Well, the scripture that I would
bring to your attention this morning is found in Colossians
chapter 3, verse 3. Colossians chapter 3, verse 3. For ye are dead, and your life
is hid with Christ in God. For ye are dead, and your life
is hid with Christ in God. Our subject this morning is the
death and life of believers in Christ. Now, here is a paradox. For you are dead, and your life
is hid with Christ in God. According to this scripture,
believers are declared to be both dead and alive. It's a paradox. For you are dead,
and your life is hid with Christ in God. Paul declared himself
to be both dead and alive in Galatians chapter 2. Galatians 2 verse 19. For I through the law am dead
to the law that I might live unto God. so I am crucified with
Christ nevertheless I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me
and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith
of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me and believers
declare themselves to be both dead and alive in the ordinance
of baptism Romans chapter 6, verse 4. Therefore we are buried
with him by baptism into death, that like as Christ was raised
from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should
walk in newness of life. And Paul, here in this epistle
to the Colossians, reminds believers of this fact, that they are both
dead and alive, for ye are dead and your life is hid with Christ
in God. So we shall consider from these
words of our text this morning, I trust with the Lord's gracious
help and blessing, two things. Firstly, in what sense believers
are said to be dead and then secondly we should consider the
life of believers in the Lord Jesus Christ so firstly then
let us consider in what sense believers are said to be dead
and firstly under this heading we see that all true believers
in the Lord Jesus Christ are dead to sin All true believers
in the Lord Jesus Christ are dead to sin. Now there was a
time before the quickening grace of God, the Holy Spirit, before
that grace came, there was that time when they
were dead in sin. As Paul says in Ephesians, But
God who is rich in mercy, for His great love were with He loved
us, even when we were dead in sins. Dead in sins. hath quickened us together with
Christ by grace are ye saved and at the beginning of that
second chapter of Ephesians he says and you hath he quickened
who were dead in trespasses and sins you were dead in trespasses
and sins here in Colossians in the previous second chapter he
says and you being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of
your heart have he quickened together with him having forgiven
you all trespasses yes these believers at Colossae they were
dead in sins dead in sins but now they are dead to sin by the
gracious operation of the Spirit of God in and upon their hearts
quickening them into newness of life together with Christ,
their living head. And so it is with all true believers
in the Lord Jesus Christ. They are those who have been
quickened, that is, made alive, by God the Holy Ghost. They know
a new birth, a heavenly birth, being born from above. And although
they were dead in sins, so that they could do nothing but sin,
Yet they are now quickened, so that they cannot now continue
in sin and in rebellion against their God. How shall we that are dead to
sin live any longer therein, says Paul in Romans. And John says, Whosoever is born
of God does not commit sin, for his seed remaineth in him, and
he cannot sin, because he is born of God. Believers are dead
to sin by virtue of their union to Christ. And so Paul says,
again there in Romans chapter 6 and verse 6, knowing this,
that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin
might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For
he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ
we believe that we shall also live with him knowing that Christ being raised
from the dead dieth no more death hath no more dominion over him
for in that he died he died unto sin once but in that he liveth
he liveth unto God likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead
indeed unto sin but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our
Lord. Now, this is not to say that
believers in the Lord Jesus Christ never sin. It is a sad and solemn
fact that we do sin. And that on a daily basis. This
is attested to by the Holy Scriptures and by our own experience. As
James says, for in many things we offend all. In many things
we offend all. And we have in the Holy Scriptures
many examples of Bible saints who sinned against their God
and against their own conscience and transgressed the holy law
of God. Noah's drunkenness, for example,
David's adultery and murder, Peter's denial of the Lord Jesus,
all spring to mind. In the child of God there is
a new nature, a new heart which cannot sin, which does not consent
to sin. And this new nature wars with
his old nature, the flesh, and vice versa. For the flesh lusteth
against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh, and these
are contrary, the one to the other, so that ye cannot do the
things that ye would. This is the cause of the conflict
in the heart of every true believer. Paul speaks of it again in Romans
7, Romans 7 verse 15. For that which I do, I allow
