2 Corinthians 2

2 Corinthians 2:1

Love

This chapter seems to be out of place as it is placed between chapter 12 and chapter 14, where Paul is dealing with the one body and gifts. But in the Bible nothing is out of place. Of course it cannot be otherwise because the real Author of the Bible is the Holy Spirit. And when you wonder why such a section, which at first glance seems to be in the wrong place, is nevertheless in that place, your faith in the inspiration of the Bible only increases. That is also the case here.

In chapter 12 Paul showed the variety of the gifts. In chapter 14 he shows how these gifts should work in practice. In chapter 13 we see that love is like an axle, on which the chapters 12 and 14 revolve. For if you want to practice your gift properly and if you want to have the proper effect also, then love is the only way to make it happen.

Love exceeds every gift. That’s why it is the “still more excellent way” as it is written in the last verse of the previous chapter. Love, as it is meant here, is not just a feeling of affection. It is not the cheap love that is found in the world, where love is in fact self-love. No, here it is about the nature of God Himself. “God is love” (1 John 4:8; 16).

The great feature of Divine love, thus from which you can recognize the Divine love, is that it is a perfectly selfless love. It is the giving love that is focused on the other. Was not that the purpose of the gift? Isn’t the gift focused on the other to be of profit for the other? Love gives you the strength to be able to do that, for you have received the Divine nature (2 Peter 1:4).

In the life of the Lord Jesus, Who is God Himself, everything that is said about love in our chapter is found in a perfect way. You may put this chapter, so to speak, right next to the Gospels and you will find the practice or application of it on every page. Then you will also see that Divine love goes much further than sympathy or human affection. You probably have no difficulty to practice your gift toward a brother or sister who is kind to you, but love goes much further than that.

Love, as it is presented here, gets to work, even if there is nothing attractive to be found with the other person. You may be annoyed by a brother or sister. But Divine, unselfish love is not offended by anything. Love gets to work because it is love. To love, it makes no difference how the opposite is or responds.

The great example is God. I already pointed that out: God is love. Well, in 1 John 4 is written how God showed that (1 John 4:9-10). He gave His only begotten Son. Even though God surely knew that man did not want Him and even though He knew what they would do to Him, He nevertheless gave Him! That is love. It is the same love that is needed to be able to practice your gift. Without this love everything means nothing. Without love, things you want to impress others with, have no value at all.

1 Corinthians 13:1. Paul applies a lot of this chapter to himself. He often uses the word ‘I’. If you read this part, you might apply this to yourself as well. He starts with ‘speaking in tongues’. That was in high esteem with the Corinthians. They were proud of this gift. Just imagine that you were able to speak all the languages of the world without having learned them, and that you could even speak the language of the angels. That would be quite something! However, if you would not let yourself be guided by love in practicing them, it would be nothing more than hollow sounds that fade away after a short while and have no permanent effect.

1 Corinthians 13:2. With the other gifts it is the same thing. Even if you would be able to, on the basis of the Bible, tell everything about the future (“prophesy”) and were introduced to the “mysteries”, the secrets of God and knew the Bible by heart (“all knowledge”) and do impressive acts of faith (“all faith”), you would be nothing; you would be zero point zero, zero and void indeed, if love has not been your inner motive to practice those gifts.

1 Corinthians 13:3. And what about bestowing all your goods to feed the poor? Is that not a generous aim? It would still be entirely useless if love were not the reason that motivated you. People could give away all they possess to ease their conscience. They might have dishonestly gained many of their goods. They think to cleanse their conscience by giving away everything. But that will not profit them at all because they lack love.

There were also people who even gave their body to be burned. They might have poured gasoline over themselves and set themselves on fire to draw people’s attention to something they sacrificed themselves for. They might have succeeded to appear in the media, but it did not benefit them themselves because their efforts were without Divine love. To God, it meant nothing.

1 Corinthians 13:4. Then in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 a description follows of the way love manifests itself. In fact it says more about what love is not, than what love is. It is like the description of the new heaven and the new earth in Revelation 21, where you read about things that will not be there anymore (Revelation 21:4). You live in a world in which you have to do with the consequences of sin in every possible way. Divine love is not disturbed by that, but on the contrary sees that as a chance to prove itself. That is perfectly seen in the life of the Lord Jesus. This chapter is therefore, as it has already been said, a description of Him.

Because sin is still in you, the best proof of love you can give is by abandoning a number of things. However, the first two things that are mentioned have a positive effect. Be “patient” is not a favorite characteristic to the world we live in. It means that you can control yourself if you see things that are wrong, or if you yourself are cheated. Instead of demanding your rights you are patient with the other person. You even go further. You are ”kind” (good) to all the people around you. Is that not what the Lord Jesus was?

Then the characteristics follow that are not present in the Divine love. Who is never “jealous”? “Does not brag” you can compare most with not ‘acting like a braggart’ or showing how beautiful you are, or not displaying and promoting your latest purchase (whatever that may be). To be “arrogant” is wanting to be more than you are. Hasn’t that ever happened?

1 Corinthians 13:5. Haven’t you ever behaved ”unbecomingly”? This means, haven’t you ever blatantly ignored someone’s feelings? Have you always considered the other person’s concern only, without seeking your “own” interest? Has someone wronged you by doing something against you? Are you willing to abandon all evil thoughts about that person and “not take into account” the wrong done to you? Isn’t it more usual that you are often more inclined to repay evil with evil? We rather wish evil on a person than not to impute it.

1 Corinthians 13:6. Are there times you remember when you had pleasure in watching other people make a big mistake? Of course that was to ease your own conscience. Back then you did not like to hear the truth, while love on the contrary rejoices with that.

All these things were not found with the Lord Jesus. Neither are they found in the love, the Divine nature, the new life you received, for that is the life of the Lord Jesus. If you give love priority, you will experience that with you the same wrong things are missing and the same good things are found as with the Lord Jesus.

1 Corinthians 13:7. Some good things are written in this verse. Love “bears all things”. That goes far. Tolerate everything and accept that people ignore you? If love demands it: yes!

Love “believes all things”. That is not the naive gullibility that takes everything that is said to be true. It means that love is not suspicious. You might say this: love trusts the other until the contrary shows otherwise.

Love “hopes all things”. Love knows that evil will not have the last word and it continues to hope – the biblical hope means: knowing for sure – that good will always conquer.

Love “endures all things”. That means it can take a beating. She remains active right through all trials.

Now read 1 Corinthians 13:1-7 again.

Reflection: Which positive features of love do you encounter here and which negative features? What are your weak points? How can you change them?

2 Corinthians 2:2

Love

This chapter seems to be out of place as it is placed between chapter 12 and chapter 14, where Paul is dealing with the one body and gifts. But in the Bible nothing is out of place. Of course it cannot be otherwise because the real Author of the Bible is the Holy Spirit. And when you wonder why such a section, which at first glance seems to be in the wrong place, is nevertheless in that place, your faith in the inspiration of the Bible only increases. That is also the case here.

In chapter 12 Paul showed the variety of the gifts. In chapter 14 he shows how these gifts should work in practice. In chapter 13 we see that love is like an axle, on which the chapters 12 and 14 revolve. For if you want to practice your gift properly and if you want to have the proper effect also, then love is the only way to make it happen.

Love exceeds every gift. That’s why it is the “still more excellent way” as it is written in the last verse of the previous chapter. Love, as it is meant here, is not just a feeling of affection. It is not the cheap love that is found in the world, where love is in fact self-love. No, here it is about the nature of God Himself. “God is love” (1 John 4:8; 16).

The great feature of Divine love, thus from which you can recognize the Divine love, is that it is a perfectly selfless love. It is the giving love that is focused on the other. Was not that the purpose of the gift? Isn’t the gift focused on the other to be of profit for the other? Love gives you the strength to be able to do that, for you have received the Divine nature (2 Peter 1:4).

In the life of the Lord Jesus, Who is God Himself, everything that is said about love in our chapter is found in a perfect way. You may put this chapter, so to speak, right next to the Gospels and you will find the practice or application of it on every page. Then you will also see that Divine love goes much further than sympathy or human affection. You probably have no difficulty to practice your gift toward a brother or sister who is kind to you, but love goes much further than that.

Love, as it is presented here, gets to work, even if there is nothing attractive to be found with the other person. You may be annoyed by a brother or sister. But Divine, unselfish love is not offended by anything. Love gets to work because it is love. To love, it makes no difference how the opposite is or responds.

The great example is God. I already pointed that out: God is love. Well, in 1 John 4 is written how God showed that (1 John 4:9-10). He gave His only begotten Son. Even though God surely knew that man did not want Him and even though He knew what they would do to Him, He nevertheless gave Him! That is love. It is the same love that is needed to be able to practice your gift. Without this love everything means nothing. Without love, things you want to impress others with, have no value at all.

1 Corinthians 13:1. Paul applies a lot of this chapter to himself. He often uses the word ‘I’. If you read this part, you might apply this to yourself as well. He starts with ‘speaking in tongues’. That was in high esteem with the Corinthians. They were proud of this gift. Just imagine that you were able to speak all the languages of the world without having learned them, and that you could even speak the language of the angels. That would be quite something! However, if you would not let yourself be guided by love in practicing them, it would be nothing more than hollow sounds that fade away after a short while and have no permanent effect.

1 Corinthians 13:2. With the other gifts it is the same thing. Even if you would be able to, on the basis of the Bible, tell everything about the future (“prophesy”) and were introduced to the “mysteries”, the secrets of God and knew the Bible by heart (“all knowledge”) and do impressive acts of faith (“all faith”), you would be nothing; you would be zero point zero, zero and void indeed, if love has not been your inner motive to practice those gifts.

1 Corinthians 13:3. And what about bestowing all your goods to feed the poor? Is that not a generous aim? It would still be entirely useless if love were not the reason that motivated you. People could give away all they possess to ease their conscience. They might have dishonestly gained many of their goods. They think to cleanse their conscience by giving away everything. But that will not profit them at all because they lack love.

There were also people who even gave their body to be burned. They might have poured gasoline over themselves and set themselves on fire to draw people’s attention to something they sacrificed themselves for. They might have succeeded to appear in the media, but it did not benefit them themselves because their efforts were without Divine love. To God, it meant nothing.

1 Corinthians 13:4. Then in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 a description follows of the way love manifests itself. In fact it says more about what love is not, than what love is. It is like the description of the new heaven and the new earth in Revelation 21, where you read about things that will not be there anymore (Revelation 21:4). You live in a world in which you have to do with the consequences of sin in every possible way. Divine love is not disturbed by that, but on the contrary sees that as a chance to prove itself. That is perfectly seen in the life of the Lord Jesus. This chapter is therefore, as it has already been said, a description of Him.

Because sin is still in you, the best proof of love you can give is by abandoning a number of things. However, the first two things that are mentioned have a positive effect. Be “patient” is not a favorite characteristic to the world we live in. It means that you can control yourself if you see things that are wrong, or if you yourself are cheated. Instead of demanding your rights you are patient with the other person. You even go further. You are ”kind” (good) to all the people around you. Is that not what the Lord Jesus was?

Then the characteristics follow that are not present in the Divine love. Who is never “jealous”? “Does not brag” you can compare most with not ‘acting like a braggart’ or showing how beautiful you are, or not displaying and promoting your latest purchase (whatever that may be). To be “arrogant” is wanting to be more than you are. Hasn’t that ever happened?

1 Corinthians 13:5. Haven’t you ever behaved ”unbecomingly”? This means, haven’t you ever blatantly ignored someone’s feelings? Have you always considered the other person’s concern only, without seeking your “own” interest? Has someone wronged you by doing something against you? Are you willing to abandon all evil thoughts about that person and “not take into account” the wrong done to you? Isn’t it more usual that you are often more inclined to repay evil with evil? We rather wish evil on a person than not to impute it.

1 Corinthians 13:6. Are there times you remember when you had pleasure in watching other people make a big mistake? Of course that was to ease your own conscience. Back then you did not like to hear the truth, while love on the contrary rejoices with that.

All these things were not found with the Lord Jesus. Neither are they found in the love, the Divine nature, the new life you received, for that is the life of the Lord Jesus. If you give love priority, you will experience that with you the same wrong things are missing and the same good things are found as with the Lord Jesus.

1 Corinthians 13:7. Some good things are written in this verse. Love “bears all things”. That goes far. Tolerate everything and accept that people ignore you? If love demands it: yes!

Love “believes all things”. That is not the naive gullibility that takes everything that is said to be true. It means that love is not suspicious. You might say this: love trusts the other until the contrary shows otherwise.

Love “hopes all things”. Love knows that evil will not have the last word and it continues to hope – the biblical hope means: knowing for sure – that good will always conquer.

Love “endures all things”. That means it can take a beating. She remains active right through all trials.

Now read 1 Corinthians 13:1-7 again.

Reflection: Which positive features of love do you encounter here and which negative features? What are your weak points? How can you change them?

2 Corinthians 2:3

Love

This chapter seems to be out of place as it is placed between chapter 12 and chapter 14, where Paul is dealing with the one body and gifts. But in the Bible nothing is out of place. Of course it cannot be otherwise because the real Author of the Bible is the Holy Spirit. And when you wonder why such a section, which at first glance seems to be in the wrong place, is nevertheless in that place, your faith in the inspiration of the Bible only increases. That is also the case here.

In chapter 12 Paul showed the variety of the gifts. In chapter 14 he shows how these gifts should work in practice. In chapter 13 we see that love is like an axle, on which the chapters 12 and 14 revolve. For if you want to practice your gift properly and if you want to have the proper effect also, then love is the only way to make it happen.

Love exceeds every gift. That’s why it is the “still more excellent way” as it is written in the last verse of the previous chapter. Love, as it is meant here, is not just a feeling of affection. It is not the cheap love that is found in the world, where love is in fact self-love. No, here it is about the nature of God Himself. “God is love” (1 John 4:8; 16).

The great feature of Divine love, thus from which you can recognize the Divine love, is that it is a perfectly selfless love. It is the giving love that is focused on the other. Was not that the purpose of the gift? Isn’t the gift focused on the other to be of profit for the other? Love gives you the strength to be able to do that, for you have received the Divine nature (2 Peter 1:4).

In the life of the Lord Jesus, Who is God Himself, everything that is said about love in our chapter is found in a perfect way. You may put this chapter, so to speak, right next to the Gospels and you will find the practice or application of it on every page. Then you will also see that Divine love goes much further than sympathy or human affection. You probably have no difficulty to practice your gift toward a brother or sister who is kind to you, but love goes much further than that.

Love, as it is presented here, gets to work, even if there is nothing attractive to be found with the other person. You may be annoyed by a brother or sister. But Divine, unselfish love is not offended by anything. Love gets to work because it is love. To love, it makes no difference how the opposite is or responds.

The great example is God. I already pointed that out: God is love. Well, in 1 John 4 is written how God showed that (1 John 4:9-10). He gave His only begotten Son. Even though God surely knew that man did not want Him and even though He knew what they would do to Him, He nevertheless gave Him! That is love. It is the same love that is needed to be able to practice your gift. Without this love everything means nothing. Without love, things you want to impress others with, have no value at all.

1 Corinthians 13:1. Paul applies a lot of this chapter to himself. He often uses the word ‘I’. If you read this part, you might apply this to yourself as well. He starts with ‘speaking in tongues’. That was in high esteem with the Corinthians. They were proud of this gift. Just imagine that you were able to speak all the languages of the world without having learned them, and that you could even speak the language of the angels. That would be quite something! However, if you would not let yourself be guided by love in practicing them, it would be nothing more than hollow sounds that fade away after a short while and have no permanent effect.

1 Corinthians 13:2. With the other gifts it is the same thing. Even if you would be able to, on the basis of the Bible, tell everything about the future (“prophesy”) and were introduced to the “mysteries”, the secrets of God and knew the Bible by heart (“all knowledge”) and do impressive acts of faith (“all faith”), you would be nothing; you would be zero point zero, zero and void indeed, if love has not been your inner motive to practice those gifts.

1 Corinthians 13:3. And what about bestowing all your goods to feed the poor? Is that not a generous aim? It would still be entirely useless if love were not the reason that motivated you. People could give away all they possess to ease their conscience. They might have dishonestly gained many of their goods. They think to cleanse their conscience by giving away everything. But that will not profit them at all because they lack love.

There were also people who even gave their body to be burned. They might have poured gasoline over themselves and set themselves on fire to draw people’s attention to something they sacrificed themselves for. They might have succeeded to appear in the media, but it did not benefit them themselves because their efforts were without Divine love. To God, it meant nothing.

1 Corinthians 13:4. Then in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 a description follows of the way love manifests itself. In fact it says more about what love is not, than what love is. It is like the description of the new heaven and the new earth in Revelation 21, where you read about things that will not be there anymore (Revelation 21:4). You live in a world in which you have to do with the consequences of sin in every possible way. Divine love is not disturbed by that, but on the contrary sees that as a chance to prove itself. That is perfectly seen in the life of the Lord Jesus. This chapter is therefore, as it has already been said, a description of Him.

Because sin is still in you, the best proof of love you can give is by abandoning a number of things. However, the first two things that are mentioned have a positive effect. Be “patient” is not a favorite characteristic to the world we live in. It means that you can control yourself if you see things that are wrong, or if you yourself are cheated. Instead of demanding your rights you are patient with the other person. You even go further. You are ”kind” (good) to all the people around you. Is that not what the Lord Jesus was?

Then the characteristics follow that are not present in the Divine love. Who is never “jealous”? “Does not brag” you can compare most with not ‘acting like a braggart’ or showing how beautiful you are, or not displaying and promoting your latest purchase (whatever that may be). To be “arrogant” is wanting to be more than you are. Hasn’t that ever happened?

1 Corinthians 13:5. Haven’t you ever behaved ”unbecomingly”? This means, haven’t you ever blatantly ignored someone’s feelings? Have you always considered the other person’s concern only, without seeking your “own” interest? Has someone wronged you by doing something against you? Are you willing to abandon all evil thoughts about that person and “not take into account” the wrong done to you? Isn’t it more usual that you are often more inclined to repay evil with evil? We rather wish evil on a person than not to impute it.

1 Corinthians 13:6. Are there times you remember when you had pleasure in watching other people make a big mistake? Of course that was to ease your own conscience. Back then you did not like to hear the truth, while love on the contrary rejoices with that.

All these things were not found with the Lord Jesus. Neither are they found in the love, the Divine nature, the new life you received, for that is the life of the Lord Jesus. If you give love priority, you will experience that with you the same wrong things are missing and the same good things are found as with the Lord Jesus.

1 Corinthians 13:7. Some good things are written in this verse. Love “bears all things”. That goes far. Tolerate everything and accept that people ignore you? If love demands it: yes!

Love “believes all things”. That is not the naive gullibility that takes everything that is said to be true. It means that love is not suspicious. You might say this: love trusts the other until the contrary shows otherwise.

Love “hopes all things”. Love knows that evil will not have the last word and it continues to hope – the biblical hope means: knowing for sure – that good will always conquer.

Love “endures all things”. That means it can take a beating. She remains active right through all trials.

Now read 1 Corinthians 13:1-7 again.

Reflection: Which positive features of love do you encounter here and which negative features? What are your weak points? How can you change them?

2 Corinthians 2:4

Love Never Fails

1 Corinthians 13:8. If it is said that love never fails, it cannot be otherwise than that it is about Divine love. It can never be said of human or natural love. That love can grow cold and even change into hatred.

In the practice of life it is no exception, unfortunately, when husband and wife separate because they no longer have feelings toward each other. When they got married it all seemed so wonderful, but in a course of a short or longer time, the love they first had toward each other grew cold. That is because this love is based on what the other is or does.

Divine love on the contrary always loves no matter how the other person behaves. The cause of this is that God is the source of this Divine love. Therefore that love never fails. It has always been and will always abide. That cannot be said of the gifts. “Prophecy” and “knowledge” will be “done away” and “tongues” will “cease”.

We need prophecies as long as we live on earth. Two things are meant by prophecies. In the first place it is about predicting the future, things that are to happen. You find them through the whole Bible. Your expectation of the future determines your life on earth. If you for example know what will happen to the world, you will consider that in the way you live in the world and in the way you deal with it.

Second, prophecy in the sense of chapter 14 (1 Corinthians 14:3), where it is about preaching in the church. There it is not about a prediction about the future, but about an encouragement or exhortation that you need for your faith life.

In contrast to love, prophecies will be done away. When a prediction of the future has been fulfilled then the prophecy has been done away. That will happen to all prophecies, for God will surely do what He has said. Even the prophecy in the sense of encouragement or exhortation will be done away, namely when we shall be taken up to heaven. Then we will be in no need of any encouraging or exhorting word anymore.

The same goes for knowledge: it will be done away. Gaining knowledge is something that belongs to the imperfect life on earth. You go to school and after that you might follow some training to enrich your knowledge to do your job better. Gaining knowledge goes on as long as you live on earth. That also applies to the things of God. But in heaven that will not be necessary anymore; then knowledge will be done away, for we will know fully.

The tongues “will cease”. That will not only be in heaven, but, in my opinion, already on earth. To clarify why I think so, I would like to point at the word used here. That, at least, has helped me when I pondered on the gift of speaking in tongues and whether this gift still occurs. Of prophecies and of knowledge it is said that “they will be done away”, while of tongues it is said that “they will cease”. This distinction is important.

‘Will be done away’ refers to an event, an action, through which both prophecies and knowledge will come to an end. This event or action is the coming of the Lord Jesus to pick up the church and to bring it into heaven. Then the perfect situation has come and therefore prophecy and knowledge will not be needed anymore.

Regarding the tongues it is different. ‘They will cease’ means that they will naturally cease after a course of time, namely, when they have fulfilled their function. Ceasing does not happen by a one-time action, but happens gradually. This gift slowly dies away, so to speak.

What was the function of the tongues? That was to make clear at the beginning of the church that God was in action. In the book of Acts, where the early days of the church are described, you read several times in the first chapters about speaking in tongues. But the further you read in this Bible book, the less you encounter this gift, until it entirely vanishes. The meaning of speaking in tongues will be commented on in detail in chapter 14, but here you already find an indication, which you ought not to ignore.

1 Corinthians 13:9. Then Paul will speak further only about prophecy and knowledge. Both are “in part”, that means that prophesying and knowing happens little by little. With God perfect knowledge is present, but with us there is partial knowledge. You might compare this to getting to know a city. You can only know a city well by walking through all its streets. After you’ve been in each street, you’ve got to know the city little by little. That is meant by ‘in part’, thus partially.

1 Corinthians 13:10. Only when you fly in an airplane above the city, you can get the big picture and you see how each street is connected to the other. The truth of God is like that. You can be occupied with your blessings as a Christian at one moment and at the other moment with the future of Israel, but not with both of them at the same time. Of course you will see more of the wonderful unity of the Bible if you are more and more occupied with the Bible. Nevertheless you will only be able to see the big picture of God’s plan when the perfect situation has come, that is when we are glorified.

1 Corinthians 13:11. That there is also growth in spiritual terms, appears from what Paul says about a child and about a man. What applies to nature also applies spiritually. I do not know how long you’ve already known the Lord. I surely know that, in a course of time, you will find some things more important than you did in the past. You will get to know the value of certain things better.

A little child loves to play with all kinds of things. It is not conscious of the value of those things and it is not even interested in that. To have fun with it, is the only thing that counts. A toy-car is fun and sitting behind the wheel of a real car is also fun. But he who has become a man will surely have discovered in the meantime the big difference between the value and the use of it. That’s how it is in spiritual view. The Corinthians loved to speak in tongues in the ‘childhood’ of the church. They were not aware yet of the real value of the church.

1 Corinthians 13:12. The reason why we still see everything “dimly” is because of the limitations we have as humans. This doesn’t mean that we do not need to learn to know God’s Word, as if it is, after all, difficult and inconceivable. No, he who really loves God and the Lord Jesus will make every effort to learn to know Them better. And the Bible is the only way to do that. Haven’t you ever experienced that by reading the Bible certain things suddenly become clear? It is the desire of the Lord Jesus that we grow in insight.

Seeing “dimly”, as if you “see in a mirror” that does not reflect your face entirely clearly, you should compare to the perfection of heaven. When we are there, each limitation and dimness we experience here on earth will disappear. I will then know in the same way as God has always known me.

1 Corinthians 13:13. But as long as I am on earth, “faith, hope, love” abide available to me. To each Christian these are the three pillars on which his life rests and the power through which he lives in a world that lies in the power of the evil one (1 John 5:19).

“Faith” is the same as trust. A Christian trusts in God and in the Lord Jesus in the present, despite the resistance and difficulties he experiences.

“Hope” looks forward to the time when we will be perfect. In Hebrews 6 hope is called “an anchor of the soul” (Hebrews 6:19). An anchor is important for a ship to be kept in the right place and that it will not be dragged by the stream. A captain once told me that not all anchors are equally reliable. When he doesn’t trust his anchor he has no rest. When he can trust his anchor he can sleep quietly. If you rely on the Lord Jesus like that and continue to look forward to His coming, nothing will turn you upside down.

Finally “love”. It is the “greatest” of the three. Love is ‘the greatest’ because it does not only consider God and the Lord Jesus, as it is the case with faith and hope, but also here on earth it considers other people to do them well. Love is also ‘the greatest’ because it abides in eternity, while faith is changed into seeing and hope is be fulfilled.

Now read 1 Corinthians 13:8-13 again.

Reflection: Faith, hope and love together occur approximately ten times in the New Testament, for example in 1 Thessalonians 1:3. Try to find other examples yourself.

2 Corinthians 2:5

Love Never Fails

1 Corinthians 13:8. If it is said that love never fails, it cannot be otherwise than that it is about Divine love. It can never be said of human or natural love. That love can grow cold and even change into hatred.

In the practice of life it is no exception, unfortunately, when husband and wife separate because they no longer have feelings toward each other. When they got married it all seemed so wonderful, but in a course of a short or longer time, the love they first had toward each other grew cold. That is because this love is based on what the other is or does.

Divine love on the contrary always loves no matter how the other person behaves. The cause of this is that God is the source of this Divine love. Therefore that love never fails. It has always been and will always abide. That cannot be said of the gifts. “Prophecy” and “knowledge” will be “done away” and “tongues” will “cease”.

We need prophecies as long as we live on earth. Two things are meant by prophecies. In the first place it is about predicting the future, things that are to happen. You find them through the whole Bible. Your expectation of the future determines your life on earth. If you for example know what will happen to the world, you will consider that in the way you live in the world and in the way you deal with it.

Second, prophecy in the sense of chapter 14 (1 Corinthians 14:3), where it is about preaching in the church. There it is not about a prediction about the future, but about an encouragement or exhortation that you need for your faith life.

In contrast to love, prophecies will be done away. When a prediction of the future has been fulfilled then the prophecy has been done away. That will happen to all prophecies, for God will surely do what He has said. Even the prophecy in the sense of encouragement or exhortation will be done away, namely when we shall be taken up to heaven. Then we will be in no need of any encouraging or exhorting word anymore.

The same goes for knowledge: it will be done away. Gaining knowledge is something that belongs to the imperfect life on earth. You go to school and after that you might follow some training to enrich your knowledge to do your job better. Gaining knowledge goes on as long as you live on earth. That also applies to the things of God. But in heaven that will not be necessary anymore; then knowledge will be done away, for we will know fully.

The tongues “will cease”. That will not only be in heaven, but, in my opinion, already on earth. To clarify why I think so, I would like to point at the word used here. That, at least, has helped me when I pondered on the gift of speaking in tongues and whether this gift still occurs. Of prophecies and of knowledge it is said that “they will be done away”, while of tongues it is said that “they will cease”. This distinction is important.

‘Will be done away’ refers to an event, an action, through which both prophecies and knowledge will come to an end. This event or action is the coming of the Lord Jesus to pick up the church and to bring it into heaven. Then the perfect situation has come and therefore prophecy and knowledge will not be needed anymore.

Regarding the tongues it is different. ‘They will cease’ means that they will naturally cease after a course of time, namely, when they have fulfilled their function. Ceasing does not happen by a one-time action, but happens gradually. This gift slowly dies away, so to speak.

What was the function of the tongues? That was to make clear at the beginning of the church that God was in action. In the book of Acts, where the early days of the church are described, you read several times in the first chapters about speaking in tongues. But the further you read in this Bible book, the less you encounter this gift, until it entirely vanishes. The meaning of speaking in tongues will be commented on in detail in chapter 14, but here you already find an indication, which you ought not to ignore.

1 Corinthians 13:9. Then Paul will speak further only about prophecy and knowledge. Both are “in part”, that means that prophesying and knowing happens little by little. With God perfect knowledge is present, but with us there is partial knowledge. You might compare this to getting to know a city. You can only know a city well by walking through all its streets. After you’ve been in each street, you’ve got to know the city little by little. That is meant by ‘in part’, thus partially.

1 Corinthians 13:10. Only when you fly in an airplane above the city, you can get the big picture and you see how each street is connected to the other. The truth of God is like that. You can be occupied with your blessings as a Christian at one moment and at the other moment with the future of Israel, but not with both of them at the same time. Of course you will see more of the wonderful unity of the Bible if you are more and more occupied with the Bible. Nevertheless you will only be able to see the big picture of God’s plan when the perfect situation has come, that is when we are glorified.

1 Corinthians 13:11. That there is also growth in spiritual terms, appears from what Paul says about a child and about a man. What applies to nature also applies spiritually. I do not know how long you’ve already known the Lord. I surely know that, in a course of time, you will find some things more important than you did in the past. You will get to know the value of certain things better.

A little child loves to play with all kinds of things. It is not conscious of the value of those things and it is not even interested in that. To have fun with it, is the only thing that counts. A toy-car is fun and sitting behind the wheel of a real car is also fun. But he who has become a man will surely have discovered in the meantime the big difference between the value and the use of it. That’s how it is in spiritual view. The Corinthians loved to speak in tongues in the ‘childhood’ of the church. They were not aware yet of the real value of the church.

1 Corinthians 13:12. The reason why we still see everything “dimly” is because of the limitations we have as humans. This doesn’t mean that we do not need to learn to know God’s Word, as if it is, after all, difficult and inconceivable. No, he who really loves God and the Lord Jesus will make every effort to learn to know Them better. And the Bible is the only way to do that. Haven’t you ever experienced that by reading the Bible certain things suddenly become clear? It is the desire of the Lord Jesus that we grow in insight.

Seeing “dimly”, as if you “see in a mirror” that does not reflect your face entirely clearly, you should compare to the perfection of heaven. When we are there, each limitation and dimness we experience here on earth will disappear. I will then know in the same way as God has always known me.

1 Corinthians 13:13. But as long as I am on earth, “faith, hope, love” abide available to me. To each Christian these are the three pillars on which his life rests and the power through which he lives in a world that lies in the power of the evil one (1 John 5:19).

“Faith” is the same as trust. A Christian trusts in God and in the Lord Jesus in the present, despite the resistance and difficulties he experiences.

“Hope” looks forward to the time when we will be perfect. In Hebrews 6 hope is called “an anchor of the soul” (Hebrews 6:19). An anchor is important for a ship to be kept in the right place and that it will not be dragged by the stream. A captain once told me that not all anchors are equally reliable. When he doesn’t trust his anchor he has no rest. When he can trust his anchor he can sleep quietly. If you rely on the Lord Jesus like that and continue to look forward to His coming, nothing will turn you upside down.

Finally “love”. It is the “greatest” of the three. Love is ‘the greatest’ because it does not only consider God and the Lord Jesus, as it is the case with faith and hope, but also here on earth it considers other people to do them well. Love is also ‘the greatest’ because it abides in eternity, while faith is changed into seeing and hope is be fulfilled.

Now read 1 Corinthians 13:8-13 again.

Reflection: Faith, hope and love together occur approximately ten times in the New Testament, for example in 1 Thessalonians 1:3. Try to find other examples yourself.

2 Corinthians 2:6

Love Never Fails

1 Corinthians 13:8. If it is said that love never fails, it cannot be otherwise than that it is about Divine love. It can never be said of human or natural love. That love can grow cold and even change into hatred.

In the practice of life it is no exception, unfortunately, when husband and wife separate because they no longer have feelings toward each other. When they got married it all seemed so wonderful, but in a course of a short or longer time, the love they first had toward each other grew cold. That is because this love is based on what the other is or does.

Divine love on the contrary always loves no matter how the other person behaves. The cause of this is that God is the source of this Divine love. Therefore that love never fails. It has always been and will always abide. That cannot be said of the gifts. “Prophecy” and “knowledge” will be “done away” and “tongues” will “cease”.

We need prophecies as long as we live on earth. Two things are meant by prophecies. In the first place it is about predicting the future, things that are to happen. You find them through the whole Bible. Your expectation of the future determines your life on earth. If you for example know what will happen to the world, you will consider that in the way you live in the world and in the way you deal with it.

Second, prophecy in the sense of chapter 14 (1 Corinthians 14:3), where it is about preaching in the church. There it is not about a prediction about the future, but about an encouragement or exhortation that you need for your faith life.

In contrast to love, prophecies will be done away. When a prediction of the future has been fulfilled then the prophecy has been done away. That will happen to all prophecies, for God will surely do what He has said. Even the prophecy in the sense of encouragement or exhortation will be done away, namely when we shall be taken up to heaven. Then we will be in no need of any encouraging or exhorting word anymore.

The same goes for knowledge: it will be done away. Gaining knowledge is something that belongs to the imperfect life on earth. You go to school and after that you might follow some training to enrich your knowledge to do your job better. Gaining knowledge goes on as long as you live on earth. That also applies to the things of God. But in heaven that will not be necessary anymore; then knowledge will be done away, for we will know fully.

The tongues “will cease”. That will not only be in heaven, but, in my opinion, already on earth. To clarify why I think so, I would like to point at the word used here. That, at least, has helped me when I pondered on the gift of speaking in tongues and whether this gift still occurs. Of prophecies and of knowledge it is said that “they will be done away”, while of tongues it is said that “they will cease”. This distinction is important.

‘Will be done away’ refers to an event, an action, through which both prophecies and knowledge will come to an end. This event or action is the coming of the Lord Jesus to pick up the church and to bring it into heaven. Then the perfect situation has come and therefore prophecy and knowledge will not be needed anymore.

Regarding the tongues it is different. ‘They will cease’ means that they will naturally cease after a course of time, namely, when they have fulfilled their function. Ceasing does not happen by a one-time action, but happens gradually. This gift slowly dies away, so to speak.

What was the function of the tongues? That was to make clear at the beginning of the church that God was in action. In the book of Acts, where the early days of the church are described, you read several times in the first chapters about speaking in tongues. But the further you read in this Bible book, the less you encounter this gift, until it entirely vanishes. The meaning of speaking in tongues will be commented on in detail in chapter 14, but here you already find an indication, which you ought not to ignore.

1 Corinthians 13:9. Then Paul will speak further only about prophecy and knowledge. Both are “in part”, that means that prophesying and knowing happens little by little. With God perfect knowledge is present, but with us there is partial knowledge. You might compare this to getting to know a city. You can only know a city well by walking through all its streets. After you’ve been in each street, you’ve got to know the city little by little. That is meant by ‘in part’, thus partially.

1 Corinthians 13:10. Only when you fly in an airplane above the city, you can get the big picture and you see how each street is connected to the other. The truth of God is like that. You can be occupied with your blessings as a Christian at one moment and at the other moment with the future of Israel, but not with both of them at the same time. Of course you will see more of the wonderful unity of the Bible if you are more and more occupied with the Bible. Nevertheless you will only be able to see the big picture of God’s plan when the perfect situation has come, that is when we are glorified.

1 Corinthians 13:11. That there is also growth in spiritual terms, appears from what Paul says about a child and about a man. What applies to nature also applies spiritually. I do not know how long you’ve already known the Lord. I surely know that, in a course of time, you will find some things more important than you did in the past. You will get to know the value of certain things better.

A little child loves to play with all kinds of things. It is not conscious of the value of those things and it is not even interested in that. To have fun with it, is the only thing that counts. A toy-car is fun and sitting behind the wheel of a real car is also fun. But he who has become a man will surely have discovered in the meantime the big difference between the value and the use of it. That’s how it is in spiritual view. The Corinthians loved to speak in tongues in the ‘childhood’ of the church. They were not aware yet of the real value of the church.

1 Corinthians 13:12. The reason why we still see everything “dimly” is because of the limitations we have as humans. This doesn’t mean that we do not need to learn to know God’s Word, as if it is, after all, difficult and inconceivable. No, he who really loves God and the Lord Jesus will make every effort to learn to know Them better. And the Bible is the only way to do that. Haven’t you ever experienced that by reading the Bible certain things suddenly become clear? It is the desire of the Lord Jesus that we grow in insight.

Seeing “dimly”, as if you “see in a mirror” that does not reflect your face entirely clearly, you should compare to the perfection of heaven. When we are there, each limitation and dimness we experience here on earth will disappear. I will then know in the same way as God has always known me.

1 Corinthians 13:13. But as long as I am on earth, “faith, hope, love” abide available to me. To each Christian these are the three pillars on which his life rests and the power through which he lives in a world that lies in the power of the evil one (1 John 5:19).

“Faith” is the same as trust. A Christian trusts in God and in the Lord Jesus in the present, despite the resistance and difficulties he experiences.

“Hope” looks forward to the time when we will be perfect. In Hebrews 6 hope is called “an anchor of the soul” (Hebrews 6:19). An anchor is important for a ship to be kept in the right place and that it will not be dragged by the stream. A captain once told me that not all anchors are equally reliable. When he doesn’t trust his anchor he has no rest. When he can trust his anchor he can sleep quietly. If you rely on the Lord Jesus like that and continue to look forward to His coming, nothing will turn you upside down.

Finally “love”. It is the “greatest” of the three. Love is ‘the greatest’ because it does not only consider God and the Lord Jesus, as it is the case with faith and hope, but also here on earth it considers other people to do them well. Love is also ‘the greatest’ because it abides in eternity, while faith is changed into seeing and hope is be fulfilled.

Now read 1 Corinthians 13:8-13 again.

Reflection: Faith, hope and love together occur approximately ten times in the New Testament, for example in 1 Thessalonians 1:3. Try to find other examples yourself.

2 Corinthians 2:7

Love Never Fails

1 Corinthians 13:8. If it is said that love never fails, it cannot be otherwise than that it is about Divine love. It can never be said of human or natural love. That love can grow cold and even change into hatred.

In the practice of life it is no exception, unfortunately, when husband and wife separate because they no longer have feelings toward each other. When they got married it all seemed so wonderful, but in a course of a short or longer time, the love they first had toward each other grew cold. That is because this love is based on what the other is or does.

Divine love on the contrary always loves no matter how the other person behaves. The cause of this is that God is the source of this Divine love. Therefore that love never fails. It has always been and will always abide. That cannot be said of the gifts. “Prophecy” and “knowledge” will be “done away” and “tongues” will “cease”.

We need prophecies as long as we live on earth. Two things are meant by prophecies. In the first place it is about predicting the future, things that are to happen. You find them through the whole Bible. Your expectation of the future determines your life on earth. If you for example know what will happen to the world, you will consider that in the way you live in the world and in the way you deal with it.

Second, prophecy in the sense of chapter 14 (1 Corinthians 14:3), where it is about preaching in the church. There it is not about a prediction about the future, but about an encouragement or exhortation that you need for your faith life.

In contrast to love, prophecies will be done away. When a prediction of the future has been fulfilled then the prophecy has been done away. That will happen to all prophecies, for God will surely do what He has said. Even the prophecy in the sense of encouragement or exhortation will be done away, namely when we shall be taken up to heaven. Then we will be in no need of any encouraging or exhorting word anymore.

The same goes for knowledge: it will be done away. Gaining knowledge is something that belongs to the imperfect life on earth. You go to school and after that you might follow some training to enrich your knowledge to do your job better. Gaining knowledge goes on as long as you live on earth. That also applies to the things of God. But in heaven that will not be necessary anymore; then knowledge will be done away, for we will know fully.

The tongues “will cease”. That will not only be in heaven, but, in my opinion, already on earth. To clarify why I think so, I would like to point at the word used here. That, at least, has helped me when I pondered on the gift of speaking in tongues and whether this gift still occurs. Of prophecies and of knowledge it is said that “they will be done away”, while of tongues it is said that “they will cease”. This distinction is important.

‘Will be done away’ refers to an event, an action, through which both prophecies and knowledge will come to an end. This event or action is the coming of the Lord Jesus to pick up the church and to bring it into heaven. Then the perfect situation has come and therefore prophecy and knowledge will not be needed anymore.

Regarding the tongues it is different. ‘They will cease’ means that they will naturally cease after a course of time, namely, when they have fulfilled their function. Ceasing does not happen by a one-time action, but happens gradually. This gift slowly dies away, so to speak.

What was the function of the tongues? That was to make clear at the beginning of the church that God was in action. In the book of Acts, where the early days of the church are described, you read several times in the first chapters about speaking in tongues. But the further you read in this Bible book, the less you encounter this gift, until it entirely vanishes. The meaning of speaking in tongues will be commented on in detail in chapter 14, but here you already find an indication, which you ought not to ignore.

1 Corinthians 13:9. Then Paul will speak further only about prophecy and knowledge. Both are “in part”, that means that prophesying and knowing happens little by little. With God perfect knowledge is present, but with us there is partial knowledge. You might compare this to getting to know a city. You can only know a city well by walking through all its streets. After you’ve been in each street, you’ve got to know the city little by little. That is meant by ‘in part’, thus partially.

1 Corinthians 13:10. Only when you fly in an airplane above the city, you can get the big picture and you see how each street is connected to the other. The truth of God is like that. You can be occupied with your blessings as a Christian at one moment and at the other moment with the future of Israel, but not with both of them at the same time. Of course you will see more of the wonderful unity of the Bible if you are more and more occupied with the Bible. Nevertheless you will only be able to see the big picture of God’s plan when the perfect situation has come, that is when we are glorified.

1 Corinthians 13:11. That there is also growth in spiritual terms, appears from what Paul says about a child and about a man. What applies to nature also applies spiritually. I do not know how long you’ve already known the Lord. I surely know that, in a course of time, you will find some things more important than you did in the past. You will get to know the value of certain things better.

A little child loves to play with all kinds of things. It is not conscious of the value of those things and it is not even interested in that. To have fun with it, is the only thing that counts. A toy-car is fun and sitting behind the wheel of a real car is also fun. But he who has become a man will surely have discovered in the meantime the big difference between the value and the use of it. That’s how it is in spiritual view. The Corinthians loved to speak in tongues in the ‘childhood’ of the church. They were not aware yet of the real value of the church.

1 Corinthians 13:12. The reason why we still see everything “dimly” is because of the limitations we have as humans. This doesn’t mean that we do not need to learn to know God’s Word, as if it is, after all, difficult and inconceivable. No, he who really loves God and the Lord Jesus will make every effort to learn to know Them better. And the Bible is the only way to do that. Haven’t you ever experienced that by reading the Bible certain things suddenly become clear? It is the desire of the Lord Jesus that we grow in insight.

Seeing “dimly”, as if you “see in a mirror” that does not reflect your face entirely clearly, you should compare to the perfection of heaven. When we are there, each limitation and dimness we experience here on earth will disappear. I will then know in the same way as God has always known me.

1 Corinthians 13:13. But as long as I am on earth, “faith, hope, love” abide available to me. To each Christian these are the three pillars on which his life rests and the power through which he lives in a world that lies in the power of the evil one (1 John 5:19).

“Faith” is the same as trust. A Christian trusts in God and in the Lord Jesus in the present, despite the resistance and difficulties he experiences.

“Hope” looks forward to the time when we will be perfect. In Hebrews 6 hope is called “an anchor of the soul” (Hebrews 6:19). An anchor is important for a ship to be kept in the right place and that it will not be dragged by the stream. A captain once told me that not all anchors are equally reliable. When he doesn’t trust his anchor he has no rest. When he can trust his anchor he can sleep quietly. If you rely on the Lord Jesus like that and continue to look forward to His coming, nothing will turn you upside down.

Finally “love”. It is the “greatest” of the three. Love is ‘the greatest’ because it does not only consider God and the Lord Jesus, as it is the case with faith and hope, but also here on earth it considers other people to do them well. Love is also ‘the greatest’ because it abides in eternity, while faith is changed into seeing and hope is be fulfilled.

Now read 1 Corinthians 13:8-13 again.

Reflection: Faith, hope and love together occur approximately ten times in the New Testament, for example in 1 Thessalonians 1:3. Try to find other examples yourself.

2 Corinthians 2:8

Love Never Fails

1 Corinthians 13:8. If it is said that love never fails, it cannot be otherwise than that it is about Divine love. It can never be said of human or natural love. That love can grow cold and even change into hatred.

In the practice of life it is no exception, unfortunately, when husband and wife separate because they no longer have feelings toward each other. When they got married it all seemed so wonderful, but in a course of a short or longer time, the love they first had toward each other grew cold. That is because this love is based on what the other is or does.

Divine love on the contrary always loves no matter how the other person behaves. The cause of this is that God is the source of this Divine love. Therefore that love never fails. It has always been and will always abide. That cannot be said of the gifts. “Prophecy” and “knowledge” will be “done away” and “tongues” will “cease”.

We need prophecies as long as we live on earth. Two things are meant by prophecies. In the first place it is about predicting the future, things that are to happen. You find them through the whole Bible. Your expectation of the future determines your life on earth. If you for example know what will happen to the world, you will consider that in the way you live in the world and in the way you deal with it.

Second, prophecy in the sense of chapter 14 (1 Corinthians 14:3), where it is about preaching in the church. There it is not about a prediction about the future, but about an encouragement or exhortation that you need for your faith life.

In contrast to love, prophecies will be done away. When a prediction of the future has been fulfilled then the prophecy has been done away. That will happen to all prophecies, for God will surely do what He has said. Even the prophecy in the sense of encouragement or exhortation will be done away, namely when we shall be taken up to heaven. Then we will be in no need of any encouraging or exhorting word anymore.

The same goes for knowledge: it will be done away. Gaining knowledge is something that belongs to the imperfect life on earth. You go to school and after that you might follow some training to enrich your knowledge to do your job better. Gaining knowledge goes on as long as you live on earth. That also applies to the things of God. But in heaven that will not be necessary anymore; then knowledge will be done away, for we will know fully.

The tongues “will cease”. That will not only be in heaven, but, in my opinion, already on earth. To clarify why I think so, I would like to point at the word used here. That, at least, has helped me when I pondered on the gift of speaking in tongues and whether this gift still occurs. Of prophecies and of knowledge it is said that “they will be done away”, while of tongues it is said that “they will cease”. This distinction is important.

‘Will be done away’ refers to an event, an action, through which both prophecies and knowledge will come to an end. This event or action is the coming of the Lord Jesus to pick up the church and to bring it into heaven. Then the perfect situation has come and therefore prophecy and knowledge will not be needed anymore.

Regarding the tongues it is different. ‘They will cease’ means that they will naturally cease after a course of time, namely, when they have fulfilled their function. Ceasing does not happen by a one-time action, but happens gradually. This gift slowly dies away, so to speak.

What was the function of the tongues? That was to make clear at the beginning of the church that God was in action. In the book of Acts, where the early days of the church are described, you read several times in the first chapters about speaking in tongues. But the further you read in this Bible book, the less you encounter this gift, until it entirely vanishes. The meaning of speaking in tongues will be commented on in detail in chapter 14, but here you already find an indication, which you ought not to ignore.

1 Corinthians 13:9. Then Paul will speak further only about prophecy and knowledge. Both are “in part”, that means that prophesying and knowing happens little by little. With God perfect knowledge is present, but with us there is partial knowledge. You might compare this to getting to know a city. You can only know a city well by walking through all its streets. After you’ve been in each street, you’ve got to know the city little by little. That is meant by ‘in part’, thus partially.

1 Corinthians 13:10. Only when you fly in an airplane above the city, you can get the big picture and you see how each street is connected to the other. The truth of God is like that. You can be occupied with your blessings as a Christian at one moment and at the other moment with the future of Israel, but not with both of them at the same time. Of course you will see more of the wonderful unity of the Bible if you are more and more occupied with the Bible. Nevertheless you will only be able to see the big picture of God’s plan when the perfect situation has come, that is when we are glorified.

1 Corinthians 13:11. That there is also growth in spiritual terms, appears from what Paul says about a child and about a man. What applies to nature also applies spiritually. I do not know how long you’ve already known the Lord. I surely know that, in a course of time, you will find some things more important than you did in the past. You will get to know the value of certain things better.

A little child loves to play with all kinds of things. It is not conscious of the value of those things and it is not even interested in that. To have fun with it, is the only thing that counts. A toy-car is fun and sitting behind the wheel of a real car is also fun. But he who has become a man will surely have discovered in the meantime the big difference between the value and the use of it. That’s how it is in spiritual view. The Corinthians loved to speak in tongues in the ‘childhood’ of the church. They were not aware yet of the real value of the church.

1 Corinthians 13:12. The reason why we still see everything “dimly” is because of the limitations we have as humans. This doesn’t mean that we do not need to learn to know God’s Word, as if it is, after all, difficult and inconceivable. No, he who really loves God and the Lord Jesus will make every effort to learn to know Them better. And the Bible is the only way to do that. Haven’t you ever experienced that by reading the Bible certain things suddenly become clear? It is the desire of the Lord Jesus that we grow in insight.

Seeing “dimly”, as if you “see in a mirror” that does not reflect your face entirely clearly, you should compare to the perfection of heaven. When we are there, each limitation and dimness we experience here on earth will disappear. I will then know in the same way as God has always known me.

