Message Four Love Being the Most Excellent Way for the Building Up of the Church

THE SECOND PART: A BIRD’S-EYE VIEW OF THE NEW TESTAMENT

The First Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians

Message Four
Love Being the Most Excellent Way for the Building Up of the Church

Scripture Reading: 1 Cor. 8:1; 12:31b-14:1; 16:24; Rev. 3:7; 2 Pet. 1:7; 1 Pet. 2:17; 3:8; Gal. 6:10

I. Love is the most excellent way for the building up of the church, and prophesying is the excelling gift for the building up of the church—1 Cor. 8:1; 12:31b—14:1, 4b, 12:

A. Paul’s ultimate concern is the building up of the church, which is the primary thing in God’s economy—Matt. 16:18.

B. To take the way of love and to prophesy (to speak the Lord into others) are to enter into the contents of God’s entire New Testament economy, which is Christ as the Son of Man cherishing us and as the Son of God nourishing us—Eph. 5:29.

II. Love is the most excellent way to use the gifts, the way to be in the Body, and the way to be for the Body—1 Cor. 12:31b—13:13:

A. God is love; we love because He first loved us—1 John 4:8, 19.

B. God’s predestination of us unto the divine sonship was motivated by the divine love—Eph. 1:4-5.

C. God’s giving of His only begotten Son to us that we may be saved from perdition judicially through His death and have the eternal life organically in His resurrection was motivated by the divine love—John 3:16; 1 John 4:9-10.

D. God’s love motivates us, His children, to love our enemies that we may be perfect as He is; He loves the fallen human race, who became His enemies, by causing His sun (signifying Christ) to rise on the evil and the good indiscriminately and by sending rain (signifying the Spirit) on the just and the unjust equally; thus, we may become the sons of the heavenly Father who are sanctified from the tax collectors and the Gentiles—Matt. 5:43-48.

III. “Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up”—1 Cor. 8:1:

A. The outward, objective knowledge that puffs up comes from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the source of death.

B. The spiritual, not fleshly, love, which is an expression of life as described in 1 Corinthians 13, builds up; it comes from the tree of life, the source of life.

C. This is the love of God infused into us by faith, which has brought us into the organic union with God—1 John 4:16.

D. By this love we love God and the brothers, and according to this love we should walk; thus, our walk builds up—1 Cor. 8:3; 1 John 4:21; Rom. 14:15; 1 Cor. 10:23.

E. This building up refers not only to the edification of individual believers but also to the building up of the corporate Body of Christ—14:4-5, 12; 3:9-10, 12; 10:23; Eph. 4:16.

F. “If anyone loves God, this one is known by Him”— 1 Cor. 8:3:

1. Loving God is the base of our Christian life; it must be spiritual, not fleshly, although it requires the exercise of man’s entire being— Mark 12:30; cf. 1 Cor. 16:22.

2. Our loving God makes us those who are blessed of God to share the divine blessings that He has ordained and prepared for us (Christ as the depths of God), which are beyond our apprehension—2:9-10.

3. Our not loving the Lord makes us those who are accursed, set apart to a curse—16:22.

IV. “Love suffers long. Love is kind; it is not jealous. Love does not brag and is not puffed up; it does not behave unbecomingly and does not seek its own things; it is not provoked and does not take account of evil; it does not rejoice because of unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; it covers all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never falls away”—1 Cor. 13:4-8a.

A. Love is the conclusion of all spiritual virtues and the factor of fruit-bearing that supplies us bountifully with the rich entrance into the kingdom of Christ— 2 Pet. 1:5-11.

B. The Body of Christ builds itself up in love—Eph. 4:16.

V. The genuine love is the issue of the enjoyment of God in His divine nature—2 Pet. 1:4:

A. The divine nature is what God is; God is Spirit, love, and light; Spirit is the nature of God’s person, love is the nature of God’s essence, and light is the nature of God’s expression—John 4:24; 1 John 4:8, 16; 1:5.

B. We can enjoy God as love in our fellowship with Him—vv. 2-3:

1. If we remain in the divine fellowship to enjoy what God is as love in His essence, we will be bathed in the love of God; we will not only become a man of love, but we will become love itself.

2. This love should saturate us until it becomes the love with which we love the brothers; the Lord desires a church of such brotherly love—Rev. 3:7a.

