 --> 00:15:34.100 greatest. Love is the best. It is the most important 00:15:34.100 --> 00:15:38.279 in value. Now why is that? Well probably he's 00:15:38.279 --> 00:15:40.980 saying that because love encompasses the other 00:15:40.980 --> 00:15:45.940 two. Notice in verse 7 that he says love believes 00:15:45.940 --> 00:15:53.059 all things. That's faith. And he says love hopes 00:15:53.059 --> 00:16:00.100 all things. And so the other two really are wrapped 00:16:00.100 --> 00:16:04.500 up in love, and so he says, love is the greatest. 00:16:05.960 --> 00:16:08.559 And friend, throughout eternity to come, there 00:16:08.559 --> 00:16:15.840 will be love. Love incarnated in the person of 00:16:15.840 --> 00:16:21.240 the Lamb, who himself will be in the New Jerusalem 00:16:21.240 --> 00:16:27.070 as its lamp, as its light. The glory of God will 00:16:27.070 --> 00:16:31.769 emanate from him, not in a frightening way, but 00:16:31.769 --> 00:16:35.850 in a way that invites us to come to him as the 00:16:35.850 --> 00:16:39.490 redeemed. Love will be incarnated in the glorious 00:16:39.490 --> 00:16:43.710 person of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God. His 00:16:43.710 --> 00:16:49.269 presence will be an eternal reminder of the purity 00:16:49.269 --> 00:16:55.929 of God's love. famous hymn writer of a couple 00:16:55.929 --> 00:16:59.250 of hundred years ago summarizes this chapter 00:16:59.250 --> 00:17:01.710 and captures it beautifully in a hymn that he 00:17:01.710 --> 00:17:06.950 wrote that we do not sing. Had I the tongues 00:17:06.950 --> 00:17:10.569 of Greeks and Jews and nobler speech than angels 00:17:10.569 --> 00:17:15.950 use, if love be absent, I am found like tinkling 00:17:15.950 --> 00:17:21.650 brass at empty sound. Were I inspired to preach 00:17:21.650 --> 00:17:25.029 and tell all that is done in heaven and hell? 00:17:25.609 --> 00:17:29.690 Or could my faith the world remove? Still I am 00:17:29.690 --> 00:17:34.869 nothing without love. Should I distribute all 00:17:34.869 --> 00:17:38.089 my store to feed the hungry, clothe the poor, 00:17:38.549 --> 00:17:41.630 or give my body to the flame to gain a martyr's 00:17:41.630 --> 00:17:45.970 glorious name, if love to God and love to man 00:17:45.970 --> 00:18:04.130 be absent? In summation about our study of the 00:18:04.130 --> 00:18:07.549 permanence of love, I want you to remember these 00:18:07.549 --> 00:18:10.730 things finally. Five things I want you to remember. 00:18:10.789 --> 00:18:16.210 First of all, that love is not a feeling It is 00:18:16.210 --> 00:18:23.690 an action. Love is not a feeling. It is something 00:18:23.690 --> 00:18:29.750 you do. Now, I'm not a skier. I've never had 00:18:29.750 --> 00:18:33.710 knee surgery, that's how you know. But I know 00:18:33.710 --> 00:18:36.630 enough about skiing to know this, that for a 00:18:36.630 --> 00:18:40.130 skier, a downhill skier to turn, he must shift 00:18:40.130 --> 00:18:43.130 most of his weight. to the left or to the right 00:18:43.130 --> 00:18:46.470 foot. And when he does that, the other ski, the 00:18:46.470 --> 00:18:52.730 other knee, will follow. And so the skier turns. 00:18:54.490 --> 00:18:58.769 I think of that as an illustration of love. The 00:18:58.769 --> 00:19:00.829 first thing that we must do is put our weight 00:19:00.829 --> 00:19:06.230 on the action. We must decide what the right 00:19:06.230 --> 00:19:12.170 thing to do is because of love. And when we have 00:19:12.170 --> 00:19:17.369 done that, the feelings will come along, and 00:19:17.369 --> 00:19:21.670 we'll be turning in the right direction. Even 00:19:21.670 --> 00:19:25.130 when we don't feel like loving, we can still 00:19:25.130 --> 00:19:31.029 act in a loving way. Love is not a feeling, it's 00:19:31.029 --> 00:19:36.349 an action. Secondly, love is not free, it costs. 