WEBVTT - The Hardest Part Is Behind You 0:00:01.520 --> 0:00:02.800 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. 0:00:02.840 --> 0:00:05.840 I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast. 0:00:05.880 --> 0:00:08.320 I wanted to thank you for joining us today. Hope 0:00:08.320 --> 0:00:11.040 this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. Hope it 0:00:11.039 --> 0:00:11.480 gives your. 0:00:11.360 --> 0:00:13.480 Perspective to see God is moving in your life. 0:00:13.840 --> 0:00:14.680 Enjoy the message. 0:00:17.720 --> 0:00:20.919 Let's give the Lord twenty seconds a praise that he 0:00:21.040 --> 0:00:25.080 gave Jesus the name that is above every name, and 0:00:25.160 --> 0:00:30.760 he gave us that name to call on today. 0:00:32.120 --> 0:00:36.560 What a beautiful name it is the name of Jesus Christ, 0:00:36.600 --> 0:00:37.280 Star King. 0:00:38.520 --> 0:00:40.839 Well, you might want to turn around and introduce yourself 0:00:40.880 --> 0:00:41.560 to five people. 0:00:41.560 --> 0:00:43.639 Tell him your name. Hello, my name is. 0:00:47.360 --> 0:00:51.120 Let's get on a first name basis. If you're watching online, 0:00:51.159 --> 0:00:52.360 put your name in the chat. 0:00:52.960 --> 0:00:55.560 Who are you? Where you come from. 0:00:55.640 --> 0:00:58.000 I'm pulling out my phone right now to see who's 0:00:58.080 --> 0:01:02.480 joining us across all of our streaming platforms. Just go 0:01:02.560 --> 0:01:05.520 ahead and put your name in the chat. If you're 0:01:05.560 --> 0:01:08.000 watching this at a later time, put it in the comments. 0:01:08.560 --> 0:01:11.520 An Elevation Church, Let's thank God for our e fam 0:01:11.600 --> 0:01:13.280 watching all over the world right now. 0:01:15.520 --> 0:01:18.200 As I heard somebody say, you can do better than that. 0:01:25.280 --> 0:01:27.920 One time I heard a preacher preaching out in the country, 0:01:28.000 --> 0:01:29.840 and he didn't like the response he was getting from 0:01:29.840 --> 0:01:30.160 the church. 0:01:30.160 --> 0:01:33.280 He said, you can do better than that, and somebody 0:01:33.280 --> 0:01:38.000 in the crowd shouted, so could you don't do that? Today? 0:01:39.000 --> 0:01:43.679 We have trained security who know martial arts. I'm so 0:01:43.800 --> 0:01:49.120 glad you're here today. I'm so thankful, not only for 0:01:49.200 --> 0:01:52.120 the sermon that I'm about to preach to you, but 0:01:52.200 --> 0:01:52.880 the sermon that. 0:01:52.760 --> 0:01:54.160 You've preached all week long. 0:01:54.680 --> 0:01:58.000 Everybody who served during Love Week, large or small, Thank you, 0:01:58.480 --> 0:02:00.440 everybody who gave so that we could. 0:02:00.240 --> 0:02:02.600 Be out there. Thank you man. 0:02:02.640 --> 0:02:04.440 I wish you could have seen me and Holly and 0:02:04.480 --> 0:02:08.160 your campus pastors and your outreach staff just giving out 0:02:08.320 --> 0:02:11.400 checks left and right this week to feed the hungry, 0:02:11.680 --> 0:02:14.919 to lift up the broken hearted, to bind up the wounded, 0:02:15.320 --> 0:02:18.799 to make a difference in somebody's life. I wish you 0:02:18.840 --> 0:02:21.000 could have seen my son Graham with a power tool 0:02:21.040 --> 0:02:24.320 in his hand. I told him, son, I can't teach 0:02:24.360 --> 0:02:26.080 you what to do with that. The only power tool 0:02:26.080 --> 0:02:28.359 I ever held was a microphone to preach the gospel. 0:02:29.560 --> 0:02:32.440 But so many people this week made a difference. And 0:02:32.680 --> 0:02:34.640 if you are one of them, I say thank you. 0:02:35.160 --> 0:02:36.840 And if you were not one of them. It is 0:02:36.960 --> 0:02:38.880 never too late to get in on a good thing. 