Flair Jeans And Tongues - [1 Corinthians 13:8ff]

Like to start with a question and here's my question. What does a mature Christian look like? If you had to give marks of a mature Christian, they would be. Now some of you are brand new Christians, and so we don't expect maturity in you.

But certainly if you're growing in grace, you should be maturing if you've been around for a long time. You should be mature. But what does maturity look like? There was someone who asked the question to college students professor recently.

What does a mature Christian look like and here's what the college students said? It's not for us to judge. One can never arrive at the state of maturity. Now we're not supposed to judge although that's a verse taken out of context not applied to that situation and we never will arrive.

Completely until glory. That's true as well, but can we be mature now? Wasn't that the problem of Corinth. Corinth was Understood a Corinth understood who Christ was they had a great teacher Paul. They should have been mature and they were Infantile they were babies and so Paul writes 1st Corinthians for lots of reasons.

But one reason he writes to them is so that they might grow up. And we're going to see today in 1st Corinthians chapter 13 that one of the marks of maturity is this. Exactly what Scott Brown prayed earlier that we would focus less on temporal things that are passing and Fading and more on eternal things that will last forever.

One of the ways you can check your own self am I growing. Remember when you're a kid you had the growing bean? Actually, we had that thing on the wall. The back of my parents bedroom I think or the kids bedroom.

And it was actually this being like Jack and the beanstalk and I remember just measuring myself and having mom say yep I think you're growing. I kept praying that I'd be six foot six and and I could be a point guard like Jerry West or something like that.

I don't know. You don't know Jerry West. Okay, Bob Cousy, but really tall and Better just kidding. So here's what's gonna happen in the next three months. We'll probably wrap up 1st Corinthians and so we're diving right back into where we were before I went to California.

So I'm just gonna catch you up quickly on 1st Corinthians. So if you open it up for the first time in chapter 13, you'd know where you were. And you know what Paul's been trying to do. So Paul writes back to Corinth.

He's been there for 18 months. Ministering to them and they've got problems and they've got questions. Sounds like kind of lots of churches, right? We've got problems and we've got questions. So he addresses four of the problems early on in chapters one through six and some of those problems dealt with unity.

There wasn't unity in the church. So he addresses that problem. There wasn't any church discipline going on in Sexual relationships happening and there was no discipline chapter 5. Another problem was people were suing each other in the church.

Saints suing Saints and so Paul lays some wood to them and says you can't do that early in chapter 6. Christians don't sue other Christians. And then he says at the end of chapter 6 the last problem is there's immorality.

Sexual immorality going on in the church and it has to stop. Then we move to chapter 7 through the end of the book 7 through 16 those chapters and there are a bunch of questions that Corinth Asks he gives the answer now.

We don't really know all the questions. We just know his answers. So we have to extrapolate backwards and say I think we think we know what they were asking. But generally this is what they were asking.

Chapter 7 is celibacy legitimate. Chapter 8 9 and 10. What do we do about eating meat? That's been offered in in idols and ceremonies. And what do we do there? What's our Christian Liberty in other words?

The third question was should women have their head covered in public? The fourth question was what do we really do at love feasts? The Lord's Supper, how do we act and then we come to this question where we are right now?

What do we do about spiritual gifts? Chapter 12 13 and 14. So the main thing I want to say before we plunge into 13 is this. Chapter 13 is not isolated. Chapter 13 is not just dropped into the middle of this without any context.

They're asking about spiritual gifts chapter 12 chapter 14. And so Paul puts in the very middle kind of in the middle of the sandwich. If you will you have to be loving and so in the middle of using your spiritual gifts Paul says you must exercise Love now.

Let's just go to chapter 13 verse 1 and see how he talks and I'll read the first several verses. And we're gonna get to chapter 13 8 to 13 in just a minute. Look at how he uses these Hypothetical illustrations in chapter 13 verse 1 you'll see the three ifs there.

He's trying to drive home that it's necessary to love people. If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have powers prophetic powers and understand all mysteries and all knowledge and if I have all faith as to remove Mountains, but have not love I am nothing if I give away all I have and if I deliver up my body to be burned.

But have not love I gain nothing. Is it okay to read these verses at a Christian wedding ceremony? It's okay to read pretty much any verse at any time any place, isn't it? I like Bible verses, but the context here isn't Marital love.