00:19:37.970 --> 00:19:43.799 It cost God plenty, didn't it? Salvation is wonderfully 00:19:43.799 --> 00:19:50.000 free to us, but oh the cost to God. And friends, 00:19:50.119 --> 00:19:52.799 when we love with the love of God, it's going 00:19:52.799 --> 00:19:57.299 to cost us something too. It means that something 00:19:57.299 --> 00:20:04.059 of us must be a part of this act. It means that 00:20:04.059 --> 00:20:06.700 some of our comfort zone is going to have to 00:20:06.700 --> 00:20:11.700 be taken away. It means that some of what we 00:20:11.700 --> 00:20:17.920 have preserved for ourselves, we give up. Love 00:20:17.920 --> 00:20:22.339 costs something. It costs us to stay extra time 00:20:22.339 --> 00:20:27.559 on a Sunday morning to work with children. When 00:20:27.559 --> 00:20:31.519 we'd rather go home maybe. Well, I've been there 00:20:31.519 --> 00:20:36.460 two hours already. Jesus was on the cross for 00:20:36.460 --> 00:20:45.730 six. You see, love costs something. If it doesn't 00:20:45.730 --> 00:20:48.630 cost me something, then I'm not really loving 00:20:48.630 --> 00:20:58.470 the way God wants me to. Third, love is not peripheral. 00:21:00.309 --> 00:21:03.890 Love is central to maturity. Please hear that. 00:21:05.329 --> 00:21:10.220 You and I cannot mature. We cannot grow. in Jesus 00:21:10.220 --> 00:21:15.599 Christ until we have learned to love. God will 00:21:15.599 --> 00:21:19.400 take us through all kinds of experiences in life 00:21:19.400 --> 00:21:22.839 to shake us down so that we will learn to love. 00:21:23.240 --> 00:21:27.000 And the reason for that is that love is necessary 00:21:27.000 --> 00:21:31.579 for spiritual growth. And until I come to that 00:21:31.579 --> 00:21:34.240 place in my life where I am willing to give up 00:21:34.240 --> 00:21:42.869 myself, part of me, part of my resources, out 00:21:42.869 --> 00:21:46.609 of love for God and love for man, that I really 00:21:46.609 --> 00:21:51.670 can't grow. We have to come to that place where 00:21:51.670 --> 00:21:56.710 we begin to experience this love that Paul points 00:21:56.710 --> 00:22:04.130 to as the greatest, just the greatest. Number 00:22:04.130 --> 00:22:06.069 four, I want you to remember that love is not 00:22:06.069 --> 00:22:13.059 self -driven. It is spirit empowered. You and 00:22:13.059 --> 00:22:15.539 I do not have the strength to love in ourselves. 00:22:17.019 --> 00:22:21.660 This way at least. We can do a kind thing for 00:22:21.660 --> 00:22:26.619 somebody or do an extra deed or go the extra 00:22:26.619 --> 00:22:31.420 mile on occasion in our own strength. But we 00:22:31.420 --> 00:22:36.480 cannot consistently love with this kind of love. 00:22:37.069 --> 00:22:40.630 by ourselves. We have to have the Spirit's energy 00:22:40.630 --> 00:22:44.690 and that's why Paul says in Galatians that the 00:22:44.690 --> 00:22:51.990 fruit of the Spirit is love. You cannot live 00:22:51.990 --> 00:22:58.309 with that husband that is thoughtless and self 00:22:58.309 --> 00:23:05.109 -centered and emotionally abusive perhaps in 00:23:05.109 --> 00:23:11.730 your own strength. You will not be able to be 00:23:11.730 --> 00:23:19.950 his wife apart from God's love. You will not 00:23:19.950 --> 00:23:25.430 be able to live with that wife who does not understand 00:23:25.430 --> 00:23:33.410 your needs as a man. Who doesn't consider the 00:23:33.410 --> 00:23:38.599 pressures that you're under. or who doesn't know 00:23:38.599 --> 00:23:43.579 how to love you in your own strength. You will 00:23:43.579 --> 00:23:50.460 need the Spirit's enablement to do that. Those 00:23:50.460 --> 00:23:56.140 of you who have been abused in your past will 00:23:56.140 --> 00:23:59.559 not be able to love your abuser in your own strength. 