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St. John The Baptist.
ST . JOHN THE BAPTIST .
An Address by Itev . James Byron Murray , Grand Chaplain , before the Grand Royal Arch Chapter of New York , 4 th February 1 S 01 .
IT is an old truth that principle embodied in tho living person is more potent than principle set forth iu the form of law , or in tho dignity of command . And one of the greatest characteristics of that Word which is the guide of Masonry is its power to impress on the mind the
individuality of its heroes and prophets , its seers and holy men . The living figures pass before the eye in solemn procession , and their life is seen , shadowed by human frailties , or shining in tho brilliance of victory in goodness or greatness . The conscious , breathing form speaks to the
world from the faithful canvas , touched into supreme likeness by the hand of the inspired painter . Bnt there is more than a picture , there is the moving shape , with every feature true to the original , and every Hue chiselled into completeness by the sacred artist , until it walks abroad ,
the thinking , acting man , visible as a history of his motives aud purposes , or an example for every century of time . He is not an ideal issuing into splendid manhood from
some prophetic imagination , but the actual man set to do Borne special work in tho world , and to be in that finished work an influence and superb force for all workers for humanity .
Those men who brought out God ' s plans , wero real men . They were moved by those feelings which move men in every age , aud which by their largeness and intensity , touch the deeps of all mankind . The inner labours , toils , sufferings , anxieties , the thoughts which
coloured and gave meaning to their actions , come out and reveal them for what they were , and for what they lived , as the great earth , with its towns and cities , its waters and hills , its frnits and flowers , comes out from the darkness and reveals itself for what it is in tho unshadowed light of tho morning .
And this is true of St . John . The Divino Word has given to the world the man in his life , his achievements , his power to impress humanity by his moral grandeur and the superlative position he took as tho herald of the Life and Light of men . It was fitting , therefore , that such a
character should appear amid tbe activities and moral revolutions of history in a way commensurate with the work ho had to do . Accordingly ho was the subject of angelic vision , and came into the world clothed in the marvellous vesture of sign and prophecy . His father a
priest in the long course of priesthood framed in an earlier and restored in a later age , his mother descended in priestly lino from Aaron , lived in the ordinances and commandments of the Lord , blameless . Pass back in thought to a historic scene on Mount Zion . The divine record
bears us into the Temple . The hour of sacrifice had approached and the preparations had been made . There was the golden altar and the kindling coal laid thereon , awaiting the fragrant incense ; the lot had been cast , and as if by divine appoiutment it had fallen on Zacharias
as the first step in the proclamation of the coming Truth . Ho was to perform the sacred rite on which history has shown such large issues dopended . This was the special dnty around which the hopes and desires of every
ministering priest , in the Temple service , always centred . And as the custom was , the priests had retired from the holy place , leaving the offerer of incense unattended , in the reverential work of his office .
Zacharias , vested in priestly garments , with the curtains that folded the mysteries of the holiest place from view , before him , and under the shining flame of the golden lamps , as the incense kindled into clouds of sweetness , borne up with them the prayers of a nation to tho unseen
Jehovah , was the honoured receiver of an angel's visit . That incense was the richest portion of the sacrifice of Israel ; more lustrous in its beauty than tho offering of any victim on the brazen altar , and lifted above it in meaning as the ruby royal in its shining is above tho dark , uncarved
jewel from the mine . And no incense burned in the earlier history of tbe Temple , and none burned after , carried with it such a burden and prophecy of grander things to come .
It seemed to be the breathing forth of some supreme and enduring act . Though the priest was alone , and must be alone in such sacred rite , yet he was not alone . To his opened eyo there was a vision , and by hia side stood a
St. John The Baptist.
bright and glorious shape from God ' s angel hosts . He was in tho presence of a power beyond man ; aud on his ear and heart wero tho accents of a message from the throne of God . And in such a presence it was natural , it was necessary as a part of his humanity , that ho should fear
and grow faint before the greatness and dignity which had come upon him . But ho was told to fear not , for his son should be the prophet of tho Highest . And in that announcement the Temple worship and Temple service were made new . The patient waiting of the centuries
was rewarded . The seod sown and nourished by tbe hopes of years sprung up into immortal harvests . Tho types were no longer the alphabet of the learner , but tho written history of the reader . Prophecy was no longer a voice , but a burden transformed into tho Porson of tho
Word of God . Tho flames of tho sevenfold lamp merged into the divine flame of Him who was the Light of tho world . The law of Sinai , with its grand morality kindled into the gentler and more spiritual rule of the Prince of Peace . The shadows that girt about tho promise of the
good things to come wero smitten into glory by the risen beams of the Sun of Rightcousuess . Tho altar of Sacrifice rose into tbe Altar Cross of the Redeeming One . Tho hopes folded in the buds of repeated offerings broke into beautiful flower under the touch of the offering made once
for all by the Prophet of Galilee . A Divine power smote the Temple and its chiselled stones becamo in all lands temples of tho living God . The stream of the Almighty ' s purpose broadened into a river whose waters were-for the healing of the nations . Divine peace , law , prophecy , sacrifice ,
ceremony , incenso , grander rites , all wore takon up and found their completion and their meaning in the coming Person of the highest , and grew lustrous in the splendour that fell upon them from tho face of tbe Salvation of Israel and of man .
