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THE
SPIRITUAL TEMPLE.

A SERMON, PREACHED IN THE
^aralj Clntrrij nf It J&Jjalaii', ttfartuirk,
ON SUNDAY EYENING, DECEMBER 8, 1850.
BY
THE REV. J. C. EDWARDS,

OF CLARE HALL, CAMBRIDGE, AND CURATE OF ST. NICHOLAS', WARWICK.

POLISHED AT THE BEQUEST OF MANY OF THE CONGREGATION.

THE PROFITS ARISING PROM THE BALE OF THIS SERMON WILL BE DEVOTED
TOWARDS THE FUNDS OF THE PROPOSED CHURCH., CALLED ST. PETEft's,
EMSCOTE, IN THE PARISH OF ST. NICHOLAS', WARWICK.

LONDON:
SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, AND Co.
LEAMINGTON: J. GLOVER.
1851.

Price Sixpence.

LEAMINGTON:
PRINTED BY J. GLOVER, 1, VICTORIA TERRACE.

TO THE CONGREGATION AT THE PARISH
CHURCH OF ST. NICHOLAS', WARWICK.

" GRACE AND PKACF, BE MULTIPLIED."

Beloved Friends,
In the estimation of seme, perhaps, I ought to
apologize for thus addressing you, but my explanation will,
1 am sure, be deemed sufficient for appearing before you as
a preacher in print. I have no alternative. A few days after
I had preached the following Sermon, I received an anony
mous letter, with a sum, of money enclosed, accompanied by
an urgent request that my discourse should be printed. In
addition to this, several of yourselves have expressed the
desire to possess that Sermon. The author of the letter in
question stated that he would take one hundred and fifty copies.
After the perusal of it, the thought struck me that by comply
ing with the solicitation of my unknown correspondent, as well
as that of others, I might be the humble instrument of extend
ing tlie kingdom of Christ, and that in two ways : first, the
wide spread of Evangelical Truth by means of that powerful
engine, — the press ; and secondly, in devoting all the proceeds
towards the funds of the proposed New Church and Schools
at Emscote.
I therefore, once more, but in another form., speak to you on
the same subject, not without the hope, that should you listen as
attentively to this silent preacher, as you did on that evening —
it may strengthen your confidence in your spiritual resources,
and animate you to increased and persevering efforts in the
ivork of the Lord,
The ceremony of the dedication of the temple of Solomon,
when that mighty Monarch was attired in his splendid robes
amidst thirty thousand devout worshippers, was one of the
greatest and most striking solemnities which the brilliant sun
ever saio. But at this moment, amid the stillness of the night,
I dedicate to you my humble attempt to delineate a far more

magnificent temple — a temple whose foundation is the Rock of
Ages, whose walls no revolutions can ever shake or convulsions
destroy ; whose fair proportions and consummate beauty shall
be fully developed, and which, amid the decay and ruin of
the mightiest works of human power, shall rise in celestial
grandeur, and fill the universe with exulting joy !
Eternity shall roll on its countless ages, and heaven shall
expand its unclouded glories ; but then, oh ! then it shall be
seen that the salvation of an immortal spirit was a far more
glorious achievement and infinitely superior to that stupendous
fabric which the Jewish Monarch erected on Mount Moriah !
Though the millenial sun has not yet risen, and though we
may be surrounded by " hills of darkness," yet there are
some streaks of light in the distant horizon, — look yonder !
Hark the cry, " Watchman, what ofthe night ? Watchman,
what of the night ?" " The morning cometh, and also the
night.'''' Yes, my brethren, the very " heavens are telling " us
that it is high time to rouse the ransomed family up, and call the
builders of Zion 's Temple to their work ! The enemies of eternal
truths are on the field ! but I labour under no apprehensions
as to the safety of the ark of God. We Uve under a different
dispensation to that when Eli trembled! I have no sym
pathy with the modern war-song — " Our Church is in clanger.
Our Protestant faith will be trampled upon, &c." As
long as the waters of the sanctuary continue to flow, and holy
truths live and thrive in human hearts, we may bid defiance
to the emissaries of blind superstition on the one hand., and
soul-dissatisfying rationalism on the other. The whole earth
shall resound with the echoes of the Redeemer s praise. The
glorious temple shall be completed. Its transept shall stretch
from the North to the South Poles. Its eastern towers shall
rise. Its western windows shall look out upon the great sea,
and all nations, kindreds, and tongues shall assemble beneath
its majestic dome !
May the Lord prepare you for this blessed period,
I remain,
With every sentiment of Christian affection,
Ever most faithfully yours,
J. C. EDWARDS.
Warwick, January, 1851.

