and little bleffing difcerned? Why, furely temple-work and temple-reformation is laid afide: this is what the Lord complains of, by this fame prophet Haggai, chap. i. 2, 3, 4. "People say, The time is not come, the time to build the Lord's house." Why, fays God, Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your ceiled houses, and this house ly waste?" Thus many think, O it is not time to think of a public covenanted work of reformation; to ply the state for the redress of church-grievances, and the like but, ah! is it time for us to dwell in our ceil. ed house, while the house of the Lord lies waste? Is it time for us to be consulting nothing but our own worldly ease, profit, and security, while God's temple is wasted? Oh! what will the world be to you, when your eye strings are breaking? What will the world be to you, when you fee Christ coming in flaming fire? Is it time for us to be indulging ourselves in the enjoyment of outward conveniences, lands, and houses, and yet no time to be concerned about temple-work, when the foundations are like to be destroyed? But, what faith the prophet here? "Confider your ways: have you not been blasted and broken since temple-work was neglected?" So may it be faid of us, Have we not been blasted and cursed many ways; broken, divided, and rent into a thousand pieces, because of our little zeal for templereformation? Is it any wonder then God set our house on fire about our ears, when we are become fo coldrife in the zeal of his house, which should eat us up? I speak of all forts; both high and low, magiftrates, ministers, and people, without distinction, as being all in our several stations defective with refpect to temple-reformation, according to our call, in the distinct spheres of our activity. But, alas! our defection is gone to such a degree, that we can hardly speak of the defections of the day, without being misconstructed. But I speak of fuch defections, whereof I defire to accuse myself among the first. However, I say, we need not think strange, that it goes so ill with the church, and that the Lord is not blessing us as a church, when temple-reformation is fo much neglected. Use 2. Our next use shall be for trial and examination, if we are blessed or cursed of God according as the foundation is laid or not: furely it is our duty to try whether or not we have built our fouls and our falvation upon the right foundation or not; "Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your ownselves; know ye not that Chrift is in you, except ye be reprobates?" Many lay a wrong foundation, and yet think the foundation is laid well enough: for example, some build upon the fandy foundation of a name and profeffion; "They have a name to live, and are dead."-Some build upon the shoulders of their progenitors, especially, if religious; The grandmother Lois, and the mother Eunice. Many follow their forefathers religion be what it will.-Some build upon the foundation of a negative goodness; "O "God be thanked, say some, I am no swearer, drunkard, "whoremonger; "God, I thank thee, that I am not as " other men;" though I may have my faults, yet there " are worse folk in the world than I am; for I have al ways a good heart towards God." Wo is me, for you, poor deluded wretch! if you knew yourself, you would fee yourself the chief of finners; yea, worse than a devil. Some again build upon the foundation of graceless graces, if I may so call them. Thus many fay they have hope, but it is a false hope; they hope in the mercy of God, but yet it is a damning hope, an ignorant hope, a delusive hope; for, they were never begotten again to a new and lively hope, by the refurrection of Jesus Chrift from the dead; and they were never brought to despair in themselves. Many say they have faith, but it is a cradle faith; "O! God forbid, fay "they, but we believe in Christ, and trust in God. "Bleffed be God, I have trusted in God all my days; " and I have always believed." And yet never faw their want of faith; were never convinced of their unbelief; never saw the need of God's power to work faith in them; and far less ever felt this power. I tell you, that cradle faith will lead you to hell, and not to heaven; for, it is a faith of the devil's making, and not of God's operation.-Some, again, build upon the foundation of their great attainments: they do not want knowledge, perhaps; and, may be, they have fometimes floods of tears, at fermons, common motions, and meltings in duty; enlargements of natural affections in prayer; and ravishments of joy now and then: but what a fandy foundation this is, our Lord Jesus witnesses, while he tells us of the ftony ground hearers, that hear the word with joy; yea, with a temporary faith; they receive it with joy; but they have no root in them, and fo all fails them in the issue. Some, again, build upon the foundation of a legal righteousness and religious performances, while unacquaint with the foundation: this is not God's righteoufnefs; "They being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish a righteousness of their own, have not fubmitted themselves to the righteousness of God," Rom. x. 13.: the righteousness of God is the righteousness of Chrift; for, "Christ is the end of the law for righteousness, to every one that believeth." Man, woman, do you know nothing of what it is to be divorced from the law, as a covenant of life and works, and shaken off from confidence in the flesh, or expectations of God's favour by your duties or obedience to the law as a covenant? Let none