were blown, the pitchers broken, and the torches brandished.

So S. Paul felt it to be with himself. To him was committed the light of the knowledge of the glory of God. But this light was hidden in the earthen vessel of his weakness: and the very sufferings which he endured, were but the breaking of the pitcher by which the light was manifested. And so he

continues:

Ch. iv. 8: We are pressed on every side, yet not straitened; perplexed, yet not unto despair; pursued, yet not forsaken; smitten down, yet not destroyed; always bearing about in the body the dying of Jesus, that the life also of Jesus may be manifested in our body. For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh.... Wherefore we faint not; but though our outward man is decaying, yet our inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is for the moment, worketh for us more and more exceedingly an eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

It is interesting to notice how, in this passage, the Apostle's expressions of faith and hope are pressed out of him by affliction: just as some aromatic plants whose sweet odour is latent until their leaves are bruised. We should notice also how readily the expression of personal weakness, weariness, and pain, passes into the thought of Christ's sufferings. They were the tokens of communion with Christ's sufferings, the nails by which he was crucified with Christ. He speaks of Christ's dying being manifested in him, of being always delivered unto death for his sake: and yet of this death being

overcome by life, by the life of Jesus also manifested in him. Thus he was able to speak of his affliction, heavy as it was in itself, as but a light affliction, and as enduring but for a moment.

If we ask how he was able to reach this eminence of hope, this triumph of faith, it was because he lived in eternity, because the new life in him was an eternal life; and that he measured things with an eternal standard, looking not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen, knowing that what was seen was temporal, what was not seen was eternal. And so he continues in the same strain:

Ch. v. 1: For we know that if the earthly house of our tabernacle be dissolved, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal, in the heavens. For verily in this we groan, longing to be clothed upon with our habitation which is from heaven: if so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. For indeed we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened; not for that we would be unclothed, but that we should be clothed upon, that what is mortal may be swallowed up of life. Now He that wrought us for this very thing is God, who gave unto us the earnest of the Spirit.

In the light of eternity in which S. Paul was walking, his frail body, through which the troubles of life reached him, was felt to be no permanent abode for his spirit; it was decaying day by day, it would soon be dissolved, soon turned to its kindred dust; but he believed that he should not pass away altogether unclothed, but that God would provide for him a fitting body; no temporary dwelling, but a house, and that an eternal one, when what was mortal was swallowed up of life. And this hope. of immortality he regarded not as an exceptional privilege belonging to himself, but one in which his

brethren had a share. He believed that for this very purpose, and for nothing short of this, God had redeemed them by His Son, and sanctified them by His Spirit.

And this gift of the Spirit which they had already received, was, he tells them, an earnest of their ultimate redemption.

In the purchase of an estate a certain sum was paid down as an assurance that the whole purchase money would be paid in due time, and this was called the earnest-money. So the gift of the Spirit to us now is a pledge that the promised redemption shall be made good.

When we are young we look upon youth and strength as a treasure practically inexhaustible: -but as we get older we see how small the treasure is becoming. But if we try to live in the light of eternity, we shall see that there is laid up for us a better treasure than this. If we cherish the presence of the Holy Spirit within us, if we yield up ourselves to His moulding influence, we shall find that though the outward man is decaying, our inward man is being renewed day by day, that beneath the outer robe of this mortal body the garments of immortality are being woven; and when we put off this earthly tabernacle, we shall find that God has given us a house not made with hands, eternal, in the heavens.

CHAPTER XVII.

THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS

(continued).

HE life of S. Paul was so far above the experience of ordinary Christians, he regarded things from such a different standpoint, that in reading such a passage as we had before us in our last chapter, we can only follow him at a humble distance; as an Alpine traveller follows in the footsteps of an experienced guide, and wonders to see him find a sure footing on what seems an inaccessible height.

What made him so superior to us, what gave him such strange views of life and death, was that he habitually looked not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. He lived in a world of realities, not in a world of appearances. It was this that made his unexampled affliction seem light, and a life-long sorrow to last only for a moment. It was this that made him look forward not only calmly but gladly to death. He knew that his spirit had a better and a more enduring home than this perishable tabernacle of flesh, a house not made with hands, eternal, and of heavenly origin; that what was only mortal in him would be swallowed up of life. He knew that to this end God had been leading him, that for this God had created him, Christ had redeemed him, the Holy Ghost was

K

sanctifying him. The gift of the Spirit was not only a present possession, a very present help in trouble, but a pledge and assurance of an eternal weight of glory to be hereafter manifested. And in the same strain he continues:

Ch. v. 6 Being therefore always of good courage, and knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord (for we walk by faith, not by sight); we are of good courage, I say, and are willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be at home with the Lord. Wherefore also we make it our aim, whether at home or absent, to be well-pleasing unto Him. For we must all be made manifest before the judgment-seat of Christ; that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he hath done, whether it be good or bad.

It is perhaps not very easy to trace the connection of thought in this passage. This reference to the great judgment, at which not only he but all would be made manifest, would be seen to be what they really were, and receive exactly what they had done, is hardly what we should have expected from what has gone before.

The Apostle had just said that he would rather be absent from the body, because to put off "this mortal coil" was to be at home with the Lord. What a contrast that home would be to his present life! Here he was misunderstood, misrepresented; here his character was systematically blackened, his motives slandered, his conduct maligned; there he would be at home, in the light of the judgment through which he would pass, what he really was would be shown, his character and actions would be fairly judged.

The fact is that S. Paul regarded the great judgment as an object of faith and hope. He was so