PART rt. SERMON X. 149 world, in their robes and palaces John xiV. 22, 23. And that he mayhave the honour ofthe presence ofthe blessed Trinity, his body is the templeofthe Holy Ghost; 1 Cor. M. 16. andvi. 19. 0 ! the wonderfulcondescensions of divine grace, and the surprizing honours thatare done toa humble saint ! how is this habitation graced ! Heaven is there, for God and Christ are there ; and who knows what heavenly guards surround him ! what flights of attending angels ? " Are they not all ministering spirits, sent down to minister unto them that shall be heirs of salvation ? I3eb. i. 14. Butour Lord Jesus Christ is now unseen, God and angels are unseen ; the christian's companybelong to the invisible world : He lives a hidden, but a divine life ; his life is hid withChrist in God. IId Instruction. See how it comes to pass that christians are capable of doing such wonders, at which the world stands amazed. The spring of their life is almighty ; it ishid in God. It is by 'this divine strength they subdue their sinful natures, their stubborn appetites, and their old corrupt affections : It is by the power of God, derived through Jesus Christ, they bend the powers of their souls unto a conformity to all the laws of God and grace ; and they yield their bodies as instruments to the same holy service, while the world wonders at them, that they should fight against their own nature, and be able to overcome it too. And us they deny themselves in all the alluring instances of sinful pleasure, under the influence of almighty grace, so they endure sufferings, in the sharpest degree, from the hands of God, without murmuring. And when they have laboured night and day, and performed surprizing.services for God in the world, they are yet contented to submit to smarting and heavy trials from the hands of their heavenly Father, without being angry at their God : they know he loves them, and he designs all things shall work together for theirgood. Besides all this, they bear dreadful persecutions, cruel mockings, and scou$ings, and tortures, from the hands of men, and go through all the sorrows of martyrdom. What noble instances and miracles of this kind did the primitive age furnish us with, so that their tormentors were amazed ? They saw not the secret springs of divine life which supported them ; they knew not the grace of God and the power of Christ, by which the christians were upheld in all their labours andtheir sufferings. The spring of their life was almighty, but it was hidden from the eyes of men : It was concealed and reserved with Christin God. Read the labours and the sufferingsof St. Paul; 2Cor. xi.23. a 3
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