the Spirit for us.

other subject

Watts sings well upon this as upon every

"'Tis by the merit of His death

That hung upon the tree,

The Spirit is sent down to breathe
On such dry bones as we."

This accords, too, with what the Apostle says to the Galatians. "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree: that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith." "Tis only through Him therefore that we obtain the Spirit. This we have promised us in consequence of His death. The Holy Spirit was not given to particular individuals, but the whole dispensation of it, both in His ordinary and extraordinary operations, was committed to the Mediator, and the right of administration annexed to His office for ever, so that He quickeneth whom He will. It is with Him we have to do in all the concerns of religion. We are to come to Him for faith, hope, and consolation. We are to come to Him, to look to Him, for sanctification, justification, and all the blessings of redemption.

I fear there are some here this evening who are far from exemplifying the character we have been describing. You are indeed dead, but you are dead to God. You are indeed alive, but alive to sin. What a case does this imply! You are alive to folly, to madness, to rebellion, to treason, to sickness, to disease, to all manner of loathsomeness, to wounds and bruises and putrefying sores. These are the representations, not of your preacher, but of God Himself, who can never be mistaken; and what a misery must it ensure! "The wages of sin is death." "The wicked shall be driven away in his wickedness." What a taste does this display! To be dead to the perfections, excellences, and sources of all blessedness! dead to the Fountain of Life! If you are alive to God, God will be alive to you. If you are living to His glory, He will make all things work together for your good, in life, in death, in time, and in eternity. If you walk contrary to Him, He will walk contrary to you; and can your heart endure, or your hands be strong, when He shall come to punish you ? O that God may give you repentance unto life! that the rest of your lives may be spent to His praise.

We have not been drawing imaginary characters this evening, but we testify that we know, and bear witness to that we have seen." We are persuaded there are some present this evening who may reckon themselves "dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord." It is desirable therefore that you should "maintain a conscience void of offence toward God and toward man;" that your conversation should be such as to correspond with your profession of love to Christ. If you wish to determine what to do at any time, call to mind what you are and what you profess. Reckon yourselves thus in order to keep the world from asking, "What do ye more than others?" Sleep not as do others, walk not in darkness as others, though your light flashing upon them may be offensive. "All who will live godly in this present evil world must suffer persecution." If you oppose them, they will oppose you; if you dissent from them, they will dissent from you. Marvel not, brethren, if the world hate you; it hated the Saviour before it hated you. But rejoice in the Lord as your portion. He is near to justify you. If you are called to make sacrifices, He will more than indemnify you, for "godliness hath the promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come."

385

XXXIII.

GOD AND HIS TEMPLES.

(Delivered on Thursday Evening, October 10th, 1844.)

"For ye are the temple of the living God."-2 CORINTHIANS vi. 16.

THE Scripture, my brethren, gives us an awful representation of human nature, and we learn from all observation and all experience that man is far gone from his original righteousness, and as such is alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in him, because of the blindness of his heart. God is not in all his thoughts. He endeavours to banish the rememberance of Him from his thoughts, saying unto God, "Depart from us; we desire not the knowledge of Thy ways." "Cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us." From such creatures God might righteously withdraw, hold no intercourse, and abandon them for ever. But instead of this, He has devised means that His banished ones should not be expelled from Him. Where sin abounded grace did much more abound; and where sin hath reigned unto death, even there grace reigns through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. "He once suffered the just for the unjust." And now, Christians, ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ, and redeemed, and justified, and sanctified, and made the temples of the living God.

Temples of old were named after the deities to whom they belonged. Thus we read of the temple of Bacchus, the temple of Diana, the temple of Mars, and others. But ye are the temple of the living God. Let us therefore fill up the remainder of the hour allotted to this exercise by considering two things: first, the character of God; and secondly, the representation of His people.

I. THE CHARACTER OF GOD. "The living God." This is

CC

not mentioned without meaning. We should never lightly pass over the words which the Holy Ghost useth, for they are not only words of kindness but of wisdom.

First, He is called "the living God," to distinguish Him from idols. There were of old "lords many and gods many." We read that "men became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts and creeping things"; thus they "changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever." But what succour could any of these afford to those that worshipped them? Many of these were made of dead materials they were the work of men's hands. They had eyes, but they saw not; ears, but they heard not, neither spake they through their throat. They that made them were like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them. Now, it seems amazing that man could make a deity and then fall down and adore it, saying, "Thou art my God." Oh, what do we owe to Revelation for showing us the only living and true God who is infinitely worthy of all our regard! who sees every tear, who hears every sigh, and relieves every sorrow!

He is called "the living God" to remind us of the excellency and supremacy of His existence. The kind of life any being in the universe lives must depend upon his nature. A worm as really possesses life as a man, and it is true with regard to a fly as of an angel or an archangel; but what a difference between the one and the other! How does He then possess life whose understanding is infinite, whose power is Almighty, who is everywhere present, who knows all things, who is liable to no dangers, who is without variableness or the shadow of a change, who rules over all, the blessed and only Potentate, who only hath immortality! My soul, who can describe or who can imagine the life of such a Being as this?

He is called "the living God" to remind us of His energy and influence. He has life in Himself, and is able to command it. He is the source of life; hence says David, "with Thee is the Fountain of life." Life in millions of streams issues from Him. He shines in every beam of the sun. He moves in every drop of the ocean. Think of vegetable life, the life of trees and of herbs and of flowers here He is the living God. Think of animal life. How many creatures, and all creatures visible and invisible in air and earth and sea, all derived their

existence from Him! "The eyes of all wait upon Him, and He giveth them their meat in due season." He openeth His hand and satisfieth the wants of every living thing. A life of nature by which we enter the world, a life of grace by which we enter the church, a life of glory by which we enter heaven -all this is only and entirely communicated from Him. He may well therefore be called "the living God."

He is called" the living God" to remind us of the manner in which we are to serve Him; for, my brethren, from His character we may always deduce the nature of that religion which He requires and establishes. Thus, reasoning with the woman of Samaria, He said, "God is a Spirit," and therefore adds, "they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth." There must be a resemblance between Him and His worship. It is the same with regard to His holiness, and therefore we are to worship God in the beauty of holiness. Therefore says He, "I the Lord your God am holy be ye holy in all manner of conversation. Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy." It is the same when we consider Him as the God of grace, as He who hears and answers prayer. How are we to approach Him? Are we to approach Him with indifference, insensibility, and dulness? with hosanras languishing on our lips, and our devotion dying? Is there to be no correspondence and suitableness here? We are to be, as the Apostle expresses it, "fervent in spirit, serving the Lord." And he mentions this in his Epistle to the Hebrews in a very interesting connection, saying, "How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your consciences from dead works to serve the living God."

II. Having glanced at the character of God, let us now look at THE REPRESENTATION OF HIS PEOPLE; for you see they are called "the temple of the living God."

This is true of them collectively considered. Sometimes thus the term is employed. Paul, in his address to the Ephesians, says, "Ye are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone; in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth into an holy temple in the Lord." And so when the Apostle Paul in his address to the Thessalonians is speaking of the man of sin, he says, "Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God." By "the