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Article THE BUILDING OF THE TEMPLE. ← Page 2 of 3 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Building Of The Temple.
in building a temple to the name aud glory ofthe Most High God in strength higher than his OAVU . I said that this temple must be builded of the AA'orks of faith and love . It is so . Heavily through the burden and heat of the day the Mason must toil in the quarry of this world to shape the materials AA'hich are to be laid in the house of God . Rough and unhewn
are the stones on ivhich his hands , armed with the chisel of industry and the hammer of perseverance , must carve , mark , and indent . Wild is the AA'ood in AA'hich his axe must fell and heiv the beams ere they can he fitted for the sacred structure ; yet such is the heaven taught wisdom AA'hich guides him , that when they come to be set up , we may well say that the whole is the work ofthe Great Architect ofthe universe , not of human hands . But folloiv brethren
me , , further yet , Avhen by the divine grace assisting , the hard stone is squared , and the stubborn beams are shaped so as to become fit materials for the spiritual temple ivhich is to he reared . Let us for a while contemplate the work as it grows and grows , and draws nearer and nearer to its completion . Holy is the ground upon which that temple stands . It is hallowed in virtue
of a triple offering . HalloAved it is , and bought and consecrated for ever to the worship of God by the priceless offering of the blood of that " more acceptable victim , " our Lord Jesus Christ , " the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world , " sanctified by ivhich it remains , unmeet for any meaner use than the service of Almi ghty God . But alas ! though all unmeet for such defilementyet the fraud and malice ofthe devil
, . , or our own carnal ivill and frailty oftentimes pollute that consecrated dwelling ; often when God- in his love is willing to come and make his abode with us , Ave by our own self-will and disobedience drive him away from us . What shall purify the spot Avjiicii
we nave polluted so that he may return to it again ? Blessed be God , brethren , the tears and prayers of penitence rendered acceptable by that first and only sacrifice of atonement , appease an offended Lord and turn away his hand as the hand of the angel was stayed at the threshing floor of Araimah the Jebusito , by the penitential offering of David . God forgctteth not to be gracious , but turns to that temple from whence arise thenceforth the constant
sacrifice of prayer and thanksgiving , the oblations and costly offerings of a grateful and pardoned soul , the third pure offering by ivhich that abode is hallowed . Such is the ground upon which the temple stands . Its foundations are laid deep in wisdom , that wisdom Avhich AA'C are exhorted to seek for as for hidden treasures ' , - that divine illumination Avithout wliich any trail and sinful man in seeking to Godivould be onl
serve , y like one that is deaf , whose fingers wander at random over the keys of a musical instrument producing only some vague and jarring sounds , the effect of AA'hich he knows not . The Avails are budded up in strength , that heavenly strength lent by God himself , to support his servants under toils and difficulties beneath which unassisted human nature ivould faint and fall , hut aided by which the hands which hang doivn are lifted up and the feeble knees braced
are anew , and the holy work goes on approachiii" - ever nearer and nearer to the likeness of the divine plan lieaiit y slimes through the whole design , in symmetry and order . JS O grace or virtue is pushed forward by the wise master builder so as to seem discordant with or to conceal another , but each piece licmg _ laid in its due place by a judicious hand the whole work rises in wondrous harmonyand he ascends when he wills b
, y the step ot iaith , hope , and love , which resting on the blessed volume or lErocls revealed will , conducts him in heart and mind into that sanctuary where is the very presence of God . With freedom , fervency , and zeal , lie serves his heavenly master . No slavish
icar checks and fetters the glad offering of his love . l \ o coward chills smother the glow of energy ivith ivhich , urged on by that Jove , he takes Ins work in hand afresh day by day ; no dull sloth entices him to loiter over his tusk while aught remains to be done It may he , perchance , that his place is " but a humble one , ami that , well satisfied with that portion wliich the providence of Clod nas allotted to him he socks no higher grade , covets no higher lory than faithfull to have filled lowl
g y a y post . Well is it for Hmi il it be so , and God ' s everlasting blessing rest on and prosper sucii humble and retiring souls 1 But nobler yet is he who , bavin " lirst sought to give glory to God and love to man , boldly stretches lonvard , and extends his researches into the more hidden mysteries of nature and of science . I ct even here , the same wisdom from on lugli which bade him about the needful task in
go one quiet and in calmi , governs and directs him in the wide field wliich opens ¦ leiorc hini ft may be that learning is his glorious pursuit . The .. oiigucs ot distant nations and speeches now forgotten may become as familiar to him as the language wliich he lisped on his mother ' s Juice , liie records of old kings whose very names have become
