#6
SERIES ON THE HOLY SPIRIT
"THE HOLY SPIRIT LOVES!"
TEXT: 1
Cor. 12:31b-13:13
INTRO: My first
car was a 1964 Buick skylark that I bought from my father. It was a good car. When I got it however, I had it painted
fire engine red with a large wide black sports stripe down the middle from front
to back. I put two engine scoops on
the hood to give it the appearance of power, and dual glass packs on the exhaust
lines to make it sound powerful. It
attracted a lot of attention ... and that was the idea, but underneath it was
still the same old ugly green car that my dad had owned. Though it looked
powerful and sounded powerful it had not really changed, it had the exact same
engine in it and no real additional power; for all its new looks and sounds it
was no different actually!
Without
love the gifts of the Spirit are just the same as that car I had, the gifts
might give the appearance of something spectacular, they might even help the
church sound spectacular, but underneath there may be no more real power! While people can be attracted to the
spectacular nature of the gifts of the Holy Spirit it is only when those
gifts operate in a loving church that they really create great benefit! The most essential ministry of the Holy
Spirit is that of love ... it is the very Fruit of the Holy Spirit according to
Paul in Gal. 5:22 that is the essential power
of the Gospel!
God
help us to be not only a gifted church body but a loving
one!
PROP.
SENT: The Bible teaches us that the
central ministry of the Holy Spirit is the ministry of love. The church is called to demonstrate the
fruit of the Holy Spirit as the foundation for the gifts of the Holy
Spirit.
I. LOVE'S PRIORITY 1 Cor.
12:31b-13:3
A. Excellence
1 Cor.
12:31b
1. Paul's statement here "and now I will
show you the most excellent way" is intended to guide this very
gifted church into a healthy balance between gifts and
love.
a. Without love the gifts were
meaningless, that is the following argument in the
text.
b. With love however the gifts will
have greater meaning.
c. The "most excellent
way" is the way of
love ... the topic of the entire 13th
chapter!
2. While the gifts are momentary and
temporary love is fundamental to Christian life at all
times.
3. Nothing is superior to love,
it is the very foundation of God's nature and so this includes the Holy Spirit
too.
a. What moved the hand of God to save
us? It was His love! Jn.
3:16
b. The Fruit of the Spirit is superior to the gifts in term
of impact; however the ideal is to have both, but gifts without the fruit is
meaningless!
4. Nothing is more important than
love, Jesus said this would be the hallmark of Christianity, it would be how the
world would identify us as Christ’s disciples; "by this shall
all men know that you are my disciples, that you love one another."
Jn 13:35
5. Love moves the heart more than
anything!
ILLUS: YEARS
AGO A WEALTHY MAN DIED APPARENTLY WITHOUT LEAVING A WILL, NONE WAS EVER
FOUND. THEREFORE, THE LAW DICTATED
THAT THE ESTATE WOULD HAVE TO BE DIVIDED UP AMONG THE SEVERAL SURVIVING COUSINS
WHO WERE THE NEXT OF KIN. ALSO, BY
LAW, THE DECEASED'S HOUSEHOLD GOODS AND OTHER ITEMS OF PERSONAL PROPERTY WERE TO
BE CONVERTED TO CASH IN A PUBLIC AUCTION.
DURING THE SALE, THE AUCTIONEER HELD UP A FRAMED PHOTOGRAPH BUT NO ONE
BID ON IT, INCLUDING THE COUSINS.
IT WAS A PHOTOGRAPH OF THE DEAD MAN'S SON; HE HAD DIED TRYING TO SAVE
SOMEONE FROM DROWNING YEARS EARLIER.
A WOMAN APPROACHED THE AUCTIONEER AND ASKED HIM IF SHE COULD BUY THE
PHOTO FOR $1.00 SINCE SHE HAD VERY LITTLE.
