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Scripture Reading: Eph. 4:16; 1 Cor. 8:1, 13
In this chapter we must see that love is the practical living of the church. The church’s living is love. The word living can also mean expression; the expression of a local church is love. If we only demonstrate a certain kind of teaching or form, we are wrong. The expression of the local church must be love.
Why did the apostle Paul write 1 Corinthians 13? Chapters 12, 13, and 14 are three chapters forming a section which deals with gifts. The middle part is the chapter on love. The church at Corinth had left the proper expression of the local church: they had turned from love to the exercise of gifts; they had become a kind of manifestation of gifts rather than love. The first thing seen at Corinth was the practice of gifts—mainly, the speaking in tongues. The apostle Paul then wrote and adjusted them. Tongues and other gifts are not the most excellent way. Only love is the excellent way, and in a sense, love is the best way. At the end of chapter 12, the apostle Paul says, “Earnestly desire the greater gifts. And moreover I show to you a most excellent way” (v. 31). What is the most excellent way? The answer is in the following chapter, that is, love. He opened the next chapter in this way: “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels but do not have love...” (v. 1). This verse proves that tongues and other gifts are different from love. We may have the gifts and still lack the love. We may speak in the tongues of men and of angels and still be short of love. If so, we are as sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. There is the sound but not the love; the noise but not the life.
I have been concerned for many years because some Christians pay too much attention to tongues. They have neglected this verse, which tells us that speaking in tongues is not something in life. Tongues are only a kind of sound. They are not life. Sound without love proves that speaking in tongues is not of life. Otherwise, the apostle would not speak in this way. He opened this chapter by saying that the Corinthian believers need life, not just sound. What is the expression of life? It must be love, for life is expressed in love. Love is not sound; love is the expression of life.
We must never try to love by our own strength. I am not encouraging you to love, because I know that you cannot love. The more I exhort you to love, the more you will hate. The more I demand love from you, the more I will get hatred from you. We simply cannot love. We can do many things, but we cannot love. It is easy to speak in tongues, but it is not so easy to love. Love is the most excellent way; therefore, it is the most difficult way.
The greatest difficulty in the church life is love. We can teach, but we cannot love. We can serve, but we cannot love. We can clean, but we cannot love. We can mow the lawn, but we cannot love. The sisters can play the piano, but they cannot love. It is easy for us to pray-read, but we cannot love. We simply cannot love. It is easy to do anything but love.
What is love? If we read the description of love again in this chapter, we will realize that Christ is love. Love is Christ Himself. “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” (vv. 4-5). Love is a person. The whole description of love in this chapter pertains to a living person, and that person is Christ.
What can exist forever and ever? Only Christ. In this chapter the apostle Paul minimizes all things but love. Nothing can compare with love. All the offerings, donations, and gifts cannot compare with love. Even prophecy and knowledge cannot compare with it.
First Corinthians 13:8 says, “Love never falls away. But whether prophecies, they will be rendered useless; or tongues, they will cease; or knowledge, it will be rendered useless.” Paul uses these two phrases in this verse: rendered useless and cease. What will be rendered useless? Prophecies and knowledge. What will cease? Tongues. Tongues, prophecies, and knowledge will be rendered useless and cease. The Word is exceedingly clear in this verse, but many so-called Pentecostal groups simply pay all their attention to prophecies and tongues. Love never falls away. Prophecies will be rendered useless, tongues will cease, and knowledge will also be rendered useless, but love remains forever. Who is this love? It is God Himself. God is love. What can compare with God? Tongues? Prophecies? Knowledge? No! Only God is eternal.
“Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up” (8:1). Christians think they need the teachings, but this is wrong. We should not put too much trust in teachings or gifts. We must put absolute trust in love.
In the first of the seven epistles in Revelation, the Lord Jesus says that they had lost their first love. The word first in Greek also means “best.” The first love is the best love. Philadelphia, the church to whom the sixth epistle was written, means “brotherly love,” and this is the best of the seven churches. The best church is the church of brotherly love, not the church of gifts, knowledge, or power. The Lord only wants a church of love.
I do not believe that the Lord will use the gifts very much in His recovery. He will reveal Himself to the seeking ones as life, and this life will be expressed in love. It is not a human kind of love. This love is simply God Himself, living in us and expressed through us.
We must abandon the concept that gifts are the only requirement for the building up of the church. Gifts alone and, even more, the teachings cannot build up the church. Teaching divides and causes division. Every denomination has been established by a teacher. Church history shows that whenever and wherever there was a great teacher, there was a division. Teaching divides, but love unites and builds up. The only thing that builds up is love. But the love of which we are speaking and the love the Bible teaches is not human love. This love is God Himself; so to realize this love, we must relinquish all other things. We should not trust in anything but love for the building up of the church. We should not put our trust in gifts or teachings.
