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Greetings to all of you in the most blessed name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. I praise and thank the Lord for this privilege to stand before you to continue our study on the 13th chapter of First Corinthians. At the same time, I want to thank Rev. Paul for allowing me to take this opportunity.
We shall continue with our study on 1 Corinthians 13. Now, we come to the last part of the chapter, verses 8 to 13. By God's grace, we have already studied verses 1 to 7. We now come to the last part. The title of my message is The Eternity of Love.
Let me read the passage for you: "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. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. 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. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity." (1 Corinthians 13:8–13)
May the Lord bless us in the reading and hearing of His holy and perfect Word. Let us bow our heads before the Lord. Almighty God, Thou who art our most gracious and loving Father in heaven, we thank Thee for the privilege to come unto Thee at Thy throne of grace to bring our petitions and thanksgivings. How we want to thank Thee for sustaining our life and sustaining the ministry of the church.
Today, as we come into Thy presence to pray, we want to study Thy Word together as a people. Even as we continue our studies of 1 Corinthians 13, we pray for Thy Holy Spirit to illumine our hearts, to help us understand the truth of Thy Word so that we can apply Thy truths in our daily lives. We commit our time and our lives unto Thy hand. In Jesus' name, we pray, Amen.
The Eternity of Love, in other words, love abides forever. 1 Corinthians 13, as we have studied, is known as the “Love Chapter.” From verse 1 through the last verse, that is verse 13, the Apostle Paul explains what it means to love God and to love others. In the first part of verses 1 to 3, he explained the supremacy of love over other spiritual gifts. From verses 4 to 7, he explains the nature of love, and how we ought to express our love in daily life.
Now, in this last part—verses 8 to 13—the Apostle Paul emphasises the eternity of love. Love is eternal; love is forever; love abides forever. This part of God’s Word may be studied by dividing it into two parts: 1) Verses 8 to 12, these few verses deal with the temporary or temporal nature of spiritual gifts—this is to emphasize the eternal nature of love. 2) Verse 13 tells us how love abides forever.
Let us divide this passage into two parts: Firstly, verse 8 to 12, gifts are temporary. Let us begin with verse 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." Prophecy, tongues, and knowledge are gifts given to believers by the Spirit Himself. They are necessary and crucial to the life of the church, yet they are not forever. There will come a time when they will come to an end.
Firstly, let us deal with prophecy. In the days of the Apostles, there was indeed prophecy. There were prophets who prophesied in the name of the Lord, and they were an important part of the founding of the church. In the Old Testament, we find many prophets sent by God Himself to speak against the sins of the people, to declare the coming judgment, the justice of God, the love of God, and so on.
Now, the question we need to ask ourselves is: what did the Apostle Paul mean by prophecy? Theologically, the word prophecy is defined as involving two aspects: 1) Foretelling—The prophet foretells what will happen in the future; he predicts future events. This is a very important element of being a prophet, both in the Old Testament and the New Testament. 2) Forthtelling—This refers to the speaking of God’s truths to the people. It does not necessarily involve the future element but rather deals with present issues being faced by God’s people. For example, the prophets of Old and New Testament time addressed the sins of the people, the justice of God, the love of God, and so on.
Taken this way, prophesying involves two things: foretelling and forthtelling. Did the Apostle Paul refer to these two aspects or just one? That is an interesting question, but we need to understand that in the Bible, when the prophet speaks, it mostly involves two aspects, not just one.
So, the Apostle Paul says there are definitely prophecies, but these prophecies will fail—will come to an end. It is interesting to note that the phrase ”they shall fail” is actually in the passive voice, meaning there will be an external agent who will cause this prophecy to come to an end. The same thing is true of knowledge: “whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away”.
In other words, prophecy and knowledge will come to an end because there will be an external agent which will cause these two to cease to exist. They shall cease. And what is that external agent? We will shortly look at it in verse 10.
Before that, let us look at the phrase “whether there be tongues, they shall cease.” By the word tongues, did the Apostle Paul refer to the gift of tongues—the spiritual gift of tongues, the ability to suddenly speak in another language which one has not learned before? Or did he refer simply to the different languages of the world?