matters of dispute for the scholar , may yield up their secrets to his piercing eye . Oratory may enable his words to thrill a nation's heart , and aivake drowsy souls to the high and honourable pursuit of Avhat is great and noble . Logic may become his instrument to direct him into the knOAA'ledge of truth , and the baffled sophist may slink scoivling from his presence . Numbers , geometry
and astronomy may become alike his servants and his guides , may teach him to measure the surface of the earth , trace his way across the realms of ocean , or direct his gaze to folloiv the path of comets and worlds unknown , through the boundless regions of space . Music may rise beneath his touch , breathing echoes fresh from fairy land , or strains that emulate the angelic songs . He may desi wondrous works of mechanic skillthrowing sliht
gn , g but imperishable bridges across hitherto impassable rifts and mountain gorges , yoking the powers of steam in bands , and bidding the mysterious agencies of electricity and magnetism do his errands and bear his words across the pathless waters . His hand may give birth to paintings which rival ideal beauty ; he may shape
" The stone that breathes and struggles , The brass that seems to apeak ';" disease and pain may look on him and fly ; the returning bloom of health may rekindle the pale cheek , and renovated strength may lift up the enfeebled frame at his bidding . All this and much more he may do—yet of all this he never forgets the greatthe onlreal aimhe knows that all this can serve no hiher
, y ; g use than to help worthily to adorn that temple , to the erection of ivhich he has devoted his life . Humbly he pursues his high and noble work , never unconscious of the loving gaze of that allseeing eye ofthe Grand Geometrician which is continually watching over him . In strength his work is established on the right hand and on the left , that God ' s name may rest there for ever . Whatsoever he does in word or deedhe does all to the glory of God . Alas !
, brethren , did we but set this end more fully before us as the one object worthy of rational and responsible man , what glorious creatures should AVC be , even fallen and marred as Ave are . But it may not be ! Folloiv me on Avhile I trace out the parallel yet a little further .
Many a temptation from without , many a lust from withm , warring against the soul , have hindered the glorious work from reaching its fulness . Long watchful care has baffled them many a time in their attempts to meddle with and mar that design ofthe Master Builder which was none of theirs , till at last many of them seem to have withdrawn from their unhallowed confederacy . But three deadly foes still remain , in AA-IIOIU is concentrated the malice
of the whole . Who shall be in this life entirely conqueror over the world , the flesh , and the devil ? AVhat son of Adam shall so entirely repair the image of his Maker as not to folloiv his forefathers to the grave ? True , the great and useful lesson ivhich Ave learn in life has been studied well , by such a man as I have been endeavouring to describe . Safely he has been conducted through the intricate windings of this mortal life , and HOAV he
practises the lesson AA'hich he has learned , the lesson which teaches him how to die . Death , which for him has no terrors , has wrought upon him the worst it can . His work is over , the builder is smitten , his mortal body is loivered into the grave to be turned into corruption ; but is this all ? Does his great King leave him loan unhallowed repose ? "So ] The bright and morning star has arisen . Even in the keep of death the right hand of the Saviour's righteousness shall hold him up , and raise him to a place
of peaceful rest near the sanctuary of his presence , there to wait until in due time to the faithful and true the real secret , the secret of Rod himself , shall be revealed . Then , brethren , if this be so , let us go on calmly ivith our work . Let the Avorld be content to believe that there can be nothing done which is hidden from its prying gaze , and that if there were , it would SIIOAV itself in vain noise and bustle and turmoil , as the
way of the world is . Be it ours rather to help to labour for God in the majestic silence which marks the groAvth of his temple , and to wait patiently for the wages of our toil , until our heavenly Grand Master's day ; being AYCII assured that in due season AVC shall receive our reward . Itcvereutly shading our eyes , lest AVC be blinded by excess o light , let us look on , dear brethren , upAvard and upward still . describe
What AVC see I ivill not dare to , save where inspired truth leads the way . What says St . John ? " And I saiv a neiv heaven and a HCAV earth , for the first heaven and the first earth were passed au-tiy , and there AVUS no more sea And he sliOAvcd me that great city , the heavenly Jerusalem , descending out of heaven from God , having the glory of God . . . . Audi saw no temple therein , for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb arc the temple of it And the nations of them ivhich are
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Building Of The Temple.
