[The season of his appearance there was foretold' At the appointed time he was brought thither by his parents" At twelve years old he sat there among the doctors"— And afterwards it became the frequent place of his resort-] The prospect of this event was peculiarly consoling on account of II. The consequences of his advent The presence of Christ in the temple "filled it with glory"— It rendered the latter temple far more glorious than the former He more than supplied all those things which were wanting in his temple [Though many of the sacred vessels were restored to the Jews by Cyrus, there was much that was irrecoverably lostThe Shechinah, the bright cloud, the symbol of the Deity, was withdrawn The ark, with all that it contained, was missingP The urim and thummin, or breast-plate, whereby the highpriest discovered the divine will, was also gone The fire, that came down from heaven, was extinguishedThese defects however were more than supplied to the latter temple by the presence of Jesus Instead of a shadowy resemblance of the Deity, it had God incarnate It had the true ark, containing infinitely richer memorials of divine love It had a divine instructor, who revealed all his Father's counsels Nor could it need the fire to render the sacrifices more acceptable, since Jesus was about to offer one sacrifice for allThus did it excel in glory, even in those very particulars wherein it appeared most defective-] He also exhibited in it a brighter display of the Deity than ever had been seen in the former temple 1 He was to come while the temple was standing; Mal. iii. 1. and the text. About forty years after his death it was utterly demolished. n Luke ii. 46. Hag. ii. 9. m Luke ii. 27. P Viz. a copy of the law, the pot of manna, and Aaron's rod that budded. The Jews no longer need the law to instruct them, the rod to confirm their faith, and the manna to shew them how their fathers were sustained: since Jesus himself possessed all that was necessary for their instruction, confirmation, and nourish ment. mon [The glory of God did indeed fill the temple of Solo But in Christ it shone with brighter, though less dazzling splendour Behold the condescension of the Deity, in that he not merely dwelt with man, but became man!— Behold the wisdom, in every discourse that Jesus uttered!s— Behold the power, in his miraculous cures, and irresistible operation on the minds of men!" Behold the grace, in his treatment of the adulterous wo man!". Such an exhibition of the divine perfections in the temple far over-balanced every defect-] APPLICATION [Wherever Christ dwells, he imparts a glory And has he not yet a temple to which he will come? Will he not vouchsafe his presence in his ordinances?— And will not his presence in them make them glorious?— Will he not also make the souls of his people his habitation? And will not the soul, in which he takes up his residence, be transformed?a_ Let him then be "the desire" of our hearts Nor let us ever be satisfied till we possess that privilege-] Kings viii. 10, 11. John vii. 46. t Matt. xxi. 12. b Eph. ii. 21, 22. " John viii. 11. * Matt. xviii. 20. & xxviii. 20. Isai. Ix. 7, 13. 2 2 Cor. vi. 16. a Isai. Iv. 13. C. THE POWER OF CHRIST'S RESURRECTION. Phil. iii. 10. That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection. MANY think that religion is not the object of choice, but of constraint Hence the godly are often told that their strictness is unnecessary But true Christians do not regard God as an hard task master Holiness is their desire and delight St. Paul could not be satisfied with winning Christ, &c. but desired with equal earnestness "to know him in the power of," &e. I. What is meant by the power of Christ's resurrection The different parts of Christ's work cannot, strictly speaking, be separated, because the combination of all is necessary to give efficacy to any Yet, in conformity with Scripture, we may treat of them distinctly The resurrection of Christ has a powerful influence [The death of Christ was our ransoma Yet that of itself could avait nothing" His resurrection was necessary to complete his work— There is even greater stress laid on that than on his death-] In our sanctification [Sanctification can be effected only by the Holy Spirit The Spirit would not have been given if Christ had not risenf By ascending, Christ obtained the Spirit for us”— Hence our sanctification or subjection to him is represented as the end of his resurrection] In our exaltation to glory [There had been no resurrection of the body if Christ had not riseni But in rising he has assured a resurrection to usk— On this ground he taught his disciples to expect it' We may regard him as "our forerunner," and as the first fruits"m. m_] II. That it is desirable to know that power To know, in Scripture language, is, to experienceTo experience the power of Christ's resurrection, is, to feel such an influence from it, as warrants us to believe that we are partakers of all the benefits procured by it-This experience of its power is desirable, as having a tendency The high priest was first to offer the sacrifice, and then carry the blood within the vail, Lev. xvi. 11—15. d Rom. iv. 25. & Ps. Ixviii. 18. f John xvi. 7. e Rom. viii. 34. h Rom. xiv. 9. Christ's resurrection further influences our sanctification, in that it is proposed as a pattern to which our lives are to be conformed, Rom. vi. 10, 11. and urged as a motive to heavenly-mindedness, Col. iii. 1.1 Cor. xv. 21. k 1 Thess. iv. 14. m Heb. vi. 20. 1 Cor. xv. 20. John xiv. 2, 3. To confirm our faith [The resurrection of Christ demonstrates the divinity of his mission, and the truth of his doctrine The experience of its power therefore must establish our faith with respect to both— And what can be more desirable than such an unshaken confidence as that will produce?-] To animate our hope [One end of Christ's resurrection was to create hope in our breasts" God makes use of it for this purpose°— Much more must the experience of its power do thisAnd is it not desirable to have bright prospects of glory?P-] To purify our hearts [The experience before mentioned produces every grace within us The more lively our hope, the more shall we be purified by it How desirable to be freed from bondage to sin and Satan!-] INFER 1. Religion must influence our practice [If any doctrine were merely speculative, it would be this But this enters deeply into our experience Let us then guard against resting in notions- 2. We should be satisfied with no attainments [St. Paul had long known the power of Christ's resurrection But he was not satisfied" Much less should we, whose attainments are so small Let us press forward for more heavenly-mindedness We shall be "satisfied" when we awake up after God's likeness'] n 1 Pet. i. 21. 41 John iii. 3. 。 1 Pet. i. 3. P 2 Cor. v. 1, 2. Ps. xvii. 15. END OF VOL. I. |