THE ‘FOREVER QUALITY’ OF LOVE – 1 Corinthians 13:8-13

Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on September 15, 2019 under 2019 |

Bethany Bible Church Sunday Message; September 15, 2019 from 1 Corinthians 13:8-13

Theme: When we prioritize love in the spiritual gifts, we end up pursuing that which is most eternal.

(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).

Let’s suppose, dear church family, that we decided to grow a vegetable garden together.

Now; that would be a good thing do to; don’t you think? We could work together to grow some good food to feed ourselves and provide for the nourishment of other families.

But suppose that, in the process, we got distracted from the work by the fact that we began comparing our gardening tools. Suppose that I started to focus so much on my rake that I began to look down on you because you used a shovel. Or suppose that I began to think that you shouldn’t really even have a shovel; because, having watched you work, I could tell that you obviously can’t do with your shovel what I can do with my rake. Or suppose that you and I both used rakes; but when we compared them, I could see that you had the better rake of the two—and I became jealous of you and refused to work with you because you had a newer rake than the older model I got stuck with. And maybe together—after we got through comparing rakes with each other—we began to look down our noses together at the guy with the wheel-barrow.

If we kept this up, we wouldn’t end up with very many vegetables. People who needed food wouldn’t receive it; and it would all have been because we ended up concentrating so much on the ‘means’ that we lost sight of the ‘ends’.

Now; the same kind of thing can happen in a church; can’t it? As a community of believers, one of the dangers we face together is that of losing our sense of what’s most important. If we’re not careful, we can easily end up losing sight of the end goal that the Lord has set for us—and all because we focused too much on the means He has provided to accomplish the more important and eternal end.

That kind of thing was happening in the ancient church in Corinth. The Lord Jesus had equipped His church with various spiritual gifts they needed. They were things that the apostle Paul described in 1 Corinthians 12—things like the gifts of teaching, words of knowledge, working of miracles, prophecies, healings, gifts of administration, tongues and the interpretation of tongues. These were all means to an end. They were given in order to help the church family—as a whole—grow in the eternal things of the Lord Jesus. But the believers in the church were focusing so much on the gifts—comparing one gift against another; elevating one gift over another; becoming jealous over who had which gift, and competing over who got applauded the most for what they did with their gift—that they lost sight of how those gifts were meant to serve an eternal end.

The apostle Paul wrote to solve this problem. And in doing so, he put the spotlight on ‘love’. In 1 Corinthians 13, he wrote to explain to them how love was to be the guiding principle in their use of those gifts. In verses 1-3, he wrote;

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging 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, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing (1 Corinthians 13:1-3).

In other words, he taught them that without sincere, genuine agape love—the self-sacrificing kind of love that Jesus has shown toward us—the spiritual gifts can accomplish nothing. Love was the necessary ingredient. And then—as we saw in our last time together—he went on to explained to them what this agape love is supposed to look like in action;

Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails (vv. 4-8a).

This description of agape love is nothing less than a picture of Jesus Himself. He is the one who loves us in all these ways—and with absolute perfection. If that kind of love prevailed, then the spiritual gifts would be the blessing to God’s household that He designed for them to be.

And look carefully at that last statement—“Love never fails.” This kind of love is something of eternal value. It’s the thing that makes all the gifts work as they should in our fellowship together toward the accomplishment of the Lord’s eternal purposes. Agape love is that essential thing that, if we consistently pursue in our use of the ‘means’, will keep us rightly focused on the eternal ‘end’ that the Lord has intended. It’s what helps us to keep the spiritual gifts in proper perspective.

And so; with all of this in mind, please look now at our passage this morning. In verses 8-13, the apostle Paul went on to write;

Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away. When I was a child, I spoke 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 in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known. And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love (vv. 8-13).

What an important passage this is, dear brothers and sisters in Christ! It is meant to keep us on track in our use of the spiritual gifts that the Lord has given to our church family. It is meant to help us to use those ‘means’—which are only temporary in nature—in such a way as to keep eternal ‘ends’ in mind. It is meant to show is that, when we prioritize Jesus’ own love together as a church family, we end up using the spiritual gifts in such a way as to pursue that which is most dear to Him—that which is most eternal.

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Now; it helps us to rightly understand this passage if we keep in mind where it is that we are heading together as believers. We are destined to share together in the glory of the Lord Jesus Himself.

The apostle John once put it this way:

Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is (1 John 3:1-2).

This is talking about the time when the Lord Jesus will return to this earth; and when He will be fully revealed to the world in all of His majestic glory as the Son of God. John tells us that we are—right now—the sons and daughters of God by faith in Jesus. If we have placed our faith in Him, then we have been adopted into His family; and that’s who we are at this very moment. And when our Lord Jesus returns, the promise of God’s word is that we who believe on Him will be glorified along with Him. Even if our bodies have died before that time and are laid to rest in the grave, these bodies will—on that great day—be raised in glory, and will be united to our already-glorified spirits. Or if we are privileged to be alive at the time of His return, our bodies will be transformed into glory in the twinkling of an eye. And so; whether we are transformed in an instant, or raised from the grave, we will thus forever be like Him in His glory. We—as the sons and daughters of God by faith—will then be perfected; and will share in Jesus’ own glory forever.

