The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Corinthians — Section 443

.gifts did amongst the Corinthians. Is not puffed up with pride, which is closely related to party zeal, as in those at Corinth who cried, "I am of Paul, and I of A polios," etc. Does not seek to win praise or applause. IV. UNSELFISH. "Seeketh not her own." Loses sight largely of self. The 'Corinthians cried, "I ... I ... I," because they bad Ii ttle love. Love is not filled with thoughts of her own rights; she thinks rather of the rights of others. "Envieth not." Is not jealous of the endowments of others; recognizes that "God hath set the members every one of them in the body, as it bath pleased him" (eh. xii. 18). V. DECOROUS. (Ver. 5.) Keeps within the bounds of propriety; is courteous. Absence of love leads to gross disorders, as at the Lord's table at Corinth (eh. xi. 21, 22). VI. CHARITABLE IN JUDGMENT. "Tbinketh no evil." Does not delight to impute motives. Poes not make the worst, but the best of things. Does not gloat over the .evil done. VII. PURE. "Rejoiceth not in iniquity [or, 'unrighteousness'], but rejoiceth with the ,truth" (ver. 6). Is not in sympathy with evil. Is not pleased to see it, but pained. When the truth triumphs, love rejoices. VIII. TRUSTFUL. "Believetb all things" (ver. 7). Is not suspicious. Does not ~steem doubt and distrust the chief virtues. Believes all that can with a good conscience 'be believed to the credit of others. IX. HOPEFUL. "Hopeth all things" (ver. 7). Hopes when others without love have ceased to hope; is lotb to regard any as hopeless. Hopes for good rather than .for had from men. Is not allied to despondency and despair. Is anchored in God and hopes on. Thus sweetly does the apostle chant the praises of true Christian love.-H. Ver. 12.-Now-then. I. Oun PRESENT IGNORANCE. Our knowledge of Divine things (for these are here chiefly referred to) resembles that which we obtain of natural -objects when we see them "through a glass," or rather "reflected in a mirror." And -ancient mirrors, of which the apostle speaks, were hy no means so perfect as modern -0nes. Made of imperfectly polished metal, they gave but a very defective representation •Of objects reflected. The imperfection of our present knowledge is thus strikingly illustrated. We see now" darkly," or" in an enigma,'' and the enigma often puzzles us not a little. Our present ignorance arises from: 1. Imperfection in the mirror. Though the Scripture be inspired of God, yet it reveals plainly only necessary truth. Other truth is set forth in figure or is barely hinted at. So that we do not find by any means in God's \Vord a solution of all mysteries. 'vVe see much in it-we may see all that we need to see; but it is still a book of mystery, a mirror which only partially reflects the great realities. Then the mirror is often blitrred. (1) Defects and -errors in translation if we read only in our mother tongue ; and if we have the modern "gift of tongues," it is often difficult to determine the precise meaning of a word or 1mssage. (2) Defects in exposition on the part of teachers. Other mirrors, such as nature and the course of human events, furnish us with knowledge of Divine things; but these mirrors, in the hands of men, and under the iufluences of evil, have become warped and misshapen, consequently the reflections are more or less distorted. \Ve have further to reflect that no mirror could perfectly reflect what we desire to know. 2, Imperfection in our vision. 'vVe do not by any means sec all that is reflected. Now dust is in our eyes, and now tears, and we see comparatively little. We have many ophthalmic disorders which impair our sight. 3. Dimness of the light in which we live. 'l'he haze of sin is around us; the atmosphere is darkened by evil; the beams -of the Sun of Righteousness have to break through much fog. 4. We move as we gaze. Our life is rapid. We snatch hurried glances at things Divine. We do not see as much as we might see. The most of us might get longer seasons of quiet contempla- tion if we would. Not a few need to learn the wisdom of sacrificing the little for the ·great ; alas! so many sacrifice the great for the little. W c must <lo this and that and the other; and we neyer pause to ask the question- W71y must we 1 It comes to Lhis piece of folly-we must do the littlo and trivial; there is no need for us to <lo the great .a1ul the all-important! For these and other reasons our present condition is largely -oue of ignorance. Still we should be thankful (1) that we see something; (2) that we can see enough for life and dutj',  452 THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE COHINTHIANS. [c11. xm. 1-13.