In this episode, delve into the timeless truths of 1 Corinthians 13, where we explore the enduring power and necessity of God’s love. In a world where everything seems temporary, discover the assurance that love never fails, as Bible teacher David Hawking unpacks the reasons why love stands above the temporary things that men often chase. From understanding the characteristics of God’s love to why it is exalted above all, this message reveals why love is an essential spiritual gift.
When you have the love of God in your heart, it will never fail to achieve God’s purposes in whatever situation, circumstance, or person you’re talking about. In other words, if you’re struggling in some relationship in your life, there’s somebody you don’t get along with. Somebody you can hardly stand. The thing that we need more than anything is the love of God. There’s no excuse for not healing that broken relationship. The problem always lies with our lack of God’s love.
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everything around us changes people change circumstances change even things that seem strong for a moment can fade with time But 1 Corinthians 13 points us to something that doesn’t collapse when everything else starts shaking. Godly love endures. While prophecies will end, tongues will cease, and knowledge in this present age will pass away, love never fails. Music On this edition of Hope for Today, Bible teacher David Hawking begins a message called Love Never Leaves as he takes us to 1 Corinthians 13 verses 8 through 10 and shows us why love stands above the temporary things men often chase and celebrate. We’ll get into the passage in just a moment. Stay tuned. First, you can listen online to anything you may miss in our current radio series on 1 Corinthians 13 for a limited time. And if you’d like a permanent copy of our 1 Corinthians series, it’s called Love is the Greatest. We have that available for you on MP3 CD, the entire series, for just $5. Or on traditional audio CDs for $20. Go to davidhawking.org to get yours. Or order by phone at 875-BIBLE. That’s in the U.S., 888-75-BIBLE. In Canada, Bible is 24253. And I’ll repeat those numbers for you later in the program. Right now, though, here’s David.
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Turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 13. 1 Corinthians 13. Still in this great chapter on love. 1 Corinthians 13 verses 8, 9, and 10. They are loaded. 1 Corinthians 13, 8, 9, and 10. Charity or love never faileth in all God’s people said. Thank God for that. But whether there be prophecies, they shall fail. Whether there be tongues, they shall cease. Whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part shall be done away. Will you join me, please, in a moment of prayer? Father, we thank you again for the privilege of coming to your word. of sitting at your feet and asking you, Lord, to speak to our hearts by your Holy Spirit, that we might be teachable and ready to receive what you have for us. Thank you, Lord, that you are all love in every way, in all that you do and all that you say. For God is love, and we praise you for that. We know the fruit of the Holy Spirit is love, and you will shed abroad that love in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. Help us, Lord, to understand that when everything else collapses, there is love. May we see what’s really important in life. Thank you for what you’re going to do in our hearts. In the wonderful name of our Lord Jesus Christ, the name above every name, we pray. Amen. we started to look at in chapter 13 is the power of love in the use of spiritual gifts and we’ve outlined this according to the three paragraphs that are here in the original language in verses one to three we’re looking at god’s love is essential it’s absolutely essential for three reasons because without it our communication is totally ineffective We’re just a bunch of noise and clanging cymbal. We hurt people rather than help them. And secondly, without it, our understanding is incomplete. Though you would have all knowledge and understand all mysteries, yet if you don’t have love, you’re nothing. And also without it, our giving is insufficient. No matter what magnanimous philanthropy you may be involved in, no matter what gracious giving you have done in your life, without God’s love, it profits you nothing. So God’s love is essential, verses 1 to 3. Then we looked at verses 4 to 7, that God’s love is explained. And in quite a bit of detail here, there are two positives, then eight negatives, and then four statements about how it reacts to circumstances. Or to put it another way, we looked at the character of God’s love. God’s love, the love is patient and the love is kind. By the way, the words the love in the Greek text are only in front of those two, not the rest of this. Very interesting. So the character of God’s love is basically long-suffering, taking a long time to boil, very patient towards people, and kind, doing that which is useful and beneficial to people’s needs. Then we looked at the contrast with God’s love. What it really is not. And there were eight negatives we looked at. Then in verse 7, we looked at the circumstances which God’s love controls. It bears all things, literally puts a roof on it, and hopes all things, believes all things, and does endure all things. God’s love is wonderful. So God’s love is essential, and God’s love is explained. God’s love is exalted. The whole thing ends with the greatest is love. Love is exalted above every other Christian blessing and