"A More Excellent Way" (I Corinthians 13:1-13)

"A More Excellent Way" from I Corinthians 13:1-13 was preached by Dr. Mark McElreath at the City Baptist Church of Atlanta on August 16, 2026.

Find out more about the City Baptist Church of Atlanta at www.citybaptistchurch.com.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:04

Welcome to the City Pulpit. Bible messages from the pulpit ministry of the City Baptist Church in Atlanta. Please take your Bibles with me. Let's go to 1 Corinthians chapter 13. 1 Corinthians chapter 13. And we've been making our way through this book of 1 Corinthians. Paul writing to this church in Corinth, a church he knows, a church he loves, believers that he knows, and he's been setting some things in order. In fact, he's going to take chapter 12, 13, and 14, and specifically discuss spiritual gifts. We looked at that in two sections in chapter 12, and we'll look at chapter 13 today. Let's begin reading verse number one. The Bible says, 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. Charity suffereth long, and is kind, charity envieth not, charity baunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth. Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth, but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail. Whether there be tongues, they shall cease. Whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child I spake as a child. I understood as a child, I thought as a child, but when I became a man I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then shall I know, even as I also am known. And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three, but the greatest of these is charity. I want you to go back with me to the last verse of chapter twelve, because that's where we're going to get the theme of the Bible message this morning. Would you look at chapter 12, verse 31? It says, But covet earnestly the best gifts, and yet show I unto you a more excellent way. Would you mark that phrase in verse 31, a more excellent way. Because Paul's taking time to talk about spiritual gifts, and he's talked about all the ways that people are empowered by the Holy Spirit. Once we're saved and come to know the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior, I believe, we saw this in chapter 12, that the Holy Spirit imparts a spiritual gift, at least one, to every believer. But then he says, now look, you should covet the best gifts. But there is a more excellent way, there is a better way, there is a higher way in which we can live, and it is the way which is characterized in chapter 13, and that is the way of charity. Now, when we hear the word charity, we may think of many different things. We may think of charity as giving to those that are in greater need than we are. We may think of charity as a graciousness, but charity here is a very specific word that Paul uses. It's a word for love, but not just any word for love. He could have used the underlying word, which was phileo. Phileo is a brotherly love, a love, affectionate love. But he uses the word here, agape. It is the highest form of love. In fact, it is the love that is always connected with the love of God. When you read John 3.16, for God so loved the world, it is the same word that's used here in 1 Corinthians chapter 13. It is the love of God for the world. It is the love of God for his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And he says here, if you're going to serve and if you're going to have a place in the body of Christ, it is only going to work if you and I have true charity, which is the love of Christ. Now, let's take a look at what that exactly looks like, and let's see it here. Now, one thing we do need to think about is, you know, Paul's already talked about spiritual gifts. You may say, now, look, I don't, Pastor, I don't have the spiritual gift of teaching. I don't have the spiritual gift of prophesying. I don't have the spiritual gift you fill in the blank, all the ones we looked at. Here's the thing: charity is not a spiritual gift. You can't say, I haven't been given this spiritual gift. It is a grace which each and every one of us, as believers, knowing the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior, that each and every one of us can possess. Alright, so no getting out of this one, all right? Let's take a look. Verse number one of chapter 13. Would you write down some things? If you're taking notes, would you write this down? Number one, there is the necessity of charity. The necessity of charity. This is not an option. If we're going to function within the body of Christ, we must have the love of Christ shed abroad in our ministry. Look at verse 1. He says, Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels. Now, keep in mind, Paul has just dealt with tongues. And we dealt with this for two Sundays, looking at chapter 12, but the gift of tongues was a gift given to the New Testament church. It is a gift because we have the full revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ in his word, the complete canon of Scripture, the gift of tongues is no longer needed. It has ceased to be in use. But he says, Though I speak with tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, and have not this love. You ever had someone, boy, they just had a silver tongue. I mean, when they spoke, it was just