Exposition of I Corinthians 13 – Part 12
March 15, 2010
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I Corinthians 13:13 – And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.
The charity (love) of God is indeed manifested in the salvation of a soul by grace through faith, but the true fullness of the love of God is manifested in the process of conversion to a new way of life found in his churches. It is a love that is manifested in a true conversion of the individual lifestyles and attitudes in its membership.
Ephesians 1:22,23 – And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, [23] Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.
SALVATION IS THE SEALING OF A SOUL TO ETERNAL LIFE!
GOD’S LOVE SEED IS PLANTED IN THAT SOUL!
GOD’S LOVE GROWS IN IT BY CONVERSION!
CONVERSION IS A MAJOR CHURCH FUNCTION!
Matthew 28:20 – Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
When Jesus spoke the words that follow in Luke 22:28-34 to the eleven, Judas Iscariot had already departed to betray him. The eleven men had faithfully followed him for more than three years, having been saved, and then baptized by John the Baptist before Jesus called them out and organized them into his first church. They had been saved by faith in the coming Messiah’s arrival long before he appeared to them, and had walked with him in the living hope that he would immediately bring in his kingdom, which John had declared was at hand. So certainly they had faith and hope, but both needed to increase, as does ours from day to day, and they needed to learn to love the way that Jesus loved, as do we all. We are meant to be “converted” to a new way of love that he plants within us at the new birth. All saved men and women are heaven bound by God’s grace in the new birth from above, but due to the stubbornness of the soul in response to the Spirit alongside it, they are not “converted,” and waste their lives out of a lack of a working fellowship with God. Jesus indicated the eleven all had a need for this “conversion.”
Luke 22:28-34 – Ye are they which have continued with me in my temptations. [29] And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me; [30] That ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. [31] And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: [32] But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when THOU ART CONVERTED, strengthen thy brethren. [33] And he said unto him, Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison, AND TO DEATH. [34] And he said, I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day, before that thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me.
Matthew 26:34-35 – Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. [35] Peter said unto him, Though I should die with thee, YET WILL I NOT DENY THEE. LIKEWISE ALSO SAID ALL THE DISCIPLES.
It was not just Peter that made the rash statement – all of the eleven said the same thing. In my 77 years on this planet there has been an astounding change in my way of thinking. Before I was saved I was only capable of thinking carnally, but of course I did not know that, and it was only when Christ came to live in me by grace through faith, that I was even capable of growing in hope and love. I had to begin to learn to love like Jesus loved, and will be learning for the rest of this life. A lot of ministers throw themselves into a great battle against Satan with all the tenacity of their fleshly energy. I did, and wanted to show Jesus how much I loved him by my constant soul-winning activities. Some ministers do this for the entire length of their ministry, and tend to judge those who do not. I do not judge them, I applaud them. They are not my servants, they are God’s, and I wish them well. Time has slipped by in my life as a child of God for more than 60 years. I have been, and am, in the process of learning to love, which is a process of the conversion of the soul to a new way of thinking by the word of God. One cannot strengthen his brethren very much until he has been converted to this process. You cannot explain it to someone else until it is happening to you. If your faith in the ability of Christ’s Spirit fails, then your hope in him fails, and there is no foundation on which his love can grow in you. The account of the “conversion” of Peter is an interesting one.
Luke 22:32 – But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.
Peter, when he first began to serve Christ, had a great amount of fleshly zeal to please God, which is the basis of most worship not rightly directed. The process that he went through did not occur overnight, but he did go through it, and completed his life serving God in the spirit, that is, in confidence that God simply wanted him to do what he told him to do, and let his Spirit take care of what Peter was incapable of doing. Growing in love of God is growing in the confidence that he loves you and all men, and if you will simply do what he told you, then you don’t have to run around like a dog chasing its own tail to prove to yourself you are pleasing God.
John 6:62,63 – What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before? [63] It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
Peter’s first great shock in his conversion was realizing how really weak he was in the flesh, wherein he had been attempting to serve God, and the degree of vanity that existed in his efforts to please God in that flesh.
Luke 22:60-62 – And Peter said, Man, I know not what thou sayest. And immediately, while he yet spake, the cock crew. [61] And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. [62] And Peter went out, and wept bitterly.
Peter, like all of us, needed to be converted to loving God by a growing faith and hope in the power of the Spirit of God to accomplish his own purposes according to his own directions, not in our own ingenuity to find a better way to assist God in what his Spirit alone can do.
Peter learned all of his Christian life by a conversion in his way of serving Christ, as we are we all supposed to do. It is a slow process with sudden jolts and different degrees of progress, but it is a conversion process for those willing, during their Christian lives, to admit that further changes are necessary in their way of thinking. And they are acutely aware that any future changes in their way of thinking must be directed by, and in full agreement with, the word of God. Some Christians add their own innovative ideas and programs to his word, and for a while create quite a degree of excitement, and other Christians stop in the middle of the stream and become spiritual dwarfs, as though they have found the plateau of the way God wants them to conduct every aspect of their service to him. The climax of Peter’s last personal experience with the risen Jesus bears witness to what God told Peter and all ministers of his word to do with their lives.
John 21:14,15 – This is now the third time that Jesus shewed himself to his disciples, after that he was risen from the dead. [15] So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest (agapas) thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love (philo) thee. He saith unto him, Feed (bosko) my lambs.