grace. And we want to look at that. And basically, we’re going to give you about five reasons why. The first reason why God’s love is exalted above everything is because it endures. That’s the opening point in verse 8. Love never faileth. In the Greek text, there’s a compound word that’s actually a double negative and is a word of time as well as a word of never. The point is never at any time at all will love fail to accomplish what God wants it to. Isn’t that encouraging to know when you have the love of God in your heart, it will never fail to achieve God’s purposes in whatever situation, circumstance, or person you’re talking about. In other words, if you’re struggling in some relationship in your life, there’s somebody you don’t get along with. Somebody you can hardly stand. The thing that we need more than anything is the love of God. There’s no excuse for not healing that broken relationship. The problem always lies with our lack of God’s love. Love always endures. It’s there when nothing else is. When the things have passed away that you trusted, love is still there, accomplishing its purposes. It endures. And that’s the first reason why it’s exalted here, because it endures. And I want to take out a little time right now to talk about how things fail and how God’s love never fails. And I want to explain that. I’ll put it into two points if you’re outlining. First of all, we need to remember what does not endure. I’m not trying to lay a heavy trip on you, but I think it’s important to understand what does not endure. But love does. For one thing, your stuff. I couldn’t think of a better word. Money, possessions, all that stuff you have. Your house, your car, your furniture, paintings, whatever they are, all that stuff, your bank account, your securities, your stocks. But you understand all that stuff will not endure. You brought nothing into this world, says 1 Timothy 6, verse 7, and you’ll take nothing out. All that stuff will not endure. Let me show you something interesting in Luke 16. One of the important principles in the Bible is to use your stuff to be a blessing to people because it’s going to fail. And when it runs out, you will have had the opportunity to administer to people by it and they’ll be happy to see you when they get in heaven. You say, how do you know that’s true? Luke 16 verse 9. Here’s what it says. I say unto you, Jesus is talking, make to yourselves friends of the mammon or money of unrighteousness. Now, it doesn’t mean it’s sinful. It means it has no righteousness to it. It’s a thing. Now, he says you can make friends by using your money that doesn’t have any moral quality to it. Depends on how it’s used. Money is just a thing. That when ye fail, says old King James, but actually it’s when it fails, it’s referring to the money. Money will fail. When it fails, watch this. They, the people you’ve made friends with by using it, may receive you into everlasting habitations. Or to put it in the vernacular today, they’re going to be thrilled to see you as they will know that you ministered to them in a time of need. What an interesting point. God’s saying use it while you have it. Because it’s going to fail. Jesus said that we often trust in the things that we possess. But he says a man’s life does not consist of the abundance of the things he possesses. We need to be very, very careful. Paul wrote in 1 Timothy 6, 17 and 19. Don’t trust in the uncertainty of riches. Learn to give. Learn to communicate. Learn to share. Learn to be generous. Learn to help in every way possible. Because it’s going to fail one day. Sad is the person who trusted all of that and then wakes up one day to find out that when they don’t have it anymore to give, the friends are not there. It’s going to fail. Here’s something else that’s going to fail. Turn to Psalm 31, verse 10. To show you why we need God’s love, we need to remember what doesn’t endure. Love will endure. It will never fail. Not only your stuff, but your strength. You know, when you’re sick, you don’t feel strong. Amen? And I’ve been sick for a while. And I don’t really feel strong. And each day you might say to somebody, well, I’m a little stronger today. Well, I don’t want to discourage you, but it isn’t going to last. Psalm 31. You ready? Verse 10. For my life is spent with grief and my years with sighing. My strength faileth because of mine iniquity and my bones are consumed. What a morbid subject that is. Chapter 38, verse 10. Chapter 38, verse 10. My heart panteth, my strength faileth me. But love never fails. My strength faileth me. As for the light of mine eyes, it’s also gone from me. The older we get, the more we realize strength is going out the door. In chapter 71, verse 9. Chapter 71, verse 9. It says, cast me not off in the time of old age. Forsake me not when my strength faileth. You know, when you get older and your strength fails, you have this interesting phenomenon that happens in our spirits and our emotions that somehow we’re not as valuable as we once were. You see, the point of it is that we shouldn’t have been trusting our own strength to begin with because that strength is going to fail and all your stuff is going to fail. Go to Psalm 110. This gets more morbid, so hang in there. Psalm 110, verse 24. Maybe to understand why we need love so much, we need to strip away all that which we trust in, so that we know what does not fail. In Psalm 109, 24. My knees, I love this, are weak through fasting, and my flesh faileth of fatness. You know, if you’re a little on the heavy side, this is the verse you rejoice in. It’s