and lively, that he may maintain his acquaintance with the spiritual and
unseen world! It is faith that converses with invisibles: _faith is the
substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen_;
Heb. xi. 1. It is faith that deals in hidden traffic, and grows rich in
treasures that are out of sight. It is by faith in the Son of God, we
live this spiritual life, by faith in an absent Saviour; Gal. ii. 20.
_Whom having not seen we love; and though we see him not, yet believing,
we rejoice_; 1 Pet. i. 8. Let the christian, therefore, maintain a holy
jealousy, lest too much converse with the things of sense, dull the eye
of his faith, or weaken the hand of it. Let him put his faith into
perpetual exercise, that he may live within the view of those glories
that are hidden from sense; that he may keep his hold of eternal life;
that he may support his hopes, and secure his joys. Until we can live by
sight, let us _walk by faith_; 2 Cor. v. 7.
Though the life of heaven be hidden, yet so much of it is revealed as to
give faith leave to lay hold of it; and yet not so much, as to make the
hand of faith needless. It is brought down by our Lord Jesus Christ in
the gospel, within the view of faith, that we might live in expectation
of it, and be animated to the glorious pursuit; but it is not brought
within the reach of sense, for we are now in a state of trial; and this
is not the proper time nor place for sight and enjoyment.
II. Inference. How little is death to be dreaded by a believer, since it
will bring the soul to the full possession of its hidden life in heaven!
It is a dark valley that divides between this world and the next; but it
is all a region of light and blessedness beyond it. We are now borderers
on the eternal world, and we know but too little of that invisible
country. Approaching death opens the gates to us, and begins to give our
holy curiosity some secret satisfaction; and yet how we shrink backward
when that glorious unknown city is opening upon us! and are ready to beg
and pray that the gates might be closed again: “O! for a little more
time, a little longer continuance in this lower visible world!” This is
the language of the fearful believer: But it is better to have our
christian courage wrought up to a divine height, and to say, “_Open ye
everlasting gates, and be ye lift up, O ye immortal doors_, that we may
enter into the place where _the King of Glory is_.” There we shall see
God, the great unknown, and rejoice in his overflowing love. We shall
see him not as we do on earth, darkly, through the glass of ordinances;
but inferior spirits shall converse with the Supreme Spirit, as bodies
do with bodies; that is face to face; 1 Cor. xiii. 12.
There shall we behold Christ our Lord in the dignity of his character as
Mediator, in the glory of his kingdom, and the all-sufficiency of his
godhead; and we shall be for ever with him. There shall we see millions
of blessed spirits, who have lived the same hidden life as we do, and
passed through this vale of tears, with the same attending difficulties
and sorrows, and by the same divine assistances. They were unknown, and
covered with dust as we are, while they dwelt in flesh, but they appear
all-glorious and well known in the world of spirits, and exult in open
and immortal light: We shall see them, and we shall triumph with them in
that day; we shall learn their language, and taste their joys: we shall
be partakers of the same glory, which Christ our life, diffuses all
around him, on the blessed inhabitants of that intellectual world.
III. Inference. How glorious is the difference between the two parts of
the christian’s life, _viz._ the spiritual life on earth, and the
perfection of eternal life in heaven; when all that is now hidden shall
be revealed before men and angels! Come now, and let us take occasion
from this discourse, to let loose our meditations one stage beyond death
and the separate state, even to the morning of the resurrection, and the
full and public assembly of all the saints. O what an illustrious
appearance! What a numerous and noble army of new creatures! Creatures
that were hidden in this world among the common herd of mankind, and
their bodies hidden in the grave, and mingled with common dust, rising
all at once, at the sound of a trumpet, into public light and glory; the
same persons, indeed, that once inhabited mortality, but in far
different equipage and array. The christian, on earth, is like the rough
diamond among the common pebbles of the shore; in the resurrection-day
the diamond is cut and polished, and set in a tablet of gold. All that
inward worth and lustre of holiness and grace, which are now hidden,
shall be then visible and public before the eyes of the whole creation.
Then the saints shall be known by their shining, _in the day when the
Lord makes up his jewels_; Mal. iii. 17. When the spirits of the just
made perfect in all the beauties of holiness, shall return to their
former mansions, and become men again; when their bodies are raised from
the dust, in the likeness of the body of our blessed Lord, how shall all
the saints shine in the kingdom of their Father, though in the kingdoms
of this world they were obscure and undistinguished! They shall appear,
in that day, as the meridian sun breaking from a long and dark eclipse;
and the sun is too bright a being to be unknown; Mat. xiii. 43.
What is there in a poor saint here, that discovers what he shall be
hereafter? How mean his appearance now! how magnificent in that day?