The context isn't even the love shown to us at Calvary although these concepts spill into both. The issue here is if Corinth would do these things all their problems of disunity Immorality suing each other everything else would be solved.

If you would love one another in other words chapters 1 through 4 you'd be unified. If you'd love one another you'd actually go to someone and confront them who's living in immorality. If you love someone you're not going to sue them.

Are you. And so it's like he picks these things perfectly to apply to Corinth and of course it goes way beyond Corinth. Even out to West Boylston 2 ,000 years later. Paul then gives 15 descriptions of what love looks like that would solve their problem.

And you'll notice in these things. They're other oriented. These are action words. It does very much reflect the love of God. And let me read to you verses 4 through 7. You know the verse as well, but I want to make sure we get this because they're tied into the next section.

Love is patient and kind. How would that work with the lack of unity in chapters 1 to 1 to 4. I would have solved that. Love does not envy. How would that work out with the lawsuit deal? Our boast. How would that work out with.

I've got tongues and you don't. It's not arrogant. Remember the Corinthians they were what puffed up. Who knows a Greek word for being puffed up somebody say it out loud. Fusio you guys telling you this is great.

Good job teaching them this summer Steve. We're in good hands. Fusio puffed up you can sound when you blow up a balloon. That's what it sounds like. Fusio just big-headed. It's not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way.

It love is not irritable or resentful. Verse 6 is does not rejoice at wrongdoing chapter 5 the incest thing that kind of you know God's grace is exceeding all our sin, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things love believes all things hopes all things endures all things.

Which brings us to our passage today a Continuation about love. Check out chapter 13 verse 8 first word and chapter 13 verse 13 last word and you'll see love again. Bracketed he's still talking about love.

Sometimes these verses don't get read at weddings, but we're still talking about Christian love. So let me read these words, and then we'll see some truths coming right from them. Now remember context of spiritual gifts.

Context of trying to talk to these folks about Issues in the local church, and he says 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. When I was a child I spoke like a child. I thought like a child. I reasoned like a child. When I became a man I gave up childish ways.

For now we see in a mirror dimly then but then face to face. Now I know in part. Then I shall know fully even as I have been fully known. So now faith hope and love abide. These three, but the greatest of these is Love.

Before I give you the outline let me just remind you that the key to all of this I'll just tell you ahead of time. It's that love lasts. So focus on the thing that lasts. Love is permanent. Other things go away like sign gifts.

Like all spiritual gifts, but love lasts so if you were immature you would focus on something that doesn't last. And if you were immature you would focus on something that does last. Paul is trying to tell us that the thesis statement is love is permanent gifts for the present love is Permanent.

This has nothing to do with some general hymn to love. This chapter 13 is a general ode to love. No, this is a chapter that says love lasts. Corinth. Don't focus on all these other spiritual gifts so much that you forget about what's going to be eternal.

That's gonna be The issue Solomon said in Song of Solomon chapter 5. Many waters cannot quench love neither can they the druds the the floods drowned it out. Let me give you three charges or exhortation.

That would be good for BBC as well. Good advice when it comes To this issue number one. I just said it earlier, but that's all right. We want to just keep driving this in number one focus on love because it lasts.

This is gonna be good for us because whether it's the gift of serving the gift of Administration you have the gift of giving you have the gift of teaching. Even though we're not dealing with these sign gifts at the moment here at Bethlehem Bible Church.

We're still dealing with spiritual gifts and so focus on what? Last and that's love and take a look at the thesis statement verse 8. This is really the issue the issue this verse defines the rest of the paragraph love never ends.

Prophecies pass away. Tongue cease knowledge passes away. Love never ends. That's ESV. Any ass really isn't much better. Love never who has NAS love never what? Fails. Literally, the word is love never falls.

Love never falls. Now let's turn our Bibles to Acts chapter 20 for a second. Let me show you an illustration of the exact same word. Paul is trying to drive at. Love is endless. Love is eternal. Love is always in love is never out of fashion.

Love never collapses. Love is Never destroyed never falls apart. It's eternal after all God is love. So can love ever cease? No, and so the exact same word is used in Acts 20 now earlier in 1st Corinthians chapter 10 Paul said take heed lest you what?