SHE EXPLAINED THAT THE PICTURE HAD GREAT MEANING FOR HER, SHE USED TO BE
THE DEAD MAN'S SERVANT AT THE TIME HIS SON DIED IN THIS ACCIDENT AND SHE FELT A
GREAT LOVE FOR THE BOY HAVING WORKED THERE SO MANY YEARS. HE AGREED TO SELL IT TO HER FOR $1.00
AND SHE TOOK IT HOME TO PLACE IN ON A TABLE BESIDE HER BED. SHE NOTICED WHEN SHE GOT HOME A BULGE IN
THE BACK OF THE PHOTOGRAPH, AND UPON INVESTIGATING SHE FOUND THE MISSING
WILL! THE INSTRUCTIONS ON THE WILL
WERE QUITE SIMPLE AND TO THE POINT, IT SAID, "I GIVE AND BEQUEATH ALL MY
POSSESSIONS TO THE PERSON WHO CARES ENOUGH FOR NY SON TO CHERISH THIS
PHOTOGRAPH." HER LOVE FOR THE
FATHER'S SON ALLOWED HER TO EXPERIENCE ALL THAT THE FATHER OWNED ... IT WAS
LOVE THAT CHANGED HER LIFE!
– SOURCE UNKNOWN
B. Extremes
1 Cor.
13:1-3
1. Paul now launches into the problem
facing the very gifted church at Corinth, the great abundance of gifts and
the great absence of love!
a. They were right to promote the
gifts but not at the expense of love!
b. They used the gifts to promote
spiritual pride instead of humility; the result was a very competitive
church.
2. They were relying on only the gifts
and were neglecting the dynamics of love.
a. Their witness would suffer in the
community; all the gifts in the world would not win the
lost!
b. God's love however would really
draw people!
3. Nothing is more powerful than
love!
ILLUS: A
FIFTH GRADE TEACHER AT LAKE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL IN OCEANSIDE, CALIFORNIA WAS
TAUGHT BY A MR. ALTER. THERE WERE
14 BOYS IN HIS CLASS THAT WERE TOTALLY BALD - BUT ONLY ONE OF THOSE BOYS WERE
BALD WITHOUT A CHOICE IN THE MATTER.
THIS BOY, NAMED IAN O'GORMAN HAD UNDERGONE CHEMOTHERAPY FOR LYMPHOMA ...
AND SO HE LOST ALL HIS HAIR. BEING
A YOUNG BOY HE FELT SINGLED OUT AND ODD, SO THE OTHER 13 BOYS IN HIS CLASS
DECIDED OUT OF LOVE FOR THEIR FRIEND THEY WOULD ALL HAVE THEIR HEADS
SHAVED! ONE OF THE BOYS WAS
REPORTED IN THE PAPER AS SAYING, "THE LAST THING IAN WOULD WANT IS TO NOT FIT
IN, WE JUST WANTED TO MAKE HIM FEEL BETTER." IAN'S FATHER CHOCKED BACK THE TEARS AND
SAID, IT'S HARD TO PUT WORDS TO!"
– SOURCE UNKNOWN
4. The
healthiest churches are ones that are both loving and gifted! It is not possible to have a good church
that is gifted and not loving however!
ILLUS: THERE
MAY WELL BE MANY CHILDREN THIS CHRISTMAS THAT RECEIVE MANY GIFTS ... BUT IN SOME
OF THOSE HOMES ALL THESE GIFTS WILL NOT MEAN MUCH BECAUSE THESE CHILDREN DON'T
FEEL LOVED. CHILDREN WHO GROW UP
WITHOUT LOVE, BUT SHOWERED WITH GIFTS AS A REPLACEMENT DO NOT GROW UP
HEALTHY! GIFTS ALONE WILL NOT MAKE
A CHILD FEEL SPECIAL OR WANTED. YOU
CAN'T BUY LOVE, YOU HAVE TO GIVE IT!