That’s the prospect of all who have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus. And then, the apostle John went on to write,

And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure” (v. 3).

That glorious hope—that sure and certain expectation of future glory for all who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ—ought to transform the way we live right now. It ought to, among other things, cause us to put our spiritual gifts into perspective; and to use them with our destiny in mind. It should help us to see that the spiritual gifts that the Lord Jesus has distributed among us now—with which He has equipped each one of us during our present time upon this earth—are only the temporary ‘means’ to an eternal ‘end’. They themselves are not meant to last forever. They are only meant to help us to work together, in the present time, to grow—more and more—into the image of the Lord Jesus that will be fully perfected in us on the day of His return. We need to view those gifts rightly: in the light of the coming day of our perfection in Christ. When He returns for us—and we become glorified in Him—then their purpose will be fulfilled.

So, you see; it would be a matter of seriously misplaced priorities if we were to focus too much on those temporary gifts, or allow undue attention upon them to rob us of the focus we should have on the goal of our perfection in Christ. We should never lose sight of their value. They are all very important and very good. But we should never treat them as ends in and of themselves. We must remember that they are only the means to an eternal end.

And we will do that if we faithfully prioritize agape love in our use of them.

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Now; let’s look together at these words from Paul. The first thing to notice is what he writes in verse 8; “Love never fails.” He says this in order to contrast the eternal nature of agape love with the temporary nature of the spiritual gifts.

In the original language, Paul says “Love never falls”. And he means this in a figurative sense. Love never, as it were, drops to the ground as something ‘void’ or ‘ineffective’. It never fizzles out.

There’s a very good reason for this. It’s because, as the Bible itself tells us, “God is love.” Love is a part of God’s very own being. He is Triune in nature—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And the Father has always eternally loved the Son, and the Son has always eternally loved the Spirit, and the Spirit has always eternally loved the Father. All three divine Persons exist forever in a relationship of eternal, unending, perfect agape love. And so, God truly is love.

And what’s more, through the blood of Jesus, we—dear brothers and sisters—have been brought into that eternal relationship of love. As Jesus Himself has prayed for us;

“that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me” (John 17:21-23).

So you see; love can never fail, because love is what God Himself is in His essential being. He has brought us into that eternal relationship of love forever; and He will never end that relationship of love. And so, agape love truly is as unfailing as His own divine, eternal being. It will never fail.

* * * * * * * * * *

But this is not true of the spiritual gifts. Those spiritual gifts—unlike love itself—are only temporary in nature. They are the temporary means to an eternal end. And so, we should keep them in a proper perspective. As Paul went on to say in verse 8;

Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away.

Paul probably mentioned these three gifts specifically—gifts of prophecy, gifts of tongues, and gifts of knowledge—because they were the ones that the Corinthian Christians were over-emphasizing. It was not that these gifts were in any way wrong or illegitimate. They were all given by the Lord Jesus; and they were all necessary to the health and well-being of the church family in their proper place. But these were also the most outwardly ‘visible’ gifts; which—when love was taken out of the picture—tended to lead the Corinthian church family into comparisons and jealousies and disputes.

The spiritual gift of prophecy is a wonderful gift. It is the gift of speaking forth the word of God to God’s people. In its most fundamental sense, it’s what happens when good biblical preaching is done in the power of the Holy Spirit. And in special cases, it’s when God may choose to give an unusual, ‘revelational’ message to His people. But wherever this gift may be in God’s household, it needs to be remembered that it will one day be brought to an end. There will come a time when it will no longer be necessary; because its purpose will be fulfilled.

The spiritual gift of knowledge is also a wonderful gift. In its most basic sense, it’s what happens when good teaching of doctrine and good instruction in the things of God happen in His household. And in special cases, it’s also when God may choose to give a much needed ‘word of knowledge’—so His people know something that they need to know in a particular situation. But wherever this gift may be in His household, it needs to be remembered that it too will one day cease to be needed. It too will come to an end. There will come a time when special gifts of knowledge will no longer need to be given.

The spiritual gift of ‘speaking in tongues’ is also a wonderful gift. As the Bible teaches us about it, it’s the miracle of someone speaking forth an accurate message from God in a language that the speaker does not naturally know—a message for which God also provides an interpreter; so its meaning can be made known to God’s people and they can be edified by it. But wherever even this gift is found, it too will come to an end. In fact, Paul uses a different word for it than he uses for the other two—saying that it will ‘cease’. There will come a time when this remarkable ‘sign’ gift will no longer be needed.