Fall same word, but here's also the same word. I kind of like this Acts chapter 20 just because I like everything about Acts chapter 20 verse 7. The first day of the week when they were gathered together to break bread Paul talked with them intending to depart on the next day and he prolonged his speech until midnight.

You know why I like this chapter. Until midnight There were many labs lamps in the upper room where we were gathered and a young man named Eutychus sitting at the window. Sank into a deep sleep as Paul talked still longer is it biblical to preach long sermons and being overcome by sleep he Fell down from the third story.

That's the word. Love never falls like Eutychus falls. Love never falls out of the window and dies. That's the point. Let's just read the rest just for fun and Just taken up dead Paul went down and bent over him and taking him in his arms said do not be alarmed for his life is in him and When Paul had gone up and had broken bread and eaten he conversed with them a long while until daybreak and so departed and they took the youth away alive and.

Then in this classic understatement and we're not a little comforted and we're not a little comforted. All right back to first Corinthians chapter 13. Love doesn't fall out the window dead love continues through this life into eternity.

Will there be love in heaven? Will there be someone in heaven who's desiring the best in the in any object? The answer is yes. Agape love will still be in heaven. Oh Eros loves not going to be there, but certainly agape love will be there and Paul says Love is eternal.

It never falls to the ground. It never collapses. It's permanent. It never suffers ruin. So since that's the case if you're going to have to invest in something. Should you invest? Your money in the stock market in something that you think is going to last and pay Dividends not just now but later.

And the answer is well, that's obvious, but the Corinthians weren't doing it. One man said love is not something we practice here and now and when the Lord comes or when we enter into his presence passes away.

Love belongs to the ages not simply to this age, but to all the ages. And it totally makes sense doesn't it. God is love first. John chapter 4 then love must last. What's the motivation for our salvation?

It's the love of God that must last because when you see Jesus in his body in heaven. You are going to be thinking about those marks that are on his body that show what he has done. By saving us in love.

Let's turn to Ephesians chapter 2 for a moment as we Put together this idea that love Never lasts. Love was never last. Well, my stupid kind of love does I guess obviously that that love never falls. Love lasts there we go.

You know the great thing about our minds as we listen to someone I can even say the wrong thing and mess up verbally. But your minds just translate it. You have that little translator. We just go. Okay, I can figure that out.

I know what he means. All right Ephesians chapter 2 here's where I'm going. I'm just gonna give you a peek of where I'm gonna go and then I'll have to develop it in a second. I want you to see that love is the motivating factor for your salvation and just how great love is.

So that you're now going to see and in your mind's eye that heaven is going to be Jesus Christ love incarnate for what he's done at Calvary. So let's just take a look at this Ephesians chapter 2. One and following you'll see right where I'm going in a second and you were dead in the trespasses and Sins.

Paul is talking about the state of every person in the world except for Jesus. You were born dead physically alive. Spiritually dead and then he gives comprehensive terms in trespasses and sins. Right and trespasses things that I did on purpose.

Sins things that I missed the mark sins of omission our commission. In other words, we are dead and trespasses and sins. It's like when I flew my dog out to California. Which was a very interesting story altogether.

I got to San Jose. She flew in a different carrier and then I get this phone call in San Jose. Sorry your dog missed her connection in Houston. She won't get there till tomorrow. I thought I thought I told that dog how to make connections.

Get off the plane you find your gate. Make sure it says San Jose then you use a restroom then you buy your Starbucks and I thought my dog missed her flight. Just like her. But as I would take her along in Northern, California.

These awesome Redwoods would be there up to the sky these Redwoods and you know what my dog had. No appreciation for the beauty of Redwoods. I took her down to the ocean and we'll walk and we'll walk along the ocean and See jetty right out there about 30 feet out of 30 yards out there's with that great white push that kayak up that 16-foot kayak and started eating the kayak and just the beauty of God and kelp bed and the shark and my dog had no appreciation for Sharks are for the ocean are for anything else and here in the spiritual sense.

God made us to worship him. He's the Creator we're the creation and we've been made to worship him to thank him and to give him honor and to adore him and to sing to Him and because we've been born in our dead trespasses and sins.

