Love Never Leaves (day 3) 1 Corinthians 13

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Understand that love is the highest good of all. Chapter 14, verse 1. Very first words. Follow after love. The point of it is, is with all your heart, you follow God’s love. That’s what we need more than anything else. In our personal relationships, churches, in our families, our marriages, we need to know the love of our God because it never fails.

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And it’s a blessing to have you with us for this Tuesday edition of Hope for Today. The world is hooked on what’s flashy, loud, or temporary. Men chase the big thing, the new thing, the thing that makes them look important or maybe even spiritual for just a few minutes. But God is not impressed with the show. In 1 Corinthians 13, he strips away the hype and drives us straight to what endures when everything else burns off. Love. Love never fails. Today, Bible teacher David Hawking takes us back to 1 Corinthians 13, verses 8 through 10, for day three of his message called, Love Never Leaves. First, we want you to know that if you need prayer for any reason, you might be struggling in a relationship, maybe struggling with loving someone. We would be honored to pray for you. If there’s something heavy on your heart or perhaps there’s a need in your life, reach out to us at 1-800-75-BIBLE. That’s in the U.S. or in Canada, call 888-75-BIBLE. Bible is 24253. And as the Lord leads, we also ask you to consider becoming a part of our financial support here on Hope for Today. Your support helps us continue sharing the truth of God’s word without compromise. And thanks for your prayers and your prayerful consideration. Let’s open up God’s word now to 1 Corinthians chapter 13, focusing again on verses 8 through 10. And here’s David Hawking with day three of Love Never Leaves. The impact…

