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He is the foundation of our bold approaches to the throne of grace, with holy confidence: "We have boldnefs to enter in to the holieft by the blood of Jefus, by a new and living way that is confecrated thro' the vail of his flesh." He is the foundation of our victory over all enemies, over all adverfaries, and adverfities; for, "We are more than conquerors, thro' him that loved us." He is the foundation of our whole falvation, and of all our happiness and holinefs; for, "We are complete in him, in whom dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead."-He is the foundation of our refurrection to glory; for, it is he that fhall change our vile bodies, and fashion them like to his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able to fubdue all things to himself." He is the foundation of the eternal happiness of foul and body in the beatific vifion; for, "When he fhall appear, we fhall be like him; for we fhall fee him as he is: and fo fhall we ever be with the Lord."-In a word, he is the foundation of our union to himfelf, being the efficient caufe thereof; "for, "I, if I be lifted up, fays Chrift, will draw all men after me."--And thus he is the foundation of our ALL; for, fays the apoftle, "Chrift is all in all."

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III. The third thing was, To fhew how the foundation was laid. How is the foundation of this fpiritual temple laid? Or, how comes people to be built upon this foundation I have been fpeaking of? How comes a man to be joined to the Lord, as a lively ftone to this living foundation? It takes no little work to hew a man out of the old quarry of the covenant of works, and bring him off all fandy foundations and it is to be feared that the foundation of the temple is not yet laid, as to the m ft part that hear the gofpel; but when it is laid, how is it done, fay you? We anfwer from Zech. iv. 6. " Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit." Here I will tell you thefe four things that the Spirit of the Lord uses to do, when he razes the foundation of the old house, where Satan's feat is; and lays the foundation of the fpiritual temple, where God dwells.

1. He awakens the confcience in a work of conviction, whereby he convinces the man that he hath been, all his days, but erecting a habitation for the devil, inflead of

building a temple for God: "The Spirit, when he is come, he reproves the world of fin, of unbelief, and enmity againft God." If ever then God hath begun the good work towards laying the foundation, he hath difcovered to you the rubbish of a natural ftate, and awakened your confciences with a fight and fenfe of fin. Indeed the confcience is naturally feared as with a hot iron; like thefe that have a part of their fleth burnt with an iron, though it be touched yet they do not feel this hard fkin muft be pinched; and therefore God makes the knite of conviction go to the quick; makes the man fee that he is a rebel against God, a Babel-builder; and that therefore there is a ftanding quarrel between God and him, and that this must be removed before he can be a temple for God; because he finds that the old building, the old flate of nature that he is into, is but a Babel of confufion and enmity against God.

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2. The Spirit of the Lord, in order to the laying the foundation of the fpiritual temple, wounds the heart in work of compunction; he fills the foul with grief and forrow for fin, whereby he hath been pleafing the devil, difhonouring God, and building a temple for his idols, and lufts, faying, "Wo is me, that my heart hath been "a temple for Satan, a cage of unclean birds, a nest "of abominations." Indeed men may grieve at fin at firft, as it brings on afflictions here, or damnation herealter. But in this work afterwards, the Lord creates another kind of forrow; for, he difcovers to the man the finfulness of fin, that it is a tranfgreflion of the law of God: an oppofition to the nature of God; a spitting in the face of God. O but this looks well in David, "Against thee, thee only have I finned." What! did he not fin against others, when he committed murder and adultery? Yea, true indeed: Oh! fays David, I fee my fin to be against thee, and against thee only. The affront lands upon God; he is difhonoured, and the heart that fhould be his temple is defiled.

3. The Spirit of the Lord, in order to laying the fʊundation of the fpiritual temple, abafes the foul in a work of humiliation. He humbles the foul of the finner under God's almighty hand, because he had been fo long

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building and repairing the devil's temple, while the Lord's temple lay wafte in the foul. A holy God ftares the man in the face; and the unholy fonl fees the holy God, and makes the unholy foul to be afhamed.-Then the foul comes to be fo far humbled as to take with the whole charge of God and his law against him. God and the law charges the man as being a defiler of God's temple; and therefore deferving to be deftroyed: the man takes with the charge, and owns it. When minifters charge people with fins, they will either deny them, or caft a cloak over them, and give excufes about them; and perhaps fay, they were mistaken, or in a paffion, or under fuch and fuch a temptation; but that is a plain evidence that your fouls were never humbled before God: for, if ever God had humbled your fouls, you would be more ready to condemn yourfelves than any minifter can be capable to do. For, when God humbles the foul, he takes with the whole charge of God; and fays, as David to Nathan, "I am the man; I am the monster; "I am the devil that hath thus defiled the temple of

