Christian Maturity

Raul Ries: God can do whatever he wants to do when you turn over your will, your problems, your situations and you say, "Lord, I'm fed up with this. Here it is. Do whatever you want to do in my life." And you know what? We can't hate, we have to love. Agape love. And what is Agape love? It forgives and it forgets.
Guest (Male): Welcome to Somebody Loves You Radio, the Bible teaching ministry of Raul Ries in Diamond Bar, California. Well, it's good to have you with us today for our continuing series in 1 Corinthians. Today, Raul will urge us to keep growing in our spiritual maturity and represent the Lord well through our attitudes and actions. You'll see that when you handle conflict with grace and exercise your spiritual gifts with God's unconditional love, you live in a way that causes others to take notice. Our study today is titled Christian Maturity. Here is Raul Ries in 1 Corinthians chapter 13.
Raul Ries: Chapter 13 is probably one of the hardest chapters to teach because it has to do with Christian maturity. A lot of times, we think of Christian maturity by just being in the Word of God and developing and growing spiritually. But Paul's going to let us know here that it's very important that we understand that if we don't have love, we are nothing. Think of how many people do not have the love of Jesus Christ in their hearts. So many. And yet, it was Jonathan Swift that said this, "We have just enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to make us love one another." Spiritual gifts, no matter how exciting or wonderful they may be, they're useless without love. No value at all. So when you think of spiritual gifts, we should really take an examination of our hearts before God and say, "Lord, I want you to baptize me with the Holy Spirit. But at the same time, if you're going to baptize me, let me have love in my heart, so that when I do exercise and practice these gifts, it will be done through the love of Jesus Christ." At the same time, not only is it the love of God, but growing not in love for other people, but at the same time having love for the lost. Those that do not know Christ, we have to really love them and pray them into the Kingdom of God. Because one of the things that I see in ministering to people is that a lot of people can preach and they can speak to people, but at the same time if you are not practicing love, you're only using empty words of no value. I think that all of us have been there where our past life was a life of hate and never truly experienced the love of Christ in my life until I came to Christ myself. In the Greek, there are four words for love: Eros, Phileo, Agape, and Storge. One of the things that we need to understand is this physical love that most people practice in this world is Eros. It's a physical attraction love, a sexual love. And then it's a lustful love. Then you have Phileo, which is the love that brings you about emotionally, up and down. And then the Agape love is the love that is divine God's love for us and God's divine love for others. And then Storge, it's family love for the family that's in love with one another. So it's important that Paul here is sharing with us that there is this love, Agape love, that we need to not only understand, but we need to have in our personal lives. Notice how he begins the chapter here. In chapter 13, verses 1 through 3, here we see that Paul the Apostle being in Corinth, he understands that the people that he's teaching are carnal people. Remember chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6? All the way through, Paul had the problem with divisions. People were coveting silver. They were living in the flesh by being adulterers, fornicators, liars, all these things that kept them from the power of God. When you think of the church today as a whole, think of how many churches in the world today with so many people in the church, and expect how many of those people really truly are walking in the Spirit of God so that the Spirit of God can manifest himself through the gifts of the Holy Spirit, not through carnality. We need to be spiritual, not carnal. Paul wants to make sure that we understand as we close chapter 12, remember verse 31, where he says, "But earnestly desire the best gifts, and yet I show you a more excellent way." And what's that? Love. Love is the greatest way. To really understand and to practice what you preach and to experience the gifts of the Holy Spirit in my life and your life, we need to know Agape love in each one of our lives. So Paul begins here in verses 1 through 3, speaking of the enriching love that God gave to us. He says in verse 1, "Though I speak with tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become a sounding brass or a clanging