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The truths now stated cast also a steady and pleasing light on a subject of deep interest at all times, of peculiarly deep interest in the times that are passing over us: the true nature of the union of the Church, and the true means of promoting it. It is the union of "living stones," and that is to be promoted by "coming to the living stone." No union of dead stones can ever form a "spiritual house." There is no becoming living stones, but by coming to the living stone; no coming closely together among the living stones, but by coming individually closer to the living stone; no coming closer to the living stone, without coming closer to one another. No combination of worldly men can form or promote the union of the Church. That union is union in truth and love; and this can have place only among those who "have received out of his fulness," who, according to the benignant good pleasure of the Father, is "full of truth and grace. And it will take place just in proportion to the degree in which these communications are received. Oh, when the Church, the visible assembly of the professed people of God, becomes, as we trust it one day shall, obviously a well-compacted building of living stones, closely cemented to one another, by all being firmly attached to the great living foundation, what a spectacle will the Zion of the Lord, all radiant with divine light, then exhibit? Then will be accomplished the promise which has cheered the heart of her genuine children in the seasons of her desolation; "O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted! behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colors, and thy foundations with sapphires. And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones. In righteousness shall thou be established; thou shalt be far from oppression; for thou shalt not fear and from terror; for it shall not come near thee. The glory of Lebanon shall come to thee, the fir-tree, the pine-tree, and the box together, to beautify the place of my sanctuary; and I will make the place of my feet glorious." Then shall the palace of the great King, the Lord of Hosts, the temple of the God of heaven and earth, be "established on the top of the mountains, and be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow into it." And should the kings of the earth, as they have often done, assemble against it, "they shall pass by together they shall see it, and marvel; they shall be troubled, and pass away. And a great voice shall be heard in heaven: "Behold, the tabernacle of God;" the spiritual house, formed of the living stones on the living foundation; all shining with living light and holy beauty: "Behold the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God." Who, that has any part in the faith and feeling of a Christian, can help saying in his heart, "Hasten it, O Lord, in its time. How long, O Lord, how long?" "He that testifieth these things saith, and he is faithful who hath promised, Behold, I come quickly. Amen. Even so come, Lord Jesus."1

I proceed now to call your attention shortly to the subsidiary statements, which all, as it were, cluster around this great central

1 Isa. liv. 11-14; lx. 13. Micah iv. 1. Rev. xxi. 3; xxii. 20.

one, which is, indeed, the sum and substance of "the gospel of our salvation."

The first of these is, 'Jesus Christ, as the foundation of the spiritual temple, is "laid by God:" "Behold," saith Jehovah by the prophet, "I lay in Sion a sure foundation." The phrase, "in Sion," seems intended to mark that the foundation was the foundation of a temple, a palace for himself. "Mount Sion, beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole land," was "the mountain of God's holiness,' the mountain set apart for himself. "He chose the Mount Zion, which he loved." While "he was known in Judah, and his name was great in Israel, in Salem was his tabernacle, and his dwellingplace in Zion." To lay a foundation, then, "in Zion," is to lay the foundation of a temple, and of a temple to Jehovah.

We have already seen what is signified by Jesus Christ being this foundation. Our inquiry now is, what is meant by this foundation being laid by Jehovah? It indicates that the whole arrangement is not the result of human, of created, wisdom or power, but of divine. No man, no angel laid this foundation. "I lay it," says Jehovah. It is equivalent to,-'I appoint him to the character emblematized by the foundation of the spiritual temple. I invest him with it. I qualify him for it. I accredit him in it.' Jesus Christ is the divinelyappointed, the divinely-qualified, the divinely-raised up, the divinelyaccredited Saviour of men; "fore-ordained before the foundation of the world;" at the appointed period "sent forth;" possessed of every necessary qualification, and bringing along with him every necessary credential; and "all" these "things are of God." His destination, his constitution, his qualifications, his attestation, are all divine. There seems to be a peculiar reference to the manifestation of this glorious truth, when "God raised Jesus from the dead, and set him at his own right hand." Then was "the stone set at naught of the builders" made to appear to be indeed "the head stone," the principal stone "of the corner." Then was it proclaimed as from heaven, "Let all the house of Israel," let all the family of man, "know assuredly, that God has made that same Jesus, whom men crucified, both Lord and Christ."2

The second subsidiary statement is, 'this foundation is a "chief," or the chief "corner-stone.' The stone on which the angle of a building rests, gives not only support, but connection, to the different parts of the building. It joins the different walls and stones into one building. The idea intended to be conveyed seems to be this, that the union of Christians as a body fitted for enjoying the divine presence and promoting the divine honor, depends on their individually being connected with Jesus Christ, as the divinely-appointed, qualified, constituted, accredited Saviour. It is this common connection with him which is the basis of their connection with each other. "In him," united to him, "they are builded together, a habitation of God through the Spirit," a spiritual habitation of God. It is thus that they are "knit together," thus that they are "fitly joined and compacted."

