never be famished and dissolved.-2dly, Christ Jesus, who is sent, and lives in his office by his living Father, is in him, and lives in him who eateth or believeth. "I in them, and “thou in me," are his words to the Father. In them he lives, and in their hearts he dwells. With respect to himself, Paul says, "Christ liveth in me," and, with res pect to others, prays, "that Christ might dwell in their "hearts by faith." The union between Christ and believers cannot be dissolved, nor the communion in life, which is the effect of it, interrupted. Against the dissolution of the union provision is made in the contract: "I will betroth "thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving-kindness, "and in mercies. I will even betroth thee unto me in faithful. ❝ness, and thou shalt know the Lord." Against the interruption of the communion, provision is made in the promises. God hath said, "I will dwell in them, and walk in "them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my peo"ple."-3dly, The power of Christ in his office is universal. Unto him all power in heaven and earth is given, and into his hand all things are delivered. By operations of the exceeding greatness of his power believers are quickened in regeneration. By exertions of the same power, he keeps them alive in sanctification; and, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself, will bring them again from the dead at the last day, when the splendour of their reign in life, by him and with him, shall break forth, and fill the heaven of heavens with joy unspeakable and full of glory.4thly, The faithfulness of Christ, who hath spoken this word, "shall live by me," is inviolable, and endureth for Unto the living Father, who appointed him, he was faithful, and to all who trust him he will prove himself faithful. From his mouth, who exerts all power, and girds his reins with faithfulness, and his loins with rightcousness, "shall live by me" is a word stronger than the pillars of heaven. What weight may be hung upon this word, and what confidence will it not bear? Knowing his power and faithfulness, Paul trusted him with the preservation of something on which he set the highest value. "I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he "is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day." "O Lord God of hosts, who is a strong

ever.

"Lord like unto thee, or to thy faithfulness round about "thee? Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy "throne; mercy and truth shall go before thy face."

After illustrating the affirmations of the Son of God in our text, both concerning himself, and concerning him who eateth, or believeth, we shall, in the THIRD place, endeavour to exemplify a correspondence, or resemblance, between the truths affirmed, which he expresses by the correlative terms, As and So. "As the living Father hath "sent me, and I live by the Father, so he that eateth me, "even he shall live by me." This correspondence, or resemblance, between the living of Christ by the Father, and the living of the believer by Christ, is very high. It transcends the knowledge of all who have not received from him the gift of an understanding, and is but indistinctly known by them who have received the gift. Concerning it, the following particulars may be observed and considered:

First, Correspondence, or resemblance, of which as and so are expressions, may be observed in the lives themselves. In this part of it, the resemblance is real and expressive, and, to a spiritual mind, an object of discernment. The mystery of his life is made known in these sublime expressions: The Father living in him, dwelling in him, and working in him, while he lives by the Father, dwells in the Father, works with the Father; and, correspondent to the revelation of the mystery of his life by the Father, is the revelation of the mysteTy of the life of believers by Christ. In them Christ lives, and dwells, and works, and they live, and dwell, and work in Christ. Since the Father living, and dwelling, and working in Christ, and Christ living, and dwelling, and working in the Father, is his life by the Father; and, since Christ living, and dwelling, and working in believers, and believers living, and dwelling, and working in Christ, is their life by Christ, the resemblance of their lives is strikingly obvious to the spiritual eye, and fills it with wonder and joy. Lift up, O believers! and in some texts, as in a glass, behold the revealed glory of his official life mingling rays with the revealed glory of his personal life, and securing the existence and joy of your spiritual and everlasting life. "Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father

❝in me. The Father, who dwelleth in me, he doth the "works. I know him, for I am from him, and he hath "sent me. My Father worketh hitherto, and I work."The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth. "the Father do. What things soever the Father doth, "these also doth the Son likewise. As the Father raiseth "up the dead, and quickeneth, even so the Son quickeneth "whom he will. As the Father hath life in himself, so "hath he given to the Son to have life in himself. The "men whom thou gavest me out of the world, have known "that all things whatsoever thou hast given are of thee; "for I have given unto them the words which thou gavest "me, and they have received them, and have known sure"ly that I came out from thee. Neither pray I for these "alone, but for them also who shall believe on me, through "their word. That they all may be one, as thou, Father, "art in me, and I in thee; that they also may be one in us. "The glory which thou hast given me, I have given them, "that they may be one even as we are one. I in them, and "thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one, and "that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and "hast loved them as thou hast loved me. And I have de"clared unto them thy name, and will delare it, that the "love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and "I in them." Blessed is he that readeth, and they who hear, understand, believe, and keep these gracious words, which the Son of God hath spoken, which his Spirit hath recorded, and which we have recited!

