![]() The hour is at hand when all such respects shall be taken away, and all places made alike, and you and your services as acceptable in every place of the world as at Jerusalem. The Lord Christ determines this in his discourse, John iv. 11, ‘In every place incense shall be offered unto my name ’ in every place, one as well as another, without distinction. But these being ceased, to think now that our worship or service of God will be sanctified by the place where they are performed, or more available or acceptable in one place than another, merely for the place’s sake, is a conceit without Scripture, and so superstitious nay, against Scripture, and so profane. The worship there tendered was more acceptable, more available, than elsewhere, as being the only place where the Lord would accept those ceremonial services, as also because there is no acceptance but in Christ, who was hereby typified. The temple did sanctify the offerings, the services of that people. 19 but all the shadows and types of Christ did vanish when Christ himself appeared and there is no room for them in any place under the gospel.ĥ. The temple was a type of Christ, John ii. ![]() But there is no place under the gospel of such use and virtue now no such representations of Christ, or communications of religious mysteries by any place of worship whatever ergo, no such holiness.Ĥ. Thereby the Lord communicated to those people many mysteries of religion and godliness thereby was Christ represented in his natures, offices, benefits. The temple was medium cultus, a mean of grace, of worship, under the law. The temple was pars cultus, a part of the ceremonial worship under the law, but there is no such ceremonial worship under the gospel, much less is any place a part of gospel-worship and therefore no such holiness in any place now as in the temple then.ģ. We find no obliging rule, but that in general, ‘Let all things be done decently and in order.’ Men’s consecrations cannot make that holy which God’s institution does not sanctify.Ģ. The worship is necessary, but the place where is indifferent, undetermined it is left to human prudence to choose what place may be most convenient. But there is no such command for setting apart this or that place under the gospel. The temple and tabernacle was apart, and separated for a holy use, by the special express command of God, Deut. Under the law, the place of public worship was holy, but we have no reason so to account any place of public worship under the gospel and this will be manifest, if both we inquire what were the grounds of that legal holiness in the tabernacle or temple, and withal observe that none of them can be applied to any place of worship under the gospel.ġ. Indeed, there is difference between the public worship under the law and gospel in respect of a circumstance, viz., the place of public worship. So it was under the law, so it must be under the gospel. So it is by the Lord, so it should be by his people. ![]() Public worship is to be preferred before private. He loved all the dwellings of Jacob, wherein he was worshipped privately but the gates of Zion he loved more than all the dwellings of Jacob, for there he was publicly worshipped. So that, in fine, the Lord may be said to love the gates of Zion before all the dwellings of Jacob, because he prefers public worship before private. ![]() ![]() We cannot suppose that all the posterity of Jacob would neglect the worship of God in their families no doubt the faithful among them resolved with Joshua, ‘I and my house will serve the Lord.’ Since, therefore, the worship of God was to be found in both, how can this worship be the reason why one should be preferred before the other? Sure upon no other account but this, the worship of God in the gates of Zion was public, his worship in the dwellings of Jacob was private. It was the Lord’s delight in affection to his worship, for which he is said to love the gates of Zion, more than all the dwellings of Jacob.īut it may be replied, the Lord had worship, not only in the gates of Zion, in the temple, but also in the dwellings of Jacob. And this, you know, was in peculiar the settled place of his worship. For the temple was built upon, or near to, the hill of Zion. as the following words explain, the place of his worship. The gates of Zion was the place which the Lord had chosen to cause his name to dwell there, i.e. Now the reason we may find assigned by the Lord himself, Deut. This being manifest, the words will be clear. THAT we may apprehend the meaning of these words, and so thereupon raise some edifying observation, we must inquire into the reason why the Lord is said to love the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. “The Lord loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob.” PSALM 86:2. ![]()
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