The second doctrine concerneth G.o.d"s decree, and it is this: "It is concluded in the council of heaven, and G.o.d hath it in the thoughts of his heart, to repair the breaches of his house, and to build such a temple to himself, as is shadowed forth in this vision of Ezekiel." For the comparing of this verse with ver. 7 in this same chapter, and with chap.
x.x.xvii. 26, 27, will easily make it appear, that this showing of the pattern, and all this measuring, was not only in reference to Israel"s duty, but to G.o.d"s gracious purpose towards Israel. According to that, Zech. i. 16, "Therefore thus saith the Lord, I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies: my house shall be built in it, saith the Lord of hosts, and a line shall be stretched forth upon Jerusalem." Now this vision cannot be said to be fulfilled in Zorobabel"s temple, as I proved before, only here take notice that the second destruction of the temple by the Romans was worse than the first by the Babylonians,-that desolation was repaired, but this could never be repaired, though the Jews did attempt the building again of the temple,(1393) first under Adrian the emperor, and afterward under Julian the apostate. The hand of G.o.d was seen against them most terribly by fire from heaven, and other signs of that kind; and about the same time (to observe that by the way) the famous Delphic temple was without man"s hand, by fire and earthquake, utterly destroyed and never built again,-to tell the world that neither Judaism nor paganism should prevail, but the kingdom of Jesus Christ.
Where then must we seek for the accomplishment of Ezekiel"s vision, I mean for the new temple in which the Lord will dwell for ever, and where his holy name shall be no more polluted? Surely we must seek for it in the days of the gospel, as hath been before abundantly proved; but that the thing may be the better understood, let us take with us, at least, some few general observations concerning this temple of Ezekiel, as it representeth what should come to pa.s.s in the church of Christ.
First of all, there is but one temple, not many, showed to him,-which is in part, and shall be yet more fulfilled in the church of the New Testament, according to that, Zech. xiv. 8, "And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem;" which is the same that we have, Ezek. xlvii. 1. Then follows, "And the Lord shall be King over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one." The like promise we find elsewhere: "I will give them one heart, and one way,"
Jer. x.x.xii. 39; Ezek. xi. 19. It is observed, that for this very end of uniformity, the heathens also did erect temples, that they might all worship the same idol-G.o.d in the same manner. The plague of the Christian church hitherto hath been temple against temple, and altar against altar, "But thou, O Lord, how long?" Psal. vi. 3.
Secondly, Ezekiel"s temple and city are very large and capacious, as I showed in the beginning; and the city had three gates looking toward each of the four quarters of the world, Ezek. xlviii. 31-34: all this to signify the spreading of the gospel into all the earth; which is also signified by the holy waters issuing from the threshold of the temple, and rising so high that they were waters to swim in, Ezek. xlvii. 1, 5. G.o.d hath said to his church, "Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes: for thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left," Isa. liv. 2, 3. A great increase of the church there was in the apostles" times, Col. i. 6; but a far greater may be yet looked for, Rom. xi. 12. Though the enemy did come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord lifted up a standard against him, Isa. lix. 19; "The sea saw it, and fled; Jordan was driven back," Psal. cxiv. 3. But when the gospel cometh, "like a noise of many waters" (as the Prophet calls it, ver. 2, signifying an irresistible increase), it is in vain to build bulwarks against it: G.o.d will even break open "the fountains of the great deep," and open "the windows of heaven" (Gen. vii. 11); and the gospel will prove a second flood, which will overflow the whole earth, though not to destroy it (as Noah"s did), but to make it glad; "For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea," Hab. ii. 14; Isa. xi. 9.
Thirdly, In this temple, beside the holy of holies, were three courts:(1394) the court of the priests; the court of the people, commonly called _Atrium Israelis_; and, without both these, _Atrium Gentium_, the court of the heathen, so called, because the heathen, as also many of those who were legally unclean, might not only come unto the mountain of the house of the Lord, but also enter within the outer wall (mentioned Ezek. xlii. 20), and so worship in that outer court, or _intermurale_; unto which did belong (as we learn from Josephus(1395)) the great east porch, which kept the name of _Solomon"s porch_,-in which both Christ himself did preach (John x. 23), and the apostles after him (Acts v. 12); by which means the free grace of the gospel was held forth even to heathens, and publicans, and unclean persons, who were not admitted into the court of Israel,-there to communicate in all the holy things: "For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost," Luke xix. 10.