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of that which is perfect. Look at what it says in verse 10. But when, stop right there. If you mark your Bible, you might want to underline or circle when. You see that? And then notice it’s repeated again in verse 11. When, when, but now, verse 12. Actually, it’s in Greek, very easy to see. When, but then. So when this perfect thing comes, then I’m going to have knowledge like I have never known in my life. It’s incredible. The impact of that which is perfect. When it comes, then that which is in part. What is in part? Verse 9, we prophesy and we know in part. But when that which is perfect is come, that which is in part will be done away. The words be done away are the same words vanish away and fail in verse 8. Same word. Now, what about the perfect thing? What I’m going to talk to you about now is probably one of the most controversial subjects in the entire church of Jesus Christ. It has been throughout 2,000 years of history, and I doubt seriously that we can be very dogmatic. Dogmatism is grown-up puppyism, in my opinion. Okay, so we need to be careful. There are some things we’re sure of, and they’re clear. There are other things we’re not. This is one thing that has been debated for years. Why? First of all, it’s an adjective, but the noun it modifies is not listed. So we’re all trying to figure it out. Whatever the perfect thing is, what’s in part… It’s going to be done away. But what is in part has to be a part of that which is perfect. Why? The word perfect, teleos, means that which is complete. So if it’s part, then it’s of the same substance of that which is the finished product. Everybody understanding? We know in part and we prophesy. Notice he didn’t say we tongue in part. Why? Because it wouldn’t make any sense. That isn’t the point. But when what is perfect is come, then… There’s going to be some major changes. It’s very, very interesting. Now, it is not only an adjective, this word perfect, but it’s also neuter. In the Greek language, excuse me for referring to it, but it’s the only way to deal with the multiple views about this passage. The word is neuter. In Greek, we have masculine, feminine, and neuter genders. And when you modify something with an adjective, it must agree in gender with what it modifies. It also must agree in number, that is, whether it’s singular or plural. It must be a neuter noun if it is a neuter adjective. I think it’s easy if you just stop and think. Whatever an adjective or a pronoun also is, whatever it modifies, it has to agree with it. In gender, meaning masculine, feminine, or neuter. And in number, meaning singular or plural. This is a neuter singular adjective. The perfect, we might say, thing. The perfect thing. Now the word perfect, teleos or teleon as it is here, is used 75 times in the New Testament. And I have looked up every one of them because I think it is important. Let’s start first with the usage in the Bible of the word perfect. What do we come out with? I’ve seen some lists that list 12, 15 things, but basically there are three things that it means. The usage of the term the perfect. One. It means to complete a task. In the prayer our Lord made to his heavenly father in John 17 verse 4. He said I have glorified thee on the earth. I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. And the word finished is our same word the perfect. In 1 Corinthians 13.10. So it means to finish a task. Number two. The second thing it refers to is the same today in Greek as it was 2,000 years ago. And that’s biological growth. Turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 14 and look at verse 20. We’ll be studying this soon. 1 Corinthians 14 verse 20. Brethren, be not children in understanding. Howbeit in malice be children, but in understanding be men. Now the point is, it’s contrasting the men, teleos, perfect, where they are, is in contrast to being a baby. A baby, young person, child, etc., teenager, now adult. And the word teleos can refer to growth. We’d say physical or biological growth. Closely related to this is the third usage, which is the most common. It means maturity. I’ll give you a couple examples of this. In Ephesians chapter 4, verse 13, Paul talking about how the church should function, it should work, as we all use our gifts to build each other up. It says, “…till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man.” under the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, that we henceforth be no more children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the slight of men and cunning craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive, but instead, of course, speaking the truth in love, we may grow up into him. Spiritual maturity, teleos, the perfect thing. In Colossians 1.28, speaking of Christ in you, the hope of glory, the end of verse 27, it says, Whom we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. Mature. Jesus said, be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect. He was talking about loving your enemies perfectly. So be mature, he said. Don’t fly off the handle, get all upset and all bent out of shape. Instead, be mature. Have the love of the heavenly father in you. So again, how do we use the word perfect in the Bible? It completes a task or finishes a task. It can refer to the biological or physical growth in a person, or it can refer to spiritual maturity. Now that’s the usage of the word. Let’s talk about understanding it now in 1 Corinthians 13, 10. Believe it or not, this one problem, what is the perfect thing that comes? Because whatever it is, tongues comes to an abrupt stop. Prophecies and knowledge are fading out, will no longer be needed. So what is it? I hate to do this to you, but there are five major views. Yes, ma’am. Yes, sir. They’re all possible. Number one. A very prevalent view, especially among non-charismatics, those who are not really that strong in the gifts area, it refers to the Bible, they say, as the complete, final revelation from God. The argument goes something like this. 1 Corinthians was one of the first books ever written, about 51 A.D., almost 20 years or so after our Lord ascended back into heaven. So the idea is that what’s in the Bible now are prophecies and revelation, knowledge about all kinds of things, especially in the New Testament about the church and about the future and the coming of the Lord. And all of this was being phased out. The point would be this. He’s writing 1 Corinthians. When he wrote 2 Corinthians, and it was then printed, written, then it’s phased out at that point. We already have it. You write James or Hebrews or whatever, and you finish it, it’s phased out. When Revelation came, all the prophecies, all the knowledge that God ever wanted to give us was phased out. Now, one of the reasons for this is Revelation 22, 18 and 19, which says, we can’t add to the words of the prophecy of this book or God will add to us the plagues. We can’t take away from the words of the prophecy or God will take away our part in the book of life. So