Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1843, in the District Clerk's Office of the District Court of Maine. PRESS OF GRIFFIN BRUNSWICK. CCT 81 1800 4+ 147 770 Upham It is the object of the present Work to aid in promoting Holy Living. It will be noticed, that the principles of the Work take for granted, and every where imply, that man ought to be, and may be holy. Holiness is the one great thing, for which, above all others, man should live. It has been my desire in the following pages, some of which have already appeared in a periodical publication, to promote this great result. There are reasons of a personal nature, why I should not have written. There are other reasons, which none can appreciate but myself, which seemed to me imperatively to require it. If what is said is true, nothing but good can ultimately flow from it. If it be otherwise, it is my earnest supplication that He, who can bring good out of evil, will overrule the mistakes of human infirmity to the glory of his own name. U. CHAP. On the distinction between love and joy 9. On the distinction between natural and spiritual joy 10. Some marks or characteristics of perfection of love 18. - 19. On the nature of the temptations of a sanctified heart 20. "Believe that ye receive, and ye shall have" 21. On the dispensation of the Holy Ghost On the joy of faith in the want and desolation of all 24. Evidences of being guided by the Holy Spirit 25. On the voice of God in the interior solitude of the soul 34. On the principle of inward quietude or stillness Additional remarks on the state of interior stillness PRINCIPLES OF THE INTERIOR OR HIDDEN LIFE. CHAPTER FIRST. Some Marks or Traits of the Hidden Life. THERE is a modification or form of religious experience which may conveniently, and probably with a considerable degree of propriety, be denominated the Interior or Hidden Life. When a person first becomes distinctly conscious of his sinfulness, and in connection with this experience, exercises faith in Christ as a Savior from sin, there is no doubt, however feeble these early exercises may be, that he has truly entered upon a new life. But this new life, although it is in its element different from that of the world, is only in its beginning. It embraces, undoubtedly, the true principle of a restored and renovated existence, which in due time will expand itself into heights and depths of knowledge and of feeling; but it is now only in a state of incipiency, maintaining, and often times but feebly maintaining a war with the anterior or natural life, and being nothing more at present than the early rays and dawnings of the brighter day that is coming. It is not so with what may be conveniently denominated the Hidden Life; a form of expression which we employ to indicate a degree of Christian experience, greatly in advance of that, which so often lingers darkly and doubtfully at the threshold of the Christian's career. As the Hidden Life, as we now employ the expressions, indicates a greatly advanced state of religious feeling, resulting in a sacred and intimate union with the Infinite Mind, we may perhaps regard the Psalmist, who had a large share of this interior experience, as making an indistinct allusion to it when he says "Thou art my HIDING place, and my shield." And again "He that dwelleth in the SECRET PLACE of the Most High, shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty." Perhaps the Apostle Paul makes some allusion to this more advanced and matured condition of the religious life, when in the Epistle to the Galatians, he says "I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; YET NOT I, BUT CHRIST LIVETH IN ME." And again, addressing the Colossians, "Set your affections on things above, not on things on the earth; for ye are dead, and YOUR LIFE IS HID WITH CHRIST IN GOD." And does not the Savior himself sometimes recognize the existence of an Interior or Hidden Life, unknown to the world, and unknown, to a considerable extent, even to many that are denominated Christians, but who are yet in the beginning of their christian career? "He that hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the Churches. To him that overcometh will I give to eat of |