The Church a Spiritual Building

Now, therefore, ye are no more strangers and foreigners, hut fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; and 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 unto a holy temple in the Lord: in whom ye also are huilded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.

“Happy are the men who can look back on their former lives, and, after comparing their past experience with the present, find snbstantial reasons for believing that they are passed from death unto Life.” Lifted up though they be, as the needy from the dunghill, and set among princes, they are not unwilling to be reminded of their mean original. On the contrary, forasmuch as the remembrance of it magnifies the riches of God’s grace and endears the dying love of the Saviour, they find, on considering the blessed change, that their meditation of it may be sweet. When, therefore, the Apostle reminds his Ephesian Converts of their former misery, he is not to be considered as aiming so much to produce humiliation, as to awaken affection: he gives a clear and express representation of what Christ had done for them: they had been, as all the Gentiles were, without Christ, without God, without hope; but now they were made nigh by the blood of Christ. Now therefore, he adds, ye, Gentiles, are no more strangers and foreigners, but felloic-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God; and are built upon the foundation of the A.posiles and Prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone.

In these words, the society of true-bolievers is compared to a great building. To preserve this idea of the text distinct in our minds, it will be necessary to remember that the Church of God is sometimes compared to the human body, the head of which is Christ — sometimes, to a family over which he presides — sometimes, to a city — at other times, to Mount Zion; but, here, to a single building, which rests on Jesus Christ as its foundation.

In conformity to the Apostle’s idea, we must call your attention, first, to the materials; secondly, to the foundation; and, thirdly, to the building itself,

I. The MATERIALS,

Every stone, which is taken to construct a building, however it may have been polished by the hand of the workmen, was once rough and unsightly, and buried in the bowels of the earth: and ere yet we were called out to take our place in the building of God, that was our condition. This is the resemblance found for us by Isaiah — Look unto the rock tvhence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit ichence ye are digged (chap. li. 1) — there we once lay. As the rude stone not only belongs to the quarry, but forms a part of it; so we were not only connected with the world, but ourselves constituted the world: so that when the saints were warned against the company and conversation of the world, we were some of the persons intended — we were those enemies of God whose acquaintance would contaminate them.

We could not have extricated ourselves from the world, any more than a stone can start from its parent rock without the application of external force: we were so closely rivetted, as to baffle the strength of all but of Him who is mighty to save. He only was able to force us and the world asunder.

Thus we lay with the world, m the same darkness; like the rock buried beneath the surface of the earth: no ray of heaven illumined us; but, year after year rolled away, and left us the same dark, inactive, unformed mass.

While that state of things continued, we could manifestly not be applied either for use or ornament in the Chiu-ch of God. Till every stone be cut and smoothed, they cannot be made to fit one another in a building: so we were unsuitable to the saints who compose the Church, and incapable of lasting union with them.

Indeed, so far from desiring union with them, we felt indifference and dislike to them: we were, as the text declares, entirely strangers and foreigners among them. A person who comes as a stranger into a family, can be supposed to know nothing of its regulations and economy, nor participate the affection that subsists between the different branches of it: if he discourse with them, it is with cold and distant reserve, on subjects which are uninteresting to both; and the reason is, that they know little about one another, and the persons whom they love and the things in which they have been conversant are altogether different. Thus we were strangers to the household of God. We knew, indeed, of them as of a company of persons who were distinguished by the superior strictness of their lives; but never conceived that they formed one family, because we saw not the bond of union, nor perceived the Head under whom they were united: still less could we believe that it was a happy family, when their pursuits and employments were so different from our own. In short, we were strangers to the communion of saints.

And not only so, but Ave were foreigners. We had as little to do with the kingdom of God, as men in general have to do in a foreign country. We spoke another language; we were not governed by its laws: we did not acknowledge its sovereign: we submitted to none of its restrictions, and enjoyed none of its privileges: we were aliens from the commonwealth of Israel.

But now, if we have become the sei*vants of God, we are no more strangers and foreigners, hut fellow-citizens tvith the saints: we are come unto Mount Zion, the city of the Living God.” Once our guilt and corruption formed an insurmountable barrier; but now having found Christ who is the only way to the Father, we have entered through the gates into the city, and become denizens of that city where light,

308 Fifteenth seraion.

aiitl beauty, and grandeur, and safety, and pleasure, meet together.” We are partakers with the saints of the presence of their sovereign, participate the safety which they find in his protection, and share the happiness which they enjoy under his government. Do their eyes behold the King in his beauty? — we also have access to his palace. Is there a river, the streams whereof make glad the city of God? — we also have tasted of the stream, and dw ell in peaceful freedom on its banks. This is the happy state in which we are now in the kingdom of grace, before we ascend to the kingdom of glory.

