three things here lying before us. First, to whom the promise is given: "Him that overcometh." Secondly, the promise itself: ·Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God:" and here it will be required of us to explain and unfold what is contained in it. And, Thirdly, the very solemn address made to excite attention unto what has been delivered, and to what is contained in the promise.

The First thing in our text is to whom the promise is given. And that is to him that overcometh. As God the Father gave the saints (for so they are called, Deut, xxxiii. 8) into Christ's hands from eternity, to be brought into eternal glory by his obedience and blood-shedding; so Christ undertook to preserve, feed. and guide them while here below. And though they are, while in this militant state, exposed to fierce assaults both from without and from within, yet Christ does and will keep them from falling finally. He will preserve them unto his heavenly kingdom of glory. And his grace being sufficient for them, and he working powerfully in them, they shall in him and by him be more than conquerors over sin, death, and hell, which con. quest has been made by Christ for them already; and the fruits and blessings of this conquest they are made partakers of. And when they see themselves in the light of the Holy Spirit, one with Christ, in his complete and everlasting victory over all their enemies, they are then most powerfully excited to go forth against their conquered foes, in the faith of their personal interest in the Son of God; and animated by him, they go on from conquering unto conquer. Such have repeated evidences and assurances given them by Christ that they are his chosen ones, by the holy communion which Christ admits them to enjoy with him. And they seeing him who is invisible, and walking by

faith, leaning on the arm of Jesus, find his grace sufficient for them.

To such the following promise, which is the second thing to be considered by us, is given: 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." We shall endeavour, as the Lord will be pleased to assist, to explain and unfold the promise itself; and of this in its order. Christ promises to make the overcomer a pillar in the temple of God. By this temple I should understand the heavenly glory. And that this is spoken in allusion to the Lord's temple, the church upon earth, of which the temple built by Solomon was a type. Solomon was appointed by the Lord to build the temple at Jerusalem, and his name signifies peace. Jesus, the Branch, was appointed by his divine Father to build the temple of the Lord, to raise up out of the ruins of the fall, a church to the praise of rich, free, and sovereign grace. "He shall build the temple of the Lord, and he shall bear the glory," Zech. vi. 13. The temple built by Solomon was typical both of the human nature of Jesus Christ, and likewise of the church of the first-born whose names are written in heaven. That it was a figure or symbol of Christ's human nature appears-John ii. 19. 21-" Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up":""but he spoke of the temple of his body." When Solo. mon's temple was finished, and the priests had carried in the ark into the holy of holies, and were come out; it

came even to pass; as the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord; and when they lift up the voice with the trump

ets, and cymbols, and instruments of music, and praised the Lord, saying, For he is good, for his mercy endureth for ever; that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the Lord, so that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord." By which an evident sign was given that God would come and dwell, among men, and they should see his glory tabernacling in flesh, For in the humanity of Jesus, that true tabernacle which God pitched and not man, dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And this was represented in, that vision recorded in the 6th, chapter of Isaiah, where Christ's essential, and personal glory. is represented as filling his humanity. And Christ is the minister of the true sanctuary which the Lord pitched and not man. Heb, viii. 2.

was built of stones which were hewn, and all ready for the building, So the church of Christ, it is made up of living, lively, and polished stones, which are dug out of the dark quarry of nature, and are polished and fitted by the Holy Ghost, And they being united unto Christ, the corner stone, and to each other in the bond of love, they are cemented, and grow up into an holy temple in the Lord. The foundation of Solomon's temple was laid with great, costly, and hewn stones, which was to point out Christ who is the everlasting foundation of his church, and the precious, tried, and corner stone of it, Christ promises his church in the fifty-fourth of Isaiah, that he will lay her foundations with, sapphires, which foundations are himself and his blessed truths,

compared to sapphires, to denote how infinitely pure, precious, glorious, and durable he is, and how clearly and brightly his grace and glory is revealed in and shines forth in the truths and doctrines of his word. This may be to correspond, with the types of it. The walls of the temple were adorned with cherubims, and palm trees, and flowers, overlaid with gold and adorned with precious stones; shewing unto us how angels, (represented by. the cherubims,) join with the saints (represented by the palm-trees) in worshipping God and the Lamb. And the precious stones, fixed, and sparkling like stars, denoted the fixed rest and habitation the saints would have in the kingdom of glory, where they "will shine as the stars for ever and ever."

In the temple were the symbols, of Jehovah's presence: it is in his temple amongst his people that he discovers his glory, and causes it and his goodness to pass before his saints; and here it is that they speak of his glory. And in the temple was the molten sea, an emblem of Christ's blood in which the saints are washed and made white, and by it are admitted into the holiest of all.