A SERMON.

" But the Lord is in his holy temple : let all the earth
keep silence before him." — Habakkuk ii. 20.
" Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the
Spirit of God dwelleth in you." — 1 Corinthians, iii. 16.
" 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
an holy temple in the Lord: in whom ye also are builded
together for an habitation of God through the Spirit." —
Ephesians ii. 20 — 22.

Heaven is not merely the seat of royal power and
grandeur — it is a temple, and as such, is the seat of
exalted and sacred worship. The Redeemer appears
there not only in state — displaying his dignity and great
ness, but ministering in his official character. His life
there, no less than his death on earth, is necessary to our
salvation. He possesses not only personal, but likewise
relative glory, and that as our head and representative.
There, in a peculiar manner, dwells the God and Father
of Christ, and there, all his family are around him — par
ticipating in the blissful effects of his goodness, offering

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up the purest adoration of his excellencies, and uttering
the warmest effusions of gratitude for the manifold riches
of his grace. There the Saviour officiates as the great
Mediator in behalf of all in heaven and in earth who are
the children of God ; and for the purpose of adding to
his family, by translating sinners from the kingdom of
darkness into his own spiritual and holy fellowship.
Under the ancient dispensation, many representations
were given of this glory and worship, and which are often
referred to in the New Testament. Both the tabernacle
in the wilderness and the temple of Jerusalem exhibited
" a pattern of things in the heavens ;" the holy place, and
particularly the holiest of all, with the ark, the mercy-
seat, and the cherubim, the High Priest in his sacerdotal
robes, his solemn services in the sanctuary, connected
with the offering of sacrifice, the sprinkling of blood,
and the burning of incense : in a word — the whole of the
temple, in its ministers, furniture, and worship, formed a
visible representation of the offices, work, and salvation
of Christ. In the text, the prophet Habakkuk probably
refers to the High Priest entering the holy of holies,
whilst the congregation of Israel was outside and standing
in solemn silence, anticipating the result. The temple,
thus lit up by the presence of the Lord, and ' crowded
with brilliant forms, presented to the prophet a complete
parable of redemption. One of the material habitations
of Jehovah, was the temple which Solomon, that magni
ficent Monarch, reared upon the mountain of Moriah in
Jerusalem, the metropolis of his kingdom. That was
destroyed by the Babylonians, and another was erected,
whose glory was '• greater than the first." Seventeen
hundred years have now elapsed since the final desolation

of this solemn temple, which never more shall rise beneath
the builder's hand : for it is the will of God that in every
place he should be worshipped in spirit and in truth. By
the temple, in the passages which I have selected, we
mean the Church of the living God, " the pillar and
ground of the truth," of which the temple erected by the
King of Israel, with its costly stones, planks of cedar,
plates of gold, and glittering diamonds, was a type —
" Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that
the spirit of God dwelleth in you ?" I am anxious, my
brethren, that you should all understand what I mean by
the church, set forth in these verses under the figure of a
temple. The English term " church " is derived from the
Greek word Kvpiaxos, signifying the Lord's house. The
Christian body however, is generally denominated in the
New Testament by the word eK/cXi/o-m, which signifies " a
calling out." The septuagint version generally renders
" assembly " by the same word. " In the midst of the church
will I sing praises unto thee." When St. Paul wrote to
the Corinthians, he charged them, " Let your women keep
silence in the churches," yet he addressed the epistle
" unto the church of God which is in Corinth." Thus,
we discover that a collection of congregations, under the
inspection of one Bishop, was called the church, as appears
throughout the second and third chapters of the. Reve
lation. Now we find again, in the New Testament, that
all collective churches are reduced to the denomination
of one church. St. Paul says of himself, " that he per
secuted the church of God." In another place, speaking
of Christ, he says, " And he hath given him to be head
over all things to the church, which is his body." Christ
is called the Head of his Church ; he loved it and

