In his sermon "Love is Permanent; Gifts will Cease," David Green explores 1 Corinthians 13, emphasizing that love is eternal while spiritual gifts are temporary. The Church of Corinth focused on spiritual gifts, such as prophecy and speaking in tongues, which Paul argues are temporary. Green contrasts this with the permanence and importance of love, which is patient, kind, and never fails. He challenges listeners to evaluate their own lives, questioning whether their focus is on temporary achievements or the eternal nature of love. Green further explains that while spiritual gifts are important, they are not the ultimate goal. The 'perfect' referred to in the scripture is interpreted as the eternal state or ages, where worldly knowledge and gifts will no longer be necessary. Ultimately, the sermon calls for repentance and faith in Jesus, stressing the everlasting nature of God's love.

1 Corinthians chapter 13, beginning of verse 1. If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, know all mysteries and all knowledge. If I have all faith so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, Do not have love, it profits me nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. Is not jealous, does not brag, is not puffed up. It does not act unbecomingly, does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account their wrongs suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails, but if there are gifts of prophecy they will be done away.

If there are tongues they will cease. If there is knowledge it will be done away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part. But when the perfect comes, the partial be done away. When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child.

When I became a man, did away with childish things. For Now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in parts. Then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known. But now abide faith, Hope, Love, these three.

The greatest of these is Love. So we begin to wind down our study of 1st Corinthians chapter 13. Take our text today from verses 8 through 10. Love is permanent, but the gifts will cease. Love is permanent, but the gifts will cease.

The church at Corinth was focused on the temporary. They were focused on the gifts. But Paul wrote about love, which is permanent. Do you see the difference here? Do you understand why?

Have you caught on to, yes, this is the Word of God, and yes, this is the Bible, and yes, this is written under divine inspiration. This is God-breathed word of God. But put into context, The Church of Corinth was focused on that which would cease. They were focused on the temporary. But Paul wasn't.

The Church of Corinth was carnal. They were led by the flesh, But on the flip side of it, Paul was spiritual, being led by the Spirit. And so this morning I ask you, Some preachers like to wait until the end of the message to bring application. I like to try to make application in the point of the text where it's at. But I ask you this morning, where is your focus?

Where is your focus now, here, today? Where is your focus in life? We can read these words on the paper and we can compare ourselves with the Church of Corinth and say, well we're better than Corinth. They were focused on gifts that are temporary. They were focused on speaking in tongues.

That's not us. And you'd be right, we're not focused on speaking in tongues. Well, we could go in and be proud and say we're better than that, but forget the gifts here for just a moment and bring it down to the temporary and permanent. Is your focus on, in life, on the temporary? Maybe it is gifts of the spirit, but what about money, careers, titles, or even buildings, houses, whatever it may be.

Even if we put a church or a spiritual twist to it. And so we could say, well, my focus is on the church budget or the church building. But still, those things are temporary. They're not permanent. It's not that the temporary don't matter, they do.

The gifts of the spirit, they matter. Buildings, careers, money, they matter. Buildings, careers, money, they matter. But all to be more spiritually minded in life. More time is spent by Paul here in writing a description about love than he does in writing about the gifts that these people were squabbling over.

We're squabbling over. Now he does in chapter 14 get into writing some more about prophecy in tongues, but not in the way that you might think. And there's good reasons. Why? Because it's temporary.

These things are not going to last. And you and I, we could debate about what it means to have the gift of knowledge and the gift of the gift of tongues and the gift of prophecy and all those things. Some of them are more clear than others. The gift of tongues, that's pretty clear what that means. It's languages.

What I'm saying is we could squabble over all those sorts of things. Unlike what Ken Glish said in his sermon last year in our Bible conference. He was preaching from the last verse of this text, the greatest of these is love, but he said the spiritual gifts are not like an entrance ramp to the interstate. They're like a dead-end road. There's a lot of nice beautiful things along that road, But the road comes to an end.

But love, brothers and sisters, brother Ken said, love is not a dead-end road. I thought that was good because you get into some circles and they still, oh well you if you're saved you've got to speak in tongues and you've got to do this or that. You'll not find that sort of thing in the Bible. You and I, we are without shame, Baptist. Capital B, Baptist.