And if this was the meaning of that angelic vision , and if this was to be the grand and final result of the advent of the Promised One , must it not have been a most potent influence on the child of that honoured priest ? Such
results must have wrought on the moral and spiritual nature of tho coming prophet and enlarged it into those profound and majestic ideas of Him of Whom ho was to be the forerunner and herald . His character must have
gained sacred aud commanding impulses , breathing the atmosphere of such holy thought , and tho knowledge that ho was living in tho light of u revelation from Heaven and moving along the divinely marked way of God's plans , and to be tho unfolder of a purpose to affect tho ages ,
must have given to his character that purity and strength which have made him a moral impress uutil tho end of time . His own purposes for life , his convictions of this
great end for which he came , inspired , urged ou him , shone round about him in its revealing brightness , and held him stedfast in tho after education in tho desert , until he brought his mission into supreme fulfilment .
And all this marked the life he passed in tho wilderness of Judea . He lived among its rocks or wandered by the strange waters of that sea of death , dwelt in communion with tho Everlasting Presence whose power was felt in all nature and made it obedient to his will . Prophets and
lawgivors came before him with their burden of divino revelation •The holy men of Israel peopled for him tho deserts of Idnmea . Elijah , his own " forerunner , " walked again on tho Heights of Carmel , and tho prophets of Baal were stricken with uttor defeat by the fire from Heaven .
The mighty works of tho past are unrolled before him ; the sea divides itself , and Israel marches onward with a song of triumph on its lips . The pillar of fire aud the pillar of cloud lighten or shadow the desert and lead and protect tho people to the Land of Promise . Sinai flames
anew , and the Creator speaks tho Law in the thunder of His power . The Singer of Bethlehem chants again his divine songs , the choral burst of victory , or the plaintive melody of the human heart . Enoch walks with God , and Adam hears His voice in tho cool of the day . The past of
Israel and of Jehovah ' s dealings with men are unfolded to the lonely dweller in the desert , and His divinely written word sounds iu his ear and in his heart . Israel ' s present history , with its struggles and sufferings , its chivalric conflicts and victory , its glory aud its desolation were his
meditation ; but , like lines of light on the dark clouds , God ' s purpose of mercy shone out and kindled his soul into ardour and devotion , until his mission was a call to redeem the land from its moral degeneracy and its spiritual degradation . Not tho resorts of men , not the schools of
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
St. John The Baptist.
ST . JOHN THE BAPTIST .
An Address by Itev . James Byron Murray , Grand Chaplain , before the Grand Royal Arch Chapter of New York , 4 th February 1 S 01 .
IT is an old truth that principle embodied in tho living person is more potent than principle set forth iu the form of law , or in tho dignity of command . And one of the greatest characteristics of that Word which is the guide of Masonry is its power to impress on the mind the
individuality of its heroes and prophets , its seers and holy men . The living figures pass before the eye in solemn procession , and their life is seen , shadowed by human frailties , or shining in tho brilliance of victory in goodness or greatness . The conscious , breathing form speaks to the
world from the faithful canvas , touched into supreme likeness by the hand of the inspired painter . Bnt there is more than a picture , there is the moving shape , with every feature true to the original , and every Hue chiselled into completeness by the sacred artist , until it walks abroad ,
the thinking , acting man , visible as a history of his motives aud purposes , or an example for every century of time . He is not an ideal issuing into splendid manhood from
some prophetic imagination , but the actual man set to do Borne special work in tho world , and to be in that finished work an influence and superb force for all workers for humanity .
Those men who brought out God ' s plans , wero real men . They were moved by those feelings which move men in every age , aud which by their largeness and intensity , touch the deeps of all mankind . The inner labours , toils , sufferings , anxieties , the thoughts which
coloured and gave meaning to their actions , come out and reveal them for what they were , and for what they lived , as the great earth , with its towns and cities , its waters and hills , its frnits and flowers , comes out from the darkness and reveals itself for what it is in tho unshadowed light of tho morning .
And this is true of St . John . The Divino Word has given to the world the man in his life , his achievements , his power to impress humanity by his moral grandeur and the superlative position he took as tho herald of the Life and Light of men . It was fitting , therefore , that such a
character should appear amid tbe activities and moral revolutions of history in a way commensurate with the work ho had to do . Accordingly ho was the subject of angelic vision , and came into the world clothed in the marvellous vesture of sign and prophecy . His father a
priest in the long course of priesthood framed in an earlier and restored in a later age , his mother descended in priestly lino from Aaron , lived in the ordinances and commandments of the Lord , blameless . Pass back in thought to a historic scene on Mount Zion . The divine record
bears us into the Temple . The hour of sacrifice had approached and the preparations had been made . There was the golden altar and the kindling coal laid thereon , awaiting the fragrant incense ; the lot had been cast , and as if by divine appoiutment it had fallen on Zacharias
as the first step in the proclamation of the coming Truth . Ho was to perform the sacred rite on which history has shown such large issues dopended . This was the special dnty around which the hopes and desires of every
ministering priest , in the Temple service , always centred . And as the custom was , the priests had retired from the holy place , leaving the offerer of incense unattended , in the reverential work of his office .
