THE TONGUE OF LOVE

#060                                                                THE TONGUE OF LOVE                                                                                       

Scripture  I Corinthians 13:1-13, NIV                                                                                               Orig. Date  12-10-61

                                                                                                                                                                     Rewr. Dates  1-22-89 

Passage:  If I speak in the tongues^[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. ² If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. ³ If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,^[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing.

⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

⁸ Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. ⁹ For we know in part and we prophesy in part, ¹⁰ but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. ¹¹ When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. ¹² For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

¹³ And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Purpose:   Continuing a series for Prayer Meeting emphasizing the Book of First Corinthians.

Keywords:          Bible Study                         Great Texts                         Love

Series:  I Corinthians

Introduction

                At a family gathering in Transylvania on a Sunday afternoon, the unmarried son and his steady were present.  He was in no hurry to get married, but wanted the security of a regular girlfriend.  His main interests were hunting, fishing, etc.

                As the family sat in the yard, Mark stood and said, “Let’s go!” The girl, assuming he was talking to her, stood.  But at the same time she arose, the old family dog got up.  She, recognizing how ridiculous this was, said, “Are you  talking to me or the dog?”

                The people we love ought to be able to tell by the way we talk, and by what we say, what are our feelings for them.  Paul admonished us to love in word and deed.

I.             First, We Need an Overview of Biblical Love.  V1 “Though I speak with tongues of men and angels, and have not love, I am as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal.”    

                English has only one word to express love.  A Cajun may use it in reference to the nutria he has taken from his trap.  An addict may use it in  in regard to drugs.  A faithful grandfather uses it about a Christmas necktie.  It may be used by a man arrested for abusing his spouse.

                But Greek has four interesting words. The noun eros/verb ethan is used for sensual or spousal love, for ambition, or for patriotism; it is not used in the New Testament. The noun storge/verb stergein means family affection or group interaction or devotion;  Romans 12:10 uses the word: “Be ye kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love.”  The noun philia/verb philien is the most-used in Classical Greek; it applies to close family (parent/child, husband/wife). The noun agapa/verb agapan is used over 250 times in the New Testament; classical scholars saw this as meaning “benefactor,” thus is its Victorian use as “charity.”

II.            Now a Brief Grasp of the Passage.  V2 “Though I have the gift of prophecy, understand mysteries, have knowledge, have faith sufficient to move mountains, but do not do so out of love, it means  nothing.”  Love is greater than understanding, be it natural or acquired: Love is greater than a college education.  Knowledge did not set Paul’s heart on fire. Nor did it inspire such men as Luther and Wesley.  Love is greater than prophecy—Hosea became a parable to Israel.  Love is greater than works—than self-sacrifice, for instance; “Though I give my body to be burned” v3.  Morality is not morality without love.

                Love is greater than all other gifts.  I Corinthians 12:28 calls attention to the gifts.  Not all have every gift. It doesn’t matter.  But all should covet what is best, and better than all is love.

***THE REMAINDER OF THIS SERMON HAS BEEN LOST***