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Article GOD'S LIVING TEMPLE. Page 1 of 6 →
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God's Living Temple.
GOB'S IJTO
The follovring eloquent and truly Masonic sermon was preached by our BeAn Bro . Dr . John Woolley , Prxrv . G . Chaplain for Hampshire , at Saint Michaefs Church , Basingstoke , before the P . W , Prov . G . M . Admiral Sir Lucius Curtis , Bart , and the members of the ProA ^ . G . Lodge , on Thursday the 8 th inst ., the Rev . Bro . taking his text from Isaiah , chap . IxvLve
[ a Thus saith the Lord , The heaven is my throne ^ footstool : Avhere is the house t ^ is the place of my rest ? For all those things hath mine hand made , saith & Amo ^ o the many striki ^ passages with which the Avriting s of the prophet IsMah ahpund , I know n ^ grandeur , surpasses that
sharp and cutting repro ^ nificent temple v Avhich was the glory of their nation , lie fame of which was spread throng his glory , and to set ^ ^ u ^ being ^ spirit and tho se manifold gifts and graces Avhich Avere his special ornament for him
aiid characteristic , and obt ^ ed the hi ^ Mend of God . ' And at the same time , while giring this rebuke , the prophet enunciates a grand and sublime triith , to Avhich , as the world grows older and waxes in knowledge and Avisdom , the increased light of successive generations only lends a deeper significance and a keener appreciation . It cannot he denied that there is a strong tendency in men possessed of peculiar privileges and enjoying a higher degree of light than others , to rest satisfied Avith the advantages thus given them , and pride themselves upon it ; and to
iorget the higher responsibility resting on them , in consequence of the obligation they are under , of justifyingthe special favour sboAvn them by letting the world see by their conduct and in their principles how worthy they are of it ; in a word , of letting " their light so shine before men that they may see their good Avorks and glorify their Father which is in Heaven . " There are numberless instances in the records of God ' s chosen people that they were prone to fall into this error . Nor has the Christian Church been less liable
than the Jewish to pride itself on the presumed enjoyment of light , careless to walk as children of the light . We , too , my Brethren , as Masons , as members of the most ancient Fraternity Avhich has ever existed , boast that we , too , are in a peculiar manner possessed of the inestimable blessing of light . Have we no need of applying the prophetic admonition to ourselves , and of seeing to it , that our light be not , after all , darkness , as it most '
- ~ J 1 > . —Ml 1 : # J x _ 11- _„ Ail . 1 _/» xl l * 1 ~ a < 1 T-, J » assuredly will become , if we do not walk as children of the light ? In discoursing on these words , however , it is not my design to limit the instruction which we may derive from them to the admonition they were primarily meant to convey , but to endeavour , so far as the Mmits of a discourse Avill admit , to glance at several other profitable subjects of thought on Avhich they are calculated to shed light ; and may the Almighty Creator dispose
our hearts to receive in a humble , teachable spirit , such instruction as they are calculated to afford . Observe then the terms in which the prophet declares the ineffable majesty ofthe supreme omnipotence of the Great Architect of the universe : " Thus
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
God's Living Temple.
GOB'S IJTO
The follovring eloquent and truly Masonic sermon was preached by our BeAn Bro . Dr . John Woolley , Prxrv . G . Chaplain for Hampshire , at Saint Michaefs Church , Basingstoke , before the P . W , Prov . G . M . Admiral Sir Lucius Curtis , Bart , and the members of the ProA ^ . G . Lodge , on Thursday the 8 th inst ., the Rev . Bro . taking his text from Isaiah , chap . IxvLve
[ a Thus saith the Lord , The heaven is my throne ^ footstool : Avhere is the house t ^ is the place of my rest ? For all those things hath mine hand made , saith & Amo ^ o the many striki ^ passages with which the Avriting s of the prophet IsMah ahpund , I know n ^ grandeur , surpasses that
sharp and cutting repro ^ nificent temple v Avhich was the glory of their nation , lie fame of which was spread throng his glory , and to set ^ ^ u ^ being ^ spirit and tho se manifold gifts and graces Avhich Avere his special ornament for him
aiid characteristic , and obt ^ ed the hi ^ Mend of God . ' And at the same time , while giring this rebuke , the prophet enunciates a grand and sublime triith , to Avhich , as the world grows older and waxes in knowledge and Avisdom , the increased light of successive generations only lends a deeper significance and a keener appreciation . It cannot he denied that there is a strong tendency in men possessed of peculiar privileges and enjoying a higher degree of light than others , to rest satisfied Avith the advantages thus given them , and pride themselves upon it ; and to
iorget the higher responsibility resting on them , in consequence of the obligation they are under , of justifyingthe special favour sboAvn them by letting the world see by their conduct and in their principles how worthy they are of it ; in a word , of letting " their light so shine before men that they may see their good Avorks and glorify their Father which is in Heaven . " There are numberless instances in the records of God ' s chosen people that they were prone to fall into this error . Nor has the Christian Church been less liable
than the Jewish to pride itself on the presumed enjoyment of light , careless to walk as children of the light . We , too , my Brethren , as Masons , as members of the most ancient Fraternity Avhich has ever existed , boast that we , too , are in a peculiar manner possessed of the inestimable blessing of light . Have we no need of applying the prophetic admonition to ourselves , and of seeing to it , that our light be not , after all , darkness , as it most '
- ~ J 1 > . —Ml 1 : # J x _ 11- _„ Ail . 1 _/» xl l * 1 ~ a < 1 T-, J » assuredly will become , if we do not walk as children of the light ? In discoursing on these words , however , it is not my design to limit the instruction which we may derive from them to the admonition they were primarily meant to convey , but to endeavour , so far as the Mmits of a discourse Avill admit , to glance at several other profitable subjects of thought on Avhich they are calculated to shed light ; and may the Almighty Creator dispose
our hearts to receive in a humble , teachable spirit , such instruction as they are calculated to afford . Observe then the terms in which the prophet declares the ineffable majesty ofthe supreme omnipotence of the Great Architect of the universe : " Thus