But we are not only fellow-citizens of the saints, yve vcce of the household of God: we compose a part of his family, as well as live the subjects of his kingdom. It were a great honour to be like the Gibeonites, only drawers of water to that house, to which king David thought it so desirable to be a door-keeper. But, Belovedi now are we the sons of God! What manner of love is this, says St. John, that we should be called the sons of God J ( 1 John iii. 1) yet so it is! If we have received Christ, to us hath he given power, or privilege, to become the Sons of God (John i. 12). Though we were not by natural birth the children of God, we have received a second nature — have been brought out from the world — have entered into his house — have been adopted, and become the sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty. We have been introduced to all the rights of children; that is, we are made heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ: under Him, we all live — children of the same family — keeping the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace — taught of God and led by his Spirit; and, forasmuch as it is promised. All thy children shall be taught of the Lord, and great shall be the peace of thy children (Is. liv. 13), so we enjoy the peace of Ood in our own hearts, and among one another. Notwithstanding a few partial and temporary disorders i our intercourse with one another, we can aver that the whole Church of God, like a happy family, is preserved in harmony and order: we form one body: we are animated by one Spirit: we .have one hope, one faith, one Lord: we love as brethren, united under Christ as our elder brother, and under one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in us all.

Now on comparing this our happy condition with our former, when we wandered to and fro as sons of the stranger; on considering what a change we have undergone in temper, disposition, and external state; on contrasting our condition in times past, with that which we now enjoy in the Church of God — we know no similitude more aptly representing us in both these conditions, than that contained in the text. We were as stones once lying in the earth; but are now taken out and polished for a glorious building.

II. We are next to consider the FOUNDATION which supports the building formed from these materials — Ye are built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, Jesns Christ himself being the chief corner-stone.

The Church is not built upon the Apostles and Prophets in their personal capacity. It is not to be supposed that these men were, in their own persons, able to sustain the weight of the Church of God: for who is Paul, and who is Apollos, but 7ninisters by whom ye believed (1 Cor. iii. 5). Was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paid? (ICor. i. 13). Paul planted and Apollos watered; but neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that ivatereth (1 Cor. iii. 6, 7). There was no merit in the Apostles, which could serve for a foundation of hope to the sinner; for Peter confessed that he was a sinful man, and Paul that he was the chief of sinners: and though some may answer us that St. Peter had the keys of the kingdom of heaven given to him, it does not appear that he was commissioned to hold them longer than while he was upon earth; for our Saviour’s words are, Whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth, shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earthy shall be loosed in heaven (Mmii. x’. 19). It cannot be said then that Peter, or any of the Apostles are, in their own persons, the support of the Church: and, indeed, how should they be? Behold! he jmtteth no trust in his servants; and his angels he charged with folly: how much less in them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust! (Job iv. 18, 19). Nevertheless, the Scriptures have not hesitated to use, elsewhere, the same sort of language as in the passage before us: Christ said of Peter that on this rock he ivoidd build his Church (Matt. xvi. 1 8); alluding to the honour which he designed for Peter, namely, that he should be the first to preach the Gospel to the Jews, and the first also to preach it to the Gentiles: in the same manner it is said in the Revelation, that the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve Apostles of the Larnb (Rev. xxi. 14). So, in the text, the Apostles and Prophets are described as forming part of the fomidation with Christ.

But the true, and indeed the only sense, in which mere men can be said to bear part witi? Christ in the foundation of this spiritual building, is this — that they are in&pired by God to speak with such authority, that we may depend upon their word with as much confidence as upon the words which Christ himself spake. Such were the Apostles antl Prophets: they spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost; and their words, therefore, may be as fully believed and trusted in, in matters of highest importance, as any of the sayings of Christ recorded by the Evangelists. The prophecies of Isaiah, or the Epistles of St. Paul, are of precisely the same authority in directing our faith and regulating our practice, as Christ’s Charge to his Disciples or his Sermon on the Mount. In this sense, Christ, and the Prophets, and the Apostles, were, in some sort, equally the foundation of the Church; because they all declared from God, that system of Divine Truth upon which our faith and hope may rest. So far are we built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, for we have believed their testimony. AVhat Christ, and the Prophets, and Apostles revealed, of the different parts of the plan of salvation, we have believed; and have placed our hopes upon the truth of what they have spoken.