00:24:00.079 --> 00:24:05.390 But you can love that individual. in the fruit 00:24:05.390 --> 00:24:11.710 of the spirit that is love. You can do it. Cory 00:24:11.710 --> 00:24:14.009 Ten Boom used to tell the story about speaking 00:24:14.009 --> 00:24:18.470 in 1947 in Germany. You remember that she and 00:24:18.470 --> 00:24:23.549 her sister were taken to Ravensbruck, one of 00:24:23.549 --> 00:24:26.730 the prison camps of the Nazis, and there they 00:24:26.730 --> 00:24:30.490 were cruelly abused and Betsy, her sister, died. 00:24:33.400 --> 00:24:36.200 And Corrie used to tell the story about being 00:24:36.200 --> 00:24:38.920 in Germany and speaking to a group of Christians 00:24:38.920 --> 00:24:42.839 in 1947, just two years after the war. And at 00:24:42.839 --> 00:24:44.559 the end of the service, she looked back and she 00:24:44.559 --> 00:24:46.920 saw a man coming up who was dressed in a suit, 00:24:47.200 --> 00:24:50.960 but she instantly remembered him as one of the 00:24:50.960 --> 00:24:56.799 guards at Ravensbruck. And in her heart, this 00:24:56.799 --> 00:25:01.160 bitterness came up, this extreme anger. She remembered 00:25:01.160 --> 00:25:08.089 Betsy. And how Betsy had just been so cruelly 00:25:08.089 --> 00:25:10.930 treated that her strength gave out finally and 00:25:10.930 --> 00:25:18.829 she died in that terrible place. And so she tried 00:25:18.829 --> 00:25:20.910 to avoid this man, but he hung around and he 00:25:20.910 --> 00:25:24.410 hung around and finally it was the man and her. 00:25:25.430 --> 00:25:27.869 And she said, well surely he won't remember me, 00:25:28.049 --> 00:25:31.000 I'm one of thousands of people. Therefore, I 00:25:31.000 --> 00:25:33.700 will just acknowledge him and go on." And he 00:25:33.700 --> 00:25:38.119 came up to her and said, you probably don't remember 00:25:38.119 --> 00:25:44.079 me, but I remember you. And she said, yes, I 00:25:44.079 --> 00:25:50.579 remember you. And he said, you know, I wouldn't 00:25:50.579 --> 00:25:53.460 blame you if you would never forgive me for what 00:25:53.460 --> 00:25:56.660 I did in that prison camp. But he said, in the 00:25:56.660 --> 00:26:00.369 last two years, I have come to know God. I have 00:26:00.369 --> 00:26:04.369 trusted Christ as my Savior, and I have acknowledged 00:26:04.369 --> 00:26:06.809 all of that to him, and he has forgiven me." 00:26:06.809 --> 00:26:10.250 And he said, I have come tonight to ask you to 00:26:10.250 --> 00:26:15.950 forgive me. And he held out his hand to shake 00:26:15.950 --> 00:26:20.829 her hand. And Corrie honestly tells us she struggled 00:26:20.829 --> 00:26:24.049 at that moment. Can I do this? Will I do this? 00:26:24.130 --> 00:26:29.099 Why should I do this? And then she decided that 00:26:29.099 --> 00:26:31.299 although she did not feel very loving toward 00:26:31.299 --> 00:26:34.640 the man, she could at least forgive him. And 00:26:34.640 --> 00:26:37.299 so she reached out her hand to shake it and to 00:26:37.299 --> 00:26:40.599 thus indicate, yes, I forgive you. And she said, 00:26:40.759 --> 00:26:44.680 when their hands touched, she said, a warmth 00:26:44.680 --> 00:26:50.480 filled her body. And God poured a measure of 00:26:50.480 --> 00:26:54.980 love into her life that she had never known up 00:26:54.980 --> 00:27:03.890 to that point. I don't know what past experience 00:27:03.890 --> 00:27:06.630 may be staring you in the face this morning. 00:27:08.329 --> 00:27:11.390 Or what person's visage is in your mind as I 00:27:11.390 --> 00:27:15.390 talk about this. But I can tell you that until 00:27:15.390 --> 00:27:19.230 you come to the place of being able to love that 00:27:19.230 --> 00:27:24.190 person, or forgive that person, and show that 00:27:24.190 --> 00:27:28.289 person agape, You may well be stunted in your 00:27:28.289 --> 00:27:37.829 spiritual growth. Agape is powerful. It is powerful. 00:27:38.549 --> 00:27:40.589 But it cannot be self -driven. We don't have 00:27:40.589 --> 00:27:44.009 the strength in ourselves. But we can trust God 00:27:44.009 --> 00:27:48.190 for the power to do the right thing. And know 00:27:48.190 --> 00:27:51.329 that when we do, the feelings will come along. 