NO GIFT WILL REPLACE LOVE IN A CHILD'S HEART OR MIND, WHAT THEY NEED AND
WANT MOST IS LOVE ... THEN THE GIFTS WILL BE SPECIAL!
– SOURCE UNKNOWN
5. There is little room for
interpreting Paul's comments here in any other way but directly! Even if the church had all the great
gifts like tongues but had no love they would be making just
noise!
a. The clanging gongs and cymbals were
common in
(1. Dionysus was the god of revelry and
ecstasy, the god of wine.
(2. Cybele was the god of
nature.
b. Loud cymbals and gongs were banged
on to call people to worship, but it was empty since they were only dead idols,
it meant nothing!
6. Paul likens the Corinthian
Christians who ignored love but emphasized the gifts with these empty practices
of idolatry!
a. Without love they were not
ministering in the gifts, they were just making garbled
noise!
b. There can be no ministry without
love!
7. Notice how Paul ends this verse 2, without love he says, "I am nothing," not "I have
nothing."
a. They had bragged about the gifts
they have but Paul says they are nothing without
love.
b. Even the most powerful gifts are
without meaning if they are absent of love!
8. Love is a priority in God's
Church!
II. LOVE'S POWER 1 Cor.
13:4-13
A. Emptying 1 Cor.
13:4-7
1. Paul now begins to describe God's
love ... the kind Corinthian believers needed in their church, the kind that all
Christians need.
a. He starts by describing how patient
love is, it is kind, does not envy ... it is not
self-seeking!
b. God's love is emptying, putting
aside personal desires for the other person’s benefit, seeking the other's best
interest!
2. Love can change any situation, and
it is not just a feeling, it is action!
ILLUS: A
MINISTER AND NEWSPAPER COLUMNIST BY THE NAME OF GEORGE CRANE TELLS ABOUT ONE
WIFE WHO CAME TO HIM FOR COUNSELING ABOUT HER MARRIAGE ... SHE HAD COME TO HATE
HER HUSBAND. SHE SHARED HOW SHE
HATED HIM SO MUCH THAT SHE WANTED TO DIVORCE HIM, BUT NOT JUST GET RID OF HIM,
SHE WANTED TO HURT HIM AS MUCH AS SHE COULD IN THE PROCESS OF DIVORCING
HIM! DR. CRANE SUGGESTED AN
INGENIOUS PLAN THAT SEEMED QUITE STRANGE TO HER COMING FROM A MINISTER. HE SUGGESTED THE FOLLOWING: "GO HOME AND ACT AS IF
YOU REALLY LOVE HIM, TELL HIM HOW MUCH HE MEANS TO YOU, PRAISE HIM FOR EVERY
DECENT TRAIT YOU CAN, GO OUT OF YOUR WAY TO BE AS KIND, CONSIDERATE, AND
GENEROUS AS YOU CAN BE. SPARE NO
EFFORT TO PLEASE HIM, MAKING HIM BELIEVE YOU LOVE HIM. AFTER YOU'VE CONVINCED HIM OF YOUR
UNDYING LOVE AND THAT YOU CANNOT LIVE WITHOUT HIM, THEN DROP THE BOMB THAT YOU
ARE DIVORCING HIM. THAT WILL REALLY
HURT HIM BIG TIME!" WITH A
DELIGHTFUL REVENGE IN HER EYE SHE SAID, "BEAUTIFUL! WILL HE EVER BE SURPRISED!" SHE WENT HOME
AND WITH GREAT ENTHUSIASM DID EXACTLY AS THE PREACHER HAD TOLD HER! FOR 2 MONTHS SHE SHOWED HIM LOVE,
KINDNESS, SHE LISTENED, SHE WAS GIVING OF HERSELF, SHE WAS SUPPORTIVE, SHE
SHARED WITH HIM AND PRAISED HIM FOR EVERY DECENT THING SHE COULD IN HIM. AFTER SEVERAL MONTHS SHE NEVER RETURNED
TO PASTOR CRANE, AND FEELING CONCERNED ABOUT HOW THINGS MIGHT HAVE GONE HE
CALLED HER. SHE ANSWERED THE PHONE
AND HE ASKED HER, "ARE YOU READY NOW TO GO THROUGH WITH THE DIVORCE?" HER
RESPONSE WAS INTERESTING, SHE SAID, "DIVORCE! NEVER! ... I DISCOVERED I REALLY DO LOVE
HIM." WHAT HAD HAPPENED IS THAT SHE
HAD PUT INTO ACTION WHAT LOVE IS ... AND IT PRODUCED THE REAL THING! HER UNSELFISH ACTIONS HAD CREATED A NEW
LOVE IN HER HEART THAT CHANGED HER ... AND HIM! THAT IS THE POWER OF REAL
LOVE!
