The Pulpit Commentary — Romans — Section 251

and body can never be beautiful to contemplate. God writes in dreadful ohnmoter bis opinion of sin. 2. It 'kad-$ to tM mortvux,tion of totYmg de.~ires. Ae the Messinh drove out from his Fatl,er's house the thieves and law-breakem who polluted the sanctuary, so ha ~ot enter the temple of the soul without vindicating it ~ s t profanation by unholy pusions. "They that are Christ's have crucified the flesh.' There is a spiritual death of the b..--.dy in the sense that the Shechinah of the Divine presence involves e. restraint upon c._,rrupt longings, a controlling of rebellion against the laws of God, against unruly will and em-ious, impure affections. Inclinations contrary to righteousness are not henceforth t-0 have their way, but to be as if dead. 8, It vivifiea the spirit of man, As the sap invigorates the branches, so the power of Christ works in us mightily. "The Spirit is life because of righteousness." Man's good purposes and feelings are strengthened, the seed of life froctifies, the dethroned spirit restored to supremacy is aided in the government of ihe kingdom by the auxiliary forces of the King of kings. No unrighteous confederacy is permanent; its union is external, not internal; it carries within itself the germs of its own decay. Righteousness alone unites a people in strength, forbidding discord and promoting progress and prosperity. The presence of Jesus conforms us to his image, as friends grow like one another. Having Christ, we have the principle of lifo, of holiness, of perfection; work it must, until it attains the designed development. The acorn prophesies the oak, and the stainless spirits of heaven are predicted in the saints of this earthly sphere. 4. It :promisea a quickening of the 'ITW'rlal body. In view of the comparison instituted in ver. 11, it is impossible to restrict the interpremtil,n to a merely spiritual resurrection. The triumph of our Deli~erer is not consummated till these frail tenements of clay are freed from corruption and glorified. In what the exact relationship or identity consists, we may not know. .. Thou sowest not tha.t body that shall be, but bare grain. But God giveth it e. body as it pleased him." Look not on the graveyards as charnel-houses of the dead, but as nurseries where seeds of immortal plants are deposited, to bloom with undying vigour in the heavenly garden. CoKCLUSIOK. It is onr connection with Christ which alleviates affliction. Through him does God educe good out of evil, triumphing over opposing forces, and making sin to contribute to righteousness, and death to be the gate of life. But if there be no loving communion between us and Christ, if we stand aloof from him, we cut ourselves off from salvation and glory. It is not sufficient to hear of the Saviour; we must entrust ourselves to him; we must entreat him to "come in e.nd tarry with us." -S. R. A. Ver. 14.-.The gv.i<iance of the Spirit. Moses displayed a beautiful absence of jealousy when he cried, "Would to God that all the Lord's people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his Spirit upon them l" His wish is realized under the Christian dispensation, where "the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal." This gift is the fulfilment of Christ's promise that his disciples should not be left "c,rphanB," and onr investiture with his Spirit is a testimony to the efficacy of the work of Christ. The Spirit operates silently but powerfully on the heart; though unseen, his presence is most real. Science acquaints us with subtle forces that work on matter. Place a bar of steel in the magnetic meridian with the north end downward, and, if struck with a wooden mallet, the bar will be magnetized. No outward difference is perceptible, yet the particles have assumed a uniform direction, have acquired new properties. So does the Spirit impart a new tendency, a new nature, and the whole man is changed. The Spirit works not like the influences of our environment from without inwardly, but from within outwardly. L TBE LEADING FOR WHICH THAT OF THE SrmIT IS BUBBTITUTED, It is celled "self," or "the flesh," where the inimical power of the great adversary is the chief factor. The aim of the life may not be clear to the man possessed. He may seam _to have no definable object of pursuit; led on now by one impula_e, now by ~noth~r, its force and persiEtcncy varying in all degrees. 8ome rely on their own native wisdom for t1i: stc(:ragc of their et,un;e, others are govcr~ied by the maxims and custo1;11e of the 11ueiety in wliich they move. The" spirit of tbe age" is a prevalent controllmg_forcc, In proportion as any olle goal is kept in view, and "rCR,Ched forth to" perseveringly, is the man e;st<,erne;d strong and successful. .And the Christian is strong according t<> oa, vw.1-39.] THE l!lPISTLE OF PAUL TO THE BOMANB. 249