THE ESSENTIAL INGREDIENT FOR REVIVAL
(Successful Service to God)
By: Richard Kirkland
1 Corinthians 13:1-3
Introduction:
A. What a blessing to be a part of a congregation which has such a large number of gifted and talented people. We have a enormous opportunity and an unlimited potential for accomplishing great things in service to God. If we will just get on fire for the Lord like we should, there will be stopping us! We have both the ability and the opportunity. And according to biblical arithmetic, ability + opportunity = responsibility (Matthew 25:14-30). May God help us all to live up to our God given responsibilities.
1. But, there are many talented and gifted people all over the world who are not achieving any worthwhile goals. They are not achieving great things because their talents are misdirected or else they lack the proper motivation. (Criminals, drug addicts and alcoholics.)
2. In the church, there are likewise many people who are very gifted who will never accomplish good for the Savior because they lack the one essential ingredient for successful work in the kingdom of God --LOVE.
B. The essential ingredient for the revival of the church is love.
1. Paul, in our text, elaborates on the superiority of love as an essential motivation for Christian service.
2. In the church at Corinth, there were talented, there were talented and gifted people, some possessing supernatural (miraculous) gifts of the Spirit. But they were largely ineffective in their service. Why? Because they lacked love for one another. Division, jealousy, envy, and strife were present among them. Paul called them carnal (worldly minded). They were arrogant and conceited because of their spiritual gifts. Paul chided them about their arrogance and then declared, “But earnestly desire the best gifts. And yet I show you a more excellent way.” (1 Corinthians 12:31). This “more excellent way” was the way of love.
3. There are three areas, particularly, in which our love must be demonstrated in order for us to accomplish the greatest amount of good in service to God.
1. We must have love for God.
2. We must have love for our brethren.
3. We must have love for our fellow man.
I. LOVE FOR GOD.
A. Of all the commandments ever given, this one is the greatest. All others hinge on our obedience to it.
1. “Jesus answered him, ‘The first of all the commandments is: “Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one. And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.” This the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” There is no other commandment greater than these.’” (Matthew 12:29-31)
2. When Moses delivered the law of God to the Israelites he said: “Now this is the commandment, and these are the statues and judgments which the LORD your GOD, to keep all his statutes and His commandments which I command you, you and your son and your grandson, all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged. Therefore hear, O Israel, and be careful to observe it, that it may be well with you, and that you may multiply greatly as the LORD God of your fathers has promised you - a land flowing with milk and honey. Hear O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength” (Deutronomy 6:1-5).
B. Love and obedience go together like a hand and a glove.
1. The apostle John declared, “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome” (1 John 5:2-3).
2. Jesus also taught that love for God was evident only when demonstrated by obedience. Jesus said, “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15) and “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. He who does not love me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me” (John 14:23-24).
C. The truest test of our love for God is in our obedience to His will. We can hardly be said to love God as we should when we rebel at the simplest commands and refuse to do all that He commands us to do. John declared, “My little children, love not n word or tongue, but in deed and in truth” (1 John 3:18).
1. Do not misunderstand John. He is not saying that it is unimportant to say, “I love you.” This is an elliptical statement. It means, “love not in word or tongue only, but also in deed and in truth.”
2. It is important to say, “I love you.” And to sing, “I love the Lord,” or “My Saviour dear, I love thee, Oh I love thee,” or “O how I love Jesus.”
3. I need to express in words my love for everyone of you!!
4. But actions are the truest of all indicators and the most accurate of all measurements of our love.
D. If we really love God we will do what He commands, and when we do what He commands we will experience a great spiritual revival!
II. LOVE FOR OUR BROTHERS.
A. “Let brotherly love continue” (Hebrews 13:1). Not a suggestion. Here we have an imperative construction, hence the force of a command. The idea is “do not hinder the continuation of brotherly love.”
1. There are many hindrances: a) sowers of discord, b) critical, faultfinding personalities, c) immoral, reprehensible conduct which causes embarrassment and shame, etc.
2. “For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another, not as Cain who was the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother’s righteous” (1 John 3:11-12).
B. “Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.” (1 Peter 2:17).
1. We have brethren all over the world. The church of Christ is larger than our own congregation and consists of people all over the world who have obeyed the gospel of Christ, been cleansed by the blood of the Lamb, added by the Lord to His church and are worshiping and serving Him in spirit and in truth. What a joy to travel from place to place and there to find God’s family (our brothers and sisters). Wherever we find them, we should love them as dearly and fully as we do God himself, for they are children of God also.
2. In our country today there is a division among the church of God everywhere. Liberalism is a dangerous philosophy through which Satan has worked to divide churches and stir up unkind feelings among brethren. Often we are justifiably suspicious and untrusting of one another. But this is no reason for us to become hateful or to show despite toward brethren whom we know to be in error. We must continue to love them and with a loving spirit lead them our of their error.
3. Sometimes it is easier to love those far away than those who are close to home. Familiarity breeds contempt. When we come to know one another well we see each other as we really are with our warts and blemishes and all. Then is when our ability to love is really put to the test. How can I continue to love my brother when I know about his faults and failings?
c. “And above all things have fervent love for one another, for ‘love will cover a multitude of sins.’” (1 Peter 4:8).
d. Paul wrote concerning love that it “bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.” (1 Corinthians 13:7-8).
C. Warnings and exhortations.
1. “We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death. Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him” (1 John 3:15).
2. “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not loves does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested towards us, that God has send His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” (1 John 4:7-11).
3. “If someone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment we have from Him; that he who loves God must love his brother also” (1 John 4:20-21).
4. “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35).
5. “Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart” (1 Peter 1:22).
III. LOVE FOR OUR FELLOW MAN.
A. We hear of conflict and wars around the world. People fight and kill because they do not have love for one another. Love works no harm to other people (Romans 13:10). But more than that, love causes us to seek what is good for others.
B. Love for our fellow man will cause us to look beyond the color of their skin, or the culture or circumstances of their birth, or the customs and traditions to which they adhere to the very soul that inhabits their earthly body. There all fleshly distinctions vanish. There we stand on equal ground with one another and are all equally valuable and precious in the sight of God.
C. Jesus recited the first commandment and then said, “The second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:31).
D. Jesus expanded the meaning of this commandment beyond the normally accepted boundaries in the Sermon on the Mount. He said, “you have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use your and persecute you. (Matthew 5:43-44).
E. Love for our fellow man will be demonstrated by:
1. Benevolent concern.
a. Galatians 6:10.
b. Feeding the hungry, caring for the sick and suffering and ministering to those in prison are all important demonstrations of Christian for our fellow man.
2. Love for their souls.
a. Those who do not know Christ are lost and dying in sin. They will spend eternity in hell if we do not show love for their souls.
b. We have the gospel (God’s power to save, Romans 1:16) and we must share it with them.
c. If we do not, how can we say that we truly love them?
d. And if we do not love them, how can we truly say that we love God?
Conclusion: 1. Are we making the most of our opportunities?
2. Are we cultivating in our own lives the qualities that will allow us to experience the wonderful blessing of revival?