This outer court of the temple is meant when it is said that the Pharisees brought a woman taken in adultery into the temple, and set her before Christ, John viii. 2, 3. Now all this will hold true answerably of the spiritual temple; for, _first_, As the uncirc.u.mcised and the unclean were not admitted into the temple among the children of Israel (Ezek. xliv. 9), so all that live in the church of Christ are not to be admitted promiscuously to every ordinance of G.o.d, especially to the Lord"s table, but only those whose profession, knowledge and conversation, after trial, shall be found such as may make them capable thereof: yet as heathens and unclean persons did enter into the outer court, and there hear Christ and his apostles, so there shall ever be in the church a door of grace and hope open to the greatest and vilest sinners who shall seek after Christ, and "ask the way to Zion, with their faces thitherward," Jer. i. 5.
_Secondly_, There shall be also somewhat answerable to the court of the children of Israel: G.o.d can raise up even of the stones children to Abraham (Matt. iii. 9); he will not want a people to tread in the courts of his house, and to inquire in his temple. _Thirdly_, And as in the typical temple there was a court for the priests, so hath the Lord promised to the church: "Yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner any more, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers," Isa. x.x.x. 20; and again, "I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding," Jer. iii. 15. _Fourthly_, And as there was a secret and most holy place, where the ark was, and the mercy-seat, and where the glory of G.o.d dwelt, so Christ hath his own "hidden ones" (Psal. lx.x.xiii. 3), "the children of the bride-chamber"
(Matt. ix. 15), who, "with open face beholding as in a gla.s.s the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord," 2 Cor. iii. 18. There is also a time coming when G.o.d will open the secrets of his temple, and make the ark of his testament to be seen otherwise than yet it hath been; which shall be at the sounding of the seventh trumpet, Rev. xi. 15, 19.
Fourthly, The fourth thing wherein Ezekiel"s temple represented the church of Christ is in regard of the great strength thereof: it stood "upon a very high mountain," chap. xl. 2. The material temple also in Jerusalem, as it is described by Josephus, was a very strong and impregnable place.
Interpreters think that Cyrus was jealous of the strength of the temple, and for that cause gave order that it should not be built above threescore cubits high, whereas Solomon had built it sixscore cubits high, Ezra vi.
3. The Romans afterwards, when they had subdued Judea, had a watchful eye upon the temple, and placed a strong garrison in the castle Antonia (which was beside the temple), the commander whereof was called "the captain of the temple" (Acts iv. 1); and all this for fear of sedition and rebellion among the Jews when they came to the temple. Now the invisible strength of the spiritual temple is clearly held forth unto us by him who cannot deceive us: "Upon this rock," saith he (meaning himself), "I will build my church, and the gates of h.e.l.l shall not prevail against it," Matt. xvi.
18. The princes and powers of the world are more jealous than they need of the church"s strength; and yet (which is a secret judgment of G.o.d) they have not been afraid to suffer Babylon to be built in her full strength: "There were they in great fear where no fear was" (Psal. liii. 5); for when all shall come to all, it shall be found that the gospel and true religion is the strongest bulwark, and chief strength for the safety and stability of kings and states.
Lastly, The glory of this temple was very great, insomuch that some have undertaken to demonstrate(1396) that it was a more glorious piece than any of the seven miracles of the world, which were so much spoken of among the ancients. But the greatest glory of this temple was, that "the glory of the G.o.d of Israel" came into it, and "the earth shined with his glory,"
ver. 2; Christ, the brightness of his Father"s glory (Heb. i. 3), walking in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks (Rev. i. 13), is and shall be more and more the church"s glory; therefore it is said to her, "Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee," Isa. lx. 1. Surely as it was said of the new material temple, in reference to Christ, so it may be said of the new spiritual temple, which yet we look for, "The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the Lord of hosts; and in this place will I give peace, saith the Lord of hosts," Hag. ii. 9. Christ will keep the best wine till the end of the feast (John ii. 10); and he will bless our latter end more than our beginning, Ezek. x.x.xvi. 11.
That which I have said, from grounds of Scripture, concerning a more glorious, yea, more peaceable condition of the church to be yet looked for, is acknowledged by some of our sound and learned writers(1397) who have had occasion to express their judgment about it: and it hath no affinity with the opinion of an earthly or temporal kingdom of Christ, or of the Jews" building again of Jerusalem and the material temple, and their obtaining a dominion above all other nations, or the like.
