This is Monday morning, November 5, 1973, in Liston, Virginia. Ministry is being given by Brother Stephen Tong.
Well, how we praise Thee that we who are but dust of the earth, and yet have such a privilege to come together unto Thyself. Oh, that we may behold the glory of the Lord with unveiled face.
Oh, how we pray and thank Thee for the grace, the mercy, the love, that has brought us to this place. Lord, we just open ourselves to Thee, to be taught, to be transformed according to His image from glory to glory, that truly we may be the praise of Thy glory.
O Lord, we just commit this time into Thy hand, and we ask Thee to bless us. We are seeking that Thou wilt build us up in the holy faith. In Thy precious name, we ask. Amen.
That most famous chapter in the Bible, 1 Corinthians 13.
Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love,
I am become sounding brass, or a clanging cymbal.And though I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge;
and though I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love,
I am nothing.And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor,
and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love,
it profiteth me nothing.Love suffereth long, and is kind;
love envieth not;
love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
doth not behave itself unseemly,
seeketh not its own, is not provoked,
taketh not account of evil;
rejoiceth not in unrighteousness, but rejoiceth with the truth;
beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.Love never faileth:
but whether there be prophecies, they shall be done away;
whether there be tongues, they shall cease;
whether there be knowledge, it shall be done away.For we know in part, and we prophesy in part;
but when that which is perfect is come, that which is in part shall be done away.When I was a child, I spake as a child, I felt as a child, I thought as a child:
now that I am become a man, I have put away childish things.For now we see in a mirror, darkly; but then face to face:
now I know in part; but then shall I know fully even as I was fully known.But now abideth faith, hope, love, these three;
and the greatest of these is love.
We mentioned last night that, beginning with 1 Corinthians 12, Paul is dealing with what the Bible calls “concerning the spiritual.” The word in the original is plural: concerning spiritual things. Kendall Morgan put it, “concerning spiritual gifts.”
By the grace of God, we have now entered into an entirely different world. We have entered into a spiritual realm, and in that spiritual realm there is a great reality. The reality is the Head and the Body.
You know, when we enter into the spiritual realm, the one thing that really is basic and essential is to see the Head and the Body. That is the reality of the Spirit. All the other things are related to that reality.
Unless we see the Head, and with the Head the Body, then all the other things become isolated things. They may be valuable in themselves, but they may not be able to be put together for the building up of the Body of Christ.
So, dear brothers and sisters, there you find in 1 Corinthians 12 that Paul is trying to explain to the Corinthian believers the Head, the lordship, the headship of Christ, and the Body: how we need to put ourselves under that Head, and how we need to be rightly related with all the members of the Body of Christ.
When this reality is there, then all the spiritual manifestations will be of tremendous profit. Now, that is 1 Corinthians 12.
How do you see the Body? It is a living Body under a living Head. Naturally, we would immediately look forward to see this living Body in action, how this Body operates. We would like to see His Body function, and through the functioning of the different members of the Body, we would like to see this Body built up.
Of course, we know the building up of this Body is essential to the return of the Lord. Because, you remember, in Ephesians 5, today we have the Body of Christ on earth, and how the Lord by His Spirit is taking care of this Body—how He cherishes it and nourishes it, how He sanctifies it, how He cleanses it with the washing of water by the word.
This Body may be fully grown and built up, a glorious church, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing. Then He will come back to claim that spotless Bride.
Having seen the Body in 1 Corinthians 12, we look forward to this Body in operation. That is 1 Corinthians 14. But before Paul enters into the operation of the Body of Christ, he puts another chapter in between, and that is the chapter on love.
Now, brothers and sisters, what is love? The love here is agape. This is not the love that we human beings naturally have.
There is a love that is inherent in human beings. The parents love their children; that is natural. Brothers and sisters in the family love one another; that is natural. We love our friends; that is natural. There is a natural love in us.
But the love here is divine love. It is something that we do not have in ourselves. You remember John says, “Love is from God.”
There is a natural love within every one of us, but when you enter into the reality of the Body of Christ, natural love is not enough. Not only is it not enough, but it has to be displaced and replaced by a divine love.