Then how great are the privileges of believers!

—ill this view only, how great are they! — even in this simple particular, that we are built upon such a foundation as the one here described. For look round the habitable globe, and observe how many millions among the Heathen, In the present day and in former ages, never heard of the Apostles and Prophets, or one word of their testimony; and how few even of those to whom the Gospel is preached ever believe or obey it: infidels abound in Christian Lands, who account the whole a cunningly-devised fable: to many, God hath sent a strong delusion that they should believe a lie — to few, hath he given repentance to the acknowledgment of the truth: the greater number of Nominal Christians go through the world, and die, without ever understanding or inquiring about those important truths, which it is such a privilege to know. But ye are, many of you, a peculiar people: the word of truth has not only sounded upon your ears, but God has given you grace to attend to it, and to find it the Gospel of your salvation.

But that which is the chief excellency of our state is, that we not only depend upon the Word as revealing Jesus Christ, but by so doing we depend upon Jesus Christ as revealed in the Word: we are built upon that foundation, of which Jesus Christ himself is the chief corner-stone, not Jesus Christ’s Word. He is the foundation of his Church in his own Person, and not by his Word only which he spake. He is HIMSELF the chief corner-stone: he not only declared the way of God in truth, but was himself the way and the truth. In this capacity he stands alone, and bears up the pile of the spiritual building by his own strength.

Jesus Christ is the elect and precious corner-stone which God hath laid in Zion: though he is one which the builders rejected, he is laid for this purpose, that every trembling sinner who feels his own weakness and inability to stand alone before God, either on the score of merit or innate holiness, may come to it, and let all the weight of his salvation rest entirely upon it. He is permitted to depend upon the merits of Christ for his pardon and acceptance with God, and may expect to find in him all necessary grace and strength. He that believeth in him, shall not be confounded. To him many have come, for he is a tried stone, and are builded together; and find him to be, not only the ground for their security, but also, as the corner-stone is in a building, the bond of their union. To him ye have come, and on him are ye built.

Then consider how peculiar is your privilege, Beloved, in this respect. Though it is contained in the Scriptures that other foundation can no man lay, than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ (I Cor. iii. 11); that is, no foundation on which we can safely be built except him: yet mankind are ever rearing their respective superstructures on a different foundation: some build upon the presumptuous hopes of God’s mercy; expecting to see the Lord without holiness: others are raising a fair fabric on the ground of their own righteousness: others are pleasing themselves with a motley building, which they have raised on two foundations, Christ and their own works: all which may stand for a while, and make a fair shew during the momentary calm of God’s forbearance; but will instantly crumble into dust, when his breath shall blow upon them. Now where so many are wrong and so few are right, how happy your lot to be in the latter number, by having found the true foundation! How great is your privilege, who have been taught to perceive that stone to be precious, which to others is a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence; even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient I (1 Pet. ii. 8).

III. How glorious is now your condition upon this foundation, will appear when we consider, in the third place, the edifice or BUILDING itself. — In whom the whole building fitly framed together groweth mito a holy temple in the Lord.

The model of the glorious edifice has existed from everlasting, in the mind of its great Architect; and, in conformity to that model, the building rises,

1. Let us, first, observe the building, as the

WORK GOES ON.

In that part of it which is already to be seen, observe hoN fitly each stone is suited to its place. As in the members of the human body, if they were all one member, where were the body? so in this building, if all the stones were equal in size, polish, and shape, where were the building? But now it is so ordered, that some shall form the broad base of a pillar, others the long shafts, others the ornamented capital: another shall be of use to turn an arch, another be a key-stone: this shall be found in the cornice, and another in the ceiling: but they all have their use, in their respective places; and other arrangements would destroy the beauty and symmetry of the building. Those lively atones, which are intended rather for strength than ornament, need not so much polishing; while others, which are designed for a conspicuous part in the building, suffer the strokes of God’s heavy hand, and have their roughnesses worn away by afliliction, because they are to become the polished comers of the temple. Thus unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. He gave some to be apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers: for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ (Eph. iv.7, 11,12).

2. Having now vsurveyed the contrivance and arrangement of the parts of the spiritual building, mark next its gradual growth.

