Charity Willing to Undergo All Sufferings in the Way of Duty
1 Corinthians 13:7
Bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.


I. EXPLAIN THE DOCTRINE. It implies that those that have Christian love —

1. Are willing not only to do, but also to suffer, for Christ (Luke 14:27).

2. Have the spirit to undergo all the sufferings to which their duty to Christ may expose them. They are willing to undergo all sufferings(1) Of all kinds.

(a)  Reproach and contempt (2 Corinthians 12:10).

(b)  Hatred and ill-will (Matthew 10:22).

(c)  Losses in their outward possessions (Philippians 3:8); in their ease and comfort (2 Corinthians 6:4, 5).

(d)  Persecution (Hebrews 11:35, 36):

(e)  Death itself (Matthew 10:39).

(2) Of all degrees, like pure gold, that will bear the trial of the hottest furnace.

II. SOME REASON OR PROOF OF THE DOCTRINE.

1. If we have not such a spirit, it is an evidence that we have never given ourselves unreservedly to Christ. It is necessary to our being Christians that we should give ourselves to Him, wholly, only, and for ever.

2. They that are truly Christians, so fear God, that His displeasure is far more terrible than all earthly afflictions and sufferings.

3. They that are truly Christians, have that faith whereby they see that which is more than sufficient to make up for the greatest sufferings (2 Corinthians 4:17; Hebrews 11:24-26).

4. If we are not willing to close with religion, notwithstanding all the difficulties attending it, we shall be overwhelmed with shame at last (Luke 14:28-33).

5. Without this spirit which the text implies, we cannot be said to forsake all for Christ. If there be any one kind or degree of temporal suffering that we have not a spirit to undergo for Christ, then there is something that we do not forsake for Him (Luke 14:26, etc.).

6. Without this spirit we cannot be said to deny ourselves in the sense in which the Scriptures require us to do it (Matthew 16:24, 25).

7. It is the character of all the true followers of Christ that they follow Him in all things.

8. It is the character of true Christians that they overcome the world (1 John 5:4).

9. The sufferings in the way of duty are often, in the Bible, called temptations or trials, because by them God tries the sincerity of our characters as Christians (1 Peter 1:6, 7; 1 Peter 4:12, 13).Conclusion:

1. How happy those persons are represented in the Scriptures to be who have a spirit to suffer, and do actually suffer, for Christ (Matthew 5:10-12).

2. What glorious rewards God has promised hereafter to bestow on those that do willingly suffer for Christ (Matthew 19:29; 2 Timothy 2:11, 12).

3. How the Scriptures abound with blessed examples of those that have suffered for Christ's sake!

(Jon. Edwards.)



Parallel Verses
KJV: Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

WEB: bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.




Charity Hopeth All Things
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