0:02:40.040 --> 0:02:41.720 I said, It's never too late to get in on 0:02:41.760 --> 0:02:47.000 a good thing. So may today be a day of 0:02:47.080 --> 0:02:51.480 new beginnings. It's also a day of continuations, because I 0:02:51.560 --> 0:02:55.040 have started a series called That's what I thought. 0:02:56.000 --> 0:02:57.959 Look at your neighbors, say that's what I thought. 0:02:59.440 --> 0:03:03.119 That's what I thought. That's what I thought. You want 0:03:03.120 --> 0:03:06.079 to say something, now, That's what I thought. I like 0:03:06.160 --> 0:03:08.720 that energy. When we run up on the devil on Sunday, 0:03:08.800 --> 0:03:11.320 versus when he runs up on us on Monday. 0:03:12.000 --> 0:03:13.000 Come to church, come. 0:03:12.880 --> 0:03:20.280 About jamespray, job, bones, sway. And the key to all 0:03:20.320 --> 0:03:24.399 of this is that when we are not together like this, 0:03:25.520 --> 0:03:29.320 you are able to take what you get here and 0:03:29.400 --> 0:03:32.680 apply it there wherever you're there may be that is 0:03:32.760 --> 0:03:35.280 my desire for you, and that there would be no 0:03:35.400 --> 0:03:37.600 place that the Word of God cannot make the difference 0:03:37.640 --> 0:03:38.400 in your life. 0:03:40.680 --> 0:03:42.320 Today, I'm excited to share. 0:03:42.080 --> 0:03:43.840 A message with you, and I'm going to use for 0:03:43.880 --> 0:03:47.880 a foundational scripture First Corinthians thirteen eight through eleven. As 0:03:47.880 --> 0:03:49.760 you're looking in your bible, let me welcome a few 0:03:50.560 --> 0:03:52.880 epham from around the world. 0:03:54.280 --> 0:03:59.160 We've got Rebecca, Shriika, Sheryl. 0:03:58.840 --> 0:04:11.440 Anne, Dianelesia, Laura. We got Bremerton, Washington, Bremerton, Washington, Flagstaff, Arizona, 0:04:12.040 --> 0:04:14.600 VICKI from Texas. God bless you from all over the world. 0:04:14.600 --> 0:04:17.440 Just keep letting us know where you're watching from. We 0:04:17.440 --> 0:04:23.159 want to connect with you. And today, as I share 0:04:24.760 --> 0:04:26.920 a principle and then a picture, I love to teach 0:04:26.960 --> 0:04:29.159 that way. That's my favorite way to teach a principle 0:04:29.600 --> 0:04:33.120 and then a picture. A principle and then a picture, 0:04:33.520 --> 0:04:35.799 so you can hear a sermon and see a sermon. 0:04:36.120 --> 0:04:39.760 And we're going to do both today First Corinthians, chapter thirteen, 0:04:41.360 --> 0:04:43.120 which is normally a scripture you. 0:04:43.120 --> 0:04:44.560 Only hear at a wedding. 0:04:46.480 --> 0:04:48.480 I don't know if somebody's getting married today or if 0:04:48.480 --> 0:04:50.520 the Lord sent me to prophesy, but I'm preaching from 0:04:50.520 --> 0:04:57.680 First Corinthians thirteen, and specifically from verse eight through eleven, 0:04:57.720 --> 0:04:59.760 which is not commonly what they read at the weddings. 0:04:59.800 --> 0:05:04.240 But this is one of the most powerful I thoughts 0:05:04.400 --> 0:05:06.880 in the Bible. I talked last week about a God 0:05:06.920 --> 0:05:10.800 thought and an I thought, and an I thought can 0:05:10.839 --> 0:05:14.080 sometimes leave you in isolation. It can lead you to 0:05:14.120 --> 0:05:17.480 do things that are impulsive. It can lead you to insecurity. 0:05:17.640 --> 0:05:21.640 I although start with the letter I, so we're exchanging 0:05:21.680 --> 0:05:27.440 that now for God thoughts. And the most famous I 0:05:27.600 --> 0:05:31.600 thought in the Bible is in one Corinthians, chapter thirteen. 0:05:31.680 --> 0:05:33.440 Let me start with verse eight to give context. And 0:05:33.480 --> 0:05:35.080 we don't stand the whole time. We're just standing for 0:05:35.120 --> 0:05:37.039 the reading of God's word because it's his word, and 0:05:37.040 --> 0:05:39.159 he's holy, and he's amazing, and he deserves it. 0:05:39.200 --> 0:05:40.280 We give him our full attention. 