00:27:52.329 --> 00:27:54.309 And finally, I want you to remember that love 00:27:54.309 --> 00:27:58.630 is not passing. It is God's permanent kingdom 00:27:58.630 --> 00:28:04.250 order. Throughout eternity to come, love is going 00:28:04.250 --> 00:28:11.509 to be the ethic of God's kingdom. And so I exhort 00:28:11.509 --> 00:28:14.190 you and I exhort myself and all of us this morning 00:28:14.190 --> 00:28:19.609 to become a person of faith and hope. Never neglect 00:28:19.609 --> 00:28:23.430 faith and hope, but realize that love is the 00:28:23.430 --> 00:28:26.960 greatest. That love is the greatest because of 00:28:26.960 --> 00:28:30.619 its power, because of its permanence, because 00:28:30.619 --> 00:28:35.259 of its priority to God. It is love that marks 00:28:35.259 --> 00:28:39.779 you as a follower of Jesus Christ. Jesus said, 00:28:39.960 --> 00:28:42.920 by this will all men know that you are my disciples 00:28:42.920 --> 00:28:48.700 if you have love for one another. Some unknown 00:28:48.700 --> 00:28:52.799 person has written this poem entitled simply, 00:28:52.900 --> 00:28:59.720 Why? On the street I saw a small girl, cold and 00:28:59.720 --> 00:29:03.500 shivering, in a thin dress, with little hope 00:29:03.500 --> 00:29:08.500 of a decent meal. I became angry and said to 00:29:08.500 --> 00:29:13.440 God, Why did you permit this? Why don't you do 00:29:13.440 --> 00:29:19.720 something about it? For a while God said nothing. 00:29:21.180 --> 00:29:27.170 But that night he replied quite suddenly. I certainly 00:29:27.170 --> 00:29:33.009 did something about it," he said. I made you. 00:29:36.349 --> 00:29:38.910 And the question I have for you is, whom will 00:29:38.910 --> 00:29:47.769 you love by the power of Jesus this week? Whose 00:29:47.769 --> 00:29:53.450 life will be altered because you came across 00:29:53.450 --> 00:29:59.200 that individual's path? Who will know the touch 00:29:59.200 --> 00:30:05.400 of Jesus because your hand reached out to touch 00:30:05.400 --> 00:30:09.880 him or her this week? Who will know his voice 00:30:09.880 --> 00:30:14.519 because of your tongue? Who will know his love 00:30:14.519 --> 00:30:23.440 because you acted? Love is the greatest. Love 00:30:23.440 --> 00:30:28.200 is forever. Let's live the kingdom ethic now. 00:30:28.759 --> 00:30:33.599 Let's pray. Will you in your heart say, Lord, 00:30:33.680 --> 00:30:40.359 I will by your grace live in the power and the 00:30:40.359 --> 00:30:45.220 energy of love. I will live in the power of the 00:30:45.220 --> 00:30:51.339 Holy Spirit. Will you say that in your heart? 00:30:51.440 --> 00:30:54.299 Will you ask the Lord to open your eyes to see 00:30:54.299 --> 00:30:57.039 the ones He wants you to touch? the ones he wants 00:30:57.039 --> 00:31:00.859 to speak to this week. Let's be his channels, 00:31:03.400 --> 00:31:07.500 his conduits of love. Sing with me this little 00:31:07.500 --> 00:31:12.259 chorus that many of you probably know. Channels 00:31:12.259 --> 00:31:22.599 only, blessed Master, but with all thy wondrous 00:31:22.599 --> 00:31:31.819 power. flowing through us, thou canst use us 00:31:31.819 --> 00:31:41.420 every day and every hour. Let's stand together, 00:31:41.500 --> 00:31:45.200 please, with our heads bowed. Lord, I pray that 00:31:45.200 --> 00:31:48.700 the power of love, the power of the Holy Spirit, 00:31:49.180 --> 00:31:56.680 will so be released in our lives. that those 00:31:56.680 --> 00:31:59.720 that we come into contact with will know in some 00:31:59.720 --> 00:32:05.220 measure that they have met a Christian, a disciple 00:32:05.220 --> 00:32:12.880 of Jesus this week. And this I pray in His name. 00:32:13.480 --> 00:32:17.160 Amen. Well, thank you for being with us this 00:32:17.160 --> 00:32:19.559 morning in worship. And if you're visiting, would 00:32:19.559 --> 00:32:21.759 you please slip first right to the back here 00:32:21.759 --> 00:32:24.220 where you see the display, Grace Church, Roseville. 00:32:24.559 --> 00:32:26.480 I'll be there. There'll be some other pastors 00:32:26.480 --> 00:32:29.079 and elders there. We want to meet you. And thank 00:32:29.079 --> 00:32:32.059 you. God bless you as you go. And have a wonderful 00:32:32.059 --> 00:32:32.700 Lord's Day.