4<thly. Christ is the indweller of this house. He hath not built it sca& framed it for no use. It is for a habitation for himself He hath chosen Zion ; he hath desired it for his habitation. " This is my rest," saith he; " here will I dwell," Ps. cxxxii. 13, 14. Tliis house is built up to be an habitation unto him, Eph. ii. 22. He is the
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" King of saints," and this house is his court. It is true, for his human nature, " the heaven must receive him, until the time of the restitution of all things," Acts iii. 21 ; but yet, he dwelleth in this house three ways: —
(1st.) By his Spirit. Christ dwells in this house, and ever}^ stone of it, by his Spirit, " Know ye not that Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?" 2 Cor. xiii. 5. — " Christ in you;" that is, the Spirit of Christ, Christ by his Spirit. So the Holy Ghost expounds it, Rom. viii. 9, " If the Spirit of God dwell in you:" which, verse 10, is, " If Christ be in you." Christ and his Spirit, as to indwelling, are all one; for he dwells in us by his Spirit. " The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, that is given unto us," Rom. V. 5. There is not only the " love of God," a grace of the Spirit, " shed abroad " in us, but there is also the " Holy Spirit given unto us." This is fully asserted, Rom. viii. 11, "The Spirit of him that raised up Jesus, dwells in you;" as also, 2 Tim. i. 14, "Keep the good thing committed to thee by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us." Hence the saints are said to be " temples of the Holy Ghost." Jesus Christ doth not build temples merely for gi'aces, created graces ; he dwells in them himself, — he dwells in them by his Spirit. And this is a glorious privilege of this house, that Jesus Christ in a mysti- cal and wonderful manner should dwell in it, and eveiy stone of it. Hereby all believers come to be not one personal, but one mystical Christ, 1 Cor. xii. 12. However we are distanced in respect of his human nature, yet mystically we are one, — one body, one mystical Christ, — because we have one Spuit dwelling in us and him. If a man were never so tall, so that his head should reach the stars, and his feet stand upon the gi'ound, yet, having but one soul, he is but one man still. Though Christ in his human nature be exceedingly distanced from us, yet there being one and the same Spirit in him and us, Ave are one mystical Christ. Yet observe, —
Observation 1. Though Christ be united unto the persons of the saints by the indwelling of the Spirit, yet the saints have not that which is called personal union with him, nor with the Spirit. Personal union is by a person of the Deity assuming the nature of man into one personality with itself, that having of its own no personal sub- sistence. Things are here clean otherwise : Christ doth not assume the saints into a personal subsistence with himself, but dwells in their persons by liis Spirit.
Observation 2. That the operations of the indwelling Spirit of Christ, and all his manifestations, are voluntary. He workcth as he will, and revealeth what he will, even where he dwells. He doth not work in us naturally, but voluntarily, unto Avhat proportion he pleaseth; therefore, though he dwell equally in all saints in respect
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of truth and reality, yet he doth not in respect of working and efficacy.
{2dli/.) By his graces. Christ dwelleth in this house, and in all the stones thereof, by his graces. He " dwells in our hearts by faith," Eph. iii. 1 7. He dwells in us by his word " in all wisdom," Col. iii. 1 6. All the graces we are made partakers of, we receive from his fulness, and by them he inhabits in us. They are indeed the ornaments of the living stones of this house, to make them meet and fit for such an indweller as the Lord Christ. Christ "will not dwell in a soul whose mmd is darkness, his will stubbornness, and his affections carnal and sensual. He puts light, and life, and love upon the soul, that it may be meet for him to dwell in. Christ dwells in all the world by his power and presence, but he dwells only in his saints by his Spirit and grace.
(odly.) By his ordinances. Where two or three of his are assem- bled together, there is he in the midst of them. The ordinances of Christ are the great ornaments of his kingly court ; by them he is glorious in all the assemblies of mount Zion. Some Avould fain cast out this indwelling of Christ from among his saints ; — in due time he will thoroughly rebuke them. Some, again, would thrust him out into the world ; but he ■will make men know that his ordinances are given unto his. It is true, the benefit of some of them extends to the world; but the right and enjoyment of them is the privilege of his saints. Thus Christ dwells in his house. Hence, observe, —