0:05:41.120 --> 0:05:43.599 So everyone standing, clear your feet, listen to the word 0:05:43.640 --> 0:05:49.120 of God. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, 0:05:49.160 --> 0:05:51.919 they will cease. Where there are tongues, they will be stilled. 0:05:52.600 --> 0:05:55.960 Where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we 0:05:56.040 --> 0:06:00.680 know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when 0:06:00.720 --> 0:06:07.479 completeness comes, what is in part disappears. Here's the verse 0:06:07.520 --> 0:06:10.080 I want to reach you. When I was a child, 0:06:11.279 --> 0:06:18.080 I talked like a child. I thought like a child. 0:06:19.560 --> 0:06:28.520 I reasoned like a child. When I became a man 0:06:29.600 --> 0:06:33.599 and got this hair on my chest, when I became 0:06:34.600 --> 0:06:37.280 a man and got these grays in my beard. When 0:06:38.600 --> 0:06:44.440 I became a man, I put the ways of childhood 0:06:45.000 --> 0:06:49.040 behind me. And the title of this message is a 0:06:49.040 --> 0:06:52.120 declaration today. So turn your neighbor and say, I don't 0:06:52.120 --> 0:06:55.839 know what you're going through. Looked right at him and say, 0:06:56.240 --> 0:07:00.400 but the hardest part is behind behind you. 0:07:07.680 --> 0:07:09.840 I knew it. I knew that was the word of 0:07:09.880 --> 0:07:10.200 the Lord. 0:07:11.400 --> 0:07:13.880 The devil fought me all night last night, telling me, 0:07:14.000 --> 0:07:17.120 you can't stand up and preach that. What if they 0:07:17.120 --> 0:07:19.280 have something negative in their future this week? What if 0:07:19.280 --> 0:07:20.840 they have something disappointing in their. 0:07:20.760 --> 0:07:22.960 Future this week? You don't know what they're going through. 0:07:23.160 --> 0:07:25.480 But the word of the Lord is the hardest part 0:07:30.200 --> 0:07:36.960 is behind you. Tell three people it's behind you. 0:07:37.000 --> 0:07:38.960 Put it in the chat on your way to your seat, 0:07:38.960 --> 0:07:40.440 tell them it's behind you. 0:07:41.080 --> 0:07:48.880 It's behind you, it's behind you. Where credit is due. 0:07:48.880 --> 0:07:53.600 I stole that title from Holly. Is something that she 0:07:53.760 --> 0:07:56.480 says when we go out on elevation Nights, which we 0:07:56.520 --> 0:07:58.960 are coming to a city near you soon in October. 0:07:59.000 --> 0:08:00.200 So go to elevation night. 0:08:02.040 --> 0:08:04.160 And usually after a few songs, Holly and I will 0:08:04.160 --> 0:08:06.200 take the stage and welcome to people and greet them, 0:08:06.240 --> 0:08:09.480 and it's always so excited, and we thank them for coming, 0:08:10.000 --> 0:08:12.880 and we make a few little jokes, and then she 0:08:12.960 --> 0:08:15.440 always tells to people something like this. I may not 0:08:15.480 --> 0:08:17.520 get the wording exactly right. She's like, I don't know 0:08:18.240 --> 0:08:20.360 what you had to go through to get here tonight. 0:08:20.440 --> 0:08:22.080 I don't know if the parking deck was a mess. 0:08:22.120 --> 0:08:24.000 I don't know if your babysit or canceled. I don't 0:08:24.000 --> 0:08:26.320 know if you had the stomach flew earlier this week, 0:08:26.360 --> 0:08:31.679 but you decided to come contagious anyway, But just relax 0:08:31.760 --> 0:08:35.360 now because the hard part is behind you. You're here, 0:08:36.800 --> 0:08:40.040 and I can kind of see when people sit down 0:08:40.080 --> 0:08:44.160 after she says that that maybe they're glad to hear that, 0:08:44.240 --> 0:08:48.400 or maybe they're a little skeptical