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sanctified it, that it might be a "glorious church. St. Paul
speaks of " the general assembly and church of the first
born, whose names are enrolled in heaven." In our
creeds too, we acknowledge one church, and that universal
and apostolic. My brethren, it is important for us to
know what we mean by the word church. The temple of
Solomon was surrounded with side chambers — emblems,
perhaps of the different visible churches, and which
belong to the same universal body. In the text, all the
faithful are described as one body in Christ Jesus. He is
the Head — not St. Peter, nor that presumptive old man
called the Pope. Jesus is the chief corner stone of this
spiritual fabric, and the apostles and prophets, the found
ation compacted ; held together and resting upon him.
This, my brethren, we mean by one catholic and apostolic
church. This is the " communion of saints " mentioned
in our creed ; the whole body of God's children through
out the world are one. The body has its members, and
we may speak of one or more without destroying the
idea of the unity of the whole number of separate parts.
Her members are animated by one spirit ; knit together by
one bond of affection ; redeemed by the same blood ;
called out of the world by the same power ; justified by
one faith ; sanctified by the same blessed Spirit ; and re
joicing in one hope of a triumphant reign with Christ for
ever ! Do not tell me that I surrender myself to a fiction
of imagination when I say, that distant christians — that
all true believers, be they ( of whatever denomination,
form one body, one church, just as far as sincere love to
Christ and true piety possess their hearts. Nothing is
more real than this spiritual union. I believe, my
brethren (and I say it without a particle of bigotry), that

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the branch of the church of Christ, called the Church of
England, is the most liberal and loving of any visible body
of professing christians in the world. Listen how she re
members and prays for every professed believer on the face
of the globe — " More especially, we pray for the good
estate of the Catholic Church — that it may be so guided
and governed by thy good spirit, that all who profess and call
themselves Christians may be led into the "way of truth, and
hold the faith in unity of spirit, in the bond of peace, and
in righteousness of life." There is, my brethren, one grand
all-comprehending church, and if I am a disciple of Jesus,
I belong to it. This is a grander church than all parti
cular ones, the church universal, the church of Christ,
spread over all lands, and one with the church in heaven !
All who rest by faith oh the atonement offered on the hill
of Calvary, and who exhibit by their holy life and conver
sation their attachment to the Saviour, are members of
this church. It asks not — who has baptised us ? whose
passport we carry ? whose badge we wear ? If baptised
with the Holy Ghost, we are partakers of its privileges.
In the sacred spirit which pervades dwells a uniting power
found in no other tie. Though separated by oceans, -they
have sympathies strong arid indissoluble. Accordingly,
the clear strong utterance of one faithful minister flies
through the wide earth. It touches kindred chords in ano
ther hemisphere. The blood of the martyrs found its way
into the hearts of scattered millions. Ages do not divide
us. It is not men coming together into one building like
this, that forms this spiritual temple, nb, no ! Suppose
that in a place of wbfship I sit so near a person as to
touch him, but that there is no common feeling on the
great and vital principles of the Bible between us ; that