We have no Appreciation for the beauty of God. None. This is the state of everyone. The word dead is necros. Remembering the prodigal son my son was dead. No desire for the fellowship of God no desire to hear the Spirit's voice rebels and talk about slavery verse 2 Ephesians 2 in which you once walked the course of our life.

This is just what we did. Following the course of the world. The world's peer pressure was dominating us free. No, we're not free. Before we were saved we were following the course of the world and more than that.

To make the noose even tighter to make sure you don't understand. There was nothing free about us except our freedom to sin following the Prince of the power of the air. As One man said we not only Followed what the world said we also danced the devil's tune.

You just imagine the devil playing a little piccolo or something and we just hopping around and he says jump it's how high the spirit that is now at work in the sons of Disobedience and we weren't running to God before we were saved.

We were running away from God. We can't get away from God fast enough and We all had a personal relationship with Jesus Christ before we were saved and that relationship was judge enemy. Rebel rebellion.

We had a personal relationship and God took our hostilities very personally. How bad can this be? Could it get any worse? Just like of the other men Jesus could have said of us before we were saved. You are of your father.

The devil verse 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh. Could could things get any worse. This is an unsavable group. They certainly can't save themselves. Twelve-step groups aren't going to help this kind of depravity.

This isn't an issue of I've got a sin problem. This is I'm the problem. Too often in America. It's like well, you know, we've got to hate the love the sinner and and hate the sin. Okay. That's what we have to do, but I don't want you to ever think somehow that you and your sins are are different.

Well, I I'm Mike, but I I have my sins over here. No, I am the sinner. I am the problem and God hates both the sin and the sinner see Psalm 5 5. Psalm 7 11. This is bad, especially knowing That vengeance is mine.

I will repay. How do we extract ourselves out of this? How do we get out of this? It's hopeless. Seemingly hopeless. The Lord is a consuming fire a jealous God verse 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh carrying out the desires of the body and the mind and We're by nature children of wrath.

Like the rest of mankind and for anybody that ever says the only hell there is is what's going on on this earth. Has no idea about the holiness of God and what God says about hell later. Actually, if you think this is hell on earth if you die and go to hell.

You'll think what happened to you on earth was a veritable heaven. Edwards would say. That's just foolish talk. And so we have been. Created by God. Adam was created upright and God Says I demand your allegiance.

I demand your worship. I demand your Adoration and we say no, we'll do what Satan wants. We'll do what we want. We are just like Sir Hans Sir Han except worse. When he said after he killed Robert Kennedy, they can gas me, but I'm famous.

We're sunk. It's over. There's no hope. Can't extract ourselves out can't save ourselves. You need to tell me a little bit of water sprinkled on your head as a kid is going to help you. I'm gonna tell me being good the rest of your life is going to help you having more good than bad is going to extricate yourself from this situation.

Nothing can help us. No one can help us except The judge who is also the Savior. Verse 4. I'm so glad this next word is an end and God whacked them eternally. I'm glad this next word isn't therefore therefore because of what they've earned God gave them judgment.

But here Martin Lloyd-jones says if you haven't listened to the to the sermon. But God by Lloyd-jones Ephesians 2 for you ought to do it. It's free now on the Martin Lloyd-jones Recording Trust. But God.

That is great. That is great news, but God Being rich in mercy. Yes. He's the judge. Yes. He hates sin. But he has other attributes too because of the great love with which he loved us. Jonathan Gershner said love impossible mercy, maybe.

Perhaps he would spare us, but what is there to love? Hate yes, there is plenty of hate. Maybe he once loved us or maybe he could have loved what we once were but we're beyond love yet. He loves loving.

Where there is nothing to love? Verse 5. Just to make sure we are underlined in our mind to underscore this very fact that God loves us even though we were sinful even when we were dead in our Trespasses made us alive together with Christ and then for the ages they sing by grace.

You've been saved. You don't think sins are bad. Then you can't sing amazing grace and he raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heaving place the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, why did God do all this?

Why did God take the sinners and save them. Many reasons. One because he wanted to. Number two is the eternal decree but here he's also doing it because he wants to show the world and the Angels and he wants to show even himself within the Trinity that forever and ever in the divine publicity program.

God is a loving God who saves sinners. Never go to the beach and you see one of those biplanes come by and it's got a long cable and then it's got a Promotion at the back of it by Red Bull or something like that.

