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"Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the
times of refreshing (restoration) shall come from the presence of the Lord; and He shall
send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you" (Acts 3: 19, 20).
If the Jewish nation repented, "He shall send Jesus Christ". To encourage that nation
to repent, a foretaste of the Millennial miracles was given them (Heb. 6: 5). The gift of
tongues was a special sign, signifying to the Jews their unbelief (I Cor. 14: 21, 22).
Some of the Jews were cast off (Rom. 11: 17), and Gentiles brought in to provoke the
nation to fruitfulness (Rom. 11: 11). Would the nation respond? Would the olive tree of
Israel blossom and bring forth abundant fruit? If they did, then Christ would return,
miracles would abound and proliferate right throughout the Millennium, right to its end.
Then they would cease at the creation of the new heavens and the new earth. Is that the
goal that Paul had in mind in I Cor. 13: 10? "When that which is perfect is come, then
that which is in part (the miracles) shall be done away."
The word for `perfect' is teleios and The Companion Bible note on the word is
interesting.
teleios = that which has reached its end. From telos end. Latin finis, nothing
beyond: hence perfect, in the sense of initiated.
In his Critical Lexicon and Concordance, Dr. E. W. Bullinger has:
teleios = which has reached its end, term or limit: hence complete, perfect, full,
wanting nothing, with special reference to the end for which it was initiated.
In I Cor. 13: 10 the Greek is to teleion i.e. the perfect or the end, not an end. Thus
we must ask if Paul could be thinking of the end of this earth which, at the end of the
Millennium, will have completed the purpose for which it was created and then:
"I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth were
passed away . . . . . and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither
shall there be any more pain; for the former things are passed away" (Rev. 21: 1, 4).
Neither will this new creation need miracles of Judgment (Isa. 65: 20; Acts 5: 1-11),
for Peter states that in it "dwelleth righteousness" (II Pet. 3: 13). All this follows the
time of the last of the resurrections (Rev. 20: 13) and certainly Paul is referring to
resurrection life in I Cor. 13: 12, 13:
"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.
And now abideth faith, hope, charity (love), these three;
but the greatest of these is charity (love)."
Why is love greater than faith and hope? "Without faith it is impossible to please
Him" (Heb. 11: 6) is a very strong statement and "faith is the substance of things hoped
for, the evidence of things not seen" (Heb. 11: 1). When the believer's hope of eternal life
has been realized through resurrection, hope will no longer have any role to play, but
neither will faith. On the day of resurrection, when the redeemed stand before God, all