1 Corinthians 13:13. But as long as I am on earth, “faith, hope, love” abide available to me. To each Christian these are the three pillars on which his life rests and the power through which he lives in a world that lies in the power of the evil one (1 John 5:19).

“Faith” is the same as trust. A Christian trusts in God and in the Lord Jesus in the present, despite the resistance and difficulties he experiences.

“Hope” looks forward to the time when we will be perfect. In Hebrews 6 hope is called “an anchor of the soul” (Hebrews 6:19). An anchor is important for a ship to be kept in the right place and that it will not be dragged by the stream. A captain once told me that not all anchors are equally reliable. When he doesn’t trust his anchor he has no rest. When he can trust his anchor he can sleep quietly. If you rely on the Lord Jesus like that and continue to look forward to His coming, nothing will turn you upside down.

Finally “love”. It is the “greatest” of the three. Love is ‘the greatest’ because it does not only consider God and the Lord Jesus, as it is the case with faith and hope, but also here on earth it considers other people to do them well. Love is also ‘the greatest’ because it abides in eternity, while faith is changed into seeing and hope is be fulfilled.

Now read 1 Corinthians 13:8-13 again.

Reflection: Faith, hope and love together occur approximately ten times in the New Testament, for example in 1 Thessalonians 1:3. Try to find other examples yourself.

2 Corinthians 2:9

Love Never Fails

1 Corinthians 13:8. If it is said that love never fails, it cannot be otherwise than that it is about Divine love. It can never be said of human or natural love. That love can grow cold and even change into hatred.

In the practice of life it is no exception, unfortunately, when husband and wife separate because they no longer have feelings toward each other. When they got married it all seemed so wonderful, but in a course of a short or longer time, the love they first had toward each other grew cold. That is because this love is based on what the other is or does.

Divine love on the contrary always loves no matter how the other person behaves. The cause of this is that God is the source of this Divine love. Therefore that love never fails. It has always been and will always abide. That cannot be said of the gifts. “Prophecy” and “knowledge” will be “done away” and “tongues” will “cease”.

We need prophecies as long as we live on earth. Two things are meant by prophecies. In the first place it is about predicting the future, things that are to happen. You find them through the whole Bible. Your expectation of the future determines your life on earth. If you for example know what will happen to the world, you will consider that in the way you live in the world and in the way you deal with it.

Second, prophecy in the sense of chapter 14 (1 Corinthians 14:3), where it is about preaching in the church. There it is not about a prediction about the future, but about an encouragement or exhortation that you need for your faith life.

In contrast to love, prophecies will be done away. When a prediction of the future has been fulfilled then the prophecy has been done away. That will happen to all prophecies, for God will surely do what He has said. Even the prophecy in the sense of encouragement or exhortation will be done away, namely when we shall be taken up to heaven. Then we will be in no need of any encouraging or exhorting word anymore.

The same goes for knowledge: it will be done away. Gaining knowledge is something that belongs to the imperfect life on earth. You go to school and after that you might follow some training to enrich your knowledge to do your job better. Gaining knowledge goes on as long as you live on earth. That also applies to the things of God. But in heaven that will not be necessary anymore; then knowledge will be done away, for we will know fully.

The tongues “will cease”. That will not only be in heaven, but, in my opinion, already on earth. To clarify why I think so, I would like to point at the word used here. That, at least, has helped me when I pondered on the gift of speaking in tongues and whether this gift still occurs. Of prophecies and of knowledge it is said that “they will be done away”, while of tongues it is said that “they will cease”. This distinction is important.

‘Will be done away’ refers to an event, an action, through which both prophecies and knowledge will come to an end. This event or action is the coming of the Lord Jesus to pick up the church and to bring it into heaven. Then the perfect situation has come and therefore prophecy and knowledge will not be needed anymore.

Regarding the tongues it is different. ‘They will cease’ means that they will naturally cease after a course of time, namely, when they have fulfilled their function. Ceasing does not happen by a one-time action, but happens gradually. This gift slowly dies away, so to speak.

What was the function of the tongues? That was to make clear at the beginning of the church that God was in action. In the book of Acts, where the early days of the church are described, you read several times in the first chapters about speaking in tongues. But the further you read in this Bible book, the less you encounter this gift, until it entirely vanishes. The meaning of speaking in tongues will be commented on in detail in chapter 14, but here you already find an indication, which you ought not to ignore.

1 Corinthians 13:9. Then Paul will speak further only about prophecy and knowledge. Both are “in part”, that means that prophesying and knowing happens little by little. With God perfect knowledge is present, but with us there is partial knowledge. You might compare this to getting to know a city. You can only know a city well by walking through all its streets. After you’ve been in each street, you’ve got to know the city little by little. That is meant by ‘in part’, thus partially.

1 Corinthians 13:10. Only when you fly in an airplane above the city, you can get the big picture and you see how each street is connected to the other. The truth of God is like that. You can be occupied with your blessings as a Christian at one moment and at the other moment with the future of Israel, but not with both of them at the same time. Of course you will see more of the wonderful unity of the Bible if you are more and more occupied with the Bible. Nevertheless you will only be able to see the big picture of God’s plan when the perfect situation has come, that is when we are glorified.

1 Corinthians 13:11. That there is also growth in spiritual terms, appears from what Paul says about a child and about a man. What applies to nature also applies spiritually. I do not know how long you’ve already known the Lord. I surely know that, in a course of time, you will find some things more important than you did in the past. You will get to know the value of certain things better.

A little child loves to play with all kinds of things. It is not conscious of the value of those things and it is not even interested in that. To have fun with it, is the only thing that counts. A toy-car is fun and sitting behind the wheel of a real car is also fun. But he who has become a man will surely have discovered in the meantime the big difference between the value and the use of it. That’s how it is in spiritual view. The Corinthians loved to speak in tongues in the ‘childhood’ of the church. They were not aware yet of the real value of the church.

1 Corinthians 13:12. The reason why we still see everything “dimly” is because of the limitations we have as humans. This doesn’t mean that we do not need to learn to know God’s Word, as if it is, after all, difficult and inconceivable. No, he who really loves God and the Lord Jesus will make every effort to learn to know Them better. And the Bible is the only way to do that. Haven’t you ever experienced that by reading the Bible certain things suddenly become clear? It is the desire of the Lord Jesus that we grow in insight.

Seeing “dimly”, as if you “see in a mirror” that does not reflect your face entirely clearly, you should compare to the perfection of heaven. When we are there, each limitation and dimness we experience here on earth will disappear. I will then know in the same way as God has always known me.

1 Corinthians 13:13. But as long as I am on earth, “faith, hope, love” abide available to me. To each Christian these are the three pillars on which his life rests and the power through which he lives in a world that lies in the power of the evil one (1 John 5:19).

“Faith” is the same as trust. A Christian trusts in God and in the Lord Jesus in the present, despite the resistance and difficulties he experiences.

“Hope” looks forward to the time when we will be perfect. In Hebrews 6 hope is called “an anchor of the soul” (Hebrews 6:19). An anchor is important for a ship to be kept in the right place and that it will not be dragged by the stream. A captain once told me that not all anchors are equally reliable. When he doesn’t trust his anchor he has no rest. When he can trust his anchor he can sleep quietly. If you rely on the Lord Jesus like that and continue to look forward to His coming, nothing will turn you upside down.

Finally “love”. It is the “greatest” of the three. Love is ‘the greatest’ because it does not only consider God and the Lord Jesus, as it is the case with faith and hope, but also here on earth it considers other people to do them well. Love is also ‘the greatest’ because it abides in eternity, while faith is changed into seeing and hope is be fulfilled.

Now read 1 Corinthians 13:8-13 again.

Reflection: Faith, hope and love together occur approximately ten times in the New Testament, for example in 1 Thessalonians 1:3. Try to find other examples yourself.

2 Corinthians 2:11

That the Church May Receive Edification

In the chapter you start with now, a comparison is made between two gifts: prophesying and speaking in tongues or languages. You may have heard about speaking in tongues (which is the same as speaking in languages). The way people talk about it may confuse you. It is often spoken about as a ‘second blessing’. By this they mean that you are indeed converted and have also received the Holy Spirit, although to be a full-fledged Christian you should also be able to speak in tongues. This reasoning is not true at all.

Speaking in tongues is explained clearly in the Bible, as you will see in this chapter. In this chapter it is about the comparison between prophesying and speaking in tongues. You will see that the scales will obviously be tipped to the side of prophesying. That is because prophesying is for the edification of the church. Therefore the Corinthians, and you too, are called to strive most for this gift.

1 Corinthians 14:1. You have seen in chapter 13 that love should be the motive to practice a gift, whatever gift that may be. However, if you want to be guided by love – and it is even said here that you should pursue it, you ought to make a determined effort to achieve this – then you will be willing to serve the church with your gift sincerely. Love is to serve others and not yourself.

Service to the church will be manifested best with prophesying and you can pursue that, but you should know what prophesying is. In 1 Peter 4 you find a good definition of it. It says: “Whoever speaks, [is to do so] as one who is speaking the utterances of God” (1 Peter 4:11). That means that when someone passes on something, it should be something that comes directly from the mouth of God.

To be able to pass on the utterances or oracles of God, a person should be living closely to God in his daily life. That is not a privilege of just a single person, but that should be the desire of each child of God. Actually, it should go without saying that each believer has that desire. However, there are many things that can hinder you to live closely to God. Therefore it says that you should pursue it.

1 Corinthians 14:2. Speaking in tongues is totally different than prophesying. This gift does not address people, but God. That seems much higher, and that’s what the Corinthians thought too and that’s also what many Christians are still thinking, but that is not true. At least, that appears to me to be the honest result of the detailed comparison that Paul makes in this chapter between these two gifts.

1 Corinthians 14:3. A widely spread misconception, is that prophesying in the church as it is spoken of here, is in connection with predicting the future. You hear regularly about people who present themselves as prophets. In several denominations of professing Christianity they stand up to say things that will happen to others in the future. Sometimes these things come true. This performance is in contrast to God’s Word. Only God knows how your life will develop further and He will show you personally everything you should know step by step if you live with Him.

It is another thing when you are on the wrong track and someone warns you that you will end up badly if you go on like that. But that is nothing new, for that is written in God’s Word. The brother or sister who is warning you, actually is prophesying, but in an exhorting sense.

According to 1 Corinthians 14:3 “exhortation” is a part of prophesying. He who deals with his or her fellow-believers like that, is concerned to serve the other person. Exhortation is therefore one way to manifest prophesying. But there are still two more elements mentioned, namely speaking to men for edification and consolation.

“Edification” is about giving firmness to the faith life of church members. By showing the believers, based on the Bible, which place they have received before God and in the world through the work of the Lord Jesus, they will be more capable to live in a way that pleases God.

“Consolation” is also a crucial element of prophesying. As long as the believers live on earth, they have to deal with sad things. God and the Lord Jesus know that and give consolation where it is needed.

Do you see that it is necessary to live closely to God to be capable of prophesying? Only He knows what the hearts of His own need. Therefore the excellent thing in a meeting where “two or three prophets speak” (1 Corinthians 14:29) is that each person present hears something he needs, though the speaker doesn’t know what each person is occupied with. Has it ever happened to you that something has been said in a meeting which seemed as if it was meant only for you? You might have been worrying about something and suddenly the word that was spoken seemed to be exactly the answer to your problem. That is what prophesying is like. You experience to be in the direct presence of God.

That’s what happened to the Samaritan woman, when the Lord Jesus was talking to her in John 4. She was a woman of loose morals. The Lord says to her that she has had five husbands and that the man whom she now has, is not her husband, but she is living together with him. The woman then says: “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet” (John 4:19). She sensed that she was standing in God’s light where you cannot hide anything.

Many people have experienced such an awareness when they heard someone preaching the gospel about the depravation of man. Many have said of the one who preached the Word: ‘It seems like that man knows my life.’ To many it has become a blessing, as to the Samaritan woman, when they acknowledged that it was God’s voice they heard.

That is still the God’s goal with prophesying. He wants to speak to the hearts and consciences of both believers and unbelievers to bless them at last. He mainly wants to use the meetings of the church for that purpose, for that is the issue of this chapter.

1 Corinthians 14:4. The point is, that a gift is meant to edify others. What happens when someone speaks in a tongue? He edifies himself alone. It is of no use to others, for no one understands him. Therefore Paul prefers prophesying far above speaking in a tongue.