– SOURCE UNKNOWN
3. You will notice in this description
by Paul concerning God's kind of love that there are no references to
feelings or emotions, just actions!
Paul tells us what love DOES, not how love
FEELS!
4. In this list it is obvious that
love does not seek its own way, it is self-emptying!
a. Unselfish love is hard to resist,
it has great power!
b. That is why God is hard to resist,
He sent His son to die for us, not to get something for Himself but to bring
something to us!
c. When someone realizes the kind of
love God has for them it is hard to resist that love!
B. Eternal 1 Cor.
13:8-10,13
1. Now Paul describes the enduring
nature of love, it never ends!
a. All the gifts of the Holy Spirit
that help the church now will not be necessary in heaven when the church is
perfect!
b. However, even in perfection Love
is still the foundational quality of life!
c. In this sense Paul states that love
will go on even long after the gifts have ceased, and therefore it is obviously
more important!
2. God's love can change things
forever!
ILLUS: IN
THE BOOK, "THE GRACE OF GIVING," STEPHEN OLFORD TELLS OF A BAPTIST MINISTER
DURING THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION BY THE NAME OF PETER MILLER. THIS BAPTIST MINISTER PETER MILLER HAD
AN ARDENT ENEMY BY THE NAME OF MICHAEL WITTMAN, AN EVIL-MINDED SORT WHO DID ALL
HE COULD TO OPPOSE AND HUMILIATE THE PASTOR. ONE DAY WITTMAN WAS ARRESTED FOR TREASON
AND SENTENCED TO DIE. PETER MILLER
THE PASTOR TRAVELED 70 MILES ON FOOT TO PHILADELPHIA TO PLEAD FOR THE LIFE OF
HIS ENEMY. COMING BEFORE GENERAL
WASHINGTON HE ASKED THAT WITTMAN BE PARDONED AND SET FREE. GENERAL WASHINGTON REPLIED, "NO PETER, I
CANNOT GRANT YOU THE LIFE OF YOUR FRIEND." "MY FRIEND?" REPLIED THE OLD PASTOR,
"HE'S THE BITTEREST ENEMY I HAVE, HE IS NOT MY FRIEND!" WASHINGTON EXCLAIMED,
"WHAT! YOU'VE WALKED 70 MILES TO
SAVE THE LIFE OF AN ENEMY? THAT
PUTS THE MATTER IN A DIFFERENT LIGHT, I’LL GRANT YOU HIS PARDON," AND THE
GENERAL DID! PETER MILLER TOOK
WITTMAN BACK TO HIS HOME, NO LONGER AN ENEMY, BUT NOW A FRIEND ... LOVE HAD WON
THE DAY!
– SOURCE UNKNOWN
3. Paul now explains that even in
prophecy and the gifts which reveal things to us they never reveal everything
fully! Even the gifts have limits,
but love does what knowledge cannot do, there are no limits for
love!
a. There have been very uneducated
people who have been very successful in relationships because they understood
the nature of love and gave it!
b. There have been very knowledgeable
people too who have failed miserably in life and relationships because they have
never understood the importance of love!