in building a temple to the name aud glory ofthe Most High God in strength higher than his OAVU . I said that this temple must be builded of the AA'orks of faith and love . It is so . Heavily through the burden and heat of the day the Mason must toil in the quarry of this world to shape the materials AA'hich are to be laid in the house of God . Rough and unhewn
are the stones on ivhich his hands , armed with the chisel of industry and the hammer of perseverance , must carve , mark , and indent . Wild is the AA'ood in AA'hich his axe must fell and heiv the beams ere they can he fitted for the sacred structure ; yet such is the heaven taught wisdom AA'hich guides him , that when they come to be set up , we may well say that the whole is the work ofthe Great Architect ofthe universe , not of human hands . But folloiv brethren
me , , further yet , Avhen by the divine grace assisting , the hard stone is squared , and the stubborn beams are shaped so as to become fit materials for the spiritual temple ivhich is to he reared . Let us for a while contemplate the work as it grows and grows , and draws nearer and nearer to its completion . Holy is the ground upon which that temple stands . It is hallowed in virtue
of a triple offering . HalloAved it is , and bought and consecrated for ever to the worship of God by the priceless offering of the blood of that " more acceptable victim , " our Lord Jesus Christ , " the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world , " sanctified by ivhich it remains , unmeet for any meaner use than the service of Almi ghty God . But alas ! though all unmeet for such defilementyet the fraud and malice ofthe devil
, . , or our own carnal ivill and frailty oftentimes pollute that consecrated dwelling ; often when God- in his love is willing to come and make his abode with us , Ave by our own self-will and disobedience drive him away from us . What shall purify the spot Avjiicii
we nave polluted so that he may return to it again ? Blessed be God , brethren , the tears and prayers of penitence rendered acceptable by that first and only sacrifice of atonement , appease an offended Lord and turn away his hand as the hand of the angel was stayed at the threshing floor of Araimah the Jebusito , by the penitential offering of David . God forgctteth not to be gracious , but turns to that temple from whence arise thenceforth the constant
sacrifice of prayer and thanksgiving , the oblations and costly offerings of a grateful and pardoned soul , the third pure offering by ivhich that abode is hallowed . Such is the ground upon which the temple stands . Its foundations are laid deep in wisdom , that wisdom Avhich AA'C are exhorted to seek for as for hidden treasures ' , - that divine illumination Avithout wliich any trail and sinful man in seeking to Godivould be onl
serve , y like one that is deaf , whose fingers wander at random over the keys of a musical instrument producing only some vague and jarring sounds , the effect of AA'hich he knows not . The Avails are budded up in strength , that heavenly strength lent by God himself , to support his servants under toils and difficulties beneath which unassisted human nature ivould faint and fall , hut aided by which the hands which hang doivn are lifted up and the feeble knees braced
are anew , and the holy work goes on approachiii" - ever nearer and nearer to the likeness of the divine plan lieaiit y slimes through the whole design , in symmetry and order . JS O grace or virtue is pushed forward by the wise master builder so as to seem discordant with or to conceal another , but each piece licmg _ laid in its due place by a judicious hand the whole work rises in wondrous harmonyand he ascends when he wills b
, y the step ot iaith , hope , and love , which resting on the blessed volume or lErocls revealed will , conducts him in heart and mind into that sanctuary where is the very presence of God . With freedom , fervency , and zeal , lie serves his heavenly master . No slavish
icar checks and fetters the glad offering of his love . l \ o coward chills smother the glow of energy ivith ivhich , urged on by that Jove , he takes Ins work in hand afresh day by day ; no dull sloth entices him to loiter over his tusk while aught remains to be done It may he , perchance , that his place is " but a humble one , ami that , well satisfied with that portion wliich the providence of Clod nas allotted to him he socks no higher grade , covets no higher lory than faithfull to have filled lowl
g y a y post . Well is it for Hmi il it be so , and God ' s everlasting blessing rest on and prosper sucii humble and retiring souls 1 But nobler yet is he who , bavin " lirst sought to give glory to God and love to man , boldly stretches lonvard , and extends his researches into the more hidden mysteries of nature and of science . I ct even here , the same wisdom from on lugli which bade him about the needful task in
go one quiet and in calmi , governs and directs him in the wide field wliich opens ¦ leiorc hini ft may be that learning is his glorious pursuit . The .. oiigucs ot distant nations and speeches now forgotten may become as familiar to him as the language wliich he lisped on his mother ' s Juice , liie records of old kings whose very names have become