I shall now bring home the point. There are very good grounds of hope to make us think that this new temple is not far off; and (for your part) that Christ is to make a new face of a church in this kingdom,-a fair and beautiful temple for his glory to dwell in: and he is even now about the work.
For, first, "The set time" to build Zion is come, when the people of G.o.d "take pleasure in her stones, and favour the dust thereof," Psal. cii. 13, 14, 16. The stones which the builders of Babel refused are now chosen for corner stones, and the stones which they chose do the builders of Zion now refuse: "They shall not take of thee a stone for a corner, nor a stone for foundations," Jer. li. 26. Those that have anything of Christ and of the image of G.o.d in them begin to creep out of the dust of contempt, and to appear like stars of the morning. Nay, to go farther than that, the old stones, the Jews, who have been for so many ages lying forgotten in the dust, those poor "outcasts of Israel" (Psal. cxlvii. 2), have of late come more into remembrance, and have been more thought of, and more prayed for, than they were in former generations.
Secondly, Are there not great preparations and instruments fitted for the work? Hath not G.o.d called together, for such a time as this, the present Parliament, and the a.s.sembly of Divines, his Zorobabels, and Jehoshuas, and Haggais, and Zechariahs? Are there not also hewers of stones, and bearers of burdens? much wholesome preaching, much praying and fasting, many pet.i.tions put up both to G.o.d and man? the covenant also going through the kingdom as the chief preparation of materials for the work? Is not the old rubbish of ceremonies daily more and more shovelled away, that there may be a clean ground? and is not the Lord by all this affliction humbling you, that there may be a deep and a sure foundation laid?
Thirdly, The work is begun, and shall it not be finished? G.o.d hath laid the foundation, and shall he not "bring forth the head-stone?" Zech. iv.
7, 9. Christ hath put Antichrist from his outerworks in Scotland, and he is now come to put him from his innerworks in England: "His work is perfect" (Deut. x.x.xii. 4), saith Moses; "I am Alpha and Omega (saith Christ), the beginning and the ending," Rev. i. 8; "Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth, saith the Lord? shall I cause to bring forth, and shut the womb, saith thy G.o.d?" Isa. lxvi. 9.
I may add three other signs whereby to discern the time, from Rev. xi. 1, the place before cited: _First_, Is there not now a measuring of the temple, ordinances and worshippers, by "a reed like unto a rod?" The reed of the sanctuary in the a.s.sembly"s hand, and the rod of power and law in your hand, are well met together. _Secondly_, There is a court, which before seemed to belong to the temple, left out and not measured: "From him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath," Matt. xxv.
29. The Samaritans of this time, who serve the Lord, and serve their own G.o.ds too (2 Kings xvii. 33, 34), and do after the manners of idolaters, have professed (as they of old to the Jews, Ezra iv. 2), that they would build with you; that they will be for the true Protestant religion as you are; that they will also consent to the reformation of abuses, for the ease of tender consciences. But G.o.d doth so alienate and separate betwixt you and them, by his overruling providence, discovering their designs against you, and their deep engagements to the popish party, as if he would say unto them, "Ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial in Jerusalem," Neh. ii. 20; or as it is in the parable concerning those who had refused to come when they were invited, yea, had taken the servants of Christ and entreated them spitefully, and killed them,-the great king hath said in his wrath, that they shall not taste of his supper, and he sends forth his armies to destroy those murderers, and to burn up their city, Matt. xxii. 6, 7; Luke xiv. 24. Surely what they have professed(1398) concerning reformation is scarce so much as the Pope did acknowledge when reformation did begin in Germany. However, as it is our heart"s desire and prayer to G.o.d for them that they may be saved, so we are not out of hopes that G.o.d hath many of his own among them, unto whom he will give "repentance to the acknowledging of the truth."
