But further: the temple had the Shechinah, the bright cloud, the symbol of the Deity, constantly residing in it —
[This was doubtless its highest glory. (I speak of the former temple, previous to the Babylonish captivity ; and not of the latter, in which many of its principal ornaments were wanting.) But in the Lord Jesus Christ dwelt, not a symbol of the Deity, but the Deity liimself, " even all the fulness of the Godhead bodily"." This explains that prophecy of the Prophet Haggai, that " the glory of the latter house should exceed the glory of the former p." How could that be, it may be asked, when in the latter temple were wanting the Shechi- nah, the Urim and Thummim, and the fire that came down from heaven ? The answer is plain : The Lord Jesus Christ himself came to the latter house : and his presence in it was an honour infinitely exceeding all that ever was conferred on the first temple ; because he was not a symbol of the Deity, but the great God himself in an incarnate state, even " Emmanuel, God with usi."]
n Mark carefully the precision with which this is stated in Heb. viii. 5. o Col. ii. 9. P Hagg. ii. 9. q Matt, i, '23.
I add yet once more : the temple was the place of confluence to all the tribes of Israel, even to all who desired to have access to God, or to obtain blessings at his hands'' —
[And whither does every sinner in the universe go, but to Jesus^? To him is every eye directed*: "through him alone can any man have access to God":" in him does every saint "desire to be found ^:" and through him shall all blessings, temporal, spiritual, eternal, flow down in richest abundance upon all who believe in him^. Indeed, in this respect his superiority is most amply marked: for all that he does, is by virtue of the " one offering of himself once offered :" whereas the offerings in the temple, because of their inefficacy, were renewed from year to year^: his grace also extends to sins which the law of Moses could not reach ^ ; and confers benefits which that was unable to impart^; and endures, not for a year only, like that under the law, but through the countless ages of eternity ''.J
To add any thing further would be superfluous. The superiority of Christ to the temple is so evident, that, without dwelling any longer upon it, I will proceed to,
II. Point out the peculiar interest which we have in it —
Here again we go back to our text, that we may derive from thence as much as possible for the eluci- dation of our subject. The establishment of Christ's superiority to the temple shews,
1. His right to command —
[That was the precise point at issue between him and the Pharisees : Had he a right to authorize a deviation from the letter of the Mosaic law ? He affirmed he had. They them- selves admitted, that the strict observance of the Sabbath was dispensed with for the service of the temple : and if He was greater than the temple, the same right was vested in him. Nothing less than divine authority could in any case supersede a divine command : and, if he were greater than the temple, a divine authority must reside in him ; consequently, he exer- cised no other right than what strictly, and of necessity, pertained unto him.
' Ps. cxxii. 4. « John vi. 68. * Isai. xlv. 22.
» Eph. ii. 18. X Phil. iii. 9-. v Eph. i. 3.
^ Heb. X. 1—4, 10. a Actsxiii. 39. ^ Heb. vii. 19. ^ Heb. X. 11, 11, 17, 18.
1351.]] CHRIST GREATER THAN THE TExMPLE. 359
Now, there are divine commands, which we also, under all ordinary circumstances, are bound to obey. We must yield compliance with the lawful edicts of the civil magistrate*^: we must " obey them, not only for wrath, but also for conscience' sake :" and " if we resist his lawful authority, we shall receive to ourselves damnation^." Yet, if the civil magistrate enjoin what is contrary to the command of Christ, or forbid any thing which Christ has enjoined, we must obey Christ in preference to him. The Apostles, when forbidden to preach or teach in the name of Jesus, appealed to his very judges, saying, " Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye : for we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard^." In like manner, we are commanded to love and honour our parents : and so im- portant is that command, that it is distinguished from the rest, by being enforced, as the Apostle observes, with a special pro- mise s. Yet even that is superseded, when they exert their authority in opposition to Christ. Nay, more : strange as the injunction sounds, we are commanded even to " hate father and mother, and wife and children, and brethren and sisters, in comparison of him ; and on no other terms can we ever be acknowledged as his disciples^." (Of course, no one will be so absurd as to imagine that this declaration is to be understood in any other than a comparative view : for in any other view we are not authorized to hate an enemy, much less our nearest relatives.) Our duty to the Lord Jesus Christ is of paramount obligation, and supersedes every thing that is opposed to it. The law of self-preservation is strongly binding upon us : but if fidelity to Christ require the sacrifice of it, " not even life itself must be dear to us* :" we must be willing to lay it down at any time for his sake^ : and if, at the expense of our duty to him, we save our lives, we shall lose them to all eternity'.