Paul
the apostle told the church members in Corinth, “though
I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity,
I am become as
sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal”,
and in chapter thirteen and verse two of
First Corinthians, Paul shared with the Corinthian church about,
“prophesy,
understanding, knowledge and faith without love”
being “nothing”,
where we read:
And
though I have the gift of
prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though
I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not
charity, I am nothing.
The
verse begins, “And
though I have the gift of
prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge;”.
Paul began
with the words, “And though I have”
which refers to “if and in case Paul had” “the
gift of prophecy” which
means “the spiritual gift of a discourse emanating from divine
inspiration and declaring the purposes of God whether by reproving
and admonishing the wicked or comforting the afflicted or revealing
things hidden”, “and understand”
or “to
perceive, notice, discern and discover”
“all mysteries”
which refers to “each, every, the whole and everyone of the hidden
things, secrets and dreams”, “and all or “each, every, the
whole and everyone of” “knowledge”
which means “the general intelligence, understanding and moral
wisdom”. Paul added “prophecy and
understanding mysteries and knowledge”
to his list of “spiritual gifts” for the church members to
consider as he makes his next statement.
The
verse goes on to say, “and
though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have
not charity, I am nothing.” Paul
added the words, “and though I have”
which means
“if and in case Paul had” “all
faith” or
“each, every, the whole and everyone belief with the predominate
idea of trust or confidence whether in God or in Christ springing
from faith in the same”, “so that I
could remove”
or “transpose, transfer, remove from one place to another, change
of situation or place” “mountains”
which means “hills as lifting themselves about the plain”, “and
have not”
or “and do not have” “charity”
which means “affection, good will, benevolence and unmerited
brotherly love”, “I am nothing”
which means “Paul would be as nothing at all”. Paul added “faith”
so great that it could move mountains to his list, but noted that if
he possessed all these “spiritual
gifts”
without having “love”, he would be as nothing at all.
When
we meditate upon these words from Paul, we see how the “gifts”
themselves are not the most important aspect but rather the “love”
or “charity” from which they are managed. Possessing the
“spiritual gifts” without “love” makes a person as
“nothing”, and Jesus Christ desires not only to distribute
those “gifts” to the church through the Holy Spirit, but
that they would be use in a “loving” manner to edify
others. May the Lord add the truth of this message to all who read.
Next
time Paul shares with the church members concerning how, “though
I bestow all my goods to feed the
poor, and
though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profits
me nothing”,
so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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