wonderful to hear them. I'm listening, I'm listening to a book right now. I like listening to books on Audible. I read physical books too, but I'm listening to a book and it's written by an author. I think he uses every word that's ever been invented in this book. I mean, the adjectives he speaks with, the way that he describes people, it's just absolutely incredible. And he says, but even if I spoke like that and I did not have the love of Christ, I did not have charity, here's what he says in verse 1. I am become a sounding brass or a tinkling symbol. I would just be like a bunch of clanging noise. I would be just a bunch of empty sounds. You ever had someone they spoke to you with such kind words, but you found out later they were not based in charity and actually it meant nothing to you in the end? That's actually what Paul is saying here. You may speak all the right things. So we find here, it is not the language that is the point, it is the love which is the point. There's a man by the name of D. L. Moody. He was a preacher of the last century, well, two centuries ago now, 1900s. He was a businessman when he got saved. He began preaching. And they said he spoke with the most common phrases, the most common wording. He just spoke as the common man. There was nothing polished about him. But you know what he was characterized by? He was characterized by charity. He was characterized by love. And it made all the difference. Though he was not the most polished person, love made the difference. He goes on to say, look at verse 2, speaking of the necessity of charity in our service. 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. He says here, look, I may I may have all these wonderful things. This prophecy, I may have the understanding of mysteries, given great intellect to understand the deep things of God and the word of knowledge, given a word of clarity on spiritual matters. But if I don't have charity, here's what he says in verse 2. I am nothing. That's how he sums it up. Great intellect, great expositional power, faith to move mountains. But if there's no love, it's nothing. It's not worth anything. Have you known those people? They excelled in all everywhere, everything they did, they were just the best at it. But you couldn't stand to be around them. They knew they were good at something. You know, you knew they were good at it, and the bad thing was they knew they were good at it too. There was no charity there. And so it was worth nothing to them. So he's really saying, though I though I possess special graces and though I possess spiritual gifts, if I have not charity, then I am nothing. He goes on to say in verse number three, would you look at this? And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, though I engage in superb giving, is really what he's saying here. I give all my goods to feed the poor. Though I give my body to be burned, he's speaking of in a martyr way here, almost being burned at the stake for a cause, and have not charity, here's what he says in verse 3, it profiteth me nothing. I'm not made the better, and the world is not made any better. We may possess all these things, and we may say, now, Pastor, look, look at what I am doing. But if it is not characterized by the love of Christ and is not growing out of a love of Christ, really it's just a love of self. Really, it's just an advancement. I'm giving so I can be advanced. I'm using my gifts so I can be advanced. I'm using my tongue and my speech so I can be advanced. If it is not rooted in the charity which is the love of Christ Himself, it is worth nothing. If the City Baptist Church is going to be the church it's supposed to be, it must be rooted in charity. Well, we're working on a lot of things. We're working on walls and flooring and seats, and I hope many of you come back in a little while and you're going to see it all put together. But I'll tell you this: we could have the finest carpets, brand new windows, all the multimedia things you could imagine. But if there's no real love in it, it's actually not worth anything. We would be better off meeting out under these trees today and be characterized by the love of Christ for his people and for the lost. We'd be better off doing that than in the finest facility we could ever find with no love and no charity. So there's the necessity of charity. But look when we at a second thing, we find the characteristics of charity, the characteristics of charity. Paul is going to take in just a few verses here, and he's going to really line out 16 things that charity is. One commentator said, You can take nothing greater to the heathen world than the impress and reflections of the love of God upon your own character. He says that is the universal language, speaking of love. He says, it will take you years to speak in Chinese or the dialects of India, but from the day you land, he's speaking of a missionary, from the day you land, that language of love, understood by all, will be pouring forth its unconscious eloquence. It is the man who is the missionary, it is not his words, and his character is his message. How will people know? By what we say, that helps. By how we dress, that may help. But they'll find out how we act is what characterizes in charity. Let's look at these characteristics. Will you look at me, please? We're