thRM. E.] THE HIDDEN LIFE OF ;A CHRISTIAN.. 1; World shut him out from themwithdisdain: He lives, as it were, hidden in a cave of the 'earth; but the godhead . dwells with him there. The high and lofty one that in- habits eternity, comes down to dwell with the humble and contrite soul; Is. lvii. 15. God, who is the spring of; life, conies down to communicate fresh supplies of this life continually. He that dwelleth ,in love, . dwelleth in. God; 1 John iv. 16. He is not atone, for the Father is with him ; John xvi. 32. The Father and the Scu corne and manifest themselves unto him, within the walls of that, hovel, in so divine a manner, as they never do to the men of this world, in their robes andpalaces; John xiv. 2 , 3. And that he may have the honour of the presence of the blessed trinity, his body is the temple of the Holy Ghost; i Cor. iii. 16. and vi. 19. 0! the wonderful condescensions of divine grace, and the sur- prising honours that are done to a 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 ofsalvation? Heb. i. 1 . But our Lord Jesus Christ is now unseen, God and an- gels are unseen; the christian's company belong to the invisible world: He lives a hidden, but adivine life his life is hid with Christ in God. lid Instruction. See how it comes to pass that chris- tians are capable of doing such wonders, at which the world stands amazed. The, spring of their .life is Al- mighty ; it is hid in God. It is by this divine strength they subdue their sinful. natures, their stubborn appe- tites, 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 andgrace; and.they yield their bodies as instruments to the same holyy service,. while the world wonders at them, that they should fight against their own nature, and béable to overcome it too. And as they deny, themselves, in all the alluring in- stances of sinful pleasure, under the influence of al- mighty grace, so they enduresuflèrings, in 'the sharpest degree, from the hands, of God, without murmuring. And when they have laboured night and day, and per-
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