From the day that the first stone was laid in the superstructure at the conversion of our first parents, another and another has been added, and the building has been rising from generation to generation. Persons of all ages, sexes, and conditions, have been taken from the world, and fitted one to another in it. Young and old, rich and poor, have been added to the Church, in every different age; and though the work goes on with different degrees of rapidity at different times, God is always employed in it.

At the present moment, it is still rising: some stones are under the workmen’s hand- — others are fixed in their places in the Church. At this day, more than in ancient times, men of all nations and kindreds and people and tongues, English, Americans, Danes, Africans, Hindoos, Hottentots, Mohawks — millions, who have never seen one another in the flesh, are vet built up together, and united in one corner-stone, the Lord Jesus Christ! Behold, these shall come from far; and lo, these from the north and from the west, and these from the land of Sinim (Is. xlix. 12).

Thus it goes on, steadily indeed, but silently: for like that temple which was the type of it, there is neither hammer, nor axe, nor any tool of iron heard in the house while it is in building (1 Kings vi. 7). The kingdom of God cometh not with observation; and so, though the building of this Temple is God’s one great concern, and that for which he sufters the earth to stand and keeps the wheels of providence in motion, it makes little noise in the world: very few of mankind ever hear there is such a building going on.

But He, that hath built his stones in the heaven, worketh in it hitherto, and will work to the end of time; and, in future ages, out of thousands yet unborn, will increase the greatness of the structure. The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will do this, though its progress is slow at present. He, the Lord, will hasten it in its time. Swiftly shall it rise, and rear its majestic height to the praise of the glory of his grace, while the happy workmen shall gladly pursue their labour; till, at last, they shall bring forth the head-stone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, Grace, tinto it! (Zech. iv. 7).

3. In order to derscribe our privileges still further, according to the design of the Holy Spirit in the text, let us anticipate the

FINISHING OF THE TEMPLE.

Suppose, then, the period arrived, when the scaffolding is struck down and the rubbish moved away: that is, suppose this earth which was the stage for its erection, now removed from beneath it, and the wicked, the refuse of mankind, cast far away out of sight. Conceive hat you see nothing but the building. Lo! it stands high in view, for the admiration of the surrounding universe. Walk about Zion, and go round about her: tell the towers thereof: fiiark ye well her bidwarks: consider her palaces — that ye may tell it to the generation following (Ps. xlviii.12,13). What is her foundation? The rock of ages! Who is her inhabitant? — her inhabitant is God! Not a flaw, not a blemish is to be seen: every stone is in its proper place; and all contributing to the beauty of the whole! No want of symmetry in the general outline and plan — nothing imperfect in the execution of each part. Behold it stands an eternal monument, to the glory of God, of his power, and wisdom, and grace! It is all bright and glorious, wherever you take your view of it — radiating in every part with the beamings of divine glory! Her light is like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper! It is a Temple of souls! every stone is a living soul, a blood-bought spirit! Every one is a chosen warrior, who has fought his battle in his days, and has conquered! They have come out of great tribulation to be stones for this building! Affliction gave them their polish; and the cement which unites them is love!

But while we admire its beauty, let not the suspicion arise, that any thing should happen to mar its form or impair its glory. Earthly fabrics have, indeed, every thing to fear from the effects of inclement skies: for they must all, in their turn, become like those ancient cities, where thorns come up in the palaces; nettles and brambles in the fortresses thereof — where the mouldering arches and half-remaining walls shew the devastating hand of time. But our Zion hath nought to fear from time, for time ceases when her glory begins: and though she must be exposed to the storm and beating of the rain, during the dark watches of the night; yet when the morning of the resurrection Cometh, it will be as clear sunshine after rain, even a morning without clouds (2 Sam xxiii. 4). As she shall suffer by no natural causes of dissolution, so neither shall she fall by hostile violence. It was truly said by Christ to those who spoke of the Temple at Jerusalem, how it was adorned with goodly stones and gifts, that the day should come upon her when one stone should not be left upon another, which should not be thrown down: but it shall not be so with our spiritual temple. Even now we may ask, Why do the heathen rage, and the ycople imagine a vain thing? Even now we may look at her foundation and ask,

“What shall shake thy sure repose?” Resting’ on him, she mocks the assaults of besiegers, even in her weakness: but when the day of her perfection is come, the very sound of the shoutings of her enemies can be heard no more. Satan and his agents must first break through their chains of darkness, ere they can again plant their engines against her. In righteousness slmlt thou be established: thou shalt be far from oppression, for thou shalt not fear; and from terror, for it shall not come near thee (Is. liv. 14).

