h, and apart from Him, will
not produce works that shall surpass those He wrought in His earthly
ministry.

Therefore from works and words we come to the Lord Himself with a trust
which passes up beyond the lower ranges of faith; which does not simply
receive what He waits to give, or reckon upon His faithfulness, but
which unites us in indissoluble union with Himself. This is the
highest function of faith; it is _unitive_: it welds us in living union
with our Lord, so that we are one with Him, as He is one with God.

We are in Him in the Divine purpose which chose us in Him before the
foundation of the world; grafted into Him in His cross; partaking of a
common life with Him through the regeneration of the Holy Ghost. But
all these become operative in the union wrought by a living faith; so
that the strongest assertions which Jesus made of the close
relationship between His Father and Himself become the current coin of
holy speech, as they precisely describe the union which subsists
between us and Jesus. The living Saviour has sent us, and we live by
the Saviour. The words we speak are not from ourselves, but the
Saviour within us, He doeth His works. We are in Him and He in us, all
ours are His, and His ours.

Stay, reader, and ask thyself whether thou hast this faith which
incorporates thee with the Man who died for thee on the cross, and now
occupies the Throne, the last Adam who has become a life-giving Spirit.

II. A TRUE FAITH ALWAYS WORKS.--"He that believeth in Me, the works
that I do shall He do also."

There are many counterfeits of faith in the world. Electroplate!
veneer! They will inevitably fail in the last supreme test, if not
before. James especially calls attention to the distinction between a
living and a dead faith. It becomes us to be on our guard.

The test of genuine faith are twofold. In the _first_ place, a
genuine, living faith has Christ for its object. The hand may tremble,
but it touches His garment's hem; the eye may be dimmed by doubt, but
it is directed toward His face; the feet may stumble, but as the
fainting pilgrim staggers onward, this is his repeated cry, "Thou, O
Christ, art all I want."

In the _second_ place, a true faith works. Its works approve its
nature, and show that it has reached the heart of Christ, and becomes
the channel through which His life-forces pour into the soul. Jacob
knew that Joseph was alive and that his sons had opened communications