cymbal." Paul wants to make sure that as he begins this chapter, he's talking about possessing the gift of tongues. Pentecostal churches, they really put an emphasis on the gift of tongues always. They think that's spirituality. Usually, when a person speaks in tongues while the preacher or teacher is teaching, they will disturb the service and they'll get up, and it's usually the same person or the same people that get up at the right time and they start speaking in tongues loudly. Then the pastor has to stop, or the evangelist, and they wait until somebody else stands up, which every week she stands up too, and they give an interpretation, which is not the true interpretation of tongues. It's not, "Thus says the Lord." That's prophecy. The gift of tongues is given to us in the book of Acts chapter 2, when there was 120 in the upper room and they all spoke in tongues, Dialekta, and they were what? They were glorifying God. They were not giving a message to 30 nations represented outside. It wasn't messages. It was the divine love of God, glorifying, lifting Jesus Christ up as the main source because speaking in tongues doesn't make you more spiritual than other people. As a matter of fact, Paul the Apostle in the book of Romans, he says that, and Paul's going to teach us this, not everybody receives the gift of tongues. This is important. And yet we see that Paul the Apostle tells us that there are people that do not speak in tongues. And the reason God gave me the gift of tongues is so that I can groan and pray with an utterance that I don't even understand. And that's why Paul in Romans chapter 8 tells us that if we are not baptized with the baptism of the Holy Spirit by baptized with tongues, he says even by groaning, the Spirit makes intercession for us. So you're not more spiritual than other people. Everybody is on the same level. Same level. Not because I speak in tongues, I'm a higher level. No way. And by the way, every one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, they have to be practiced through love. If not, Paul's going to tell you, you're just making a bunch of noise. Paul wants to make sure, because of the abuses in the early church in Corinth, that we make sure that we understand that it's not by speaking in tongues that makes me more religious or more experienced or more spiritual than other people. And by the way, when a pastor-teacher is teaching, three gifts are being used while he's teaching: the gift of wisdom, knowledge, and prophecy. Those three gifts are being used. And it's really cool because sometimes when I'm teaching the Bible on Sunday mornings, there'll be husbands or wives here that have been invited by their loved ones, and I don't even know them. Their wife never talked to me or their husband. Afterwards, they'll come up and tell me that my wife talked to you about me. I said, "No." "Why?" "Well, you were talking about me." I wasn't talking, I don't even know you. But it's God through the Holy Spirit bringing conviction to people through the Word of God. Through the Word of God. That's why it's so beautiful to understand the Word of God and to read it and study it and to know God intimately in your life. Very intimately. It's not about becoming famous or popular. It's about who's the greatest in the Kingdom of God. The servant of all, as we humble ourselves before God. As we become nothing and he becomes everything in my life, that's the key. And yet Paul in Corinth is speaking to our hearts as he says here, "Though I speak with tongues of men and of angels, but have not Agape love, I have become a sounding brass or a clanging cymbal." Notice what he says in verse 2, "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, but have not love, I am nothing, nothing at all." When I read this chapter, it brings a lot of memories to me because I remember the hatefulness, I remember the anger, the resentment that I had in my life. And then getting married and having boys, and then now having grandchildren. It's just an incredible thing that when you look back in your life, that's all passed away. You're in the present right now, looking to the cross of Jesus Christ as we trip as we fall, but never, never, never ever defeated because my source is Jesus Christ. Looking to him as the author and the finisher of our great faith that Paul talks about and John talks about.
Guest (Male): You're listening to Somebody Loves You Radio with Raul Ries. We'd like to take a brief time out and remind you that we're committed to supporting you in your spiritual walk. Visit somebodylovesyou.com for a wealth of resources to help deepen your faith and direct you in God's ways. Raul's series titled Unity, Holiness, and Love is available on CD and USB. Now, back to more with Raul Ries.
