us all that the Lord Jesus has purchased for us. We, on the other hand, in the exercise of faith and love, ascend, as it were, to heaven, and deposit all our cares in the very bosom of our God : so that it is " not so much tee that live, as Christ that liveth in usa;" " our life being hid with Christ in God," and " Christ himself being our very lifeV I grant, that to a mere nominal Christian all this will appear little better than mystical absurdity, and enthusiastic jargon. But true it is, whether men will believe it or not: and, if its being incom- prehensible by us be any reason for denying it, we must, on the same principle, deny the existence and operation of our souls within our corporeal frame. It is not on one or two insulated passages that this great mystery is founded: it is declared again and again, in terms too plain to be denied, and too numerous to admit of doubt0.]
Nor is this a mere theory, demanding their assent : for my text further declares,
II. The assured sense which they may possess of their own personal interest in it —
This mutual in-dwelling may be perceived and known : " it may be known," as the Apostle tells us, " by the Spirit which God hath given us." It may be known,
1 . By the operation of the Holy Spirit within us —
[The Holy Spirit is given unto us as " a Spirit of adop- tion, whereby we are enabled to cry, Abba, Father"1." He is given to us as a witness, to " witness with our spirits that we are the children of Gode." He is given to us as "a sealf," to mark us as God's property ; and to produce such an impres- sion on our souls, that we may know, and that others also may know, " whose we are, and whom we serve." He is given unto us as " an earnest of our heavenly inheritance g," that we may have already the foretaste of heaven in our souls. Now, how can these operations proceed within us, and we not be conscious of them ? It is to no purpose to say that the world knows nothing about them : for our blessed Lord has pro- mised, that " he will manifest himself unto us as he does not unto the world:" and it is by these very operations that he makes to us this glorious discovery : " Lord," said one of his Apostles, " how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, as thou dost not unto the world ? And Jesus answering said
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a Gal. ii. 20. b Col. iii. 3, 4.
c John vi. 56. xiv. 20. 1 John iv. 16. d Rom. viii. 15. e Rom. viii. 16. f Eph. i. 13. e Eph. i. 14.