2020-12-06 – 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 – All You Need is..

2020-12-06 – 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 – All You Need is..
Good morning everyone. It is so nice to be able to spend some time with you all in fellowship with the Lord. Thank you and God bless you for being with us today.
Today’s message is entitled is All You Need is.. I got that from that old Beatles Song, “All You Need Is Love”. Today we are going to reflect upon God’s Love for us. As we are preparing now for Christmas, my hope is that you will take some time to reflect upon the true joy, hope, peace and love, that the coming of the Christ child makes possible for each and every one of us.
“Love is an amazing thing indeed.. It can make the weakest person strong, and the strongest person weak.”
LOVE – According to the Poet Jane fisher, It makes us laugh; It makes us sing;
It makes us sad; It makes us cry; It makes us seek the reason why; It makes us take; It makes us give; but above all else, it makes us live!

And God Loves you, that’s a fact.  Everyone tell your neighbor, “God Loves You”

Please turn now to 1 Corinthians 13:1, page 1019 in your pew Bibles, which is the Inspired, Infallible and Living Word of God.   Prayer..

Last week we read from chapter 12 where Paul wrote about the Spiritual Gifts, Missions, Activities and Offices within the church body. And all those Gifts, Missions, Activities and Offices would amount to nothing if our heart was not also in it. Everything that God did for us, was birthed in love. God so loves you, and thus today we are going to look into this thing called Love..

You may have heard this before, but there are three kinds of Biblical Love mentioned in the New Testament
Phileo love – which means Brotherly Love
Eros love – that refers to physical love or desire.
And Agape love – which generally means Strong Christian Love or Godly Love.
It is a deep abiding love, and that word is used 117 times in the New Testament.

Today we are going to see how God So Loves as that was so well demonstrated in Christ’s life, Christ’s words and Christ’s deeds.. We will focus on some key verses that should solidify that God So Loves concept in our own hearts and minds.. and hopefully lead us to demonstrate more “Faith” through our love for one another.

We are going to look at three of the most common and most recited verses in scripture about this thing called Love. These verses, many of you probably know by heart.. and when I get to one you know, if your so inclined, consider reciting them aloud with me.. it will be fun.. As we are going through the letter-book of First Corinthians, our main verses today start in chapter 13, and it is subtitled – “Love: The Superior Way”. Starting at verse 1, the Apostle Paul wrote:

1 If I speak human or angelic tongues but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so that I can move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 And if I give away all my possessions, and if I give over my body in order to boast but do not have love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient, love is kind. Love does not envy, is not boastful, is not arrogant, 5 is not rude, is not self-seeking, is not irritable, and does not keep a record of wrongs. 6 Love finds no joy in unrighteousness but rejoices in the truth. 7 It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never ends. 

In these writings of Paul, you can see this is really God’s definition of what Love truly is.. This is how we measure Love, and how we demonstrate our love to one another. If you have the Holy Spirit inside you.. then these Love traits should become more evident in your character as you grow in your Christian Walk.

In my experience.. when somebody has truly given their heart to the Lord, then these characteristics just come out of their personality. If the Holy Spirit is inside them, then it should become evident in the things they do, the words they speak and even the attitude behind the words. God, who is the author of Love, will give them a new heart. So much so that people should bear witness and take notice. Love demonstrated, is the fruit of the Holy Spirit that now resides in the heart of every believer. Paul wrote in Galatians 5 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control”. In that, the very first fruit mentioned is love, and I would argue is the root of all the others. Paul continues our verses today at verse 8: He wrote:

8 But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. 9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part, 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will come to an end.
11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put aside childish things. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, as I am fully known. 13 Now these three remain: faith, hope, and love—but the greatest of these is love.  [PAUSE]

“The greatest of these is Love”.. And Jesus demonstrated that Agape love so well didn’t He. And because of Love, God sent His Son Jesus to die on the cross for our sins. Like that old song, that is “Crazy Love” indeed. This whole Bible is really one long Love story or love letter if you will. From beginning to the end, God shows His love for us, for me, His lost sheep. That sentiment is captured so well in probably the most favorite recited verse of the Bible, John 3:16.
“For God so LOVED the world that he gave his one and only Son, that who[so]ever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” 

I got a T-Shirt a few years ago, and all it says on it is “I am.. Whosoever” Could God make that message any clearer?  He “Agape” loves us that much..

