WELCOME

TO OUR
WORSHIP HOUR
1Corinthians 13
It is helpful when studying this chapter
to reflect on the dynamics that
characterized the Corinthian Church:
Party loyalty (Chs. 1-4)
Selfish immoral behavior (Chs 5-7)
Strong not deferring to the weak (Chs.
8-10)
Prideful competition & the Spiritual
Gifts (Chs 12-14)
 SO, WE ARE NOT
SURPRISED THAT PAUL
WROTE ABOUT LOVE
• Ch 13 -- The SUPERB nature of LOVE.
– The miraculous was partial, temporary.
– When the complete or “perfect” arrives, the partial
will cease.
– Much like when a child learns to walk it no longer
needs a baby walker.
 “The greatest is LOVE…”
Breaking The Chapter Down
• THE GREATEST GIFT IS "LOVE" (13:1-13)
– LOVE IS DEFINED, IT NEVER FAILS (1-8)
– SPIRITUAL GIFTS WILL CEASE (9-12).
– LOVE WILL ABIDE FOREVER (13)
 1Corinthians 13:1-3
THE GREATNESS OF LOVE
• 1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have
not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
• 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and under-stand all
mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as
to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
• 3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be
burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.
 PAUL IS TELLING US HOW FATAL IT IS TO ACT
OR DO ANYTHING WITHOUT LOVE! (VS. 1-3)
• The Corinthians (LIKE MANY PEOPLE TODAY) thought "speaking in
tongues" was the greatest of all the Spiritual Gifts...
• But there were 9 equally valid gifts listed in 1COR. 12:8-11.
– Notice Paul’s reference to the tongues of men and the tongues of
angels.
– “Tongues of men" refers to actual human languages (ACTS 2:1-
4) (i.e., "glossa")
– "Tongues of angels" could refer to 2COR 12:4 where Paul heard
“utterances in heaven.” [Otherwise I have no idea!]
At the close of 1COR 12 as Paul is talking about
Spiritual Gifts, he concludes: “And yet show I unto
you A MORE EXCELLENT WAY.”
• This was his lead-in to 1COR. 13 = his discussion
on the importance of love.
• Paul will exalt the gift of Prophecy over Tongues,
but even it means nothing if not done in LOVE.
• Same goes for Knowledge, Faith and ALL the
others! WITHOUT “AGAPE” (LOVE) WE
ACCOMPLISH NOTHING!
• Paul's Point: "If I speak in tongues which you think
is so great, and do it without LOVE, IT MEANS
NOTHING!"
 “Agape” is God-like LOVE
• This supreme love finds its
reward in knowing god loves us
& in turn loving god back!
• When we LOVE God back and
"keep His Commands," it’s not
such a restricting way to live!
• Work that is done because we
LOVE God and what is RIGHT
has a certain kind of "GLORY"
about it! TO LOVE WHAT IS RIGHT!
JAMES 1:27
 1Corinthians
THE BEHAVIOR OF LOVE
• 4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is
not arrogant
• 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable
or resentful;
• 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the
truth.
• 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things,
endures all things.
 THE BEHAVIOR OF LOVE
• “LOVE IS NOT SOMETHING YOU FEEL....IT IS
SOMETHING YOU DO!”

JOHN 13:34-35
 "LOVE SACRIFICES ALL THINGS
TO BLESS THE THING IT LOVES"
• Horace Wood wrote: "Before Christ came into my
life I used people and loved things. After
accepting Christ I used things and loved people.“
• Someone has written: "Every vice is a perverted
virtue. Lust is perverted love. Lust is love
fastened on the forbidden object. Love fixed on
the right object makes man a saint. Love fixed on
the wrong object makes man a sinner."
"Master, which is the greatest commandment
of the Law?" Matt. 22:37-40

• Loving God & Loving Each Other are

inseparable! 1JOHN 4:16-21

• The Bible teaches that you cannot LOVE God

without LOVING His Creatures.... Mankind!
 LUKE 15:11-32
The Prodigal Son
The Elder Son
THE FATHER WENT OUT TO THE
ELDER BROTHER AS HE HAD RUN TO
MET THE PRODIGAL COMING
HOME....HE LOVED THEM BOTH!
 THE POSITIVE EXCELLENCE
OF LOVE...ITS BEHAVIOR
• LOVE FORBEARS.
• LOVE IS KIND.
• LOVE IS GENEROUS.
• LOVE IS MODEST.
• LOVE IS UNSELFISH.
• LOVE IS CHARITABLE.
• LOVE REJOICES.
• LOVE IS TRUTHFUL.
• LOVE IS HOPEFUL.
 1Corinthians
THE IMMORTALITY OF LOVE
• 8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will
pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as
for knowledge, it will pass away.
• 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part,
• 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will
pass away.
 BOTTOM LINE —
• The Corinthian Church must stop its
senseless arguing over tongues, prophecies,
and special knowledge... because none of
these have any meaning without LOVE!
– prophecies will fail
– tongues will cease
– knowledge will vanish
1Corinthians 13:11-13 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.

FAITH, HOPE & LOVE

FAITH BINDS US TO GOD.
HOPE BINDS US TO HEAVEN.
LOVE MAKES US LIKE GOD & FIT FOR HEAVEN!
1Corinthians 13