not. For what I would, that do I not. But what I hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would
not, I consent unto the law that it is good. now then it is no
more either do it but sin that dwelleth in me verse 19 of that
chapter for the good that i would i do not but the evil which i
would not that i do now if i do that i would not it is no more
either do it but sin that dwelleth in me i find then a law that when i
would do good evil is present with me When I would do good, evil is
present with me. You see, Paul's renewed mind
would not sin and does not consent to sin. Indeed, it does not sin,
but there is still a fallen nature within him which is not rectified. It's the flesh. And so he concludes at the end
of Romans 7, so then, with the mind I myself serve the law of
God, but with the flesh the law of sin. Those who are alive to sin, dead
in sins and trespasses, being spiritually dead, know nothing
of this conflict. It is only those who are dead
to sin who feel the awful power of a fallen nature. and are made
to cry out like the Apostle of old, there in Romans 7, O wretched
man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the
body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ
our Lord. And that is how those who are
dead to sin regard the flesh, their fallen nature, the body
of this death. the body of his death. And it's
only through Jesus Christ our Lord that there is a deliverance
from the body of his death. It is only through the Lord Jesus
Christ that the believer is dead to sin. Knowing this, that our old man
is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed,
that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead
is freed from sin. The true believer then is dead
to sin. They are dead to sin by virtue
of their union to Christ, which is by faith. And secondly, under
this heading, in what sense believers are said to be dead? True believers
are likewise dead to the law. They're dead to the law, this
we're plainly told. Again in Romans 7, wherefore
my brethren ye also are become dead to the law by the body of
Christ. In Galatians Paul says, for I
through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. Now there are those who would
criticize us and say that we're antinomian. I've been accused
of this myself. You're an antinomian. Because we say that we're not
under the law. I would ask these people, those who criticize us,
I would ask them this. How can we be under the law if
we are dead to the law? We assert nothing but that which
the Apostle Paul asserts. Romans 6.14, For ye are not under
the law, but under grace. Romans 6.15, What then? Shall
we sin because we are not under the law, but under grace? God
forbid! Galatians 3, 24 and 25, wherefore
the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that
we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come,
we are no longer under a schoolmaster. No longer under a schoolmaster.
Galatians 4, 21, tell me ye that desire to be under the law. Do
ye not hear the law? Galatians 5, 18, but if ye be
led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. Believers are not under the law. They are dead to the law. They're
dead to the law in all its parts, moral, ceremonial and judicial. Again there in Colossians 2 verse
13. And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of
your heart, and he quickened together with him, having forgiven
you all trespasses, blotting out the handwriting of ordinances
that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out
of the way, nailing it to his cross. The believer in the Lord Jesus
Christ is dead to the moral law. That handwriting of ordinances
that was against us, which was contrary to us, that's a reference
to the Ten Commandments, written on tables of stone with the finger
of God, the moral law. That is the handwriting of ordinances
that was against us, which was contrary to us. It was against
us and contrary to us because it condemned us. And we quoted Paul just now in
Romans 7, wherefore my brethren, ye also are become dead to the
law by the body of Christ. But we see here that not only
is the believer dead to the law, but the law is dead to the believer. It's blotted out. It's nailed
to his cross. And so Paul again says in Romans
7, but now we are delivered from the law, that being dead, wherein
we were held, that we should serve in newness of spirit, not
in the oldness of the letter. How is it that the believer is
dead to the law, and the law dead to the believer? Well, it's
by the body of Christ. You see, it was for our transgressions,
our transgressions of the moral law, and for our falling short
of the moral law, that the Son of God, our Saviour, was afflicted. Sin is the transgression of the
law, John tells us, and Christ died for our sins. Paul tells us, according to the
Scriptures, yes, according to the Scriptures, according to
the Scriptures of the Old Testament, in such places as Isaiah 53 verse
5. But he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The believer in Jesus then looks
not to the moral law, the Ten Commandments, for life and for
righteousness, or even for sanctification. but to Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Well, is he then free to sin?
