Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1905-07-27

eral will be the consent or acQufesencs
In the government. Paul says, II con-
sent unto the law that it is good" and
in the perfect society of Johns vision
each man enjoys perfect liberty be-
cause the will Of the governor and the
governed are in perfect correspond
ence. Each individual does as He
pleases and at the same time does as
He pleases.
In some such way the perfect com.
munity is characterized by perfect
unity without uniformity. Each per.
forms his own duty in his own way,
but is all the while In perfect har-
mony with his neighbor. Again, in the
perfected society there is no distinc.
ton between the religious and the sec.
ular. Here we have our times and
places of religion. We gather here in
this house Of prayer, believing that
God is present here as He is not in
other places, as, indeed. He has prom.
ised to be. It is Gods concession to
our limitations and infrmities. But
it is far from the ideal We are apt
to identify religion with the means Of
religion, rather than religion itself
We get grace by our religious exercises
Z
our walks of life. and that is religion:
ant are equally religious every day OF
the week and every hour Of the day,
and hence, church going in our. sense
of the word, is forever abolished. = In
that society, one does not need to say
to his brother, know the Lord, foi
all shall know Him from the. least to
the greatest. There is no more preach:
ing, mo temple therein. - ;ss u
Once more; It is obvious that the
more faithful and devoted we are to
the means of religion here, the. sooner
we shall be fitted to do without them.
Your child, learning to play the piano,
finds it hard labor to spell out note by
note, conforming to the rules and rudf;
ments Of practice. By and by she will
60 beyond the rules. She will acquire
the genius Of the skilled performer.
And the more diligently we observe
our religious :duties here the sooner
we shall get beyond them. The moro
faithful we are now to the times and
places Of religious worship the sooner
shall, we be ready for that society
where all life Is religious a.
eZachariah had that vision ages be-
fore John had 1t, when he saw ss'Holi-
ness to the Lord" inscribed on the
bells Of the horses and the pots In
the Lords house, as sacred las the
bowls of, the: altar; yea. and every pot
in Jerusalem as holy as the vessels Of
the sanctuary. 5. That was at least q
glimpse of the templeless city, Of God.-
And now. shall we not keep before
us that idea? 1; Let us not be discour-
aged by the great disparity between
that far-of perfection and present
reality. The poet well expresses our
feeling:
Oh, Land Of Promise, from what Pis-
$ssgah's height:
Can / behold thy stretch of peaceful
/ bowers,
Thy golden harvest flowing out OF
The nestled homes and sun-illumined
towers?
Gazing upon the sunsets high-heaped
gold,
It's crags Of opal and Of chrysolite,
It's deeps on deeps Of glory, that un-
Still Frightening abysses,
And blazing precipices,
Whence but scanty leap it seems to
heaven,
Sometimes a glimpse is given
OF thy gorgeous realm, thy more un-
stunted blisses.
Gazing upon that vision. let us be
faithful to our temple duties here that
we may be fitted for that city where
there is no temple. ''for the Lord God
Almighty and the Lamb are the temple
of it,"