+I. Deny the efficacy and purpose of Christ's sufferings.+
+II. Are incompetent to appreciate the spiritual significance of the
cross.+--"Who mind earthly things."
+III. Are the victims of sensuality.+--"Whose god is their belly."
+IV. Are degraded beyond all bounds of modesty.+--"Whose glory is in
their shame."
+V. Will be inevitably punished.+--"Whose end is destruction."
+VI. Are the cause of much grief to those who must constantly expose
them.+--"Of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even
weeping."
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 20, 21.
_Christian Citizenship_--
+I. Has its centre of life and privileges in heaven.+--"For our
conversation [citizenship] is in heaven" (ver. 20). To show the
contrast between the earthly things which absorb the thought of the
worldly, and the things of heaven, the apostle proceeds to indicate
that the life of the believer, even on earth, is associated with the
privileges and blessings of the heavenly commonwealth, of which he is
a member. In this world the Christian is but a stranger--living in
temporary exile. His city, his home, is in heaven. Longing to enter
into possession of all the privileges of the heavenly franchise,
earthly things have no attraction for him, and he seeks to act in
harmony with his high destiny.
+II. Is assured of the deliverance of its members from the perils and
hardships of earth.+--"From whence also we look for the Saviour, the
Lord Jesus Christ" (ver. 20). The apostle characterises Jesus as
Saviour, or as expected in the character of Saviour, and thus
suggests an awful contrast, in point of destiny, between himself and
those like-minded with him, and the party reprobated by him in the
two preceding verses. Their end is destruction, but ours is
salvation; to the one He descends as Judge, but to us as Saviour. If
there be such visible difference in present character, there is a
more awful contrast in ultimate destiny--the two poles of
humanity--everlasting punishment; eternal life (_Eadie_). The great
Deliverer will emancipate us from the thraldom, suffering, and sorrow
of the present world, and complete in its fulness the salvation which
is now in process.
+III. Has the confident hope of future dignity and
blessedness.+--1. _The body of humiliation shall be transformed into
the likeness of Christ's glorified body._ "Who shall change our vile
body, that it may fashioned like unto His glorious body" (ver. 21).
The body of our humiliation connects us with the soil, out of which
it was formed, and by the products of which it is supported, on which
it walks, and into which it falls at death. It keeps us in constant
physical connection with earth, whatever be the progress of the
spirit towards its high destiny--its commonwealth in heaven. It
limits intellectual power and development, impedes spiritual growth
and enjoyment, and is soon fatigued with the soul's activity. In it
are the seeds of disease and pain, from functional disorder and
organic malady. It is an animal nature which, in spite of a careful
and vigilant government, is prone to rebellious outbreaks. But this
body is reserved to a high destiny: it shall be like Christ's
heavenly body. The brightness of heaven does not oppress Him, neither
shall it dazzle us. Our humanity dies indeed, and is decomposed; but
when He appears, it shall be raised and beautified. These bodies
shall cease to be animal without ceasing to be human bodies, and they
shall become spiritual bodies--etherealised vehicles for the pure
spirit that shall be lodged within them (_Eadie, passim_).
2. _This transformation shall be effected by the Divine power that
controls the universe._--"According to the working whereby He is able
even to subdue all things unto Himself" (ver. 21). While omniscience
is the actual possession or exercise of all knowledge, omnipotence is
universal ability, which may or may not yet have put forth all its
energies, for what is possible to it may not have been effected by
it. But Christ shall put forth His power, as we know from other
sources, and death itself shall be swallowed up in victory--that
which has swallowed up all humanity shall be surrounded by a wider
vortex and be itself engulfed. This body of our humiliation has some
surviving element, or some indissoluble link, which warrants the
notion and shall secure the consciousness of identity, in whatever
that identity may consist (_Eadie_). If man's art and device can
produce so pure and white a fabric as paper from filthy rags, what
shall hinder God by His mighty power to raise the vile body from the
grave and refine and fashion it like unto the glorious body of
Christ? "Not a resurrection," says Neander, "as a restoration merely
of the same earthly body in the same earthly form; but a glorious
transformation, proceeding from the Divine, the all-subduing power of
Christ; so that believers, free from all the defects of the earthly
existence, released from all its barriers, may reflect the full image
of the heavenly Christ in their whole glorified personality, in the
soul pervaded by the Divine life and its now perfectly assimilated
glorified organ."
+Lessons.+--1. _The Christian citizen is but a sojourner on earth._
2. _His conduct on earth is regulated by a heavenly life._ 3. _He
looks for his highest honours and enjoyments in the future._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._