Wednesday, February 15, 2023

A Wonderful Lesson On Loving People

1st Corinthians 13:1-8, “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. 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, and have not charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. 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.”

I heard a wonderful sermon today at church. I want to share a few of the truths that I learned, exegeting our text passage verse-by-verse. I was hoping that this sermon had been video taped and uploaded to Facebook, but for some reason it wasn't uploaded this week. So using my notes and less than perfect memory, I will try to convey what I recall. Here goes, verse-by-verse...

Verse One
1st Corinthians 13:1, “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.”

A musical cymbal gets people's attention. The Bible says that even if our dialect is alluring to others, and our ability to articulate speech is that of angels, it all means nothing if we have not love. Put another way: “People don't care what you know, until they know that you care.” That is so true! You may be the most gifted orator on the planet, but if you lack love and compassion for people, you are a mere spectacle.

Verse Two
1st Corinthians 13:2, “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, and have not charity, I am nothing.”

The gift of prophecy means that you are learned and skilled at teaching the prophetic books of the Bible; namely, Psalms, Daniel, Joel, Zechariah, Revelation, et cetera. Some preachers have a keen understanding of the deeper truths of the Word of God; such as, The Rapture, The Godhead, The Seven Seals of Revelation, et cetera. The Bible says that even if we know the Bible inside and out—a theologian—it is worthless IF WE HAVE NOT LOVE.

These are profound statements in the inspired Word of God. Even if we have “this kind” of faith (Matthew 17:21), so that God will move mountains for us, the Apostle Paul emphasizes that it is all for wrought if WE HAVE NOT LOVE. I am nothing.

By God's wondrous grace, I started my website ministry in April of 2022 and have been faithfully working day and night now for the past 21 years. I love the work that I do on my 8 websites. I love writing for my 8 blogs. I enjoy posting helpful truths and information to Facebook, to edify other believers and all my social media friends. I give ALL the credit, praise and glory to God alone, for without Jesus we can do nothing (John 15:5).

Are you starting to understand dear reader how important love is? I have been preaching a lot against Pensacola Christian College (PCC), since they mistreated me in 2021, and then banned me from attending Campus Church anymore, because I criticized them on social media. It didn't matter that I apologized three times in writing, they refused to allow me to come back to church. That is NOT God's love and compassion.

When I started attending Campus Church, I was invited to their Single's Class. So I went. The Sunday School teacher was a younger fella, a PCC graduate on staff, about 30 years of age. I was sickened one Sunday after hearing him say something terrible in class. He said that if you have friends in your life that give you bad vibes, and are difficult and problematic, that you should write them off. He spoke about having a circle of close friends, and not to be hesitant to shut people off who don't enrich your life. I was shocked that PCC would allow such a fool to teach others. Dear reader, that is NOT Bible love!

True Christian living is not loving Jesus, it is loving Judas. Our dear Lord and Savior set the example. Even after Judas betrayed Jesus to death, our blessed Savior called him: “Friend” (Matthew 26:50). Anybody can love those who love us back, and enrich our life; but that is not the test of true love. Matthew 5:46, “For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?” I decided a long time ago that I am going to just love everybody, no matter how unpleasant, mean, smelly, hateful or rotten they are.

I can even love a ridiculously wealthy, arrogant, insensitive, unforgiving pastor like Jeff Redlin, who refuses to allow me to come back to Campus Church at Pensacola Christian College (PCC). I won't stoop to his level. God knows that I regularly pray for the PCC family and Pastor Jeff Redlin. God knows that if Jeff Redlin contacted me, and offered an Olive Branch of friendship (which I have now requested three times but they still refuse), I would gladly bury the hatchet and do whatever they require to make the peace. I CONDITIONALLY offered them my promise to remove all my criticism from social media and not put them back, BUT ONLY IF, they agreed to allow me to come back to Campus Church. Shamefully, they still refuse!

Pastor Jack Hyles said this:
“The pastors have destroyed the churches, and they've been trained by people that have never built churches, and they have no compassion.” —Pastor Jack Hyles: “Many Pastors Have Destroyed My Vineyard
PCC are a bunch of academics, not church builders, so they woefully lack God's love and compassion for people. You can actually go through all the motions of playing church, and yet not have any love at all for God or people. That is why over 95% of today's churches are ineffective for reaching the lost with the Gospel. There is no love.

Verse Three
1st Corinthians 13:3, “And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.

Wow! Paul says even of you are extremely generous, so that you give away everything that you own to feed the poor, and help the homeless, it means nothing without love. Even if you become a martyr for Christ, sacrificing your body for the cause of Christ, it means nothing WITHOUT LOVE. There is no eternal profit without love. Oh how we woefully lack love in today's churches.