1 Corinthians 14:5. He even says that he who prophesies is more than he who speaks in a tongue. That was quite a sharp lesson for the Corinthians. They were really fond of speaking in tongues. There is only one circumstance to profit the church through speaking in tongues and that is when what is spoken is interpreted into the local language.

1 Corinthians 14:6. In any case, Paul wanted to profit the believers at Corinth, and at all places in the world. That would not be the case if he came there and spoke “in tongues”. In fact, that would have made him very admired. Those people would have said: ‘That man is good!’ But the church would not have been edified by that.

No, when he visited the believers, he loved to do that with a “revelation”. He wanted to tell them something about God and the Lord Jesus, what they did not know yet. The Word of God was not complete at that time and that is why God still gave revelations. We now have the complete Word of God. Therefore we do not need new revelations anymore (Colossians 1:25).

He also wanted to come to them with “knowledge”. He had great knowledge of the Old Testament. In chapter 10 he demonstrated what value this knowledge has for the believers and he still could have added a lot more (1 Corinthians 10:1-13).

Or he wanted to serve them by “prophesy”. What an edification, exhortation and consolation he could have given to them!

The “teaching” is also important; the whole letter to the Romans is a proof of that.

Those are things that are of real profit to believers, which they can absorb with their hearts. That is something they can get down to work with.

Now read 1 Corinthians 14:1-6 again.

Reflection: What is (are) the condition(s) to be able to prophesy?

2 Corinthians 2:12

That the Church May Receive Edification

In the chapter you start with now, a comparison is made between two gifts: prophesying and speaking in tongues or languages. You may have heard about speaking in tongues (which is the same as speaking in languages). The way people talk about it may confuse you. It is often spoken about as a ‘second blessing’. By this they mean that you are indeed converted and have also received the Holy Spirit, although to be a full-fledged Christian you should also be able to speak in tongues. This reasoning is not true at all.

Speaking in tongues is explained clearly in the Bible, as you will see in this chapter. In this chapter it is about the comparison between prophesying and speaking in tongues. You will see that the scales will obviously be tipped to the side of prophesying. That is because prophesying is for the edification of the church. Therefore the Corinthians, and you too, are called to strive most for this gift.

1 Corinthians 14:1. You have seen in chapter 13 that love should be the motive to practice a gift, whatever gift that may be. However, if you want to be guided by love – and it is even said here that you should pursue it, you ought to make a determined effort to achieve this – then you will be willing to serve the church with your gift sincerely. Love is to serve others and not yourself.

Service to the church will be manifested best with prophesying and you can pursue that, but you should know what prophesying is. In 1 Peter 4 you find a good definition of it. It says: “Whoever speaks, [is to do so] as one who is speaking the utterances of God” (1 Peter 4:11). That means that when someone passes on something, it should be something that comes directly from the mouth of God.

To be able to pass on the utterances or oracles of God, a person should be living closely to God in his daily life. That is not a privilege of just a single person, but that should be the desire of each child of God. Actually, it should go without saying that each believer has that desire. However, there are many things that can hinder you to live closely to God. Therefore it says that you should pursue it.

1 Corinthians 14:2. Speaking in tongues is totally different than prophesying. This gift does not address people, but God. That seems much higher, and that’s what the Corinthians thought too and that’s also what many Christians are still thinking, but that is not true. At least, that appears to me to be the honest result of the detailed comparison that Paul makes in this chapter between these two gifts.

1 Corinthians 14:3. A widely spread misconception, is that prophesying in the church as it is spoken of here, is in connection with predicting the future. You hear regularly about people who present themselves as prophets. In several denominations of professing Christianity they stand up to say things that will happen to others in the future. Sometimes these things come true. This performance is in contrast to God’s Word. Only God knows how your life will develop further and He will show you personally everything you should know step by step if you live with Him.

It is another thing when you are on the wrong track and someone warns you that you will end up badly if you go on like that. But that is nothing new, for that is written in God’s Word. The brother or sister who is warning you, actually is prophesying, but in an exhorting sense.

According to 1 Corinthians 14:3 “exhortation” is a part of prophesying. He who deals with his or her fellow-believers like that, is concerned to serve the other person. Exhortation is therefore one way to manifest prophesying. But there are still two more elements mentioned, namely speaking to men for edification and consolation.

“Edification” is about giving firmness to the faith life of church members. By showing the believers, based on the Bible, which place they have received before God and in the world through the work of the Lord Jesus, they will be more capable to live in a way that pleases God.

“Consolation” is also a crucial element of prophesying. As long as the believers live on earth, they have to deal with sad things. God and the Lord Jesus know that and give consolation where it is needed.

Do you see that it is necessary to live closely to God to be capable of prophesying? Only He knows what the hearts of His own need. Therefore the excellent thing in a meeting where “two or three prophets speak” (1 Corinthians 14:29) is that each person present hears something he needs, though the speaker doesn’t know what each person is occupied with. Has it ever happened to you that something has been said in a meeting which seemed as if it was meant only for you? You might have been worrying about something and suddenly the word that was spoken seemed to be exactly the answer to your problem. That is what prophesying is like. You experience to be in the direct presence of God.

That’s what happened to the Samaritan woman, when the Lord Jesus was talking to her in John 4. She was a woman of loose morals. The Lord says to her that she has had five husbands and that the man whom she now has, is not her husband, but she is living together with him. The woman then says: “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet” (John 4:19). She sensed that she was standing in God’s light where you cannot hide anything.

Many people have experienced such an awareness when they heard someone preaching the gospel about the depravation of man. Many have said of the one who preached the Word: ‘It seems like that man knows my life.’ To many it has become a blessing, as to the Samaritan woman, when they acknowledged that it was God’s voice they heard.

That is still the God’s goal with prophesying. He wants to speak to the hearts and consciences of both believers and unbelievers to bless them at last. He mainly wants to use the meetings of the church for that purpose, for that is the issue of this chapter.

1 Corinthians 14:4. The point is, that a gift is meant to edify others. What happens when someone speaks in a tongue? He edifies himself alone. It is of no use to others, for no one understands him. Therefore Paul prefers prophesying far above speaking in a tongue.

1 Corinthians 14:5. He even says that he who prophesies is more than he who speaks in a tongue. That was quite a sharp lesson for the Corinthians. They were really fond of speaking in tongues. There is only one circumstance to profit the church through speaking in tongues and that is when what is spoken is interpreted into the local language.

1 Corinthians 14:6. In any case, Paul wanted to profit the believers at Corinth, and at all places in the world. That would not be the case if he came there and spoke “in tongues”. In fact, that would have made him very admired. Those people would have said: ‘That man is good!’ But the church would not have been edified by that.

No, when he visited the believers, he loved to do that with a “revelation”. He wanted to tell them something about God and the Lord Jesus, what they did not know yet. The Word of God was not complete at that time and that is why God still gave revelations. We now have the complete Word of God. Therefore we do not need new revelations anymore (Colossians 1:25).

He also wanted to come to them with “knowledge”. He had great knowledge of the Old Testament. In chapter 10 he demonstrated what value this knowledge has for the believers and he still could have added a lot more (1 Corinthians 10:1-13).

Or he wanted to serve them by “prophesy”. What an edification, exhortation and consolation he could have given to them!

The “teaching” is also important; the whole letter to the Romans is a proof of that.

Those are things that are of real profit to believers, which they can absorb with their hearts. That is something they can get down to work with.

Now read 1 Corinthians 14:1-6 again.

Reflection: What is (are) the condition(s) to be able to prophesy?

2 Corinthians 2:13

That the Church May Receive Edification

In the chapter you start with now, a comparison is made between two gifts: prophesying and speaking in tongues or languages. You may have heard about speaking in tongues (which is the same as speaking in languages). The way people talk about it may confuse you. It is often spoken about as a ‘second blessing’. By this they mean that you are indeed converted and have also received the Holy Spirit, although to be a full-fledged Christian you should also be able to speak in tongues. This reasoning is not true at all.

Speaking in tongues is explained clearly in the Bible, as you will see in this chapter. In this chapter it is about the comparison between prophesying and speaking in tongues. You will see that the scales will obviously be tipped to the side of prophesying. That is because prophesying is for the edification of the church. Therefore the Corinthians, and you too, are called to strive most for this gift.

1 Corinthians 14:1. You have seen in chapter 13 that love should be the motive to practice a gift, whatever gift that may be. However, if you want to be guided by love – and it is even said here that you should pursue it, you ought to make a determined effort to achieve this – then you will be willing to serve the church with your gift sincerely. Love is to serve others and not yourself.

Service to the church will be manifested best with prophesying and you can pursue that, but you should know what prophesying is. In 1 Peter 4 you find a good definition of it. It says: “Whoever speaks, [is to do so] as one who is speaking the utterances of God” (1 Peter 4:11). That means that when someone passes on something, it should be something that comes directly from the mouth of God.

To be able to pass on the utterances or oracles of God, a person should be living closely to God in his daily life. That is not a privilege of just a single person, but that should be the desire of each child of God. Actually, it should go without saying that each believer has that desire. However, there are many things that can hinder you to live closely to God. Therefore it says that you should pursue it.

1 Corinthians 14:2. Speaking in tongues is totally different than prophesying. This gift does not address people, but God. That seems much higher, and that’s what the Corinthians thought too and that’s also what many Christians are still thinking, but that is not true. At least, that appears to me to be the honest result of the detailed comparison that Paul makes in this chapter between these two gifts.

1 Corinthians 14:3. A widely spread misconception, is that prophesying in the church as it is spoken of here, is in connection with predicting the future. You hear regularly about people who present themselves as prophets. In several denominations of professing Christianity they stand up to say things that will happen to others in the future. Sometimes these things come true. This performance is in contrast to God’s Word. Only God knows how your life will develop further and He will show you personally everything you should know step by step if you live with Him.

It is another thing when you are on the wrong track and someone warns you that you will end up badly if you go on like that. But that is nothing new, for that is written in God’s Word. The brother or sister who is warning you, actually is prophesying, but in an exhorting sense.

According to 1 Corinthians 14:3 “exhortation” is a part of prophesying. He who deals with his or her fellow-believers like that, is concerned to serve the other person. Exhortation is therefore one way to manifest prophesying. But there are still two more elements mentioned, namely speaking to men for edification and consolation.

“Edification” is about giving firmness to the faith life of church members. By showing the believers, based on the Bible, which place they have received before God and in the world through the work of the Lord Jesus, they will be more capable to live in a way that pleases God.

“Consolation” is also a crucial element of prophesying. As long as the believers live on earth, they have to deal with sad things. God and the Lord Jesus know that and give consolation where it is needed.

Do you see that it is necessary to live closely to God to be capable of prophesying? Only He knows what the hearts of His own need. Therefore the excellent thing in a meeting where “two or three prophets speak” (1 Corinthians 14:29) is that each person present hears something he needs, though the speaker doesn’t know what each person is occupied with. Has it ever happened to you that something has been said in a meeting which seemed as if it was meant only for you? You might have been worrying about something and suddenly the word that was spoken seemed to be exactly the answer to your problem. That is what prophesying is like. You experience to be in the direct presence of God.

That’s what happened to the Samaritan woman, when the Lord Jesus was talking to her in John 4. She was a woman of loose morals. The Lord says to her that she has had five husbands and that the man whom she now has, is not her husband, but she is living together with him. The woman then says: “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet” (John 4:19). She sensed that she was standing in God’s light where you cannot hide anything.

Many people have experienced such an awareness when they heard someone preaching the gospel about the depravation of man. Many have said of the one who preached the Word: ‘It seems like that man knows my life.’ To many it has become a blessing, as to the Samaritan woman, when they acknowledged that it was God’s voice they heard.

That is still the God’s goal with prophesying. He wants to speak to the hearts and consciences of both believers and unbelievers to bless them at last. He mainly wants to use the meetings of the church for that purpose, for that is the issue of this chapter.

1 Corinthians 14:4. The point is, that a gift is meant to edify others. What happens when someone speaks in a tongue? He edifies himself alone. It is of no use to others, for no one understands him. Therefore Paul prefers prophesying far above speaking in a tongue.

1 Corinthians 14:5. He even says that he who prophesies is more than he who speaks in a tongue. That was quite a sharp lesson for the Corinthians. They were really fond of speaking in tongues. There is only one circumstance to profit the church through speaking in tongues and that is when what is spoken is interpreted into the local language.

1 Corinthians 14:6. In any case, Paul wanted to profit the believers at Corinth, and at all places in the world. That would not be the case if he came there and spoke “in tongues”. In fact, that would have made him very admired. Those people would have said: ‘That man is good!’ But the church would not have been edified by that.