Because he's not under the law. Is he then free to walk contrary
to the law of God? No. In fact, to speak of being
free to sin is actually a contradiction. To speak of being free to walk
contrary to the law of God is an oxymoron. You see, there is
a massive difference between liberty or freedom and licentiousness. Licentiousness is slavery to
sin. The believer is made free from
sin. He is dead to sin, as we said
earlier. So how can one who is in the Spirit and who is walking
in the Spirit walk contrary to the holy law of God? It cannot
be. It cannot be. For the law of
the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from
the law of sin and death. for what the law could not do,
in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son
in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in
the flesh, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled
in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit."
If we are walking after the Spirit, we are fulfilling the law of
God, the law of God is fulfilled in us. And of course the believers become
dead to the ceremonial law by the body of Christ. The death
of the Lord Jesus Christ brought an end to all the Jewish legal
form of worship. And this was signified by the
rending of the veil of the temple. Mark tells us, And Jesus cried
with a loud voice and gave up the ghost. And the veil of the
temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom. the end
of the legal dispensation, the end of that legal worship. And
it was clearly demonstrated too, within 40 years of the death
and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, at the destruction
of the temple, in AD 70, there are no longer any priests, no
longer any sacrifices, incense, altars, candles or candlesticks,
or any other sacred furniture. There are no longer any sacred
spaces or places, nor any special holy days besides the Lord's
Day. None of these things have any
place in the Gospel Church, for we are become dead to the law,
dead to the ceremonial law, by the body of Christ. The Church
is worshipped in this Gospel day is spiritual. But the hour cometh, and now
is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit
and in truth, for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
God is a spirit, and they that worship him must worship him
in spirit and in truth. The believer is likewise dead
to the judicial law. The judicial law comprises those
laws, statutes and commandments and so on which appertained to
the Jewish civil state under the Old Testament. Now this would
include the various punishments for crimes committed such as
breaking the Sabbath, adultery, sodomy, blasphemy and so on. The judicial law of the Old Testament
was only in force until Christ came. And this is clearly stated
in the Old Testament Scriptures. For example, in the prophecy
of Genesis 49 verse 10. The scepter, this is the civil
government, you see, a civil law. The scepter shall not depart
from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh
come, and unto him shall the gathering of the people be. And again it was clearly demonstrated
in the destruction of the capital city, Jerusalem, in AD 70. The New Testament church is no
longer under the judicial law, that being dead wherein we were
held. and she being dead to the law
by the body of Christ. It's not for the professing Church
to imprison, or to put to death heretics, or criminals, or to
impose fines and imprisonment. It's not for the Church to hand
over such to the secular authorities for punishment, and neither is
the civil state required to punish according to Old Testament judicial
law. Now, here I feel I must sound
a warning. You see, there is a movement
which has arisen in the United States, where all these things
arise, of course, even amongst some who would call themselves
Reformed and Calvinistic. And it seems to be gaining some
traction in some quarters in this country. It's called Christian
Reconstructionism or Theonomy. It advocates the judicial law
of Moses for the modern gentile state which is to be subject
to the headship of Christ and this would include the death
penalty not only for murder but also for adultery, for sodomy,
witchcraft, idolatry, blasphemy and so on under such a regime
of course the Apostle Paul would have to be put to death for he
confesses that before his conversion he was a blasphemer who was before
a blasphemer, he says in 1 Timothy 1.13. But I obtained mercy, he
says. Well, he would find no mercy
from these judicial Judaizers. And neither would those in the
church of Corinth, who before their call by grace had been
fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, effeminate, abusers of themselves
with mankind. They would all have to be executed.
