The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Corinthians — Section 444

II. Oun FUTURE KNO\HEDGE. Hereafter things will be chano-ed. No lon"er shall we se~ in a mirror darkly, but "face to face." Our life will n~t then be t\ ~t,idy of rejlect1011s. The atmosphere will then be purer. Our vision will be corrected and per- fected. Earthly distrnctions wi\l cease: Then remark how perfect our knowledge will be. Our knowledge of truth will be like God's knowledge of tts: "Then shall l know even as also I am knmvn." God sees us through and through, and is acquainted with all our ways; so hereafter shall we know those thing8 which are now perplexincr mysteries to us. 'l'he insoluble will then be solved, the contradictories reconciled~ In our sphere then we shall be "perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect" (Matt. v. 48). "\Ve shall know God more truly; for "we ~hall see him as he is." Note: The path of piety is the path of knowledge. The promise of the solution of great mysteries is mnde to the godly. Part of the torment of the lost may consist in the distraction occasioned by mysteries which for them have no promise of solution. 'l'his is the cause of not a little suffering and sorrow here; it may be such a cause hereafter, and a !Do~e intense cause. Believers _are sometimes ridiculed for credulity, fancifulness, rnd1fference to "facts." But believers are on the way towards the very highest know- ledge and the completest grasp, in all their significance, of the greatest facts of the universe. Now we are but chilciren, and concerned with things which, in comparison with "things to come," are childish (though in the child and the childish thin(J's there are the true germs of what in fuller development belong to the man and° manly things); hereafter we shall become men, and put away childish things (ver. 11).-H. Ver. 13.-The three graces. These are faith, hope, love. I. THEIB EXCELLENCE. 1. Faith. Unites us to Christ; secures our forgiveness> justification, sanctification, final and complete redemption. It is the great power in our present life: "The just shall live by faith." 2. Hope. Brightens the present by brightening the future. In distress we have hope of deliverance; in sickness, of restoration or translation to the painless life; in sin, of holiness; in sorrow, of joy; in the world, of heaven. Without hope, how could we live? And the Christian's hope is the brightest and most joy-bringing conceivable. 3. Love. What a wilderness the world would be without love! Society would disintegrate; families would be wrecked; nations would fall. Love is the salt which checks the tendencies toward corruption_ And love in its highest relation-love to God-elevates and purifies us, and brings to ns the purest delights of which this life is capable. II. 'l'HEIB CONTINUANCE. "Now ubideth." We may be devoutly thankful for this. Sometimes we are prone to regret that what we call the" extraordinary gifts" of the Church have ceased (ver. 8); but if instead of losing these we had lost the others, how infinitely impoverished we should have become! Faith, hope, love: these are sufficient for all our present needs. Miraculous gifts ceased because it was best for them to cease. They were suited to the infaocy of the Chu1ch; but the necessity for them having passed away, they have disappeared. The spiritually miraculous gifts of faith, hope, a.ml love abide evermore with the Church in this world. III. Tm: CHIEF OF THE THREE. "The greatest of these is love." 1. Longer con- tinuance. Hereafter faith will be lost in sight and the objects of present hope will be attained. Now "we walk by faith, not by sight" (2 Cor. v. 7). "Faith is the sub~ stance of [or 'assurance of'J thincrs hoped for" (Heb. xi. 1.) "We are saved by hope: but hope th;t is seen is not hope~ for what a man see_th, why doth he yet h?pe for? " (Rom. viii. 24). As the special gifts of prophecy, miracles, and tongues disappeared when they would no longer have proved of service, so hope and faith will cease when their appointed task is finished, and love alone will reign on t~rough the cverlastiug ao-es. Confidence in God will not cease, of course, nor the lookmg forward to further d;li(J'bts 0 and Divine blessin(J's; but these do not answer to the faith and hope which are ours in this world of darkness. Faith and hope mean to us, now, effort, struggle., difficulty· these tbin(J's will" r,ass away." 2. More useful to others. Faith saves us; hope chee~s us; love s~nds us out after our fellows. The former arc chiefly self-tending; the latter is expansive. Still faith is the root of love, and our hope makes us moro bi:ilpful but love, pre-eminently and most directly, is concerned in the welfare of those around\u;. 3. J,1alces us lilce God. God is not faith; God is not hope: "God is love." As true love grows in us, God grows in us. When true love is impressed upon us, the Divine image is re-impressed (Gen. i. 26).-H. CH, xm. 1-13.] THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 453