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the truths which move me he inwardly smiles at as a
dream of fancy, that the interest I take in Divine things
he calls wild enthusiasm. How far apart are we, though
visibly so near ? We belong to different worlds ! The
very sanctity of the place makes this indifference more
chilling. One of the coldest spots on earth is a church
without devotion : a sacred edifice without glorious truths
felt and understood within its walls. What is it to me,
that a costly temple is set apart by ever so many rites for
God's service ; -that priests who trace their lineage up to
Aaron, claim the exclusive right of being God's messen
gers of mercy — if I find it thronged by the worldly and
undevout, this is no church for me ; I go to meet, not
human bodies, but souls, and if I find them in an upper
room, like that where the disciples met, or in a shed,
or in a street, there I find a church. There may be only
" two or three," but there is a glory there far more trans-
cendant than the ancient Sheckinah, there is the true altar,
the sweet incense, and the accepted priest. " Ye also," says
St. Peter, " as living stones, are built up a spiritual house,
an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, accept
able to God by Jesus Christ." We now, my brethren,
proceed to take a survey of this spiritual temple, and I
beg to call your attention to five things —
Foundation — Materials — Symmetry — Design —
Purity.
It is not founded upon the dictation of Monarchs, nor
upon the bulls of Popes. It is not built upon the au
thority of the Fathers, nor the writings of the Reformers.
No, but upon the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New
Testaments. Prophets and apostles are here associated ;
their theme was the same. The prophets predicted the

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Messiah who was to come, and the apostles recorded the
history of the Messiah who had come : the one foretold
the redemption to be accomplished, the other wrote of
redemption finished and complete. And thus together
they form a magnificent communication made from the
invisible to the visible world : they resemble together the
cherubim upon the ark of the covenant, turning their
faces towards each other, and both together towards the
mercy seat. The church of Christ rests upon this rock,
and all who know and believe the writings of these pro
phets and apostles, enter into the composition of this
spiritual building. Popes and cardinals, statesmen, eccle
siastics, synods, and senates have all attempted in their
turn, from age to age, to destroy its source of power ;
and I tell you, that all kinds of catechisms, formularies,
articles or creeds, are to be considered as helps, not autho
rities — as expositors, not legislators, — intended to assist in
the formation of the judgment and to strengthen the
memory, but not to bind the soul. Jesus Christ is the
chief corner-stone, then away goes at once all the boasts
of the Church of Rome. Peter is not represented here
as sustaining any pre-eminence over the rest of the
apostles. Christ is the first and the last, the beginning
and the end of revealed truth. If Peter was something
more in this great fabric than the other apostles, suely my
text would have said so : St. Paul ought to have known
it. It is Jesus, my brethren, who opens and closes the
sacred portals, and as all the spiral lines of the building
should meet in the angular stone, so do all the lines of
inspired truth meet in him, and him alone.
A noble temple was erected once in the garden of Eden,
our first father created in the image of God ; a perfect

12
will directed , his understanding, perfect purity was the
inmate of his heart, and perfect obedience the companion
of his life. What a fair and beauteous temple ! so com
plete in all its parts, and exact in all its proportions, that
the Great Master builder himself, when the fabric was
finished, pronounced it to be "very good '." This wa's the
original erection of man in the image of his maker. But
alas I this building was assailed, successfully assailed,
undermined, and east over— great was the " fall " of it,
and most deplorable the consequences. In one short
unguarded moment, the demon of sin " crept " within its
walls ! The whole temple was demolished, and Adam
became so many shattered fragments, supplying no spirit
ual habitation for God to dwell in. This, my brethren,
is very familiar— but oh ! it is, .nevertheless, a most tre
mendous truth ! But, however, from these very ruins a
spiritual house is to be built up to God. The eternal
Son of the Father, the brightness of his glory, the express
image of his person — He, who in the beginning was with
God, and was God, came down amongst these ruined
fragments, and laying hold of one of them, purifying it
as he took it — rolling back the tide of corruption from it,
and filling it with Godhead, laid a new foundation ! a
" tried " stone ; it crumbled not under the pressure, the
needful pressure of Jehovah's righteousness — the intregal
vindication of the Divine government! The temple
erected in Paradise was destroyed by sin, the temple of
Solomon was demolished by Nebuchadnezzar, and the
temple reared by the liberated captives of Judah was
laid waste by the Roman army ; but I refer you, my
brethren, to a nobler building, and to a more glorious
sacrifice, offered on an altar more pure — the " temple of

