Emphasizing that the sign gifts will cease, Paul says the
only thing to last is “faith, hope and charity,” adding, “But the greatest of these
is charity.”
Jordan explains, “What does charity do? It puts the church’s
benefit ahead of your own benefit.”
“Now, if you want a good definition of charity, go to I Thessalonians
1:3 and compare the way he says this: ‘Remembering without ceasing your work of
faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the
sight of God and our Father.’
“Charity is the motivation of the love of Christ, and not all
kinds of other things, constraining me in my Christian life.
“In Colossians 3, he says that charity is the ‘bond of
perfectness.’ It’s the thing that binds maturity together. When you have
perfected saints, the thing that bonds them together is the fact that they
instinctively look out for the benefit of the other, not for themselves.
*****
“When Paul talks about ‘in spirit,’ that’s the idea of your
disposition; your attitude that you do something by.
“In Ephesians 1:17, for example, he writes, ‘That the God of
our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of
wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him.’
“He’s not talking about the Holy Spirit. That’s not the
initial giving; it’s not a later ‘re-giving.’
“He talks about the ‘spirit of slumber.’ The ‘spirit of
bondage.’ When you have the spirit of slumber, you have this disposition of
being asleep at the switch. Bondage is the disposition of being controlled.
“Paul’s saying, ‘I want you to have the spirit of wisdom and
revelation God has given you right here in this text of mine. You get it in the Book.’
“He’s saying, ‘I want you to walk around with this attitude
and disposition that’s produced by understanding this great cosmic plan God has
in His Son.' The attitude with which you do things affects an awful lot.”
*****
I Timothy 1:5 says, “Now the end of the commandment is
charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned.”
Jordan explains, “The heart is the mentality of your soul.
It’s single-minded; it’s a heart that just goes on sound doctrine. It’s not
living on emotions, not living on religious tradition. It’s living on the
application of the truth of God’s Word rightly divided.
“ ‘And of a good conscience.’ Your conscience is a system of
norms and standards that’s allows you to evaluate what’s going on around you. We
live in a day where people don’t know how to do that. They look at what’s going
on and they react, but to be able to accurately evaluate and see beyond the
fuzz and see the real issue, that’s what a good conscience does.
“You have a system of norms and standards that reflects what
God’s thinking. You’re able to walk by faith and not by sight. That verse is a
beautiful description of a mature Christian walk. And not just an individual
walking that way, but a group of people gathered together and working together
in the work of the ministry.
“Paul told the Corinthians, ‘As unknown and yet well known.’
I love that verse because that’s exactly what you’re . . . your spiritual power
and influence far outweighs your appearance.”
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