still there. I still got it. Praise God. But the truth is that that’s not going to last and your flesh is going to fail. So what’s not going to last? The body you got right now. And look at how people are treating this. Go to the gym, work out, a little exercise, nutrition, you know. And boy, if we got a new product, make your hair grow. And we got a lot of stuff. We give you new medication, make you feel like, oh, you’re young again. I tell you, you know, it’s living with a fantasy, folks. The outward man is decaying. That’s what God said. And I hope this is a real blessing to your heart. You are falling apart. It’s only a question of time till we all notice it. Amen? We got to understand what does not last. The reason why people don’t get it is because we are trusting all of this all along the road of life and we forget what really God says is important and that is his love. His love. Turn to Psalm 40 and look at verse 12. Psalm 40 verse 12. Not only is that true, your stuff and your strength and your body, your flesh, but also your heart is failing. Did you know that? Psalm 40. Did you know it’s programmed by God to only operate and run for a certain length of time? And some of us are way over the limit already. And we’re living like a breath away from eternity and playing games with the future. Watch out. Listen to this in Psalm 40, verse 12. It says, for innumerable evils have compassed me about. Mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so I’m not able to look up. They’re more than the hairs of my head. Therefore, my heart faileth me. It fails me. Go to chapter 73 and look at verse 26. Chapter 73, verse 26. It says, my flesh and my heart faileth. Yet we read in 1 Corinthians 13, 8, love never faileth. But my flesh and my heart faileth. Thank God, God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. We need to understand that we’re falling apart. The things we trust in are passing away. In Psalm 69, verse 3. In fact, you’ll read this several times in the Psalms. I’ll just read this one verse. I’m weary of my crying. My throat is dried. Mine eyes fail while I wait for my God. You know, there… There is so much here to understand. I live with this every single day. My eyes are getting worse and worse. Last summer, I had surgery. They pulled out the eyeball, reconstructed it, put it back in. That’s weird. They said I was too far gone to have laser and all that stuff. They want to do the other one after a while. But you know, they’re all deteriorating. They’re continuing to deteriorate. Look, your eyes are failing. Anybody know that’s true? Amen. You’ve been to the eye doctor? Yeah, right. Okay. You know what else is interesting? Don’t get mad at me. Your marriage is failing. You say, I beg your pardon. We’re very happy. We’re strong in the Lord and the power of his might. Amen. God bless you. I’m sorry. It’s not going to last. You talk about a bummer if you’re happily married. This is not a thrilling thing to come and listen to. Your marriage is not going to last. Matthew 22, verse 30. There’s no marrying or giving in marriage in heaven. It’s only now. It’s not going to last either. But what does last? Love. Oh, and by the way, in the context, what doesn’t last? And the answer, spiritual gifts. They don’t last either. So why do you think it’s so important? Do you understand? Sometimes we miss the obvious in wanting to know the details of a passage. We miss the overall broad view. His point is that why are you so interested in spiritual gifts? Because the truth of the matter is they’re not going to last either. It’s love that never fails. There isn’t anything wrong with the gifts and there are blessings from the Lord to be used for His glory, but they are not going to last. Only love will. So remember what does not endure. And then secondly, rejoice in what does endure. And this, I hope, will bring your heart up to glory to praise his name. You say, well, what does endure? The following things. It’s a long list. So if you want to jot them down, I’ll try to give you the references carefully. But there’s a long list. Here’s what does last. And it’ll help you to understand why God’s love will last. One, the Word of God endureth forever. Amen? Isaiah 40, verse 8. 1 Peter 1, 25. The Word of God endureth forever. His Word is forever settled in heaven. We will never be without His Word. Number two, the Lord Himself will endure forever. Well, why are we surprised at this one? After all, 1 John 4, 8 says God is love. He’s not merely love, but he is love in every sense of the word. So because God endures forever, I love Deuteronomy 31, verse 6 and 8. He will never fail you. He will never forsake you. Why? He lives forever. He endures forever. Joshua heard that when he went in to conquer 31 Canaanite kings. He heard the Lord say, I will never fail you. I will never forsake you. I’ll be with you wherever you go. I live forever. I will exist forever.
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Bringing you the Bible, the whole Bible, and nothing but the Bible, this is Hope for Today with David Hawking. And David returns in just a moment to complete our study time today, so do stay with us for that. First of all, Matt’s here, and Matt, we have something that I think folks are really going to love. Let’s talk about it.
SPEAKER 02 :
Okay, Jim, this month we are featuring two special resources. First, my dad’s book called Love is the Greatest. Scripture reminds us that God’s highest priority has never changed. Without love, even the most impressive spiritual activity, it’s empty in God’s sight.
