Participants: Steve Cassimy (Host), Dr. Abraham Jules
Series Code: POH
Program Code: POH000010
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00:03 Where can you find hope for the hopeless?
00:07 Opportunity for transformation? 00:11 Peace amid life's storms? 00:15 Only in God's free gift of eternal life. 00:20 From New York, join us on the Pathway of Hope. 00:30 You probably know it from memory. 00:33 You heard it so many times 00:35 that its meaning and message have lost their impact on you. 00:41 On Valentine's Day, 00:43 it is a favorite reference passage 00:44 for those in love. 00:47 At weddings, 00:48 couples are reminded of its significance 00:50 in their relationship. 00:53 At church services, the preachers will quote, 00:56 The Apostle Paul's admonition 00:58 that even if you can speak like an angel, move mountains, 01:03 give all that you have to the poor, 01:06 give your body to be burned, 01:08 but you do not have it, you are nothing. 01:13 A preaching passage is familiar to most of us. 01:17 Listen now, as Dr. A.J Jules leads us in a study 01:22 of this fascinating and familiar chapter 01:26 of 1 Corinthians Chapter 13. 01:41 Amazing 01:45 Grace 01:48 How sweet the sound 01:55 That saved a wretch 02:01 Like me 02:08 I once was lost, 02:16 But now I am found 02:22 Was blind but now 02:36 I can see 02:41 It was grace 02:43 That taught my heart 02:49 To fear 02:52 And grace, 02:54 My fears relieved 03:03 How precious did 03:09 That grace appear 03:15 The hour I first believed 03:31 Through many dangers, 03:37 Toils and snares 03:43 I have already come 03:59 It was grace 04:01 That brought me safe 04:06 Thus far 04:09 And it's grace that's gonna lead me home 04:24 When we've been there 04:31 Ten thousand years 04:37 Bright shining 04:42 As the sun 04:50 We've no less days 04:56 To sing God's praise 05:03 Than when 05:06 We've first begun 05:36 Let us pray. 05:39 Gracious Lord and loving our, Father, 05:44 You have taught us how to love each other. 05:50 You have shared Your love with us 05:52 by sending Your Son to die in an old rugged cross. 05:58 We today investigate Your teachings on love 06:02 and we pray that You will make us a more loving people. 06:07 Thank you, O God, for coming into this world 06:11 and demonstrating Your amazing grace and love. 06:17 We thank You for Your sacrifice on our part. 06:21 We thank you for Your promises. 06:25 We thank You for the demonstration 06:26 of that godly love. 06:29 In the name of Jesus we pray. 06:31 Amen. 06:34 Today's message, 06:36 what's love got to do with it. 06:40 And our focus will be the Book of 1 Corinthians 06:46 Chapter 13, all 13 verses. 06:50 We'll talk about what God expects us to be like 06:53 and look like and how we ought to act. 06:58 Corinth was the most important trade center 07:02 in ancient Greece. 07:05 It was prime real estate, 07:08 situated as it was on the Isthmus of Corinth, 07:13 a narrow strip of land that traverse the Ionian Sea 07:17 and the Aegean Sea. 07:21 The history of the city 07:22 dates back to prehistoric times. 07:26 The well known Greek poet Homer 07:29 spoke about wealthy Corinth 07:31 way back in 850 BC. 07:35 The city was prosperous and famous for its bronze, 07:39 pottery and shipbuilding. 07:43 More than eight centuries before Jesus Christ was born. 07:47 However, in 146 BC, Roman armies invaded 07:51 and destroyed Corinth killing its men 07:54 and enslaving its women and children. 07:58 About 100 years later, in 44 BC, 08:01 Julius Caesar ordered the city to be rebuilt. 08:04 It became the capital city 08:07 of the Roman province of Achaia. 08:10 Hundreds of thousands of people flocked to this new metropolis. 08:16 And by the middle of the first century AD, 08:20 there were some 500,000 people who lived in Corinth. 08:25 They were merchants and sailors, 08:28 who worked the docks 08:29 and since the city had two splendid harbors 08:33 one on the eastern 08:34 and another on the western side of the Isthmus, 08:37 it enjoyed a steady flow of trade. 08:41 Money and goods were in abundance. 