May I put it this way? Natural love has no place in the Body of Christ. The Body of Christ is to be dominated by divine love.
You know, in the Gospel according to John, John mentions grace and truth. “The Word became flesh, and tabernacled among us, full of grace and truth.” But in the first epistle of John, he mentions two other things: God is love, and God is light.
In other words, when you go back to God, He is love and He is light. Love and light are God’s nature. But when love comes to man, it becomes grace. When light shines upon man, it becomes truth.
That is the reason why in the first epistle of John you find, “God is love.” That is what God is. But when God loves the world, grace is brought to man. God is light; but when the light shines upon man, it becomes truth to us.
So love in the Scriptures is the very nature of God. In other words, love comes from life. When you experience love, you experience grace. Now, that is love.
Here in 1 Corinthians 12, what do you notice in that chapter? Here you find a Body, and in the Body there are many members. For the sake of the building up of the Body, the Holy Spirit manifests Himself through the members. He gives gifts to each of the members.
With these gifts properly exercised, the Body is built up. Now, that is what you find in 1 Corinthians 12. Yet before these gifts are exercised, there is an element that cannot be missing, and this is the element of love.
In 1 Corinthians 13, you see grace, you see love, and you see life. These two must be together.
Some Christians emphasize a great deal on life. To them, life is grace and love. Then there are other Christians who emphasize so much on gifts, on power. But somehow they neglect life.
For the building up of the Body, you need both. You need the gift, and you need the life that goes with it.
In 1 Corinthians 12, there is one verse that we did not explain fully last night. That is verse 13:
For in one Spirit were we all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether bond or free;
and were all made to drink of one Spirit.
Here in this verse you see two things. In one Spirit we have all been baptized into one Body. That is one thing. Then we are all made to drink of one Spirit. That is another thing.
You know, in the work of the Holy Spirit in the believers, there is something outward and there is something inward. Baptism is outward in the sense that, when you are baptized, you are immersed in the water. The water is around you; the water surrounds you. But when you drink, you drink inwardly.
So the work of the Holy Spirit in a believer is twofold. Let us take the experience of Pentecost as an example. The one hundred and twenty people were together in that house. Suddenly there was the sound of a rushing, mighty wind, and this rushing wind filled the house.
Now imagine: suppose we are sitting here and it fills the house. We are in the house. What happens to us? We are literally immersed in that rushing wind. Being immersed, we are immersed into one Body.
Then the Bible continues: tongues of fire appeared and sat upon each one of them, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. In the original, “the rushing wind filled the house” and “they were all filled with the Holy Spirit” are not the same thing.
If, for the sake of convenience, we invent a word, the first is an “out-filling.” They were immersed in the Spirit. But they were filled with the Holy Spirit inwardly. So you find the complete work of the Holy Spirit is twofold: one is the out-filling, and the other is the in-filling.
The out-filling is outward; the in-filling is inward. The Holy Spirit not only is poured out; the Holy Spirit dwells within. We are not only to be clothed with power from on high. When you are clothed, it is around you; it is upon you. But when you drink, it is within you.
The outpouring is called power. It is for service to the Lord, with skill and ability. The in-filling is for life, that we may produce Christ. One is power; one is life.
So, brothers and sisters, what you see here is that God will endow us with gifts, with power, that we may be able to serve the Lord and serve one another. But you need the Holy Spirit Himself to fill you, that you may have the life to handle the gifts. That is love.
There must be a balance maintained here. The Spirit of God manifests Himself in the members of the Body by giving gifts, ability, and skill to serve. But before you start to use these gifts and skills, one thing must not be absent: love.
You need to be filled. You need to be under the control of the Holy Spirit. You need to have the life of Christ manifested in you and maturing you. With that mature life, you are able to handle the gifts for the best welfare of the Body.
That is what you find in 1 Corinthians 13, standing between the Body and the Body in function: love.
Our experience of the Holy Spirit is not perfect unless there is a filling to overflowing. This was the experience of the early disciples on the Day of Pentecost. They were filled to overflowing.
It is not just something that happens upon them; it is also something happening in them. They were filled to overflowing. Their life was concerned, and they were endowed with power. That is a perfect experience of the Holy Spirit.