going to work our way through them. We will touch on each of them. We'll say a word about each of them. But look, it says, charity suffereth long. This is more than patience, but a self-restraint when faced with provocation. It's one thing to be patient when there's nothing to be patient about. But when you are provoked, that's when we find that charity truly suffereth long. Think about David in the wilderness running for his own life. Saul hunting him down. No less than 24 different times in Scripture we find Saul actively trying to take David's life. And yet, David never raises his hand against God's anointed. David never comes in the night and takes Saul's life. Charity, the love of Christ, suffereth long. Not because David was a great man, but what happened? God was doing something in his heart and in his life that caused him to suffer long. You say, oh, yeah, Pastor, oh, I my boss, he's a Saul. He's always trying to take me down. Well, what's going to make the difference? You trying harder, you doing more, you saying some phrase over and over again, some mantra in the morning, looking in the mirror, it's not going to make the difference. Only the love of Christ shed abroad in your heart is going to make the difference. It suffereth long. Look at verse 4. It says, And it is kind. Continuing with David, he becomes king. He has the power. He's in control. What is one of the first things David does when he becomes king? He goes down, he finds Mephibosheth, the lost son of Saul, and he shows kindness to him and brings him into his home and treats him as his own son and feeds him at his own table. That is kindness. It's one thing to be kind when you don't have any power. It's another thing to be kind when you have all the power. We find here, look in verse number four, not only is it kind, but charity envyeth not. Envy desires to deprive someone of something he has. Charity is generous in the face of opposition and competition. It is magnanimous, open-handed, and generous with praise. Charity envieth not. They got that promotion. They drive that car. They got in that program. I can't believe they got in the new dorms, and I didn't get the new dorms. I saw the new dorms yesterday. But charity envieth not. You say, what does vaunteth mean? That is not a word we use all the time, is it? I always think of the word vault vaulteth when I think of vaunteth. Vaunteth just means it does not parade its own imagined superiority. It is not a braggart. If the love of Christ is truly shed abroad in our hearts, we don't have to go telling everybody all the great things we've done. Because we're secure in Christ. We find here it vaunteth not itself. It seeks not to show off or to draw attention to itself. It plays into the next one, verse number four. The last one of verse four, it is not puffed up. It is not inflated with an exaggerated idea of its own importance. Because the love of Christ is what we find security in, and the love of Christ is what we find hope in. Look at verse number five. He says, It doth not behave itself unseemly. The only other time that this phrase is used in Scripture is in 1 Corinthians chapter 7, where it's speaking of treating an unmarried woman appropriately. It is to know how to compliment, congratulate, and comfort. It behaves appropriately in every situation. How can we do that? You say, Oh, well, I wish I could do that, Pastor, but you know, I'm awkward, so. No way around that. Do you realize God can overcome our awkwardness? You realize God can, you say, well, look, that's just the way I'm made. No. When true charity, the love of Christ is shed abroad in us, we do not behave ourselves unseemly. God helps us to know how and what is appropriate in the way we live. He says in verse number five, it seeketh not her own. It is not selfish. It does not pursue its own interest or pursue having its own way exclusively. Think about Abraham and Lot. Abraham and Lot, his nephew, they they both had great flocks. And when they come in the book of Genesis and the land cannot support all their flocks, what does Abraham do? Abraham says, look, we're going to divide the land up, and Lot, you get the first choice. Now, who is the elder? Abraham. Who is much of the Old Testament written about? Abraham. And yet, what does Abraham do? He says, No, that's okay. Lot, you take the choice, and I'll take what's left. It does not behave itself unseemly. It seeketh not her own. It is not easily provoked. That means it is not prodded into wrong action. It's not easily provoked, means it does not walk around with a chip on its shoulder. You ever knew someone with a chip on their shoulder? That's an idiom. Some of you may not know what that means. It just means someone's walking around looking for something. Really, they're looking for someone to be an affront to them or looking for someone to do something to tick them off. Those are always very fun people to be around. But when charity is characterized in our lives, we're not easily provoked. Things happen, things come, and it's okay. We deal with it and we move on. It's no problem. But only the Lord Jesus Christ can do that. What goes along with this? Seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked. Look at verse 5. Thinketh no evil. Now, there is a part of this which means we're not dwelling on evil things, but in context