should become like us, who had lost all resemblance to Him. That He should enter and dwell in us, where Satan had dwelt, and wrought, and revelled. Nor is it less wonderful to consider that all this was, that we may be won over to be for Him who were enmity against Him. That we should be with Him, who deserved to be banished eternally from Him. That we should be made like Him, who loathed Him, and debased ourselves even unto hell. That we should be in Him, who were gone as far from Him as it was possible for us to go. My soul, dwell upon this glorious subject! Dwell upon it until filled with wonder, love, and praise! And may the Holy Spirit unfold yet more and more to thy view, the wonders that are wrapped up in this glorious name of thy beloved Lord, "EMMANUEL."

"On such love, my soul, still ponder,
Love so vast, so rich, so free;
Say, while lost in holy wonder,
Why, O Lord, such love to me?
Hallelujah!

Grace shall reign eternally!"

THE ELECT ONE.

"Behold mine Elect."-ISAIAH xlii. 1.

God had a work to perform that no creature could undertake or perform. His only-begotten Son undertook that work, and having undertook it, He so prepared for it, entered upon it, and went through with it, that his Father was delighted; and in the prospect of it, calls upon all His friends to 'Behold His servant, His elect, in whom His soul delighteth." Jesus was chosen out from among the people. His human nature is part of God's church, one of the people, a portion of God's glorious inheritance. We find it profitable to fix the eye, and to keep the eye fixed, for a time upon some one view of Jesus; we propose now to behold Him as God's Elect, God's chosen One.

Election, as an act of God, is eternal. We can have no idea of God as an infinite being -of God as revealed in the Scriptures, choosing any one in time, or choosing to do anything in time, which He had not choosen to do in eternity. The perfect intellect of God appointed, perceived, and arranged in eternity, all that concerns Christ and His Church.

The members were chosen before the foundation of the world, and the Head was chosen too. In the mind of God, Christ and His people are one. They were ever viewed as one in reference to their salvation and glorification. Are they chosen? It is in Christ. Are they predestinated to the adoption of children? It is by Jesus Christ. Are they loved with an infinite and an eternal love? It is in Christ. Yes,

"Christ and His members ever stood,

A glorious mystic Man;

Loved with the highest love of God,
Before the world began."

Jesus was chosen to be THE HEAD of His body the Church. He represents her before the throne. He presides over all things for her good. He lives in every member. He rules over the whole body. The life of the Church was in Christ. The beauty of the Church

was in Christ. He thinks for her. He hears for her. He speaks for her. He feels for her. God chose Jesus to be the living, life-giving, life-sustaining head of the whole body. This was a glorious expression of God's love to His people, and a peculiar honour put on His beloved Son. My soul look to Jesus as thy living Head. Look to Him as chosen by His Father to sustain this glorious relationship. Rejoice in Him as representing thee before God, and managing all things for thee among

men.

With Jesus as my Head, I may say

with Paul, “I know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose."

Jesus was chosen to OFFICE.

The principal office He sustains is that of Mediator. He comes between God and man. He represents God to us, and represents us to God. He is the medium through which God receives from us and communicates to us. As Mediator, He is our prophet to teach us, our priest to atone for us, and our king to rule over us. He fills every office necessary for a sinful creature who has to do with a holy God: and every office necessary for a sanctified creature rising up into the enjoyment of God. He mediates for us, and is the daysman Job longed for, who can lay His hand on both parties. Equal with God, He can treat with God; in the likeness of man, He can treat with men. He can give to God all He requires, as the lawgiver and ruler of the uni verse, for man's salvation; and He can give to man all He needs as poor, sinful, and condemned by the righteous law. Glorious Mediator! I bless, I praise, I rejoice in Thee; and amidst all my failings, shortcomings, and heart-straitenings, take comfort in the thought

that

"Since my Saviour stands between,
In garments dyed in blood,
'Tis He instead of me is seen,
When I approach to God."

To work for

Jesus was chosen TO WORK, God's glory, and to secure the certain salvation of God's people. The work he under

took was such as no angel's mind could grasp -such as all created beings could not per form. He was chosen to produce a righteousness which would justify every sinner who should hear of it, accept of it, and seek to be justified in it. He was elected to offer a sacrifice to God, which would expiate all the sins of all the persons He represented. His work was to harmonise the Divine perfections, ho, nour the Divine government, and reconcile to the Divine character myrids of the human race. He was to conquer Satan, obtain the Holy Spirit, purify His people, and present the whole of God's elect before his omniscient eye without spot or wrinkle or any such thing. He had to annihilate the curse, become the centre of blessing, and bring God and man into the closest and happiest union. Blessed Jesus! Thou didst engage to suffer, and Thou hast fulfilled Thy engagement; Thou didst engage to work, and Thou wilt perfect Thy work to the glory of God Thy Father!

Jesus was chosen to a PECULIAR GLORY.

He was glorious as God. He was glorious as man. He will be glorious as God-man for ever and ever. His glory as the Head of His church, the glory arising from His offices, the glory which results from His work, and the glory reflected on Him by His glorified