Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction: This morning, I want to preach to you about nothing.

Yes, you heard that right, nothing.

When you leave today, and someone asks you about what your pastor preached on, you can tell them, “Nothing.”

You say now wait a minute pastor, I didn’t go through all this effort to get here to day just so you could preach about nothing.

Don’t you have something to preach on?

I’ve got nothing...

I tell you what, how about a riddle this morning: What is greater than God, more evil than the devil, the poor have it but the rich don’t, and if you eat it, you will die?

()

Nothing.

Or answer this: What, according to Scripture, is greater than love?

Are spiritual gifts greater?

Is miracle-working faith better?

Is extreme generosity?

How about sacrificing your life?

No. Nothing is greater than love according to scripture.

What can you do that will make God love you any more?

Nothing.

What can you do that will make God love you any less?

Nothing.

What can separate you from the Love of Christ?

Nothing.

What covers a multitude of sins better than love?

Nothing.

Today, let’s look at what Paul wrote about love in the 13th chapter of 1 Corinthians.

Our passage today is probably familiar to a lot of people - even unbelievers because it is often read at weddings and even funerals.

We call it the love chapter.

When you consider it's context, it is really talking about how believers ought to relate to one another and love one another as Christ has commanded.

Tom Rainer wrote: "if we could just abide by the principles of the love chapter, we would have completely healthy churches.

It would be a revolution."

There is Nothing More Important that Love (vv.

1-3)

There is Nothing More Important than Love (vv.

1-3)

Nestled in between the discussion about spiritual gifts between chapter 12 that deals with the purpose of spiritual gifts and chapter 14 which deals with the perversion of spiritual gifts, Paul gives us a picture of the one gift that will perfect the church - the gift of love.

Paul named five spiritual gifts in these verses: tongues, prophecy, knowledge, faith and giving.

If these gifts are exercised without love, they are worthless according to Paul.

Speaking with the tongues of angels without love is just a lot of noise.

It’s the gong show!

(Gongs and cymbals used in pagan temples)

If you had the gift of prophecy to be able to understand and proclaim all revealed truth and knowledge from God but did not love, your gift is useless.

What if you had mountain moving faith?

Without love, it’s nothing.

You could be the most generous person in the church - without love your generosity accomplishes nothing.

Even martyrdom is inferior to having love.

Paul is essentially saying that even if you are the most gifted communicator, most effective leader, most giving person or even if you were to die for your faith - none of that matters if you can't treat other people with love - especially those in the body of Christ.

I have met Christians who are hard workers, talented people who could do anything and would do anything you gave them to do...but they didn't know how to love others - only themselves - and they were lousy Christians because of it.

While God commands us to love our neighbors as ourselves, there is nowhere that love is more important than in the church.

1 John

A church that is made up of individuals who don't know how to love one another will never go anywhere.

We must make love a priority in everything we do regardless of everything else we do.

There is Nothing More Christlike than Love (vv.

4-7)

illus.

A Peanuts cartoon shows Lucy standing with her arms folded and a stern expression on her face.

Charlie Brown pleads, “Lucy, you must be more loving.

This world really needs love.

You have to let yourself love to make this world a better place.”

Lucy angrily whirls around and knocks Charlie Brown to the ground.

She screams at him, “Look, Blockhead, the world I love.

It’s people I can’t stand.”

I suspect that some of us feel that same way at times.

The real problem is when we feel that way most of the time.

Truthfully, loving the world isn't all that difficult, but loving the people around us at times can be a major challenge - especially when it comes to loving our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.

There is Nothing More Christlike than Love (vv.

4-7)

Paul doesn't want us to make any mistakes about what true Biblical love for one another looks like - so he paints us a vivid picture of love in verses 4-7.

(Agape = Self-sacrificing love - love with no strings attached.)

Love is patient (long-suffering - patient endurance under provocation) specifically when dealing with people.

Illus.

J. Vernon McGee - “long-burning”—it burns a long time.

We shouldn’t have a short fuse with our friends and Christian brethren."

Love is kind - active goodness toward others

Illus.

If my kids would just be kind to one another, I'd be a happy man.

Ever wonder if God thinks like that?

Illus.

Mark Twain called kindness, "a language that the deaf can hear and the blind can read."

Love does not envy or boast - Jealous of others - even to the point of desiring evil for others.

Neither does it brag.

How do you react to your brothers blessings or lack thereof?

The Corinthian church was jealous of one another’s spiritual gifts.

Illus.

“If we shoot arrows of Jealousy at others, we wound ourselves.”

Love is not arrogant or rude.

It gives itself no airs.

It is not pompous, it is not inflated.

Illus.

J.B. Phillips: love does not: "cherish inflated ideas of it's own importance."

Love does not insist on its own way.

Perhaps you have encountered the attitude of: "It's my way or the highway!"

Illus.

Alan Redpath called this the secret of every discord in Christian homes, communities and churches - we seek our own way.

Love is not irritable.

Not easily angered or provoked.

"That's just how I am preacher!"

You might be - but I don't think you can be a Christian and stay that way!

I must confess that this is one of my greatest ares of struggle.

Love is not resentful.

i.e.

Doesn't keep a list of wrongs.

We may not keep a literal list of all the wrongs people have committed against us but we have a list in our minds.

Does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in truth.

Ray Pritchard said, "Love is never glad to hear bad news about another person.

Love never says, "Well, they finally got what they deserved."

Love is never happy to hear that a brother or sister fell into sin.