here, it's speaking of it does not keep a count of wrongs and it does not nurse a grudge. Charity releases things. You say, I'll never be able to let that go, Pastor. You know what you can do? You can release it to the Lord. Lord, I can't handle this. I can't deal with this. That person, you know they're wrong, and they've never said they're sorry. But you know what charity says? I can give that to the Lord and let him take care of it. I can release it to him. It thinketh no evil. And then the next time you see that person, you say, Oh, can you? I can't believe it. You know what? You know what they did? No. Charity doesn't do that. Charity let it go. Charity released it. Charity says that's done. Look at verse number six. Charity rejoiceth not in iniquity. It does not gloat when bad things happen to other people. That goes hand in hand with thinketh no evil. Well, I know I forgave that person, but boy, I can't wait till God gets them. That's not charity. Because it does not rejoice in iniquity. When that person falls, or when something happens to that person, ill, it does not rejoice in it. It does not feast on the failures and the shortcomings of others. It says not only it rejoiceth not in iniquity, we find it rejoiceth in the truth. You know what charity does? It rejoices when the truth prevails. Because the truth will always have its day. It does not tell lies, charity does not cheat, and charity does not deceive. That's a work that the Lord does in each and every one of our lives. Because you know what? Maybe the place you work or the place you live or where you go, that may be the order of the day. That's exactly how everybody lives. That's how everybody does it, but not when charity is a characteristic of our life. Look here in verse number 7, where he says, It beareth all things. It comes from a word, this word bear comes from a word which means to cover or to protect. Jesus put a cover over those that nailed him to the cross when he said, Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. That's bearing far more than you and I will ever bear. That's caring far more than you and I will ever care. Then when someone slights us or someone does something against us, can we say, I can bear that? Right? Think about when Jesus did bear the things, those who put him on the cross, he was going to the cross to bear our sins in his body on the tree. And when we think of it that way, it puts every other slight, every other inconvenience, every other wrong, it puts it in perspective, doesn't it? Not just it beareth all things, look at verse 7, it believeth all things. Now, this does not mean that love is gullible or blindly accepts everything that is told to it. But love believeth all things. That means it is ready to believe the best in someone. Charity gives the benefit of the doubt and prefers to be generous. We live in a world today that's cynical first. Someone's done well, then they must have stolen it or taken it. Someone's got a promotion, well, they must have deceived to get there. This happened, well, you know, they probably didn't earn it. They probably. But charity chooses at least to give people the benefit of the doubt from the beginning. Now, is it, did they deceive to get it? It may have been, but we should not immediately think, especially of another believer, we should not immediately, first off, think they didn't earn that, they don't deserve that. That's not how charity acts. It is ready to believe the best in someone and give the benefit of the doubt. Not only that, look at verse 7, it hopeth all things. Now, we speak of hope. Many people think of hope as just some whimsy, a Pollyanna idea, just an overly optimistic idea. Well, I hope this happens. Hope in the Bible is always, it's not in a feeling, it's always in a person, it's always in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Okay? Our blessed hope that speaks of a future hope that's in the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ for our sins. But when it says here that it hopeth all things, what he's talking about here, it means it's refusing to acknowledge defeat and has great expectations for the future. Sadly, I've known people and I've heard stories of people that maybe they reach a certain point in life and they just lose hope. They're done. Look, as soon as we lose hope, we will succumb. As soon as we lose hope, we will give. As soon as people lose hope in all life, life's really done for them. Hope is what keeps us moving forward. He who abandons hope succumbs to what the devil has for them. William Cooper, he wrote some of the hymns we still sing today. He said this. He wrote, Ye saints of God, fresh courage take. Those clouds ye so much dread are big with mercy and shall break in blessings on your head. I like how he put it. He was a man, he was a manic depressant. William Cooper was a man who lived on his own, or he didn't live on his own, he had to live with people because he couldn't live on his own, never married, no children. And he had a pastor, I've told the story, but he had a pastor named John Newton. John Newton wrote Amazing Grace, we sang earlier in the service. John Newton was his pastor, and he said, You know, William, you have a great talent writing poems. We should put them to music. And he took William Cooper's poems, this man who most people