No, when he visited the believers, he loved to do that with a “revelation”. He wanted to tell them something about God and the Lord Jesus, what they did not know yet. The Word of God was not complete at that time and that is why God still gave revelations. We now have the complete Word of God. Therefore we do not need new revelations anymore (Colossians 1:25).

He also wanted to come to them with “knowledge”. He had great knowledge of the Old Testament. In chapter 10 he demonstrated what value this knowledge has for the believers and he still could have added a lot more (1 Corinthians 10:1-13).

Or he wanted to serve them by “prophesy”. What an edification, exhortation and consolation he could have given to them!

The “teaching” is also important; the whole letter to the Romans is a proof of that.

Those are things that are of real profit to believers, which they can absorb with their hearts. That is something they can get down to work with.

Now read 1 Corinthians 14:1-6 again.

Reflection: What is (are) the condition(s) to be able to prophesy?

2 Corinthians 2:14

That the Church May Receive Edification

In the chapter you start with now, a comparison is made between two gifts: prophesying and speaking in tongues or languages. You may have heard about speaking in tongues (which is the same as speaking in languages). The way people talk about it may confuse you. It is often spoken about as a ‘second blessing’. By this they mean that you are indeed converted and have also received the Holy Spirit, although to be a full-fledged Christian you should also be able to speak in tongues. This reasoning is not true at all.

Speaking in tongues is explained clearly in the Bible, as you will see in this chapter. In this chapter it is about the comparison between prophesying and speaking in tongues. You will see that the scales will obviously be tipped to the side of prophesying. That is because prophesying is for the edification of the church. Therefore the Corinthians, and you too, are called to strive most for this gift.

1 Corinthians 14:1. You have seen in chapter 13 that love should be the motive to practice a gift, whatever gift that may be. However, if you want to be guided by love – and it is even said here that you should pursue it, you ought to make a determined effort to achieve this – then you will be willing to serve the church with your gift sincerely. Love is to serve others and not yourself.

Service to the church will be manifested best with prophesying and you can pursue that, but you should know what prophesying is. In 1 Peter 4 you find a good definition of it. It says: “Whoever speaks, [is to do so] as one who is speaking the utterances of God” (1 Peter 4:11). That means that when someone passes on something, it should be something that comes directly from the mouth of God.

To be able to pass on the utterances or oracles of God, a person should be living closely to God in his daily life. That is not a privilege of just a single person, but that should be the desire of each child of God. Actually, it should go without saying that each believer has that desire. However, there are many things that can hinder you to live closely to God. Therefore it says that you should pursue it.

1 Corinthians 14:2. Speaking in tongues is totally different than prophesying. This gift does not address people, but God. That seems much higher, and that’s what the Corinthians thought too and that’s also what many Christians are still thinking, but that is not true. At least, that appears to me to be the honest result of the detailed comparison that Paul makes in this chapter between these two gifts.

1 Corinthians 14:3. A widely spread misconception, is that prophesying in the church as it is spoken of here, is in connection with predicting the future. You hear regularly about people who present themselves as prophets. In several denominations of professing Christianity they stand up to say things that will happen to others in the future. Sometimes these things come true. This performance is in contrast to God’s Word. Only God knows how your life will develop further and He will show you personally everything you should know step by step if you live with Him.

It is another thing when you are on the wrong track and someone warns you that you will end up badly if you go on like that. But that is nothing new, for that is written in God’s Word. The brother or sister who is warning you, actually is prophesying, but in an exhorting sense.

According to 1 Corinthians 14:3 “exhortation” is a part of prophesying. He who deals with his or her fellow-believers like that, is concerned to serve the other person. Exhortation is therefore one way to manifest prophesying. But there are still two more elements mentioned, namely speaking to men for edification and consolation.

“Edification” is about giving firmness to the faith life of church members. By showing the believers, based on the Bible, which place they have received before God and in the world through the work of the Lord Jesus, they will be more capable to live in a way that pleases God.

“Consolation” is also a crucial element of prophesying. As long as the believers live on earth, they have to deal with sad things. God and the Lord Jesus know that and give consolation where it is needed.

Do you see that it is necessary to live closely to God to be capable of prophesying? Only He knows what the hearts of His own need. Therefore the excellent thing in a meeting where “two or three prophets speak” (1 Corinthians 14:29) is that each person present hears something he needs, though the speaker doesn’t know what each person is occupied with. Has it ever happened to you that something has been said in a meeting which seemed as if it was meant only for you? You might have been worrying about something and suddenly the word that was spoken seemed to be exactly the answer to your problem. That is what prophesying is like. You experience to be in the direct presence of God.

That’s what happened to the Samaritan woman, when the Lord Jesus was talking to her in John 4. She was a woman of loose morals. The Lord says to her that she has had five husbands and that the man whom she now has, is not her husband, but she is living together with him. The woman then says: “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet” (John 4:19). She sensed that she was standing in God’s light where you cannot hide anything.

Many people have experienced such an awareness when they heard someone preaching the gospel about the depravation of man. Many have said of the one who preached the Word: ‘It seems like that man knows my life.’ To many it has become a blessing, as to the Samaritan woman, when they acknowledged that it was God’s voice they heard.

That is still the God’s goal with prophesying. He wants to speak to the hearts and consciences of both believers and unbelievers to bless them at last. He mainly wants to use the meetings of the church for that purpose, for that is the issue of this chapter.

1 Corinthians 14:4. The point is, that a gift is meant to edify others. What happens when someone speaks in a tongue? He edifies himself alone. It is of no use to others, for no one understands him. Therefore Paul prefers prophesying far above speaking in a tongue.

1 Corinthians 14:5. He even says that he who prophesies is more than he who speaks in a tongue. That was quite a sharp lesson for the Corinthians. They were really fond of speaking in tongues. There is only one circumstance to profit the church through speaking in tongues and that is when what is spoken is interpreted into the local language.

1 Corinthians 14:6. In any case, Paul wanted to profit the believers at Corinth, and at all places in the world. That would not be the case if he came there and spoke “in tongues”. In fact, that would have made him very admired. Those people would have said: ‘That man is good!’ But the church would not have been edified by that.

No, when he visited the believers, he loved to do that with a “revelation”. He wanted to tell them something about God and the Lord Jesus, what they did not know yet. The Word of God was not complete at that time and that is why God still gave revelations. We now have the complete Word of God. Therefore we do not need new revelations anymore (Colossians 1:25).

He also wanted to come to them with “knowledge”. He had great knowledge of the Old Testament. In chapter 10 he demonstrated what value this knowledge has for the believers and he still could have added a lot more (1 Corinthians 10:1-13).

Or he wanted to serve them by “prophesy”. What an edification, exhortation and consolation he could have given to them!

The “teaching” is also important; the whole letter to the Romans is a proof of that.

Those are things that are of real profit to believers, which they can absorb with their hearts. That is something they can get down to work with.

Now read 1 Corinthians 14:1-6 again.

Reflection: What is (are) the condition(s) to be able to prophesy?

2 Corinthians 2:15

That the Church May Receive Edification

In the chapter you start with now, a comparison is made between two gifts: prophesying and speaking in tongues or languages. You may have heard about speaking in tongues (which is the same as speaking in languages). The way people talk about it may confuse you. It is often spoken about as a ‘second blessing’. By this they mean that you are indeed converted and have also received the Holy Spirit, although to be a full-fledged Christian you should also be able to speak in tongues. This reasoning is not true at all.

Speaking in tongues is explained clearly in the Bible, as you will see in this chapter. In this chapter it is about the comparison between prophesying and speaking in tongues. You will see that the scales will obviously be tipped to the side of prophesying. That is because prophesying is for the edification of the church. Therefore the Corinthians, and you too, are called to strive most for this gift.

1 Corinthians 14:1. You have seen in chapter 13 that love should be the motive to practice a gift, whatever gift that may be. However, if you want to be guided by love – and it is even said here that you should pursue it, you ought to make a determined effort to achieve this – then you will be willing to serve the church with your gift sincerely. Love is to serve others and not yourself.

Service to the church will be manifested best with prophesying and you can pursue that, but you should know what prophesying is. In 1 Peter 4 you find a good definition of it. It says: “Whoever speaks, [is to do so] as one who is speaking the utterances of God” (1 Peter 4:11). That means that when someone passes on something, it should be something that comes directly from the mouth of God.

To be able to pass on the utterances or oracles of God, a person should be living closely to God in his daily life. That is not a privilege of just a single person, but that should be the desire of each child of God. Actually, it should go without saying that each believer has that desire. However, there are many things that can hinder you to live closely to God. Therefore it says that you should pursue it.

1 Corinthians 14:2. Speaking in tongues is totally different than prophesying. This gift does not address people, but God. That seems much higher, and that’s what the Corinthians thought too and that’s also what many Christians are still thinking, but that is not true. At least, that appears to me to be the honest result of the detailed comparison that Paul makes in this chapter between these two gifts.

1 Corinthians 14:3. A widely spread misconception, is that prophesying in the church as it is spoken of here, is in connection with predicting the future. You hear regularly about people who present themselves as prophets. In several denominations of professing Christianity they stand up to say things that will happen to others in the future. Sometimes these things come true. This performance is in contrast to God’s Word. Only God knows how your life will develop further and He will show you personally everything you should know step by step if you live with Him.

It is another thing when you are on the wrong track and someone warns you that you will end up badly if you go on like that. But that is nothing new, for that is written in God’s Word. The brother or sister who is warning you, actually is prophesying, but in an exhorting sense.

According to 1 Corinthians 14:3 “exhortation” is a part of prophesying. He who deals with his or her fellow-believers like that, is concerned to serve the other person. Exhortation is therefore one way to manifest prophesying. But there are still two more elements mentioned, namely speaking to men for edification and consolation.

“Edification” is about giving firmness to the faith life of church members. By showing the believers, based on the Bible, which place they have received before God and in the world through the work of the Lord Jesus, they will be more capable to live in a way that pleases God.

“Consolation” is also a crucial element of prophesying. As long as the believers live on earth, they have to deal with sad things. God and the Lord Jesus know that and give consolation where it is needed.

Do you see that it is necessary to live closely to God to be capable of prophesying? Only He knows what the hearts of His own need. Therefore the excellent thing in a meeting where “two or three prophets speak” (1 Corinthians 14:29) is that each person present hears something he needs, though the speaker doesn’t know what each person is occupied with. Has it ever happened to you that something has been said in a meeting which seemed as if it was meant only for you? You might have been worrying about something and suddenly the word that was spoken seemed to be exactly the answer to your problem. That is what prophesying is like. You experience to be in the direct presence of God.

That’s what happened to the Samaritan woman, when the Lord Jesus was talking to her in John 4. She was a woman of loose morals. The Lord says to her that she has had five husbands and that the man whom she now has, is not her husband, but she is living together with him. The woman then says: “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet” (John 4:19). She sensed that she was standing in God’s light where you cannot hide anything.

Many people have experienced such an awareness when they heard someone preaching the gospel about the depravation of man. Many have said of the one who preached the Word: ‘It seems like that man knows my life.’ To many it has become a blessing, as to the Samaritan woman, when they acknowledged that it was God’s voice they heard.

That is still the God’s goal with prophesying. He wants to speak to the hearts and consciences of both believers and unbelievers to bless them at last. He mainly wants to use the meetings of the church for that purpose, for that is the issue of this chapter.

1 Corinthians 14:4. The point is, that a gift is meant to edify others. What happens when someone speaks in a tongue? He edifies himself alone. It is of no use to others, for no one understands him. Therefore Paul prefers prophesying far above speaking in a tongue.

1 Corinthians 14:5. He even says that he who prophesies is more than he who speaks in a tongue. That was quite a sharp lesson for the Corinthians. They were really fond of speaking in tongues. There is only one circumstance to profit the church through speaking in tongues and that is when what is spoken is interpreted into the local language.

1 Corinthians 14:6. In any case, Paul wanted to profit the believers at Corinth, and at all places in the world. That would not be the case if he came there and spoke “in tongues”. In fact, that would have made him very admired. Those people would have said: ‘That man is good!’ But the church would not have been edified by that.

No, when he visited the believers, he loved to do that with a “revelation”. He wanted to tell them something about God and the Lord Jesus, what they did not know yet. The Word of God was not complete at that time and that is why God still gave revelations. We now have the complete Word of God. Therefore we do not need new revelations anymore (Colossians 1:25).

He also wanted to come to them with “knowledge”. He had great knowledge of the Old Testament. In chapter 10 he demonstrated what value this knowledge has for the believers and he still could have added a lot more (1 Corinthians 10:1-13).