1 Psal. xlviii. 1, 2; lxxviii. 68; lxxvi. 1, 2.

2 1 Pet. i. 20. Gal. iv. 4. Psal. cxviii. 22. Acts, iv. 10-12; ii. 36.

The third subsidiary statement is, that this foundation is "chosen or elect." These words seem intended as a translation of the Hebrew phrase rendered in our version of the Old Testament, a "tried stone," proved and approved, and therefore chosen, selected, appointed, and employed to serve an important purpose. When God from eternity appointed his Son to be the Saviour of men, the foundation of the spiritual temple, the Father knew the Son; he knew his capacities, he knew he could bear all that was to be laid on him, both the weight of suffering, and "the exceeding great and eternal weight of glory;" and previously to his actually constituting him "Lord and Christ," and holding him forth to men in these characters, he had been exposed to every species of trial competent to him, and had stood the trial. Every test applied, but brought out more fully his complete fitness for the mighty work to which he was appointed.

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The fourth subsidiary statement is, that this foundation is " cious," that is, highly valuable, as possessed of every quality necessary in a foundation, and as alone being possessed of the qualities necessary in the foundation of such a building; for "other foundation can no man lay save that which is laid, Christ Jesus." The idea is, Jesus Christ is a "precious," an all-accomplished Saviour, a perfect Redeemer, having all the knowledge, all the wisdom, all the power, all the merit, all the compassion arising from himself having "suffered, being tried," which are necessary to fit him for accomplishing the work of salvation in the best possible way. And he is "precious," too, as the only Saviour. He is not one among many saviours; not the best among them; he is the only Saviour. He can, and he only can, save from evils; he can, and he only can, raise to blessings; deliverance from the first, and possession of the second of which, are absolutely necessary and completely sufficient to secure us from being miserable, and for making us happy, without measure and without end, up to the largest capacity of our nature for suffering or enjoyment, and during the whole eternity of our being. “The Deity, filling his human nature with all manner of grace in its highest perfection, made him infinitely precious and excellent; and not only was he thus excellent in himself, but he is of precious virtue, which he lets forth and imparts to others, of such a virtue that a touch of him is the only cure of spiritual diseases. Men tell of strange virtues of some stones; but it is certain that this precious stone hath not only virtue to heal the sick, but even to raise the dead. Dead bodies he raised in the days of his abode on earth, and dead souls he doth still raise by the power of his word.” 1

The fifth subsidiary statement is, 'this foundation-stone was "disallowed and rejected of men:" but, notwithstanding, made by God to answer all the purposes for which it was intended.' The direct reference is to the rejection, by the Jewish nation, of Jesus Christ as the Saviour promised to the Fathers. When the word, made flesh of the seed of David according to the promise, "came to his own, his own received him not."" Instead of honoring him as the sent of God, the divinely-destined, qualified, accredited Saviour, they regarded

