Introduction

Good morning. Today, we will look at Chapter 13 of 1 Corinthians. This is a very important passage, but the views expressed in it are difficult to accept.

The theme of this chapter is the greatest of these is love. Everyone needs to know that the greatest is love, but putting love into practice is too difficult. The problem lies in the standard of belief. Don't assume that speaking in tongues means you are a charismatic Christian and very spiritual. When a pastor prays and lays hands on someone's forehead, and they fall, that falling means nothing. In the past few years, these things I have seen are beyond my understanding. The Bible says to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and strength, but it never says to love God as yourself.

Later, it says to love your neighbour as yourself, but before that, you must love God. In fact, human selfishness has never been eradicated since ancient times, and selfishness is very powerful. To manage a country well, you must make good use of people's selfishness. The reason why reform and opening up allowed China's economy to develop rapidly is because the money earned was one's own. If the money earned all belonged to others, there would not have been the subsequent results. Therefore, the Christian faith is actually about pulling people out of selfishness. A selfish person may feel that people cannot live without sinning, but I think that people cannot live by sinning. Some people feel that people must be very selfish, and heaven and earth will punish those who are not for themselves.

Therefore, in the church, it is too difficult to talk about the greatest being love. Let me share my own experience. Once, a group of pastors pushed me onto the stage and asked me to speak. What I said would offend people. The theme was to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and strength. At that time, I gave many examples of not loving God. Before I was halfway through, the pastor stopped me, gesturing for me to stop. As soon as I finished, I was pulled into a small room for a conversation, saying that I couldn't speak like that. But what's wrong with me speaking about loving the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and strength?

Today, brothers and sisters, we must think about whether we truly love God. This is very important. Someone asked Jesus what the greatest commandment was, and that is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind. I would never say that I have done enough. In fact, I still love far from enough and am still learning to strive to love God. Because of striving to love God, I have my own style of service. If you don't strive to love God, what is your style of service? Evaluate it slowly.

I. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

To be a Christian, the most important thing is to pursue things in eternity. If you want to gain benefits in this life, I think worshiping idols is more effective. Faith, hope, and love remain, and Paul made this clear. If you want to pursue things in eternity, start with faith. Believing will lead to experiencing God, which will lead to hope for things in eternity, and then start learning to love God. Originally, loving God was the most intelligent lesson for people, but I wondered why these people do not love God, because they treat serving as a job.

If people pursue things in eternity and do not know that the greatest is love, they will be completely destroyed. Now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. Faith will bring miracles, and the fruit of faith is miracles. These signs will accompany those who believe, but having signs and wonders proves nothing. If you have performed many miracles, you will find that the spiritual world is so real, so you begin to have hope for eternal life. It was difficult to accept the concept of eternal life at first. When I first went to church, eternal life was very far from me. I didn't know what it meant to pursue eternal life, I just knew that believing in the Lord was good, so I started to believe. As a result, I found that the spiritual realm was so real, so eternal life became very real.

The Bible tells us to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, and strength, and we begin to learn to love God. At first, learning to love God was very difficult and strenuous, and I didn't know what it meant to love God. Even today, many people ask me how to love God. This can only be understood implicitly, not expressed in words. I suggest that everyone love God as they love money. This metaphor is particularly good, because people either serve Mammon or serve God, they can only choose one. The previous part talked about gifts, and the latter part talked about how people must know what is great. The Bible says that God has opened up a particularly lovely path for us, which begins with faith and leads to faith. This means that at first, even with a tiny bit of faith, we experience God, and then with a peanut-sized faith, we experience more of God. But don't forget, this is just faith, the greatest is love.

If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. (1 Corinthians 13:1-3)

Everyone may think that if you can move mountains, or even give yourself up to be burned, how could you not have love? In fact, this is very possible and not difficult to understand. I watched a short video some time ago of someone setting themselves on fire in front of the United Nations to protest. This is without love. Today, we must all know what is big and what is small. Paul wrote to these Corinthians because they specialized in grabbing the small and not the big, which is called foolishness. If one thing in front of you is worth ten thousand dollars and another is worth one hundred thousand dollars, you will definitely choose one hundred thousand. If there is also one worth one million and one worth ten million, you will definitely want something more valuable. Everyone knows to choose the big one. If there is a glass ball worth a dime and a cow worth tens of thousands in front of you, you will choose the cow.

Once you deviate from loving God, it becomes completely troublesome. Now these three remain: faith, hope, and love, and the greatest of these is love. The smart ones choose to love God, loving God with all your heart, soul, and strength, because this is the most crucial. Every Christian will read about loving the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind, but after reading it, what do they do? Things have big and small, you must grab the big one. If you lead a group of people to do a project, this project must achieve the biggest and most important goals, otherwise it will be a tragedy. The second and third largest goals must also be achieved. Now there is faith, hope, and love, you must pursue the greatest love. The mistake the Corinthians made was grabbing the small and not the big.

When you love God with all your heart, soul, and strength, you will love to the point of life and death. You must know what the reward is if you love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and strength. If you don't know that love is the greatest, you choose faith. Because with faith, there will be miracles, which will shape the image of a famous pastor. Then you go to various places to preach and attract many people to listen. If you also have the gift of preaching, after everyone listens, they will give offerings, and after receiving them, you will run away with the offerings. As for whether you love them or not, leave it to others to manage. The key to the problem lies here. If you do not have a heart to love God, even if you pursue, even if you have faith and hope, you will end up like Paul said in the scriptures.

If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. (1 Corinthians 13:1-3)

Today, I remind you that believing in Jesus means knowing what is big and what is small. Why not grab the big one? Someone from a Taiwanese church once came to me for healing and deliverance. At that time, their church was holding a healing and deliverance conference, but it was only for outsiders, not for people inside the church. I couldn't understand it. This pastor ignored the sheep he was pastoring who were sick and instead managed those who had nothing to do with him. Later, I suddenly understood that doing it for outsiders was marketing, expanding the church could increase income, it was a matter of profit. The brothers and sisters in the church had already started giving offerings, so they were not in this circle. It was really hateful. The pastor who did this is now dead.

Why do I like to love God? Because that is the big thing. If you are a smart person, you will learn to love your God with all your heart, soul, and strength. Once, I attended a conference, and the preaching was not very good, so I didn't like to listen, but I had to go. I sat there silently praying, when suddenly God's word came to me, asking if I was willing to die for Him. I immediately said I was willing. What merit or ability do I have to be chosen by God? Actually, I didn't choose at that time, I had been longing for it for a long time. At that time, I shed tears, knowing what a wonderful blessing this was, unlike some people who said they would wait until they got home to consider it. Some people give me ideas. Those who cater to the flesh want to ask if God hurts, and businessmen will ask if there is money to be made. Back in the 1990s, I knew that I would die for God.

Isaac offering himself up and then having God's presence throughout his life is incomparably good. Compared to doing a lot and serving a lot, but God saying that the service is not good enough, it is much better to be able to die for God and be done with it all at once. Therefore, martyrdom, laying down one's life for the Lord Jesus is a great grace, which solves all the problems at once and does not require so much tossing and turning.

II. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. (1 Corinthians 13:13)

Don't stay at faith, don't stay at hope, pursue the greatest. Chinese Mingding Destiny has a logic, which is that being like Jesus is the key. Many people ask me how their state of faith is. I repeatedly observe and feel that they don't seem to have the part that is like Jesus. What Jesus did, they don't do. What Jesus didn't do, they do a lot of. Jesus is the embodiment of love, offering himself completely as a living sacrifice. Therefore, Paul's theology says that we should offer ourselves as living sacrifices to God, which is a matter of course.

Don't stay at faith. You may lay your hand on the other person's forehead and pray, and the other person will fall. But if a lot of people fall, it doesn't mean anything if there is no love. Once, I attended a meeting, and at the beginning, a lot of people fell as soon as they prayed. Everyone thought it was very fun, but I didn't think so. Later, they asked me to go up and serve. I went up and said, Raise your hands if you are sick. Many people raised their hands. I wanted to say, What was the point of those who fell just now? That would definitely offend people, so I first did what I was best at, which was healing those with problems in the lumbar spine, cervical spine, and shoulders. I asked, and many people had these problems, so I asked them to line up, with the person in the back holding the person in the front.

Being able to feel the pain of others is called love. At that time, I served many people. The most interesting thing was that a pastor was serving a person who was possessed by a dragon spirit and had depression and mental illness. The pastor kept saying, In the name of Jesus Christ, I command the demon to go out. The demon simply ignored him. The pastor asked me to come and serve, so I cast out the demon from that person. Demons know who to fear and who not to fear.

