•I Corinthians 14:8-13
•Love goes on…and on…and on…
•The Wide World
•Corinth
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. 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 gave up childish ways. 12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.
13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
(I Corinthians 13:8-13, ESV)
Main Point
• Paul focuses on the eschatological understanding of love
• When all these manifestations of the Spirit will end, love will remain
• To promote love, to live in love, is to carry with one something that will last for eternity
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Application Points
• Love goes on, and on, and on
– Oftentimes we can speculate on the end times
– I know I have delved into the riddle
– Consider such things and how they will be is just a natural response to our finiteness
– We enjoy the pursuit of knowledge
– There will come a time when these things are fully revealed to us
– When all the pieces of the puzzle are put into place
– The final tapestry placed in this grand design
– The knowledge of these things will come to an end because they will be fulfilled
– We always can and at times should pursue this knowledge
Application Points
• Love goes on, and on, and on (2)
– Thus as we focus on the here and now it is impossible for us not to notice our finiteness
– We are limited in our understandings because of our current natures
– God knows our inabilities and limitations
– “Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.” – John 16:7, ESV
– The Holy Spirit bears witness to righteousness and judgment
– The infinite God has given us the Holy Spirit as a helper in this time of finiteness
– We see how we can receive glimpses of what we cannot know in our finiteness because…the Holy Spirit gives us wisdom and knowledge
– We are also in need of help in all manners of personal and corporate faithfulness
Application Points
• Love goes on, and on, and on (3)
– The Helper is not limited to the ethereal but can impact the physical world through various manifestations
– These are all wonderful things for us to consider in this finite time
– But what will happen when all is consummated?
– Will we need these kinds of manifestations? No
– These are for a time, for a purpose, to help us get through
– Even in time the manifestations of the Spirit will cease because our limitations will be transformed
– Our limitations will be stripped away
– What will not? Love
– Love continues into eternity
– The relational aspect of patience, kindness, rejecting evil, rejoicing in truth
– As we progress into the infinite with our God this love will continue among each of us
Application Points
• Love goes on, and on, and on (4)
– He is not saying that this is a love versus knowledge, or love versus wisdom, or love versus other spiritual manifestations
– Right now the manifestations of the Spirit are necessary
– Paul is reminding us to emphasize love
– Love as the goal for each of us and our relationships with each other and the foundation on which our relationships are established
– Without love we personally gain nothing
– Better to do a little in love than a lot without love
– By practicing love we prepare ourselves for the future
– It won’t be through things which will cease, but only that which will last
Application Points
• Love goes on, and on, and on (5)
– We rejoice in the manifestations of the Spirit
– We must recognize that our finiteness will pass away into something glorious
– We must resist the belief that we have already attained this glory
– We are not there yet, but that is where we are going
– There is no excuse for us
– We must be faithful and obedient in the greatest of ways by seeking to love and love well
– Not defining love with what it is not but by seeing that love is the foundation for our relationships
– That we are to be patient and kind with each other…that we are to reject evil not rejoicing in it, but rejoicing in the truth
– Let us rejoice that we can prepare ourselves for the future by loving God, each other, and ourselves
– That this love can be applied and practiced by each of us
– Our great God has shown us the greatest love by redeeming us from our sins
– Out of all these wonderful things we experience, we can know that love will go on and on and on
•Application Points
•The Gospel of Christ
–Origins
–Where we began
–Fall
–What went wrong
–Redemption
–How it is fixed
–Glorification
–Where it at leads
