Now we see but a dim reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, even as I was also fully known.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 also I am known.For now we see in a mirror, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know fully even as also I was fully known.
8 sermons cite this verse
… But when I grew up, when I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. For now we see a poor reflection as in a mirror. Then we will see face to face. Now I know in part. Then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. So, these three remain. Faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love. this last week I learned that passage from 1st Corinthians 13 by heart I said it over and over again I said it trusting that this is our destiny each of us who've been baptized into Jesus who've been brought to trust in Jesus we died we were reborn in him to be a small but important part of his body, the church. We are destined to grow into people who love like him. When perfection comes, when Jesus comes, to raise the dead and restore the good work of God's hands, one day this love will come naturally to us. But today, honestly, it still mystifies me. …
… we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. Now we see, but a poor reflection is in a mirror. Then we shall see face to face. And he goes on. Now I know in part, but then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. What is this face we're going to see? This face is what we're built for. This face is the water for our beach souls. This face is the thing we've got to have or we die. And what is it? Well, you know how you know? You have to look at the last part of verse 12. You notice it doesn't say, when I get to eternity, when I get to heaven, it doesn't say, I will know, I shall know, and I shall be fully known. He doesn't say that. He doesn't say, I shall know, and I shall be fully known. He says, I shall know, even as I am fully known. The am is present tense. …
Thank you. 1 Corinthians 13, verses 1 to 13. If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient. Love is kind. It does not envy. It does not boast. It is not proud. It is not rude. It is not self-seeking. It is not easily angered. It keeps no record of wrongs. love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth it always protects always trusts always hopes always perseveres love never fails but where there are prophecies they will cease where there are tongues they will be stilled where there is knowledge it will pass away for we know in part and we prophesy in part but when perfection comes the imperfect disappears When I was a child, I talked like a child. I thought like a child. I reasoned like a child. …
… When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection is in a mirror. Then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part. Then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain, faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love. now we've been looking for several weeks and we're going to continue to look at this the greatest passage in all of literature probably most famous passage i should certainly say in all literature on love and we saw the first three verses says it doesn't matter if you can do prophecies or miracles love is the most important thing in the world let me quote from and this is an extremely interesting quote from David Koresh. David Koresh was a cult leader who led his followers to a fiery death in Waco a couple years back. And in his teachings, this is what he says. He says, are you really a Christian? The apostles of old used to heal the sick and raise the dead. …
… And when I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror. Then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part. Then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain, faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love. Fortunately, this great passage we're looking at for a number of weeks, and today I really think I only have time to make one more point in our series of looking at this, but it's an extremely important point. We said that this is a very famous passage, one of the most famous passages in all of literature, and it's almost always read as a stand-alone thing, and as a result, we think of it as inspirational. If you find this passage inspirational, you have never heard it. If you understand who it was written to and why it was written, if you put it in its context, as we've been trying to do, you'll begin to see that Paul gives us a series of bombs in here that go off and are absolutely devastating. …
… thought like a child. I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish things behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror. Then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part. Then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain, faith, hope, and love, but the greatest of these is love. This is God's word. Now, he said last week that if you read this thing as a standalone passage, not seeing why Paul wrote it, to whom he was writing it, you miss the impact of it, and it's really a bombshell. And let me remind you what that context is, who he was writing to. He was writing to a very young church in Corinth, a new church. And this church was a brilliant church. And if you want to know something about what the church was like, you have to read verses one to three. It was a brilliant church. It was a growing church. It was a church filled with talented, gifted people. These were people who were visionary. They were ready to move mountains. …
… And when I became a man, I put away childish things. Now we see, but a poor reflection as in a mirror. Then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part. Then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain. faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love. This is God's word. Now, all during the winter, we were looking at what's wrong with the human race, and we said what's wrong with the human race is sin. So now the question that we have to face is, how do we lead an anti-sin life? How do we lead a life that is increasingly free from the ruinous power of sin. Now, somebody says an anti-sin life. You mean a good life. Well, the problem with that word is we've been seeing that sin is much more than breaking rules, and therefore, to live a Christian life would mean much more than keeping rules. I mean, I hope that if any of you were here for any of that series, you'll know that one thing you see is that you can keep rules, you can keep rules even very moralistically and still be in the grip of sin, the self-righteousness of sin, the self-centeredness of sin. And therefore, the Christian life, the anti-sin life, the life free from the ruinous power of sin is much more than just a good life. It's a love life. …
Paul goes on and says, 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. He's setting before us again a future goal. Yes, we will not be able to understand all the mysteries of God in this world, but we are not to be satisfied with ignorance. My beloved brethren, I would not have you ignorant, aw-genosis, without knowledge. God's Word, God the Holy Spirit is a teacher. He's the teacher of truth, and he's given to us so that we may know these things, that we may know the truth, and that the truth may set us free. Truth feeds the soul. Well, in the few minutes I have left, let me just conclude by saying this, that for the fullness of fruit. There must be nurture. And it takes time for fruit to reach maturity. If you've ever grown a fruit, you know that. Last year I bought four fruit trees and put them in my front yard and I have been feeding them and fertilizing them and everything. And I have two pear trees, not a sign of fruit. It will probably be two or three more years before any fruit comes on that tree. …