And if there's any part where we find ourselves, it's not the tongues. We don't squabble over that. It's usually not the prophesying unless you take the prophesying to mean forth-telling such as preaching. There's something to be said about that. But it's the knowledge.

It's the knowledge. Many in our ranks parade around me, they have this gift of knowledge. Indeed, when I was younger that was my goal. The pride of youth to soak up all the knowledge that I could get so I could be the person that everybody came to for whatever they needed to know. But it happens.

It happens so that People around the country get into some sort of competition with each other because of it. That's what happened in Corinth, and that's what happens in our day as well. But in this life, nobody knows everything. He says in verse 12, and I'm kind of skipping around a little bit, I know in part, I know in part. If we think about that and really put that in our minds, everybody in this room knows in part.

None of us knows everything, and even if we take the pastors of this church, history of this church, I know in part, Brother Doug knows in part, Brother Rob knows in part, Brother Reggie knew in part. What's the standard? What's the standard? The standard isn't me. And I guarantee you, if you asked any of them other pastors, it wasn't them either.

To set men at odds with others is to go back to the kernel of Corinth when they were squabbling over Paul of Polyphs and Cephas, squabbling over gifts of the Spirit. But it's not just a preacher problem, it's a problem in all of us, I suppose. I wonder how many of us read our Bibles just simply to grow in the Lord, not to win the next debate, or to prove that we know more than the other guy, whether it's someone on the internet that we've never met or worse yet a brother or sister in church. 1st Corinthians chapter 8 verse 2. Well, let's start with verse 1.

Now concerning things sacrificed to idols, we know that we all have knowledge. We all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. If anyone thinks he has known anything, he has not yet known as he ought to know. But, verse three says, If anyone loves God, he has been known by him.

So this is why he's laser focused on this subject of love, but also contrasting it with gifts of the Spirit. The gifts are temporary. This is what the church there at Corinth needed at the time and indeed it's what we needed we need in our time. Love never fails. Love permanent, the gifts are temporary.

So we looked at last time in verse 8 of our text, there is some disagreement as to what the meaning is in our text. When he talks about that which is perfect is come, the partial being done away with. Now, previously I used to think there was only two options here. One being the coming of Christ, the other being the completion of the Bible. So if I'm presented with two different options there, I took this to mean that he must be talking about the completion of the Bible.

When that which is perfect, when the perfect comes as the LSB puts it, the partial will be done away. Verse 10. We know in part, we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away with. Presented with the two options of either the coming of Christ in the rapture or the completion of the Bible. I took it to mean it's talking about the completion of the canon.

But as I got to studying this for this message, I came to a problem. The signed gifts were already going away before the Bible was completed. Let me explain over in Acts chapter 19. Acts chapter 19. Verses 11 and 12.

Verses 11 and 12. God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, so that cloths or aprons were even carried from his body to the sick. The diseases left them and the evil spirits went out. So we find here that Paul had the gift of healing, such that he sent out cloths, aprons that were carried from his body to the sick. There were people who were healed.

Well, what a great gift of healing he had. But by the time he wrote Philippians chapter 2, Philippians chapter 2, verses 25 and 26, says, but I regarded it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker and fellow soldier who is also your messenger, minister to my need, because he was longing for you all, was distressed because you had heard that he was sick. Okay, so Epaphroditus was sick. Now you would think maybe Paul would send him some aprons or clothes or handkerchiefs or something. In verse 27, For indeed he was sick to the point of death, but God had mercy on him and not on him only, but also on me, so I would not have sorrow upon sorrow.

So God answered the prayers of Paul. There's no mention of any healings, miraculous healings going on here. Of course in 1st Timothy chapter 5, 1st Timothy chapter 5 and Here's Timothy chapter 5 and verse 23. No longer drink water only, use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments. So Paul told Timothy, you got some stomach trouble, you got some ailments, take some wine for it.

No offer of healing there. The gift of tongues, specifically mentioned by so many in the Pentecostal and Charismatic movement as being a sign of salvation is not even mentioned beyond this epistle to the Church of Cornith. And besides the Church of Cornith, it's only mentioned in the Book of Acts. Never again brought up anywhere in church history, except in questionable, fringe groups here and there. But the signed gifts were ending before the completion of the Bible.