because you can't really say. 0:08:48.200 --> 0:08:49.960 That to them because they still have to get out 0:08:49.960 --> 0:08:53.679 of the parking garage after the concert, so they know, like, Okay, well, 0:08:53.679 --> 0:08:57.640 the hardest part is not behind me technically, because I 0:08:57.640 --> 0:08:59.760 have to actually like leave and then I have to 0:08:59.760 --> 0:09:01.560 go home where I don't have. 0:09:01.559 --> 0:09:03.560 An amazing worship team singing songs of praise to me, 0:09:03.760 --> 0:09:05.240 and where everybody is not a Christian. I have to 0:09:05.280 --> 0:09:06.920 go back to a job where not everybody believes like 0:09:06.960 --> 0:09:09.960 I believe. But yet there's something about when she says that, 0:09:10.040 --> 0:09:11.920 I think it's so important She's just letting them know 0:09:13.480 --> 0:09:15.760 that everything that the enemy could have done to keep 0:09:15.800 --> 0:09:19.880 you from getting here tonight, you made it. And now 0:09:20.040 --> 0:09:22.960 just take it in and just receive it. And I 0:09:23.000 --> 0:09:27.040 want to say that to those of you at elevation today, 0:09:27.120 --> 0:09:27.720 you got here. 0:09:29.760 --> 0:09:32.960 You got here. You got here. 0:09:34.120 --> 0:09:36.680 Bought a plane ticket or took a scooter, but you 0:09:36.760 --> 0:09:40.120 got here, bummed a ride, paid for an uber, but 0:09:40.200 --> 0:09:44.040 you got here. Is something encouraging about when she says 0:09:44.120 --> 0:09:47.240 that the hardest part is behind you. 0:09:47.400 --> 0:09:50.080 Now just receive, just sing just worship God. 0:09:50.120 --> 0:09:52.560 Where you're like, yeah, that's so good to hear, whether 0:09:52.600 --> 0:09:54.800 you're in the middle of a worship service or a workout. 0:09:55.080 --> 0:09:57.120 I used to do this thing called P ninety X 0:09:57.200 --> 0:10:00.760 with DVDs, and the man would tell you about forty 0:10:00.760 --> 0:10:03.640 minutes through the workout, now the hardest part is behind you. 0:10:04.000 --> 0:10:06.040 It's all downhill from here. 0:10:06.080 --> 0:10:08.080 And it was good that he said that because I 0:10:08.200 --> 0:10:10.800 was just about to hit stop on the DVD and 0:10:10.840 --> 0:10:13.200 get a partial credit for the day. But there's something 0:10:13.240 --> 0:10:18.120 about hearing that, like, the hardest part is behind you. 0:10:18.120 --> 0:10:20.160 You're done with the hardest part. Everything from here on 0:10:20.200 --> 0:10:22.760 out is just to cool down. Everything from here on 0:10:22.800 --> 0:10:24.000 out is gonna be fine. 0:10:24.040 --> 0:10:28.120 The hardest part is behind you. 0:10:30.000 --> 0:10:32.000 Of course, there are parts of your life and parts 0:10:32.040 --> 0:10:35.040 of my life that the other one doesn't know. 0:10:35.160 --> 0:10:37.240 You know, I'm not sure what. 0:10:37.240 --> 0:10:40.600 All the parts of your life that you are considering today, 0:10:40.640 --> 0:10:42.120 or the parts of your life that have led you 0:10:42.200 --> 0:10:44.720 to this moment, have been, But I do know that 0:10:44.760 --> 0:10:50.680 the apostle Paul says something so profound in First Corinthians thirteen, 0:10:50.880 --> 0:10:56.040 verse eight, which is a wedding scripture. Remember, and then 0:10:56.240 --> 0:10:59.760 the people getting married after they read First Corinthians thirteen 0:10:59.800 --> 0:11:02.000 and the wedding is over, they think that when the 0:11:02.040 --> 0:11:06.520 wedding is over, the hard part is over of the relationship, 0:11:07.880 --> 0:11:10.600 after they have sailed and blissed to their honeymoon. So 0:11:10.600 --> 0:11:12.920 it's kind of ironic that I'm using this chapter to 0:11:12.920 --> 0:11:17.000 teach this principle. But he says something about love never failing, 0:11:17.040 --> 0:11:20.199 and then he says, where there are prophecies, they will cease. 