Among the conservatives, there are some who understand this to refer to the various languages of the world. We have many languages in the world, and there will come a time when these languages will no longer be needed. That is, when we enter into heaven—when the state of eternity comes. When we enter into heaven, we will no longer speak the various languages we speak today. We will only speak one language: the heavenly language. That is what is meant here, according to their interpretation.
But others understand the word “tongues” to refer to the spiritual gift of tongues. We find in Acts chapter 2 that the Apostles, on the day of Pentecost, empowered by the Spirit, suddenly burst out into different dialects. They had not learned these languages before, but suddenly they were able to speak in other dialects, and the people present were able to understand the languages spoken by them. That is the gift of tongues. So, in other words, there are some among the conservatives who understand this to refer to the Spirit-given gift of speaking in tongues.
Now, whichever view is correct, the point the Apostle Paul emphasises here is that there will surely come a time when these tongues—whether they are Spirit-given tongues or the languages of the world—will no longer be necessary. For all of these, there is an end. So, whether there be prophecies, tongues, or knowledge, they existed and were essential during the New Testament time, when the Apostles were still alive. Yet, there will come a time when these will no longer be needed. What is that time? The answer is in the following verses.
Let us continue with verse 9 “For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.” We see that our knowledge is partial. We do not know everything. Therefore, we prophesy only in part. But verse 10 says: ”But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.”
To explain this idea, the Apostle Paul continues: “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. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.” (1 Corinthians 13:11–12)
Now, the question we need to answer is in verse 10: “When that which is perfect is come,” what does it refer to? Basically, there are four views concerning this—what is the perfect thing?
View number one: It refers to the maturing church. People who take this view understand this as a reference to the church coming to a certain level of maturity. The argument runs something like this: You see, the Apostle Paul talks about childish things—things that we understood as a child—and when we became a man, our understanding changed. So, the Apostle Paul is comparing the things of a child and the things of an adult. This is definitely a reference to the maturity of the church. When the church comes to a certain level of maturity, the above-mentioned prophecies, tongues, and knowledge will vanish away.
View number two: This refers to the second coming of Christ. The perfect thing is the second coming of Christ. When Christ comes, all these gifts will no longer be needed.
View number three: The completion of the Scripture. Remember, during the time of the Apostles, the Scripture was being written. It had not been completed; it was in the process of being written. So, when the Scripture was completed, when the Book of Revelation—the last book—was completed, then all these prophecies, tongues, and knowledge would come to an end because God has already given us His complete revelation in His holy book.
View number four: This view holds that "that which is perfect" refers to the eternal state—the state of heaven. When a person enters into the eternal state, all these gifts are no longer needed.
Now, if we look at Christians and how they understand this passage, we find that they vary and differ from one another. The charismatics, who love to exercise the spiritual gifts, emphasise that see, hear, prophecies, tongues, and knowledge are still existent. They are not done away with yet; only when eternity comes will they be done away. So, they believe that the spiritual gifts are still essential and existent.
But that view is rejected by the vast majority of evangelicals and conservatives. The conservatives hold to the third and fourth views—that is, the completion of Scripture view and the eternal state view. Among the evangelicals and conservatives, we find two groups holding to these views.
I believe this is a place where we should not be very dogmatic. There are good Christians who hold to the view that this is clearly a reference to the canon of Scripture. When the Bible was completed, these prophecies, tongues, and knowledge vanished away—their age had come to an end. At the same time, there are equally good and faithful Christians who understand this as a reference to the perfect and eternal state.
Of course, they reject the non-cessation view of spiritual gifts. They understand that the gifts are already withdrawn by the Spirit, yet this perfect thing refers to the eternal state because the entire context—verse 11 and verse 12—is talking about childish things and adulthood things, the things we see now partly, and the things we will see and understand then. So, there is a comparison between the things of the present and the things of the future. This is clearly a reference to the eternal state.
