the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience." (2) To God. "God is a Spirit." "The Lord

"

formeth the spirit of man within him (Zech. xii. 1). He is "the Father of spirits" (Heb. xii. 9). "We are also His offspring" (Acts xvii. 28). He is "the God of the spirits of all flesh." We were created in His image. His great redemptive purpose is to renew us into His image again. We may receive communications from Him; may commune with Him; may be "workers together with Him"; may participate in His joy, &c. We are called into this high fellowship through Jesus Christ. He restores the human spirit to those relations to God which sin had ruptured. "No man cometh unto the Father but by Him." How exalted and august are these relations of the human spirit to God!

3. Its destiny. At death the body "shall return to the earth as it was; and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it." From the body the spirit passes into the presence of God as the great Judge; and from His presence it passes to its own place of retribution, either to the Paradise of God or to the prison of the lost. (b)

Here, then, is the grand distinction of man that he is spirit with such wondrous faculties, &c. Amongst all God's works in this world he stands alone in this; for if we allow a spiritual principle to animals it is greatly and obviously inferior to the human spirit.

Man reverence thy spirit-reverence thyself!

II. The supreme Sovereign of human nature.

"The God of the spirits of all flesh." God's relations of Creator and Sustainer of man were most probably present to the mind of Moses in this appeal. We have already spoken of Him as the Creator of spirits. He is also their Sustainer. "In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath cf all mankind" (Job xii. 10). "He giveth to all life, and breath, and all things" (Acts xvii. 25). His sovereignty over human spirits rests upon these re

lations which He sustains to them, and it is manifest :

1. In the claims which He makes upon the human spirit. He requires the sincere worship and the supreme affection of man: He claims the throne of our being. Comp. Deut. vi. 4, 5; x. 12; Ezek. xviii. 4; Luke x. 27.

2. In the power which He exercises over the human spirit. We have seen that He is its Creator; and its departure from this world is in His hands. He summons the spirit hence when He pleases. Comp. Job xiv. 5, 20; Eccles. viii. 8; Rev i. 18.

III. The inspiring hope of human nature.

Because God is "the God of the spirits of all flesh" Moses was en. couraged to plead with Him that He would not destroy "all the congregation" because of the rebellion of Korah and his company. For the creatures whom He has created and whom He sustains He must have a kind regard. Towards the spirits of which He is the Father He must be gracious and merci. ful. "Thou wilt have a desire to the work of Thine hands" (Job xiv. 15). Comp. Psa. ciii. 13-18; cxxxviii. 8; Isa. Îxiv. 8, 9.

From the relations which He sustains to our spirits we have a good hope that He will ever deal graciously with us. Comp. Lam. iii. 31-33.

Should we not leave the future destinies of men (about which so many minds are now much exercised) calmly and confidently to "the God of the spirits of all flesh" It is absolutely certain that He will deal righteously and kindly with His creatures in this and in all things.

Conclusion.

Realise the greatness and dignity of your being. You are a spirit, created in the image of God, redeemed by the precious blood of Jesus Christ, and destined for immortality. The time comes on apace when you will realise the unspeakable importance of your spirit. Let your great concern be to secure its well-being. (c)

(a) To say there is no such thing as matter would be a much less absurd inference, than to say there is no such thing as mind. The very act of inferring, as we do by reasoning, that the object which effects our senses exists apart from ourselves, is wholly incapable of giving us any knowledge of the object's exist ence, without, at the same time, giving us a knowledge of our own, that is, of the mind's existence. An external necessarily implies an internal. That there may be anything beyond or without, there must necessarily be something beyond or without which it is said to exist. That there may be a body which we feel abiding separate from us, namely our own body, one part of which gives us sensations through another part, there must be a wE, an US, that is, A MIND. If we have a right to call spirit, or soul, or mind, a mere negation of the qualities of matter; surely this might just as well be retorted by saying that matter is only a negation of the qualities of mind. But in truth the materialists cannot stir one step without the aid of that mind whose existence they deny. . . . The truth is that we believe in the existence of matter because we cannot help it. The inferences of our reason from our sensations impel us to this conclusion; and the steps are few and short by which we reach it. But the steps are fewer and shorter, and of the self-same nature, which lead us to believe in the existence of mind; for of that we have the evidence within ourselves, and wholly independent of our senses. Nor can we ever draw the inference, in any one instance, of the existence of matter, without, at the same time, exhibiting a proof of the existence of mind; for we are, by the supposition, reasoning, inferring, drawing a conclusion, forming a belief: therefore, there exists somebody, something, to reason, to infer, to conclude, to believe; that is, wE, not any fraction of matter, but a reasoning, inferring, believing being; in other words, a Mind. If scepticism can have any place in our system, assuredly it relates to the existence of matter, far more than of mind.-Lord Brougham.

