THE VERY BEST GIFT
1 Corinthians 13:1-13 (KJV)
Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.
And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.
And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.
Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;
Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;
Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.
For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.
But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.
When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.
The passage we just read is known as “The Love Chapter” of the Bible. The Greek word for charity is agapeo, and is believed coined by Apostle Paul to describe the type of love a Christian has for his or her church.
What I don't want you to miss is that this chapter is more about spiritual gifts than it is about the love of a husband and wife.[1]
The introduction to the chapter is actually in 1 Corinthians 12:28-31 (KJV)
And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.
Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles?
Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret?
But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way.
1. God has set the gifts in the church by order
Vs 28
First Apostles, then prophets, lastly speaking in tongues and interpretation of tongues.
2. God has not made all Christians have the same gifts
Vs 29-30
The construction of these questions demands a "No" answer.
Just as not everyone is an Apostle, and not everyone is a preacher, not all are to speak in tongues.
3. God has given us something much better than these gifts
Vs 31
Essentially Paul says,
"Folks, instead of trying to get all these spiritual gifts, let me show you a more excellent way.
Seek charity instead!"
(The Bible teaches us that if we love God and our neighbor, we will fill ALL the law and the commandments.)
In 1 Corinthians 13, we have,
*I. THE IMPORTANCE OF CHARITY
1 Corinthians 13:1-3 (KJV)
Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.
And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.
And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.
Paul makes it clear to us that no gift is worth a having unless charity is behind its use:
A. We may speak with miraculous tongues, but they are confusing, deadened sounds without charity behind them.
It does not matter how "golden-tongued" the speaker is if he isn't sincere.
B. We may stand before men and preach the mysteries of God,but without charity it is nothing.
It also doesn't matter how true what the speaker says is, if he does not have a compassionate heart, it will most likely fall on deaf ears.
C. We may even exercise our serving giftsto the point of giving all our possessions and even our lives, but without charity, it is worthless.
And then it does not matter how much we give of our time talents and treasures, if we do not do so with a motivation of charity, it will most likely not be useful in bringing souls to the Saviour.
Charity gives, expecting nothing in return.
Anytime we do even what is right, and we do it expecting something in return, we are not serving out of charity, but out of lust. Our motive for serving would be to get rather than to give. God's Word here says that that is worthless.
Charity is what makes the exercising of our gifts valuable. We, therefore, must seek charity as our priority.
*II. THE CHARACTERISTICS OF CHARITY
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (KJV)
Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;
Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;
Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
Notice the selflessness of charity.[2]
· Suffereth Long
· Is kind
· Envieth no
· Vaunteth not itself
· Is not puffed up
· Doth not behave itself unseemly
· Seeketh not her own
· Not easily provoked
· Thinketh no evil
· Rejoiceth not in iniquity
· Rejoiceth in truth
· Beareth all things
· Believeth all things
· Hopeth all things
· Endureth all things
· Never faileth
Any spiritual gift, whether it is:
· A sensational gift
· A speaking gift or
· A serving gift
that is not administered in charity will be selfish in nature.
In fact, I doubt that it is a true spiritual gift. The spiritual gifts are given to us so we can be a blessing to the church, not for what we can get out of them.
*III. THE ENDURANCE OF CHARITY
1 Corinthians 13:8-13 (KJV)
Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.
For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.
But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.
When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.
One good reason to seek charity rather than a spiritual gift is because you can't lose.
As you exercise charity, the Holy Spirit will see to it that you also exercise your spiritual gift, so you end up with both.
The crux of this passage is that,
A. The spiritual gifts will vanish away.
It is not my intention to try to explain the meaning of these verses theologically.
When these gifts vanish is not as important to the context as that they do vanish.
In fact, Paul makes it sound as if the only things that continued to abide, even at the time he was writing, were faith, hope and charity.
B. Since the "sensational" spiritual gifts have no enduring value, they should be put aside for more enduring and even mature things
1 Corinthians 13:11 (KJV)
When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
Each of those things mentioned in verse 11 answers to one of the vanishing gifts:
· "Spake as a child" answers to tongues
· "Thought as a child" answers to prophecy and
· "understood as a child" answers to knowledge
These things have been put aside for more mature things such as faith hope, and charity. Those only still abide.
C. Of the three things that still abide charity is said to be the greatest
That is because it will be the only one of even these great three that continues to abide into eternity.
· Faith that is seen is really no more faith[3]
· Hope that is received is really no more hope[4]
Both of these then will be no more in eternity.
Only the charity of this chapter will endure forever.
So here is the more excellent way.
Instead of seeking a spiritual gift, seek charity.
· We can't all have the same spiritual gifts, but we can all have charity
· Spiritual Gifts will profit no one without charity
· Charity always seeks to serve rather than to be served and Charity will endure when everything else has cease
May we then seek this better way. May we seek charity.
[1]Although I do not think there is anything wrong with a husband and wife learning how to love each other from this passage.
[2]I’d encourage you to get my book on 1 Corinthians 13 titled, “What’s Love Got To Do With It?”
[3]Hebrews 11:1 (KJV)
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
[4]Romans 8:24 (KJV)
For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
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