Now, whether this filling to overflowing begins from outside or gains from inside, it really does not matter. Some people experience a flow into overflowing as though there is rain—suddenly there is a downpour of rain. Perhaps the vessel is quite empty, yet there is such a downpour that it not only fills, but overflows.
Other people may experience it in just the opposite way. As they walk with the Lord, as they are being dealt with by the Lord, the inside begins to rise up and rise up and rise up until it overflows.
Now, brothers and sisters, we do not need to limit God to doing things in only one way. God is able to do it either way. But the point is: when a person really experiences the Holy Spirit in a full way, it must be to the overflow.
There are people who are very gifted and seem to be endowed with power, but there is not the life to use that power properly. There are other people who really have a life with the Lord, but somehow it is all shut in. There does not seem to be that overflow, that power.
With the church in Corinth, of course, what they did have was the outward thing. No problem with that. So Paul did not need to encourage them in that. That was what they had. They had lots of it, but little love—lots of power, but little life.
Because of that, you find they were hurting one another, and the Body of Christ was not being built up. So in 1 Corinthians 13, he mentions this necessary life. Love is life. Love is that filling, that indwelling.
This chapter begins with a comparison. He says, “I show you a more excellent way.” That means this is the way to handle the gifts.
If you do not know the way to handle the gifts, the gifts may be wasted, and the gifts may not edify. But there is a way to handle and use these manifestations, and it is the way of love.
How essential! In the first three verses, Paul is telling us how very essential love is. “If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels”—what is more attractive than speaking in tongues? You never learned it, and yet it is there: the tongues of men and of angels.
But if I do not have love, I am just sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. In other words, it is something more; it is something else.
I hope you will register this: love is life. Without this, even with the tongues of men and angels, it does not accomplish anything.
Not only speaking in tongues, but prophecy. We think prophecy, of course, is of a higher caliber than speaking in tongues. You get that impression in 1 Corinthians 14. But here he says, “If I have prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge.”
What is prophecy? Prophecy is that God reveals His mind to you, that you may be able to tell forth the mind of God. Surely that is marvelous. You know all the hidden things, and you have all knowledge. Can anything be better than that?
Not only that, but if I have faith to remove mountains—not only to tell forth the mind of God, but to remove all hindrances to the gospel—certainly these are tremendously significant things. If a person has such prophecy and such faith, we would say he must be somebody.
But here you find 1 Corinthians 13 says, “If I do not have love, I am nothing.” We would think that certainly this is something. How can he prophesy? How can he know all the mysteries? How can he have all knowledge? How can he have faith to remove mountains? He must be somebody, somewhat most favored by God, special, perfect.
But the Bible says, without love, he is literally nothing.
Then Paul says, “If I give all my goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body to be burned”—I sacrifice everything, and even give my body to be burned. How sacrificial! Surely we would say this is even more commendable.
Speaking in tongues is only speaking. Then there is faith that moves mountains; you really have done something. Now you give yourself—not only your money, your possessions, but yourself—so sacrificially. Can anything be higher than this?
Yet the Bible says, “If I have not love, I profit nothing.” Certainly some people will be benefited. The hungry ones will have food. They will be helped. But when you look at it from God’s view, if there is no love, I profit nothing.
So how important it is, how essential and basic it is, brothers and sisters, to be filled with love, to live under the control of the Spirit of love. This is the way we handle all the other things. Without it, all the other things are not able to achieve their proper object.
Love. How we need to ask the Lord to fill us.
So what is love? Here you find Paul begins to define this divine love. I have to confess that I cannot understand it yet.
As a matter of fact, in the beginning of my Christian life, I thought I knew it all. I still can recall, way back over forty-some years ago, when I was first saved. By the grace of God, a few young men were saved almost at the same time in the same school.
After we were saved, of course, we went out to witness for the Lord. We were invited to speak in the Christian and Missionary Alliance church. We were invited to go there and speak to a group, and we were given a topic. The topic was 1 Corinthians 13.
The four of us were assigned to study that chapter. So we divided it up, and every one took a part. We went there and spoke. I thought we did well, because at that time we were so young and new. Oh, we thought we knew 1 Corinthians 13 and 14 very well. We were able to instruct people about them.
