144 THE HIDDEN LIFE OF A. CHRISTIAN'. divine will. And in this sense, the whole gospel, with all its wondrous glories and mysteries, is said to be hid in God ; Eph. iii. 9. When St. Paul preached among thegentiles the unsearch- able richesofChrist, he made all men see something of that mys- tery, which from the beginningof the world had beenhid inGod. And if this be compared with Eph. i. 9. we shall find that this mystery of thewill, or good-pleasure of God, was that which he eternally purposed in himself. There is not one dead' sinner awakened, and called into this divine and spiritual life here, or that shall ever be possessed of life eternal hereafter, but it was contained in the eternal se- cret purpose, and merciful design of God, beforethe'worldbegan. For it is a very mean conceit, and a disgraceful opinion con- cerning the great God, to imagine that he shouldexert his power to work life in souls, here in time, by any new purposes, or sud- den designs, occasioned by any works or merit of theirs, which he had not formed and decreed in himself, long before he made man. This doctrine would represent God as a mutable being ; butweknow that he is unchangeable. There is nothing ñew n God ; andhis immutability is that perfection of his nature which secures the performance of this divine purpose, and the life of every christian. 3. 1 might add, in the third place, that the life of achristian is hidden in the unknown engagements of the Father to his Son Jesus Christ the Mediator. That sacred "and divine ,transaction betwixt the Father and the Son, is often intimated in the holy scriptures, and some of the promises of that covenant are there, represented ; Pi. lxxxix. 19-28, 29-36, &c. I have laid help upon one that ismighty; my mercy will I keepfor himfor ever, and my covenant shall stand fast with hint : his seed will I make to endurefor ever, and his throne as the dais ofheaven. Thenwhen the covenant of peace was between them both, as it is expressed in Zech. vi.. 13. then did the Father promise that he should have a seed to serve him; Ps. xxii. 30. and this must be a living seed, and they must be raised up from among dead sinners, and they shall be made living saints in the world of grace, and in the world of glory. Many ofthese promises are transcribed as it were, into the covenant of grace, and they are written down in scripture for our present consolation and hope; and many others are, doubt- less concealed from all but Jesus theMediator ; they are hidden frommen and angels, and reserved to be known, by surprising accomplishment, in the future bright ages, beyond the date of time, and to entertain the long successions of our eternity. .Now: thetruth and faithfulness of God are those attributes ofhis nature, which secure this covenant, and all the divine engagements of it;
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