0:11:20.200 --> 0:11:22.079 Where there are tongues, they will be stilled. Where there 0:11:22.080 --> 0:11:25.080 is knowledge, it will pass away verse nine four. We 0:11:25.280 --> 0:11:31.959 know in part, everybody say we know in part. Use 0:11:31.960 --> 0:11:37.240 your mouth and say it we know in part. And 0:11:37.320 --> 0:11:41.240 to me that scripture keeps me humble to me, that 0:11:41.320 --> 0:11:45.040 scripture keeps me open, That scripture keeps me aware that 0:11:45.080 --> 0:11:47.360 there are some things that I know about God, but 0:11:47.480 --> 0:11:52.760 I know in part in part, and anything that I 0:11:52.800 --> 0:11:55.839 know about God is a thing that is a part 0:11:55.960 --> 0:11:58.400 of a thing, that is a part of a thing, 0:11:59.240 --> 0:12:00.520 that is a part of a thing, that is a 0:12:00.520 --> 0:12:02.040 part of a thing, that is a part of a 0:12:02.080 --> 0:12:05.080 thing that encompasses all things. 0:12:05.120 --> 0:12:09.000 So, for example, I like to use musical examples. E. 0:12:09.320 --> 0:12:13.240 Turn the guitar volume up and just play really quickly. 0:12:13.320 --> 0:12:15.599 And I may do this illustration more in depth. 0:12:15.400 --> 0:12:18.920 Next week, but just to set the table, play the 0:12:19.040 --> 0:12:24.560 high E string of that guitar. That string is a thing. 0:12:25.640 --> 0:12:27.720 It's a thing. Play it again, the high ees string. 0:12:29.040 --> 0:12:32.560 Now I want you to play an entire E chord, 0:12:32.720 --> 0:12:36.560 including the high et string, but not limited to play 0:12:36.600 --> 0:12:40.680 the high et string. That's a thing. Play the E chord. 0:12:41.960 --> 0:12:45.760 It's a thing that's a part of a thing. It's 0:12:45.800 --> 0:12:49.839 a string that's a part of a guitar. Okay, now 0:12:50.080 --> 0:12:53.120 the guitar is a thing that's a part of a thing. 0:12:53.760 --> 0:12:55.880 Zoom out and get the whole band real quick. I 0:12:55.920 --> 0:12:58.760 want the whole band to swell like the majesty and glory, 0:12:58.800 --> 0:13:00.600 and the holiness of the Lord is about to enter 0:13:00.640 --> 0:13:02.600 the room, and I want the whole band when I 0:13:02.600 --> 0:13:06.080 say three, play a beautiful e chord with symbol swells, 0:13:06.120 --> 0:13:08.480 but not too much symbols because it'll get tinny and 0:13:08.559 --> 0:13:11.119 it'll be unbearable to our ears and it'll ruin my illustration. 0:13:11.480 --> 0:13:13.560 But just on the counter three, everybody swell on the 0:13:13.600 --> 0:13:17.680 e chord one, two, three and. 0:13:22.679 --> 0:13:23.280 Beautiful. 0:13:23.320 --> 0:13:26.040 I felt very powerful doing that, by the way she tried. 0:13:26.080 --> 0:13:27.120 Sometimes that's amazing. 0:13:28.880 --> 0:13:32.720 The string is a thing that's a part of a 0:13:32.800 --> 0:13:37.920 thing the guitar, and the guitar is a part of 0:13:37.960 --> 0:13:45.800 a thing that's called a band. And the thing that's 0:13:45.840 --> 0:13:47.960 a part of a thing that's a part of a 0:13:48.000 --> 0:13:50.040 thing is a part of a thing. 0:13:50.280 --> 0:13:51.520 Called elevation worship. 