That's what I'm talking about. And so, and so this is what happens When a man starts preaching through the Bible, sometimes you're hit face to face with stuff, and you start comparing scripture to scripture, you say, wait a minute, this don't quite make sense. I'm certain I was parroting something that I read somewhere. But here's the deal, we talk about the temporary gifts of the Spirit and then act as if there's some permanent gifts. The reality is all are temporary.

All are temporary. Indeed there are coming a time, there is coming a time, when all the gifts will be done away with. I believe that's what Paul's talking about here. Now he uses different language. Go with me back to 1 Corinthians chapter 13.

I think this is important. I think this is important. First Corinthians chapter 13, verse 8, love never fails. Get that? That's pretty clear.

Love never fails. Josiah, is love ever going to end? Right. That's pretty easy English, isn't it? Love never fails.

As long as God is, there is always love. Love never fails. But if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away. And if there are tongues, they will cease. If there is knowledge, it will be done away.

So he lists three different gifts of the spirit, prophecy, tongues, and knowledge. Prophecy, tongues, and knowledge. But with tongues, he uses a different word, saying that they will cease. He says prophecy and knowledge, they're going to be done away. But tongues, they will cease.

Now the gift of prophecy, certainly that is, we often think of it as foretelling. But even in the Old Testament, most of the prophets were foretelling. They were declaring the Word of God. There is a sense in which the gift of prophecy still exists. That is telling the Word of God.

It doesn't exist in the same way as someone who receives a direct revelation from God and then speaks it. No, no. But someone who takes the Word of God and declares it. So there is a sense that someone may have the gift of prophecy even still, but then there's the gift of knowledge, but the gift of tongues, that's done. Ceased.

So he uses a different word here. But there's coming a time when even the gift of knowledge, the gift of prophecy, the other gifts that are listed in the Bible, all of it will end. In fact, as he's writing, he says, we know in part, we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away. He's writing about maturity when he writes about perfection here. And even now on this side of the closed canon, we have what I mean by that is we have something the early church didn't have and that is the full 66 books of the Bible.

And even though we have all 66 books, We still don't know everything. You don't know everything. I don't know everything. You don't know everything. And guess what?

Even though we may exhaust this book, No, no, we're not going to exhaust this book. We'll get exhausted before we ever get to even come close to exhausting this book. There's limits to our knowledge. Colossians chapter 2, Colossians chapter 2, verses 1 through 3. For I want you to understand how great a struggle I have on your behalf for those who are at Laodicea and for all those who have not seen my face in the flesh, so that their hearts may be encouraged, having been held together in love, even unto all the wealth of the full assurance of understanding, unto the full knowledge of God's mystery that is Christ himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

Where, as he said, are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge? Not in the Bible. It says, in Christ. In Christ. Now here in this life, We're not face to face with Jesus.

We have His Word printed on paper, but there's limits. But Paul writes of a coming time in Our text in 1st Corinthians chapter 13. He says, we know in part, verse 9, for we know in part, and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away. When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child. When I became a man I did away with childish things.

For now we see in a mirror dimly but then face to face. Now I know in part that I will know fully just as I also have been fully known. There's have been fully known. There's coming a time when the perfect comes. There'll be no need of knowledge or wisdom or preaching like we know it.

This is partial. There won't even be any need for pastors or preachers or teachers. Very similar, Look over in Ephesians chapter 4. Ephesians chapter 4 verses 7 through 13. But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift.

Therefore, it says, when he ascended on high, he led captive a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men. Now this expression, he ascended, what does it mean? Except that he also descended into the lower parts of the earth. He who descended is himself also He who ascended far above all the heavens so that he might feel all things. He himself gave some as apostles and some as prophets and some as evangelists, some as pastors and teachers for the equipping of the saints for the work of service to the building up of the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and the full knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ, so that we are no longer to be children tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming, but speaking the truth in love, we're to grow up in all aspects into him who is the head that is Christ." We'll stop there but But look at now he's saying this, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and the full knowledge of the Son of God, the mature man, are we to be maturing here in this life?

Yes, we are. Are we striving towards the unity of the faith and the full knowledge of the Son of God? Absolutely. But will we get there in this life? And the answer is no.

Zomax says, well, but what about my favorite pastor, my favorite preacher? I can't imagine life without him. Oh, beloved, a better is coming. Your favorite pastor is only the under shepherd. Is only the under shepherd.

