in Himself, as the branches are in the vine, He is their life. II. It is DIVINELY FORMED. "Of Him are ye in Christ." Whom? Of God. It is the Eternal Spirit that brings the soul into vital connection with Christ. "My Father is the Husbandman." III. It is BLESSEDLY PRODUCTIVE. "Wisdom," "righteousness,' sanctification," and "redemption" come out of this union. What transcendent blessings are these. IV. It is EXULTINGLY ADORING. "He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord." It inspires the highest worship, it causes the soul to triumph in God Himself. No. CCCLXV. Exemplary Gratitude and Precious Confidence. "I THANK MY GOD ALWAYS ON YOUR BEHALF," &c.-1 Cor. i. 4-9. Here we have two blessed states of mind-exemplary gratitude and precious confidence. I. EXEMPLARY GRATITUDE. behalf." The gratitude here was: First: Unselfish. behalf." It is right and well to praise God for what He has done for us, but it is a higher and nobler thing to praise Him for what He has done for others. No man rightly appreciates a blessing who does not desire others to participate in it. The sublimity of a landscape is more than doubly enjoyed when one or more stand by your side to share your admiration. The gratitude here was: Secondly: For spiritual good. "For the grace of God." (1) That grace which "enriched in all utterance and in all knowledge." Two splendid gifts these, where they are inspired by the "grace of God," and properly related. "Utterance," apart from "knowledge," is worthless and pernicious, volubilities of vice, garrulousness of social evils. 66 Knowledge" is of no value to others, unless it has effective "utterance." Knowledge with a powerful natural oratory, will move the world, it has shivered dynasties, converted millions, and created churches. (2) That grace which confirmed in their experience the testimony of Christ. Their spiritual experience confirmed the testimony. What higher gift than this—a personal realisation of Christianity? (3) That grace which inspired them with a practical hope of the appearance of Christ. "Waiting for the coming of our Lord." This gratitude was: Thirdly: An habitual state of "I thank my God always on your "On your mind. “I thank God always." It was not an occasional sentiment. It was a settled attitude of heart. Here we have: II. PRECIOUS CONFIDENCE. The apostle seems to have had confidence in three things in relation to Christ. First: In His perfecting character. "" Who shall also confirm you unto the end." So perfecting it that it shall be "blameless." All moral imperfections removed. Secondly: In His appearing again. "In the day of our Lord Jesus Christ." The day-when He will appear. This day is the day of days for humanity. Thirdly: In His granting them companionship. "Unto the fellowship of His Son Jesus Christ, the Lord." "Where I am there ye shall be also." Unshaken confidence in these things, how precious! No. CCCLXVI. Humanity the Temple of God. "KNOW YE NOT THAT YE ARE THE TEMPLE OF GOD, AND THAT THE SPIRIT OF GOD DWELLETH IN YOU? IF ANY MAN DEFILE THE TEMPLE OF GOD, HIM SHALL GOD DESTROY; FOR THE TEMPLE OF GOD IS HOLY, WHICH TEMPLE YE ARE."-1 Cor. iii. 16, 17.* The apostle is writing not to those who were spirtually perfect; on the contrary, to those who were characterised by most salient moral defects. Yet he says, " Ye are the temple of God." Let us therefore, look at man-I. As a DIVINE "temple." "The temple of God." In what respect a temple? (1) It is a special residence of God. God is in all material objects, but He is especially in moral mind. (2) It is a special manifestation of God. God is seen everywhere in this world, but never so fully as in the mind of man. "We are all His offspring," and we are like the Father in essence, conscience, freedom. (3) It is a special meeting place with God. The temple at Jerusalem was God's special meeting place with man. "There will I commune with thee." Man can meet with God in material nature, but not so fully and consciously as in mind. is man." Let us look at man "The highest study of mankind -II. As a divine "temple " THAT Homilist," Vol. xvii., p. 342; verses 11-15, MIGHT BE DESTROYED. "If any man defile (destroy) the temple of God.' The destruction of a temple does not mean the destruction of all its parts, but the destruction of its use. Man might live for ever, and yet be destroyed as the temple of God, the special residence, manifestation and meeting place of God. Now mark this destruction, if it takes place, is not by God. He will not destroy the temple, but by man. "If any man defile (destroy) the temple." Alas! men are destroying this temple, i.e., destroying their natures as the temple of God. An awful work this! Let us look at man-III. As a divine emple, the DESTROYER OF WHICH WILL BE DESTROYED BY GOD HIMSELF. "Him shall God destroy." Destroy, if not his existence, all that makes existence worth having, or even tolerable. "He that soweth to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption." "The temple of God is holy," that is, ideally holy, ought to be holy. No. CCCLXVII. Worldly Wisdom. "LET NO MAN DECEIVE HIMSELF. IF ANY MAN AMONG YOU SEEMETH TO BE WISE IN THIS WORLD, LET HIM BECOME A FOOL, THAT HE MAY BE WISE. FOR THE WISDOM OF THIS WORLD IS FOOLISHNESS WITH GOD. FOR IT IS WRITtten, He takeTH THE WISE IN THEIR OWN CRAFTINESS." -1 Cor. iii. 18, 19. 