SERM. X.] THE HIDDEN LIFE OF A CHRISTIAN. }8l in despair ; be cast down, and not be destroyed; because I believe that the life of Jesus must be made manifest in my mortal flesh, and he which raised up the LordJesus, shall wise us up also by Jesus, and shall present us with you, 2 Cor. iv. 14. IIId Instruction. See whither a dead sinner must go to attain spiritual and eternal life, and whither a decay- ing dying christian mustgo for the recruit of his fainting life too : it is toGod by Jesus Christ, for it is all hidden with Christ in God. In vain shall a man who is dead in trespasses and sins, .toil and labour, and hope to attain life any other way, God is the spring of all life, and he has betrusted it to the hands of Jesus Christ: I ant the way, the truth, and the life, says our Saviour ; John xiv. 6. No man can have life without coming to the living Father; and no man cometh to the Father but by me. Seneca and Plato, with their moral lectures, and the writings of hu- man philosophy, may give a man new garments, may make his outward life appear much better than before; they may teach him in some measure, to govern his pas- sions too, and subdue some of the fleshly appetites; but they cannot raise him to the love of God, to the hatred of every sin, to the well-grounded hopes of the favour of God, the blessed expectation of a holy immortality, and a preparation for heaven. They cannot give the man a new life : He must,be born again of the Spirit of Christ, or he can never become a living.christian. And in vain would the poor backsliding christian, with his withering decaying graces, recruit' and renew his di- vine life, without applying himself afresh to Jesus Christ: While he forgets Christ, he must go on to wither and decay still. There is nothing in earth or heaven can supply the utter absence of our Lord Jesus Christ. When the stream of spiritual life ebbs or runs low, it is not to be quickened, recovered, or increased, but by new supplies from the fountain which is on high. Re- member, Odegenerate christian, remember wbence. it was you derived your first life, when you were once dead in trespasses and sins ; fly to the Saviour by new exercises offaith and dependence, mourning, in all humility, for your unwatchful walking, and your absence from the Lord. Commit your soul afresh to his care, exert your N 3
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