matters of dispute for the scholar , may yield up their secrets to his piercing eye . Oratory may enable his words to thrill a nation's heart , and aivake drowsy souls to the high and honourable pursuit of Avhat is great and noble . Logic may become his instrument to direct him into the knOAA'ledge of truth , and the baffled sophist may slink scoivling from his presence . Numbers , geometry
and astronomy may become alike his servants and his guides , may teach him to measure the surface of the earth , trace his way across the realms of ocean , or direct his gaze to folloiv the path of comets and worlds unknown , through the boundless regions of space . Music may rise beneath his touch , breathing echoes fresh from fairy land , or strains that emulate the angelic songs . He may desi wondrous works of mechanic skillthrowing sliht
gn , g but imperishable bridges across hitherto impassable rifts and mountain gorges , yoking the powers of steam in bands , and bidding the mysterious agencies of electricity and magnetism do his errands and bear his words across the pathless waters . His hand may give birth to paintings which rival ideal beauty ; he may shape
" The stone that breathes and struggles , The brass that seems to apeak ';" disease and pain may look on him and fly ; the returning bloom of health may rekindle the pale cheek , and renovated strength may lift up the enfeebled frame at his bidding . All this and much more he may do—yet of all this he never forgets the greatthe onlreal aimhe knows that all this can serve no hiher
, y ; g use than to help worthily to adorn that temple , to the erection of ivhich he has devoted his life . Humbly he pursues his high and noble work , never unconscious of the loving gaze of that allseeing eye ofthe Grand Geometrician which is continually watching over him . In strength his work is established on the right hand and on the left , that God ' s name may rest there for ever . Whatsoever he does in word or deedhe does all to the glory of God . Alas !
, brethren , did we but set this end more fully before us as the one object worthy of rational and responsible man , what glorious creatures should AVC be , even fallen and marred as Ave are . But it may not be ! Folloiv me on Avhile I trace out the parallel yet a little further .
Many a temptation from without , many a lust from withm , warring against the soul , have hindered the glorious work from reaching its fulness . Long watchful care has baffled them many a time in their attempts to meddle with and mar that design ofthe Master Builder which was none of theirs , till at last many of them seem to have withdrawn from their unhallowed confederacy . But three deadly foes still remain , in AA-IIOIU is concentrated the malice
of the whole . Who shall be in this life entirely conqueror over the world , the flesh , and the devil ? AVhat son of Adam shall so entirely repair the image of his Maker as not to folloiv his forefathers to the grave ? True , the great and useful lesson ivhich Ave learn in life has been studied well , by such a man as I have been endeavouring to describe . Safely he has been conducted through the intricate windings of this mortal life , and HOAV he
practises the lesson AA'hich he has learned , the lesson which teaches him how to die . Death , which for him has no terrors , has wrought upon him the worst it can . His work is over , the builder is smitten , his mortal body is loivered into the grave to be turned into corruption ; but is this all ? Does his great King leave him loan unhallowed repose ? "So ] The bright and morning star has arisen . Even in the keep of death the right hand of the Saviour's righteousness shall hold him up , and raise him to a place
of peaceful rest near the sanctuary of his presence , there to wait until in due time to the faithful and true the real secret , the secret of Rod himself , shall be revealed . Then , brethren , if this be so , let us go on calmly ivith our work . Let the Avorld be content to believe that there can be nothing done which is hidden from its prying gaze , and that if there were , it would SIIOAV itself in vain noise and bustle and turmoil , as the
way of the world is . Be it ours rather to help to labour for God in the majestic silence which marks the groAvth of his temple , and to wait patiently for the wages of our toil , until our heavenly Grand Master's day ; being AYCII assured that in due season AVC shall receive our reward . Itcvereutly shading our eyes , lest AVC be blinded by excess o light , let us look on , dear brethren , upAvard and upward still . describe
What AVC see I ivill not dare to , save where inspired truth leads the way . What says St . John ? " And I saiv a neiv heaven and a HCAV earth , for the first heaven and the first earth were passed au-tiy , and there AVUS no more sea And he sliOAvcd me that great city , the heavenly Jerusalem , descending out of heaven from God , having the glory of God . . . . Audi saw no temple therein , for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb arc the temple of it And the nations of them ivhich are