That was what I was in the beginning. The more I meditate on this chapter, the more I am convinced that I just cannot understand this chapter.
Why? Because to me, I feel love is something most aggressive. Love is something that goes out and conquers. Love is most active. Love is overwhelming. That is the concept of love within me.
But when I read 1 Corinthians 13, I do not get that impression. On the contrary, I get a very passive impression. Love suffers long and is kind. Love is not jealous. Love does not vaunt itself. Love is not this; love is not that. You find a lot of things that love does not do.
Naturally, it seems quite passive—not so positive, not so dynamic, not so overwhelming or conquering, but seeming to be conquered. That was something I did not understand.
One day the Lord began to show me that 1 Corinthians 13 is not what today we call the definition of love. No, it is not. As a matter of fact, the Bible rarely gives any definition.
1 Corinthians 13 stands between chapter 12 and chapter 14. In other words, if you want to understand the love described in that chapter, you have to see it in its living context. When you see it within its context, with a proper perspective, then you know what it is talking about.
This is not a general description of love. No. This is a description of the love in the Body. That is the context.
Here you have a Body, and the Body is made of many different members. If the Body were made up of only one member, it would be a strange thing. The Body is made up of many members.
Furthermore, all these members are living. If only a few were living, that would simplify matters. But all the members are living. Not only are all the members living, but all the members are gifted too. The Holy Spirit manifests Himself in every member. One is given this gift, another is given that gift, but there is none without manifestation and none without a gift.
Now, brothers and sisters, just imagine a Body made of different members. Every member is living, every member has its gift, and they are so varied and different. No wonder the church in Corinth was in such confusion. No wonder.
What holds the Body together? What regulates all the different things? With all the differences, what really binds them together as one Body? It is not that one member goes one direction and another member goes another direction, but that all the members are being held together.
What regulates all the various manifestations? One manifests in one way, another manifests in another way, and yet all the manifestations are coordinated and properly channeled. What is it behind that?
Love. Without love, all the members will fly apart. Without love, all the manifestations will be fighting against one another. Without this love, how can a Body exist? How can a Body be built up?
Love is every member’s life. Love is the bloodstream by which the Body is held together, and all the gifts are used unselfishly. Thank God.
So 1 Corinthians 13 is not a chapter on love generally speaking. No, it is not. 1 Corinthians 13 is a chapter on love in relation to the Body.
If you look at it with that perspective, it is very clear. The first quality of love is that love suffers long. Think of that. God has put all of us together.
There is no relationship that is more intimate and inseparable than the relationship of the members of one Body. The relationship between brothers and sisters in your family is very close, but when we grow up, we all go our own way.
The relationship between husband and wife is intimate because they become one flesh. Yet it is temporal, because marriage is an earthly institution. In resurrection, there is no more marriage, neither marrying nor giving in marriage.
There is no relationship closer, more intimate, or more inseparable than the relationship of members in the one Body. Because the relationship is so close, there is bound to be rubbing against each other.
When you think of the church as a congregation, you do not have this kind of problem. In other words, there is not really a great demand on love. There is a demand on courtesy, that is all. If it is just a congregation, you come together occasionally, maybe once a week, and when you come together, you just try to be courteous to one another.
A healthy person does not even know he has a body. There is no problem. But because we all have our own peculiarities, we have our projections—something projects from us—and these are the corners that will rub against one another.
We are living stones, being built up together as a spiritual house. There is no problem with Christ, but there are a lot of problems with us—especially our strong points. These are the projections that project.
When these things happen, the demand of love is tremendous. Love suffers long. In the first place, it is not so much how much you love your brothers and sisters, or how much you do things for your brothers and sisters. No.
In the first place, it is how much you are able to suffer your brother or sister. That is real love. How much you are able to take—to take and take. It involves something, yes, and it is long.
You remember Peter. Peter came to the Lord and said, “Lord, if my brother sin against me seven times, and I forgive him seven times, I have suffered. Is that not enough? I have had enough of my brother. I should have a change.”
But the Lord said, “No change. I do not tell you seven times; I tell you seventy times seven.” In other words, long-suffering.