One of these days we'll be gathered together with the good shepherd, face to face. Right now we see dimly but then face to face. In fact, in fact, What we have here and now is great, a great blessing. But what's coming, what's coming is so much better. Verse 11 is a clear picture of growth.

You know, he talks about children. We're all familiar with children. Paul says when he was a child, He used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child, but when he became a man, he did away with childish things. There's coming a time in every boy's life when he puts away the toys. There's coming a day when he plays with the Nerf gun for the last time, when he, when he, when he hugs the baby doll for the last time.

There comes a time when the little girl puts away her Barbie dolls and doesn't get them back out. There's growth. There's growth that happens. Well, in verse 12, we see in a mere dimly, but then face to face. This is the clearest indicator that he's not talking about the completion of the biblical canon.

He's not writing about the Word of God being completed. No, no. Scripture gives us, and don't get me wrong, Scripture gives us a wonderful and reliable picture of our God, but this isn't face to face. I guarantee you that no matter how wonderful the preacher and how great he is at preaching Christ, that if Jesus were to step in the room, we'd all put our Bibles aside and go fall on our faces to Him. Because to be face to face with Jesus is so much better.

So much better. And I'm looking forward to the time. I thank God for my Bible. I thank Him for the fact that it's been preserved for us and that we can study it and we can preach it and we can read it and meditate on it and I'm glad to be in it every day. But I am looking for the time when faith becomes sight.

Amen. When one of these days, it's not black and white or red and white on paper, it's Jesus that we see, face to face. When we don't even need the Bible anymore, when we're with the living Word. Praise God. No Christian, even after the completion of the scriptures, on this side of the isle of Patmos after the final ink dried in Revelation and the canon was complete.

Even on this side, no Christian has ever been fully known just as also... Well, let me, I muddled that up, but no one has ever known fully just as I also have been fully known. No one. Not me, not you, not your favorite pastor, not the most famous YouTube sensation, Not the best Puritan or the best Baptist writer from the 1700s or or before or after. No, no.

So what is he talking about? Is he talking about Christ coming in the rapture of the saints? Well, I don't believe so for a couple reasons. One is when he talks about the perfect coming, he's not talking about a person. So that's problem number one.

This is a neuter object in the Greek, and I don't believe he's talking about Christ coming. But also the problem is that if he's talking about the rapture, the gifts are in operation after the rapture. During the tribulation period and beyond, there are still gifts of the Spirit in operation. It can't be the rapture. It's not the second coming of Christ because there's a great reign of Jesus coming and there will be gifts in operation during that time.

So what is the perfect that he's talking about? When he says in verse 10, but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away. Well, I believe he's talking about the eternal state, the eternal ages, when the perfect comes. This is why there's a neuter form of that word, the perfect. This is what caused me some confusion when I used to talk about it being that it was the Word of God.

It couldn't be Jesus. Well, he's not talking about Jesus coming, he's talking about the eternal state, the eternal ages, when the perfect comes. Ages when the perfect comes. This interpretation allows for the continuation of some gifts through the church age, through the tribulation period and the millennium, but it also fits the emphasis of Paul's, as he talks about the permanence of love and seeing face to face. It's coming.

One of these days we will see face to face. One of these days... I will know fully, just as I also have been fully known. There's some things, even now, in the scriptures, that I don't know. You don't know either.

Here in a little while, we're gonna be getting to a point where there's something about baptism of the dead. If anybody's got that figured out, please, please let me know about that. I can tell you what it's not. I don't know what Paul was writing about when he wrote that. Over in Revelation chapter 21, Revelation chapter 21, verse 23, verse 22, 23.

Verse 23. Well, verse 22 and 23. And I saw no sanctuary in it for the Lord God Almighty. The Lamb are its sanctuary. The city has no need of the sun or the moon to shine in it for the glory of God has illuminated it.

And its lamp is the Lamb. It's lam, it's the lamb. Right now we see dimly, but then face to face. The gifts are temporary. This life is temporary.

But love is permanent. I ask you, do you know of this love that I've been preaching about, this permanent love? God's love. Will you be with Christ in that eternal glorified state that I spoke of today? It's coming.

Repent of your sins and trust in Jesus. He is the only.