I Guess you don't get out much. Based on your pasty white appeal of complexion. I can see don't get the beach much. God did all this because it shows that he's a great God and then he promotes it to everyone.

Verse 7. So that in the coming ages age after age after eon after eon He might show. He might demonstrate. He might display The immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. With the motive that we just learned about in chapter 2 verse 4 of love.

The only thing that did this was because God was motivated by himself for himself unto himself. To say I love these unlovable people and I'll show you how great I am by the depths of their sin. I'll still overcome it with the greatness of my mercy grace and love and that's something to be promoted.

This is an ongoing exhibition forever and ever and ever not just on this earth. Not just on Calvary not just back in Genesis chapter 3 and the early gospel. But all the way throughout all eternity turn with me if you would to Revelation chapter 5 and let me show you the centerpiece of Love incarnate you're never going to forget about love.

Love is always going to be existing in heaven and you'll see it and you'll experience it. So therefore Corinth or any other church? Why get bogged down in all this other stuff? Something is more lasting.

So focus on the permanent Revelation chapter 5. Revelation chapter 5. Let's see for sake of time. We better just jump down to verse 11. I was gonna start at verse 6, but let's go down to verse 11 Revelation 5.

Here's my point love goes on through eternity and They live. God is love and he's motivated by love to save sinners. That's going to be the centerpiece of heaven. Not gonna be your dog in heaven. Certainly not gonna be me in heaven.

Not even gonna be your mom in heaven. Those things that have souls and they have been redeemed will all focus on this on him. Then I looked verse 11 and I heard around the throne and living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels.

Numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands. Do yourself a favor sometime and just read the book of Revelation out loud. It was originally written to be read out loud and to be heard out loud.

It's amazing as you listen to this Numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands sane with a loud voice. Does love last. Does love go on through eternity where the will there be love in heaven?

Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and glory and honor and blessing. Steve and I went together for the gospel years ago, and they recorded some of the songs and now Steve with the enthusiasm of a Some car salesman or something but with good motives.

He is pushing this CD on people. That's right out there for just a few bucks about men Singing the glories of God with all kinds of hymns together for the gospel live. I put that thing in my car and I thought Steve's prone to exaggeration unlike me.

He he does these kind of things. I put it in my car. I was having some worship experience with 8 ,000 guys. Singing immortal invisible singing and can it be I pull up today listening to a song and I just thought this is this is just making me cry thinking about the greatness of God and how all these people from every tribe and and Kindred and tongue get together to say we're gonna worship the God man the Jew Christ Jesus the Savior the risen King.

Now if that was good and actually I got to be there in Louisville to listen to all that and hear all that. If that's good, I wonder what this is like verse 13, and I heard every creature in heaven. And on earth and under the earth and in the sea and all that is in them saying.

You just think about the Lamb and you think about his love eternal. To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb Be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever. When you hear words like that, you can't help do but what the living creatures do.

They said amen and the elders fell down and worshipped. Finally the real slain in the spirit love never ends. Because when you're in heaven, you're going to see Jesus Christ in His body with those marks and you're always going to be thinking this is the God who Revelation one loves us only time I think of the New Testament with the present tense to the God who loves us.

It's amazing thing to think about the love of God. Did you know? The love of God a study on that will help you in about every area of your life. Think about it for just a second. Say well, I I'd like to be more loving at home to my spouse or to other people at church.

Let me just remind you about the love of God. It is uninfluenced. Well, you know, my wife doesn't really treat me that well. So I don't really think that she deserves me to treat her very well or vice versa are my kids.

We are in an earnest society a work society. You earn my favor. I give you favor. But that has nothing to do with biblical love when God saved you. The only reason he saved you is because he could get a lot of glory for that.

It's like Deuteronomy chapter 7 God did not set his love on you or choose you because you were more in number than any of the people's. God saved you even when you were dead in your trespasses and sins.

So when you think about the love of God. Then you think how am I supposed to love other people if the two great commandments are love God and love others? How do I love other people. Well if God's love for me is Uninfluenced even when I'm sinful then I think I'll just love them even though they don't deserve it the uninfluenced love of God.

God's love friends is not a cause. Love is not a response. It's a cause. We didn't do anything. He is the mover. Let's go back first Corinthians chapter 13. Did I already say that let's go back to the first Corinthians 13.