66 The wisdom here referred to is what Paul calls elsewhere fleshly wisdom," the "wisdom of the world," or of the age. It is the same wisdom as he refers to in the first chapter, verse 20, of this epistle. The wisdom of this world may be regarded as mere intellectual knowledge, applied to secular and selfish ends; however vast and varied its attainments, it is worldly in the apostolic sense; it is "earthly," "sensual," "devilish," not like the "wisdom which is from above," which is "first pure, then peaceable, gentle and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits." In relation to this wisdom, three remarks are here suggested.-I. It is SELF-DELUDING. "Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world," &c. First: This worldly wisdom deceives a man, inasmuch as it leads him to overrate the value of his attainments. He imagines that this kind of knowledge, "wisdom," is everything for a man. Hence the enthusiastic promotion of secular schools and colleges. But all such knowledge is of no value to man as man, and beyond his brief and uncertain earthly life. He deceives himself in its value. Secondly: This worldly wisdom deceives a man, inasmuch as it leads him to overrate his own importance. He is "vainly puffed by his earthly mind,” as Paul says elsewhere (Col. ii. 18). Such a man imagines himself to be very great, he becomes a priggish pedant, he “struts and stares and a' that." In relation to this wisdom, it is suggested -II. It is SPIRITUALLY WORTHLESS. A man with this worldly wisdom must "become a fool that he may be wise." Two things are here implied. First: That with all his wisdom he is already really a "fool." He is a "fool," for he looks for happiness where it is not to be found. Happiness does not spring from a man's brain, but from his heart; not from his ideas, but from his affections. Moreover, he is a "fool" because he practically ignores the chief good, which is love for, resemblance to, and fellowship with the great God. Hence God esteems this wisdom as foolish"The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God." The most illustrious scholar, sage, orator, who is considered by himself and by most of his contemporaries to be a man of wonderful wisdom, to the eye of God is a fool. In relation to this wisdom it is suggested -III. It is ULTIMATELY CONFOUNDING. "It is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness." It must confound a man sooner or later either (1) Here in his conversion, or 2) Yonder in his retribution. ness. "Who are the wise? They who have govern'd with a self-control Humble, though rich, and dignified, though poor— Learn'd in the lore which nature can impart, Teaching the sweet philosophy aloud 65 The Preacher's Scrap Book. DOMESTIC HEALTH. [An Extract from the Address of Dr. Alfred Carpenter, given at the Health Congress in Brighton, December 17th, 1881]. R. CARPENTER pointed out not only the means that may be taken by all intelligent persons to keep households free from attacks of diseases of the zymotic type generated within their midst, but also the safe-guards which all may provide to lessen individual ill-health. In the first place he remarked upon the public indifference shown in regard to matters of public health; but the importance of having attention drawn to these matters was to be seen from the fact that 900 out of 1,000 children born in some streets of Liverpool died before they reached five years old, while if those children were removed to certain poor-law or charitable schools the mortality, under proper sanitary conditions, would fall to 15 in the 1,000. Living under sanitary conditions in Her Majesty's prisons, even lives picked out of the most disreputable and unhealthy classes were prolonged, and there was a power inherent even in persons born to hereditary disease, by a proper observance of Nature's laws, to throw off the effects of those diseases, and dwarf the consequences of their tendencies. Disease is a departure from the condition of the body called health; and there is a border line between health and disease, in which the condition necessary for the establishment of disease must have time to produce their results before the disease actually arose. Dr. Carpenter insisted that in this condition, people who were not well, but could not be pronounced ill, would be spared from passing the border line to sickness if they were under healthy home influences, for these influences would enable them to throw off their burdens in the conflict which was going on between sanitary and insanitary conditions. He described the classes of diseases arising from morbid poisons, which could reproduce themselves in the human body, which then became the manufactory of disease-producing particles as small pox, fevers, F |