mistake me, as if I were speaking againft the law as a rule of life and holiness: I speak of a divorce from the law as a covenant of works and condition of life; and am saying no more than what the apostle says, Rom. vii. 4. "Ye, brethren, are become dead to the law, by the body of Christ, that you should be married to another, even to him that was raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God." And, Gal. ii. 19. "I thro' the law, am dead to the law, that I might live unto God;" intimating, that as none can perform a gospel-obedience to the law, as a rule, until they be divorced from the law as a covenant, and married to Christ, in whom they are in cafe of bringing forth fruit to God; fo, that all who are built upon the foundation of a legal righteousness of their own, they are stranger to true godliness, and upon a wrong foundation; and I insist most upon this, because it is the most dangerous foundation that a man can be built upon; because, being built upon the righteousness of the law, he thinks that he has the law of God upon his fide, and so it is harder to convince him of the evil of his righteousness, than it is to convince a hundred profane wretches of the evil of their fins: and, therefore, the greatest of finners stand fairer for heaven than felf-righteous perfons, Mat. xxi. 31. " Verily, I say unto you," says Christ, speaking of the self-righteous Pharifees, "that publicans and harlots go into the kingdom of heaven before you." This might be strange doctrine, indeed, to all legalists, if it were not Chrift's doctrine. I must tell you, that you are all, by nature, married and wedded to the law, and to a legal righteousness, built upon that foundation; and nothing can divorce you from that first husband, but the almighty power of God's grace, revealing his Son in you. And, therefore, you little need any doctrine that tends to fofter up that natural conceit that you have of your own doing, as if God would be appeased thereby. It is true, a fermon of good works is a noble subject, providing it be evangelically treated: and presupposing, that the foundation of all good works is laid by union to Chrift, in whom all our good fruit is found. But, if I should preach a fermon of works and obedience to the law; and, perhaps, should only, at the conclufion of the fermon, give a short caution, saying, "Good people, mind "there is no merit; and that all your strength to do " right, is from Christ." Alas! the most common profeffor and ignorant gospel hearer will own that is true, they may learn many orthodox sentences of that fort, but they are words of course, that they have learned by custom and constant hearing; while yet their hope of pleasing God is still founded upon something done in them, or by them; being naturally glued to the law; and so, they may profess that there is no justification by the works of the law, but by the faith of Chrift, or by the works of Christ received by faith; yet they continue as great enemies to the cross of Christ, as the most profane persons that ever lived; and, if they continue in that state, shall as furely perish, with their righteousness, as others, with their fins; for, " If righteousness come by the law, then Chrift is dead in vain." And yet fome cannot. endure endure to hear any thing spoken against felf-righteoufnefs; as if no perfon were in danger of being ruined thereby: whereas this is a great part of the ftrong man's armour, whereby he keeps poffeffion of fouls, and as if they were all new schemers and Antinomians *that preach up the righteoufness of Chrift, as the alone sure foundation of the fpiritual temple, in oppofition to that natural and damnable self-righteousness. The apostle of the Gentiles was charged thus in his day; but what is his vindication? Why, fays he, "Do we make void the law, thro' faith? Nay, we establish the law." We lead to a righteoufnefs whereby God can fave us to the credit of his law; to the honour of his holiness; to the fatisfaction of his justice; and to the glory of all his perfecti ons. And therefore, if I have obtained any favour and grace from the Lord, to be faithful to the fouls of people in my ministerial station, I must testify and declare to you all that hear me, in the awful name and authority of the great and eternal God, who will call you and me to answer for what we do, before his dreadful tribunal, that whoever think to stand in judgment upon the rotten foundation of any legal righteoufnefs, good works, duties, or performances of their own, they shall as furely perish in their righteoufnefs, as ever any of the damned in hell perished in their fins; because this righteousness of yours is but a finful righteousness, and there is no falvation but by a perfect righteousness. I fpeak not only to the grofly ignorant, but even to all these, who, though they may have found heads and found opinions, profeffing that there is no juftification by the works of the law; yet, are so far from having a found heart, and a found faith, that they are seeking salvation, as it were, by the works of the law, as did Ifrael, Rom. ix. 31, 32.; but they perished in the cause; "For, they stumbled at that stumbling-stone," that fure and only foundation that I am fpeaking of. I must say, then, of all other foundations, besfides this, that men are ready to build upon; I must say of them, as Christ said to his difciples, when they shewed him the fabric of the mate* The reason of this accufation may be seen opened up, Vol. I. page 232. Vol. II. p. 304. 395. Vol. III. p. 44. |