Oh, brothers and sisters, when we suffer something from our brothers and sisters, our first temptation is, “Let me pack and go.” But where can you go?
Not only can we not go away from the Lord—like Peter said, “Lord, Thou hast the words of eternal life. Where can we go?”—this is also true of our relationship with one another, if you see the Body.
Some people think the Body is a wonderful, beautiful vision. But once you get into the vision, it is terrible.
There is nothing that challenges you, that chastens you, more than the life in the Body. In the world, if you do not agree, you just say goodbye. That is all. But in the Body of Christ, it is inseparable. You have to bear with your brother. You have to suffer. There is no escape.
That is the reason why the Bible says love suffers long. Do not say, “Well, that is too negative.” All right, I would think, “Whatever my brothers and sisters do to me, I will bear it. I suffer long.”
But then, what is love? Love is kind. In other words, it is not only that you receive with long-suffering, but you must repay with kindness.
Some people are willing to endure; they are willing to bear. But if some people have done so much to you, you think that if you do not take revenge, that is good enough. But for you to be kind to that person—oh, no. You do not want to do that.
But look at our Lord Jesus. How He suffered long at the hands of men, and yet on the cross He said, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” That is kindness.
An eye for an eye is the law, but the second mile is grace. Not only go the first mile, as under obligation, but go the second mile. You are only obliged to go the first mile, but after you have gone the first mile, you offer to go another mile. That is kindness.
Love does not envy; love is not jealous. Why is love not jealous? If you read other Scriptures, you find that love is jealous. God is very jealous. Love cannot endure seeing that which belongs to it divided. God is very careful that it is single.
But here you find, “Love is not jealous.” That is the point. Love is not jealous of your brothers and sisters.
In the Body, you find God has put the members in the Body in such a way that some members may seem to occupy a more prominent, forward position, while others may seem to occupy a more backward and hidden place. Some members seem to be bigger members; some seem to be smaller members. Some seem to be more gifted; others seem to be less gifted.
Now, brothers and sisters, if the smaller members, the less gifted members, begin to look at the bigger and more gifted members and become jealous, what will the Body be? It cannot be held together.
So love is not jealous. Oh, you thank the Lord if you see this brother or that sister whom God has used, and to whom God has given many gifts. You thank the Lord for that. You are not jealous.
Even if it seems that you are in a lower and hidden position, and you are not as gifted, you thank God. This is God’s will. This is what God has apportioned to you. You are satisfied and happy with whatever God has given you.
Brothers and sisters, love is not jealous. How jealousy among God’s people damages the testimony of Jesus—especially jealousy among great servants of God. Love is not jealous.
Love does not vaunt itself. Love is not arrogant and proud. You are jealous because somebody else seems to have more than you have. But you are proud because you think you have more than they do.
“Look, the Lord gives me more. Look, I am in a more prominent and forward position in the Body.” Or as the head says to the hand, “I have no need of thee,” and says to the feet, “I have no need of you. I do not need you.”
In the Body of Christ, there is no place for pride, because everything is given by the Lord. There is nothing that is not received. If it is received, how can you be proud? It is just wrong.
So love is not proud. It is not puffed up. Not because the Lord has used you to accomplish something, not because the anointing of the Lord seems to be with you and something is accomplished, should you come out as if, “I have done it.”
Knowledge puffs up. When anything puffs up, it is empty inside. It may look very big, but it is empty. Love is not proud. Love is humble.
After everything is done, you go back to the Lord and say, “I am but an unprofitable servant. I have not done anything. If anything is done, Thou hast done it.” Love is humble.
Oh, how we need to gird our loins with humility, and in this humility be in subjection to one another.
Love does not behave itself unseemly. Now, here love is courteous. Not because there is love can you afford to be rude. To be friendly is good, but to be rude certainly is not love.
Love is good. There is respect to those who need to be respected, honor to those who need to be honored, and always seeing others as more excellent than you are. Love is courteous.
Love does not seek its own. Love is unselfish—unselfish. Love does not think of its own interest, does not think of anything for itself. It is unselfish.
Love is not quickly provoked. Yes, patience. Why are we so quickly provoked? Because we are proud of ourselves. When our pride is touched, we are provoked.