What was there in Lazarus on the dung-hill, when the dogs licked his
sores, that could lead us to any thought what he should be in the bosom
of Abraham? What is there in the martyrs and confessors, described in
Heb. xi. those holy men, with their sheep-skins, and their goat-skins
upon them, wandering in deserts, and hidden in dens and caves of the
earth? What was there in these poor and miserable spectacles that looks
like a saint in glory? or that could give us any intimation what they
shall be in the great rising day?
_Now are we the sons of God_, but _it does not yet appear what we shall
be_; 1 John iii. 2. We can shew no pattern of it here below. Shall we go
to the palaces of eastern princes, and borrow their crowns and sparkling
attire, to shew how the saints are drest in heaven? Shall we take their
marble pillars, their roofs of cedar, their costly furniture of purple
and gold, to describe the mansions of immortality? Shall we attend the
chariot of some Roman general, with all the ensigns of victory, leading
on his legions to triumph, and fetch robes of honour, and branches of
palm to describe that triumphant army of christian conquerors? The
scripture makes use of these resemblances, indeed, in great
condescension, to represent the glories of that day, because they are
the brightest things we know on earth. But they sink as far below the
splendours of the resurrection, as earth is below heaven, or time is
shorter than eternity.
What is all the dead lustre of metals, and silks, and shining stones, to
the living rays of divine grace springing up, and shooting into full
glory? Faith into sight, hope into enjoyment, patience into joy and
victory, and love into its own perfection? Then all the hidden virtues
and graces of the saints, shall appear like the stars at midnight, in an
uncloudy sky. Then shall it be made known to all the world, these were
the men that wept and prayed in secret; it shall be published then in
the great assembly, these were the persons who wrestled hard with their
secret sins, that sought the face of God, and his strength, in their
private chambers, and they are made more than overcomers through him
that hath loved them. The poor trembling christian who lived this hidden
and divine life, but scarce knew it himself nor durst appear among the
churches on earth, shall lift up his head, and rejoice amidst the church
triumphant; and the hidden seed of grace, that was watered with so many
secret tears, shall spring up into a rich and illustrious harvest. This
is the day which shall bring to light a thousand works of hidden piety,
for the eternal honour of Christ and the saints; as well as the _hidden
things of darkness_, to the sinners’ everlasting confusion; Mat. xxv.
and 1 Cor. iv. 5.
Thus the spiritual life of christians, which was concealed in this
world, shall appear in the other in full brightness; and they themselves
shall be amazed to see what divine honours Jesus the Judge shall cast
upon their poor secret services and sufferings.
But in what supreme glory shall their life display itself, when both
parts of the human compound are rejoined after so long a separation!
This is life eternal indeed, and joy unspeakable. How gloriously shall
the perfections and honours, both of body and mind, unfold themselves,
and rise far above all that they heard, or saw, or could conceive! Each
of them surprized, like the queen of Sheba in the court of Solomon,
shall confess with thankful astonishment and joy, that not one half of
it was told them, even in the word of God. “And was this the crown,”
shall the christian say, “for which I fought on earth at so poor and
feeble a rate? And was this the prize for which I ran with a pace so
slow and lazy? And were these the glories which I sought with so cold
and indifferent a zeal in yonder world? O shameful indifference! O
surprizing glories! O undeserved prize and crown! Had I imagined how
bright the blessing was, which lay hidden in the promise, surely all my
powers had been animated to a warmer pursuit. Could I have seen what I
ought to have believed; had I but taken in all that was told me
concerning this glorious and eternal life, surely I would have ventured
through many deaths to secure the possession of it. O guilty negligence!
and criminal unbelief! But thy sovereign mercy, O my God, has pardoned
both, and made me possessor of the fair inheritance. Behold, I bow at
thy feet for ever, and adore the riches of overflowing grace.” _Amen._
SERMON X.
_The Hidden Life of a Christian._
COL. iii. 3.—For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.
THE SECOND PART.
It is to the christian converts who were at Colosse, that the apostle
addresses himself, in this strange language: Ye are dead, and yet I tell
you where your life is. This divine writer delights sometimes to
surprize his readers, by joining such opposites, and uniting such
distant extremes. But can a dead person have any life in him? Yes, and a
noble one too, ye are dead to the world, and dead to sin, but ye have a
life of another kind than that which belongs to the sinners of this
world: your life is spiritual and holy; theirs is sinful, and engaged in
the works of the flesh: Your life is heavenly, and seeks the things
which are above; theirs is derived from the earth, and grovels in the
dust: Your life is everlasting, for your souls shall live for ever in a
glorious state, and your bodies shall be raised from death into equal
immortality, and a partnership of the same glory; but their best life is
only a temporal one, and when that is at an end, all their joys, and
their hopes are for ever at an end too, and their eternal sorrows begin.
