has weight; may be handled and felt; and is the medium of direct sensation.  It is also the seat of suffering and sin, and is subject to death and decomposition as its end.  Of this body it is written:  “Dust thou art; and unto dust shalt thou return.”  Paul says:  “In me, that is, in my flesh, there dwelleth no good thing.”  He is very particular to tell us in which part of him it is where no good thing dwelleth.  He says:  “In my flesh.”

But there is “an inward man” about which none of these things can be said.  This is elsewhere called “a spiritual body.”  It is so called because it is born “not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”  It is also called “a new creature in Christ Jesus.”  Generation, in a natural sense, implies the begetting and bringing forth of the “natural body” the “outward man,” “the old man;” but regeneration implies the begetting and bringing forth of “the spiritual body,” “the inward man,” “the new man,” which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.  Peter says:  “Born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever.”

But it matters not how good a thing may be, if it is out of our reach or beyond our power to get, it can do us no good.  But the new life in the soul, the eternal life of the spirit, is not out of the reach of any, is in reach of all.  Even the dead shall hear his voice, and they that hear shall live.  “He that heareth my word, and believeth him that sent me, hath everlasting life.”  “Whosoever cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out.”  “He that soweth to the Spirit, shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.”  “This is life eternal that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.”  “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature:  old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

Obedience to the ordinances of God’s house has its place here in connection with faith.  By works is faith made perfect.  The first command that Paul received in connection with his conversion was:  “Arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling upon the name of the Lord.”  The instruction of Peter to the convicts on the day of Pentecost was:  “Repent, and be baptized, every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.”  In preaching Jesus to the eunuch Philip evidently preached our Lord’s baptism, else what would the eunuch have known about baptism?  How else can we account for his remark to Philip and implied request:  “See, here is water, what doth hinder me to be baptized?” “If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest,” was Philip’s answer.  Sinner, you are invited to come and take of the water of life freely.  Come, believe, obey, and live forever.

FRIDAY, April 12.  Plant corn in the lower field.