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THE
HIDbEN
LIFE
OF
A;CiIRISTIAN.
[SEAN!: ¡Xi.
U
!
that
the christians
of our
day had more
of
this
sublime
conduct,
more
of
these noble evidences
of
the
life
of
Christianity.
Iv.
Inference.
,How
vain
and
needless
a
thing
is
it
for
a
christian
to affect
popularity; and
to
set
up
for
shew in this
.
world. How vain
is
it
for
him
to
be impa-
tient
to
appear
aaId
shine among
men,
fór
he
has ho-
nours
and treasures, joys and
glories,
that
are incompa-
rably greater,
and yet a secret
to
the world. A
Christi-
an's
true
life
is
hidden,
and
he
should
not
be
too
fond
of
public and
gay
appearances.
The
apostle
Peter
gives
advice how the
christian
wo-
men should behave themselves,
not
as
the
rest
of
the
world do, who
set themselves forth
to
public
shew,
with
many
ornaments
of
gold
and pearl
;
but
the believer
should
adorn herself
with modesty,
and
with every
grace
in the
hidden
man
of
the heart,
1
Pct.
iii. 4.
How unreasonable
is
it
-for
us
who'profess the chris-
tian
life to be
cast
down,
if
we
are
confined to an
ob-
scure station
in
the
world!
Was
not
the
Lord
of
glory,
when
he came down
on
earth
to give us
a pattern of
the
spiritual
life,
content
to
be
obscure for thirty years
to-
gether
?
Was
he
not
unknown
to men,
but
as
a common
carpenter, or
a poor carpenter's
son
?
And
in those
four
years of-appearance
which he
made
as
a
preacher,
how mean,
how
contemptible
were
the
circumstances
of
life which he
chose
?
And shall
we
be
impatient
and fretful
under
the same humbled
estate? Do
we
dis-
like
so
divine a
precedent? Must
we,
like mushrooms
of
the
earth,
be
exalted,
and
grow fond
of
making
a
public
figure,
when the king
of
heaven
was so
poor
and
lowly? We lose public
honour and
applause
indeed,
but
perhaps our hidden
life
thrives the
better
for
it,
when
we
resist the charms
of
grandeur.
.
Besides, this
is
not a
Christians
time for
appearing,
whilst
Christ
himself
is
absent and
unseen.
The
be-
liever's shining-time
is
not
yet
come
;
but
the
marriage-
day
of
the Lamb
is
hastening, and the bride
is
making
herself
ready.
The
general
resurrection
is
our
great
shining-day
:
When
Christ,
who is
our lift, shall
appear,
then
shall
we
also
appear with
him
in
glory,
Col.
iii. 4.
and
the christian
is
content
to stay for his
robes
of
light,-