The Columbian fountain., 1846-05-30
A SATURDAY SERMON.
BY A LAYMAN

"The Lord is in His holy temple let all
the earth keep silence before Him. ."-Hab.
ii. 20.
When the inspired author Of the Penta.
teuch had accomplished the delverance ol
his brethren from their long and toilsome
bondage to the Pharaohs Of Egypt, and had
brought them, under the immediate guild
ance and direction Of the God of his fathers,
through many perils and suferings, safely
to the wilderness Of Sinai, he was COM
manded BY that same Being, who had been
with him throughout his trackless march
as apillar Of cloud by day, and a pillar Of
fire by night; who had caused the sea to
forget its laws, and its waves to stand up as
a wall on either side, that his chosen peo-
pie might pass through them as upon dry
land, and thus escape their pursuing foes
who had brought forth gushing streams of
water from the finty rock, am owered
down bread from heaven, where no human
foresight or efforts could have provided Ell
ther for such a multitude Of hungry, thirsty,
and fainting travellers: he was commanded
by that benevolent Father and Almighty
God to build tabernacle. "And the Lord
spake unto Moses, saying, and let them
make me sanctuary, that I may dwcH
among hen,.'
This tabernacle, this sanctuary, is uni
versally admitted by biblical commentators
to have been the type of that magnificent
temple afterwards erected by Solomon at
Jerusalem, in the sanctuary Of (which no de-
scendant of Israel ever doubted that the
Most High was ai,oays present. 1t is
with the same universally, admitted by
processing Christians that this temple ol
Solomon was itself the prototype of every
Christian church which has since been rear
ed for the service Of God and the propaga-
ton of his Gospel. 1t is upon the author
ity of these words of God himself, address
ed to his chosen organ, that every Christian
church is called sanctuary, the habitation
of God, the dwelling place of the Lord
1t was upon the same authority that the
words of the text were uttered by the Pro-
phet, !" The Lord is in His holy temple" If
we believe, then, that God is really present in
every temple erected in his name, and de-
dcated to his worship, how beautiful, how
awful, how impressive is the consequent
Injunction, "Be all the earth SILENT before
Him ! /"
Silence would seem to be the natural re-
presentation of respect and reverence. In
some nations, where the people know not
the Father as we know him, where they
profess not to believe in the Son as we pro-
fess, and where the Holy Spirit has not shed
that light which We profess to derive from
the Gospel Of Christ, it is the custom, when
the sovereign enters one of their temples,
for the assembled votaries to bow before
him in profound and reverential silence. So
long as he remains present not sound is
heard save the voice of him who ministers
the false religion which they blindly follow:
all is mute attention and respect.
How is it in our Christian temples, where
the Sovereign of sovereigns, the Lord of
lords the King of all the earth, hath told
us he is at all times present. How is it,
even in those churches where the very
words we have quoted stand at the head
and front of the service Can it be possible
that those who hear this beautiful and i'm
pressive introduction to the church's devo-
tons believe that the words came from the
lips Of one who spoke only as God COM
manded to speak Let those whose con-
sciences feel the pertinence of these ques-
t;ons answer them to their own hearts.
1t may be perhaps that some who fully
believe that the words were uttered by ths
immediate inspiration of God, nevertheless
persuade themselves that they were limi
led in their Specification to the time ant
occasion of their utterance by the Prophet