S.ERM. x.7 THE ,HIDDEN LIFE OF A CHRISTIAN. 177 says he, with Christ, and bath made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. It was through the blood of the everlasting covenant, that Jesus the great Shepherd of the sheep, was brought again from the dead ; and it was the God of peace who raised him, Heb. xiii. eo. And it is by virtue of his own blood, and righteousness, that he, who once took our sins upon him, is nowdischarged : It is through his own sufferings that he appears with acceptance before the throne, and enjoys a divine life in the unchangeable fa- vour of God ; and all this as our head, surety, and re- presentative, giving us assurance hereby, that we, through the blood of the same covenant, shall be brought again f,om the dead too; that we through the virtue of the same righteousness, and all-sufficiencyof the same sacri- fice, shall appear hereafter before God in glory, and stand in his eternal favour ; and as an earnest of it, we enjoy a life of holy peace and acceptance with God in this world, through the same all -sufficient blood and righteousness : For he appears in the holyof holies, in heaven itself, in the presence of God for us, Heb. ix: 24. He secures all the glories and blessings of spiritual and eternal life for us, as he has taken possession of them in our name. 3. Our life of grace, and especially our life of glory, may be said to be hidden with Christ, because he dwells in heaven; where God resides in glory ; God, in whom is our life. He is set down on the right-hand of the 'Majesty,on high ; Heb. xii. 2. There our eternal life is. The things which are above, are the objects of our joy- ful hope, where Christ is at the right-hand of God, Col: iii. 1. It is the short, but sublime description of out heaven, that we shall be present with the Lord, we shall be where Christ is, to behold his glory, 2 Cor. y. S. and John xvii. 24. And shall possess all that unknown and rich variety of blessings which are reserved for us in heavenly places, whither Christ our Lord is ascended. Thus I have endeavoured to explain, in the largest and most comprehensive sense, what we are ,to understand by the life of a christian bidden withChrist in God : It is reserved in the all-sufficiency, the purposes, and the en- gagements of God, under the care of the Mediator, and in the presence of Christ. vol.. I. N
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