bus) when it affects the senses. A spiritual object is present when it is intellectually apprehended and when it acts upon the mind. It is said of the wicked, " God is not in all their thoughts." They are without God. They are " far off." On the other hand, God is present with his people when He controls their thoughts, operates on their hearts, and fills them with the sense of his nearness and love. This presence is not imaginary, it is in the highest sense real and effective. In like manner Christ is present when He thus fills the mind, sheds abroad his love in our hearts by the Holy Ghost given unto us ; and not only communicates to us the benefits of his sufferings and death, that is, the remission of our sins and reconciliation with God, but also infuses his life into us. Nothing is plainer from Scripture than that there is this commu- nication of life from Christ to his people. It is not only directly asserted as when Paul says, " I live ; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me " (Gal. ii. 20) ; and, He " is our life " (Col. iii. 4) ; but it is also illustrated in every way. As the body derives life from the head (Col. ii. 19) and the branches from the vine, so do believ- ers derive their life from Him : on this point there is no dispute among Christians. This, again, is a presence to us and in us which is not imaginary, but in the highest sense real and effective.
But what is meant by the word Christ when He is said to be thus present with us ? It does not mean merely that the Logos, the eternal Son of God, who fills heaven and earth, is present with us as He is with all his creatures ; or, simply that He operates in us as He operates throughout the universe. Nor does it mean merely that his Spirit dwells in believers and works in them both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Something more than all this is meant. Christ is a person ; a divine person with a human nature ; that is with a true body and a reasonable soul. It is that person who is present with us. This again does not mean, that Christ's human nature, his body and soul are ubiquitous ; but it does mean that a divine person with human affections and sympathies is near us and within us. We have now a high-priest who can be touched with a sense of our infirmities. (Heb. iv. 15.) He and we are one in such a sense that He is not ashamed to call us brethren. (Heb. ii. 11.) In all things He was made like unto his brethren that He might be what He still is, a merciful and faithful high- priest. (Heb. ii. 17.) Of this every Christian is assured.1 The
1 The late Dr. Cutler, of precious memory, formerly rector of St. Ann's Church, Brook- lyn, a short time before his death, met the writer in Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, and, without a word of salutation, said, " Have you ever thought of the difference between com-