Charity and Its Fruits
Eric Lui introduces us to "Charity and Its Fruits", a collection of Jonathan Edwards' sermons on 1 Corinthians 13 while he was pastor of the Church of Northampton.
Charity and Its Fruits, published by The Banner of Truth Trust, is a collection of sermons preached by Dr Jonathan Edwards when he was pastor of the Church of Northampton, USA, in 1738. ‘Charity’ is the old English word for ‘love’ in the eighteenth century, as found in the text of King James Version of his Bible that he quoted in the very beginning of the book:
Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.” (1 Cor. 13:1–3, KJV)
In the course of 16 sermons, Edwards gave a delectable exposition of the first 10 verses of this important chapter on Christian love. In this review, I shall endeavor to share some of his stimulating and liberating insights of this subject.
Before the Fall, man was created to exercise holy love to the Creator, and be swallowed up in an ocean of good, and become part of it.
Before the Fall, man’s soul was under the control of divine love, whereby, it comprehends all his fellow creatures and their needs and welfare. It also extends beyond the bounds of creation to a holy love for God, and participates with the mind of God in exercising an infinite ocean of good deeds and thoughts, and be swallowed up by it and became part of it.
But after the Fall, man’s soul shrank into a little swimming pool of self-love, shut up within itself, to the exclusion of all things. Sin contracted his soul to a very small dimension of selfishness, with God forsaken, fellow-creatures forsaken, and became totally governed by narrow and selfish principles and feelings. Self-love became the absolute master of his soul.
God, in His mercy to miserable man, entered into the work of redemption, and by the glorious gospel of His Son, began the work of bringing the soul of man out of his confinement and back again to those noble and divine principles by which it was animated before the Fall. And this was done through the cross of Christ, for our union with Christ gives us participation in His nature. Christian love is restored to the souls of the redeemed, whereby it again embraces its fellow-creatures and is devoted to and be swallowed up in the Creator.
The fruits of Christian love
When we are restored to this ocean of God’s love, we shall bear fruits of this divine love in our life on earth. The author explains the detail each of the fruits mentioned by Paul in 1 Corinthians 13:4–7.
1. Love is patient and kind. It disposes us meekly to bear the evil that it receives from others, or injuries that others may do to us. This is because it disposes us to imitate God, and patience, or long-suffering, is one of the attributes of God. It also disposes us freely to do good to others. It is in us that doing good is our Christian character, be it to a friend, or an enemy.
2. Love does not envy or boast. This is very much insisted upon by Christ himself, as well as by Paul and James. A true spirit of Christian love will dispose us to obey these precepts and incline us to do so with humility.
3. It is not arrogant or rude. The Christian spirit of love is a humble spirit, and is therefore contrary to being arrogant or rude.
4. It does not insist on its own way. In other words, it ‘seeketh not her own’, and is the opposite of a selfish spirit. He has regards for other fellow creatures as much as he has for himself.
5. It is not irritable or resentful. The Christian spirit is the opposite of an angry or wrathful spirit. Anger is one of the fruits of pride, which is a sin that a Christian spirit should mortify. Being not resentful, in the KJV, it reads as ‘thinketh no evil’, which is contrary to a disposition to think or judge uncharitably of others, or having a censorious spirit.
6. It does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. This is a summation of all the fruits of Christian love, as if the Apostle Paul is saying “I have mentioned many excellent things that love tends towards, and show how it is contrary to many evil things. I need not go on with many particulars of these, but just to say that love is contrary to everything in the life and practice that is evil, and tends to everything that is good—it does not rejoice in evil, but rejoices in the truth.” In other words, true Christian grace in the heart of a believer tends to holy practice in life.
7. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endure all things. Christian love will make us willing, for Christ’s sake, to undergo all sufferings to which we may encounter. In believing all things and hoping all things, Christian faith and hope are rooted in Christian love. Love of God engenders faith in God and hope in God. Love also endures and overcomes all oppositions. Love in the hearts of Christians cannot be overthrown.
Heaven, a world of everlasting love
Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. (1 Cor 13:8–10)
In this final chapter, the author gives the reason for love to be the most excellent: it is that which shall remain when all other fruits of the Spirit have passed. This will come to pass in the perfect state of the church, when that which is in part shall be done away, and that which is perfect has come.
Heaven, as the author describes it, is part of the creation that God has built for this end, to be the place of His glorious presence, and His abode forever. Because God is the fountainhead of love, this renders heaven as a world of love, just as the sun in a clear day, fills the world with light.
There are only lovely objects in heaven. No odious, or unlovely, or polluted person or things will be found there. Among the company of saints, there shall be no false professors or hypocrites; none whose gold has not been purified from its dross; none to give offence, or to give occasion for any passion or emotion of hatred or dislike, but every object shall forever draw forth love.
The nature of this love in heaven is altogether holy and divine. It does not proceed from corrupt or selfish motives, nor is it directed to mean and vile purposes and ends. It is a pure flame, directed by holy motives and with the aim of God’s glory and the happiness of the universe in mind.
As to its degree or extent, it is perfect. The saints in heaven shall love without any stain of pride or selfishness, and their hearts shall be full of love. The soul on earth has only a little spark of divine love in it, but in heaven it shall be turned into a bright and ardent flame.
In heaven, love seeks to have the beloved as its own, and rejoices in saying, “My beloved is mine, and I am his.” The saints shall be God’s, as He brings them home to Himself in glory. And on the other hand, God shall be theirs, made over to them in an everlasting covenant on earth, and now they shall be forever in full possession of Him as their portion. The saints themselves shall not only be related to one another, but also, they shall be each other’s, and belong to each other.
Finally, there shall be perfect tranquility and joy in heaven. Love banishes all distractions and disturbance, and sweetly composes and brings rest to the spirit, and makes all divinely calm and sweet and happy. On earth, selfishness, envy, revenge, jealousy and all kinds of passions creates a tempestuous sea of tumult, where no quiet rest can be found. In heaven, the God of peace and love fills it with His gracious presence, and the Lamb of God lives and reigns, filling it with the brightest and sweetest beams of His love. And what joy there will be, springing up in the hearts of the saints, after they have passed through their wearisome pilgrimage, to be brought to such a paradise as this. Here is joy unspeakable indeed, and full of glory, joy that is humble, holy, enrapturing and divine in its perfection!