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the Lord," " the habitation of the Spirit" mentioned in the
text. Jesus is the great victim who was slain at the dedi
cation of the gospel temple on the hill of Calvary !
His sacred blood sprinkled an imperishable virtue on its
threshold. This sacrifice was accepted : Justice cried " it
is enough ;" Mercy shouted " triumph ;" and Justice and
Mercy carried it to the holy of holies, and a voice of
thunder proceeded from the eternal throne, exclaiming,
" This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well
pleased." I do not stop now to harmonize or modify
the seeming contradiction how Christ is the foundation of
this spiritual temple, and, at the same time, the priest and
the victim. The apostle Peter, however, explains the
matter in a passage already quoted, for in virtue of this
sacrifice all true believers are "living stones, built up into
a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual
sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ." With what
infinite solemnity did Gpd, the great Architect of the
universe, when he deposited the great corner-stone, call
the attention of angels, men, and demons to the sublime
fact — " Behold, I lay in Zion a foundation stone, elect
and precious, he that believeth shall not be confounded !"
The Almighty, with all the infinite attributes of his
eternity, makes himself answerable for the everlasting
happiness of every human being who trusts for his sal
vation upon this foundation, and engages all the glories
of his nature for the completion of the edifice !
In the second place, we shall briefly notice the Mate
rials of which this great temple is composed.
The materials — these are countless myriads of ransomed
saints. There is a beautiful variety, though at the same
time a substantial sameness, in the precious stones of this

14.
grand super-structure. The four quarters of the world
furnish the materials for the edifice, and God selects them
from among every nation, and people, and kindred, and
tongue. In the construction of Solomon's temple there
was something like this — the cedars came from Lebanon,
the drapery from Egypt, the gold from Ophir, and the
skill from Tyre. So with this glorious fabric — they shall
come from the east and the west, the north and the south :
the Greenlander, the poor injured Negro, the now mis
guided haughty Brahmin, the ingenious Chinese, and the
degraded Hottentot. All shall come to Christ as a living
stone, disallowed indeed of men, but " chosen of God and
precious," each contributing to the surpassing beauty of
this most august and stately temple of the living God !
We read that the principal parts of the ancient temple
were overlaid with gold, as a faint emblem of the spiritual
riches and grandeur of the church of Christ, and alluding
to the gospel temple, the great Master builder speaks
through the prophet Isaiah, " Behold I will lay my stones
with fair colours, and lay thy foundations with sapphire ;
and I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of
carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones." The
reference is obviously to the moral excellence and beauty,
for the figure is immediately dropped, and it is said,
" And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord, and
great shall be the peace of thy children." By means of
the transforming influence of his word, his spirit beau
tifies the meek, or the afflicted and tried, with the glory
of salvation. The apostle John, in the Revelation, gives
us a minute account of the materials of the spiritual
temple, setting before us that everything on earth which
we admire, and the most beauteous prospects in creation,

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are, taken singly, too inadequate to bring before our eyes
the surpassing loveliness of the heavenly temple. Her
"light was like unto a stone most precious, even like
a jasper stone, clear as crystal." Her twelve gates, too,
were each severally of one pearl ; the pavement was
"pure gold, as it were glass." Here the jasper is joined
to the crystal, giving to the rich and deep brilliancy of
burnished gold the transparency of glass. With gates of
pearl-like whiteness, there was the most precious earthly
substance for its flooring, and besides this, there was shed
forth a light of jasper hues blended with the crystal. Like
the first flush of the morning in tropical skies, when the
slowly rising sun tinges with liquid purple the golden
white transparency of the atmosphere — but only in infi
nitely greater richness and beauty did the celestial temple
appear to the beloved disciple. As the tabernacle in the
wilderness was designed to be the residence of God as
King of Israel, it was becoming that it should be a resi
dence worthy, as it were, of his character as a Sovereign.
The seat of his residence was a royal palace, as well as a
temple. Hence the very splendid furniture and rich
ornaments of the sanctuary, and hence the ample retinue,
and the magnificent equipage of the domestic establish
ment of the great King. We are reminded here of
the kingdom of Christ, — but all these, my brethren, were
in themselves but beggarly elements of knowledge, when
compared with the spiritual glory of him who had not
where to lay his head — with the heavenly grandeur which
now adorns him, the spiritual excellence, and the noble
dignity of his subjects, who, collectively considered, are
lively stones — a royal priesthood, and are individually
kings and priests unto God, even his Father !