And now let us CLOSE our subject, in which we have set before you the privileges which belong to true believers; while we have considered the Materials of the edifice, the Foundation, and the Building itself.

1. The persons whom we have been immediately addressing are the people of God: but as it is hardly to be belie’€d that you are all of

Y this number, let us, in the first part of our application, make an inquiry.

And, here, the question should not be, Have you ceased to associate with the world, and written down your name among those who profess to be living for another world? but, Are you really a fellow- citizen with the saints ? — not merely connected with them in their passage through this world, but owned by the king of the country whither they are travelling? Do you shew that you are not mindftd of the country from whence you say you are come out? — that you are not seeking it again, nor entangling yourself with its affairs? — that you are looking for a city which hath foundations; a better country, that is, a heavenly one? There is much greater reason for supposing yourselves fellow- citizens with sinners, if you are like them in your spirit, than there is for supposing yourselves fellow-citizens with the saints, because at other times you are like them.

It is further to be asked. Are you of the household of God? — are you the sons of God? If it be asked, “How can this be known?” we reply, in the words of St. Paul, As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God(Jiom. viii. 14). Are you changed from glory to glory, as by that Spirit? Do you, conscious of your high birth and inheritance of glory, disdain to be conformed to the children of darkness? and, shewing no desire after this world nor inordinate concern about it, are you spiritually minded, and influenced by spiritual motives?

Again, have ye not only received Christ Jesus the Lord as the foundation of your hopes, but do ye so walk in him, rooted and grounded in him, established in the faith? Is your life a life of faith in him? Do you look to him for grace and strength to perform every duty? Do you seek real communion with him in secret, and are you grieved if he is absent? Do you strive to set the Lord always before you, and to frame and fashion your lives after his example? Are your souls emblems of the great temple of the Church — a holy temple in the Lord — habitations of God through the Spirit?

2. If these evidences of your being built up in Christ be in the general wanting, you must be considered as belonging to those strangers and foreigners with whom we are about, in the second place, to remonstrate.

The edifice, which you have heard described, is not a castle in the air: it hath an existence more real far than any that you see: and, what is more, every man that is saved must come and be built upon it. All others will y2 be swept away as rubbish with the besom of destruction, and be burnt up with the earth in which they lie. Brethren, do not the glories of the edifice kindle some little desire to belong to it? Then come and prepare for it! You are not, like the rock in the quarry, free from blame if you are never separated from the earth; for nothing is wanting but your own consent- Be willing, then, to leave your natural state: put yourselves into the hands of the workman, that he may in any wise fit you for some place in the building. If it be not done here, it cannot be hereafter: for when the temple is finished, another stone cannot be inserted without destroying its beauty and strength, or building it all anew.

3. Lastly, let us congratulate those whom we can address in the Apostle’s own words; those who, however weak and fearful, are making it the business of their lives to be edified in the Church of Christ.

Though you are afllicted with fightings without and fears within, and in heaviness through manifold temptations, these things are only preparing you for your place in the building: the more the stone suffers the strokes of the chisel and the hammer, the finer will be its polish: the more you are afflicted, the more conspicuous your place in the building; and far more exceeding will be your glory. Happy, thrice happy are ye, Sons of God! — loved with an everlasting love — brought into being precisely at the time when the building had reached your destined place — separated from the world by a strong hand and stretched-out arm — and fixed immoveably in your place where you are to shine for ever and ever. Who! O luho is like unto thee, O people saved by the JLord? The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms. Israel shall dwell in safety alone: his heavens shall drop down dew. Happy art thou, O Israel! who is like unto thee! O people, saved by the Lord! (Deut. xxxiii. 27 — 29).

Admire the displayed perfections — the fulfilled promises — the endearing relations of the Most High! Awake! and utter the Song of Moses and of the Lamb. Since the Lord hath brought us through fire and water to a goodly heritage — since he hath brought us out of a fearful pit, and out of the miry clay, and with tender care and unceasing love builds us up in his holy temple — let us believe his mighty works and sing his praise! Let there be a new song in our hearts and in our mouth, even praises to our God! Let our meditation of these things be sweet; and let our souls, which he hath redeemed, rejoice in God our only Lord! Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, who only doeth ivoiidrous things; and blessed be his glorious name for ever; and let the whole earth be filled with his glory! Amen, and Amen.