0:13:52.400 --> 0:13:55.240 And elevation worship is part of a thing called the 0:13:55.240 --> 0:13:58.640 Body of Christ, and the body of Christ is part 0:13:58.679 --> 0:14:00.679 of a thing called the Kingdom of God. It's a 0:14:00.720 --> 0:14:03.440 thing that's a part of a thing that's a part 0:14:03.480 --> 0:14:05.800 of a thing, that's a part of a thing that's 0:14:05.840 --> 0:14:08.480 a part of a thing. I'm preaching this week about 0:14:08.520 --> 0:14:10.680 a thing that's a part of a thing that's a 0:14:10.720 --> 0:14:12.840 part of a thing, that's a part of a thing 0:14:13.200 --> 0:14:16.120 in your life. And it may be a hard thing, 0:14:16.679 --> 0:14:19.040 or it may be a good thing. But if it's 0:14:19.080 --> 0:14:21.760 a hard thing, I want to remind you that even 0:14:21.800 --> 0:14:24.680 a hard thing is just a thing that's a part 0:14:24.680 --> 0:14:27.840 of a thing, that's a part of a thing, that's 0:14:27.880 --> 0:14:30.200 a part of a thing, that's a part of a thing. 0:14:30.800 --> 0:14:33.800 Tell your neighbor, it's a part of a thing, that's 0:14:33.840 --> 0:14:36.440 a part of a thing, that's a part of a thing. 0:14:37.520 --> 0:14:41.760 So never judge an incidence in isolation, because it may 0:14:41.800 --> 0:14:45.960 be a bad thing that's serving a bigger purpose. We 0:14:46.120 --> 0:14:50.640 know in part, we prophesy in part, and so we 0:14:50.680 --> 0:14:54.080 can never judge a God who has purpose that is 0:14:54.160 --> 0:14:57.720 eternal by the part that we know that is not permanent. 0:14:58.280 --> 0:15:01.640 First Corinthians thirteen is not not really a chapter about love. 0:15:02.800 --> 0:15:06.400 It uses love as an example, but it's really a 0:15:06.520 --> 0:15:10.080 chapter about pride. 0:15:10.800 --> 0:15:13.280 The Corinthian church that Paul is writing. 0:15:12.960 --> 0:15:17.080 To has not yet learned the lesson that the gifts 0:15:17.120 --> 0:15:23.880 God gives you are for service, not status. So they 0:15:23.920 --> 0:15:27.520 are running around trying to impress others with gifts that 0:15:27.560 --> 0:15:31.920 God gave them to edify others. Sometimes we misuse and 0:15:32.000 --> 0:15:35.600 don't steward what God gave us in service. And not 0:15:35.680 --> 0:15:39.280 only is Paul correcting their sexual immorality, but he is 0:15:39.360 --> 0:15:44.600 correcting their vision and their perspective on their priorities. They 0:15:44.640 --> 0:15:49.160 are tending to prioritize things that are temporary over things 0:15:49.240 --> 0:15:51.280 that are eternal. Now, I want to lay this foundation, 0:15:51.360 --> 0:15:53.760 and we're going to get very practical. But go back 0:15:53.760 --> 0:15:55.800 with me real quick to verse eight, where it says 0:15:55.880 --> 0:15:59.360 love never fails. Where there are prophecies, they will cease. 0:15:59.400 --> 0:16:02.880 Where there are they will be still. And where there 0:16:02.960 --> 0:16:09.280 is knowledge, it will pass away. There's coming a time 0:16:09.320 --> 0:16:12.960 when you'll go to heaven and you won't need knowledge, 0:16:13.760 --> 0:16:15.240 you won't even really need faith. 0:16:15.840 --> 0:16:19.440 You'll have sight. You'll be complete in Jesus. 0:16:20.000 --> 0:16:22.880 And when what is complete has come, everything that is 0:16:22.960 --> 0:16:25.400 imperfect or partial disappears. 0:16:26.120 --> 0:16:27.720 Until then we walk by faith. 0:16:28.720 --> 0:16:31.480 But what Paul is doing is far deeper than getting 0:16:31.560 --> 0:16:33.760 us to wait on a future day when we're going 0:16:33.840 --> 0:16:36.840 to see Jesus say face to face, and we won't 0:16:36.880 --> 0:16:40.480 need someone to interpret tongues because we'll hear his voice directly, 0:16:40.720 --> 0:16:43.440 And we won't need someone to be able to prophesy 0:16:43.520 --> 0:16:46.160 in our future because we will be seated with the 0:16:46.160 --> 0:16:49.600 one who holds the future. He's far beyond that, and 0:16:49.640 --> 0:16:52.480 he's trying to get you to see the difference between 0:16:53.600 --> 0:16:59.680 what is permanent and what is passing, what is permanent 0:17:00.680 --> 0:17:01.640 and what is passing. 