the body" (1 Cor. vi. 13). Let us not merely try to
reason down temptation, or to order it down, in the name of abstract
rightness, or of concrete peril. Let us recollect as a glorious fact
that the body is the purchased property of the Lord Jesus; that He
cares for it, as His dear-bought possession; that He can, by His own
Spirit, sanctify it now, through and through; and that He is coming,
perhaps very soon indeed, to "transfigure it to be conformed to the
body of His glory."

The whole genius of the Gospel tends to connect together, as closely as
possible, holiness and happiness. They are to act and react in
manifold ways in the Christian life. Holiness lies at the root of
happiness, as its deep condition. But also happiness, from another
point of view, waters the root of holiness, and expands its flowers,
and brings its sweet fruit to fulness. "The joy of the Lord is your
strength"--your strength to say to temptation a "No" which shall be
entirely willing and simple. Never shall we so tread down the tempter,
and the traitor, as when we are "rejoicing in Christ Jesus," and "in
the hope of the glory of God."

Then let us cultivate this blessed secret. Let us prove the power of
Christ loved and looked for. In a very special sense let St Paul teach
us here to apply to our present needs the force of a heavenly future,
the future of His coming, and of our meeting Him and being transfigured
by Him. In many directions, in the Church, this rule is being
practised now with great earnestness, and with happy issues; the
looking for the Lord's Return is indeed a reality to many. But in many
directions it is otherwise. Christian thought and labour too often
seem to limit themselves to the sphere of the present, and to forget
that the goal of the Gospel is not a state of social _bien-etre_
developed by philanthropy under the auspices, so to speak, of Christ,
but an immortality of holy power and service, won for us by His merits,
prepared for us by His exaltation, while we are prepared for it by His
Spirit working in us. Again and again we need to remember this. The
Gospel showers along its path, upon the mortal life of man, personal
and social blessings of the philanthropic kind which nothing else can
possibly bring down. It makes to-day infinitely important by
connecting it with the eternal to-morrow. But the path is towards that
to-morrow. "We look at the things not seen, for the things which are
not seen are