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FAITH, HOPE AND LOVE
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  I was asked a very thought provoking question- If I were only
able to preach one sermon in my life, what would it be? I gave
that question quite a bit of thought and I believe I am now ready
to answer the question. I had to decide first of all what my main 
text would be. I decided on 1 Corinthians 13:13 which says, "And 
now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest 
of these is love." 

  I can remember back to my days in seminary when one of my pro-
fessors in homiletics drilled into us students a strong position
concerning sermons he held. He made us recite it every class day
because he wanted us never to forget it. 

  He would ask, "How many points should a sermon have?" We were 
expected to respond, "Every sermon should have three points." He 
even put that question on the final exam. I had presumed since 
we recited it often enough every student would have the "right" 
answer to the question. One student decided to give a different 
answer. He wrote on his final exam paper, "Every sermon should 
have at least ONE point." That certainly was a correct answer!

  Beause of the verse I chose for my text, it should be obvious 
this sermon will have three points- faith, hope and love. Why 
did Paul say that these three things remain? First of all, I 
believe the scriptures make a special connection to these three 
things in the overall view of a spirit filled life. I believe 
Paul wrote them in the correct order as well.

  Faith must come first. Jesus said as recorded in Matthew 17:20 
that faith is like a mustard seed. We can compare the Christian
life to that of a plant. As the plant begins life as a seed, so 
the New Birth begins with faith. I believe the Lord was teaching 
faith to the first people he created way back in the Garden of 
Eden. After God instructed them in what they should do, He left 
them so they could have the opportunity to live by faith in His 
absence ant not by sight.

  All through God's dealings with Israel, He constantly tested 
their faith. At times they were given the miracles which they 
could see, but there were other times when they were expected 
to live by faith. Hebrews 11 is called the faith chapter. The 
most important verse in this chapter is verse six which says, 
"Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone 
who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he 
rewards those who earnestly seek him."

  What God wants from us first of all is for us to believe that 
he exists. Without this kind of faith in his existence we can't 
begin to please him! That is what this verse very plainly says. 
Since our first parents failed this test of faith in the Garden 
of Eden, there was a new step of faith given. Jesus Christ had
to come and give his life for the forgiveness of our sins.

  This step of faith is summed up in the most memorized Bible
verse often called "the Gospel in a nutshell"- John 3:16, "For
God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that 
whosoever believeth in him, should not perish, but have ever-
lasting life." We must have faith in what Jesus did for us. And 
since he died almost two thousand years ago, we must believe it 
without seeing it. He told Thomas in John 20:29, "Because you 
have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not 
seen and yet have believed."

  We could say more about faith, but let us now look at a verse
of transition- Hebrews 11:1, "Now faith is being sure of what we 
hope for..." In this verse faith is connected to hope. Chapter 6 
of the book of Hebrews, verse 19, described hope as an anchor- 
"We have this hope as an anchor for the soul..." After we begin 
our New Birth with faith, we start to do our spiritual hoping.

  Our hope is for eternal life in the heavenly realm. This hope 
is so important it is given a special adjective in Titus 2:13- 
"...we wait for the blessed hope- the glorious appearing of... 
Jesus Christ."

  If we continue to use the analogy of a plant for illustrating
the Christian life, we would need to say that hope is the plant 
roots. In Colossians 1:27 Paul wrote "Christ in you (is) the 
hope of glory." And in Colossians 2:6-7 it says, "So then just 
as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, 
rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith." 

  Hope is best described as abiding in Christ. Note Jesus' use 
of a plant to illustrate this in John, chapter 15:5- "I am the 
vine and ye are the branches. If a man abides in me and I in 
him, he will bear much fruit."    

  Now we come to the third point of our message. We started with 
Faith  of the plant as a seed. Then it grew the roots of hope
and now it is expected to produce fruit. The Apostle Paul wrote
in Ephesians 3:17, "(May Christ) dwell in your hearts through
faith. And I pray that you be rooted and established in love."

  Faith is the seed, hope is the roots and love is the fruit. In 
Galatians 5:22 Paul said, "the fruit of the Spirit is love..." 
These three things remain for the Christian- to begin his walk 
with faith in Christ, to grow in his hope by roots in Christ and 
then to produce love as the product of his growth. Although Paul 
gave to the church of Galatia what appears to be a whole list of 
spiritual fruits, the Corinthians were told love was all of the 
spiritual fruits and more.

  Is joy a fruit? Love makes Christians rejoice. Is our peace a 
fruit? Love is not easily angered. Is patience a fruit? Love is 
patient. Is kindness fruit? Love makes one kind. Is goodness a 
fruit? Love does not delight in evil. Is faithfullness a fruit? 
Without love, even the faith that moves mountains is nothing. 
Gentleness a fruit? Love is not rude. Is self-control a fruit? 
Love is not self-seeking. Even hope is used to describe love- 
Love always hopes. In Romans 13:10 Paul said love fulfills law.
 
 When Jesus was asked in Matthew 22:37-40 what was the greatest 
commandment in the law, he offered two based on love- love for 
God and love for one's neighbor. On these two he said hung all 
the law and the prophets.
 
 The apostle John gave a good summary in chapter 4, verse 8 of 
his first epistle- "Whoever does not love does not know God 
because God is love." These three things remain for Christians- 
faith, hope and love. But the greatest is love. Amen and amen.
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 |  /__/\/\   NOW       |\./\.||./\./|        .e0e. .e0e.   |
 |  \__\   /            |* ** || ** *|        0HHHH~HHHH0   |
 |  /__/   \   ABIDETH  |__A__||__A__|        `HHoo ooHH'   |
 |  \__\/\  \              \\_||_//             `HH HH'     |
 |      \__\/  FAITH, HOPE  `----'   AND LOVE.    `V'       |
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