C. Evidence! 1 Cor.
13:11-12
1. Paul now describes that the nature
of love matures us ... his statement that "When I became a
man I put away childish things" indicates an act of will and
cooperation on his part, the perfect tense in Greek indicates it was an act in a
moment of time that to Paul was a final decision ... with results that NOW are
observable!
a. Love cannot be just in words, it
must be in action as well!
b. Love is taught not just with words,
but by deeds!
ILLUS:
IN
THE CLARENDON SCHOOL IN ENGLAND, FOUNDED BY THE AUNT OF HAZEL AND PATRICIA ST.
JOHN, THE STUDENTS ARE NOT PERMITTED TO TAKE SECONDS AT THE DINNER TABLE. HOWEVER, THE PERSON SITTING ON EITHER
SIDE OF THEM COULD SERVE THEM ANOTHER HELPING. THEY DO THIS TO TEACH THEM TO NOT THINK
OF THEMSELVES OR THEIR OWN NEEDS, BUT IN LOVE TO THINK OF OTHERS ... AND THIS
MATURING PROCESS BEGINS WHEN WE ARE YOUNG IN SMALL WAYS!
– SOURCE UNKNOWN
2. Paul's point about "seeing a poor
reflection in a mirror" has to do with how imperfect our
understanding is about things ... and yet, how perfect love can
be.
a. Mirrors were famous in Corinth but
only the rich could afford the highly polished ones, most of the common people
bought cheaper models that were made from metal that didn't have a high sheen to
them, so the reflection cast from them was anything but perfect or good, they
only got a poor reflection!
b. Gifts and knowledge only offered a
murky glimpse of reality, but love conquers all!
c. Where words fail to communicate
love, actions can!
ILLUS: IN
CHINA SOME MISSIONARIES HAD ATTEMPTED TO MINISTER TO A LEPER COLONY. THEY WENT ONCE A MONTH AND TAUGHT ABOUT
GOD'S LOVE FOR THESE LEPERS. THEY
WOULD CLEARLY TEACH WHAT THE BIBLE TAUGHT ABOUT GOD'S LOVE AND SALVATION AND
THEN THEY WOULD ATTEMPT TO QUESTION THEM TO MAKE SURE THEY UNDERSTOOD THE
CONCEPTS. IN ONE SUCH ATTEMPT TO
SEE IF THEY UNDERSTOOD GOD'S LOVE FOR THEM AS LEPERS ONE OF THE MISSIONARIES
ASKED, "JUST HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT THE LORD JESUS LOVES YOU?" THEY WERE EXPECTING THE CORRECT
THEOLOGICAL ANSWER WHEN INSTEAD THEY GOT, "BECAUSE OF YOU!" GOD'S LOVE RANG TRUE
TO THEM BECAUSE THEY SAW EVIDENCE OF IT IN THESE MISSIONARIES WHO CAME
FAITHFULLY TO MINISTER TO THEM!
BECAUSE OF THEIR LOVE THEY SAW GOD'S LOVE! HOW THEOLOGICALLY CORRECT IS
THIS!
– SOURCE UNKNOWN
3. The evidence of love in a church
will help others receive the evidence of the gifts as
well!
a. With love the gifts mean a great
deal!
b. Without love they mean
nothing!
4. Paul concludes the chapter by
saying that of all the things that are important, the gifts, faith, hope... none
is greater than love!
a. Don't ignore the gifts by any means
...
b. But be sure to follow after love,
the “more
excellent way!”
CONCLUSION: The Bible declares that "God is
love," therefore a central attribute of the Holy Spirit is love. In Galatians
5:22 Paul goes so far as to say "LOVE"
is the very fruit of the Holy Spirit! Nothing the Holy Spirit does therefore
is done without love being at the core.
Not even the gifts of the Holy Spirit are useful without love! The highest work of the Spirit ("the more
excellent way" 1 Cor. 12:31b) is
that of love. The Pentecostal
church is one filled with love … and the
gifts!