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Thirdly, we notice the Symmetry of this spiritual
fabric, "fitly framed together."
The apostle probably alludes here to Solomon's temple,
for we read that " the house, when it was building,, was
built of stone, made ready before it was brought thither ;
so that there was neither hammer, nor any tool of iron,
heard in the house, while it was building." The mate
rials were prepared and the stones fitted to one another
before they were compacted together, so that noisy tools
were wholly unnecessary as the building rose ; an expres
sive emblem this, of that peaceful harmony which ought
to reign among the builders of the church, as they carry
on this holy work, and which would be easily attained if
none but polished, living stones, or persons duly qualified
— formed and chiselled by the Divine Spirit — were to
become a part of the fabric ! There is, my brethren,
another practical thought connected with this idea, and
that is, that heaven is a prepared place for a prepared
people. Oh ! how many deceive themselves on this
point ! they dream of heaven and immortality, but forget
entirely the necessary preparation for the actual enjoy
ment of the celestial state.
The symmetry of the tabernacle, the nice conjunction
of the boards by mortises and bars, and of the curtains
by loops and taches, fitly represented the unity of the
.church of Christ, when her members are knit together
in love, when perfectly joined together in the same mind,
and in the same judgment ; and when keeping the unity
of the spirit in the bond of peace. God is a God pf
order, as even his material work testify. And what are
the heavenly graces pf the Sprit of Christ but the exer
cises of the mind in a state of moral order ? But while

17
every christian is, in one sense, " a temple of the Holy
Ghost," yet, in another, he is but a stone in the temple
of the living God." One stone does not constitute a
building, and neither do a number of stones, unless they
are united together. Hence, as the " body is not one
member, but many ;" so it is with the great temple of
Jehovah. What a display then, of symmetry and union
will be exhibited, when the building, which is now fitly
coupled together, and which is growing up into an holy
temple in the Lord, shall be perfectly finished ! Every
stone of that building has its appropriate place ; every
one of them in that place contributes to the beauty of
the whole. This great" temple of nature, my brethren, is
the workshop of the Holy Spirit — here he prepares the
stones for the celestial temple. Believers in Christ, do
not complain of your afflictions and sorrows — they are
only so many strokes of the Divine Sculptor, in order to
prepare you to take your place amongst holy angels and
glorified saints, in the " house of many mansions." One
stroke more, perhaps, and you will rise in moral grandeur,
reflecting the bright image of the King of Glory ! If the
skill of Bezaleel and .Aholiab was displayed, in the con
struction of the earthly sanctuary, what will be the mani-
fold wisdom displayed in the creation of the spiritual
temple, where sinners of all nations and kindreds, of all
conditions and circumstances, of all classes and characters,
and of all varieties of talents and dispositions, of views
and of temper, shall be formed into one compaGt structure,
and united in one holy brotherhood !
In the fourth place, the grand design of the building,
" an habitation of God through tlie Spirit." The church of
Christ, my brethren, as a part of the church in heaven,
c