And so would all the stubborn and rebellious sons, of course,
if you were under that judicial Old Testament law. Now this view
seems to have more in common with the United Nations depopulation
agenda than it does with sound biblical exegesis. The Lord Jesus
did not come into this world to act the part of a civil magistrate. And we see that clearly in the
case of the woman taken in adultery. in John chapter 8, neither do
I condemn thee, go and sin no more. Now having said that, there is
a judicial punishment for one particular offense which is stipulated
in the Word of God for all nations and for all time. It was a statute
given before the giving of the law on Mount Sinai. It was given
to Noah as the father of the entire human race after the flood. Genesis chapter 9 verse 5. And
surely your blood of your lives will I require, at the hand of
every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man, at the
hand of every man's brother will I require the life of man. Whoso
shedeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed. For in the
image of God made he man. Now that's not to say that there
should be no punishment for the various other crimes which we've
mentioned. Of course there should be. But
the state is not bound by the judicial law of Moses any more
than the church is. I think Dr Gill is quite right
however. when he says, and I quote, and
they are certainly the best constituted and regulated governments that
come nearest to the Commonwealth of Israel and the civil laws
of it. I cannot but be of opinion that
a digest of civil laws might be made out of the Bible, the
law of the Lord that is perfect, either as lying in expressed
words in it, or to be deduced by the analogy of things and
cases, and by just consequence, as would be sufficient for the
government of any nation. Well, we're digressing. Believers
in the Lord Jesus Christ are dead to sin and dead to the law
in all its parts, judicial, ceremonial, and moral. And thirdly, under
this heading, the believer is dead to the world. Paul could
say, but God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our
Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me and
I unto the world. Not Paul only, but all true Christians,
those that are Christ's. For Paul says again there in
Galatians, and they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh
with the affections and lusts. The world no longer has a reigning
and dominating influence over those that are Christ's. We no
longer subscribe to the vain philosophies of this world, political,
cultural or religious. Indeed, we avoid them like the
plague, as we are warned by the Holy Ghost here in Colossians. In chapter 2 verse 8, Beware
lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit after
the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not
after Christ. worldly ambition, worldly lusts
and worldly pleasures no longer hold sway over those who are
Christ's if any man love the world the love of the Father
is not in him for all that is in the world the lust of the
flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not
of the Father but is of the world and the world passeth away and
the lust thereof but he that doeth the will of God abideth
forever all that dead to the world the world is crucified
to them and they are crucified to the world in the hymns that
we sing we not only sing praises to God but we also teach and
encourage one another as Paul says here in Colossians teaching
and admonishing one another in Psalms and hymns and spiritual
songs singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord and in hymn
number 102 which we shall shortly sing I trust in 102 in Gatsby's
again we admonish one another with these words be to this world
as dead alive to that to come our life is hid in Christ our
life in Christ is hid who soon shall call us home dearly we're
bought highly esteemed redeemed with Jesus blood Or the Christian, then, is one
who is dead to sin, dead to the law, and dead to the world. Let us go on to considering the
second place, the life of believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. For
ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. And firstly,
we see here that it is a secret life. It's hid, you see, it's
a secret life. And your life is hid with Christ
in God. It is a life which is hidden
from the world. The Lord's people are described in Psalm 83 as
thy hidden ones. Psalm 83 verse 2. For lo, thine
enemies make a tumult, and they that hate thee have lifted up
the head. Do we not see this in our day? For lo, thine enemies
make a tumult, and they that hate thee have lifted up the
head. They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and
consulted against thy hidden ones. The hymn writer says, there is
a family on earth whose father fills a throne, but though a
seed of heavenly birth to men that little known. The world
is ignorant as to what a true Christian is. It's ignorance as to what we
are and whose we are. Our life is as it were hidden
from them. John says, Behold what manner of love the Father
hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons of
God. Therefore the world knoweth us not because it knew him not. The world was and is ignorant
of Christ and is ignorant of those who are Christ's. It is
no surprising thing that we should be unknown. The Jewish world
knew not their King, God's everlasting Son. Our life is secret, for
it's hidden from the world. But the life of believers is
not only hidden from the world, it may also be hid from others
who are the true children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13,
For now we see through a glass darkly, For now we see through
a glass darkly, and we are apt to misjudge. We're apt to make
rash judgments about others who are the Lord's people. The children
of God are not yet perfected. They're not made perfect in this
world, and we seem to see far more of the faults and inconsistencies
of others than their virtues. We see more of the faults and
inconsistencies of others than we do our own sins, often times. You see your brother's or your
sister's sins, but you don't see his or her sighs and groans
and tears. You don't see their secret life,
their spiritual life. you don't see them on their knees
before God begging him to have mercy upon them because they're
sinners that is something only God can see let us beware then
of judging one another James 4 verse 11 speak not evil
one of another brethren He that speaketh evil of his brother,
and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth
the law. But if thou judgest the law,
thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge. There is one lawgiver
who is able to save and to destroy. Who art thou that judgest another?
