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Article THE FREEMASONS' REPOSITORY. ← Page 4 of 6 →
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The Freemasons' Repository.
* ' Brethren , I commend you to God , and to the word of h « grace , which is able to build you up , and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified . ' ' Christians , brethren in Christ Jesus ! Does not a contemplation of the temper and complexion of the times in which we live rouze your apprehensions for the continuance of those blessings which religion alone can bestowand which are annexed to the temperate enjoyment
, of civil liberty and social order ? Do y-u not perceive on all hands an unaccountable disrespect for the Majesty of the Supreme Being ; a dreadfully increasing contempt of divine ordinances ; a prevailing degeneracy of manners ; a portentous revolution in moral and political opinions ; a wild combination of causes and effects , calculated to sweep from the heart of man all the salutary restraints of piety and
virtue ? ' Amidst this abundance of iniquity , brothers , free and accepted Masons ; ( free , if ve are true to your professions , from fhe bondage of sin , and accepted of God , as they who are obedient to his decrees ;) have von not cause to tremble lest the " love of many should wax cold ? ''t Lest the infection , raging and wide spreading , should
overleap the harriers of your ancient order , and penetrate even into your very Lodges ? Ye , who have been built , up from generation to generation , from , age to age , a peculiar pe-ple , zealous of good works ; existing amongst the various inhabitants and kindreds ofthe earth ; and every wlr-re separated , in the sacred retirement of your
Lodges , from the more common associations of your countrymen and fellow subjects , by singular rites , and forms , and ceremonies , the better to concentrate the powers and energies of the noblest faculties of man , in the exalted wish to render your charity more prompt , and your benevolence more diffusive ; can you be indifferent to the palpable progress of crime and enormity ?—to the frantic efforts of tlie spirit of man at enmity with his Maker?—to the hideous ravings
of infidelity ?—to the propagation of those plunging desperate doctrines , which have for their object the dissolution of every social connection , and threaten to overwhelm ( he rich , and the poor , the industrious and the idle , the virtuous and abandoned , in one common ruin ? ' At a time when , in the hold , and energetic language of scripture ,
all flesh had corrupted the way-of the Almighty , the spirit and master principle , by which Masons ought to be actuated and directed , entered with Noah info the aik ( or lodge ) prepared for him by the great Architect of the Universe . These , assimilating and co-operating with the divine will under Ihe mosaic dispensation , we . re preserved in the minds of such of tlie post-diluvian inhabitants of the worldas
, retained , amidst the obtrusive ignorance , the pollutions and idolatry ofgentilism , the true knowledge and pure worship of God . And when " the Sun of righteousness arose , with healing in his wings , " * to li g hten the darkness of bewildered minds , to disperse the clouds of . vice and imniety , and to heal the broken-hearted , they were warm
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Freemasons' Repository.
* ' Brethren , I commend you to God , and to the word of h « grace , which is able to build you up , and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified . ' ' Christians , brethren in Christ Jesus ! Does not a contemplation of the temper and complexion of the times in which we live rouze your apprehensions for the continuance of those blessings which religion alone can bestowand which are annexed to the temperate enjoyment
, of civil liberty and social order ? Do y-u not perceive on all hands an unaccountable disrespect for the Majesty of the Supreme Being ; a dreadfully increasing contempt of divine ordinances ; a prevailing degeneracy of manners ; a portentous revolution in moral and political opinions ; a wild combination of causes and effects , calculated to sweep from the heart of man all the salutary restraints of piety and
virtue ? ' Amidst this abundance of iniquity , brothers , free and accepted Masons ; ( free , if ve are true to your professions , from fhe bondage of sin , and accepted of God , as they who are obedient to his decrees ;) have von not cause to tremble lest the " love of many should wax cold ? ''t Lest the infection , raging and wide spreading , should
overleap the harriers of your ancient order , and penetrate even into your very Lodges ? Ye , who have been built , up from generation to generation , from , age to age , a peculiar pe-ple , zealous of good works ; existing amongst the various inhabitants and kindreds ofthe earth ; and every wlr-re separated , in the sacred retirement of your
Lodges , from the more common associations of your countrymen and fellow subjects , by singular rites , and forms , and ceremonies , the better to concentrate the powers and energies of the noblest faculties of man , in the exalted wish to render your charity more prompt , and your benevolence more diffusive ; can you be indifferent to the palpable progress of crime and enormity ?—to the frantic efforts of tlie spirit of man at enmity with his Maker?—to the hideous ravings
of infidelity ?—to the propagation of those plunging desperate doctrines , which have for their object the dissolution of every social connection , and threaten to overwhelm ( he rich , and the poor , the industrious and the idle , the virtuous and abandoned , in one common ruin ? ' At a time when , in the hold , and energetic language of scripture ,
all flesh had corrupted the way-of the Almighty , the spirit and master principle , by which Masons ought to be actuated and directed , entered with Noah info the aik ( or lodge ) prepared for him by the great Architect of the Universe . These , assimilating and co-operating with the divine will under Ihe mosaic dispensation , we . re preserved in the minds of such of tlie post-diluvian inhabitants of the worldas
, retained , amidst the obtrusive ignorance , the pollutions and idolatry ofgentilism , the true knowledge and pure worship of God . And when " the Sun of righteousness arose , with healing in his wings , " * to li g hten the darkness of bewildered minds , to disperse the clouds of . vice and imniety , and to heal the broken-hearted , they were warm