will bring s11mmer to our souls (2 Thess. i. 10). The glory in which we shall be revealed was said by the schoolmen to consist of the robe of the soul and the robe of t.he bod;i:. }· Ther~ ~11 be glo:y for the soul. No more s~'!l. (1 John iii. 2), or sorrow (Rev. vu. l 1), or d1v1ded affections, or darkness (1 Cor. xm. 12; cf. Rev. x.xii. 3 4 • perfect service, perfect satisfaction, perfect security). 2. In that glory the body shali share (1 Cor. xv. 42-44, 53; Phil. iii. 21). "'l'he resurrection of the dead is the confidence of Christians" (Tertullian; 1 Pet. i. 13). 'l'hat "grace to be brouaht unto us" will brighten into glory. It will be his glory; that is enough for us.-E."'s. P. Vers. 5-7.-Sins of the flesh and the sin of rovetousness. Paul, an example to faithful preRchers, is not satisfied with general exhortations; he is pointed and personal in his allnsion to special sins. The great motive power is in the preceding truths (,·ers. 1---4, "Mortify therefore," etc.). What neither Je,vish ceremonialism nor Gnostic teaching could secure (eh. ii. 23), Christ "011r Life," our "Hope of izlory,• could effect. Note the use of similar lofty motives in Rom. vi. 1, 2; xii. 1; 1 Cor. vi. 15, 19, 20. The term "members" is used, not physically but figuratively, as is" aid man" in ver. !l, including those bodily and mental faculties which may be the occasion of sins of the flesh and sins of the spirit. We find first a list of various- !. SINS OF THE FLESH. (Ver. 5.) Contrast freedom of the apostolic speech on such subjects and the reserve of the present day, which may be excessive, seeing that sins of intemperance and unchastity are the most frequent causes of Church discipline. The conscience must be instructed as well as aroused. Hints as to Aafeguards to be throw11 around the young by Christians; their duties to their own sons and daughters, their apprentices, aud domestic servants; social customs, such as "statute-fairs" for hiring servants, "treating," crowded homes, etc. ; bad laws (young girls insufficiently pro- tected; state recognition of vice; licensing laws, etc.). The censure aud treatment of offenders of both sexes should be far more impartial, and profligate men be branded by the indignation of Christians as one faint image of "the wrath of God" (ver. 6). 'While seeking to put away these sins from our midst, we must also put to death the very roots of these prolific evils in our own hearts (Matt. v. 27, 28). Govern the thoughts. (Distin,..,cruish between a thought injected into the mind as a temptation, and indulged as a sin, Heb. iv. 15.) Guard all the avenues of temptation (cf. Job xxxi. 1; Ps. xvii. 3; Eph. v. 4): bad books; dangerous company; amusements that excite the passions; intoxicants (Matt. v. 29, 30; Rom. viii. 12, 13; Gal. v. 24). Let the body and the brain and the mind be kept in healthy exercise; this will aid us to "keep under the body" (1 Cor. iL 27). God "knoweth our frame;" Christ "our Life" has passed through our temptations. Elevation of spirit (vers. 1 and 2), uulike pride (Prov. xvi. 18), may g11ard us from debasing ourselves: "Ye were raised with Christ;" "mortify therefore," etc. II. THE SIN OF COVETOUSNESS. Covetousness (,r;\.E11ve{Ca.) has been described as" the fierce and ever-fiercer longing of the creature which has turned from God to fill itself with the inferior objects of sense." It is a wider term than "the love of money,". though that "root of all evil" is the most glaring form of it and the one we take as our illustration. It is significant that here and in Eph. v. 5 St. Paul couples covetous- ness with the most loath£ome sins. A covetous man is an idolater because he loves, trusts, and serves money more than God. This sin is: 1. Mult,Jorm. It is Proteus- like in its shapes: the avarice of the miser, the ostentation of the nouveau riche, or "that loudest laugh of hell, the pride of dying rich." One of its most common and yet scandalous forms is withholding "more than is meet," robbing God of "the firsi- fruits of all our increase,", which God claims under the gospel, though not in the form of Jewish tithe (cf. Prov. iii. 9, 10; xi. 24; 1 Cor. xvi. 1, 2; 2 Cor. viii. 12; ix. 6, 7). 'l'hiB form of covetousness among Christians may need to be mortified by repeated acts of giving, though painful at firnt, till duty becomes privilege and the les~on is learned, "It is more blessed to give than to receive." 2. It is specious. It is a subtle spirit, 1,eedina ureat discernment for iis detection and great grace for its expulsion. It trnns- 1urms its~lf into an angel of light, and calls itself "prudenco" and other deceptive 11ames. It is said tliat St. Francis de Sales received at the confessional a greater number of persons than were ever known to visit one confessor besides, but that be u:d uot rcmemLer a single iustancc in which covetousness had been confessed. .No OH, DI.1-25,] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 197
wonder, then, that Church censure for covetousness is exceedingly rare (1 Cor. v. 9). 3. It is odious to God. (Ver. 6.) 4. It is ruinous to the srnd. (Gal. vi. 7, 8; Eph. v. 6, 6; 1 Tim. vi. 9, 10.) 5. It needs ceaseless vigilance and all the powers of the heaverdy life to mortify this "member," which is so peculiarly tenacious of life. Christ's love and power alone can avail (Titus ii. 14).-E. S. P.