Love does not take account of evil. Love is not critical. There is a great difference between criticism and judgment with discernment. It is very different.
The Bible says, “Judge not, that ye be not judged.” The judgment there is judging with criticism. You criticize; you judge with an evil intention. You judge in order to criticize others, to build yourself up, to show that you are superior.
But the Lord says, because you so judge, you will be judged. Yet there is a judgment with discernment, and discernment is different. You may be able to judge the situation with the purpose of ministry. That is different.
Discernment is not for criticizing. You can discern because you have passed through experiences and the Lord has taught you lessons. Why did the Lord allow you to receive the lesson? That you may discern, and with discernment you may know how to minister.
So here it says love does not take account of evil. It does not criticize. It is not critical of other people.
Love does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices with the truth. Not because it is love, therefore you just embrace everything—even evil, even iniquity. No. Love rejoices in the truth.
Love is not indulgent. True love is connected with truth. You love the truth; you hate iniquity. That is love.
After you have seen all these qualities, Paul concludes them all and says, “Love beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.”
Now remember the context. The context is the Body. In the Body, all the members of the Body learn to bear. Love covers a great deal.
In other words, you do not try to expose your brothers and sisters just for the fun of it. On the contrary, if the Lord should open your eyes to see something, love covers.
Love believes. How can you do it? Oh, you know, brothers and sisters, it is relatively easy to believe in the Lord because He is so believable. But to believe your brother sometimes is very hard.
You know, in that case, if your brother sins against you seven times in one day, and he comes back every time and says, “I am sorry,” the Lord says, “Forgive him.” The disciples say, “Lord, give us more faith.” They do not say, “Give us more love.” They say, “Give us more faith.” We cannot believe our brother anymore.
How can you believe a brother is sincere if he does one thing seven times a day, and each time comes back saying, “I am sorry”? You wonder whether you can believe him. You have no faith in your brother anymore. So the disciples say, “Give us more faith, O Lord. We need faith now.”
Please understand: it is not because you believe in that brother. You believe the Lord is in that brother. You hope that the life of the Lord in that brother may yet work out salvation, and therefore you endure.
Look at it: this is all within the Body. Remember that. All these descriptions are to be applied in the Body.
Of course, we come before the Lord and say, “We do not have such love. Give us the love.” Who is it? The Lord. Man cannot do that. The demand is tremendous. No one can do that.
Thank God, the Spirit of life works for us. The life of Christ is manifested in us. If we are under the control of the Holy Spirit, walking in life, you find all these virtues. But again, it is not you; it is Christ.
Oh, how necessary that we be filled with the Holy Spirit. How necessary that we be under the control of the Holy Spirit day by day, because only then will the life of Christ be manifested.
Then the Body will be held together, and all the gifts will be properly used for the building up of the Body.
Furthermore, Paul says nothing is perfect. All the gifts are passing. Prophecy and tongues—these things one day will be done away.
Why does God give tongues? The Bible says God gives tongues to convict those who do not believe. But one day all will believe. There is no need to use tongues to speak to God. One day we will know perfectly well, because it will all be fulfilled.
One day our knowledge will be done away, because the knowledge we have today is in part. But the day will come when we shall see Him face to face, and we will know Him as we are known by Him.
But only one thing continues and never fails. Because it is the very nature of God, it will not only not cease, but it will be increased.
So, dear brothers and sisters, as the Lord leads us into the spiritual realm and enables us to see the living Body of Christ, then the necessity of all being filled with love increases.
Because without that love, everything would be wrong. But with that love, you find everything functions. Then you can go on in 1 Corinthians 14 with such a question.
Our heavenly Father, we do praise and thank Thee because Thou hast put us in the Body of Christ. Thou hast made us members one of another.
Lord, for us even to exist as one Body, for us to be able to minister to one another for its building up, O Lord, how we need to be filled by Thy Spirit.
It is only Thy Spirit that can reproduce and bring forth the life of Christ in us, that we may truly love one another and we may truly serve one another.
So, Lord, we just open ourselves to Thee and pray that Thou wilt fill our hearts with love. In the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.