imply that to His people on earth Christ is now invisible, hidden from the eyes of men. He withdrew His raised and glorious body into the heavens. It was expedient for Him thus to withdraw from the world, in order that His Spirit might fulfil His mission, and His kingdom come. He is within the veil, but on the throne, with all power in heaven and in earth to carry out His high purposes of grace, and accomplish His work of redemption. But some of His people are impatient of His invisibility; they do not seem to like the idea that He is hidden; they would have Him to appear and manifest His glory next year, this year, now! They think His work is not getting on, and that it cannot get on, without His visible presence on the earth. This notion approaches nearer to blasphemy than those who eagerly cherish it are aware of. Christ is not now visibly manifested, in order that the work of His gospel may be done amongst men when it is done, He will "appear the second time without sin unto salvation." He will " come to be glorified in His saints, and to be admired in all them that believe." Then cometh the end, when He will be manifested, and His glory unveiled for ever.

"Then shall ye also appear with Him in glory." This is the promised destiny of all His disciples. What a future of blessedness and honour is before them! They too will be manifested, and manifested with Him. This manifestation of the sons of God will be the grand consummation of "Love's redeeming work." Now they may be obscure and unknown; their life may be a struggle, a conflict, and a toil; earthly friends may misunderstand them and forsake them; the world may misrepresent them and persecute them, and at times all may seem against them: but the day is coming when they will be manifested, and appear in all the glory of their title, and in possession of their inheritance as the sons of the Most High. Here, under the most favourable circum

How vastly this

It is not only as

stances, the life of the Christian is one of imperfection, vigilance, and conflict; hereafter it will shine forth in the divinity of its origin, the marvellousness of its progress, and the glory of its perfection amidst the solemnities of the last great day. The soldiers of the cross may well afford to wait, and the runners in the heavenly course may run with patience. Their manifestation is to be with Christ. They are to appear when He appears, and as He appears. enhances the glory of their manifestation! renewed creatures and the adopted children of God that they will appear, but as the glorious throng of those who are jointheirs with Christ and His acknowledged brethren; not only manifested as those who have been ransomed by His blood and renovated by His Spirit, but seen in the living and lifefilling brightness of the Saviour Himself, sharing the greatness of His renown and the splendour of His glory. Yes; manifested with Him in glory. Every word is emphatic, and pregnant with richest suggestiveness. To have appeared with Him, on His side, in the days of His flesh, and in the time of His humiliation; to have been acknowledged as His disciples, and have had some glimpses then of His glory; to have sat at His feet, leant on His bosom, heard His counsels, and received His blessing, was the greatest honour and felicity for any of the children of men. Even now to be identified with His cause, to be subjects of His kingdom, to bear His name, to speak His praise, and be recognized as His servants and friends, is the highest privilege to which we can be called on earth. What is it that gives attraction now to Bethlehem and Bethany, to the Mount of Olives and the Sea of Galilee? It is not the natural beauty of their scenery, nor the value of their natural productions, but because they bore the footsteps, and witnessed the presence, of the Incarnate Son of God. But what is this to being manifested with Him amid the realities and glories of the marvellous and

mysterious future? Yet this is the award awaiting all those whose life is hid with Him now: glory with Christ; not a transient ray, but the first beams of an unending resplendence-an exceeding great and eternal weight of glory. Like unto Christ, for we shall see Him as He is! Such a prospect may well press the exhortation, "Set your affections on things above." Surely the heirs of such a glory ought not, in affection, desire, or hope, to grovel amidst the things of this earth, and to limit their pursuits to the passing interests of this world.

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XXIX.

The Mortification of the Flesh.

Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: for which things' sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience: in the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them. But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. Lie not one to another,"-COLOSSIANS iii. 5-9.

THE Apostle having dwelt on the doctrinal in unfolding

the glory of Christ, now descends to the practical, and lays down the duty of the Christian. He proceeds to urge obedience and holiness as the necessary manifestation and evidence of the Christian life. In these verses St. Paul particularizes certain forms of sin which were prevalent in heathen countries, and evidently at Colossæ-sins common to those to whom he was writing, in their former state of darkness and depravity; but which they were now, as disciples of the Son of God, entirely to abandon. There is much force in the word therefore: "BECAUSE ye are Christians, dead with Christ, risen with Christ, and have a glorious life hid with Christ in God, THEREFORE put to death your members which are earthly, and renounce all the sinful thoughts, passions, and actions of your former state; live as new creatures in Christ Jesus, your Lord; let the beauty and holiness of your new life appear and shine." Our participation with

Christ, in dying and rising again, is the strongest inducement to newness of life and holiness of conduct.

We may follow the apostolic teaching here by looking at it under two general ideas, instead of examining every clause of the verses consecutively: First, the former state of the Colossians, and its danger; Secondly, their new condition, and its duty.

I. The former condition of the Colossians, and its danger. Various expressions indicate this-words, indeed, which apply to the natural condition of all men: "Children of disobedience," having no respect to the law of God, or to His authority. The phrase is expressive, and denotes or describes the character of those who exist in a state of alienation from God, and whose life is practically manifested in disobedience. They were the vassals and servants of hostility to God, of indifference to His claims, and of opposition to His will-a disobedience to which they belonged as children to a parent, and in which they lived and moved. Their own will, and not God's, was the law of their being, and the main element of their character, as seen and shown in sins of various kinds. "In the which, or rather, among whom ye also walked, when ye lived in them." The Colossians had formerly an actual participation in this course of life. The sins which the Apostle here enumerates formed the sphere of their existence and activity. The principle of disobedience and rebellion may exist in the soul, while its practical manifestation may be in abeyance or under restraint. But in the case of the Colossians it had not been so. The state of sinfulness was the sphere of their life, and the walking in disobedience was the activity of that life in exercise. Their life in evil was not a dormant condition, or merely a latent power; it was in active exercise and vigorous manifestation.

What then were these sins? St. Paul gives a twofold classification: the first in verse 5, comprehending "forni