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God, by ferving divers lufts."-He humbles him to fee his want of faith; that he is undone if he wants faith, and yet that he can no more believe, than he can make a world. And then he humbles the foul to a renouncing of his own righteoufnefs, fo as he has no expectation from the law; no expectation of acceptation with God upon the account of any duty, righteousness, or goodness of his own. No, no; he fees that nothing but the blood and righteoufnefs of Chrift can fave him from that dampation, which the beft of his duties and righteoufnefs do deferve. And fo, further, the foul comes to be hum. bled, fo far as to clear and juftify God, though he should condemn him. Some will fay, "We cannot think Ged "will be fo cruel, as to damn the most part of the world "for their fins." Alas! man, if you think fo, that is an evidence that your foul was never humbled under a fenfe of fin. But, "Oh! fays the humbled foul, death "and damnation is the due wages of fin; and if God "fhould fend me to hell he is juft, I might preach his "righteoufnefs there, and declare that he never wrong"ed me; yea, it is my wonder that I have been fo long

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"out of the bottomlefs pit."-In a word, the foul comes to be fo far humbled, as to fee that, if ever he be brought into God's favour, and it ever God condefcend to make his filthy heart to be a temple for fuch a holy God, it will be in a way of fovereign and pure grace; and that nothing but infinite almighty power can lay the founda tion of the fpiritual temple: aud fo he brings the foul to fay, "Oh! if God do not pity and fave me, he is juft and righteous; but if he do pity me, I will magnify his name for ever; and fo, perhaps, he "will pity for his name's fake." Thus he humbles; and then,

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4. The Spirit of the Lord lays the foundation of the fpiritual temple in a work of faving illumination; and, indeed, the foundation is never thoroughly laid till now, that the God who commanded light to thine out of darknefs, hath fhined into the heart, to give the light of the knowledge of his glory, in the face of Chrift, 2 Cor. iv. 6. The foul being, as I faid, awakened, wounded, and humbled, and brought to defpair of relief, in himself, finding all his former refuges of lies failing him, and all his former hopes giving up the ghoft; then the Lord pities him, in his low eftate, and reveals his Son in him, Gal. i. 16.; difcovers the glory of Chrift's perfon and righteoufnefs, who is the foundation, whereupon the whole foul is made powerfully, and fweetly, and irrefiftibly to close with the foundation. The Spirit of the Lord reveals the foundation, and makes the glory of it to be feen in the light of God; and, at the fame moment, works that faith, whereby the foul, being well-pleased with this noble invention of infinite wisdom, and captivated thereby, is united to the foundation; for then the foul is made to give a believing affent and confent to the truths concerning Christ, upon the authority of God, that he hath given concerning his Son; and to fet to his feal that God is true; taking hold of Christ, for his own particular benefit, with particular application: and thus the foundation of the fpiritual temple is laid. The hand of our exalted Zerubbabel doth lay the foundation of this houfe, whofe hand must also finish it, Zech. iv. 9.;

having paved his own way, by levelling the mountains, removing the rubbish in a work of conviction, contrition, and humiliation, faying, "Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou fhalt become a plain." He comes himself, and fhews his own glory, as the fure foundation that God hath laid in Zion, in a work of faving illumination; he comes into the heart, and makes the foul to welcome him with a thousand hofannas, faying, Bleffed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord," to be the Head-ftone of the corner; "This is the Lord's doing, and wondrous in our eyes." And, "This is the day which the Lord hath made ;" and this is the day of which he hath faid, From this day will I bless you. And fo I come,

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IV. To the Fourth thing propofed, viz. To fpeak a little of the day on which the foundation of the fpiritual temple is laid, and from which bleffings take their date; From this day will I blefs you. Now, in fpeaking of this, 1 fhall offer you thefe four remarks, or propofitions, concerning this day.

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The First Remark that I offer, is this, "That this day "comes under several names in fcripture." Sometimes it is called a day of efpoufals, and the day of the gladness of Chrift's heart; Song iii. 17. Go forth, O daughters of Jerufalem, and behold king Solomon, with the crown wherewith his mother crowned him in the day of his espousals; and in the day of the gladness of his heart.” The day wherein the foundation of the fpiritual temple is laid, is the day of efpoufals.-Sometimes it is called a day of power, Pfalm cx. 3. "Thy people fhall be willing in the day of thy power:" fo called, because in that day, the power of God is created, even its almighty efficacy in hewing the ftones of the temple out of the quarry of a natural flate; bowing their wills; and breaking their hard hearts of stone; and moulding them for a fpiritual temple.-Sometimes it is called the day of falvation, 2 Cor. vi. 2. "Now is the accepted time, now is the day of falvation." This may be applied to the gospel-day, but more efpecially, it may be faid of the building-day, when the foundation of the temple is

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