A lot of preachers have had a lot to say about when they believe these different gifts may have already come to an end—and particularly when they believe that the gift of tongues has ‘ceased’. But it doesn’t seem to me that the point of this passage is to explain exactly ‘when’ that will happen. It’s just the plain, simple fact that these gifts will—one day—fail or cease or vanish away. That is the nature of the spiritual gifts. They are only temporary in their purpose. They are only the ‘means’ to a more eternal ‘end’.

That ‘end’ looks ahead to the time when Jesus will return; and when we will become fully glorified with Him. In verses 9-10, Paul puts it this way:

For we know in part and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away (vv. 9-10).

That’s how the gifts work now. They are only partial installments, for the time being, of that which will one day be fully perfected. Today, we can only ‘know’ eternal truth in ‘parts’. In our current state, we can only receive the full revelation of God in ‘bits’ and ‘pieces’. But one day—when Jesus comes back—then the ‘partial installments’ that are given to us now through these spiritual gifts will no longer be necessary. That which is ‘perfect’ will have fully come.

Many people believe that ‘that which is perfect’ is the Bible. They say that, in the earliest years of the church—when the New Testament Scriptures had not yet been fully given, and all the books of the Bible had not yet been gathered together into one complete collection—then the church needed the gifts of prophecy and tongues and knowledge. But when ‘that which is perfect’ had come—that is, the full, written, revealed word of God—then those things were no longer necessary. But I don’t believe that is what Paul means. I don’t believe that the phrase ‘that which is perfect’ is meant to be understood as a ‘thing’, but rather as a ‘state’ of our being. When our perfection in glory is fully brought about at the time of Jesus’ return, then these ‘partial’ things will be rendered unnecessary.

Paul goes on to give us an illustration. He uses himself as an object lesson; but it’s a personal illustration that each of us can relate to. In verse 11 he wrote;

When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things (v. 11).

Everyone knows this; don’t they? It’s okay for a two-year-old to sit in the high-chair, and to wear a bib, and to be fed mashed peas, and to be told, “Here comes the airplane!” as a little plastic spoon gets steered into their mouth. But that’s not okay for a twenty-year-old. A full-grown man puts away such things; because he is of such a state of being that he no longer needs them. And the same thing is true with respect to the spiritual gifts. It’s not that we are being childish if we use them. They are necessary for our growth, and we need them right now. Rather, it’s that, when we have been brought to full perfection in Christ, then they will no longer be necessary; and it would be inappropriate, in our future-glorified condition, to keep using them.

Paul said essentially the same thing in another way in verse 12. He wrote;

For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known (v. 12).

You and I look in mirrors several times a day. (Or at least, we should.) And when we do, we get a pretty accurate picture of ourselves … in reverse. But in ancient times, the only mirror anyone would have been a polished piece of bronze. It would be enough to tell you if you had your hat on straight; but that’s about it. Many people would have had a chance to see their own reflection only a few times in the course of a week—if at all. And even then, it would not have been very clear—not as clearly as people would have been able to see each other. And that’s an illustration of how differently things will be when we reach our full state of perfection in Jesus. Right now, we only apprehend things in a dim way. But on that day, we will ‘see’ with the kind of crystal clarity that God has when He look upon us.

The same is true with our knowledge of things. Whatever it may be that we know, we—at the very best—can only know it in part. We can never have a full, exhaustive knowledge of anything. But on that day of perfection, we will ‘know’ with the kind of complete knowledge by which God Himself knows us. When Paul wrote these words, it may be that he was thinking back to the Old Testament—and to what God said to the people of Israel about Moses;

“I speak with him face to face,
Even plainly, and not in dark sayings;
And he sees the form of the Lord.” (Numbers 12:8).

God dealt with Moses in a plain way—face to face—with perfect clarity. And that’s what it will be like for us on the day of Jesus’ return. When that happens, we’ll no longer need the partial. The perfect will have come.

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Now; in the light of all these things that are temporal in God’s purpose for us, Paul tells us something remarkable in verse 13, “And now abide faith, hope, love, these three …” When everything is put in its proper perspective, these three things abide. They are what is most important. Our spiritual gifts are meant to help build up one another’s faith in the promises of God concerning His Son, and to build up our hope together in the sure and certain outcome of His plan to bring us into full glory in Him, and to teach us all to love Him with all our being—and to love one another as ourselves. And then, Paul adds, “but the greatest of these is love.” It’s the one that stands as the foundation for all the others. It’s the one of these three things that, when we prioritize as we should, helps us to pursue together that which is most eternal

And so, dear brothers and sisters; let’s not become so focused on the ‘means’ that we lose sight of the ‘ends’. Let’s do as Paul then goes on to say in 1 Corinthians 14:1—“Pursue love.”

EA