I had a whole sermon here on the love of God, but we need to keep going through first Corinthians chapter 13. Focusing on the thing that lasts. Love never falls. So focus on love. Corinth Bethlehem Bible Church and he says in the rest of verse 8 as For prophecies they pass away.

We're talking about the gift of prophecies as For tongues the gift of tongues they cease as for knowledge it will pass away. We're talking about these three sign gifts. We're talking about gifts in general.

We could say but here are these three sign gifts that he really Was trying to correct the Corinthians view of he says they're going to pass away. Love transcends all spiritual gifts including these sign gifts.

Just like with cars most likely there is a built-in Obsolescence, they're only to last for such a long time. It's good for the time period and then they're over. There's nothing wrong with gifts of knowledge tongues and prophecy, but they weren't meant to last yet.

Love was. Take a look here. It says if there are prophecies, they'll be set aside. Thus saith the Lord the canon wasn't complete. Someone would say thus saith the Lord. That's good, but that's gonna stop one day.

Yes, there'll be prophecies in the end times. Acts chapter 2 and Joel. One day they're gonna be gone. And it says they're gonna stop they're gonna be rendered inoperative. They're not even on the merge lane that goes into the freeway to go along with something else.

They're just stopped. There's a stop sign there eventually prophecies. They stop. Same thing with tongues. He uses a different word, but I think he's just trying to create a structure here a literary structure chiastic structure.

Their big deal was tongues and he says well prophecy speak and Knowledge ends and right in the middle. The focus is tongues. They shall cease. It's the same line of reasoning. Focus on tongues they cease and on knowledge.

It will be set aside. You say knowledge is gonna be set aside if knowledge is set aside. I won't even know it. Because I won't be able to know because there won't be any knowledge. Well, this is not knowledge in general.

This is the gift of knowledge. It will be set aside. It's partial. I could say it to charismatic as easily as I could not charismatic. Focus on the thing that lasts and it's not a spiritual gift. It's love verse 9 and 10.

Paul gives a little ground for what he's just said. Thesis statements verse 8 then he gives a ground for what he says in verses 9 and 10. For we know in part and prophesy in part. You don't really have to Think too much to figure out.

Yeah, that's true. Do we only know in part? I could take you to any laboratory in the universe and you would have to say along with those scientists. We only know in what? Part. Prophecy is even in part two because what we know about heaven and God that's still not all complete.

There's more to know the canons complete, but there's more to know. And then he says but when the perfect comes the partial will pass away. All right, if you're a seminary student, you're gonna want me to talk for an hour about what the perfect is.

If you're not a seminary student, and I'm not a seminary student anymore either. So we're just gonna cut to the chase, but I will give you the three quick options. People see the word perfect when the perfect comes the partial pass away.

Option one the perfect is the completed canon of Scripture when the canon gets put together and the last book is written revelation. Then do you know what? There's no reason to prophesy anymore speak in tongues anymore.

Have words of knowledge anymore because those things were to be signs to point to the Authenticated word. We already have the authenticated word, so we don't need any sign pointers anymore. That's option one.

It has some views that cessation is really love it people that think sign gifts have ceased which I have one of those. But I don't take this view the completed Canon closely related to that is the mature church.

Now most of time when you see this word perfect in the New Testament it means Mature so when the mature church gets mature. They don't need these signs gifts anymore because the sign says Sacramento 348 miles.

But now the church the church is mature, and we're already at Sacramento. I'm downtown, Sacramento. So why do I need these gifts to point me there because the church has moved along? Similar philosophy to the perfect with the canon idea and so why do we need pointers?

Tongues pointers. Prophecy pointers. Knowledge gifts word of knowledge gifts when the church is mature enough. They don't need that. That's another option although in Joel 2 and acts 2 there is prophecy in the future, so I don't take that view.

What's the final view? I'll have to tell you next week. Let's pray. No just kidding I can tell you're looking at me going the whole heaven thing and love is eternal that was all excellent now. What about this?

Paul says the perfect is going to come and everything else is going to be gone. So the perfect is either the canon good scholars believe that the mature church good scholars believe that. But the best scholars believe the last few the eternal state when the eternal state comes.