Who art thou that judgest another? The believer's life is a secret
life in that it is hidden from the world and hidden oftentimes
from fellow believers. But you know, it is sometimes,
perhaps often, hidden from the believer's own self. There are
times when the child of God, the heir of heaven, walks in
darkness and has no light. He cannot see his spiritual life.
It is, as it were, hid from him. There may be times of desertion,
when the Lord seems to hide his face for a season. Times of temptation,
when the devil assaults the believer and seems to overcome the believer
with ferocious power. And it appears that the devil
has got the victory. Times when the flesh, the old
man, rises up in rebellion and again seems to overcome for a
season. The old man seems to overcome
the new man. And we see more of our sins than
we do of our graces. We see more of that body of death
than we do of our life in Christ. Times perhaps of spiritual sloth
and slumber when the heart grows cold and indifferent to the things
of God. The poor child of God feels that he hasn't got an ounce
of grace in his heart. He cannot see his life. It is,
as it were, hid from him. Afflictions too, and cross providences,
they often darken our path so that we cannot see as we would.
Or how often we're brought low by circumstances or by ill health. But why is this? Why must these
things be so, if we are the Lord's people? What is God's purpose
in all these things? Well, I like what the Puritan
Richard Sibbes says on this. He says, A Christian have a life, but
it is a hidden life. Therefore God will try whether
men will live by faith or sense, whether they will have their
ways now or no, or whether they will depend upon that glorious
life that God will reveal in time to come, and to exercise
and strengthen faith. God will have it, so that this
life shall now be hid, that we may live by the promises, though
we have no feeling at all. that we may persuade ourselves
in the greatest desertions and extremities, yet have I a hidden
life in Christ. Though I have little influence
and manifestation of it in me, yet I have a glorious life in
my head, and I live now by faith till I come to live by sight." Faith, then, is the remedy for
this temporary and partial blindness. who is among you, that feareth
the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh
in darkness, and hath no light. Let him trust in the name of
the Lord, and stay upon his God. Richard Sivis again goes on to
say, but ordinarily faith in them breaks through the cloud,
and unmasks God himself, and sees God's fatherly face, though
he hide himself. they have a promise to lay hold
upon and they acknowledge him to be their father and wrestle
with him it is a secret life but it is not so secret but that
faith sees into it the believers life then is a
secret life it's hid with Christ in God and secondly under this
heading it is safe and your life is hid with Christ in God. It's safe. Absolutely safe. Albert Barnes says that eternal
life is an invaluable jewel or treasure which is laid up with
Christ in heaven where God is. There it is safely deposited.