Let me remind all of us: whichever view you take—view number three or view number four, the completion of Scripture view or the eternal state view—these two views are shared by good Christians, conservatives. So, we should not be very dogmatic.
I believe the point the Apostle Paul wants to emphasise here is: these are all temporal, gifts are necessary, the gift of prophecy, the gift of tongues and the gift of knowledge, all these are essential in their own time and for their own purpose, but they are not forever. We will not need these gifts in heaven.
By contrast, let's look at the second part—that is, verse 13. This is our second point: Love is eternal. By contrast, love is eternal. Spiritual gifts, however, though they are good, essential, and beautiful, are temporal. They serve a purpose; they exist for a certain period of time—that's how God has designed them. But love is different.
So, let's look at verse 13. Let me read it to you: "And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity." (1 Corinthians 13:13) Now, the Apostle Paul addresses the three important virtues: faith, hope, and charity. These are all important, but even among these important three virtues, love is the greatest. How and why?
Look at the word “faith”. Faith is a very, very important element in our Christian theology. Without faith, we cannot please God. Without faith, we cannot be saved. Without faith, we cannot live the Christian life. Faith is essential for salvation, and faith is essential for being a Christian. We need saving faith for our salvation, and we need living faith for our daily Christian life. It is essential.
And what about “hope”? Hope is also very important. Hope keeps us looking forward to heaven, looking forward to the Lord Jesus Christ. So these two are important, yet compared to love, love is greater. How is love greater than these two?
The usual explanation goes something like this: faith and hope will be realised when we see our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ face to face. In other words, when we enter heaven, the moment we step into heaven, we will see the Lord Jesus Christ face to face, and our faith and our hope will be fully realised. After that, we won't need faith and hope anymore because we will experience the reality.
But love is different. Even after seeing the Lord Jesus Christ face to face in heaven, we will still need love. We will be loving God, and we will be loving one another in heaven for eternity. That is how love is more important and greater than the other virtues and the other spiritual gifts.
Now, someone has written it this way—I think it is quite interesting the way he explains the greatness of love. Let me read it to you: "Love is the greatest of these qualities—that is, faith and hope—because it is the only one of the three that is an attribute of God. Faith and hope, in other words, are not attributes of God, but love is an attribute of God."
He continues: "God does not exercise faith because there’s no one in whom He could have faith. He is the supreme object of faith. It is the responsibility of creatures to have faith in their Creator. Faith implies dependence. The redeemed of the Lord will trust Him throughout all eternity, even though sight will have come. God’s people will always need to trust Him. It will not require any effort on the part of the completely redeemed to trust God, but nevertheless, they will trust Him."
In other words, according to this writer, we will need faith in heaven also. Even after seeing the Lord Jesus Christ, we will still need to trust Him completely. But what makes love greater than faith and hope is because love is an attribute of God. The Bible in 1 John 4:8 and 1 John 4:16 says: "God is love." God is love, so love is an attribute of God. Therefore, it is greater than faith and hope, and greater than spiritual gifts as well.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, have you ever pondered seriously how we will be spending our time in heaven? Surely, when we enter into heaven, there will be joy, peace, praise, thanksgiving, and so on and so forth. We will be very happy.
But there is one thing that will surely be there—that is love. We will love the Lord Jesus Christ. We will love God fully and perfectly because there will be no sin, and we will be loving each other—the people who have gone before us, the people who are going, and those who will be going there. We will see one another, and we will be loving one another perfectly because there will be no more sin.
Can you imagine spending eternity without love? That is terrible. In fact, a place where there is no love is no different from hell. It is hell. Therefore, love is the greatest of all these virtues, including the spiritual gifts. This teaches us a very important lesson: we ought to love one another here on earth while we are still on our journey to eternity, while God still gives us the privilege to live on this planet Earth.
We need to start practising this Biblical love, agapē, because the Apostle Paul wants the church to practise Biblical love. He spends one whole chapter to explain it. The whole chapter—chapter 13—is devoted to the description and detailed explanation of what love means. And I believe the emphasis here is to love our fellow believers, to love one another.
