Pine Knoll SSL (High Quality MP3)
Aug 15, 2026 · 1 hr 21 min · 11 segments
Lesson #8 for Saturday, August 22, 2026 **1 and 2 Corinthians** Adult Sabbath School Lesson 3rd Quarter, 2026
In the previous lesson, we talked about the power of love from First Corinthians 13.
This lesson is based on First Corinthians 15, so that quickly tells you that chapter 14 is completely omitted except for verse 27, which was quoted back in lesson number six.
You have seen that chapter 13 is not a solo standalone chapter, the poem on love that Paul wrote, but it's, it's like a symphony, as we said in the previous lesson, which has first, second, and third part, and you can't make sense of each without the next one.
And so the big message in 12 to 14 is not that it's nice to be nice, love is nice, but that in the body of Christ, love is a non-negotiable way of expressing all giftedness.
So Paul shows in chapter 12 that gifts are diverse, but they are given to one body.
They are not given to individuals.
My gifts are not gifts to me.
I mean, some people have the gift of music, and if it's given to you, then you play piano to make your money, to make your name.
That's okay.
But if it's a gift for the body, then you do it to bless someone else, for common good.
And without love, gifts become religious noise, impressive, but pointless and even harmful.
And then in chapter 14, in the worship, we use things that build others up rather than showcasing ourselves, and this was important because love is measured by edification.
Am I blessing someone else? And in this context, in the context of contested territory in the cosmic conflict, love is a decisive marker in which God's kingdom is operating, and the unity that we can have.
We are not just Democrats and Republicans, Brexiteers and Remainers, left and right, liberals and conservatives.
We are one family of God, where our differences contribute to the common good, and we are stronger and better together.
Everybody has something to bring to the table.
And if we do this, then the future breaks in.
And in the cosmic conflict, it's a place where we testify about the character of God and His use of power, that we don't use the gifts to exploit others or to brag about our spirituality, but to a blessing to everybody else.
In the previous lesson, we talked about the power of love from First Corinthians 13.
This lesson is based on First Corinthians 15, so that quickly tells you that chapter 14 is completely omitted except for verse 27, which was quoted back in lesson number six.
You have seen that chapter 13 is not a solo standalone chapter, the poem on love that Paul wrote, but it's, it's like a symphony, as we said in the previous lesson, which has first, second, and third part, and you can't make sense of each without the next one.
And so the big message in 12 to 14 is not that it's nice to be nice, love is nice, but that in the body of Christ, love is a non-negotiable way of expressing all giftedness.
So Paul shows in chapter 12 that gifts are diverse, but they are given to one body.
They are not given to individuals.
My gifts are not gifts to me.
I mean, some people have the gift of music, and if it's given to you, then you play piano to make your money, to make your name.
That's okay.
But if it's a gift for the body, then you do it to bless someone else, for common good.
And without love, gifts become religious noise, impressive, but pointless and even harmful.
And then in chapter 14, in the worship, we use things that build others up rather than showcasing ourselves, and this was important because love is measured by edification.
Am I blessing someone else? And in this context, in the context of contested territory in the cosmic conflict, love is a decisive marker in which God's kingdom is operating, and the unity that we can have.
We are not just Democrats and Republicans, Brexiteers and Remainers, left and right, liberals and conservatives.
We are one family of God, where our differences contribute to the common good, and we are stronger and better together.
Everybody has something to bring to the table.
And if we do this, then the future breaks in.
And in the cosmic conflict, it's a place where we testify about the character of God and His use of power, that we don't use the gifts to exploit others or to brag about our spirituality, but to a blessing to everybody else.
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