Secondly, Correspondence, or resemblance, of which As and So are expressions, exists in the dependence of the lives. The life of Christ in his office dependeth on the Father, and the life of believers dependeth upon Christ: Dependence, which is the glory of his life, is the glory of their life. Christ liveth by the Father, and they live by Christ. From their communion in the glory of depend ence, words which are spirit and life break forth, and, with a lustre clearer than noon-day, shed forth the light of life and joy in their hearts. All things whatsoever Christ hath in his office are of the Father, and all things whatsoever they have in Christ are of the Father. His life being by the Father, and their life being by his life, the life of both is originally from, and finally to, the glory of the Father, the fountain of the light of life and joy. "I ascend unto my

"Father and your Father, and to my God and your God.” "If children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint-heirs with "Christ." "All are yours, and ye are Christ's, and Christ "is God's." "Ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ "in God." "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit "with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am "set down with my Father in his throne." "If a man love "me, he will keep my words, and my Father will love him; "and we will come unto him, and make our abode with "him." How sweet are thy words, O blessed Saviour! Take fast hold of them, O hearer! and keep them in the midst of thine heart; for they are life unto those who find them, and health to all their flesh!

Thirdly, Resemblance is discernible in the means and actions of the lives. Obedience was meat and drink, which nourished and refreshed the life that Christ lived by the Father, and a course of action, by which its strength was exerted and renewed. Doing the will of bis Father was his duty, and his food; and finishing his work, by suffering and dying, were exertions which, instead of exhausting, renewed the strength of his life. Doing the will of God is in like manner the duty and strength of believers, who live by Christ. Among them, doing and suffering is living and feeding, while, in doing and suffering, they do not live upon themselves, nor upon their doings and sufferings, but upon Christ, and upon his doings and sufferings, --his death, resurrection, and glory. Turn now to these texts, ye who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for bread which strengtheneth, and wine that maketh glad the heart. "I came down from heaven to do the will of him "that sent me." My"meat is to do the will of him that sent "me." "The just shall live by his faith." "I live by the "faith of the Son of God." "For me to live is Christ." "In keeping his commandments, there is great reward.” "If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit." "They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be "on all high places." "As ye have received Christ Jesus "the Lord, so walk ye in him, rooted and built up in him, "and stablished in the faith as ye have been taught, abound"ing therein with thanksgiving." "The joy of the Lord is "your strength." "They who wait upon the Lord, shall "renew their strength," "go from strength to strength," hold on their way, and be stronger and stronger." "The

way of the Lord is strength unto the upright." Feed on these precious Scriptures, O hearer! In reciting them, we do not set before you scorpions instead of meat, nor stones instead of bread. Consider diligently, and eat in them that which is good, and let thy soul delight itself in their fat

ness.

Fourthly, Resemblance appears in the end of the lives. The glory of the Father is the high end of the life which the Son of God liveth by the Father. Before he came into the world, he existed as the Son, and, in the heavenly places, officiated to the glory of the Father as the Mediator. While in the world he glorified the Father and was glorified by the Father, in doing his will and finishing his work. And, now that he is no more in the world, he liv eth to the glory of the Father again in the heavenly places, “a minister of the sanctuary, and of the true taberna"cle, which the Lord pitched and not man.” In like manner, the glory of the Father is the high end of the life that believers live by Christ. Turn to a single passage of the Book out of which a good understanding may dig a sys tem of lively and practical divinity: "Now if we be dead "with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him,. "knowing that Christ, being raised from the dead, dieth no "more: death hath no more dominion over him. For in "that he died, he died unto sin once; but in that he liveth, "he liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves "to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through "Jesus Christ our Lord." Of what importance in its connection is the word likewise, and how natively doth it flow from the as and so in our text. From the moment in which they are quickened, believers live unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord, and are not dead unto him when they sleep in the dust of the earth. Unto him all the dead in Christ live, and with him God will bring all who sleep in Christ. At the bush, Moses calleth the Lord "the God of "Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob;" and, from the appellation, a Greater than Moses infers, "He is not a God of the dead, but of the living; for all live "unto him." Though dead, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, live unto God; and when their bodies shall be quickened, raised, renewed, and glorified, by the Spirit of him who raised up Christ from the dead, they shall live unto him forever.