And I shall do it in these following observations, principles, and deductions from it : —
First. Our Lord Jesus Christ hath faithfully promised, Matt. xxviii. 20, that he will be present with his church " unto the end of the world." It is his temple and habitation, " wherein he dwells, and in which he walks." And this is that which essentially and funda- mentally differenceth his church from any other assembly or society of men whatever. Let men cast themselves into what order they please, and let it be the order that they apprehend prescribed unto them in the Scripture ; or let them invent a better for themselves, as
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they think; and let them derive their title to power and authority whence they will ; if Christ be not present with them, when they have done, they are no gospel church, They want a foundation; and where there is no foundation, the higher they raise the building, or the more glorious they make the appearance of it, the sooner it will tumble down and come to nothing. I shall not repeat those pro- mises of Christ's presence now; they are known unto you: and this is the great interest of any church, to secure the promised presence of Christ with them. You have, I hope, under the conduct of the Holy Spirit of God, been guided in your choice of such persons as are able and faithful, to go before you in the work of the Lord : but your design ought to be, that thereby you might receive pledges of the presence of Christ with you ; else all other things will be of no value. There are some who are little solicitous about these things. Do but build a house hi such a frame, and say certain words, and suppose Christ is immured there; and there is a church built and made ! But the observance of all outward rules and order, accordino- to the gospel, will not constitute a church, unless Christ be taken into it. Moses built a tabernacle according to the mind of God ; " accord- ing unto all that God commanded him, so did he," Exod. xl. 16; — but when he had framed it exactly, and set it up, and put every thing in its place, it was but an ordinary tabernacle, till the glory of God entered into it. And so it was with Solomon's temple; it was but an ordinary house, until the glory of God entered into it. And sup- pose we could frame our church societies according to the rule of the gospel, as Moses framed the tabernacle according to the pattern showed him in the mount; they would be no churches of Christ, unless the glory of Christ enter into them. Here is our difference, and advantage : — the glory of God entered into the tabernacle and temple of old in clouds and darkness; but the glory of God enters into the gospel church, under the New Testament, in light. This is the first head, — Christ hath promised to be with his church to the end and consummation of all things.
Secondly. Christ is thus present with his church, principally and fundamentally, by his Spirit. There are three ways of the presence of Christ: — 1. He is everywhere essentially present; present with all things by the immensity of his divine nature. Christ did not pro- mise this, for it is not a subject for a promise. The promises are of what may be, and not of what cannot but be. This presence is neces- sary, and cannot be otherwise ; neither doth it make any alteration. It doth not make a church; it doth not make one place heaven, another hell. I speak of the immense presence of the divine nature. Again, 2. Christ is, or may be, present in his human nature : this was that which brought a great entanglement on the spirits of his dir
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ciples. He told them he would never leave them; and where but two or three of them were assembled in his name, he would be among them, Matt, xviii. 20. At length he comes and tells them, " It is expedient for you that I go away," John xvi. 7. This filled their hearts with trouble ; they knew not how to reconcile these things. Afterward, they were told that he was so gone from them as that they must not look for him till the day of judgment, Acts iii. 21. There must be, therefore, some other presence of Christ besides the essential presence of his divine nature, and besides the presence of his human nature ; how else shall the promise be accomplished ? Saith Christ, " I will tell you what that presence is; I will send you the Holy Ghost, to supply the presence of my human nature." It is the substance of the 14th, 15th, and 16th chapters of John, to declare this. " I will send you the Comforter to abide with you, to enable you to all church work. Therefore, though I am with you, and have instructed you, yet you can perform no church work at all, until the Holy Ghost comes. Abide at Jerusalem, till you have the promise of the Spirit." After the ascension of Christ, the apostles went about no church work till they had received the Holy Ghost. And Christ hath no vicar, but the Spirit. The truth is, the world grew weary of him, and took the work out of his hands for which he was promised ; and he would have nothing to do in that which the}' call "the church." I need not prove this; it hath been the faith of the catholic church, from the first foundation of it, that the promised presence of Christ with his church was by his Spirit. Some begin to say in our daj-s, that Christ is no otherwise present than by the outward ordinances of it, — his word and sacraments. I grant he is present with them, as pledges of his presence, and instruments wherewith, by his Spirit, he doth effectually work; but to make them the whole presence of Christ with us, I do not know what better church-state we have than the Jews, when they had the law of old.