08:44 Therefore professional gamblers took up residence there 08:48 even betting on the athletes 08:50 who took part in the Isthmian games, 08:53 something similar to the Olympics. 08:56 Slaves roam the streets day and night 08:58 and prostitutes both male and female 09:02 were in abundance. 09:04 In fact, dominating the skyline of Corinth 09:08 was the Acrocorinth. 09:10 It stood some 1,500 feet above the city itself. 09:16 Here was found the infamous Temple of Aphrodite or Venus. 09:21 This was a pagan temple that had over 1,000 religious 09:26 or sacred prostitutes who enjoyed themselves in sex 09:31 for religious purposes. 09:34 All of these poisoned the city's culture and morals. 09:39 Corinth was lodged by first century standards, 09:43 being enclosed by walls 09:45 at least six miles in circumference 09:48 and at the center, 09:50 as centerpiece of the trade and commerce its downtown, 09:53 if you please was the model paved agora 09:57 or marketplace. 10:00 Archaeology has uncovered 10:02 other magnificent pieces of the city, 10:05 such as an ancient synagogue inscribed with the words 10:08 synagogue of the Hebrews. 10:11 Possibly the very place where Paul preached. 10:15 Nearby was a magnificent judgment seat, 10:18 covered with blue and white marble. 10:20 There was also a magnificent amphitheatre, 10:24 and it was to this bustling metropolis 10:28 having a notorious reputation 10:30 that Paul came to do evangelism 10:33 on his second missionary journey in AD51, 10:37 according to Acts 18:1-18. 10:40 He worked with a Jewish Christian couple, 10:43 Aquila and Priscilla, 10:45 who had recently been expelled from Rome by Emperor Claudius 10:49 because they were Jews. 10:52 Silas and Timothy later joined Paul in Corinth, 10:56 but when Paul left Corinth 18 months later, 11:00 we are told that a Christian congregation flourished 11:04 and it comprised of pagans, 11:07 many from the lower classes, slaves, 11:10 a few wealthy people, and some Jews. 11:14 Undoubtedly, they made a hodgepodge of people. 11:18 There were young Christians who were concerned 11:21 with the problems involved in living the Christian life 11:24 in a non-Christian environment. 11:27 To be certain, they had problems, 11:29 problems such as moral abuses, incest, gluttony, 11:34 generating arguments 11:36 that wound up in courts before non believing judges. 11:40 They also had questions concerning things 11:42 such as sexuality, marriage, 11:45 and eating food previously offered 11:48 to pagan idols. 11:50 In all likelihood, 11:52 they probably had factions or divisions in the church 11:55 that were causing disunity. 11:58 Now this prompted Paul 11:59 to write about unity in Chapter 12, 12:02 dealing with spiritual gifts. 12:05 The underlining point that Paul is making 12:07 is that although there is diversity of gifts, 12:10 there is the same one spirit. 12:13 Although there are differences in administration, 12:16 there is the same Lord. 12:20 To illustrate the necessary functional unity 12:23 of the spiritual gifts, he points to the body. 12:26 He said each part of the body 12:28 even though it appears to be small and insignificant, 12:32 like a finger, is necessary and important 12:35 for the smooth functioning of the one or united organism. 12:40 Hence Paul teaches that there are no distinctions 12:43 among members, because the spirit rules. 12:47 He indicates that God has given different gifts 12:51 to the church, 12:52 but they are all for the one 12:54 and the same purpose of glorifying God. 12:58 No one member has all the gifts. 13:01 So no one church or one person should compete 13:05 concerning the use or the seeming significance 13:09 or importance of his or her individual giftedness. 13:14 In order to clearly illustrate this, 13:17 Paul points the church members, 13:20 he points them to a moral excellent way. 13:24 As 1 Corinthians 12:31 says, 13:26 it is this moral excellent way 13:29 that he describes 13:31 in the love chapter of the Bible, 13:33 1 Corinthians 13. 