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stands opposed to that which is local. Among the many
restrictions peculiar to the Jewish nation, one was, that
after the erection of the temple at Jerusalem it became
impious to perform certain rites at another place ; but
Jesus announced that, by the introduction of the gospel,
all such local distinctions would cease, and that believers
would then offer spiritual sacrifices, wherever and as often
as they chose. God is a Spirit, and the only devotion
compatible with his nature is that which flows from the
souls of his worshippers. In prescribing the ritual part
of a religion, he is to be regarded as consulting not the
spirituality of his own, but the materiality and, infirmities
of our nature. Devotion in heaven, being divested of all
its earthly vestments, is reduced to its pure essential
elements. The Jews could have had no conception of a
temple apart from their worship ; so when Christ, who
was the habitation of Deity — God manifest in the flesh,
said, " Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise
it again, speaking of the temple of his body," they did
not understand him. On another occasion, when standing
in the holy place, he affirmed, " I say unto you, that in
this place is one greater than this temple." He said this
when he knew that their idea of a temple like that at
Jerusalem was a heaven upon earth — that they allowed
nothing to surpass the temple except the God who dwelt
in it ; but he could add — the Father is in me. In harmony
with this representation, the disciples of Christ are dis
tinguished as " the true circumcision, who worship God
in the spirit." He introduces them into a church from
which he has swept away every vestige of the ancient
rites. When they come into his courts, he requires that
nothing be laid upon his altar but " spiritual sacrifices,"

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that nothing appear before him but our spirits communing
with his Spirit. A convert from Judaism must have felt
an amazing change, in passing from the pompous ritual to
the severe simplicity of the spiritual temple-j-when ex
changing the gorgeous magnificence of the fabric on
Mount Moriah for the bare and unpretending plainness
of an " upper room ;" and emerging from the cloud of
incense, to find himself alone with the great Spirit of the
gospel dispensation. But the loss of the material sanc
tuary was more than compensated by erecting the soul of
the believer into a "living temple." The Holy Spirit
cleanses and consecrates the human heart, and kindling on
its altar a sacred fire, he himself conducts the worship.
Acting the part of its high priest and intercessor, he pre
pares and presents to God the welcome sacrifice of a
broken and contrite heart. He calls the thoughts, and
affections, and desires, away from the world, and conducts
them, like a band of humble worshippers, to the throne
of God ; constraining the soul, and all that is within it
to bless and praise his holy name ! Thus the christian is
a holy temple — an " habitation of God through the
Spirit." True believers give a sanctifying power, a glory
to the place of public worship, where they come together.
In them Christ is present and manifested in a far higher
sense, than if he was revealed to the bodily eye. We are
apt to think differently. Were there a place of worship,
in which a glory like that which clothed Jesus on the
mount of transfiguration, were to shine forth, how should
we honour this as eminently his church ! But there is a
more glorious presence of Christ than this. It is Christ
formed in the souls of his disciples. Christ's bodily
presence does not make a church. He was thus present

20
in the thronged streets of Jerusalem, present in the syna
gogue and the temple, but these were not churches — not
temples of the Holy Ghost. It is the presence of his
spirit, truth, likeness, divine love, in the souls of men,
which attracts and unites them into one living body.
Suppose that we meet together in a place consecrated by
all manner of forms, but that nothing of Christ's Spirit
dwells in us. With all its splendid ceremonies, it is a
synagogue of Satan, not a church of Jesus Christ in
the hearts of men, I repeat, it is the only church bond.
The Roman Catholics, to give them a feeling of the pre
sent Saviour, adorn their temples with paintings, repre
senting him in the most affecting scenes of his life and
death, — but there is a far higher likeness to God than the
artist ever drew or chiselled. It exists in the heart of the
regenerate. The sincere believer surpasses Raphael and
Michael Angelo.* They have given us Christ's counte
nance from fancy, and at best having little likeness to
the mild beauty, and majestic form which moved in the
land of Judea. The christian who is an habitation of God
through the Spirit, gives us no fancied representation ;
but the true Divine lineaments of the " Holy One," — the
very spirit which beamed in his face, and which spoke in
his voice, and which attested his glory as the Son of God.
My brethren, in this spiritual temple there is no mass to
be offered, no sacrifice — besides the sacrifice of a broken
heart and a contrite spirit, and then that of prayer and
thanksgiving as the result — no priesthood, besides those
who are made kings and priests unto God and his Father,
by the atoning blood of our great High Priest who has
gone beyond the veil ! It was the pride and pomp of
* Dr. Chauncy.

