Wesley Corpus

xiii. 8, &c.)” “The common opinion is, that this respects another life, as he enforceshis argument by this observation: “Now we see through a glass darkly; but then face to face: Now we know in part; but then shall we know, even as also we are known.” (Page 99.) “But the Apostle means, charity is to accompany the Church in all its stages; whereas prophecy and all the rest are only bestowed during its infant state, to support it against the delusions and powers of darkness.” (Page 100.) “The Corinthians abounded in these gifts, but were wanting in charity. And this the Apostle here exposes, by proving charity to be superior to them all, both in its qualities and dura tion. The three first verses declare that the other gifts are use less without charity. The next four specify the qualities of charity; the remaining six declare its continuance: “Charity never faileth: But whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. In the next verse he gives the reason: ‘For we know in part, and we prophesy in part; but when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away: 'That is, when that Christian life, the lines of which are marked out by the gospel, shall arrive to its full vigour and maturity, then the temporary aids, given to sub due prejudice, and to support the weak, shall, like scaffolding, be removed. In other words, when that Christian life, wherein the Apostles and first Christians were but infants, shall arrive to its full vigour and maturity in their successors, then miracles shall cease.” (Page 102.) But I fear that time is not yet come. I doubt, none that are now alive enjoy more of the vigour and maturity of the Christian life than the very first Christians did. “To show that the loss of these will not be regretted when the Church has advanced from a state of infancy to manhood,” (alas the day ! Were the Apostles but infants to us?) “he illustrates the case by an elegant similitude: ‘When I was a child, I spake as a child;--but when I became a man, I put away childish things.’ His next remark, concerning the defects of human knowledge, is only an occasional answer to an objec tion.