13:35 It must be noted that neither here nor anywhere else 13:39 does Paul call love a gift. 13:42 It has been mistakenly interpreted 13:44 that Paul is saying that love is the greatest of all gifts, 13:49 and therefore everyone should pursue it. 13:52 This is not precise. 13:54 Paul is saying that the way the church had been going 13:58 was basically destructive. 14:01 Even with all the gifts outside of the context of love, 14:04 members are doomed to failure. 14:08 So Paul shows them a way that is beyond comparison. 14:13 This is not love versus gifts, 14:16 but love as the only context for gifts. 14:22 Indeed, what the apostle is emphasizing 14:26 is that without love, gifts are useless, empty 14:31 and accorded no value. 14:33 Although strictly speaking, this chapter is not poetry. 14:37 Paul uses poetic cadence to soar to new heights 14:42 in his description of agape or love. 14:45 This chapter, the Apostle sets out 14:48 four important features of love. 14:51 And we do well to listen carefully today. 14:53 First, he talks about the necessity of love. 14:56 Listen to verses 1-3. 14:59 He says, "If I speak in the tongues of men 15:02 and of angels, but do not have love, 15:05 I am only a sounding gong or a clanging cymbal." 15:09 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries 15:13 and all knowledge 15:14 and if I have faith, that I can remove mountains, 15:16 but do not have love, I am nothing. 15:20 If I give all that I have to present 15:22 and possess to the poor 15:24 and surrender my body to the flames, 15:27 but do not have love, he says, "I am nothing." 15:31 On the first level, Paul deals with a matter of language. 15:37 Apparently, the Corinthian believers felt 15:41 that they had arrived 15:43 or come to a certain heightened spiritual state. 15:47 They described this as speaking in the language of angels. 15:51 In other words, they held that the spirit inspired 15:55 that human speech 15:57 and they're communicated in the dialect of heaven. 16:01 They're an exalted view of their spirituality. 16:04 Yet Paul says that even if that was possible, 16:09 but they did not have love, 16:12 then the end result is nothingness. 16:16 To have love is to act lovingly. 16:20 It means to actively seek to benefit others. 16:24 It means that Christ has loved you 16:28 and you give love to others. 16:30 In fact, for those who walk in the spirit, 16:33 the ethical imperative is to love one another. 16:38 Paul says that even though 16:42 we have an exalted view of our spirituality, 16:45 even if we could communicate directly with heaven, 16:48 and heavenly intermediaries, even if we are silver tongue, 16:53 artists like Chrysostom, but do not act lovingly 16:56 then we become a sounding gong and a clanging cymbal. 17:01 The gong and cymbal 17:03 were instruments usually 17:05 associated with the pagan cult. 17:08 So even if the Corinthians spoke 17:09 and exalted heavenly language 17:11 and even if they thought that they were highly spiritual 17:14 but lacked love, 17:16 Paul says they sounded like the empty, 17:18 hollow noises of pagan worship. 17:22 Real love is necessary in order to help us 17:25 avoid such an exalted view of ourselves. 17:29 This is nothing but pride. 17:32 Sometimes, because we think of ourselves 17:35 as being gifted or handsome or pretty, 17:38 we hold too high an opinion of ourselves. 17:41 We aggregate too much attention 17:43 and importance to our own person. 17:46 But worse than that is 17:48 when we place ourselves on a spiritual pedestal 17:52 and start counting the stars in our own ground, 17:55 when we thumb our spiritual noses 17:58 at the struggling setup. 18:00 When we behave in a holier than thou attitude, 18:03 when we wear our religion like a new dress 18:05 from Sacks Fifth Avenue, but show no love, 18:08 then we are like a sounding brass 18:11 and are tingling cymbal. 18:15 But on the second level, verse 2, 18:20 Paul cast is that wider 18:25 by dealing with the spiritual gifts 18:27 of charismatic. 18:29 It was these very gifts which the competing Corinthians 18:33 were using to bring about disunity. 