I Corinthians 13:5  Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;
6  Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;
7  Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
8  Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.

As we have noted, charity does not lead to pride. A truly charitable person is one who understands his calling but is not full of himself. He understands that his calling is from God. He understands that if God had not called him he would be nothing. It is always important to remember the many warnings that God gives us:

I Corinthians 10:12  Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.

True charity does not behave itself unseemly. It is important to note Who determines what is “unseemly”. It is God that has already declared what is unseemly. Joseph found himself in a position that could have become unseemly. He was serving his slave master faithfully. Potiphar had a wicked wife. She was not loyal to him. She wanted a “fling” with Joseph. She tried to get him interested in her on several occasions. He had no interest in another man’s wife. She got him where she thought she could win, but he left and even let her keep his coat as he fled from her. He did not begin to yield to her. She stole his coat off his back. She then lied about what took place and Joseph spent some time in prison. Joseph did not yield to that which is unseemly. He was a rare man, but he was a Biblical man. We as men can learn from this. We can learn that it is not wise to put ourselves in a position where we are alone with a woman that is not our wife. This is just one example of many.
Charity is not in a fight for survival. The apostle Paul was arrested many times. He faced various challenges while under arrest. He did not try to protect himself for his own benefit. He cared more about the souls of others than about his own comforts. He was not seeking to make a name for himself. He was given a name by the Lord Jesus Christ. That is the name we need to have.
Charity is not easily “provoked”. The Pharisees tempted Jesus in many different ways. They tried to trap Him. He was angry with them on a few occasions. This was never because He was out of control. He was angry when they turned His Father’s house into a den of thieves. That was righteous anger. There were many times when they twisted the Scriptures to try to trap Him. He never accepted the corruption, but He also did not allow the flesh to cause Him to sin. He handled every situation in a righteous manner. We sometimes allow our emotions to take over because we are too proud and our ego is feeling threatened. We need to keep in mind that charity is not puffed up.
Charity also does not think evil. I believe every godly pastor will face challenges from certain members of his church. There will be some who will get in the flesh and try to make trouble for the man. They will try to come up with some way to get rid of him. They will be thinking evil. The pastor can be guilty of doing this as well. If saints operate with charity, they will not think evil.
Charity also does not rejoice in evil. We would rather see people saved than see them suffer the consequences of rebellion. Jesus wept over Jerusalem as He noted their constant rejection of Him.
Charity rejoiceth in the truth. That is one of the motivators that cause true saints to be a part of a true church. They love the truth. They want to be where the truth is taught and lived. They love to see the truth proclaimed and they love to see a sinner come to know God’s peace in their heart. When a person is saved, they are a new creature. The change that God makes and continues to make in His child is something to rejoice over.
Charity beareth all things. Christians need to grow in the Lord. God is not telling us to be tolerant of sin. Sin needs to be addressed and properly dealt with. In the entire book of I Corinthians, Paul was directed to address various sins. He was not told to teach tolerance for sin. The saints were rebuked for their ungodly divisions. They were rebuked for tolerating fornication. They were rebuked for taking one another to court, etc. In a true church there can be strong Christians and there can be weaker Christians. The strong Christians do not go around airing their dirty laundry. They do not speak ill of the weaker brother. They seek to help that brother to become stronger. The Lord Jesus Christ chose 12 men whom He poured 3+ years of time into. He dealt with Peter, the impulsive disciple. He dealt with Judas, the devil. He gave each one the opportunity to receive the truth and choose what they would do with the truth. Judas chose to reject It and killed himself. Peter chose to receive the truth, stumbled often, but never rejected the truth.
Charity also believes all things. That of course is in the context of truth. Again, as we look at the book of I Corinthians, the apostle Paul needed to correct many things there. He did not accept everything they were doing. God showed him what needed to be addressed and he did that. The true child of God is motivated by the love of God which indwells him from the moment of salvation. Thus he will receive the truth and reject the lies. That is how the Christian grows.
Charity also gives the saint hope. In spite of the vocal rejection of God’s Word, the true child of God still knows that God’s Word is able to save the sinner. As opposed as a person may be, there is that possibility they might be saved. The saved person also knows that no matter how tough things may be on earth, he has a home in heaven. That hope motivates him to continue to serve the Lord faithfully.
Charity will also cause the saint to endure hardship like a good soldier. The world is all about material things. They promote the thought of a bigger house, more money in the bank, etc. Of course in recent years the WEF has declared that by 2030 you will own nothing and be happy. That is part of the “great reset” that our P.M. is promoting. We are racing toward that place. Whether it will happen at 2030 or not is in God’s hands. Christians speak up and preach the Gospel in a hostile world, and are willing to forgo the “pleasures” of this world in the hope of seeing people saved.
Charity will never let a person down. The saved person does not give up on life. He does not stop seeking to help others to know the truth. Paul has addressed the matter of marriage in chapter 7. The saved person does not give up on his or her spouse. There may be difficult times, but the saved person understands that Jesus Christ never gives up on His child, and marriage is to be a picture of God’s salvation. In Christ the saved person can love those that are in their path.
In verse 8 we see that the things that the Corinthians had elevated out of their place would all end. Prophesying was coming to an end. God chose to limit His Word to what we have in the completed Scriptures. Fools stand up and suggest they have further words from the Lord. They are liars. They are worse than the weather man who tries to tell us what the temperature will be tomorrow or next week. They assume they can even tell us at what hour we will get rain or snow. They are out of their league and God often shows us that. False prophets stand up and make foolish statements that prove them to be frauds. Yet, too many people are willing to buy into those liars.
Tongues shall cease. The apostles did not go to language school prior to Acts 2. They were not studying foreign languages in chapter 1. They were told to wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit as Jesus had promised while He was with them. In Acts 2 they were emboldened for the work that Jesus said they must do. Part of the evidence of that was that they spoke to Jews from many different parts of the world and those present all heard them in their own tongue. It was a miracle that God gave them to demonstrate to the crowd gathered, who they must listen to. On a few other occasions God used tongues in the book of Acts to further prove His work in the hearts and lives of people. Every time there were Jews present who doubted God’s work.
When the Scriptures were completed there was no further need for the gift of tongues. That should be rather obvious to those who are saved. It takes years to learn a different language. Nobody can claim they went to some foreign land and immediately knew how to speak the language, having never known it before. I can speak German. I grew up in a German speaking home. I went to German school as a boy. Over the years I have lived in places where there is no German spoken. I have forgotten some of what I learned. If I want to communicate with German speaking people, I need to brush up on my German to be able to speak with them. That is just one example. Tongues shall cease and they have ceased.
The gift of knowledge has also vanished away. We have the completed Scriptures and we need to “study to shew thyself approved unto God”. Some people claim to read something in the Bible and immediately they claim to be a Bible scholar. They soon prove their lack of scholarship, but in their minds they have “arrived”. They lack charity. Charity is a gift of God. It keeps the true recipient humble and willing to learn the truth. Pride and self-love interfere with God’s will. The church in Corinth was puffed up when Paul began this letter. They needed to be humbled and as we see in II Corinthians, they did receive the truth. They benefited from God’s Word. Many have argued against God’s Word since that time. The truth is still available for us today. Let us receive the truth and know God’s blessings.
Pastor Bartel