very, very strong passage that ends our Bible in chapter 22, verse 18 and 19. In other words, the perfect thing is referring to a completed Bible. Because that which is in part is like what is finished product. And what was in part was knowledge and prophecy, which is all revelation from God that’s now recorded in the New Testament. So it refers to the Bible. Now the question is, does the Bible ever use the word perfect in this manner? Turn please to the book of James chapter 1. James 1, 22 says… Verse 1. And continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. Now what is this context talking about? The word of God. Doing it and not just listening to it. But actually applying it in your life. And here the word perfect is used with it as it’s called the law of liberty. The other interesting thing about this is the word law in Greek is also neuter. It’s another interesting thing for this argument. So some say what it refers to is the completed Bible. Number two, there are many, many men who believe that what it refers to is spiritual maturity. We do know that it’s used that way in Ephesians 4. I showed you those verses. Colossians 1.28. And that’s the point here. It says when people really get mature in the Lord, they don’t need these gifts anymore. That’s the idea. By the way, there’s a great section of Christianity that holds this view. And it’s kind of hard to condemn it, and I’ll tell you why. In 1 Corinthians 13, would you look please at verse 11. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child, but when I became a man, I put away childish things. So those who hold it refers to spiritual maturity would emphasize that verse 11 proves their point. And that’s a pretty strong argument. So the argument would go something like this. When you’re just starting out, gifts are important to you, and they help to reassure you and help you to get started in your Christian life, etc. But as you grow in the Lord, become more knowledgeable, and you’re more mature, you no longer need to depend upon the gifts. You find yourself depending totally on the Bible and the Holy Spirit and prayer, and you really don’t think much about gifts. But is it not true? Are there not people among us who are strong in the Lord and the power of his might? You’ve grown in the Lord and there’s a certain measure of maturity in your life and you really don’t make a big deal over gifts. I think that’s very common. So you see, they use the experience of people and the usage of the word perfect in the text to represent spiritual maturity. There’s no way to attack this. There are good Bible teachers who believe it. It’s very, very possible. Let’s go to view number three. The third view is that the perfect thing is referring to Jesus Christ. Now, why do they believe that? Look at 1 Corinthians 13, verse 12. For now we see through a glass, darkly or dimly, but then face to face. We’re going to talk about what that means because it really is a quotation from the And maybe it doesn’t mean what you think. But a lot of people when they read face to face are thinking about when we see Jesus. Are we going to see his face someday? Yes, Revelation 22 says so. And certainly in the light of that day, whatever else we’ve been taught about is going to fade into insignificance. Amen? We will be with our Lord. So there is truth here. Here’s the problem with the view. The problem is a simple one. The adjective is neuter. If it referred to Jesus Christ, it would have to be masculine. So that’s the simple problem with the view, but it’s held by many, many people. It also is affected by a song that was in a hymn book sung in America for a good 75 years and maybe longer. Some are still singing it. Face to face with Christ my Savior. Face to face, oh, what will it be? So you see, the song had a tendency to make people apply this passage to seeing the Lord Jesus. And again, it’s very hard to knock it, except that it would be difficult to believe that a neuter adjective would be applied to Jesus Christ. Come to number four, the fourth view. Have I confused you yet? I’m trying real hard. What’s the fourth view? The fourth view is that the perfect thing refers to the event of the second coming. Sometimes it’s the future state of eternity or the millennium, some writers say. Now, before you cast that away, is it not true that when the Lord sets up his kingdom on earth, he will have finished everything? a tremendous task that he has been working throughout all history. And it’s always looked at as the culmination, the completion of God’s work in setting up his kingdom. And if you don’t like that, even the eternal state might be involved here. And here’s the reason. We know there is some connection in this passage between the fact that things in this life do not last, but God’s love will forever. So the point is, maybe it’s referring to the future state in our glorified bodies when things will be very much different from what they are now. Number five, and I’m not saying the correct one, but probably the one that’s most common in church history is the one most neglected today. I say that because it’s the point of the passage. And that is that it refers to love itself. Oh, that’s interesting. What’s the problem with this view? Well, before I show you the problem, let’s say that 1 John 4, 18 clearly connects the word perfect with love. It says perfect love casts out fear. Fear has torment. 1 John 4.18. So the thing going for this view is that the word perfect is used as an adjective to modify the love of God in 1 John 4.18. Here’s my problem with it. It’s a fine view, and it certainly represents the passage in its context. But here’s my problem with it. Whatever the perfect thing is, it hadn’t come yet. It had not arrived at the writing of 1 Corinthians. But my friends, God’s love was certainly available. So it doesn’t make sense to me. How could it be referring to perfect love? So you say, which one of these is correct? You ready for this? I don’t know. You say, you mean we’ve been through this whole thing, you don’t know? No. I really don’t know. I might have my opinion. You might have yours. But I’ll tell you one thing. The reason why controversy exists is because people were more interested in the gifts continuing than they were the point of the passage that love never fails. Isn’t that interesting? The very thing that should bind us together 16 times, Jesus said, love one another. Well, I go to a methobacterium deal. Where do you go to? You know, I hope you will understand this and I hope you are mature enough to understand it. Watch my lips. I don’t care. I really don’t. Oh, I care about the Bible. Don’t misunderstand. But I don’t care whether you’re right or wrong about the gifts. If I’m a preacher of God’s word and preaching the text faithfully, then what I should care about is that you know and experience God’s love. You understand? If you have all the gifts which you don’t, but if you did and you have not loved, I remind you that the chapter opened with the fact that we are a big fat zero. So stop kidding yourself.

