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Article GOB'S IJTO ← Page 5 of 6 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Gob's Ijto
chitecture or Masonr 5 ^ --the science and art of erecting superb and magnificent structures , has ever been beld in high honour ever been amongst the foremost of the liberal arts which have raised man from the dust and ashes of barbarism to the highest pinnacle of civilization . Moreover we feel that this art is ennobhng ^ As being the art more especially of construction and adaptation ; the cultivation and practice of it enables us
to make the nearest approach of which we are capable to the imitation of the great Creator in Iris highest attributes . The moral truths ^ too , symbolized in a noble structure arid its several component parts are many and various , arid all directly tending to elevate the soul . Thus the very form of a beautiful temple composed of stones , insignificant value in themselves , yet , Avhen taking their diie and appropriate place , adding beauty and strength to the Avhole edifice , and themselves deriving
a peculiar worth and dignity from the building itself , lying in due subordination to one another , and all kept together by the chief cornerstone ^ oh which the stability ^ to us in a . striking manner the rnutualdepe men in a state of civilized society , and their subordination to rulers and govern Avhich society could not subsist . To lis ^ as Christians ^ it also symbolizes that higher arid more noble society , the church of God , in which all the several
members are modelled and wrought into one edifice , deriving their beauty and comeliness and strength from the Chief Corner Stone—even God himself made ^^ to-day , and for ever . The temple itself being set apart excfe worship of the Most High , is a visible sign and token to us of the sublime truth , that each of us is , or ought to be , in Hke manner , a liring temple of God— -that we should be consecrated in body , soul , and spirit , to him whose ¦
we are , and to whom we ought to serve in the beauty of holiness . ' " Know ye" not that ye are the temple of God , and that the Spirit of Goi dwelleth in you ? " And what is the necessary consequence of this ? "If any man defile the temple of God , him shall God defile ; for the temple of God is holy , which temple ye are . " Further , the very progressive act of building a temple , from laying the first , or foundation stone , through all the several
stages until the building is crowned with the cope stone , represents that progressive advancement in Airtue and holiness , Avhich ought to be going on in the heart of every man , from his first admission into covenant relations Avith his Maker , until the edifice being now complete , he being made a fine ancl holy temple to God , is ready to be transferred to that more august temple , in Avhich all thelesser ones are enshrined—that house not made with hands , eternal
in the heavens . So that when in the Scriptures this progressive advancement in holiness is sought to be described , no more appropriate Avord for it can be found than edification , or building up . " Unto whom coming as unto a , living stone , disallowed , indeed , of men , but chosen of God and precious ; ye , also , as lively stones , are built up a spiritual house . " To you , my Brethren , admitted to the light of the Ancient Fraternity of Freemasons , I need not enlarge further on this topic . Enough has been said to show that the Almighty , while repudiating for himself the necessity of temples made
with hands , has not deemed them needless for the use of man , thereby , as we believe , by implication , setting his seal of approbation on a society like ours , which , founded on immemorial tradition , has for its object the inculcation of a peculiar system of morality , veiled in allegory ancl illustrated by symbols . Let us then hold fast the time-honoured traditions Avhich Ave have received through so long a succession of great and noble men , even from tlie earliest times . And , above all , let us not fall into the error which is in my text reproved by the prophet , of confounding the shadow with the substance , holding fast the tradition but forgetting its meaning , putting the
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Gob's Ijto
chitecture or Masonr 5 ^ --the science and art of erecting superb and magnificent structures , has ever been beld in high honour ever been amongst the foremost of the liberal arts which have raised man from the dust and ashes of barbarism to the highest pinnacle of civilization . Moreover we feel that this art is ennobhng ^ As being the art more especially of construction and adaptation ; the cultivation and practice of it enables us
to make the nearest approach of which we are capable to the imitation of the great Creator in Iris highest attributes . The moral truths ^ too , symbolized in a noble structure arid its several component parts are many and various , arid all directly tending to elevate the soul . Thus the very form of a beautiful temple composed of stones , insignificant value in themselves , yet , Avhen taking their diie and appropriate place , adding beauty and strength to the Avhole edifice , and themselves deriving
a peculiar worth and dignity from the building itself , lying in due subordination to one another , and all kept together by the chief cornerstone ^ oh which the stability ^ to us in a . striking manner the rnutualdepe men in a state of civilized society , and their subordination to rulers and govern Avhich society could not subsist . To lis ^ as Christians ^ it also symbolizes that higher arid more noble society , the church of God , in which all the several
members are modelled and wrought into one edifice , deriving their beauty and comeliness and strength from the Chief Corner Stone—even God himself made ^^ to-day , and for ever . The temple itself being set apart excfe worship of the Most High , is a visible sign and token to us of the sublime truth , that each of us is , or ought to be , in Hke manner , a liring temple of God— -that we should be consecrated in body , soul , and spirit , to him whose ¦
we are , and to whom we ought to serve in the beauty of holiness . ' " Know ye" not that ye are the temple of God , and that the Spirit of Goi dwelleth in you ? " And what is the necessary consequence of this ? "If any man defile the temple of God , him shall God defile ; for the temple of God is holy , which temple ye are . " Further , the very progressive act of building a temple , from laying the first , or foundation stone , through all the several
stages until the building is crowned with the cope stone , represents that progressive advancement in Airtue and holiness , Avhich ought to be going on in the heart of every man , from his first admission into covenant relations Avith his Maker , until the edifice being now complete , he being made a fine ancl holy temple to God , is ready to be transferred to that more august temple , in Avhich all thelesser ones are enshrined—that house not made with hands , eternal
in the heavens . So that when in the Scriptures this progressive advancement in holiness is sought to be described , no more appropriate Avord for it can be found than edification , or building up . " Unto whom coming as unto a , living stone , disallowed , indeed , of men , but chosen of God and precious ; ye , also , as lively stones , are built up a spiritual house . " To you , my Brethren , admitted to the light of the Ancient Fraternity of Freemasons , I need not enlarge further on this topic . Enough has been said to show that the Almighty , while repudiating for himself the necessity of temples made
with hands , has not deemed them needless for the use of man , thereby , as we believe , by implication , setting his seal of approbation on a society like ours , which , founded on immemorial tradition , has for its object the inculcation of a peculiar system of morality , veiled in allegory ancl illustrated by symbols . Let us then hold fast the time-honoured traditions Avhich Ave have received through so long a succession of great and noble men , even from tlie earliest times . And , above all , let us not fall into the error which is in my text reproved by the prophet , of confounding the shadow with the substance , holding fast the tradition but forgetting its meaning , putting the