So, do we have love for our fellow believers in the church? Is our church known as a loving church?What about our family? Do we love one another? Do we love our relatives? What about our friendships? Do we love our friends and the people who come across our way? What about in our school? In our school and our workplace, do we love our fellow students, our colleagues, and whoever comes into our way?
Are we known as a loving people? Remember God’s description of Himself: "God is love." In other words, God wants to be known as a loving God. And we are most like God when we practise agapē love, and I hope this is true in our church.
So, the nature of love, we have already seen in verse 4 to verse 7. The Apostle Paul used 15 different verbs to explain what it means to love. They are all actions. Love is not just feeling, but it is doing something—desiring and doing something for the person we love. The best we do, we do the best for them. Is that true in our church? That is what we need to examine ourselves.
So, the Apostle Paul, in this last part of the chapter, verse 8 to verse 13, teaches us two things. Number one: spiritual gifts are important, but they are temporal. They are given for a purpose, for a season. When they finish serving their purpose, they will be taken away—they will vanish.
And what is that? Some say it is the completion of the Scripture. When the last book of the Holy Scripture was completed, spiritual gifts such as prophecies, talents, and knowledge are no longer necessary. Others understand it to refer to Heaven, yet they reject the charismatic view of the non-cessation of spiritual gifts.
So, let us be clear. In fact, God has a purpose for giving spiritual gifts to the believers. For example, when it comes to tongues, in the next chapter, that is chapter 14, the Apostle Paul specifically mentions that tongues are for a sign to the unbelievers, especially to the unbelieving Jews. The Jews in those days thought that they were the only recipients of God's grace; the Gentiles were rejected. But tongues were used by God to convince them that the Gentiles also enjoy the blessings of salvation. The evidence is the ability to speak in tongues.
So, not only the Jews, but also the Gentiles, spoke in tongues in those days. It was evident that the Gentiles were also recipients of God's grace. So, when it has finished serving that purpose, then there's no longer a need for tongues to continue to exist.
What I’m trying to say is, prophecy, tongues, and knowledge—they have their own purpose, they have their own season. When that is completed, they are taken away—they vanish by themselves. And it is interesting to know that, regarding the cessation of tongues, the middle voice is used, which means tongues shall cease by themselves after finishing their purpose.
So, spiritual gifts are already done away—they are temporal. Even if we take the view that they are not completely done away, for example with prophecy, if we understand the word prophecy to refer to include foretelling, teaching, and preaching God’s Word, they are still there. We still preach and teach God’s Word. But when eternity comes, we will not need it. In Heaven, we don’t have to teach and preach God’s Word. So, even though they are essential for their purpose for a certain period of time, surely there will come a time when these are no longer necessary.
But love is different. We need love now, here on earth, in our church, in our family, and in our community. And we need love in eternity as well. Heaven is a place of love. Heaven is a world of love. If there is no love, then Heaven will not be Heaven. That is why love is the greatest of all these virtues— faith, and hope.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, let us examine ourselves. Have we been practising this biblical love? Are we really a loving Christian? If we really practise this, people will be attracted to our God, to our Saviour. Thereby, they will come to the saving knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
So, love is essential—in Heaven and here on Earth as well. Love is supreme, greater than spiritual gifts. And love is doing something—doing what is best for the persons we love. Love is long-lasting, eternal, compared to the spiritual gifts and other things. Why don’t we take it seriously to practise it in our church, in our family, and in our community?
May the Lord help us. Let us look to the Lord in prayer. Our dear Father in Heaven, we thank Thee for Thy Word. We thank Thee for the Apostle Paul, who taught us to love God and to love one another. And how we want to thank Thee for Thy precious Word, especially this 13th chapter of first Corinthians. Help us all to be a loving community, a loving church, loving one another in the biblical way, thereby manifesting what it means to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, so that many people will be attracted and come to the saving knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
There are many times when we fail, and we pray for Thy forgiveness. We pray for the Holy Spirit's guidance and direction and help to practise this biblical love in our daily lives. For this is our prayer, in Jesus’ name, Amen. Thank you very much. The Lord bless all of you.