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Well, that’s David Hawking, and this is Hope for Today. David will be back in a moment or two with a very special word of prayer asking the Lord to help us apply what we’re learning in this series. Stay tuned. First, though, Matt’s here, and Matt, we have some really helpful Bible study resources to share with folks. Let’s talk about them.

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Jim, I love 1 Corinthians 13. Oh, yeah. And isn’t it intriguing that the King James Version uses the word charity for love?

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Let’s read through some of those beautiful verses, Matt. Though I speak with the tongues of men and angels and have not charity, I’ve become a sounding brass or a tingling cymbal.

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And though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith so that I could remove mountains and have not charity, I am nothing.

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And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor and though I give my body to be burned and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.

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Charity suffereth long and is kind. Charity envieth not. Charity vaunteth not itself. Is not puffed up. Does not behave itself unseemly. Seeketh not her own. Is not easily provoked. Thinketh no evil.

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Rejoiceth not in iniquity. We’ve just gone through a list of what it’s not.

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Yeah.

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Now we talk about what love is. Rejoices what? In the truth. Beareth all things. Believes all things. Hopes all things. Endureth all things. Charity never faileth. Amen. And Matt, the passage ends with, and now abide faith. Hope, charity, love. These three, but the greatest of these is charity.

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It’s love.

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If we as believers, Matt, will dive deep into this passage and let it thoroughly saturate our hearts, understand and put its truth into actions, what’s going to happen, Matt?

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We will radically transform our marriages, parenting, work relationships, friendships, and more. Yeah, that’s it.

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Imagine the impact it can have on our gospel testimony when we apply.

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Right, amen.

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Understand and apply 1 Corinthians 13. Amen. We’ll discover the wondrous study of love in 1 Corinthians 13 with David Hawking’s book, Love is the Greatest. It’s just $15. And your purchase will bless your life and be a blessing to hope for today. We also want to tell you about a special bundle package for the month of March. This features David’s sermon notes and outlines for 35 message series he’s taught in the Old Testament. It’s a treasure of Bible teaching, helps and study material from the Old Testament. And right now it’s available for just $75. That’s $35. 35 message series, $75. That makes it just a little over $2 per series. And these sermon notes and outlines are so helpful in studying Old Testament books. You’re going to love this resource. You can order by phone at 1-800-75-BIBLE. That’s in the U.S. Or 888-75-BIBLE in Canada. You can also order online at davidhawking.org. And just before David returns, a quick note here. If this ministry has been a blessing and a strength to your life, would you prayerfully consider sending a gift, a donation, today? Your support helps keep Hope for Today on the air and online. It helps us cover the real cost of broadcast time, our presence on the Internet, and helps us continue declaring the truth of God’s Word without backing off or watering it down. When you give, you help us keep strong Bible teaching going out and reaching people who need hope and truth and a clear teaching of Scripture. To give or to order resources, either way, call us at 875-BIBLE in the U.S., 888-75-BIBLE in Canada, Bible, again, by the numbers 242-888. You can also visit us online at davidhawking.org. Now, if you prefer to send a donation by mail or maybe send a prayer request by mail, write to us at Hope for Today, Box 3927, Tustin, California, 92781. In Canada, write to Hope for Today, Box 15011, RPO7OAKS, Abbotsford, B.C., V2S 8P1. And here’s David to close us in prayer.

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Father, I thank you and I praise you for your word. And Lord, we all confess that sometimes we get off on a sidetrack and we hurt people and we divide from one another. And it’s clear that you are teaching us the priority of love in everything. You told us that knowledge simply puffs up, but love edifies. We want to build and encourage people instead of tearing them down. So, Lord, I pray that you would open up our hearts to the Holy Spirit, who you said was given to us for many wonderful reasons to glorify your Son. He was given to us to produce fruit in us, which is love, to shed it abroad in our hearts, to cause us to love people that not many people would want to love or even be close to. Thank you for your love. For herein is love, not that we loved you, but that you loved us and gave your Son as a propitiation, a total satisfaction of your righteous anger against sin. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whoever believes in him would not perish but have everlasting life. Thank you, Lord, that you love us even though you know what we’re struggling with and you know how often we ignore you and neglect you and act like you’re not even there. We read in the Bible that God gave his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. It was love that sent our Savior to the cross. I pray, Lord, for those who are not sure that if they died today, they’d be with the Lord. Or if the Lord would return, that we’d be caught up to meet him, as the Bible says. God, I pray that you’d help them right now. May they in their hearts cry out to you and say, God, thank you for loving me. I confess my sin to you. You’re a God of mercy and compassion and forgiveness. And you said if we confess our sin, you’d be faithful. For your love always endures. And you’d cleanse us from all unrighteousness. So God, I come to you. And I receive Jesus as my Lord and my Savior. I confess that he is all the Bible says he is. And I open my heart to him. He’s my Lord, my Master, my Savior. I commit my life and my future to him. And thank you, Lord, for loving me. In the wonderful name of Jesus, our Savior, we pray. Amen.

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Amen. Well, tomorrow, David brings us day one of a message called Love is the Greatest. Faith, faith is vital. Hope is precious. But God makes it plain that love stands above, stands above them all. We’ll see you tomorrow here on Hope for Today.