The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1907-03-05

IL IL ll'l tiSp ittIHl ttbl u NAVE Il I'liI
tiful temple aud beautiful charC,
service with which we shall Wors'.ij.
God Alright un the Sabbath day: Shall
sot the door -Four earthly sdu~i,ta.i,,
be- engraved with ChcrUL,ul ami l,lt..
trees and hloSSoulu@ flUWrYSr $hal,
not the SONGS we sing from the c11j,
lofts be sung by the most hrarlIifu
VOTES! Shall not the sermon which
preached he something more thlu a.
old fashioned camp meeting rtIrr,a.
ton: Snail not our organs be- G,rp
throatcd organs aud our church Win
(dpWS whenever possible have in Stain
cd glass pictures of Jesus ~ Il GOOD
shepherd caring for Il littl2 l,nlb, ot
Jesus as Il tired. Wornout Traveller
4 talking by The well of Sanarin with Il
social outcast or Jesus aS an ascending
tArd disappearing among the clouds
while his disciples are PROSTATE at
his feet? Cannot Ill these beautiful
sounds and beautiful symmctti2< in
glass and stone and the beautiful #rr,-
ices be a means oS spiritual blessing?
Spur on's Remark
You ask, "l,c5 that mean tlat we
can only have Il rich mans church,"
Not at all | am in noWisc casting a
slur upon the little moe9lg houses all
over the land. God blesses Il Weslc,
preaching in the fields just as much ns
lie blesses amy priest officiating in his
ecclesiastical robes. Indeed. when Il
church puts its emphasis upon form
and not upon the conservation of the
human heart that church is bound to
be spiritually dead. Pastor Spurgcou
used to say: AS oliver Cromwell was
about to turn the members Of parla-
ment out of their chambers he pointed
to the mace and said, Take away that
baublc.' When Christ shall come, who
will etfcctually purge the church. he
will say much the $lme of many &c.
cleSiaStical ornaments now held In high
reputc. Gowns and affairs and ban.
ners and painted Windows will all go
Mt one sweep. Nor will the rhetorical
embellishments and PHILOSOPHERS of
modern pulpits be any nBRrc tcnderIy
dealt with. Take away that bauhler
will be the signal for turning many
folly into perpetual contempt"
But. though that is al true that Mr.
Sturgeon said we must not apply hi
words too literally. The end of true
spiritual worship Is not II liturgy or
great cathedral or Il high priced choir.
We all know that. But we also know
that God never wants n man to live In
4 palace and worship Jesus in Il barn
God directed the fir tree doors of the
inner sanctuary of his Solomonic fem
pie to be carved with cherubim and
palm trees and blossOming flowers and
God wants us to build the best temple
to his glory that we can afford. lie
wants us to build that temple in the
most conspicuous street. He wants us
to honor him with sweet songs, with
pure, true, noble worship and with al
tars as beautiful as we can afford t.
make them. And he carved Thereon
cherubims and palm trees and oper
flowers and covered them with golC
fitted upon the carved work
But before | close | want to empha
size one other fact. Every one Of these
tree doors of that inner sanctuary was
symbol of everlasting life. Like the
evergreen tree, its branches are coy
cred with green all the year round.
The cherubim are the symbol Of the
great company of the redeemed of
heaven. OF course we know that thu
word cherubim literally interpreted
means an order of celestial beings.
But this word taken as q symbol means
the whole company of the redeemed of
heaven. The palm tree is and always
has been the symbol of victory by
grace, while the blossoming flowers
are the symbol of profession or the
public yielding Of our will to Gods
will, and the gold is the symbol os
the divine being. Thus this gold covers
ALL Yes, every figure engraved upon
that door Is a symbol of spiritual tri
umph. Thus, my friends, cannot we
find all our struggling after the beau
tiful the symbol Of our consecrating all
the beautiful parts of our lives to the
service Of the Divine Master, whose
name is not only Wonderful" but
who is the acme of all that Is beauti
full?
Beautiful Symbols.
oh, that step by step in these beauti,
full symbols we can find our consecra-
ton to Jesus. May these symbols be
to us what the Lectures on Expert
mental Philosophy and Astronomy and
Chemistry" by G. Gregory, We're to
Joseph Henry. After Mr.. Henryis
death this little book of Mr.. Gregory's
was found in Mr.. Henry's library with
the following inscription written by
the great Smithsonian upon the fly
leaf: This book, although by no means
profound work, has, under Proyi-
dence, exerted a remarkable Influence
upon my life. 1t accidentally fell into
my hands when | was about sixteen
years old and was the first work ever
read with attention. 1t opened to me
new world of thought and enjoy
| mcnt. invested things before almosi
| unnoticed with the highest interest,
fixed my mind on tsEe study Of nature