“Agapas” was a higher form of love than “philo.” And to Peter’s credit, he did not lie to the Lord. He knew that he had failed miserably in the flesh to perform the kind of love “agapas” inferred. The “these” were all the things around him, his friends around him, his fishing profession, the 153 fish that had been reeled in after they had struggled all night in the flesh and caught nothing, yet drew in all 153 with one cast when they followed his instruction – He was simply asking him, do you love me more than the things of the flesh? He did not tell Peter, you cannot serve me until you do love me in the form of “agapas”, he simply told him, “Feed my lambs.” The word that is translated “feed” is “bosko,” which simply means “to feed, or to pasture.” If I only “philo” Jesus, I am still supposed to feed his lambs.
John 21:16 – He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest (agapas) thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love (philo) thee. He saith unto him, Feed (poimaino) my sheep.
The word translated “feed” is not “bosko,” but rather “poimaino,” which means to exercise the full office of a shepherd, to not only feed, but to lead, to direct, to fold. If I only “philo” Jesus, I am still supposed to shepherd his flock.
John 21:17 – He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest (philo) thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest (philo) me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love (philo) thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed (bosko) my sheep.
In this third question Jesus puts to Peter, for the first time Jesus asks him if he has “philo” love for him, rather than “agapas.” I do not “agapas” Jesus as he expresses “agapas” toward me, but if I just “philo” him, I am still supposed to feed and shepherd the flock he gives me, both young and old.
The early years of my ministry were years of sincerely trying to please God, to do what he wanted me to do, but I was like a baby bear wearing boxing gloves and attempting to get honey out of a bee hive in an old tree trunk. The young bear who carefully observes how his older mom gets the honey out, without being stung too severely, is very wise. I tried to do what seemed right to me in order to please God, but did not study to observe the way that Jesus practiced evangelism. I practiced it like a young bear attacking a bee hive to get the honey, using what was lying around me to fight off the bees.
I Corinthians 13:11 – 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.
It is a lot easier to get honey in showing the goodness of God’s love in Christ, than with a frontal assault of your own great faith and hope in him. It is the goodness of his love that leads men and women to repentance
Romans 2:4 – Or despisest thou the riches of his GOODNESS and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that THE GOODNESS of God leadeth thee to repentance?
Acts 20:21 – Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
I Corinthians 13:13 – And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.
Peter learned to feed the flock as an elder who saw his mission as feeding the flock to lead them to the ultimate every church member is to reach forward to obtain, the love of God, whose goodness leads men to repentance.
II Peter 3:9 – The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
I Peter 5:1,2 –The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed: [2] Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind;
Peter changed in his attitude and love toward God and man during his lifetime. He stopped trying to obtain great results in the flesh to demonstrate his faithfulness and devotion to the rest of the brethren. He learned to shepherd and feed the local flocks as an elder, and he simply stretched forth his hands to God to receive the physical strength to teach spiritual things. I wonder where he got that idea! As far as historical records of his physical departure from this life, it is difficult to find absolute hard core proof of the manner in which Peter did die, but I do accept the general teaching that he was martyred, and may well have been crucified upside down on a cross in Rome when he had the sentence of death passed on him for his witness of Christ. I believe this because Peter had been dead for some time when John wrote his epistle, and John, knowing how he had actually died, indicated it was a martyr’s death in John 21:18,19 to which Jesus referred. I am inclined to believe that Christ girded Peter with his strength and carried him to a martyr’s death on a cross in Rome, but there is an alternate interpretation of these verses.
John 21:18,19 – Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not. [19] This spake he, SIGNIFYING by what death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me.
This was one of the last things Jesus said to Peter in this discourse – FOLLOW ME. If he was crucified on a cross, what an appropriate way to fulfill what Christ said to him – He picked up his cross and followed him.
Matthew 10:38 – And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.
Jesus simply told him to follow him, to follow his ways, to follow his teachings. In my early ministry I was often more concerned about what “the brethren” were doing, than in what I was doing. I simply needed to keep my eyes on Jesus and follow him and his ways and his great teachings. Peter had to learn that lesson and I am still learning it. The expression “stretch forth thy hands” was, during New Testament times, sometimes used to express a martyr’s action in stretching forth his hands on a cross to be crucified, and “another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not,” might be referring to the girding of a rope around the martyr’s underarms to force him along the path to his cross. But that is simply a possibility I will mention in passing that may not be the correct interpretation of these passages. It would be ironic if the man who would not die with Christ as he boasted before his death, would, in the end, die for his testimony of him. If the traditional teachings of how the eleven died are correct, this would be true of them all.
John 21:20-22 – Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following; which also leaned on his breast at supper, and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee? [21] Peter seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do? [22] Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me.
In Arkansas terminology he told Peter what he chose for John to do was none of Peter’s business, and that Peter should concentrate on his own assigned job in following him, and keep his nose out of his plan for John. I have found a great peace in my life since I started practicing this principle. I feed the word of God, pasture the flock in a New Testament church in Dardanelle, Arkansas, and try to do the work of an evangelist.
John 6:62,63 – What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before? [63] It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
II Timothy 3:16 to 4:5 – All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: [17] That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works. [1] I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; [2] Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. [3] For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; [4] And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. [5] But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.
God floats my stick, and how God and/or you directs your stick down the stream of live to the judgment seat of his Son, is none of my business. God is my judge and your judge, and I am not yours, nor are you mine.
Romans 14:4 – Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.
Matthew 11:28-30 – Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. [29] Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.