1 Leighton.

2 John, i. 11.

him with contempt and abhorrence as a low-born impostor, and put him to the death of a blasphemer and a traitor. But while this is the direct reference, the statement is meant to embrace a wider range of facts. The Jews were just a specimen of our race, and acted as the race would have done in similar circumstances; and men generally, universally till they are taught of God, disallow and reject Jesus Christ as the foundation; and though they do not do this exactly in the same way as the Jews did, for this is impossible, they manifest the same spirit, they do substantially the same thing. Jesus Christ, made known in the word of the truth of the gospel as the only and allsufficient Saviour, is by the great body of mankind not acknowledged. They do not own his authority, trust in his atonement, imbibe his Spirit, obey his laws. But though men reject him, God owns him: he shows that in his estimation he is proved, approved, excellent, invaluable. The stone which the "Jewish builders rejected," he made "the chief stone of the corner.' He raised him to his own right hand, and gave him all the authority and power, as Mediator, which were necessary to carry forward to accomplishment the benignant purposes of those severe trials by which his excellence had been so fully proved. And still, though mankind very generally reject the Saviour, and so, refusing to build on him the only foundation, perish, yet this foundation of God standeth sure. "Jesus Christ" remains "the same yesterday, to-day, and forever;" and while he is to multitudes, to all who reject him, "a stumbling-block and foolishness," by divine power and grace he is "the wisdom of God, and the power of God to salvation, to all who believe;" "made of God to them wisdom, righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption." Men may stumble at the foundation so as to fall, but they cannot move it, or render it, in any degree, unfit for the great purpose for which it is laid, to be the sure support of that edifice of mercy and holiness, of which Jehovah has said, "It shall be built forever."

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The last subsidiary statement is, that this foundation is a "living stone." The general meaning of this, at first sight paradoxical, declaration, is abundantly obvious. He is a suitable foundation for a spiritual temple, formed not of dead matter, but of intelligent beings. But while this is its meaning, this does not exhaust its meaning. The epithet "living" is, I apprehend, intended to express those qualities in Christ Jesus which make him a fit foundation for a spiritual temple. He is so a "living stone," as that dead stones, when laid on him, become living stones. He has in himself, and has the capacity of communicating to others, all that is necessary to make them fit recipients of the divine presence, fit instruments for promoting the divine glory, He is the living and life-giving foundation. He is full of spiritual life, grace, and truth; and so full, that no man can be brought near him, but straightway he fills him with grace and truth too. It is well said by an old interpreter, "He is called the living stone, as he is called the living bread and the living water, not only because he has life in himself, but also because he gives life to the dead. He lives, and because he lives, they who eat him as the living bread, they who drink him as the living water, they who come to him and build on him

1 Heb. xiii. 1 Cor. i. 23, 24, 30.

as the living stone, live also." In the words of the good archbishop, "He is here called a living stone, not only because of his immortality and glorious resurrection, being a lamb that was slain, and is alive forever and ever, but because he is the principle of spiritual and eternal life to us," a living foundation that transfuses its life into the whole building, and every stone of it, "in whom," united to whom, "all the building is fitly framed." It is the spirit that flows from him which enlivens it, and knits it together, not as a dead mass, but as a "living body." This foundation, from the peculiarity of the case, does for its living superstructure what the root does in the vegetable world to the trunk, the branches, and the leaves, and what the head or the heart in the animal body does to all the members.

Such, then, is the truth about Christ, which the converted strangers scattered abroad believed, that Jesus Christ, though rejected by the great body of mankind, is the divinely-chosen, the divinely-qualified, the divinely-proved, the divinely-approved, the divinely-constituted, the divinely accredited, Saviour of man,-possessed of every necessary excellence for making man truly and eternally happy, by making him the fit recipient of the divine presence and benefits, and the fit instrument for declaring the divine excellence, showing forth the divine praise. This they believed for they had heard it "in the word of the truth of the gospel"—a word to which "God bore witness by signs, and wonders, and divers miracles and gifts of the Holy Ghost," and which was confirmed by the testimony of the law and the prophets. And believing this, they had come to him as the sure foundation laid by God, and had built themselves on him. Believing the truth about him, they had acted towards him according to their faith, implicitly submitting to his teaching as their great prophet, relying on his atonement as their only priest, obeying his commandments as their Sovereign Lord and King. This is the way in which they ceased to be dead stones and became living stones; came out of darkness into light; and from not being a people became God's people; and from not having found mercy became the happy possessors of the peculiar favor of Jehovah, and of all its glorious results. There is a peculiarity in the phraseology which deserves attention before we close our remarks on this part of the subject. The word is in the present, not in the past tense. It is not "having come, but "coming;" not "he who has believed," but "he that believeth." This intimates, that to the continued enjoyment of the peculiar privileges of Christians, there must be continued faith in him, continued coming to him. In order to a life of christian enjoyment, there must be "a life of faith on the Son of God, who loved us, and gave himself for us." 1

III.-THE PECULIAR PRIVILEGES OF CHRISTIANS.

§ 1.-General Statement.

It is now time that we proceed to consider the view which the text gives us of the dignified and happy state into which Christians are

1 Gal. ii. 20.