It has this security that it is with the Redeemer and that
He is in the presence of God and thus nothing can reach it
or take it away. It is not left with us or entrusted
to our keeping. for then it might be lost and
we might be defrauded of it but it is it might be wrested from
us but it is now laid up far out of our sight far out far
from the reach of all our enemies and with one who can keep that
which we have committed unto him against that day yes those who are Christ's have
a life which is beyond the reach of men or devils it is a life
which is safe for it is a life which is hid with Christ in God
and so John could say concerning one who is born of God the true
believer and that wicked one toucheth him not and that wicked
one toucheth him not the Lord Jesus says concerning his sheep
and I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish
neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father which
gave them me is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck
them out of my Father's hand. The life of the believer is hid
with Christ in God. It's a secret life, it's safe,
and thirdly, under this heading, it's secure. That is to say,
it is eternally secure. I give unto them eternal life,
and they shall never perish. The life of every one of the
sheep of Christ, the elect of God, is bound up in the bundle
of life with the Lord their God. Such is the union twixt Jesus
and the chosen race. Because He lives, they shall
live also. Their life is bound up with His
life, hid with Christ in God. As long as Christ shall live,
so long shall His people live. This union began, if we may speak
of it as having a beginning, in eternity. In the eternal and
everlasting covenant of grace. When the Father chose His people
and gave them to His Son before time began. and before even the
world was made. This union was cemented when
Christ was manifest in the flesh, when he took on him the seed
of Abraham, when he partook of his people's humanity. For he,
for both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are
all of one. for which cause he is not ashamed
to call them brethren. For as much then as the children
are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took
part of the same. This union was cemented when
Christ came into the world in our nature, and this union is
experienced in the hearts of the elect by faith, when they
are quickened by divine grace, being born of the Spirit of God
and joined to the Lord joined to the Lord, as it says in Zechariah.
Paul in 1 Corinthians says, but he that is joined unto the Lord
is one spirit. Hail, sacred union, firm and
strong, how great the grace, how sweet the song, that worms
of earth should ever be, one with incarnate deity. For ye
are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. Well, by way of conclusion, by
way of exhortation, let us briefly consider Paul's purpose in reminding
the believers here at Corinth that they are both dead and alive. Firstly, if we are dead to sin,
that we are not to live in it any longer. See Paul's exhortation
here in Colossians. Multify therefore your members,
which are upon the earth, fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection,
evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry, for which
things sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience. Secondly, if we are dead to the
law, then we are not to be brought back again under its bondage.
See chapter 2 verse 16. Let no man therefore judge you
in meat or in drink. or in respect of an holy day,
or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath days, which are a shadow
of things to come, but the body is of Christ. And verse 20 of
that chapter, wherefore, if ye be dead with Christ from the
rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world,
are ye subject to ordinances, touch not, taste not, handle
not, which all are to perish with the using after the commandments
and doctrines of men. And thirdly, if we are dead to
the world, then we ought not to seek earthly things, but rather
heavenly things. If ye then be risen with Christ,
seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right
hand of God. Set your affection on things
above, not on things on the earth, for ye are dead, and your life
is hid with Christ in God. And fourthly and finally, there
is in the next verse this hope which is set before us in order
to encourage us and in order to spur us on in our heavenly
race. Verse four, when Christ who is
our life shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. When Christ who is our life shall
appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. Although the believer's life
is hidden now, there is coming a time when all that is hidden
shall be revealed. For there is nothing covered
that shall not be revealed, neither hid that shall not be known. Although the believer's life
is hidden now, there is that time coming when all will be
revealed and that life shall be revealed. The Lord Jesus Christ
himself is at present hid from the world, but the day of his
coming, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with
his mighty angels, that day is coming. and Christ shall be revealed
on that great day. And on that great day of his
appearing and his kingdom, there will be the glorious manifestation
of the sons of God. And for this, Paul tells us,
the whole creation waits with earnest expectation. Well, may the Lord bless his
word. to each one of us. May we know the gracious experience
of it in our very souls, for ye are dead, and your life is
hid with Christ in God. Amen.