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als already fitted and prepared; but a creative power to make all things anew.

Think of the time required to carry on this work. It has been going on from the first periods of time, through all succeeding ages and generations, to the present; and it shall be continued as long as time shall last. Men have been very busily employed; they have been born, and lived, and flourished, and died. Thrones have been set up and cast down. Empires have been formed, have arrived at the zenith of their glory, and have disappeared. But this work has been going on from generation to generation, and the last stone shall not be brought forth till the last moment of time. There is, therefore, a perpetual agency required. In this work patriarchs and prophets, apostles and martyrs, kings and their subjects, the learned and the powerful, the wise and the good, have been variously employed; but they were merely instruments; they were called to their day's work, and then taken to their reward. Stupendous providences, also, have been employed; but these have only been as means; and these were laid aside when they had accomplished their design. But this great agent, he works from first to last, without relaxation, without intermission.

This is the agent pointed out in the text; the Holy Spirit; the wise, the almighty, the omnipresent, the infinite, the eternal Spirit; an agent that ever lives, and ever works. "Not by might,. nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts." He is the great agent; instruments are used and laid aside; providences are employed and overruled; but he is the great agent who worketh all in all. And,

IV. LET US NOTICE THE DESIGN TO BE ACCOMPLISHED IN THIS

WORK.

It is "for an habitation of God." What was the design of the erection of the Jewish tabernacle in the wilderness? It was to be God's residence; there the Shechinah was to be placed; and so it was intended with respect to the temple which was afterwards built by Solomon. But these were only symbols, types, shadows; this is the temple, the habitation of God, where he will dwell. This is the tabernacle, the temple, the Zion, of which God has said, "This is my rest for ever; here will I dwell; for I have desired it." But how shall we speak aright of this? "It doth not yet appear what we shall be ;" we may think of all that is good, and great, and blessed, and give it the happiest expression; and when we have done all that we can, we are still at the threshold; we are still compelled to say, "It doth not yet appear what we shall be." We may, however, say something, 1. As to its perfection. This habitation of God will display the

utmost perfection; nothing that is polluted shall enter into it. It was said of God's earthly temple, that it was "the holy place, the tabernacle of the Most High;" it was the abode of Deity. This gives us an idea of the most perfect purity. A just idea of God's earthly temple leads the saints to say, "A day in thy courts, with all our imperfections, is better than a thousand spent elsewhere." O then what will be the place where the blessed God dwells; the tabernacle which he makes his eternal abode? Nothing that is impure, nothing that defileth, can enter there. The words of the text convey an idea also,

2. As to its vast extent. Have you ever considered what the Apostle says," He hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things to the church, which is his body;" then mark "the fulness of him that filleth all in all." O, what wonderful ideas does this language convey to our minds! This habitation will not only be holy and pure, but of vast extent. "The fulness of him that filleth all

in all." O, this infinitely surpasses all our ideas.

3. It shall be holy and exquisite love. All will be alike, when brought to form parts of this habitation of God. There will not be two different principles two creeds - two parties - two feelings; no; all souls, all sentiments, all feelings, all hearts, will be alike. Saints and angels all uniting and united; united in bonds most sacred, most blessed, most endearing, most perfect. There will be all that can unite the thoughts and the heart, all that can endear the affections. All will be brethren, and amidst them all the Son of God," the first-born among many brethren;" he will have "the pre-eminence;" but it will be the pre-eminence of a brother and a friend. And, O, say, what will be the blessedness of such a state of mind, of such a state of feeling, of such a state of holy, of blessed love!

4. A state of supreme delight also. We can form but little idea of delight in the present state; our delights are chiefly either from recollection, or from anticipation. The flame of delight is but weak and languid at the best, while we are on earth; but in the temple of God it will burn with a full and steady flame. There the great Father of all will contemplate all his designs completely fulfilled; every obstacle to the manifestation of his kindness will be for ever removed; and all his heart will be continually overflowing to his creatures! He will bring all his fulness to bear upon their souls to render their bliss complete, while all that is contrary to their happiness, and bliss shall be entirely done away. Then the blessed Redeemer shall "see of the travail of his soul, and be satisfied;" all the fruit of his toil shall be gathered; all his children shall be brought home, and he shall receive his full reward! He remembers Calvary, in all the blessedness and

glory connected with it; people share it with him. selves?

he is filled with sacred delight, and all his And what shall we say of the saints them

"O the delights, the heavenly joys,

The glories of the place,

Where Jesus sheds the brightest beams
Of his o'erflowing grace!"

Ah, shall I be there? Ah, my friends, will you be there? O, what a full tide of joy will pour into the souls of the saints, when the joy of each in this vast multitude will contribute to the joy of all! For there will be no selfish feeling; the delight is a common stock; the joy of one will be the joy of all, and the joy of all is the joy of each individual. Each one will say, "This God is our God for ever and ever! This Lord is our Lord for ever and ever!" With what feelings shall we remember our trials and difficulties here, and praise the love that has brought us safely through! This will be delight infinitely beyond the best that we ever formed any idea of. Like the Queen of Sheba, we shall say, "the half was not told us -the thousandth part was not told us;" it will be beyond our warmest wishes, and infinitely surpass our most fervent prayers.

