the heavenly world. He does not say why it cannot. Whether the state of the atmosphere, or the means of subsistence, or the force of gravitation, or the forms and means of vision, or the conditions of receiving and communicating knowledge, or the nature of the services required. He does not go into reasons, but boldly states the fact that it could not be. "Flesh and blood" can no more exist yonder, than the tenants of the ocean can exist on the sun-burnt hills. In such corporeal transformations there is nothing extraordinary, for naturalists point us to spheres of existences where they are as regular as the laws of nature. II. Here is a transformation that is CERTAIN. "Behold I show you a mystery." The word "mystery" here does not point to the unknowable, but to the hitherto unknown. What the apostle means is, I state to you as a fact that which has not hitherto been fully known, viz., that "we shall all be changed." "We shall not all sleep." Had Paul an idea either that he himself would escape death, or that the resurrection day was just at hand? If he had, he here shows himself, as in some other places, not infallible, but otherwise, for he did die, and at that period the resurrection day was far away in the abysses of the future. His words, however, clearly teach, First That some would be living when the day dawned. "As in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the days of the Son of Man, they ate, they drank," &c. Secondly: That both those who were living in the earth and sleeping in the dust would undergo corporeal transformation. "We shall all be changed." III. There is a transformation that is "In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye," that is, in the shortest conceivable period. At a moment when the living population least expect it the blast of the "trumpet" shall be heard, and the transformation be effected. "The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night," &c. IV. Here is a transformation that is GLORIOUS. "For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality." The transformation is from mortality to immortality, from the dying to the undying; "death will be swallowed up in victory." "The idea," says one, "may be taken of a whirlpool or maelstrom that absorbs all that comes near it." The sense is, He would remove or abolish death for ever from mankind. INSTANTANEOUS. DAVID THOMAS, D.D. LONDON. Personal Religion. "ONE THING IS NEEDFUL: AND MARY HATH CHOSEN THAT GOOD PART, WHICH SHALL NOT BE TAKEN AWAY FROM HER."-Luke x. 42. I-ITS DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS. (1) Unity. "One thing." Systems of morals and philosophy have flourished and passed away; intellectual, social, and scientific revolutions mark the history of the past. But personal piety, like the light of heaven, has been the same in all ages. "One thing" (a) In the condition of its acceptance. Repentance—utter renunciation of sin. Faith-not in creeds, or systems, but in Jesus Christ. "One thing" (b) In its essence. Love. All the fruits of the Spirit grow and ripen on the branches of this all-pervading principle. "One thing" (c) In its effects. Pardon, adoption, love of purity, hatred of sin, sympathy for the unsaved. II.-PRE-EMINENT IMPORTANCE. "Is needful." Other things may be highly prized,-health, wealth, friends, &c.,-but not essential. Possessing all these, life may be an awful failure. Without any of them, it may be a grand success. Rich man and Lazarus. III.-VOLUNTARINESS. "Hath chosen." The men in God's army are all volunteers. No conscripts, or draughted men ever fought under the banner of the cross. The true soldier enlists, and "puts on the armour." Personal religion absolutely a matter of choice. "Put on the Lord Jesus." Man's superior dignity, compared with other creatures around us, is seen in the fact that he needs clothing, and that both temporally and spiritually he is to choose what he "puts on." We are as free to choose and change our spiritual as our bodily clothing. Just as we choose our bodily clothing in which to appear before men, so are we deliberately choosing and putting on the spiritual habiliments in which we shall appear on the Judgment Day. IV. PERMANENCY. "Shall not be taken away." (1) "Shall not be taken away" by God. "He that hath begun." (2) "Shall not be taken away" by the trials and sorrows of life. "Who shall separate us." (3) "Shall not be taken away" by wicked men or devils. Combined powers of earth and hell only tend to make the Christian richer. He may, however, dispose of his own birthright, and find no place of repentance. THOMAS KELLY PHILADELPHIA, PA. Pulpit Handmaids. NATURAL HISTORY HOMILIES. Leviticus xi. 13-19. In our daily speech we often compare men to animals. To illustrate some trait in his character we call a man by the name of some beast of the field, or bird of the air which has, or is supposed to have, the quality we desire to ascribe to him. He is as surly as a bear, or as fierce as a wolf, or stubborn as a mule, or as cunning as a fox, or as treacherous as a cat, or as revengeful as a wasp, or he is, perhaps, as timid as a hare. The Bible contains several examples of this kind of symbolism. Ephraim is "a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke." David's enemies are strong "bulls of Bashan." When he would warn the disciples at Philippi against certain false teachers, Paul says:-"Beware of dogs." And our Lord himself, who knew so well what was in man, addressed certain Jews in these terms:-"Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers." Out of several fowls here pronounced unclean by the Levitical law I shall select a few, and will treat of them as types of character. I will not discuss the reasons adduced why these various animals were not allowed to be eaten by the Hebrews; but I would suggest, with many of the Commentators, that, perhaps, one reason why they were forbidden was that they had qualities which God wished His people to hold in abomination. He desired the chosen race to shun certain well-known characteristics of these birds. They were not to be Vulture-like, or Owl-like, or Batlike. On this supposition I will treat of the subject, and may the Holy Spirit help us, so that, from this seemingly unpromising field, we may reap an abundance of wholesome and practical teaching. X. THE HOOPOE. "And these ye shall have in abomination among the fowls; they shall not be eaten, they are an abomination : the Hoopoe" (erroneously rendered Lapwing).