Some have been teaching for years, but where is one genuine church built up by teaching? Christianity is not new; it has been here for centuries. But where is the church built up by teachings? History shows that teachings and gifts have not been effective in the building up of the church. We should never put our trust in these things, but rather in love. The Lord be merciful to us that we may drop all distracting things and come back to love—just love. We all must realize that nothing can build up the church but love. Ephesians 4:16 tells us it is in love that the Body builds itself up. But the problem is that we are so religious and natural. We still have the concept that we need teachings.
Others condemn us and say that we are exclusive and do not accept all ministries. But if we were to invite the best speakers on earth to come and speak to us, the church would simply be a mess. Suppose we have twelve good, spiritual, sound, and fundamental teachers speak to us every month for a year. I am afraid that by the next year, the church would be gone. Only love edifies and builds up the church. It is not merely the gifts, the teachings, or the ministries that build up the church; it is love.
First Corinthians 13 says that even if I know mysteries and have all knowledge and prophecy, yet without love, I am nothing. As far as the building up of the Body is concerned, without love I am nothing. These things alone cannot build up the Body. We must all change our concept so that we do not put so much trust in teachings. The Body can only be built up in love. If we would love, we must give up many things of the teachings and gifts. We should not trust in anything more than love.
Look at the situation today. Where is the church that is built up by teaching? In the past nineteen years of experience in Taiwan, those who thought they had a gift of teaching became troublemakers. There was not one exception. They proclaimed that they had the gift, but they did not help the work much. The work was mostly carried on by those who did not claim to have a gift. They just learned to serve the Lord by being what they were. They did not consider themselves as gifted persons, but just served the Lord in love. Thus, we see that it is not the gift, but love. All the churches on the island of Taiwan do not have much trust in gifts, because by past experience they saw that all the trouble came from the so-called gifted persons.
If we are going to practice the church life, our concept must be one hundred percent turned. Do not trust much in any teaching or gift. They do not work so well. The real building comes from love, simply love. We must drop the concept that teachings, gifts, and other things can help much in the building up of the church.
In the last chapter we stressed that the content of the church is life. But how can we prove life except by love? When we have a conference and training, I do not trust much in my ministry. This is simply the best time for the brothers from so many different places to come and taste the love. I would prefer to hear the visitors to Los Angeles say that they did not get much help from the ministry, but, oh, what hospitality and love they experienced among the brothers and sisters! We need a church life full of love. When others come, they should sense the reality of love. It is not just a matter of ministry, but the reality of life expressed in love. It is marvelous to have such a testimony. We thank the Lord that He has been gracious to us in this matter, but we need more. A strong testimony is a testimony of love. We do not have much trust in anything but love.
All the dear ones who are in the Lord’s recovery should never have much respect for any gift or ministry. We should not have much trust in anything but love. Then we will see churches full of life and strength, without too much knowledge. This is what we need in the Lord’s recovery.
The reality of the oneness mentioned in Psalm 133 can only come out of love, not out of any ministry. The more ministries we have, the more divisive elements and dissenting opinions we will have. We have learned this by suffering. You do not know how much we have suffered by inviting good speakers. It did not help the building up of the church. On the contrary, I cannot tell you how much damage it has caused.
The Lord has proved that the real need for building up the local church is love. But if we want to love, we must have our concept absolutely uprooted. I fear that we still have the concept that we need more ministries, teachings, and gifts. This concept must be uprooted. All we need is love. Love will bring in the building up of a marvelous church life.
Knowledge and prophesies will be rendered useless, and tongues will cease. Only love remains forever. All the ministries and gifts will pass away, but love will remain for eternity. I do believe that in eternity many of us will remember the days spent in Los Angeles. Though eternity will be much better, still we will recall these days of love in Los Angeles. This is the real building.
Love never falls away, and love builds up. There is not much need of good speakers. We must be patient in going on by the Lord Himself as love in life. Then we will see the church gradually build itself up in love. The real expression of the local church life is life, and a church full of love is a church with a long life. All the so-called churches built up by ministries and gifts are short-lived; it is not long before they are divided. But the church that is built up by love never ends. Nothing can divide it, damage it, or touch it because of love. Love is the strongest bond.
My burden in this chapter is just to tell you that nothing but love can edify or build up the church. Where, I ask, is a church built up by teachings or gifts? We should not care for theory, but for the practicality. Teachings, gifts, or knowledge have never worked, but Christians are still trying them. They have wasted years and years, but they are still trying. The Lord be merciful to us that we may be willing to be delivered out of this concept. All we need is God in Christ expressed as love. Only this can build up the church.