5. It will be a state, a presentation of the most unspeakable glory. What is said by the beloved disciple? "I, John, saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with man, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them and be their God."-" And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof." O, the ineffable glory and blessedness which is to attend the consummation of the union which is now formed between Christians and their blessed Lord!

V. LET US CONCLUDE THE SUBJECT WITH A FEW REFLECTIONS. We must not dismiss the subject without these. I have, in part, anticipated them, it is true; but it is worth having a second, and a third, and a fourth, and a continual impression of them upon our minds.

1. Have we been saved? Have we been delivered from the world? Have we been built on Jesus Christ? Has the gospel produced any effect upon our minds? Is there any evidence that Christ is our foundation? Have we come as sinners to build upon him? Ah, my friends! these are questions of the first importance; and a period will

arrive, in your experience, and in mine, when these questions will put all others in the shade. When we come to death- and we are coming to it, and coming nearer and nearer to it every day - and when the judgment-seat and eternity, with all its realities, bursts upon us; these will be questions of the very highest consideration. O, be concerned to be partakers of Christ, and aim to be built upon him! He is the only refuge, the only foundation of security and salvation.

"None but Jesus

Can do helpless sinners good."

There is "no other name under heaven whereby we must be saved." Let this inquiry be carried home to our hearts, and let the effect of it enter into our lives. It will be sure to come to us at some period, O let it come NOW!

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2. As God honors human instrumentality in carrying on this blessed building, how concerned should we all be to be employed in it! Let each say, "Lord, what wouldst thou have me to do in this blessed work?" If there be a possibility of one arriving at that state of blessedness, and then saying- "In yonder great world, where I lived for many years, I never did any thing, I never gave any thing towards the carrying on that glorious building, which is now the joy, the admiration of all! While the servants of Christ were employed in the most laborious exertions, I never did any thing; while they made the greatest sacrifices, I never gave any thing; while they united all their energies, I had no hand whatever in the work!" O, if it be possible for shame to come across the cheek of a redeemed man, how would he then blush! O let us, and especially those who have the blossoms of the grave upon us, let us employ our time, our talents, our all, in this work. We are all called to do something to carry stones or timber to the building, to dig stones out of the quarry, or to hew and square the wood. I might beg of you this evening, but I will not. Read the text, and meditate upon what is connected with it; and then withhold, if you can, if you dare, all that this great and good cause claims at your hands.

3. It should be our concern to live, and labor, and die, fully assured of the glory of God, and the glory of the church. Amidst all the trials of this militant state, amidst all the ravages of death and the grave, and amidst all the ruins and convulsions of the world, the church of Christ shall stand. Nothing shall ever be able to cast it down. For the divine honor, for angels' joy, for man's good, it shall stand,— for men, for angels, for God, for ever and ever! AMEN.

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"He that is not with me is against me."-MATTHEW Xii. 30.

My brethren, the ministers of the gospel are liable to many reflections, and they are not always of the same character; yea, some of them seem perfectly opposite to others. Sometimes they are censured for being too lax in their preaching; and when they proclaim the unsearchable riches of Christ, and the efficacy of his blood as together able to cleanse from all sin, and the glory of his righteousness as able to justify the ungodly, and invite all, even the chief of sinners, to come to him as they are, and to be blessed with all spiritual blessings in him-oh! this is dangerous; this is licentiousness; and these, if they are not ungodly men, are deluded men, who turn the grace of God into licentiousness, and teach their hearers to "sin, that grace may abound."

Then, on the other side, they are condemned as being too strict, too severe; and when they require persons to deny themselves and take up their cross and follow the Savior, and to crucify the flesh, with its affections and lusts, and to mortify the deeds of the body, and to become not only moral, but godly and Christian, and entirely godly and Christian" oh! this is a hard saying, who can bear it?" But the question is, whether it is a true one. We wish to be always tender, but we dare not to be unfaithful- unfaithful to God, unfaithful to souls, unfaithful to our subject. And what saith the Scriptures? Whose lips said, "straight is the gate, and narrow is the road that leadeth to life, and few there be that find it," whereas, "wide is the gate, and broad is the road that leadeth to destruction, and many there be that go in thereat?" Whose lips said, "He that is not with me is against me?"

Our subject, therefore, this evening is, Opposition to Christ. The disgracefulness of being against him; the danger of being against him; the possibility of being against him, and the evidence of being against him." Consider what we say, and may the Lord give you understanding in all things."

I. The DISGRACEFULNESS of being against Christ. make this appear a little, you will observe

In order to

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