I decided long ago not to get inpatient or upset when I receive bad service. I decided not to lay on the horn in my vehicle when people go slow, cut me off, or do something stupid while driving. I am far from perfect, and on rare occasion I fail at my goals. More times than I can remember, the light turns green and the vehicle in front of me doesn't move. So I just patiently sit there and wait. Even if the light turns red again, I refuse to honk my horn. Why? It is because nearly everybody else lays on the horn, and I hate when they do it. Would Jesus lay on the horn, in a hurry. No, I think not. Part of loving people is empathy. That is, putting our self in their shoes. Do you like when people lay on the horn in anger? I sure don't. So I don't do it. This is The Golden Rule as taught by Christ Himself, to treat others the same way that we want to be treated (Matthew 7:12). That is God's unconditional love.

Verse Four
1st Corinthians 13:4, “Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,

Love takes a back seat to pride. Love is humble, not seeking attention. Loves chooses to serve, rather than to be served. Love is being happy for someone else's gain, even when you are suffering a loss. The fact that Pastor Redlin and PCC leadership refuse to have anything to do with me, proves that they lack compassion. PCC didn't even have the decency to reply to my letter that I mailed to them. Pastor Redlin totally ignored my letters for 6 weeks. The silent treatment is a form of abuse. In frustration I criticized them again on social media, and only then did Jeff Redlin tell me I cannot come back to church.

That is hatred at PCC, not God's love for people. I want people to know their true colors at PCC, because they are not what they appear to be. PCC are phonies! Everybody has a right to attend church. Sadly, PCC is a religious cult that bans undesirable people. There is no love at PCC. The cult system always comes first, but individual people do not matter at PCC. I say that to their shame. To PROVE my sincerity in the matter, I will make peace with PCC anytime they choose to.

Verse Five
1st Corinthians 13:5, “Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;

I love this awesome picture, which speaks a thousand words about true love...

True Unconditional Love
Verse Six
1st Corinthians 13:6, “Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;

I love that. Love rejoices in THE TRUTH. Proverbs 12:17, “He that speaketh truth sheweth forth righteousness: but a false witness deceit.Genuine loves does not rejoice in sin and wickedness. The world has no idea what real love is. The heathen world thinks that love is based on feelings; but true Christian love is a commitment to Christ. If you marry someone and years later all of your feelings for that person is gone, your commitment to Christ will sustain your love for your spouse. In a healthy Christian marriage, each spouse ought to love Jesus more than each other. I treat all people with love, kindness and respect, not because I love them, but because I love God.

Verse Seven
1st Corinthians 13:7, “Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

Love suffereth long. Love always gives others the benefit of the doubt. Love is not quick to hurt others.

Verse Eight
1st Corinthians 13:8, “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.

Everything in this universe will eventually fade away, even our sun. Nothing lasts forever in this physical world. The unsaved world is constantly seeking for ways to extend their life span. There are now a handful of companies that for payment will freeze dead people in liquid nitrogen, anticipating that in the future science will advance to the extent that scientists will be able to somehow transfer frozen brain memories into new cloned body. The very idea is absurd. Yet, the inspired Word of God promises eternal life to whosoever will BELIEVE ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST (Acts 16:30-31). Yes, you CAN live forever, even in a new glorified body like unto the risen Savior's glorified body (Philippians 3:21).

In summary, we all need to work on loving people better. When we go into a restaurant and the waitress is less than friendly, instead of complaining about her, I choose to leave a $20 tip (and if I have one with me, a pocket sized Gospel of John, or a Gospel tract). I admit that I horribly fail sometimes. No one among us is a shining example of what a Saint should be. But when I do fail, I make it a point to do much better. 2nd Corinthians 10:6, “And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.

I love helping people. Every time that I go to any store, I grab an idle shopping cart left in the parking lot. I figure that I'm going into the store anyway, so why not bring a cart or two with me. I do that to stay in the habit of being thoughtful. And I also do it so cars can see me better, to avoid getting ran over...lol. The world is dying to be loved. May we never forget that the very nature of our holy and faithful God is that: God is love. 1st John 4:8, “He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.)

I receive many emails from discouraged saints. When I feel down, I go do something nice for someone else, and I feel on cloud 9. I'm always looking for ways to help people, and to be a blessing. I love what John Wesley (1703-1791) said:
“Do all the good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as ever you can.”
Yes Sir, I couldn't have said it any better myself.

Those Who Suffer Often Love Others The Most

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