And The Greatest of These is Love, pt 2
2019-02-24
Pastor Jonathan Falwell
Key Verse: 1 Cor. 13:13 And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
1 Corinthians 13:1–12 (NLT): I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. 3 If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing. 4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6 It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. 8 Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever! 9 Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture! 10 But when the time of perfection comes, these partial things will become useless. 11 When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. 12 Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely. 13 Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.
1. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged (vs 5b)
• Does not demand its own way (does not seek its own – NKJV)
– 1 Cor. 10:24 (NLT) Don’t be concerned for your own good but for the good of others.
– 1 Cor. 10:33 (NLT) I, too, try to please everyone in everything I do. I don’t just do what is best for me; I do what is best for others so that many may be saved. 11:1 And you should imitate me, just as I imitate Christ.
– Not irritable (is not provoked – NKJV)
– James 1:19-20 (NLT) Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. 20 Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires.
• Keeps no record of bring wronged
– Not holding on to old hurts to bring up when needed
– Forgiveness
2. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. (vs 6)
• Does not rejoice about injustice (does not rejoice in iniquity – NKJV)
– Finds no joy when a brother falls or fails
– “Sin destroys people’s lives, so to rejoice in their sin is to rejoice in their destruction.”
– To rejoce in the fall or destruction of another is the exact opposite of “loving your neighbor as yourself”
• …but rejoices whenever the truth wins out
– The Godly heart rejoices when a failure turns to victory
3. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. (v 7)
• Love never gives up (bears all things – NKJV)
– Stego – to cover, to protect in silence, to preserve
– No allowance for gossip or attack
• Never loses faith (believes all things – NKJV)
– Looking for the best, believing the best in others
• Is always hopeful
– Wanting the best for others
• Endures through every circumstance
– Never quits on the other persion, perseveres through every situation
4. Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love. (vs 13)
• Faith – we are kept by the powerful hand of God
• Hope – we have a blessed hope of what God has prepared for us
– John 14
• Love – there will never be an end to the love God has for us
LOVE NEVER FAILS