18:37 They saw the gift of prophecy with greedy eyes. 18:40 To them, it had great significance. 18:43 Further, knowledge was something 18:45 that the Corinthians craved. 18:49 Understanding mysteries was a way of speaking 18:51 about grasping God's special revelation, 18:55 especially in terms of the eschatological drama. 18:58 Now mighty faith, so powerful 19:02 that it could dismiss mountains 19:04 that a whim was held in high regard. 19:06 But Paul is insistent, without love these are nothing. 19:11 Singly or grouped together in force 19:13 they counted for nothing. 19:16 To emphasize this point, 19:17 Paul uses the inclusive word all, 19:20 all mysteries, all knowledge, and all faith. 19:24 Even if one person can embrace 19:26 and envelope the entire range of spiritual gifts, 19:29 even if one person has complete control 19:32 over all of them, but still does not love, 19:35 Paul says that, 19:36 that person is nothing zero zilch. 19:42 It is not possession of spiritual gifts, 19:45 which demonstrates the presence of the spirit. 19:48 It is the presence of love 19:50 that demonstrates the presence of the spirit. 19:54 Then on the third level, verse 3, 19:57 Paul cast his net even wider, 20:00 when he speaks about self sacrificing deeds. 20:03 The first self sacrificing deed 20:06 is in the expression of giving all I possess 20:09 to feed the poor. 20:10 It is best translated literally, 20:12 as if I parcel out all my property for food. 20:17 In other words, 20:19 this is speaking about giving everything I have 20:21 to feed the poor. 20:22 This was and still is a noble deed. 20:25 After all, then Jesus teaches 20:28 that we should always be doing good deeds 20:30 to all the poor. 20:32 However, if the deed itself is done 20:37 to get the attention of human beings, 20:39 and it's not seasoned with real love, 20:41 it is tasteless. 20:43 If the deed itself is good, 20:45 and it's beneficial to the recipients, 20:47 without the active ingredient of love, 20:49 it brings no healing balm, 20:52 even if the deed itself is good, 20:55 and was commanded by Jesus 20:57 without the savory instance of love. 20:59 That is only a pungent odor, 21:02 even if the deed itself is good, 21:04 and it's beneficial to the recipient, 21:06 without the sweetness of love, it is bitter like gourd. 21:12 Now the second self sacrificing deed 21:17 points to martyrdom or being burned. 21:21 This obviously brings the section to the climax. 21:25 Paul is saying that even if I make 21:26 the most dramatic personal sacrifice, 21:31 but this does not have love, it profits nothing. 21:34 In the end, all that we do, all that we boast about, 21:37 all that we claim is nothing 21:39 unless it is set within the gemstones of love. 21:43 Hence Paul climaxes by indicating forcefully 21:46 that love is necessary. 21:49 The better way it was Paul points the Corinthian 21:52 Christians is also exemplary for us today. 21:56 Love is absolutely necessary for us 21:58 to be really called Christians. 22:01 People will know us not by what we say, 22:03 or by our theology, or by our philosophy, 22:07 they will know us by our love. 22:09 As Jesus said, 22:11 and they will know that you are My disciples 22:13 if you have love one for the other, 22:18 despite the greatness of our message, 22:19 despite the bigness of our institutions, 22:22 despite the worldwide nature of our church, 22:26 what makes the difference is when we put on love, 22:29 we must not think of ourselves as spiritually significant, 22:33 we must love. 22:35 It is not what we say. 22:36 But what we do. 22:38 If I preached with the brilliance of Paul 22:40 and have not love, I am nothing. 22:44 If I sing with the mellifluous voice of angels, 22:47 but do not have love, I am nothing. 22:50 If I play with the brilliance of David, 22:52 but do not have love, I am nothing. 22:55 If I prophesied with the greatness of Jeremiah, 22:57 but do not have love, I am nothing. 