Lastly, The time seemeth to answer fitly: The new temple is built when the forty-two months of the beast"s reign, and of the treading down the holy city (that is, by the best interpretation, twelve hundred and sixty years) come to an end. This computation, I conceive, should begin rather before the four hundredth year of Christ than after it; both because the Roman Emperor (whose falling was the Pope"s rising) was brought very low before that time by the wars of the Goths and other barbarous nations, and otherwise, which will appear from history; and further, because pope Innocentius(1399) (who succeeded about the year 401) was raised so high that he drew all appeals from other bishops to the apostolical see, according to former statutes and customs, as he saith. I cannot pitch upon a likelier time than the year 383, at which time (according to the common calculation) a general Council at Constantinople (though Baronius and some others reckon that Council in the year 381) did acknowledge the primacy of the bishop of Rome,(1400) only reserving to the bishop of Constantinople the second place among the bishops. Did not then the beast receive much power when this much was acknowledged by a council of one hundred and fifty bishops, though sitting in the East, and moderated by Nectarius, archbishop of Constantinople. Immediately after this council, it is acknowledged by one of our great antiquaries,(1401) that the bishop of Rome did labour mightily to draw all causes to his own consistory, and that he doth scarce read of any heretic or schismatic condemned in the province where he lived, but straight he had recourse to the bishop of Rome. Another of our antiquaries(1402) noteth not long before that Council, that Antichrist did then begin to appear at Rome, and to exalt himself over all other bishops.
Now if we should reckon the beginning of the beast"s reign about the time of that Council, the end of it will fall in at this very time of ours. But I dare not determine so high a point. G.o.d"s work will, ere it be long, make a clearer commentary upon his word. Only let this be remembered, We must not think it strange if, after the end of the twelve hundred and sixty years, Antichrist be not immediately and utterly abolished; for when that time is ended he makes war against the witnesses, yea, overcometh and killeth them. But that victory of his lasteth only three days and a half, and then G.o.d makes, as it were, a resurrection from the dead, and a tenth part of the great city falls before the whole fall; see Rev. xi. 3, 7, 11, 13. Whether this killing of the witnesses (which seemeth to be the last act of Antichrist"s power) be past, or to come, I cannot say: G.o.d knows.
But a.s.suredly, the acceptable year of Israel"s jubilee, and the day of vengeance upon Antichrist, is coming, and is not far off.
But now, is there no other application to be made of this point? Is all this said to satisfy curious wits, or, at the best, to comfort the people of G.o.d? Nay, there is more than so: it must be brought home to a practical use. As the a.s.surance of salvation doth not make the child of G.o.d the more presumptuous, but the more humble (Ezek. xvi. 63); neither doth it make him negligent, but diligent in the way of holiness, and in all the acts of his spiritual warfare, Phil. iii. 13, 14; 2 Pet. i. 10; so that "every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself," 1 John iii. 3: so answerably, the a.s.surance of the new temple, and of the sweet days to come, serveth for a twofold practical use; even as David also applieth G.o.d"s promise of Solomon"s building the temple, 1 Chron. xxii. 9; for thus he speaketh to the princes of Israel, ver. 19, "Now set your heart and your soul to seek the Lord your G.o.d; arise, therefore, and build ye the sanctuary of the Lord G.o.d;" and this is, beside, the charge which he giveth to Solomon.
First, then, ye must set your heart and your soul to seek G.o.d, forasmuch as you know it is not in vain to seek him for this thing, Dan. ix. 2, 3.
When Daniel understood by books that the seventy years of Jerusalem"s desolation were at an end, and that the time of building the temple again was at hand, then he saith, "I set my face unto the Lord G.o.d, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes." O let us do as he did! O let us "cry mightily unto G.o.d," Jonah iii. 8; and let us, with all our soul, and all our might, give ourselves to fasting and prayer. Now, if ever, "the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much," James v. 16.
Secondly, And the more actively you must go about the business. "Be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord," 1 Cor. xv. 58.
What greater motive to action than to know that you shall prosper in it?
"Arise therefore, and be doing."
And so I am led upon the third and last part of the text, of which I shall speak but very little.
The doctrine is this: Reformation ends not in contemplation, but in action. The pattern of the house of G.o.d is set before us to the end it may be followed; and the ordinances thereof to the end they may be obeyed: "Give me understanding (saith David), and I shall keep thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart," Psal. cxix. 34; "If ye know these things (saith Christ), happy are ye if ye do them," John xiii. 17. The point is plain, and needeth no proof but application.
Let me therefore, honourable worthies, leave in your bosoms this one point more: Many of the servants of G.o.d who have stood in this place, and could do it better than I can, have been calling upon you to go on in the work of reformation: O "be not slothful in business," Rom. xii. 11; and forget not to do as you have been taught. Had you begun at this work, and gone about the building of the house of G.o.d as your first and chief business, I dare say you should have prospered better. It was one cause, among others, why the children of Israel (though the greater number, and having the better cause too) did twice fall before Benjamin, because, while they made so great a business for the villainy committed upon the Levites"
concubine, they had taken no course with the graven image of the children of Dan (Jud. xviii. 30, 31), a thing which did more immediately touch G.o.d in his honour.