3. Paul ends 1 Corinthians with a word of the assurance of love; this is not a natural love but love in Christ, love in resurrection, the love of God that becomes ours through the grace of Christ and the fellowship of the Spirit—4:21; 16:24; 2 Cor. 13:14.

Ministry Excerpts:

THE GREATER GIFT AND THE EXCELLENT WAY

Now let us come back to 1 Corinthians 12—14. At the conclusion of chapter 12, the apostle says that we should earnestly desire “the greater gifts.” This indicates that some of the gifts mentioned in this chapter are good, but they are not the best. The King James Version does not render this word quite accurately. It should not be “covet earnestly the best gifts” but “earnestly desire the greater gifts.” So we have gifts and greater gifts. Paul said that we should desire the greater gifts.

I believe that many of you have read these three chapters and are familiar with them. Let me ask you: Is healing a greater gift? Is speaking in tongues a greater gift? I believe that fairly speaking you will have to answer no. Then, comparatively speaking, which gift is greater? The answer is, the gift that builds up the church. So Paul says, “I would rather speak five words with my mind…than ten thousand words in a tongue” (14:19) that the church may be built up. The greater gift is not speaking in tongues or healing, but prophesying, for it is prophesying that builds up the church.

Paul told us that we should earnestly desire the greater gifts, yet he said that he would show us a most excellent way. So we not only need the gifts but also the way. You may have the gifts, but you may not have the way. You may be so great in the gifts but so poor in the way. On one hand, Paul said, “Earnestly desire the greater gifts,” but on the other hand, “I show to you a most excellent way.” What is the excellent way? Love! “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels but do not have love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal” (13:1). What are sounding brass and a clanging cymbal? They are sounds without life. If I speak without love, I am a clanging cymbal; there is the sound but no life. Then the apostle goes on to say that prophecies will be rendered useless, tongues will cease, and knowledge will be rendered useless, but love never falls away (v. 8); love is the greatest. In 14:1 he gives the conclusion: “Pursue love.” “Pursue love, and desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy.” (CWWL, 1969, vol. 1, “How to Meet”, ch. 9)

DIVINE LOVE

In this chapter we want to see that love prevails. Regardless of how much we shepherd and teach others, without love everything is in vain. First Corinthians 13 is a chapter covering one unique thing, that is, love. This chapter tells us that even if we prophesy in the highest way and give everything for others, without love they mean nothing (vv. 2-3). Both shepherding and teaching need love, not our natural love but His divine love.

God Being Love

We are God’s species because we have been born of Him to have His life and nature (John 1:12-13). We have been regenerated to be God’s species, God’s kind, and God is love. Since we become God in His life and nature, we also should be love. This means that we do not merely love others but that we are love itself. As His species, we should be love because He is love. Whoever is love is God’s species, God’s kind.

God is love; we love because He first loved us (1 John 4:8, 19). God does not want us to love with our natural love but with Him as our love. God created man in His image (Gen. 1:26), which means that He created man according to what He is. God’s image is what God is, and His attributes are what He is. According to the revelation in the Holy Scriptures, God’s first attribute is love. God created man according to His attributes, the first of which is love. Although created man does not have the reality of love, there is something in his created being that wants to love others. Even fallen man has the desire within him to love. But that is just a human virtue, the very expression of the divine attribute of love. When we were regenerated, God infused us with Himself as love. We love Him because He first loved us. He initiated this love.

God’s Predestination of Us unto the Divine Sonship

God’s predestination of us unto the divine sonship was motivated by the divine love. Ephesians 1:4-5 says that God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world “to be holy and without blemish before Him in love, predestinating us unto sonship.” The phrase in love can be joined with the phrase predestinating us unto sonship. God predestinated us unto sonship in love. John 3:16 says that God so loved the world. He loved us before the foundation of the world.

God’s Giving of His Only Begotten Son to Us Being Motivated by the Divine Love

God’s giving of His only begotten Son to us that we may be saved from perdition judicially through His death and have the eternal life organically in His resurrection was motivated by the divine love (3:16; 1 John 4:9-10). John 3:16 is strengthened by two verses from John’s first Epistle—4:9 and 10. First John 4:10 says that God sent His Son to us as a propitiation for our sins. This is judicial through His death. Verse 9 says that God sent His Son to us that we may have life and live through Him. This is organic in His resurrection. John 3:16 should be read with 1 John 4:9-10.

God’s Love Being the Source

God’s love is the source of the grace of Christ dispensed to us through the fellowship of the Spirit (2 Cor. 13:14). This is for us to enjoy the processed and consummated Triune God.

God’s Love Motivating Us to Love Our Enemies

God’s love motivates us, His children, to love our enemies that we may be perfect as He is; He loves the fallen human race, who became His enemies, by causing His sun (signifying Christ) to rise on the evil and the good indiscriminately and sending rain (signifying the Spirit) on the just and the unjust equally; thus, we may become the sons of the heavenly Father who are sanctified from the tax collectors and the Gentiles (Matt. 5:43-48). The entire human race became His enemies, but God still loves the human race. If God sent Christ to us with discrimination, we would be disqualified from receiving His salvation. He causes His sun to rise first on the evil and then on the good without discrimination.

We should be like God in our love for others. The tax collectors love only those who love them. The Lord said, “If you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?” (v. 46). If we love only those who love us, we are of the same species as the tax collectors. But we are of the super, divine species, so we love the evil ones, our enemies, as well as the good ones. This shows how God as love prevails.

The vital groups should be groups that are prevailing. A proof that our vital group is prevailing is that we love people without any discrimination. Some Christian co-workers may feel that we should let certain persons suffer eternal perdition. They may say that they would not love certain persons, such as bank robbers. But while Christ was being crucified on the cross, two robbers were crucified with Him (27:38). One of them said, “Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom” (Luke 23:42). Jesus said to him, “Truly I say to you, Today you shall be with Me in Paradise” (v. 43). The first one saved by Christ through His crucifixion was not a gentleman but a criminal, a robber, sentenced to death. This is very meaningful.

LOVE BUILDING UP

First Corinthians 8:1b says, “Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.” Teaching without love may puff us up. We may listen to the messages of the ministry and become puffed up with mere knowledge. This does not build up. Love builds up.

Love is not jealous, is not provoked, does not take account of evil, covers all things, endures all things, never falls away, and is the greatest (13:4-8, 13). Jealousy is in our nature. When a new child is born in a family, the other child may become jealous. Jealousy is also present in the church life. One sister may be jealous of another sister because she receives many Amens from the saints when she prays or prophesies. Some brothers may be jealous when they see that another brother has been appointed into the eldership. After being in the church life for over sixty years, I can testify that one of the hardest things is to appoint the elders. We realize that if we appoint a certain brother, another brother whom we do not feel to appoint may be stumbled because of jealousy. If a certain sister is asked to take the lead in a sisters’ house, the others may become jealous, but love is not jealous.

Also, love is not provoked. People are easily provoked because of the shortage of love. Regardless of how much we are rebuked, we will not be provoked if we are filled with the divine love. Love does not take account of evil. We have to confess that we have taken account of other people’s evil. Some wives have a record, an account, of their husband’s failures and defects. This record may not be written, but it is in their mind. They are taking account of their husband’s evil.

The elders need to realize that in their shepherding, they have to cover others’ sins, to not take account of others’ evils. Love covers all things, not only the good things but also the bad things. Whoever uncovers the defects, shortcomings, and sins of the members of the church is disqualified from the eldership. Our uncovering of the members under our eldership, our shepherding, annuls our qualification. Love also endures all things and never falls away. First Corinthians 13 concludes by saying, “Now there abide faith, hope, love, these three; and the greatest of these is love” (v. 13).

LOVE BEING THE CONCLUSION OF ALL SPIRITUAL VIRTUES
AND THE FACTOR OF FRUIT-BEARING

Love is the conclusion of all spiritual virtues and the factor of fruit-bearing that supplies us bountifully with the rich entrance into the kingdom of Christ (2 Pet. 1:5-11).

THE BODY OF CHRIST BUILDING ITSELF UP IN LOVE

The Body of Christ builds itself up in love (Eph. 4:16). The phrase in love is used repeatedly in the book of Ephesians (1:4; 3:17; 4:2, 15-16; 5:2). God predestinated us unto sonship before the foundation of the world in love, and the Body of Christ builds itself up in love. The growth in life is in love. In the last few years we have appreciated the Lord’s showing us the high peak of the divine revelation. My concern is that although we may talk about the truths of the high peak, love is absent among us. If this is the case, we are puffed up, not built up. The Body of Christ builds itself up in love.

The Spirit That God Gives Us Being of Love

The spirit that God has given us is our human spirit regenerated and indwelt by the Holy Spirit. This spirit is a spirit of love; hence, it is of power and of sobermindedness (2 Tim. 1:7). We may think that we are very powerful and sober, but our spirit is not of love. We talk to people in a way that is full of power and sobermindedness, but our talk threatens them.

Paul says that we need to fan our gift into flame (v. 6). The main gift that God has given us is our regenerated human spirit with His Spirit, His life, and His nature. We must fan this gift into flame. This means that we have to stir up our spirit so that our spirit will be burning. Romans 12:11 says that we should be burning in spirit. If our spirit is not a spirit of love, our fanning it into flame will burn the whole recovery in a negative way. We must have a burning spirit of love, not a burning spirit of authority, which damages. Whatever is mentioned in 2 Timothy is a requirement for us to face the degradation of the church. How can we overcome the degradation of the church? We must have a burning human spirit of love. Under today’s degradation of the church, we all need a spirit of love fanned into flame to be burning in spirit. Love prevails in this way.

According to my observation throughout the years, most of the co-workers have a human spirit of “power” but not of love. We need a spirit of love to conquer the degradation of today’s church. We should not say or do anything to threaten people. Instead, we should always say and do things with a spirit of love, which has been fanned into flame. This is what the recovery needs.

The One Who Does Not Love Abiding in Death

First John 3:14b says that he who does not love abides in death. We may think that we are living, but we are dead because we do not love. If we do not love our brother, we abide in death and are dead, but if we do love him, we abide in life and are living.

Pursuing Love

First Corinthians 13 speaks of love, and then chapter 14 begins by saying that we are to pursue love while we desire spiritual gifts (v. 1). Our desiring of gifts must go along with the pursuing of love. Otherwise, the gifts will puff us up.

Pursuing Love with Those Who Seek the Lord Out of a Pure Heart

To overcome the degradation of the church we need to pursue love with those who seek the Lord out of a pure heart (2 Tim. 2:22). We have to pursue love with a group of seekers of the Lord. This is a vital group.

A Sign That We Belong to Christ

Loving one another is a sign that we belong to Christ (John 13:34-35). We do not need to bear an outward sign that we are of Christ. If all the saints in the Lord’s recovery love one another, the whole world will say that these people are of Christ.

The Love of God Making Us More Than Conquerors

The love of God makes us more than conquerors over our circumstantial situations (Rom. 8:35-39). If we are to be more than conquerors, we need the love of Christ and of God.

LOVE BEING THE MOST EXCELLENT WAY

The end of 1 Corinthians 12 reveals that love is the most excellent way (v. 31b). How can one be an elder? Love is the most excellent way. How can one be a co-worker? Love is the most excellent way. How do we shepherd people? Love is the most excellent way. Love is the most excellent way for us to prophesy and to teach others. Love is the most excellent way for us to be anything or do anything.

Love Prevailing

Love prevails. We should love everybody, even our enemies. If the co-workers and elders do not love the bad ones, eventually, they will have nothing to do. We must be perfect as our Father is perfect (Matt. 5:48) by loving the evil ones and the good ones without any discrimination. We must be perfect as our Father because we are His sons, His species. This is most crucial. How can we be a co-worker and an elder? It is by love in every way. We must love any kind of person. The Lord Jesus said that He came to be a Physician, not for the healthy ones but for the sick ones. The Lord said, “Those who are strong have no need of a physician, but those who are ill” (9:12).

Love Being the Most Excellent Way for Us to Be Anything and
to Do Anything for the Building up of the Body of Christ

The church is not a police station to arrest people or a law court to judge people, but a home to raise up the believers. Parents know that the worse their children are, the more they need their raising up. If our children were angels, they would not need our parenting to raise them up. The church is a loving home to raise up the children. The church is also a hospital to heal and to recover the sick ones. Finally, the church is a school to teach and edify the unlearned ones who do not have much understanding. Because the church is a home, a hospital, and a school, the co-workers and elders should be one with the Lord to raise up, to heal, to recover, and to teach others in love.

Some of the churches, however, are police stations to arrest the sinful ones and law courts to judge them. Paul’s attitude was different. He said, “Who is weak, and I am not weak?” (2 Cor. 11:29a). When the scribes and Pharisees brought an adulterous woman to the Lord, He said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her” (John 8:7). After all of them left, the Lord asked the sinful woman, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” Then Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you” (vv. 10-11). Who is without sin? Who is perfect? Paul said, “To the weak I became weak that I might gain the weak” (1 Cor. 9:22). That is love. We should not consider that others are weak but we are not. That is not love. Love covers and builds up, so love is the most excellent way for us to be anything and to do anything for the building up of the Body of Christ. (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 5, “The Vital Groups”, msg. 8)

THE GENUINE LOVE BEING THE ISSUE OF THE ENJOYMENT
OF THE DIVINE NATURE

The Divine Nature—What God Is

The divine nature is what God is. The nature of a piece of furniture is what the furniture is. If the furniture is wooden, the nature of the furniture is wood. The Bible tells us emphatically and directly that God is Spirit (John 4:24), God is love (1 John 4:8, 16), and God is light (1:5). All these items concerning what God is were written by the apostle John. The divine nature is a constitution of these three items—Spirit, love, and light. To be a partaker of the divine nature is to be one partaking of God as Spirit, as love, and as light. Spirit denotes the nature of God’s person, and love denotes the nature of God’s essence. God is a divine being with a divine essence. The essence is more intrinsic than the element of something. Within the element is the essence, and this divine essence has love as its nature. Furthermore, the divine light is the nature of God’s expression.

John tells us that the divine birth brought a seed into us (3:9). In this seed is the divine nature. Peter, furthermore, tells us that God has granted to us all things which relate to life (2 Pet. 1:3). Based upon this fact God gave us precious and exceedingly great promises that through these we might become partakers, enjoyers, of the divine nature. Now we all have to learn how to taste the constituents of the divine nature, which are Spirit, love, and light. In other words, when you partake of the divine nature, you enjoy God as the Spirit, as love, and as light.

Only Those Who Partake of the Divine Nature Loving People Genuinely

To illustrate this, let us consider our set-apart time to fellowship with the Lord. In such a fellowship we realize and enjoy the Lord as the Spirit, and simultaneously we enjoy the nature of God’s essence, which is love. Love then saturates us and even becomes us. Before this time we may have been disgusted with many things. After this kind of fellowship, however, everything is lovable. We may have been disgusted with our wife before this fellowship, but afterward we are filled with love for our wife. This love has not only filled us but saturated us. The reason we Christians can love persons whom others cannot love is because we enjoy God as love. We enjoy the divine nature of this loving God. This is why John tells us in his first Epistle that if we love our brother, this means that we are born of God because God is love (4:7-8). When we love others, we are enjoying the divine nature. One who does not have God or who does not partake of God’s divine nature hates everything. Do not think that people love everything. They are just cultured and trained to be polite. Their kindness and loving are a kind of politics. The genuine love is the issue of the enjoyment of the divine nature. A supervisor or a boss may say something in a loving way to an employee. Unless what he has said is an enjoyment of the divine nature, he is actually playing politics. When the time comes for him to fire or lay off this employee, he will have no problem. Only those who partake of the divine nature love people genuinely. They are not taught to love others, but they have become love toward others. They are the partakers of the divine love, which is the very nature of the divine essence.

Spending an Adequate Amount of Time with the Lord

If we would spend an adequate amount of time in the morning with the Lord, we would be full of light inwardly, and we would not do things nonsensically or say things foolishly. Whatever we do and whatever we say would be full of light. This is the issue of our enjoying of the divine nature. This is because one constituent in the divine nature is light. If we would all spend time to fellowship with the Lord, we would have the sensation that we are enjoying the Lord as the Spirit, and we would become a person of love. Love would saturate us. Furthermore, whatever we would say would be light, and whatever we would do would be transparent as crystal. This is an evidence or proof that we are partaking of the divine nature.

Love and Light Being Related to God as Life

The Bible also tells us that God is life. Love and light are related to God as life (John 1:4), and life is of the Spirit (Rom. 8:2). God is life to us mainly in love and light. If we are not saturated with love, we are not living the life of God. If we are not so transparently bright, we are not enjoying God as life. When we are enjoying God as life, we are full of love and full of light. Therefore, love and light are both related to God as life, and life is of the Spirit. God, the Spirit, and life are actually one. God is Spirit, and the Spirit is life. Within such a life are love and light. In John’s Epistle we come to the Father to participate in His love and light in the fellowship of the Father’s life. This is further and deeper in the experience of the divine life. Love and light are God the Father Himself for our deeper and finer enjoyment in the fellowship of the divine life with the Father in the Son (1 John 1:3-7) by our abiding in Him (2:5, 27-28; 3:6, 24). (CWWL, 1984, vol. 3, “God’s New Testament Economy”, ch. 30)