it the constant residence of your hearts and affections. It almost appears, by the strong expressions which he uses, as if St. Paul thought that the soul or life of a Christian was absorbed in Christ, as if he had no powers of life in himself as an individual, but that Christ (if I may so speak) pervaded him, and was his very life. "Our life," he says, "is hid with Christ in God." "When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall we also appear with him in glory." "To me to live is Christ." But the most remarkable words are in his Epistle to the Galatians ii. 20. "I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me."

There are certainly wonderful things spoken in the scriptures concerning the union of believers with Christ. "Abide in me, and I in you; as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine, no more can ye, except ye abide in me.' "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." "As thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also might be one in us." "I in them, and they in me, that they may be made

perfect in one." By all these, and many similar expressions, it is evident that what has been called "the life of God, or the life of Christ," in the soul of man, has a very important meaning; and surely nothing less can be signified by these very remarkable terms, than that Christ should have entire dominion over our hearts, that every thought should be brought into captivity to the law of Christ, that we love what he loves, hate what he hates, will what he wills, that we be altogether guided by his influence, animated and moved by his spirit. I do not wish you to run away with any wild and vague notions about your being united with Christ, and having his spirit; all this is most holy doctrine, and must not be trifled with. Who is the man in whom Christ dwells? Is it the formal professor of Christianity? What then, is the life of Christ in him at all like what it was when he appeared in the flesh upon earth? Was there Was there any thing like mere form and profession in the spiritual life, of which he presented so perfect a pattern to the world? In his self-denial, his humility, his charity, his zeal for God's glory, his consecration of his time to the purpose for which he came into the world, in his devout prayers, in his meekness, in his resignation to the will of God?

Let him who pretends to this union with

Christ (and it is what every true Christian most earnestly longs for, indeed without which no one can be a true Christian) consider what a sacred fellowship he aspires to; with him, "who was holy and harmless, and undefiled and separate from sinners;" with him, "whose meat and drink it was to do the will of his Father in heaven;" with him, who came to destroy the works of the devil and to overthrow the whole empire of sin; with him, to whom bodily indulgence and the sinful passions of the mind were wholly unknown; with him, whose whole aim, whilst he was in the world, was to glorify God, and to confer blessings on mankind.

Once more, I ask then, do we live unto the Lord? Or does he live in us? I need not ask those, who are conscious that they are living in sin, in contempt of God and his laws, and in neglect of their own salvation. I need not ask those, who are scoffing at the subject as not worthy of their serious consideration, and fit only for visionaries and enthusiasts. But I will ask those, who think they have some religion, but are afraid of going too far, who halt between two opinions, who try to serve two masters, who would reconcile the spirit and the flesh, and bring about a communion between light and darkness. I will ask the half-christian, the almost-persuaded,

you think

Do you can truly be said to be living unto the Lord? Why, are you not ashamed even to own him? Here in public, where all your neighbours partake in that unfashionable practice of confessing Christ in a general way, you do, under the shelter of such company, make a sort of complimentary acknowledgment of him. But in private life, where you could be marked out for your singularity, would you not be ashamed to own him? In your ordinary society would you not blush to be overheard speaking about him, or any thing relating to him? Would you not think it almost a disgrace to be found reading the scriptures, except on a Sunday? Do you not associate freely and on the best of terms, with persons who are (not disguised and uncertain, but) open enemies of Christ, who not only have not the least thought of any intercourse or connection with him, but are as decidedly opposed to him as those who cried " away with him, away with him, crucify him?" Do you not without the least scruple, indulge in many things which he most strictly forbids? Think of your common life, your eating, drinking, dressing, conversation, reading, extravagant waste of time in idleness, and expenditure of money on folly and luxury, think of all these things that happen every day, and say whether your coming here on

Sunday, is living unto the Lord? Do not deceive yourselves; it is a difficult and a holy thing to live unto the Lord. Do not profane the expression by applying it to a worldly life, dressed up now and then in the outer cloke of religion.

But, my brethren, it is a necessary thing to live unto the Lord, and I heartily pray God to give us all grace that we may do so more and more. I pray that he may sanctify us wholly, and dispose us to dedicate our lives, and all our powers and faculties of body and soul, and all our substance to his service. This is done by keeping his will constantly in view in all our thoughts, words, and actions; not that in every particular thought, and word, and action, we can expressly glorify him. But this should be our great and ruling principle, so that all who know us may perceive that we have that end in view, and that we ourselves may not be ashamed to have it so perceived. What a new turn would this principle give to the conduct and conversation, and general habit of mind of many persons, who now most unworthily go by the name of Christians! You would not fail to behold some signs and exhibitions of their faith in their daily life. You would see them assembling their families around them, and worshipping God morn