(6) Nothing is more difficult than to realise that every man has a distinct soul—that every one of all the millions who live or have lived, is as whole and independent a being in himself as if there were no one else in the whole world but he. To explain what I mean. When we read history, we meet with accounts of great slaughters and massacres, great pestilences, famines, conflagrations, and so on; and we are accustomed to regard collections of people as single individuals. We cannot understand that a multitude is a collection of immortal souls. I say immortal souls. Each of those multitudes not only had, while he was upon earth, but has a soul, which did in its own time but return to God who gave it, and not perish, and which now lives unto Him. All those millions upon millions of human beings

who ever trod the earth, and saw the sun successively, are at this moment in existence all together. Every one of those souls still lives, They had their separate thoughts and feelings when on earth; they have them now. They had their likings and pursuits, they gained what they thought good, and enjoyed it; and they still somewhere or other live, and what they then did in the flesh surely has its influence upon their present destiny. They live, reserved for a day which is to come, when all nations shall stand before God..

.. All the names we see written on monuments in churches or churchyards; all the writers whose names and works we see in our libraries; all the workmen who raised the great buildings far and near, which are the wonder of the world, they are all in God's remembrancethey all live.

Moreover, every one of all the souls which have ever been on earth, is in one of two spiritual states, so distinct from one another that one is the subject of God's favour, and the other under His wrath; the one in the way to eternal happiness, the other to eternal misery. This is true of the dead, and is true of the living also. All are tending one way or the other; there is no middle or neutral state for any one, though as far as the sight of the external world goes, all men seem to be in a middle state common to one and all. Yet, much as men look the same, and impossible as it is for us to say where each man stands in God's sight, there are two, and but two, classes of men, and these have characters and destinies as far apart in their tendencies as light and darkness. This is the case even of those who are in the body, and it is much more true of those who have passed into the unseen state.-J. H. Newman, D.D.

(c) Endeavour then, my brethren, to realize that you have souls, and pray God to enable you to do so. Endeavour to disengage your thoughts and opinions from the things that are seen; look at things as God looks at them, and judge them as He judges, Pass a very few years, and you will actually experience what as yet you are called on to believe. There will be no need of the effort of mind to

which I invite you. When you have passed into the unseen state, there will be no need of shutting your eyes to this world, when this world has vanished from you, and you have nothing before you but the throne of God, and the slow but continual movements about it in preparation of the Judgment. In that interval, when you are in that vast receptacle of disembodied souls, what will be your thoughts about the world which you have left? How poor will then seem to you its highest aims, how faint its keenest pleasures, compared with the infinite aims, the infinite pleasures, of which you will at length feel your souls to be capable! O, my brethren! let the thought be apon you day by day, especially when you are

tempted to sin. Avoid sin as a serpent; it looks and promises well; it bites afterwards. It is dreadful in memory, dreadful even on earth; but in that awful period, when the fever of life is over, and you are waiting in silence for the Judgment, with nothing to distract your thoughts, who can say how dreadful may be the memory of sins done in the body? Then the very apprehension of their punishment, when Christ shall suddenly visit, will doubtless outweigh a thousandfold their gratification, such as it was, which you

felt in committing them; and if so, what will be the proportion between it and that punishment, if, after all, it be actually inflicted? Let us lay to heart our Saviour's own most merciful words. "Be not afraid," He says, "of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear. Fear Him which, after He hath killed, hath power to cast into hell. Yea, I say unto you, fear Him."-Ibid.

In this section of the narrative we have the final steps before the infliction of punishment upon the rebels.

I. The complete separation of the people from the rebels.

"And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the congregation, saying, Get you up from about the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram," &c. (vers. 23-27). In these instructions we have

1. A manifestation of the justice of God. In his intercession Moses had pleaded the justice of God; and this is the Divine answer to his prayer. God will not consume all the congregation because of the sin of a portion of that congregation. "All His ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is He." "The just Lord will not do iniquity: every morning doth He bring His judgment to light, He faileth not." (a)

2. An illustration of the peril of evil associations. The people that were in the immediate neighbourhood of the rebels were in danger of sharing their dread fate. "Depart, I pray you, from the tents of these wicked men," &c. (ver. 26). Lot's residence in Sodom well nigh ruined him. Jehoshaphat's partnership with the wicked Ahaziah ended in disaster (2 Chron. xx. 35-37). "The companion of fools shall be destroyed." (b)

3. An illustration of the necessity of human effort in the attainment of salvation. If the people would avoid the doom of Dathan and Abiram they must

hasten away from the tents of those wicked men. Lot had to make a speedy departure from Sodom. If the sinner would be saved from the punishment and power of sin, he must "flee for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before him." (c)

The people obeyed the word of the Lord spoken by Moses: "They gat up from the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram on every side." The instinct of self-preservation would urge them to swift compliance with the Divine instructions. Thus the rebels and their families were separated from the rest of the people.

