* AVeemes. Vol. i., Christian Synagogue, p. 110.
•J21 London's LAMENTATIONS ON [Isa. XLII. 24, 25.
iuo- were not in them, they -were but like other common places. The temple of Jerusalem sanctified the meetings of the saints, but the meeting of the saints sanctities our temples. Herod's temple at Jeru- salem was so set on fire by Titus his soldiers, that it could not be quenched by the industry of man ; and at the same time Apollo's temple at Delphi was utterly overthrown by earthquakes and thunder- bolts, and neither of them could ever since be repaired. The con- currence of wiiich two miracles, saith mine author,^ evidently sheweth that the time was then come when God would put an end both to Jewish ceremonies and heathenish idolatry, that tlie kingdom of his Son might be the better establislied. The time of Christ's death and passion was the very time that God, in his eternal counsel, had set for the abrogation of the ceremonial law, and all ceremonial holiness of i)laces. As soon as ever Christ had said, ' It is finished, and had given up the ghost,' John xix. 30, immediately the vail of tlic temple was rent from the top to the bottom, Mat. xxvii. 51 ; and from that very hour there was no more holiness in the temple than in any other place. By the death of Christ all religious differences of places is taken away, so that no one place is holier than another. Before the coming of Christ the whole land of Canaan, because it was a tyjie of the church of Christ, and of the kingdom of heaven, was esteemed by God's people a better and holier place 'than any other in the world. And upon that ground among others, Jacob and Joseph were so desirous to be buried there. Gen. xlvii. 29, 31, and xlix. 29. And in the land of Canaan some places are said to have been more holy than others — viz., such as wherein God did manifest himself in a special and sensible manner. So the place where Christ appeared to Moses in the fiery bush is called holy ground ; and so was that wherein he appeared to Joshua, Exod. iii. 5 ; Joshua v. 15. And the mount whereon Christ was transfigured is called by Peter the holy mount, 1 Pet. i. 18. But these places were no longer accounted holy than during the time of this special presence of the Lord in them. So Jerusalem was called the holy city. Mat. iv. 5 ; yea, at the very moment of Christ's death, it is called the holy city, chap, xxvii. 53, because it was a city set apart by God for a holy use, a city where he was daily wor- shipped, a city that he had chosen to put his name upon. Though Jerusalem was a very wicked city, yea, the wickedest city in all the world, counting the means they enjoyed, j-et it is called the holy city ; and so doubtless, in respect of separation and dedication, it was holier than any other city or place in the world besides. So the temple in Jerusalem is nine times called the holy tem]ile, because it was a more holy i)lace than any other place in Jerusalem.2 Now mark, though all the parts of the temple were holy, yet some places in it were holier tlian other some. This may be made evident three ways. First, There was a place where the people stood separated from the priests, Luke i. 10. And this was so holy a place that Christ would not suffer any to carry any vessel through it, Mark xvi. 11. And secondly, There was a place where the priests executed their ministry, which was holier than that that the people stood in, and
' Pa. V. 7, xi. 4, Ixv. 4, Ixxix. 1, and cxxxviii. 2 ; Jonah ii. 4, 7 ; Mieah i. 2 ; llab. ii. 20.
ISA. XLII. 24, 25.] THE LATE FIERY DISPENSATION. 225