21
carnal worshippers that introduced the sacerdotal leaven
among the simple elements of the gospel. It was the
desperate wickedness of the human heart that tempted
ambitious and crafty priests to deny the light of God's
Word, in order that they might with the greater impu
nity usurp to themselves the attributes and prerogatives
of the Divine Mediator — to sell the gift of God for
money, and establish over the consciences of their victims
the most arrogant spiritual domination. The desire of
the Romish Church is to put up the shutters of the
Divine Word, in order that the nations may not be en
lightened by the beams of brightness which flashes from
the windows of the temple of God !
The character of our simple worship within these walls,
my brethren, is not only more in harmony with the apos
tolic pattern, but invested with far truer dignity, and
e'ntitled to far greater honour than any form of a priestly
functionary, who administers the rites of a theatrical and
ceremonial religion, with whatever outward pageantry and
splendour he may be encompassed. Though he stood in
a material temple of the most imposing architectural
grandeur, and ministered at an altar glittering with bur
nished gold, amid clouds of incense and the thrilling
sound of solemn music — clothed in the richest fashion of
pontifical pomp, with the gorgeous sacerdotal mantle flow
ing around his person, and the sparkling golden tiara
flashing on his brow !
It is high time, my brethren, that the builders of the
second temple should grasp the implement of labour with
one hand, asnd $ie instrument of Evangelical conflict with
the other, and in the legitimate exercise of ardour and
energy handle the " two-edged sword," which alone can

22
divide the "joints and marrow" of Popery and Rationalism.
A day is coming, yea, is come — when the great battle of
principles is to be fought. Armed with weapons of ethereal
temper from the sanctuary of God — let us prayerfully
march to the field of conflict. Victory is ours. Some we
will kill with the sword — -the sword of the spirit — and if
any will attempt to escape we will pursue them, crying
after them " Turn ye, turn ye, why will ye die."
I have now but little space to dwell on the last part of
my subject— the Purity of the spiritual temple. We
have already remarked on the exquisite beauty of the
building — it is, my brethren, the " beauty of holiness."
It was said of the material fabric under the old dispen
sation " Holiness becometh thine house." " God is glo
rious in holiness," for it constitutes the loveliness of his
virtue. There are in every human structure, notwith
standing the scrutiny and the vigilance of the most watch
ful builders, unseasoned and inferior materials — that may
typify the visible temple ; the kingdom of God on earth
is composed of both " wise and foolish virgins," but the
spiritual temple, the members of the invisible body of
Christ, are sanctified worshippers, reflecting in the trans
forming light of the Holy Spirit, the glory and power of
the Divine perfection.
Brethren, are you members of this spiritual building,
or are you but mere scaffoldings — a kind of temporary
structure whilst the stupendous fabric is in building. You
know my meaning. When a house is completed the
scaffolding is taken down — so with this noble superstruc
ture, this temple of the living God. When the resur
rection trumpet shall resound through the mansions of the
tomb, and one fierce sheet of flame shall enwrap the globe,

the " wood, hay, and stubble " shall be burnt, every man's
work shall be made manifest ; nothing will stand the
scrutiny of the last day but the "sure foundation." Then,
" revealed by fire," the spiritual temple shall rise in so
lemn grandeur amidst the flames of a consuming universe !
Do you fight under the banner of the cross ? Are you
the soldiers of the Lamb ? Do you exhibit in your life
and conversation that you are not of the world ? Then
listen to the glorious announcement of the King of Zion
— " Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the
temple of my God, and he shall go no more out : and I
will write upon him the name of my God, and the name
of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which
cometh down out of heaven from my God : and I will
write upon him my new name. He that hath an ear, let
him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches." —
Rev. ii. 12—13.

3. GLOVER, PRINTER, 1, VICTORIA TERRACE, LEAMINGTON.

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