Christ promiseth to make the overcomer a pillar in the temple of God. Here is an allusion to the two brazen pillars in or before the temple made by Solomon. They were made of brass to typify the strength of Christ to support his church and people. The name of the one, was Jachin, and of the other Boaz, that is, strength and stability, to show that Christ is the strength and stability of his peo ple. Now the promise of Christ here before us, concerning his making the overcomer a pillar in the temple of his God, is I apprehend, a, declaration of his love and grace, whereby he gives the overcomer to know that he would admit him into the temple above, where he should be fixed in eternal bliss, be continued in it by his almighty power, and go no more out.

Where the overcomer shall enjoy God the fountain of his bliss, worship, the Lord with holy worship, and stand upon Christ his everlasting foundation with infinite boldness, and delight. In this temple, not the symbols of God's presence, but God himself will be enjoyed. Here, in this house eternal in the heavens, the, full blaze of Godhead will dart upon our souls through the manhood of Jesus. And such will be the glories, the joys, and ecstacies of the saints above, that nothing short of omnipotent power can support the saints under this eternal vision of God within the vail.

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"I will (says Jesus) make him a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out." This glorious vision of God and the Lamb shall last for ever. Every faculty of the bodies and souls of the glorified shall he fitted to hold communion with God for ever aud ever. Christ says, 'My God," for he is speaking here as the Mediator. For, according to the economy of the covenant of grace, God the Father is the God of Christ, as Christ is considered as the cove nant head of his church and people. Hence after his resurrection, speaking of his ascension, he says, "I ascend unto my Father and unto your Father unto my God and your God. And as it is through Christ as Mediator, that we worship God below, so it will be through Christ, as the second Person, in the eternal Trinity, clothed in our nature, and who will be our everlasting head, that we shall enjoy and worship God in the temple above. Our Lord adds, "And I will write upon him the name of my God." meaning that, he would manifestly cause it to appear, that the overcomer was interested in God, and that he had the Lord for his God. And as inscriptions on brazen pillars, or plates of brass would be legible and durable, so our Lord will cause it to appear, that his people are bound up in the bundle of life with him, and have an

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interest in all the blessings of God's covenant whereby he becomes their God. This is the great fundamental blessing of the covenant," They shall be my people,, and I will be their God." Now shall be fulfilled what is, promised in the twenty-second. chapter of this book,, verse 4, And they shall see his face, (that is, they shall have the full enjoyment of God's presence,) and his name shall be on their foreheads," and it shall manifestly appear, that they are the sons. of God, and "if children, then heirs,, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ." And they will, in the fullest, and freest manner, be owned by God and the Lamb, and will shine as so. many jewels in the mediatorial crown, of Immanuel. And he will most freely own and acknowledge them, to be his beloved and purchased ones. It is added, And the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God." By the name of the city, of my God being wrote on the overcomer we may understand, that Christ will cause it plainly to appear that he belongs to the citizenship of heaven: "Our conversation, (says Paul) is in heaven." The words. may be truly rendered "our citizenship of heaven." The city whereof we are free men is heaven, and the saints shall enjoy all the privileges. and blessings of it. And this is called new Jerusalem, in allusion to the Jerusalem in the Old Testament, the place where the Lord chose to place his name there, in which his temple stood, and which is called (Isa, lii.) the holy city. This city, this new. Jerusalem, is said to have foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Heb. xi. 10. It is a city of God's preparing, of which he is the builder and maker, and whose foundations are firm and strong. And this new Jerusalem is said to come down from heaven, to denote how divinely it is built, and that its order, comeliness, safety, government, and privileges are

all heavenly. God and his salvation are the precious, durable, and defensive walls thereof. Christ the pearl of great price, as preached by the twelve apostles to the ends of the earth, is the twelve gates thereof. God's perfections, and purposes, and the person and offices of Christ, are the foundations of it. God and the

Lamb, are the sun, the light, and the temple thereof. "And I saw no temple therein, for the Lord God Almighty, and the Lamb, are the temple of it. 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." Rev. xxi. 22, 23. There is the fountain of life-the river of life which flows from God and from the Lamb-the tree of life which continues to yield its blessed fruits for ever and ever and there dwells the Lord our Righteousness. So that the name of this city is, The Lord is there." And this shall be the everlasting renown of the new Jerusalem, "That there the Lord commands his blessing, éven life for evermore. Now shall the saints fully partake of the blessing contained in these words, The sun shall be no more thy light by day, neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory." The inhabitants of this city, this new Jerusalem, shall be all righteous: For into it there shall none enter, but those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life." All such will be regenerated, sanctified, adorned, and fitted for the marriage supper of the Lamb in endless glory.