II. The final statement concerning the decision of the question which the rebels had raised.

"And Moses said, Hereby ye shall know that the Lord hath sent me," &c. (vers. 28-30). It has been well said by Dr. Kitto: "From the beginning of the world unto this day, no man ever made so bold and noble an assertion of Divine approval, or subjected his claims in the presence of a nation to a test so immediate and so infallible." And Matthew Henry: "The judgment itself would have been proof enough of God's displeasure against the rebels, and would have given all men to 'understand that they had provoked the Lord'; but when it was thus solemnly foretold and appealed to by Moses beforehand, when there was not the least previous indication of it from without, the convincing evidence of it was much the stronger, and it was put

beyond dispute that he was not only a servant but a favourite of Heaven, who was so intimately acquainted with the Divine counsels, and could obtain such extraordinary appearances of the Divine. power in his vindication." How extraordinary and sublime was the confidence of Moses in all this! Calmly he makes this remarkably bold declaration, and leaves the issue in the hands of the Lord God. He knew well that he was not seeking his own in any respect; that his great aim was to promote tha glory of God in the service to which He had appointed him ; and, therefore, he could confidently leave the issu with his great Lord.

III. The final opportunity afforded to the rebels of turning from their evil

course.

The warning which was given to the people to separate themselves from the tents of the rebels, and the final statement of Moses as to the settlement of the question in dispute, afforded the rebels another opportunity of desisting from their re

bellion, acknowledging the authority of their rightful leaders, &c. The Lord is slow to anger. He affords to the greatest sinners many opportunities of turning from their sin, before He smites them in wrath. The Divine mercy in this case is the more conspicuous, inasmuch as Dathan and Abiram having refused to go to Moses and the elders, Moses and the elders go to them. Dathan and Abiram may yet be saved if they will. How great is the longsuffering of God! (d)

IV. The persistent and terrible audacity of the rebels.

"Dathan and Abiram came out, and stood in the door of their tents, and their wives, and their sons, and their little children." "As outfacing Moses," says Trapp, "and scorning the judg ment threatened. Hardened sinners make no more of God's dreadful threatenings than Behemoth doth of iron weapons, which he esteemeth as straws." "He that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy."

(a) Here we open the Bible, in which we find that to whom much is given, from him shall much be required, and that it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for nations which enjoyed a fuller revelation of Divine purpose and requirements. The heathen are a law unto themselves. Five talents are expected to produce more than two. The Divine plan of judgment, therefore, is not arbitrary, but moral. If we lose hold of this principle, we sball see confusion where we might see the order of righteousness. First of all, and last of all, it must be our settled and unalterable conviction that God must do right, or He is no longer God. Everything must perish which opposes this law. We are not, however, to look at incomplete cases, and regard them as final criteria by which to test the wisdom and righteousness of the Almighty. In many cases we shall have to repress our impatience, and calmly to wait until fuller light is granted. -Joseph Parker, D.D.

(b) Be cautious with whom you associate, and never give your company or your confidence to persons of whose good principles you are not certain. No person that is an enemy to God can be a friend to man. He that has already proved himself ungrateful to the Author of every blessing, will not scruple, when

it will serve his turn, to shake off a fellowworm like himself. He may render you instrumental to his own purposes, but he will never benefit you. A bad man is a curse to others; as he is secretly, notwithstanding all his boasting and affected gaiety, a burden to himself. Shun him as you would a serpent in your path. B not seduced by his rank, his wealth, his wit, or his influence. Think of him as already in the grave; think of hi a as standing before the everlasting God in judgment. This awful reality will instantly strip off all that is now so imposing, and present him in his true light, the object rather of your compassion and of your prayers than of your wonder and imitation -Bp Coleridge.

(c) If a man knew that the ship in which he and his family were sailing, and which contained all his property, was leaking day and night, do you suppose he would be careless about it? Would he not be constantly baling out the water lest it should sink the ve-sel with its precious freight? If a man understood that a spark from the flue of the furnace had set fire to the timber of his dwelling, and that, smothered, it was creeping along and charring the wainscoting and partition, do you suppose he would content himself merely with saying, "I have no doubt that this house is on fire, and that it is dangerous?" Would