would have overlooked, most people wouldn't have given the time of day to, most people would have thought, this is a crazy man, can't even live on his own. And he worked with William Cooper, put his poems to music, and we still sing, there is a fountain filled with blood. We still sing those songs today. Why? Because hope or charity hopeth all things. And then look at this last minute, verse number seven. It says that charity endureth all things. What does that mean? It remains under the load. God help us. When the burdens get too heavy and the days are long, to know the love of Christ that it endureth all things. It bears up courageously, no matter the suffering. So these are the characteristics of charity. And you may look at this list and you'd say, Oh, for 16, Pastor. None of them. You wouldn't characterize me as any of those. All right. Well, then the point is not to make a list of 16 things and every day work a little more at one of them. That's not how it's going to be done. You know, Benjamin Franklin used to do that. He had a little, Benjamin Franklin had a notebook and he wrote all these moral characteristics he thought, which is incredible because he was not a very moral man. But he had all these moral characteristics, and he wrote them down, and at the end of each day, he would grade himself on how well he did on those characteristics, and he would add them up at the end of the week, and then add them up at the end of every year, and then see how he did that year, and you know. Look, they that comparing themselves among themselves are not wise, is what the Bible says. But that's not how you do it. Write them all down and just work, work harder at them. No. We must draw closer to the Lord Jesus Christ and have his love in our hearts, shed abroad in our hearts, if we're going to bear all things, not be puffed up, not seek our own, not be easily provoked. Amy Carmichael said, our lives are like a teacup full of tea. And if the love of Christ is characterized in our life, no matter what bumps us, we will spill nothing out. You ever get bumped? Sometimes we take the teacup and we just want to throw it on somebody, okay? But it gets bumped, and she said, if charity is found in our life, we're not going to spill anything. Look at me at a third thing, this final thing, the last part of this chapter. Not only is there the necessity of charity, there's also these characteristics of charity, but there's the greatness of charity. Look at me, please, at verse 8, because he says, Charity never faileth. Now he's talking in context here of these spiritual gifts, because he says in verse number eight, he says, Prophecies they shall fail. Okay, prophecies he's speaking of are those who God had gifted in the New Testament church to speak a word in the church that we didn't have the completed word of God. Okay? The New Testament church does not have a completed Bible, so there were people who prophesied in the church to give the truth. He also says, tongues they shall cease. Now, tongues were needed in the New Testament to help, they were signed gifts to unbelievers, and they were used to point to the truth. They're not in use today. We're going to look at that in great detail in chapter 14, but they're not in use today. But he says, they're going to fail, and they have failed. He says, whether there be tongues, they shall cease. Whether there be knowledge, this was a word of knowledge, it shall vanish away. That was another thing in the New Testament church. Before the Bible was completed, people could speak a word of knowledge. We don't need it today. He said in verse 9, we know in part and we prophesy in part. The New Testament had partial revelation, and until the New Testament was complete, no one had access to full and final revelation. Until John wrote the last word of the book of Revelation, the canon was completed, we didn't have the full revelation as God wanted it in written form. And these gifts were needed. But then he says, verse 10, but when that which is perfect is come, that which is in part shall be done away. I believe verse 10 is very clearly speaking of the completed word of God. When that which is perfect is come. Perfect here is not speaking of without error, though I believe the Bible is without error, and the Bible attests to that. He's saying that which is complete is come. We have the complete word of God. Then that which is in part shall be done away. All these gifts were in part. But here's the thing charity was not in part. Charity does not pass away. Charity does not fail. Charity does not cease. He's saying, that will continue. He says in verse number 11, when I was a child, I spake as a child. I understood as a child, I thought as a child. I think he's connecting it here with these gifts. I speak as a child, speaking of tongues. I understand as a child, speaking of the gift of knowledge. I thought as a child, speaking of the gift of prophecy. And then he says, When I became a man, this is a point of maturity that is reached. He says, I put away childish things. By the way, let me take this in another application. This is not in the context, but let's make an application. When you were a child, you acted as a child, but look, if you've grown up, start acting like a grown-up. That's another thing we can say here. I thought as a child, but when I became