But this life of a christian is a hidden life. That was the first
doctrine I raised from the text. Both the operations and the springs of
it, are a secret to the world, and the future glories of it, when it is
most properly called eternal life, are still a greater secret, and much
more unknown: Yet, saith the apostle, I can acquaint you where the
springs of it lie, and whence all the future glories of it are to be
derived; they are hidden in God, with our Lord Jesus Christ. Now by
giving so short a hint, in a word or two, where this our life is hid, he
has said something greater, and brighter, and more sublime, concerning
it, that if he had shewn us, from a high mountain, at noon-day, all the
kingdoms of this world, with all the dazzling glories of them, and then
pointed downward, “there your life is.”
Let this therefore be the second doctrine, and the subject of our
present meditations, that the life of a christian is hidden with Christ
in God. It is hidden in God, as the first original and eternal spring of
it, and entrusted with Christ as a faithful Mediator; it is hid in God,
where our Lord Jesus Christ is, and he is appointed to take care of it
for us; for he also is called our life; verse 4.
The method I shall take for the improvement of this truth, is, to
explain these words of the apostle more at large, and then deduce some
inferences from them.
The _first_ enquiry will arise, in what respect the christian’s life is
said to be hidden in God? And, _secondly_, What is meant by its being
hidden with Christ?
I. _First_, In what respect is the life of a christian said to be hidden
in God?
The word God is taken in scripture, either in general for the divine
nature, which is the same in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; or, in
particular, for the person of the Father. And I do not see any absolute
necessity to determine, precisely, which was the meaning of the apostle
in this place. The three particulars by which I shall endeavour to
explain it, will include both. The life of a christian is hidden in God;
that is, in the all-sufficiency of the divine nature, in the purpose of
the divine will, and in the secret engagements of the Father to his Son
Jesus Christ, in the covenant of redemption.
1. The christian’s life is hidden in the all-sufficiency of the divine
nature. And there are immense stores of life, of every kind, hidden in
God, in this sense. This whole world of beings, that have, and have not
souls, with all the infinite varieties of the life of plants, animals,
and angels, were hidden in this fruitful and inexhaustible fund of the
divine all-sufficiency, before God began to create a world. All things
were then hidden in God; for of him are all things, and from him all
things proceeded; Rom. xi. 36. Now this all-sufficiency of God consists
in those powers and perfections, whereby he is able to do all things for
his creatures, and ready to do all for his saints; these are most
eminently his wisdom, his almightiness, and his goodness.
There are inconceivable riches of goodness and grace in God, which are
employed in furnishing out life for all his saints; and all the unknown
preparations of future glory are the effects of his grace. Eph. ii.
4.—_God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ_; and
he did it for this purpose, _that in the ages to come, he might shew the
exceeding riches of his grace, in his kindness towards us through Christ
Jesus_; ver. 7. Not all the goodness that appears in the rich provision
he hath made for all the natural world of creatures, nor all the
overflowing bounties of his providence, since the first creation, are
equal to those unsearchable treasures of mercy and goodness, which he
hath employed for the spiritual welfare, and eternal life and happiness
of his own chosen children; and in the secret of this grace were all the
blessings of his covenant hidden from eternity.
The divine wisdom is another part of his all-sufficiency. There are in
God infinite varieties of thought and counsel, riches of knowledge, and
wisdom unsearchable; and he hath made these abound in his new creation,
as well as in the old; in the supernatural, as well as in the natural
world. Eph. i. 8. _He hath abounded towards us_, sinners, in this work
of salvation, _in all wisdom and prudence_. What surprizing wisdom
appears in the vital powers of an animal, even in the life of brutes
that perish? What glorious contrivance, and divine skill, to animate
clay, and make a fly, a dog, or a lion of it? What sublime advances of
wisdom to create a living man, and join these two distinct extremes,
flesh and spirit, in such a vital union, that has puzzled the
philosophers of all ages, and constrained some of them to confess and
adore a God? And what a superior work of divinity, is it, to turn a dead
sinner into a living saint, here on earth? and then to adorn a heaven,
with all its proper furniture, for the eternal life and habitation of
his sons and his daughters? What divine skill is required here? What
immense profusion of wisdom, to form bodies of immortality and glory,
for every saint, out of the dust of the grave, and the ashes of martyred
christians? Our spiritual and our eternal life are hid in the wisdom of
God.
The power of God is his all-sufficience too. The power that quickens and
raises a soul to this divine life, must be almighty; Eph. i. 19, 20. It
is the same exceeding greatness of his power that works in us who
believe, which wrought in our Lord Jesus Christ, when he raised him from
the dead, and set him at his own right-hand in heavenly places. It is
the same powerful word _that commanded the light to shine out of
darkness, that shone into our hearts_, when he wrought the knowledge of
Christ there; 2 Cor. iv. 6. and when he commanded us, who lay among the
dead, to awake, and arise, and live. Was it not a noble instance of
power, to spread abroad these heavens of unknown circumference, with all
the rolling worlds of light in them, the planets and the stars? And the
same hand is mighty enough, if these were not sufficient, to build a
brighter heaven, fit for the saints to live in during all their
immortality, and to furnish them with vital powers that shall be
incorruptible and everlasting. Thus the life of the saints is hidden in
the almightiness of God, as well as in his wisdom and goodness. Thus it
is contained in the all-sufficience of the divine nature, and each part
of it is ready to be produced into act, in every proper season.