Zacharias , vested in priestly garments , with the curtains that folded the mysteries of the holiest place from view , before him , and under the shining flame of the golden lamps , as the incense kindled into clouds of sweetness , borne up with them the prayers of a nation to tho unseen
Jehovah , was the honoured receiver of an angel's visit . That incense was the richest portion of the sacrifice of Israel ; more lustrous in its beauty than tho offering of any victim on the brazen altar , and lifted above it in meaning as the ruby royal in its shining is above tho dark , uncarved
jewel from the mine . And no incense burned in the earlier history of tbe Temple , and none burned after , carried with it such a burden and prophecy of grander things to come .
It seemed to be the breathing forth of some supreme and enduring act . Though the priest was alone , and must be alone in such sacred rite , yet he was not alone . To his opened eyo there was a vision , and by hia side stood a
St. John The Baptist.
bright and glorious shape from God ' s angel hosts . He was in tho presence of a power beyond man ; aud on his ear and heart wero tho accents of a message from the throne of God . And in such a presence it was natural , it was necessary as a part of his humanity , that ho should fear
and grow faint before the greatness and dignity which had come upon him . But ho was told to fear not , for his son should be the prophet of tho Highest . And in that announcement the Temple worship and Temple service were made new . The patient waiting of the centuries
was rewarded . The seod sown and nourished by tbe hopes of years sprung up into immortal harvests . Tho types were no longer the alphabet of the learner , but tho written history of the reader . Prophecy was no longer a voice , but a burden transformed into tho Porson of tho
Word of God . Tho flames of tho sevenfold lamp merged into the divine flame of Him who was the Light of tho world . The law of Sinai , with its grand morality kindled into the gentler and more spiritual rule of the Prince of Peace . The shadows that girt about tho promise of the
good things to come wero smitten into glory by the risen beams of the Sun of Rightcousuess . Tho altar of Sacrifice rose into tbe Altar Cross of the Redeeming One . Tho hopes folded in the buds of repeated offerings broke into beautiful flower under the touch of the offering made once
for all by the Prophet of Galilee . A Divine power smote the Temple and its chiselled stones becamo in all lands temples of tho living God . The stream of the Almighty ' s purpose broadened into a river whose waters were-for the healing of the nations . Divine peace , law , prophecy , sacrifice ,
ceremony , incenso , grander rites , all wore takon up and found their completion and their meaning in the coming Person of the highest , and grew lustrous in the splendour that fell upon them from tho face of tbe Salvation of Israel and of man .
And if this was the meaning of that angelic vision , and if this was to be the grand and final result of the advent of the Promised One , must it not have been a most potent influence on the child of that honoured priest ? Such
results must have wrought on the moral and spiritual nature of tho coming prophet and enlarged it into those profound and majestic ideas of Him of Whom ho was to be the forerunner and herald . His character must have
gained sacred aud commanding impulses , breathing the atmosphere of such holy thought , and tho knowledge that ho was living in tho light of u revelation from Heaven and moving along the divinely marked way of God's plans , and to be tho unfolder of a purpose to affect tho ages ,
must have given to his character that purity and strength which have made him a moral impress uutil tho end of time . His own purposes for life , his convictions of this
great end for which he came , inspired , urged ou him , shone round about him in its revealing brightness , and held him stedfast in tho after education in tho desert , until he brought his mission into supreme fulfilment .
And all this marked the life he passed in tho wilderness of Judea . He lived among its rocks or wandered by the strange waters of that sea of death , dwelt in communion with tho Everlasting Presence whose power was felt in all nature and made it obedient to his will . Prophets and
lawgivors came before him with their burden of divino revelation •The holy men of Israel peopled for him tho deserts of Idnmea . Elijah , his own " forerunner , " walked again on tho Heights of Carmel , and tho prophets of Baal were stricken with uttor defeat by the fire from Heaven .
The mighty works of tho past are unrolled before him ; the sea divides itself , and Israel marches onward with a song of triumph on its lips . The pillar of fire aud the pillar of cloud lighten or shadow the desert and lead and protect tho people to the Land of Promise . Sinai flames
anew , and the Creator speaks tho Law in the thunder of His power . The Singer of Bethlehem chants again his divine songs , the choral burst of victory , or the plaintive melody of the human heart . Enoch walks with God , and Adam hears His voice in tho cool of the day . The past of
Israel and of Jehovah ' s dealings with men are unfolded to the lonely dweller in the desert , and His divinely written word sounds iu his ear and in his heart . Israel ' s present history , with its struggles and sufferings , its chivalric conflicts and victory , its glory aud its desolation were his
meditation ; but , like lines of light on the dark clouds , God ' s purpose of mercy shone out and kindled his soul into ardour and devotion , until his mission was a call to redeem the land from its moral degeneracy and its spiritual degradation . Not tho resorts of men , not the schools of