If you have love from God inside, if you are a person who loves the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and strength, if you carry the image of God, demons will tremble when you open your mouth to speak. When I was sharing, the pastor sat in the first row listening to me. I think this is love. Love and selfishness are completely incomparable. The reason why our church doesn't like to receive offerings is because the people who need to give offerings must understand the meaning of offering. Only those who are qualified to give offerings can we receive them. Otherwise, giving with the attitude of giving God a tip will bring a curse, and I will be creating unnecessary trouble and have to help you get out of the curse.

Therefore, believing in the Lord systematically and starting to build a complete belief system is essential. In this entire system of faith, hope, and love, love is the greatest. In fact, all truths have sizes. If you don't know what is big and what is small, you will grab chicken feathers as arrows. Some people always like to make the church a mess, because they cannot grasp the truth that the greatest is love. Therefore, pursuit should pursue the greatest. Once you have established a belief system, you will understand the order from large to small. Grabbing the small and throwing away the big is really stupid. That's why Jesus said he doesn't know you, even though these people had cast out demons.

I have always been worried that I may approach God with reverence, but when I stand before Him, He does not recognize me. Do you have the confidence that God recognizes you? Look at your priorities, and you will know. Is your faith systematic? Otherwise, just going through the motions, being busy believing in the Lord your whole life, only to hear God say He does not know you. It does not count that you know Jesus; what counts is that God knows you. In China, everyone knows President Xi, but it only matters if President Xi knows you. Similarly, in Singapore, everyone knows Lee Kuan Yew, but it is meaningless if Lee Kuan Yew does not know you. Do not believe in the Lord for so long only to find out that you have been busy for nothing.

3. What is Love

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. (1 Corinthians 13:4-5)

Our brothers and sisters often jokingly ask me if I love them, and if so, how do I love them. I say it is with long-suffering. It means they have a lot of flaws, and I have to endure them. Among our colleagues, there are quite a few who are not very bright. Some people wonder why I still serve them day in and day out, even though I know they are not very bright. In fact, being not very bright does not affect service as long as you love God. No matter who you serve, even if you are sold to Egypt, it does not matter. Love is actually very challenging. I have a fatal flaw: I utterly detest stupidity. The most stupid thing is to only think of oneself, which is selfishness. I have to endure those who are selfish and still be gracious to them, which is very testing for me.

Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. (1 Corinthians 13:6-8)

Love is not the kind of love that always says, Jesus loves you, and I love you too. To this day, I can still endure because God taught me that love is long-suffering. I can endure you for a day, a year, or even forever, because love never fails. How good it is that love is long-suffering. If you cannot endure your spouse, people will criticize you for not having love. But the love spoken of here is not that greasy kind of love. Love does not envy, does not boast, and is not proud. So let us ask ourselves if we have envy, boasting, or pride in us.

There was no love among the Corinthians. If a person has love, they will be patient, not envious, not boastful, and not arrogant. Some people are detestable. As soon as they feel they are doing well, they become extremely proud. A pastor among us said that someone he was shepherding became very conceited as soon as they improved a little. Not doing shameful things means that what we do can be brought into the light. If we feel ashamed to show what we do, then it is a shameful thing. People get cheated because they think it is an opportunity, and they invest the money themselves. This is mentioned because they are both foolish and stupid, but they feel ashamed to talk about it because their motives are questionable. People get cheated because they want to gain benefits. If they are not attracted by benefits, they would not have invested the money.

A person who loves the Lord your God with all their heart, soul, and strength has love from God and can be long-suffering, kind, not envious, not boastful, not arrogant, and not do shameful things. It is difficult for selfish people to bring what they do into the light. Some brothers and sisters ask me for help because they are in distress, but they find it hard to talk about the reasons for their distress because it is too low-level. If they know it is very low-level, why do they still do it? Not seeking one's own advantage means not being selfish. A person who is selfish and only seeks their own interests will get angry if offended. Only seeking one's own advantage, they only remember others' wrongs once their interests are hurt, so people are very evil. But now that we have taken this path of serving God, we should imitate God, imitate Jesus, and strive to be like Jesus.

Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. (1 Corinthians 13:6-7)

Endure everything you encounter, trust God, that God is still in control, and with hope in eternity, you can always hope and always persevere. Because you always persevere, perseverance is love. Love never fails. I thank God. If you ask me why I do this, I really cannot explain it myself. Perhaps God made me this way when He created me, but I find it hard to understand how I became the person I am today. It is all God's grace. If you believe that God is in control of everything, there is nothing to fear or worry about.