0:17:02.640 --> 0:17:07.240 Let's read verse eight again. Where there are prophecies, they 0:17:07.280 --> 0:17:08.240 will cease. 0:17:08.480 --> 0:17:12.280 That's foretelling or forthtelling about the future by the spirit 0:17:12.320 --> 0:17:12.720 of God. 0:17:13.320 --> 0:17:13.840 Will need that. 0:17:13.920 --> 0:17:16.880 In heaven, where there are tongues, they will be stilled. 0:17:16.880 --> 0:17:18.120 That's a heavenly language. 0:17:18.119 --> 0:17:21.680 But if you're in heaven, you already speak heaven as 0:17:21.720 --> 0:17:22.840 your first language. 0:17:22.880 --> 0:17:25.240 It's your native language, so you will need it anymore. 0:17:26.160 --> 0:17:28.679 Love never fails, Love never goes away. 0:17:28.960 --> 0:17:32.720 But prophecies will cease, and tongues will be stilled, and 0:17:32.960 --> 0:17:34.040 even knowledge. 0:17:34.119 --> 0:17:35.840 I want to get this verse up there, in verse 0:17:36.480 --> 0:17:43.040 number eight will pass away. It will pass away. 0:17:43.240 --> 0:17:48.040 Circle the phrase for me justin it will pass, It 0:17:48.080 --> 0:17:48.719 will pass. 0:17:49.960 --> 0:17:52.720 And that's what Paul is trying to get you to see. 0:17:52.480 --> 0:17:54.240 About some of the things that you think are so 0:17:54.320 --> 0:17:55.480 important in your life. 0:17:55.680 --> 0:17:56.399 It will pass. 0:17:57.960 --> 0:18:00.919 Paul is trying to get us to understand it. First Corinthians, 0:18:00.960 --> 0:18:03.200 which is a letter to a church that was confused 0:18:03.240 --> 0:18:07.000 about priorities and was carnal in their understanding that some 0:18:07.080 --> 0:18:10.479 of the things that you're busy toning up, and some 0:18:10.520 --> 0:18:13.280 of the things that you're busy tightening, and some of 0:18:13.320 --> 0:18:17.320 the tricks that you're busy perfecting on this earth are 0:18:17.359 --> 0:18:22.040 just solving temporary problems that really have no eternal value. 0:18:22.200 --> 0:18:25.240 And although they matter, they are not supreme. It cannot 0:18:25.240 --> 0:18:30.760 be the priority. I want to stop prioritizing things that 0:18:30.800 --> 0:18:34.159 are going to pass away, don't you. I want to 0:18:34.200 --> 0:18:37.159 stop putting things first that are going to fade in 0:18:37.200 --> 0:18:40.119 the end. I want to stop giving all of my 0:18:40.280 --> 0:18:45.199 attention to things that are not assets but liabilities. Spiritually, so, 0:18:45.320 --> 0:18:50.040 the difference between what is permanent and what is passing 0:18:50.640 --> 0:18:53.840 is to me the essence of First Corinthians thirteen. If 0:18:53.880 --> 0:18:56.320 you came in this morning and said, Pastor Stephen, what 0:18:56.480 --> 0:18:57.240 is the essence of. 0:18:57.240 --> 0:18:58.640 First Corinthians thirteen? 0:18:59.040 --> 0:19:03.560 I would say to you with much confidence, the difference 0:19:03.680 --> 0:19:08.560 between what is passing and what is permanent. Write those 0:19:08.560 --> 0:19:14.280 two words down in your notebook, passing and permanent, Passing 0:19:15.200 --> 0:19:19.840 and permanent. And Paul says that love never feels, but 0:19:20.000 --> 0:19:25.520 everything else will pass away. 0:19:27.000 --> 0:19:27.679 It will pass. 0:19:30.119 --> 0:19:32.159 Maybe the Lord is saying that about a storm that 0:19:32.200 --> 0:19:36.000 you're going through in your life, it will pass. I 0:19:36.080 --> 0:19:38.399 just want to stop and minister this to somebody today. 0:19:38.880 --> 0:19:41.240 Maybe it's about the sadness that you feel and the 0:19:41.320 --> 0:19:43.440 grief in the season that you're going through. 