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 yourselves 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 "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, righteoufnefs, 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 righteousnefs do deferve.-And fo, further, the foul comes to be humbled, 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 righteousness there, and declare that he never wrong"ed me; yea, it is my wonder that I have been fo long

" out

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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: and 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;

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and then,

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 darkness, hath shined 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 irresistibly 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-pleafed with this noble invention of infinite wifdom, and captivated thereby, is united to the foundation; for then the foul is made to give a believing affent and consent to the truths concerning Chrift, 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 Chrift, 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, fay. ing," 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,

IV. To the Fourth thing propofed, viz. To speak 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, I 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 efpoufals; and in the day of the gladnefs 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 gofpel-day, but more especially, it may be faid of the building-day, when the foundation of the temple is

laid; for then it may be said, as Christ to Zaccheus, · This day is salvation come to thy house.'—Sometimes it is called a day of vengeance, Ila. Ixiii. 4. The day wherein the foundation of the temple is lạid, is the day wherein God destroys the old building, and takes vengeance on all fpiritual enemies, fin, Satán, and strong corruptions; and whatsoever opposed the spiritual building, the vengeance of God, and Alie vengeance of the temple purfued them in that day.--Sometimes it is called a day of small things, Zech. iv. 10.; because when the foundation of the temple is a-laying, the beginning may be very small, even like a grain of mustard-feed; and yet, in the issue, it shall be a great and magnificent fabric; because, “ He that hath begun the good work will perfect it;": for,

“ The Lord is a rock, and his work is perfect.” And so, finally, it is called a day of the Lord's making, Plalm cxviii. 24. “ This is the day that the Lord hath made, we will rejoice and be glad in it.” Where the psalmist is speaking of the day wherein the stone which the builders reject, shall become the head of the corner, and that is eminently the day wherein the foundation of the temple is laid: From this day will I bless you. But,

A Second Remark concerning this day is, " That there " is a very great difference between the day wherein the “ foundation of the temple is laid, and the day wherein “ the building is perfected; between the foundation-day " on earth, and the consummation-day in heaven.” For, the foundation day is ushered in with a very dark morning, or rather an evening, as it was said, “ The evening and the morning were the first day;" so, when the foundation is laid, the evening ushers in the morning, a dark evening of wrath and legal terror, conviction, and humiliation, as I told you already. Many a dark cloud may cover the sky on' that day; but the day of consummation will be a glorious day, and a clear day; surrounded with all gladening circumstances : for then shall the head-stone be brought forth with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it.-The day wherein the foundation is laid, is a day indeed wherein corruption gets a dead stroke, and may seem, for a little while, to be almost slain ; yet afterwards it gets up its head again,

cafts fire into the fanctuary, and many times defiles the temple; but the day wherein the building is confummated, will put an end to fin and corruption; there fhall be no more unbelief and enmity; no more fins, miftakes, jealoufies, or fears; no more danger from fpiritual enemies from without or from within.-Again, the day wherein the foundation is laid, is a day of fecrefy; perhaps the perfon is fitting at your fide, and you do not fee nor know when the Lord is laying the foundation of the fpiritual temple within him, or may be upon his knees at home: there is a fecret tranfaction in which the foul is laid as a ftone upon the fure foundation; but the confummation is open, before millions of faints and angels. In a word, after the foundation is laid, the believer may many times, through ignorance, and unbelief, and doubts, and fears, be at the razing of the foundation: but when the temple is perfected, no fuch thing shall take place; for then he fhall have occafion to fing and fay, Farewel darkness, and wel"come light; farewel death, and welcome life; fare"wel forrow, and welcome joy; yea, farewel faith, "and welcome vifion; farewel hope, and welcome "fruition and the everlasting uninterrupted enjoyment " of God.”—So that there is a great difference between the day wherein the foundation is laid, and the day wherein the building is confummate.

The Third Remark concerning this day is, "That the "precife time, the particular day wherein the foundation "of the fpiritual temple is laid, and the foul is united "to Chrift, is agreed upon, between the Father and the

Son, in the covenant of grace and redemption from "eternity." That moment wherein the firft ftone of the building is laid, is determined by the Father, who hath put the times and feafons in his own power, to know and order them according to the counfel of his will, Acts i. 7. And, to lifp with reverence in the fcripturelanguage, God, the great Architect, doth wait, with patience, for that day wherein he hath refolved to lay the foundation of the temple, according to that sweet and remarkable fcripture, which may be comfortable to them that cannot get that at duties, communions,

and