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Think about all the activities we can be involved with as believers. Right. If love is not the foundation and infused through it. It’s empty. It’s empty. Yeah. And then in that same passage, 1 Corinthians 13, and your dad develops this so marvelously. It tells us what love isn’t. Right. In the first few verses. Then it tells us what love is. Amen.
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It bears all things. Believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
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Now, I wish I could say after being married for 39 years, I’ve got that down pat. But you know better. I’ve got a lot to work on with this. Now we have grace, too. And grace. There is that, too. But I think about this, Matt. Your dad with his God-given talent for teaching and his business. Bible study four hours a day for so many years. He dives into this passage and then shows us how to put it into action. Right, because faith without works is dead, right? That’s it. That’s it. Okay, so you can get this book, Love is the Greatest, and the price, Matt? Just $15. $15. The second resource we’re featuring this month is a bundle. Sermon notes of the Old Testament. All 35 message series that your dad has taught through the Old Testament. Yeah. These are his original sermon notes. His personal notes that when he preached, this is what he referenced. So the sermon notes bundle, again, these are David’s original sermon notes and outlines for 35 series that he has taught through the Old Testament. And the cost?
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$75.
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And folks, you can download these and get them right away. Yes. Or you can call us, same price. We’ll send you a PDF CD.
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$75.
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To get yours, call 875-BIBLE. In Canada, 888-75-BIBLE. Bible is 24253. or visit us online at davidhawking.org. And as you make a purchase or make a donation to Hope for Today, you help keep clear, strong Bible teaching on this station and online going out to people who need the truth of God’s Word. And of course, that’s you, that’s me, everyone listening, right? Your support helps us with the cost of broadcasting, production, outreach, and resource ministry. It helps us continue standing firm in the scriptures and making these programs available day after day. So first of all, pray for us. Pray for the ministry of Hope for Today. And as you’re praying, if the Lord leads you to give, we’d be deeply grateful to have you on board in ministry with us. Make a contribution by phone at 875-BIBLE in the U.S., 888-75-BIBLE in Canada, online at davidhawking.org. Now, if you prefer to send a gift by mail, you can write to us in the U.S. at Hope for Today, Box 3927, Tustin, California, 927-9277. 8P1. In Canada, write to Hope for Today, Box 15011, RPO 7 Oaks, Abbotsford, BC, V2S, 8P1. As promised, here’s David to close out our time in God’s Word.
SPEAKER 01 :
Well, hi, friends. I hope you’re enjoying our study of love, this special series on 1 Corinthians 13. When we talk about love, we need to hear God’s viewpoint. 1 John 4, 8, God is love, not merely the principle of love. But whatever we think love is, let me tell you, spiritual love is the nature of God himself. That love is faithful. It’s going to love unconditionally and certainly sacrificially. It is very patient or long-suffering. And there’s a lot of things that that love is not, which we’re learning about in 1 Corinthians 13. Sometimes you tell what a thing is by what it is not. That’s very true in love. That’s why there are eight different descriptions of what is not love in 1 Corinthians 13, verses 4 to 6. And even in terms of circumstances, you know, circumstances can change. just bend you out of shape. You can lose it, basically. You lose perspective. You’re not loving to the situations around you because of the perspective you have of things, of circumstances, which is what verse 7 is all about. Love puts a cover over all things and believes all things, hopes all things, and endures them. You know, friends, a lot of things in life show us how much we need love. You can get this whole series, of course, plus our commentary, 1 Corinthians 13, called Love is the Greatest, off of our website, davidhocking.org, of this Hope for Today radio ministry. And you can go there and order what you’d like and also listen to the broadcast again. So God bless you. We’ll look forward to having you with us in our next broadcast.
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Well, thank you, David. And friend, if you missed any part of today’s program, you can listen again for a limited time on our website, davidhawking.org. That’s davidhawking.org. And be sure to check out all the wonderful Bible study resources we have for you on the website. davidhawking.org has free books, booklets, and videos, as well as resources you can purchase. Next time on Hope for Today, David continues his message, love never leaves. Everything, everything else men cling to is on a timer. Gifts fade, knowledge runs out, and the world passes off the scene. But real biblical love, it doesn’t crack, it doesn’t expire, and it doesn’t go down with the rest of the wreckage. 1 Corinthians 13 shows us what still stands when temporary is stripped away. So be sure to invite a friend to listen along with you as our 1 Corinthians 13 Love is the Greatest series continues next time on Hope for Today.