0:19:43.520 --> 0:19:47.320 It will pass. That's why we've got to get. 0:19:47.160 --> 0:19:49.880 You somehow to keep going through this valley that you're 0:19:49.920 --> 0:19:54.119 going through right now, because it will pass. Tell your 0:19:54.119 --> 0:19:57.560 neighbor tenderly, it will pass. Put it in a chat. 0:19:57.600 --> 0:20:00.840 It will pass. Whether it's a valley you don't want 0:20:00.880 --> 0:20:02.679 to go through or a mountain that you really like 0:20:02.920 --> 0:20:07.440 standing on top of, it will pass. That trophy isn't 0:20:07.440 --> 0:20:09.439 going to last forever. It will pass. 0:20:10.840 --> 0:20:13.000 Even the greatest relationship in. 0:20:12.960 --> 0:20:15.760 Your life humanly speaking, has a time limit to it 0:20:15.800 --> 0:20:16.359 called death. 0:20:16.600 --> 0:20:17.400 It will pass. 0:20:18.080 --> 0:20:19.760 And I don't mean to depress you, but I think 0:20:19.800 --> 0:20:22.840 it is very prospective giving for me to just realize 0:20:23.200 --> 0:20:25.840 that everything I'm worried about, and everything I'm concerned about, 0:20:25.920 --> 0:20:28.159 and everything that I'm going through right now that feels 0:20:28.200 --> 0:20:29.360 like it's never going to end. 0:20:29.720 --> 0:20:33.000 The word of the Lord is it will pass. One 0:20:33.040 --> 0:20:34.560 of the greatest Bible verses. 0:20:34.320 --> 0:20:38.840 You could ever memorize would be and it came to pass. 0:20:39.480 --> 0:20:41.960 Take the good times, hold them, cherish them, hold them 0:20:42.000 --> 0:20:44.719 up high, hold them up like the lion king. Tell 0:20:44.760 --> 0:20:47.000 them about this is what God gave me. But just 0:20:47.119 --> 0:20:50.760 know it will pass. It won't always be like that. 0:20:51.320 --> 0:20:54.159 It will pass. When our kids were kids were very small, 0:20:54.359 --> 0:20:56.920 I was so sick of people telling me that the 0:20:57.000 --> 0:20:58.320 days are long. 0:20:58.119 --> 0:20:59.280 But the years are short. 0:20:59.560 --> 0:21:01.640 And I was like, but if they don't stop screaming, 0:21:01.840 --> 0:21:04.159 I'm gonna cut their years short. Don't give me a 0:21:04.160 --> 0:21:08.520 little cliche right now, But it's true. It will pass. 0:21:08.840 --> 0:21:11.320 It will pass. That these carpets are gonna be dirty 0:21:11.359 --> 0:21:13.080 and you're fussing about cleaning them up. 0:21:13.320 --> 0:21:13.840 It'll pass. 0:21:13.920 --> 0:21:16.280 One day the carpets will be so clean you might 0:21:16.359 --> 0:21:18.520 just track something in just to remember the days when 0:21:18.560 --> 0:21:19.760 you had kids to track them. 0:21:19.880 --> 0:21:21.560 And I'm in that season right now. 0:21:21.840 --> 0:21:24.399 This year, I had one boy who turned twenty and 0:21:24.480 --> 0:21:28.440 graduated college. I have another boy who's going into high 0:21:28.480 --> 0:21:31.520 school senior year this year and he's about to graduate. 0:21:32.160 --> 0:21:34.639 And I've got a daughter. This is so sad. Y'all 0:21:35.880 --> 0:21:38.919 who just this last week shout out doctor Hall, greatest 0:21:39.000 --> 0:21:43.520 orthodonist in the Charlotte area. Just this week showing the picture. Guys, 0:21:44.359 --> 0:21:53.199 got her braces taken off. Congratulations, Abby, eat all the 0:21:53.240 --> 0:22:00.200 popcorn you want. She's just gonna be eating popcorn. Ah ah, 0:22:00.440 --> 0:22:07.000 my braces are off. When I was a child, I 0:22:07.119 --> 0:22:09.280 talked like a child. Thank you so much for the picture. 0:22:09.320 --> 0:22:14.399 I think they got the point. I talked like a child, 0:22:15.720 --> 0:22:18.560 I thought like a child. 0:22:18.840 --> 0:22:19.520 Now follow me. 0:22:19.880 --> 0:22:22.960 Paul is saying there's a difference between what is permanent 0:22:23.520 --> 0:22:27.000 and what is passing, and to illustrate that principle, he 0:22:27.040 --> 0:22:30.720