It is added, " And I will write upon him my new name." This name of his I should choose to interpret that most illustrious and most glorious one, which is, and ever will be to the saints as ointment poured out, and is a name above every name, "Jehovah our Righteousness." This, Christ may call his new name, it being in conse

quence of the new and everlasting covenant, his having fulfilled all the conditions of it, that he became the righteousness of his people. He has this name given him in consequence of the new and everlasting covenant, in which he engaged as the surety of his people, and he has fulfilled all the conditions of it. 66 And this (saith Jeremiah) is the name whereby he shall be called, Jehovah our Righteousness.' Jehovah from the name of his essence, it being the incommunicable name of God: and our righteousness, as being Mediator, and as noting forth his office. And yet Jehovah our Righteousness. For his being our righteousness depends upon and is founded upon his being Jehovah-God and man in one Christ. Now this name the church bears in Jer. xxxiii. 16, This is the name wherewith she shall be called, the Lord our Righteousness." She wears and bears the name of her heavenly bridegroom. And in the royal robe of his righteous obedience to the moral law, he will present her before the throne with exceeding great joy. In it she will appear all glorious within and without. Christ's writing his new name upon the overcomer is, as I apprehend it, his making it clearly appear, that such are eternally, invariably, and immaculately righteous in him, and before him.

This brings us to our third particular, the solemn manner in which we are addressed, and excited to attend unto what is laid before us in this epistle, and in the promise given in it: He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches." The Spirit of God calls upon, and demands attention unto what he in this epistle relates concerning the church of Christ. And in a particular manner, he calls our attention to this most glorious pro. mise made by Christ, in which all covenant grace is contained, and every thing which can possibly quicken and animate believers in Jesus, is held

forth. May we hear the voice of Christ in it, so as to feel the power and efficacy of it.

May what has been set before us, as far as consistent with his revealed will, sink down into our hearts, and produce the fruits of faith and holiness in our lives. Amen.

TRUTH VINDICATED; (In answer to the Herald.) THE Eternal Truth of the Eternal God possesses a sacredness, a dignity and an importance, which with me outweighs every other consideration. Were it not for this, the pedantic sophistry indulged in by the (so called) Gospel Herald for this month, November, 1840, might have passed by with that silent contempt it so justly merits; but when I discover that the design of the conductors of that work is not so much to cast a siur upon the Spiritual Magazine, nor to heap odium upon me, as the author of "Exhortations and Duty in its own place," as it is to set at naught, and do away with that precious truth, so fully established in the oracles of God, and so well known by gracious souls in their own experience, namely, that all real religion is the alone sovereign and almighty work of God the Hcly Ghost; when, I say, I discover that this is the design of that Magazine in amusing its readers this month with a pretended definition of a Greek verb, I cannot remain a silent spectator of conduct so awful, but must, as one of Zion's watchmen, sound an alarm, and expose the craft of men, who, "through feigned words," desire to entangle and bewilder the living in Jerusalem.

Comparatively few of the household of faith are masters of English grammar, and still smaller is the number of those who can understand Greek. It therefore becomes highly necessary. that the heralds of salvation should "use great plainness of speech," and proclaim their master's will, not in the words which man's wisdom teach

eth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth, comparing spiritual things with spiritual." Learning I admire, but pedantry I abhor; and sure I am, that if that blessed Spirit, who is to guide the elect into all truth, had been the guide of the man who wrote last month in the Herald, what he calls "a tantalizer for the Casket," he would, when the satanic suggestion arose in his mind, have laid down his pen and exclaimed "How shall I do this great wickedness, and sin against God? The editor of that work well knows he condemned my book without assigning a reason; he found that scripture would not help him in this business, and the experience of the children of God was against him. What is he to do? "Sit still," and "stand still," form no part of his credenda; do, do, do, he must. He is therefore reduced to this dilemma, either to deny the word of God, or find a new translation thereof. The latter course to be sure is the most preferable, as it is connected with two advantages, first, it hides his enmity to the real truth, under the garb of greek; and secondly, makes him appear a very learned man.

Well then, what has this learned editor got to say about Greek? Why, that "the Greek vcrb opheilo, is sometimes rendered duty, sometimes ought: and duty, ought, and obligation are the same thing in English; if as well as in Luke xvii. 10. the Greek word were rendered duty in the following passages, would not the antinomians feel tantalized? Rom. xv. 1. "It is our duty to bear the infirmities of the weak."-2 Thess. i. 3. "It is our duty to thank God." -2 Thess. ii. 13. "It is our duty to give thanks to God."-1 John ii. 6.

It is his duty to walk, even as he walked."—1 John, iii. 16. "It is our duty to lay down our lives for our brethren."1 John iv. 11. "It is our duty to love one another."- Our duty to love one another arises from our spiritual relationship to Christ."