If people do not seek their own advantage, they become very wise. Those who constantly seek their own advantage and always justify themselves become very foolish. If someone comes to me for help because of their foolishness, I will definitely help them. But few people do that because foolish people do not think they are foolish, and wise people do not think they are wise. Similarly, the lazy do not know they are lazy, and the diligent do not know they are diligent because they all think that is how people should be, regardless of what the outcome is.

Some people say that since I love God, why do I not love them? They are using my words to demand of me. God's words are not for demanding of others but for demanding of ourselves. Now we know what love is, and how much love is in us. Serving is not necessarily love. Perhaps people serve for the salary, and even stray dogs know that they are serving just for the salary.

4. The Finite Will Pass Away

Never think that indulging the flesh is love. Some people think giving someone dumplings is love, but that is before scrutinizing the bad habits of indulging their flesh. So Christians must pursue eternal glory. If you only pursue the glory of this life, even if your preaching is full of煽动性 and gifted, it will eventually vanish.

Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. (1 Corinthians 13:8-10)

People pursue finite things because they can make money. World-renowned pastors are invited to preach everywhere, and those who cannot get a booking all year round have to raise their prices, which are almost higher than what the CEO of Coca-Cola charges for a lecture. They even boast on stage about earning $5,000 an hour. But all these will eventually vanish. Are you pursuing things that will vanish or things that are eternal?

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. (1 Corinthians 13:13)

If there is no greatest, then the others are a waste of words. So do not dwell on finite things. Many people find it strange that they believe in some inexplicable things.

When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. (1 Corinthians 13:11)

The reason is that they no longer look up. If you have love, you will not look up to things like falling over when someone lays hands on you. Do not dwell on finite things, including preaching, which is also finite. Today, I want to lead everyone to run together on the glorious path of God in eternity, to love God with all your heart, soul, and strength. That is, only by loving God completely with all your heart, soul, and strength can you be completely released. Do not be like children, thinking that speaking in tongues, being able to lay hands on people, or people being healed as soon as you pray is something amazing. In fact, these will all vanish.

Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. (1 Corinthians 13:8)

Preaching, tongues, and knowledge will all eventually vanish, but loving God can last forever. Do not live in a finite world; pursue being like God, and then you will know everything. We really know very little now, but we know that loving God is God's command.

For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. (1 Corinthians 13:12)

Put aside finite things, things that will vanish, and start longing to receive love from God, longing to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and strength. People's selfishness is very detestable and very foolish. Never live a life of pursuing finite things. I have seen many cases that are horrifying. For example, a pastor who gets cancer and is in great pain, but he definitely did not get cancer for God, but because he does not love God. The church he built is not serving with a heart that loves God. I know this because I saw him cursed. If you want him to resolve the curse on him, do not believe in things like cutting off ancestral curses in the name of Jesus Christ. No matter how passionate and decisive you are, or how confident you seem on the surface, that is not how you cut off curses.

Some people say that Jesus Christ indeed bore our sorrows and carried our curses, but that only applies to the past; newly incurred curses are not included. A Christian who lives in a curse, constantly selfish and living in finite things, cannot solve the problem. You need to know what the Ten Commandments say: those who love God, God will bless them for thousands of generations; those who do not love God and hate God, God will punish their sins from father to son, to the third and fourth generations. The reason there are ancestral curses, to the third and fourth generations, is because of hating God. Hating God means living in selfishness. Then we will know everything, but we know very little today. God has already told us everything that is obvious.

5. Who Can Do It

Some people say that the standard is so high, who can do it? Many people make a lot of excuses for themselves, and because they say that, they cannot do it. It does not matter if you cannot do it, except that Jesus will say He does not know you. This is mentioned twice in the Gospel of Matthew.

Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ (Matthew 7:22-23)

Driving out demons is nothing; it is still a finite thing. The confusion of the Corinthians was that they were all pursuing gifts, wanting to have anointing, thinking that anointing was like snow cream. Actually, putting on as much as you want is useless. No matter how much you put on, even if your face and body are full of anointing, you cannot do anything. If people do not pursue eternal glory, it is difficult to love God. In fact, it can be done. As long as you want to, you can definitely do it. If you do not want to, it will certainly be difficult to do it.

6. Conclusion

Now these three remain: faith, hope and love, but the greatest of these is love. Some people ask what to do. My answer is that you cannot do it because you do not know it is worthwhile. God does not need us to love Him; we need to love God because it is the smartest choice. Start being a smart person today, not pursuing finite things. This is the wisest choice, Amen!