Introduction: (In review...) Love is so important, it is the first in a list of fruits the Holy Spirit produces in our lives, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness..." (Galatians 5:22) The very first thing the Holy Spirit desires to produce in the lives of believers is agape love. By its definition, agape love is unselfish, and 1 Corinthians 13 reveals what it means to be unselfish in our love. We also find that this agape love is the greatest of all the gifts. 1 Corinthians 12-14 are chapters that deal with the gifts of God. 1 Corinthians 13:13 makes a plain statement, "And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity." In other words, no matter what your gift, if it is not motivated by God's gift of love, then it is empty and worthless.
Jesus made one of the most important statements ever made about agape love, "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." (John 13:35) Notice with me that Jesus did not say, "By this shall all men know that ye are born again." He said, "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples." A disciple is one who goes beyond being simply a believer. The word "disciple" literally means "a learner or a disciplined one." Jesus told His disciples that the rest of the world would know they were learners concerning the things of Christ if they had agape love among themselves. ** The life you live reveals whose student you are!
* A person gets saved when he trusts Christ as his Saviour, but he does not become a true disciple until he decides to be a learner and follower of Christ and His teachings. Are you a disciple or just a believer?
1 Corinthians 13 lists for us the characteristics of agape love:
1. Agape love gives real worth to work.
2. Agape love suffers long and doesn't quit when the trials come.
3. Agape love is kind, which means it's pleasant and desirable.
4. Agape love does not envy or desire the same thing another has.
5. Agape love does not vaunt itself, which means it is not boastful.
6. Agape love is not puffed up; meaning, Bible love is not proud.
7. Agape love does not behave itself unseemly, that is shamefully toward others.
8. Agape love does not seek her own, is not self-seeking.
9. Agape love is not easily provoked, is long-fused.
10. Agape love thinketh no evil, does not keep a list of wrong-doings.
11. Agape love does not rejoice when iniquity reveals itself.
12. Agape love rejoices when truth triumphs.
13. Agape love believeth all things; agape love's relationships are built with trust.
14. Agape love hopeth all things; always gives the benefit of the doubt.
This brings us to the next two characteristics of agape love:
15. Real love endureth all things. - 1 Corinthians 13:7
"Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things."
- Agape love goes through the hard times with God-given strength and courage.
- Agape love just bears up under the stress and goes with the strength of God.
- 2 Corinthians 12:10 says,"Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong."
- Paul writes in Philippians 4:13, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." What an amazing statement! But what did Paul mean when he penned these words?* Was he saying that there was nothing he could not do?
* Was he saying that he had all power and nothing would be withheld from him?
* Was he saying that success is all in the way you think about things?
* Was he preaching the power of positive thinking?- He was preaching none of these things. As the Holy Spirit gave him these words, there was something else far more important that needed to be taught.
- To begin with, the book of Philippians was a thank-you note from a very grateful Apostle Paul. There are times when servants of God, like Paul, have special needs. He had been imprisoned for preaching the Gospel of Christ. He, however, did not consider this a great persecution. He saw it as just another opportunity to present Jesus to the lost. Hard times did not discourage Paul from serving the Lord. It has been said that what it takes to stop a man is the measure of his character...or lack of it!
- I hear Christians say, "I can't take any more of this. All I want to do is quit." Life can certainly be cruel in what it deals out to people.
- There are times it just doesn't seem fair. The Bible says, "There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked." (Isaiah 57:21) Yet, God's people, all too often, are the ones with no peace; and the unsaved, even the ungodly crowd, appear to have all the peace. It's enough to make someone want to just throw in the towel.
- But Paul made it. Why? The answer is found in Philippians 4:11, "Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content." Paul learned a lesson that many Christians never seem to learn.
- He learned that contentment and endurance had little or nothing to do with his present circumstances. Let me show you this from Philippians 4:* Paul endured going without. - Philippians 4:12, "I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need."
* Paul endured having abundance. - Philippians 4:12, "I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need."
* Paul endured suffering affliction. - Philippians 4:14, "Notwithstanding ye have well done, that ye did communicate with my affliction."- Is there a burden or a heartache that you carry deep within your heart today?
- Outward circumstances do not have nearly the negative affect on us as do those inner struggles. Paul, however, made it in these hard times!
- Paul did not say he could do everything through Christ. He did say he could endure whatever God sent his way. Are you enduring all things?
- Agape love gets you through the trials without quitting.
16. Real love never faileth. - 1 Corinthians 13:8
"Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away."
- Agape love never dies, it never stops, it never weakens.
- You cannot stop loving if you practice agape love, but you can stop practicing agape love.
- Song of Solomon 8:7 says,"Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it: if a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would utterly be contemned."
- One might say, "I just don't love so-and-so anymore." Either you never loved so and-so, or you have stopped practicing agape love toward so-and-so.
- All else will fail, but agape love will never fail.
Conclusion: In the past four Sundays, we have taken a close look at the agape love of 1 Corinthians 13. We have hound that real agape love is more than feeling. It is an action and it is a choice.
1. Agape love gives real worth to work.
2. Agape love suffers long and doesn't quit when the trials come.
3. Agape love is kind, which means it's pleasant and desirable.
4. Agape love does not envy or desire the same thing another has.
5. Agape love does not vaunt itself, which means it is not boastful.
6. Agape love is not puffed up; meaning, Bible love is not proud.
7. Agape love does not behave itself unseemly, that is shamefully toward others.
8. Agape love does not seek her own, is not self-seeking.
9. Agape love is not easily provoked, is long-fused.
10. Agape love thinketh no evil, does not keep a list of wrong-doings.
11. Agape love does not rejoice when iniquity reveals itself.
12. Agape love rejoices when truth triumphs.
13. Agape love believeth all things; agape love's relationships are built with trust.
14. Agape love hopeth all things; always gives the benefit of the doubt.
15. Agape love endures all things; endures hard times with strength and courage.
16. Agape love never fails; it never dies, it never stops, it never weakens.