II. THE rKFLUENCE OF THIS FACT. If it be a truth that Christians arc cltfacns of hea,·~n. it n!ust be a most import.ant truth. Yet many men who consider themselves C'brrst1ans h,e as t~oug~ tl.iey had not the faintest conception of the significance of ~h,'1r lwa~·en_ly relat10nsh1p. Oth_ers have taken the opposite course; forsaking the _10~ and ?~ties or earth, and_tre.atrng t~e world as a sort of Siberia, they have lived like l'Xtles wa,trng only for the time or their departure. Clearly this is uot the use of tho heawnly citizenship which the apostles would have advised. 1. It should lead to living toorthily. It is a disgrace for an Englishman, on visitin_g a country of sava.o-es to abandon the decencies of civilization and adopt the practices of the natives. Christians belon~ to a higher kingdom than anything earthly. They are, therefore, to see to it that they_ do not degrade their citizenship by following the evil customs of the world, but abstam from fleshly lusts as strangers and pilgrims (1 Pet. ii. 11). Living in the world, enjo~;ng its innocent fruits, a.nd doing their daily work, they a.re to keep them- s<'h·es unde5kd and to behave with the purity and charity that befit the fellow-citizens of angels. 2. This citizenship should pi·event Uhristiansfrom being disappointed at ,·eceiving adversity in this w01·ld. They a.re to expect it. This is not their rest. Sojourners on earth, they are not to be surprised if they miss some of the treasures of those who have only earthly possessions. 3. This fact should inspire a constant hope. True Chrislia.ns must live in the future. Their heavenly citizenship is the promise and pled~e of the enjoyment of the inheritance of the saints in light. They are to look for "a cit.y which bath foundations, whose Builder and Maker is God." Members of the higher kingJom, they should live in expectation of the glorions advent of their grc.at King.-W. F. A. Ver. 21.-The renewal, of the body. I. OUB BODY IS A MABK OF OUB HUMILIATION. It is "the body of our humiliation," not ., our vile body," as the Authorized Version has it. St. Paul did not share the Stoic contempt for the body; much less did ho anticipate the M.anichea.n hatred of it which is the true parent of asceticism. But nei1her did he altogether admire the body in its present condition, as the disciples of our modem school of carnal mstheticism glory in doing. He regarded it as a great C'l"idence of our hnmiliation. His words give little warrant for Origen's strange doctrine that pre-existing human souls, ha,ing sinned and fallen in a purely spiritual sphere, were imprisoned in bodies for their punishment and discipline, and that, if-they profit by the purgatorial earthly life, they will be liberated from these bodies and restored to the spiritual world. 'l'wo simpler facts come nearer to the teaching of St: Paul. I. We have 01Ltgro'IDn our body. The body which is glorious in the animal becoµies in many respects a. hindrance and a. source of shame to the man. The fa.ct:tbat the body, so fearfully and wonderfully made, is a mark of humiliation, proves that we have a higher nature and belong to nobler living. 2. We have degraded ou,· body. By ma.king that a master which should be a servant we show our own humiliation. By lowering the body itself to sinful ends we turn it into a visible proof of our degradation. . 11. WE 1-"EED A SUITABLE BODY. The body will not simply be cast aside as a worthless thing, like the old skin s!onghed off by the serpe~t.. It is a. .york of God who ma.de all things well. It has great purposes to serve, for 1t 1s our medmm of com- munication with Lhe external world. A disembodied spirit is an insulated spirit. By means of the body we receive information from without, and we also execute our will on things outi;ide us. 'l'he scholar must have eyes and ears as well as an attentive ruind; and the workman must have muscular arms a.nd deft fingers as well as good 1,lans and aims. Probably we shall always need some sort of body, some sort of medium througli which to receive knowledge and accomplish actions. III. CHRIST WILL FASHION oua BODY ANEW. The gospel comes to mnn as a whole, body and soul ; and it offers salvation to both parts of his nature. It begins the double process on earth. Christ healed the sick. Christianity cares for the bodily condition uf men. The hospital is a. most Christian iru;titution. By ameliorating the sanitary condition of men we indirectly help even their moral and spiritual life. Hereafter a. bodily renewal is to be accomplished. What it shall be we cannot tell. But the disti11ct teaching of the New Testament is that the resurrection will not revive the L•Joy a, we 1Jow have it. We are to be" changed," to have a. spiritual body; what i11 Ott. IV. 1-23.J TllE f PlSTLE ·ro Tn !~ PlllL!PPIANS. 15G
sown in corruption will bo raised in incorruption. Christ':c1 rislln body is the type nf thie: We ''flay \Jo assured. t~nt all that is humiliating and provocCLtive of evil will vanish, wh1lo greater sens1t1veness and flexibility in ministeriw• to the soul and responding to its ideas nnd volitions will be enjoyed.-W. I•'. A. "