a man, I put away childish things. Let me just speak to the men. Men, if you've become a man, put away childish things. There are things you don't do anymore. There's a way which you don't live anymore. I mean, there should even be a difference in the way you carry yourself as a man. Put away childish things. Here's what he says in verse 12. For now we see through a glass darkly. This glass here he's speaking of is a mirror. They didn't have mirrors like we have in the New Testament. They were very, very pristinely shined, precious stones. And really the reflection was not a very good reflection. Imagine taking some silver and really polishing it up. You're just seeing a dark reflection, not exactly as the image is. And he's saying we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face, I think he is speaking of the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are just getting glimpses of him in the Word of God. But there will come a day when we see him. All that was unknown is made known. All that is blurry and indistinct will be made clear. And he says here, now we know in part, but then shall I know, even as also I am known. Look, God has given us the full revelation of himself that he wants us to have in his word. This is, you can be sure, this is everything God wants you to know about himself. He's revealed it to us, and he's given us a complete canon of Scripture. But he says, one day, what we have known in his word, we will know and we will see face to face. The difference between looking in that old polished mirror of the first century to actually looking someone and seeing their pristine visage, that's the difference. And he says, look at verse 13, now abideth faith, hope, charity. These three, but the greatest of these is charity. These are not gifts that we get. Well, maybe I'll just have faith, or I'll just have hope, or I'll just have charity. No. These are available to all of us. And here is really the point. How can we have this kind of love in our life? Would you turn with me to the next book of the Bible, 2 Corinthians chapter 5? 2 Corinthians chapter 5. Here is the key. Paul writing, look at verse 14 in 2 Corinthians 5, because here's what he says. 2 Corinthians 5, verse 14. For the love of Christ constraineth us. The love of Christ constraineth us. What does that mean? Constrain means to hold together or to arrest. How are we going to live this way? The love of Christ has got to so arrest us, has got to so hold it all together that it makes the difference. Romans chapter 5, Paul said, the love of Christ or the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost. This is a supernatural work. If this is going to take place, it's only going to be because we know the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior and we've surrendered our lives to Him. I don't believe that this kind of love, this charity love, is available to the unbeliever. If you're here today and you don't know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, you cannot love like this. The Bible actually tells us that our sin, the Bible says that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. And our sin has separated us from God. The wages of that sin, the price of that sin, Romans chapter 6 says, is death. That is a spiritual death in separation from God forever. And so, if our sin separates us from God, there's no way that the love of Christ can be shed abroad in our hearts. So you can try to bear all things, you can try to hope all things, you can try to not be provoked, you can try to rejoice in the truth, but you will not be able to successfully do it without the Lord Jesus Christ. Romans chapter 5 actually tells us, but God commendeth or he proved his love to us, and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. So before you say, I've got to really have charity in my life, I've got to ask you, do you have the Lord Jesus Christ in your life? Do you know that you've been born again? Do you know if you died today, you'd go to heaven? Because that's the only way you're going to live a life like this. That's the only way you're going to have true charity, the love of God. You can show Phileo, you can show affection. We have a dog, and I show affection to that dog, but I don't have the love of Christ for that dog. My children can attest to that. I may need a little more 1 Corinthians 13 for our dog, but nonetheless, that's another message for another day. But how are we going to live this kind of life? It's not trying harder. But it's allowing the Lord Jesus Christ to take control, walking in the Spirit, and being close to Him. That's how we live the more excellent way. That's how when we deal with things in the body of Christ, and boy, they're tough to bear. Charity takes control. That's why we deal with things in our life outside these walls, on the work, on the workplace, out on the campus, out in the neighborhood. Charity takes control. That's what makes the difference. How we respond, how we react, that's what makes the difference. And it will only come when we live this more excellent way, characterized by the charity that is found, the love of Christ that is found in the life of a believer. Thank you for listening to the City Pulpit. For more information about the City Baptist Church of Atlanta, please visit www.mycitybaptist.com.