Or he wanted to serve them by “prophesy”. What an edification, exhortation and consolation he could have given to them!

The “teaching” is also important; the whole letter to the Romans is a proof of that.

Those are things that are of real profit to believers, which they can absorb with their hearts. That is something they can get down to work with.

Now read 1 Corinthians 14:1-6 again.

Reflection: What is (are) the condition(s) to be able to prophesy?

2 Corinthians 2:16

That the Church May Receive Edification

In the chapter you start with now, a comparison is made between two gifts: prophesying and speaking in tongues or languages. You may have heard about speaking in tongues (which is the same as speaking in languages). The way people talk about it may confuse you. It is often spoken about as a ‘second blessing’. By this they mean that you are indeed converted and have also received the Holy Spirit, although to be a full-fledged Christian you should also be able to speak in tongues. This reasoning is not true at all.

Speaking in tongues is explained clearly in the Bible, as you will see in this chapter. In this chapter it is about the comparison between prophesying and speaking in tongues. You will see that the scales will obviously be tipped to the side of prophesying. That is because prophesying is for the edification of the church. Therefore the Corinthians, and you too, are called to strive most for this gift.

1 Corinthians 14:1. You have seen in chapter 13 that love should be the motive to practice a gift, whatever gift that may be. However, if you want to be guided by love – and it is even said here that you should pursue it, you ought to make a determined effort to achieve this – then you will be willing to serve the church with your gift sincerely. Love is to serve others and not yourself.

Service to the church will be manifested best with prophesying and you can pursue that, but you should know what prophesying is. In 1 Peter 4 you find a good definition of it. It says: “Whoever speaks, [is to do so] as one who is speaking the utterances of God” (1 Peter 4:11). That means that when someone passes on something, it should be something that comes directly from the mouth of God.

To be able to pass on the utterances or oracles of God, a person should be living closely to God in his daily life. That is not a privilege of just a single person, but that should be the desire of each child of God. Actually, it should go without saying that each believer has that desire. However, there are many things that can hinder you to live closely to God. Therefore it says that you should pursue it.

1 Corinthians 14:2. Speaking in tongues is totally different than prophesying. This gift does not address people, but God. That seems much higher, and that’s what the Corinthians thought too and that’s also what many Christians are still thinking, but that is not true. At least, that appears to me to be the honest result of the detailed comparison that Paul makes in this chapter between these two gifts.

1 Corinthians 14:3. A widely spread misconception, is that prophesying in the church as it is spoken of here, is in connection with predicting the future. You hear regularly about people who present themselves as prophets. In several denominations of professing Christianity they stand up to say things that will happen to others in the future. Sometimes these things come true. This performance is in contrast to God’s Word. Only God knows how your life will develop further and He will show you personally everything you should know step by step if you live with Him.

It is another thing when you are on the wrong track and someone warns you that you will end up badly if you go on like that. But that is nothing new, for that is written in God’s Word. The brother or sister who is warning you, actually is prophesying, but in an exhorting sense.

According to 1 Corinthians 14:3 “exhortation” is a part of prophesying. He who deals with his or her fellow-believers like that, is concerned to serve the other person. Exhortation is therefore one way to manifest prophesying. But there are still two more elements mentioned, namely speaking to men for edification and consolation.

“Edification” is about giving firmness to the faith life of church members. By showing the believers, based on the Bible, which place they have received before God and in the world through the work of the Lord Jesus, they will be more capable to live in a way that pleases God.

“Consolation” is also a crucial element of prophesying. As long as the believers live on earth, they have to deal with sad things. God and the Lord Jesus know that and give consolation where it is needed.

Do you see that it is necessary to live closely to God to be capable of prophesying? Only He knows what the hearts of His own need. Therefore the excellent thing in a meeting where “two or three prophets speak” (1 Corinthians 14:29) is that each person present hears something he needs, though the speaker doesn’t know what each person is occupied with. Has it ever happened to you that something has been said in a meeting which seemed as if it was meant only for you? You might have been worrying about something and suddenly the word that was spoken seemed to be exactly the answer to your problem. That is what prophesying is like. You experience to be in the direct presence of God.

That’s what happened to the Samaritan woman, when the Lord Jesus was talking to her in John 4. She was a woman of loose morals. The Lord says to her that she has had five husbands and that the man whom she now has, is not her husband, but she is living together with him. The woman then says: “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet” (John 4:19). She sensed that she was standing in God’s light where you cannot hide anything.

Many people have experienced such an awareness when they heard someone preaching the gospel about the depravation of man. Many have said of the one who preached the Word: ‘It seems like that man knows my life.’ To many it has become a blessing, as to the Samaritan woman, when they acknowledged that it was God’s voice they heard.

That is still the God’s goal with prophesying. He wants to speak to the hearts and consciences of both believers and unbelievers to bless them at last. He mainly wants to use the meetings of the church for that purpose, for that is the issue of this chapter.

1 Corinthians 14:4. The point is, that a gift is meant to edify others. What happens when someone speaks in a tongue? He edifies himself alone. It is of no use to others, for no one understands him. Therefore Paul prefers prophesying far above speaking in a tongue.

1 Corinthians 14:5. He even says that he who prophesies is more than he who speaks in a tongue. That was quite a sharp lesson for the Corinthians. They were really fond of speaking in tongues. There is only one circumstance to profit the church through speaking in tongues and that is when what is spoken is interpreted into the local language.

1 Corinthians 14:6. In any case, Paul wanted to profit the believers at Corinth, and at all places in the world. That would not be the case if he came there and spoke “in tongues”. In fact, that would have made him very admired. Those people would have said: ‘That man is good!’ But the church would not have been edified by that.

No, when he visited the believers, he loved to do that with a “revelation”. He wanted to tell them something about God and the Lord Jesus, what they did not know yet. The Word of God was not complete at that time and that is why God still gave revelations. We now have the complete Word of God. Therefore we do not need new revelations anymore (Colossians 1:25).

He also wanted to come to them with “knowledge”. He had great knowledge of the Old Testament. In chapter 10 he demonstrated what value this knowledge has for the believers and he still could have added a lot more (1 Corinthians 10:1-13).

Or he wanted to serve them by “prophesy”. What an edification, exhortation and consolation he could have given to them!

The “teaching” is also important; the whole letter to the Romans is a proof of that.

Those are things that are of real profit to believers, which they can absorb with their hearts. That is something they can get down to work with.

Now read 1 Corinthians 14:1-6 again.

Reflection: What is (are) the condition(s) to be able to prophesy?

2 Corinthians 2:17

To Pray and Sing With Understanding

1 Corinthians 14:7. Now Paul will demonstrate by means of some examples what happens when speaking in tongues is not interpreted. He uses a flute, a harp and a bugle as references to make a comparison. First the flute and the harp. Only by the melody you can know which song is piped. When children get hold of a flute, they can blow the same sound/tone for a long time. To their imagination they pipe a song, but they still have to explain to me which song, as I can’t recognize the melody because there was no melody. When they get hold of a guitar they do the same: they just hammer on the strings back and forth, and again I need to ask them what song they were playing if I want to know what they have played.

1 Corinthians 14:8. The second example has to do with war. To be ready to fight in the war, the soldier has to be alert to the sound of the bugle. In former days, when there were no sound amplifiers, broadcasting equipment or the internet, the bugle was used to pass on messages. Each signal that was transmitted through the bugle had a distinctive meaning. In that way there was also a signal for the warriors to prepare themselves for the war. Therefore the man with the bugle had a great responsibility. In the case of war he could not risk blowing just a sigh, or into the air, for that could only result in frowning eyebrows, confusion and irritation, while no one would prepare himself for the war.

1 Corinthians 14:9. This is what happens when someone speaks in tongues. Because no one understands anything of it, it produces no reaction among those present. It is just some words, spoken into the air, and it doesn’t profit anyone.

1 Corinthians 14:10. Try to listen carefully to the sounds in the world around you. In nature each animal has its characteristic sound. We teach children at an early stage: ‘What does a dog say?’ ‘What does a cat say?’ Also the different birds you can distinguish from the way they hum or sing (or whatever they do). If you work in a factory or a working place, you hear other sounds there. Every sound has its own tone. To recognize a sound, you should be accustomed to it.

1 Corinthians 14:11-12. Paul applies this again to speaking in tongues. You should know the foreign language that is spoken to understand what is said, otherwise you are outside it. You have no part in it, you are strangers to each other.

I once was on a Russian ship with some other people to preach the gospel. The captain of the ship translated what we had sung and said, otherwise it was no use for anyone, of course. I do not speak a word of Russian; neither do I understand anything of it. You feel totally incapable to tell those people something and to make anything clear to them. There it was about preaching the gospel to unbelievers. In the church it is about believers and for them it is about receiving edification.

Paul doesn’t get tired to repeat again and again what the standard of practicing the gifts is: the edification of the church. Edifying the church is something that happens consciously, with understanding. A person who edifies the church knows what he is doing and can be questioned on that. Other people can judge that (1 Corinthians 14:29).

1 Corinthians 14:13. In pursuing to practice their gift the Corinthians had to remember this well. If someone still necessarily wanted to speak in tongues, he ought to have a prayer in his heart at the same time to be able to interpret what he had said, for only then it profits the church.

1 Corinthians 14:14. Praying in tongues happens without understanding. It happens with the spirit, not with the understanding. He who speaks in tongues doesn’t even know for himself what he is saying. It happens without his understanding. In 1 Corinthians 14:2 you read that he who speaks in tongues, speaks in mysteries in the spirit. What he is saying is not verifiable by others.

1 Corinthians 14:15-16. How should it be? Praying and singing happen with the spirit. It is a spiritual activity in which you address God. It is not something in which your understanding doesn’t partake. When you speak out a prayer or when you sing a song, you also do that with your full understanding. You know what you are saying and you know what you are singing. You are not put at the mercy of a whim or some feeling that suddenly arises. A Christian is someone who acts with his full understanding and with insight.

It indeed is a renewed understanding. Formerly your understanding was darkened (Ephesians 4:18). You might have been thinking that you understood a lot of things, but you were missing the right conception of things, and you were not able to understand the meaning and purpose of your life and of the things of God and the church. Only after you received the Lord Jesus you could use your understanding rightly (Mark 5:15; Luke 24:45; 1 John 5:20).

Your understanding is not the measure of your intelligence. It is your spiritual ability for judgment. Even if you have not been highly educated after worldly measures, you still have the ability to judge everything through the new life and the Holy Spirit Who dwells in you now. To be fully aware of that you ought to have the right mind, which means that your goal is the honor of the Lord Jesus in all things. He who doesn’t use his understanding in what he is saying or doing at the meeting, cannot expect the consent, the ‘amen’, of the others. After all, they do not know what has been said, do they?

1 Corinthians 14:17. This is the case of speaking in tongues whereby the understanding remains unfruitful, thus out of order. It may be quite a good giving of thanks, but no one can understand it and therefore no one can say ‘amen’. Giving thanks should also be for edification. That doesn’t mean that in a thanksgiving all truths of faith should be presented to God that others will notice how much a person knows of the Bible. That also will be a performance, a presenting of oneself. We do not have to tell God how much we know of the Bible. He knows that better than we do. After all He has written the Bible.

A good giving of thanks will surely be in accordance with the Bible, but will mainly be a sincere expression of gratitude toward God and the Lord Jesus. Haven’t you ever had such an experience that a thanksgiving of a brother made God and the Lord Jesus grow in your heart? In your heart also the feelings of gratitude arose and you could say heartily ‘amen’. (Just a note in passing: it is a good thing giving thanks loudly and clearly and not too softly. When this giving of thanks is spoken too softly, the other believers might not hear it and neither do they know what has been prayed and they cannot say ‘amen’.)

1 Corinthians 14:18-19. Paul was grateful to God that he spoke in tongues more than all of them. God gave him this gift for the purpose of his ministry in the gospel to spread the good news in many countries. However, when it is about his ministry in the church, he had only one desire, and that was to instruct others.

Just pay attention to how strongly he expresses himself here: rather five words with his understanding than ten thousand words in a tongue. Of course that is by way of comparison. Nevertheless, as you notice here, having a ministry in the church has nothing to do with the length of giving thanks or of a sermon. Do not think that you have first got to know a lot of the Bible and to have developed a large vocabulary before you can express yourself at the meeting. A giving of thanks in just a few phrases from a newly converted person has often been a large contribution to the spiritual growth of a local church. And that is what still matters: the edification of the church.

Now read 1 Corinthians 14:7-19 again.

Reflection: Why is edification of the church so important?