Raul Ries: So when we think of this love that God talks about, let me read you some of the things about God's love that is so amazing to me. The love that we can have toward God, for example, in Matthew 22:37, Jesus said, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment." There is no other commandment. The greatest commandment is to love God with all of your being. Secondly, notice what he says, "And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself." I had so many problems with that. So many problems. I could not love my neighbor as myself, especially those that come against you, those that backbite you, those people that don't really like you. They want to ruin your life. And yet God can do whatever he wants to do when you turn over your will, your problems, your situations, and you say, "Lord, I'm fed up with this. Here it is. Do whatever you want to do in my life." Do it, Lord. I want to stand back and watch God. You know what? We can't hate, we have to love. Agape love. And what is Agape love? It forgives and it forgets. It doesn't go against anybody and does not seek revenge. I loved revenge, and I can't do that anymore. You can't do it. You cannot do it. You see, and yet Satan always comes. He plays with my mind all the time. Look what he says secondly in Matthew 22:37, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all—notice the word all—your soul, all your mind." So all heart, all soul, and all mind. Then, more important than any ritual at all, in Matthew 12:31, Jesus said, "Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit—notice—it will not be forgiven men. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or the age to come. Either make the tree good or its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for a tree is known by its fruits." So again, the fruit of the Holy Spirit is what? Love. Love is the fruit of the Holy Spirit. How about love toward Christ as a sign of true faith? John 8:42, Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love me, for I proceeded forth and came from God. Nor have I come of myself, but he sent me." Notice, the Father sent me, so you should look to the Father, and I came to love you and not to hate you. Then manifested by obedience. John 14:15, "If you really love me," Jesus said, "keep my commandments." Wow. If you really love me, keep my commandments. And then in verse 23 he says, "He who has my commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I, Jesus, will love him and manifest myself to him." Notice how huge love is. The word love. I mean, we need to love one another, we need to love our enemies and to pray for our enemies, that God will take care of us and he'll watch over us and that he'll do whatever he has to do, but we need to love people into the Kingdom of God. Otherwise, how can we call ourselves Christians? And then it leads to service. 1 Corinthians 5:14, "For the love of Christ impels us, because we judge thus, that if one died for all, then all have died." The Christ what? The love of Christ constrains me. And now in chapter 13 of Corinthians, what is he doing? He's describing for us in detail the love of Christ. The way we should be loving one another and the way we should be loving other people. Let's go back to verse 3. He says, "Though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor"—so here you are, you're feeding the poor, you're giving all your money away—"and though I give my body to be burned, but have not Agape love, it profits me nothing." You can self-sacrifice and not have the love of Christ, and you're nothing. Nothing. Everything apart from love is nothing. Our service to God has to be in the love of Christ. Otherwise, we have nothing to sustain us or to stand by. And then in verse 4 now through the end of the chapter, he's going to bring love as edifying or building up. Paul here in verse 4 begins to define Agape love. Look what he says in verse 4, "Love, true love, Agape love—notice what he says—suffers long and is kind." So he says that Agape love is patient and it's kind. Patient and kind. You sit there and you begin to see what the love of Christ can do in each one of our hearts. Then look what he says. He says, "Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy." What does it mean to envy here? It means this: envy means to be zealous for or against any person whatever thing they may have. You start becoming envious, covetous because you don't have it and you want it. So you start envying people and become covetous. Then he says, "Love does not parade," and here it means not to be a braggart. It's not bragging. It's not a braggart. It's not a windbag, he says in the Greek. It's not that way in itself and it's not puffed up. What is that? Build up in pride. It's not proudful. Real love is not proudful. Verse 5, "And love does not behave rudely." Notice that. He's speaking of perfect love here, the operation of the Christian life. Does not behave rudely. We can't be rude to people. We have to be kind and loving. "Neither does it seek its own, nor is provoked, thinks no evil." Notice that. All the things that love has for each one of us individually. If we truly, truly are Christians, then we're going to take counsel with Paul the Apostle in this letter. Verse 6, "Does not rejoice in—what?—in sin." Think of how many Christians rejoice in their sin. But rejoices in what? In truth. And what's truth? The Word of God. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life." So it's important that if we really have this love of Jesus Christ, then it's not to rejoice in someone that has been hurt or maybe that we hate, and rejoice when they get hurt. We can't do that. We have to pray for them, we have to leave them in the hands of God in order for God's Holy Spirit to again use my life and I can really demonstrate the love of Jesus Christ so I do not rejoice in iniquity. But I rejoice, notice, in the truth. In the truth of Jesus Christ. And then he says, "Bears all things"—and that's hard—"bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things." Notice what the Christian life is all about here. Love. Now Paul continues here to put the spiritual gifts in what? In its order. Notice verse 8, "Love never fails." The things he just talked about, verses 4, 5, 6, and 7, he says real love never ever fails. "But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they shall cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away." So here Paul now brings us into this place where he wants us to understand that when Jesus Christ comes—when he comes—we're not going to need the gift of prophecy, the gift of tongues, the gift of knowledge, the gift of wisdom, because we're going to be perfect as he is perfect. Look again what he says, again verse 8, "Love never fails, but whether there are prophecies they will fail, whether tongues they will cease, whether there is knowledge it will vanish away. For we know in part now, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away with." Now this is a theological question here. Very important to understand. Here Paul the Apostle, you see that word perfect? Well, in the 1900s, there were the what we call the fundamentalists. They took the liberty to change the word perfect—which the word perfect is speaking of Christ, his coming—when Christ comes, everything's going to be what? Brand new. They took the word perfect and they took it and they said that this is the end of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. There's no more gifts. In the 1900s, tongues, prophecy, all the 21 gifts are not for today, they already have stopped. They're ceasing. And that's not true. Because the gifts of the Holy Spirit are here until the church is taken out of the way. That's a dispensation God's given to us. And people today can get baptized with the Holy Spirit, the gift of tongues, word of knowledge, word of wisdom. I mean, there's so many gifts that God wants to give to each one of us individually if we're open to the Holy Spirit to do that. And what's really cool about that here, that it was 1906 when they took the liberty to say that all of the gifts of the Holy Spirit have ceased, there were no more. And yet look at the word here, "But when that which is—notice—when Christ has come"—the word Christ is in there—"then that which is in part will be done away with." You see, when Christ comes, we don't need tongues, we don't need the word of wisdom, the word of knowledge, prophecy, interpretation of tongues. Why? Because Christ will be in our midst. We shall be known as he is known. I love that. We shall be known as he is known. Then verse 11, "When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought—notice—as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things." Notice what he's saying here. The problem with the Corinthians was what? Carnality. Remember chapter 3? They were like babies in Christ Jesus. And Paul says, "Because of your immaturity, you don't understand and you're dividing the body of Christ," and they were arguing concerning the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Then he said this, verse 12, "For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then—when we get there—face to face. Now I know in part—notice we have limited knowledge—but then I shall be known just as also I am known." Notice that. I shall be known even as I am known. Love.
Guest (Male): As we've heard today, blessing those around us with God's unconditional love isn't always easy, but it is a sign of true spiritual maturity as we put the needs and feelings of others before our own. You're listening to Somebody Loves You Radio with Raul Ries. The lesson you've heard today was titled Christian Maturity. If you'd like to get an unedited version, we'll be happy to send one to you for a donation of $5 or more. Just call us at 800-634-9165. To equip you with even more insight into how you can exercise your faith in practical ways, we'd like to tell you about Raul's series titled Unity, Holiness, and Love. It's an 11-part study that's available on either CD or thumb drive. Every message in this series will challenge you to apply your love for the Lord to every aspect of your life, from how you manage your finances to how you serve and ministry. Visit somebodylovesyou.com or call 800-634-9165 to order Raul's 11-lesson series. We'll send you Unity, Holiness, and Love on CD for $23, or if you'd like, on flash drive for just $14. The number once again is 800-634-9165. Or write to Somebody Loves You Radio, P.O. Box 4440, Diamond Bar, California, 91765. Don't forget we're a listener-supported ministry, and we are thankful for your partnership. Your donations help keep us sharing the good news of the Lord Jesus. Join us next time as we return to 1 Corinthians for a helpful look at how to properly exercise the gifts of tongues and prophecy. We'll see that a humble heart and a commitment to biblical order will ensure you keep the focus off of yourself and bring glory to God. Now with a closing comment, here is Raul once again.
Raul Ries: Verse 13, "And now abides faith, hope, and—check this out—love. These three, but the greatest of all three is Agape love." That's the most important gift: the gift of love. And I would pray tonight that any one of us, including myself, whatever hatefulness, whatever resentment, whatever problem we may have in our lives to other people or maybe even toward ourselves or our parents, our brothers and sisters, that it would cease today as you give your heart fully to Jesus Christ and you ask him to baptize you with his love.