—verses 13, 19. The bird intended in the text is not the Lapwing, familiar enough in this country; but the Hoopoe, a bird of the passerine order, a native of Africa, and of some countries of Asia. In Spring it visits Southern Europe, and occasionally reaches as far north as the British Islands. It is a bird of great beauty, possessed of a handsome crest, which it raises and lowers at pleasure. The Hoopoe feeds on beetles, worms, snails, and such like. Its favourite resort is, consequently, in moist and marshy places. And in quest of its food it may be seen pecking diligently in the foulest mud. No bird is more unlike such places, or occupation than the Hoopoe. You would imagine that such a lovely creature would frequent groves and gardens of beauty. To my mind this bird is a type of the WORLDLING. Possessed of the noblest qualities, and intended for a career of honour and glory, we find this man devoting his life and energies to the most grovelling pursuits. His aim, indeed, is not much higher than that of the beasts of the field. (1) The worldling has a degraded conception of human life. In his estimate it is a machine for making money. The nobler parts of human nature are overlooked by the devotee of pelf. He does not seem to know he has got a soul. And his reason is employed by him, not at all in the discharge of any of its higher and proper functions; but in pursuits which are, as I say, not greatly exalted above those of the lower animals. (2) Men can never satisfy themselves with money. (Eccles. v. 10.) Avarice, like the grave, never says "It is enough." We see men toiling and moiling, desperately struggling as if against poverty, while surrounded with abundance. The point of acquisition which constitutes “wealth " is pushed along as men approach it. What was regarded as opulence" becomes, as it is reached, a paltry "competence" at which no man should rest. (3) When the heart has been captivated by gold there is very often a serious loss of moral principle. (1 Timothy vi. 10; Prov. xxviii. 20.) The meanest and shabbiest tricks I have ever come across have been perpetrated by wealthy people. The millionaire will be guilty of low, scurvy, mean actions, which, as a poor man, he would have regarded with unfeigned indignation horror. and (4) Multitudes in this country have quite an idolatrous worship of money. Old Bounderly used to say he greatly valued the man who was worth £100,000, or thereabout. Many do the same thing without saying it. "What is he worth?" And the answer decides the man's worth in the eyes of these people. "Our betters "—a familiar expression to most of our lips-is understood by the mass of Englishmen to mean the monied class. An amusing illustration of this fact was given lately in the Spectator. A Wesleyan minister tells that, when a boy, he, with the other children of the parish, duly marshalled, had stood on the village green on the Sunday morning, and, as the Squire and his friends drove up to the parish church, had sung God bless the Squire, And all his rich relations; To keep our proper stations. This valuing of men by the length of their purses, and especially in the absence of any other recommendation to our regard, is contemptible in the eyes of every rightminded person. It is a fact that many, if not most, of the wealthiest men living are mere nobodies. They are quite uneducated, and not capable of conversing intelligently on any subject apart from their every-day employment. And they are of no moral or social account whatsoever in the community. Wealth," says the eloquent Channing, "ought not to secure to its possessors the slightest consideration. The only distinctions which should be recognised are those of the soul, of strong principle, of incorruptible integrity, of usefulness, of cultivated in tellect, and of fidelity in seeking for the truth .. What an insult to humanity is this deference to dress and upholstery, as if silkworms, and looms, and scissors, and needles, could produce something nobler than a MAN! Every good man should protest against a caste founded on outward prosperity, because it exalts the outward above the inward, the material above the spiritual; because it springs from and cherishes a contemptible pride in superficial and transitory distinctions; because it alienates man from his brother, breaks the tie of common humanity, and breeds jealousy, scorn, and mutual ill-will." (5) Wealth possesses many advantages. There is nothing, however, whose power is more preposterously exaggerated than money. Our brother Jonathan talks of the "Al mighty dollar." But there are many things, as most of us are aware, which money cannot purchase. Riches and happiness have no necessary connection. Indeed, many have found riches only to increase sorrow. The days when they lived from hand |