for them, now bears them on his heart before the throne of God, and claims the recompense of his suf ferings in their deliverance from darkness, sin, and death. "Wherefore he is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.

In the intercession of Christ, his priestly office becomes merged in his royal government. It is connected with the administration of his mediatorial kingdom. There is an authority in the intercession of Christ, such as belongs to no other intercession. Whatever deference to the Father is implied in the official act, yet since we know that the will of the Son is the will of the Father, every prayer of our great Advocate becomes immediately a word of power, issuing from the lips of one who is now seated as a King upon his throne, and whose word is law in all places, with all creatures, and over all agencies.

3. Faith regards Christ as a divinely appointed King, who governs us by his word and Spirit, and preserves us in the enjoyment of that salvation he hath purchased for us.

In the view of one enlightened by the Spirit of God, pardon is not all that the soul of man needs for its restoration to God. The soul of one who has been washed in the blood of Christ, will not and cannot rest satisfied in the defilement of sin. To such an one it is not the whole of salvation to be justified before

God, but faith sees in Christ a deliverer from the power and pollution of sin, as well as from its punishment. He gives his people the victory over the corruptions under which they cry, Who shall deliver us from the body of this death; over the temptation of the world, and over the wiles of the devil. From himself as the head, goes forth into all his members a healthful, sanctifying energy of grace, through which they become strong, and sound, and pure, "according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself."

In this view the believing soul surrenders itself to the royal government of Christ, as one who has an undisputed right to rule over the hearts and lives of his own people. He will not give us the benefit of his righteousness, unless we receive him as Our sanctification.

Thus, and thus only, as having made full provision for all the great wants of the soul, delivering us from the darkness, condemnation, and pollution of sin, Christ is become our redemption. In short, whatever is included in the word redemption, with reference to all the aspects of our wretchedness and ruin, faith sees provided for us in Christ.

There may seem to be a great deal of very familiar truth here. But is it not precious truth? Precious indeed, if we learn it indeed, by the teaching of God's Spirit! Bless God for such doctrine as this,

that so comes home to our hearts, that offers so full a redemption, that meets all our complaints, that satisfies all our wants, that answers all our prayers. We are ignorant, teach us! We are guilty, pardon us! We are depraved, purify us! We know no Gospel but this; we can accept no substitute for it; we can let no man subtract from it; we rejoice in it as the old Gospel that was from the beginning. "No man having drunk old wine straightway desireth new; for he saith, the old is better."

What in this chapter have we sought to do? Not to set forth Christ with that intensity of expression that we might have used, had it been our object to excite lively emotions of love, and joy, and confidence toward him. Cold indeed must seem our thoughts, bald our descriptions, and feeble our words, if viewed in such a light. We have only tried to give a clear account of Christ personally, as the object which faith regards, and from which the soul draws its life; and then to show distinctly in what attitudes or offices the soul transacts with Christ in believing-in what the salvation that it receives from him by faith consists. We have had in view the practical value of these thoughts, in their bearing on our whole work. We cannot make sure and safe work without them. That must be a radically defective faith, from which any part of the glorious nature and work of Christ is hidden, that knows only in part what the word Saviour

means.

Christ is not divided. He must be received in his entireness. He will not suffer his sacred person to be mutilated. We are not now censuring a faith that is only feeble, but a faith that is deficient in breadth and scope, that sees in Christ only a part of its salvation, that does not perhaps see Christ at all, but sees only impunity in sin. What mischief in and about us may not result from such a faith!

But that must surely be a safe faith that regards Christ in all his holy offices, that comprehends the full extent of his engagement with the Father, in the deliverance of his people from the power and pollution, as well as from the guilt and fear of sin, and that receives him for all the purposes for which he was given to men. We do not fear to trust such a faith, and the more confident it is, the less we fear it. Let a man clearly see in Christ, and expect from him; let him regard as the gift of God's love to his soul, a provision of heavenly light and holiness in the prophetic and kingly offices of Christ, and we fear not that he will abuse his grace as an atoning Priest. In all these respects, let his soul "wait for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning, I say, more than they that watch for the morning," in strong desire and confident expectation, and as surely as the morning follows the night, his desire shall not be disappointed, neither shall his expectation perish.

Let, then, dear reader, the person, character, and

work of Christ be your constant, earnest, prayerful study. This is your only foundation. You know nothing till you know Christ. You may say, "I believe in God, the Father Almighty," but "he that hath not the Son hath not the Father." Lift up then your heart to God, and say, O thou glorious and eternal Father, who didst command the light to shine out of darkness, shine in my heart, to give me the light of the knowledge of thy glory in the face of Jesus Christ! O thou Divine Saviour, Son of God, equal with the Father, in whom is life, and whose life is the light of men, manifest thyself unto me in the glory of thine infinite nature, and in the fullness of thy perfect work. O thou gracious and infinite Spirit of truth, proceeding from the Father and the Son, take thou of the things of Christ, and show them unto me. Remove all blindness from my mind, that I may know the things that are freely given to me of God.