But I am confident errors of this kind will be now amended, and that you will, by double diligence, redeem the time. I know your trouble is great, and your cares many, in managing the war, and looking to the safety of the kingdom, yet mark what David did in such a case: "Behold, in my trouble (saith he) I have prepared for the house of the Lord an hundred thousand talents of gold, and a thousand thousand talents of silver; and of bra.s.s and iron without weight," 1 Chron. xxii. 14. David did manage great wars with mighty enemies, (2 Sam. v., viii., x., xi.,) the Philistines, Moabites, Ammonites, and Syrians; beside the intestine war made first by Abner (2 Sam. ii. 8), and afterward by Absalom (2 Sam. xv. 10), and after that by Sheba (2 Sam. xx. 1.) Notwithstanding of all this, in his trouble and poverty (the word signifieth both), he made this great preparation for the house of G.o.d; and if G.o.d had given him leave, he had, in his trouble, built it too, for you well know he was not hindered from building the temple by the wars or any other business, but only because G.o.d would not permit him.
Set before you also the example of the Jews, when the prophets of G.o.d did stir them up to the building of the temple, Ezra v. 1, 2. They say not, We must first build the walls of Jerusalem to hold out the enemy, but the text saith, "They began to build the house of G.o.d." They were not full four years in building the temple, and finished it in the sixth year of Darius, Ezra. iv. 24 with vi. 15. Now all the rest of his reign did pa.s.s, and all Xerxes" reign, and much of Artaxerxes Longima.n.u.s"s reign, before the walls of Jerusalem were built, for about that work was Nehemiah from the twentieth year of Artaxerxes to the two and thirtieth year (Neh. v.
14); and if great chronologers be not very far mistaken, the temple was finished fourscore and three years before the walls of Jerusalem were finished.(1403)
It is far from my meaning to cool your affection to the laws, liberties, peace, and safety of the kingdom. I desire only to warm your hearts with the zeal of reformation, as that which, all along, you must carry on in the first place.
One thing I cannot but mention: The reverend a.s.sembly of Divines may lament (as Augustine in another case), _Heu, heu, quam tarde festino!_-_alas, alas, how slowly do I make speed!_
But since now, by the blessing of G.o.d, they are thus far advanced, that they have found, in the word of G.o.d, a pattern for presbyterial government over many particular congregations; and have found also, from the word, that ordination is an act belonging to such a presbytery, I beseech you improve that "whereto we have already attained" (Phil. iii. 16), till other acts of a presbytery be agreed on afterward. Yourselves know better than I do, that much people is perishing (Prov. xxix. 18), because there is no vision: "The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few,"
Luke x. 2, Give me leave, therefore, to quicken you to this part of the work, that, with all diligence and without delay, some presbyteries be a.s.sociated and erected (in such places as yourselves in your wisdom shall judge fittest), with power to ordain ministers with the consent of the congregations, and after trial of the gifts, soundness and conversation of the men. In so doing you shall both please G.o.d and bring upon yourselves the blessing of many poor souls that are ready to perish (Job xxix. 13); and you shall likewise greatly strengthen the hearts and hands of your brethren in Scotland, joined in covenant and in arms with you. I say therefore again, "Arise therefore, and be doing, and the Lord be with thee," 1 Chron. xxii. 16; yea, the Lord is with you (Hag. ii. 4, 5) according to the word that he hath covenanted with you, so his Spirit remaineth among you: Fear ye not, but "be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might."
A SERMON PREACHED BEFORE THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THE HOUSE OF LORDS, IN THE ABBEY CHURCH AT WESTMINSTER.
A
SERMON
PREACHED BEFORE THE
RIGHT HONOURABLE THE HOUSE OF LORDS,
IN THE ABBEY CHURCH AT WESTMINSTER,
AUGUST 27, 1645;
BEING THE DAY APPOINTED FOR SOLEMN AND PUBLIC HUMILIATION.
BY GEORGE GILLESPIE,
MINISTER AT EDINBURGH, 1642.
"Aliae sunt leges Caesarum, aliae Christi: aliud Papinia.n.u.s, aliud Paulus noster praecipit."-_Hieron. in Epitaphio Fabioloe_
EDINBURGH: