In the name of Christ Jesus, dear fellow redeemed people of God,

What are the greatest books of all time? Who were the greatest American Presidents? What are the greatest movies of your lifetime? What are the best teams in college basketball right now? We like to try to rank things in order. I have a book that is called “the Book of Lists” and it’s full of these kinds of rankings. Here Scripture seems to rank spiritual gifts in the early church... (1 Cor 12:28-30) And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues. Gifts that have to do with preaching and teaching God’s Word are listed first. Speaking in tongues is mentioned last in the list. It seems that the Corinthians had valued this gift too highly. But the gifts are ranked in order of their benefit to other people. If I stand up here and speak in a foreign language, but none of you understand me, it might seem impressive, but you will not be encouraged in your faith at all! And so, we have this ranking of gifts to teach us a lesson. Today, some Pentecostals and charismatics insist that all real believers should be able to speak in tongues, but that’s is wrong. The Bible clearly indicates that not everyone back then had that ability, just like not everyone was an apostle or a prophet. Then, we get to our real lesson for today.

1. SPIRITUAL GIFTS ARE NOTHING WITHOUT LOVE (1-3).

{1} If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. What good is it to speak in a language that people can’t understand, and to do it without love? It’s kind of like this. Suppose that you were in Bible Class, and you had this burning question you just wanted an answer to. You raised your hand and asked the question, and then, instead of saying a word I would just take the biggest hand bell we have and ring it one time. Would you be satisfied with the answer? What good would it be to have the spiritual gift of being able to speak in a foreign language but didn’t use it in love? It would be worthless!

{2} If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If you know your Bible from cover to cover, and you have enough faith to move mountains, that’s impressive. But without love, you would just show off and not help anyone else. So, the end result would be nothing. There is one more example.

{3} If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. If you wanted to work your way into heaven by giving all your money away and by jumping into a fire, would you gain a place in heaven? No. You would gain nothing. You can’t get to heaven that way. Without faith it is impossible to please God. And, spiritual gifts are nothing without love.

2. CONSIDER WHAT LOVE REALLY IS (4-7).

We have an awesome description of love right here, but first let us pause to remember the greatest example of love: God. God is love. And, though we have been unloving and unlovable sinners who deserve nothing but punishment, God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son to be our Savior from sin. Jesus loved us enough to live a pure and holy life for us, and then offer his life on the cross, in our place, as the sacrifice for our sins and for the sins of the whole world. He could have come down from that cross and saved himself, but he didn’t. He was held there by his great love for us. He died on that cross and won our forgiveness. He rose from the dead. And whoever believes in Jesus will receive eternal life. Believe in Jesus as your Savior from sin, and you will be in heaven forever! And if you really believe in Jesus, that faith in your heart will produce love. We will love God and we will love each other. Love is a fruit of faith.

Love is described here in chapter 13. This is the love chapter in the Bible. Let’s meditate on these words now, one phrase at a time. It says, “Love is patient,” it suffers long. Sometimes we have to put up with situations and people that are difficult. Love patiently suffers through it. Sometimes we have to wait for people to come around, to mature, to understand. Love will be patient with other people. “Love is kind.” So, be thoughtful. Show goodness and kindness to each other. “It does not envy,” it is not jealous. We have a color for envy: green. It is not pretty to see. But wherever there is jealousy, there is selfishness. You want what that other person has. If you really loved them, you would be glad for them, and wouldn’t think about yourself. Love is not selfish, so “it does not boast,” or brag. Nobody likes a braggart. Certainly God is not impressed. How silly we must look to God when we boast. Here we are, like ants, strutting around like we own the world. Love is different. “It is not proud.” It is not arrogant. When you are thinking about what is good for the Lord and for other people, you will not even begin to think about how great you are! You won’t even have a chance to become all puffed up with pride. Love is different. “It is not rude,” or indecent, or disgraceful. Love moves us to want to have good manners, to act with tact, to live with concern for others. Our society has become increasingly coarse over the last several decades. The columnist, George Will, often writes about the coarsening of American society. But behind all this is the lack of love. We Americans seem rude, at least in part, because of a lack of love.

This next set of descriptions applies to family life. Love is different from ordinary behavior, because “it is not self-seeking.” Love is not selfish. Love isn’t about what’s in it for me. Love is about seeking out what is good for others. Husbands, what is good for your wife and children, really? Wives, what is good for your husband? Children, what is good for your parents, for your brother or sister? Singles, what is good for your neighbors? Don’t be selfish! And when someone does something wrong to you, love can get past that, because “it is not easily angered.” Love does not have a quick temper. One Bible translation says, “love is “not touchy.” Just think how important that is for family life. Husbands and wives and kids wouldn’t be angry and fighting. And this next one really hits home. It says that love... “keeps no record of wrongs.” Oh, how tempting it is to remember how many times a person has done something against us. Maybe you can remember the date and the exact words. But did that person repent? Did you say you forgave that person? Then don’t keep the record! Love is different. It keeps no record of wrongs. Apply this to yourself and to your situation. Have you been keeping score? Stop doing that! Love your neighbor, your spouse, enough to quit keeping a record of wrongs. Otherwise you become the unmerciful servant. God could do that to you! He could refuse to forgive and forget all of your sins! Give it up. Love keeps no record of wrongs. “Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” Love is optimistic and bravely endures through thick and thin. It always perseveres.

3. LOVE LASTS LONGER THAN SPIRITUAL GIFTS (8-12).

“Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease.” Love lasts forever, it never stops, and never fails. Prophecies have ceased. The Scriptures have been written, and Revelation chapter 22 makes it clear that the Bible is closed. We no longer need direct revelations from God because we have his word in the Bible. We do need love though. And then it says, “where there are tongues, they will be stilled [lit., stopped].” The ability to speak in foreign languages without having studied them was a miracle that was given to the apostles and others in the early days of the New Testament. That gift has also stopped. It was not as important as other gifts. And, “where there is knowledge, it will pass away.” There are many facts that I’d like to know that we just don’t know anymore. What exactly did Jesus look like? What happened to each of the apostles – are the traditions about them true or not? Scripture doesn’t answer every question that we might be curious about. But Scripture tells us what we need to know. Our knowledge is limited... “Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.” In Bible times, mirrors were made of polished metal. Seeing yourself was kind of like looking at yourself in a spoon. You could see some of it, but it wasn’t very clear. But in heaven, we will see Jesus face to face. Then, we will know what our Savior looks like. Then, we will know what the apostles look like. Now, we only know some things. We know how to get to heaven, namely by faith in Jesus. We know that Jesus is our Savior. We know what the Bible tells us. But when we get to heaven, we will have complete and perfect knowledge. And that is going to be great, when we have all the perfection and joy of heaven. There we will perfectly love God and love one another.

Dear believers, let us serve with love even now! Though we live in a sinful world, and we are not perfect, we can be sure that we are forgiven through Christ, and we can be sure that we are going to heaven by faith in Jesus. So, let us love God and love others as God has loved us. We love, because he first loved us. Amen.