The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1888-04-11

the brazen gates of the naughty city.
"Now," says the Lord God in infinite con-
descension, 81 will be travelling temple
to them. will be as little sanctuary to
each one of them. They shall carry my
temple about with them. Wherever they
are, will be, as it were, holy place to
them" In using the word little" the
gracious God would seem to say, Il will
condescend to them, and l will be as they
are. / will bow down to their littleness,
and will be'to each little one of them a
little sanctuary"
A sanctuary was place of refuge. You
know how Joab fled to the horns of the
altar to escape from Solomon's armed
men; he ran to the temple, hoping to find
sanctuary there. In past ages, churches
and abbeys and affairs have been used as
places OF sanctuary to which men have
fed when in danger OF their lives. Take
that sense and couple it with the cities of
refuge which were set up throughout all
Israel, to which the man who killed an
other by misadventure might flee to hide
himself from the man-slayer. Now, be-
loved fellow-bcliever, wherever you are,
wherever you dwell, God will be to you a
constant place of refuge. You shall flee
from sin to God in Christ Jesus.
Next, sanctuary signifies also place of
worship. 1t is place. where the divine
presence is peculiarly manifested-a holy
place. 1t usually means place where
God dwells, place where God has prom
Used TO meet with his people, place of ac-
ceptance where prayers and praises and
| offerings come up with acceptance to His
altar. Now, notice, God says to His peo-
pie when they are far away from the
temple and Jerusalem, 81 will be to them
l..
to sea, God in your cabin shall be to you
little sanctuary. When you travel by
railway, the carriage shall, through the
Lords presence, be little sanctuary
Now, 20 a little further. Our God is to
us place of stiffness. What repose one
might enjoy who could dwell in the secret
place of the Most Hight How one signs
for stillnessl Those who live in the wear
and tear of city life-and it is an awful
wear and tear-might well pay down un-
told gold TO be still for awhile. What
would we not give for quiet, abso-
lutte quiet, when everything should be
still, and the whirling wheels of care
should cease TO rcVOlve for at least little
while? ] sometimes propose TO myself to
wait upon God and be still. Alas! There
is the bell Who is this? Somebody who
will chatter for a quarter OF an hour about
nothing. Well, that intruder has gone I;
let us pray. We are on our knees. What
is this? A telegram! One is half
frightened at the very sight of it; it is
| opened, and il calls you away to matters
/ which are the reverse OF quieting. Where
is stiffness to be had? The only prescrip-
/ ton i can give to them is this promise {:
| Il will be to them as little sanctuary"
| The sanctuary was place of mercy.
God was not there IN power to destroy,
nor in subtle wisdom to discover folly; he
was there in mercy, waiting to forgive.
| When men have no mercy on you, 60 to
| God. When you have no mercy on your
| self-and sometimes you have not-run
away to God. Draw near TO him and he
will be TO you as little sanctuary.
| Go stage further. That sanctuary was
/ place of great holiness. 1t was the holt
est place that could be. The world is an
unholy place, and at times it is most griev-
Orsly so. You mix up with people who
defile you; how can you helpit? Your
| daily business calls you to see and hear
many things which are defling. When
/ these things are more than ordinarily
| glaring, you say to yourself, "0for lodge
/ in some vast wilderness, that l might get
away from the very sight of men :"
| Here is the promise; the text means this
! "a little holy of holies."
| Lastly, God will be to us place of COM
munion and OF revelation. In the holy
| place was the ark: God is to us the ark OF
! the covenant. He has entered into COW
| enant with man, toward us. He has a
/ throne of grace, and there He meets us,
| even in Christ Jesus, who is our propitia-
\ ton. o brethren, if you want anything,
/ II you want everything, 90 to God for il!
| that is to say, lie will bring TO you every
| thing which was inside that holy place.
Ii, at this time, YOU have lost many OF
| the comforts of this life, and seem be-
/ reaved of friends, then find God in your
/ little sanctuary" Go home to your
/ chamber with holy faith and humble
| love, and He will be all in all to you. The
| Lord has ways OF weaving us from the
| visible and the tangible, and bringing us to
| live upon the invisible and the real, in
| order to prepare us for the. next stage,
| that better life, that higher place, where
we shall really deal with the eternal
| things only. God blows out our candles
and makes Us find our light in Him, to
prepare us for that place in which they
need no candle, for the glory of God is
their light; and where the Lord God AL
mighty and the Lamb are the temple
| thereof. Oh that God would gradually
lift us above all the outward, above all the
visible, and bring US more and more into
the inward and unseen! For Christ S
sake, We ask it. Amen!