23:03 I must not just preach about love or talk about love, 23:07 or play love songs or prophesy about love. 23:11 I must do love. 23:13 This is the direction Paul now points us to in verses 4-7, 23:18 there he denotes the character of love, 23:21 love first, the necessity of love. 23:23 Secondly, the character of love. 23:26 Listen to verses 4-7. 23:28 Love is patient. 23:30 Love is kind. 23:32 It does not envy. It does not boast. 23:34 It does not, it is not proud. 23:37 It is not rude. 23:38 It is not self seeking. 23:40 It is not easily angered. 23:42 It keeps no record of wrongs. 23:45 Love does not delight in evil, 23:48 but rejoices in the truth. 23:51 It always protects it. 23:53 Always hopes and always perseveres. 23:56 It is interesting, ladies and gentlemen, 23:58 that here Paul does not present love 24:01 as a philosophy or as a feeling or as an emotion. 24:06 Love is not an abstract quality. 24:08 In fact, love is a concrete reality. 24:12 It is best expressed in Jesus' death 24:15 on an old rugged cross. 24:17 So love is not an idea, 24:20 it is not merely a motivating factor for behavior, 24:23 it is behavior. 24:26 It is an action, it is a verb. 24:31 Anything short of action is not love at all. 24:36 In order to point out and to emphasize 24:39 that love is a verb, that love is an action, 24:42 Paul stacks 15 verbs, one after the other in quick, 24:46 rapid fire succession. 24:48 The apostle begins by casting love 24:51 in a very positive light. 24:53 He says it is patient and kind. 24:56 Patience represents forbearance, tolerance, 24:59 being even tempered and persevering. 25:02 Patience speaks about the capacity 25:04 of calmly enduring pain in trying situations. 25:08 It speaks of calmness, composure, coolness, 25:11 equanimity, serenity and sufferance and toleration. 25:16 In fact, the King James Version, 25:18 rendering that love suffereth long 25:20 is one of the best ways of describing agape. 25:23 Now, this speaks about active goodness. 25:26 Love is not a passive thing 25:28 that waits for something to be done to it. 25:31 As a lover, you don't wait for the other 25:34 to do something for you. 25:36 You actually initiate, 25:37 sometimes taking the first step, 25:39 even if this does not bring the thing, 25:42 it's not the thing that you would naturally do. 25:45 Since love is active, 25:47 it motivates the person to move forward, 25:50 to make attempts, to make new attempts 25:52 and to make new and different overtures 25:55 to bring happiness to the other person. 25:58 When this happens, 26:00 the other person reciprocates in kind, 26:03 that love is kind 26:05 speaks to its value as active goodness. 26:09 Interestingly, ladies and gentlemen, 26:12 these two words patience and kindness, 26:15 speak about the very nature of the character of God. 26:20 In fact, in the Greek, translation of the Hebrew Bible 26:25 called the Septuagint, or the LXX, 26:29 because 70 men allegedly wrote it. 26:31 These words are frequently used 26:33 to describe the character of God. 26:36 Moreover, these nouns, patience and kindness 26:39 are used side by side 26:41 to speak about the fruit of the Spirit 26:43 in Galatians 5:22. 26:44 In effect, Paul is saying 26:47 that love has the quality of Godness. 26:51 God is patient with us. 26:53 When we are hardheaded 26:55 and going in the wrong direction, 26:57 He simply says, 26:58 "There is a way that seems right unto a man. 27:01 By the end thereof are other ways of death." 27:04 Instead of writing us off, God waits for us to return. 27:09 He is patient. 27:13 Thanks for watching Pathway of Hope. 27:16 If you would like to be prayed for 27:18 or would like to learn more about God's Word, 27:21 please call 1 (877) 520-Hope 27:28 or 1 (877) 520 (4673). 27:35 You may also watch more of our programs online 27:38 at www.pathwayofhope.tv. 27:45 If you would like to make a tax deductable love gift, 27:49 please send your gifts to Pathway of Hope 27:52 at P.O. Box 280704, 27:58 Queens Village, New York 11428. 28:03 Thanks for watching Pathway of Hope, 28:05 and may God's blessings be yours today. |
Revised 2020-04-02