2. The life of a christian is hidden in the purposes of the 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 the gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ_, he made all men
see something of that mystery, which from the beginning of the world had
been hid in God. And if this be compared with Eph. i. 9. we shall find
that this mystery of the will, 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 secret purpose, and
merciful design of God, before the world began. For it is a very mean
conceit, and a disgraceful opinion concerning the great God, to imagine
that he should exert his power to work life in souls, here in time, by
any new purposes, or sudden 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; but we
know that he is unchangeable. There is nothing new in God; and his
immutability is that perfection of his nature which secures the
performance of this divine purpose, and the life of every christian.
3. I might add, in the third place, that the life of a christian 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; Ps. lxxxix. 19-28,
29-36, &c. _I have laid help upon one that is mighty; my mercy will I
keep for him for ever, and my covenant shall stand fast with him: his
seed will I make to endure for ever, and his throne as the days of
heaven._ Then when _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 of these 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, doubtless concealed from all
but Jesus the Mediator; they are hidden from men and angels, and
reserved to be known, by surprizing accomplishment, in the future bright
ages, beyond the date of time, and to entertain the long successions of
our eternity. Now the truth and faithfulness of God are those attributes
of his nature which secure this covenant, and all the divine engagements
of it; both those which are revealed to the children of men, and those
that are known only to the Son and the Father: But it is sufficiently
evident, that all the degrees and powers of the spiritual and eternal
life of the saints, with all the graces, glories and blessings that
shall ever attend them, are hidden and laid up in these sacred
engagements and promises.
II. This leads me to the _second_ enquiry; and that is, what is meant by
these words, _with Christ_, in my text? and how the christian _life is
hid with Christ_?
If I would branch this into three particulars also, I should express
them thus:
1. Our life is hidden with Christ, as he is the great Treasurer and
Dispenser of all divine benefits to the children of men. This is the
high office to which the Father hath appointed him; and this is the
character that he sustains; and he is abundantly furnished for the
execution of this great trust. In this sense, all the stores of life and
blessing, that ever shall be bestowed on the sinful race of Adam, are
laid up in the hands of Christ, the Son of God.—_It hath pleased the
Father, that in him all fulness should dwell_; Col. i. 19. _And he was
full of grace and truth, that of his fulness we might receive grace for
grace_; John i. 14-16. That is, a variety of graces and blessings
answerable to that rich variety, with which our Lord Jesus Christ, the
High-treasurer of heaven, was furnished from the hand of the Father. And
to this purpose, perhaps, John v. 26. may be interpreted, compared with
ver. 21. _As the Father hath life in himself, so hath he given to the
Son to have life in himself; that as the Father raiseth up the dead, and
quickeneth them, even so the Son may quicken whom he will._
The blessed Spirit itself, as it is the great promise of the New
Testament, and the glorious gift of God to men, was communicated to the
Son, and by him bestowed upon us; for he went to heaven to receive the
promise of the Spirit from the Father, and he shed it forth upon the
apostles and the believers; Acts ii. 33. It is this Spirit who gave
miraculous gifts to them heretofore, that is the immediate principle, or
worker, of divine life in dead souls now: And it is by this same Spirit,
that he shall raise our dead bodies from the grave; Rom. viii. 11. He is
the spring of our spiritual and eternal life; and he is dispensed to us
from the Father, by the hands of the Son.
And here it is proper to take notice of the special manner wherein the
Lord Jesus Christ is the treasurer, or keeper of life, and all divine
benefits for the saints, and becomes the dispenser thereof to his
people: He is ordained to stand in the relation of a head to them, and
they are his body, his members. Thus our life is hidden with Christ, as
he is the vital head of all his saints. Their life is hid with Christ,
as the spirits and springs of life, for all the members in the natural
body are said to be contained in the head. _Christ is the head of his
own mystical body_; Eph. iv. 14-16. _from whom the whole body, fitly
joined together_, maketh increase to its own edification: it is the same
vital spirit that runs through head and members.——_He that is joined to
the Lord, is one Spirit_; 1 Cor. vi. 17. and therefore partakes of the
same life.
Thus you see, that though the life of a christian is hidden in God, in
the all-sufficiency of his nature, and the purposes of his will; yet our
Lord Jesus Christ, as Mediator, is entrusted to keep it for him, and
dispense it to him.