God gave us His Son.. so that by faith in Jesus.. we can be Born Again and have Eternal Life. That’s why we celebrate here every December 25th, Christ’s birth. God came to Earth, He came down to our level so that we can personally know Him, and then through faith, accept Him as our personal Lord and Savior. [SLIDE]

Another great Love verse comes to us from John 15:9 – (JESUS SAID) 9 “As the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you. Remain in My love. 10 If you keep My commands you will remain in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commands and remain in His love. 11 “I have spoken these things to you so that My joy may be in you and your joy may be complete. 12 This is My command: love one another as I have loved you. 13 No one has greater love than this, that someone would lay down his life for his friends. 

Isn’t that an amazing verse! And Jesus did just that for us.. As our Savior and Friend, He took on all the sin of man, including all of my sin, and all of your sin, and He put them upon himself. And then He paid the penalty of those sins as He put Himself upon the cross of Calvary to be crucified. They mocked Jesus, as He prayed to Father God for their forgiveness. Then after He said “It is finished” He let Himself die on that cross for you and me. No greater love indeed.
“Thank You Jesus”.

The Apostle John, besides writing the Gospel book of John, also wrote 1,2,3, John and Revelation. He gave himself the title “the disciple whom Jesus loved”. And besides writing that most famous verse of John 3:16, he wrote about love again in 1 John 3:16, it reads: [SLIDE]
16 This is how we have come to know love: He laid down His life for us. We should also lay down our lives for our brothers. 17 If anyone has this world’s goods and sees his brother in need but closes his eyes to his need—how can God’s love reside in him? 18 Little children, we must not love with word or speech, but with truth and action.
That’s exactly what Jesus did for us, and that is what we should be doing too. Love in Action. It’s not always easy, its sacrificial work, and sometimes we will even screw it up, but that’s okay. Get up, tend to your wounds, wipe the dirt off and do it again. That is exactly what happened to the apostles over and over again, especially Peter; the leader of the first Christian church. Peter messed up several times, but then Jesus picked him up and got him going again each time. You might recall that Peter denied even knowing Christ three times as He was heading to the cross to be crucified. Then after He rose from the grave, Jesus so well demonstrated His Agape love again. [SLIDE] In John 21:15 it says:

15 When they had eaten breakfast, Jesus asked Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he said to Him, “You know that I love You.” “Feed My lambs,” He told him.16 A second time He asked him, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” “Yes, Lord,” he said to Him, “You know that I love You.” “Shepherd My sheep,” He told him. 17 He asked him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved that He asked him the third time, “Do you love Me?” He said, “Lord, You know everything! You know that I love You.” “Feed My sheep,” Jesus said.

Jesus so loved Peter that He forgave him his sin. Peter had denied Christ three times, and then Jesus had him confirm his love for him three times. Then Jesus effectively told Peter to take care of His church family. That is Love demonstrated Sacrificial Agape love. Now think about this verse again as if it were written for you. If you replace Peter’s name here with yours, how would you respond?
“Do you love me xxxx?  Do you love me xxxx?  Do you love me xxxx?”
And what type of love do you have for Jesus. Would you be willing to lay your life down for Him as He did for you? That is what He is asking of you today.

Finally, In John 13:34, Jesus said: “I give you a new commandment: love one another. Just as I have loved you, you must also love one another. By this all people will know that you are My disciples if you have love for one another.”

So if you proclaim yourself to be a Christian…  then you must show your love to one another. We are to be a reflection of Christ.
Just like the moon is to the sun, we are to be reflection of the Son to the world.

So here is the application: When you are Home, When you are at Work, When you are feeling unloved.. even when you were unlovable.. First know that God truly does Loves you, and He always will, no matter what. God created this Earth for you and even the universe. He didn’t need it. And He even put the stars in the Heavens for our pleasure.. There is nothing that will separate you from the love of God. So you can take that to the bank. Then with that understanding, start living like you believe it. That is God’s will and desire for you today. Love in Action. Reach out and encourage one another, be the helping hand, the forgiving soul or the friend in deed. Sacrificial love is what Christ demonstrated, and we should do likewise.

In closing, for fun I give you a modified Beatles song..

All We need is HIS love, love,
HIS love is all We need.

   HE loves You yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah..

Would you please rise now and pray with me..

Next week we are going to talk about the gift of tongues and prophesies… 😊

 “A FRIENDLY CHURCH IN A FRIENDLY TOWN”