The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1908-05-28
THE BACCALAUREATE

I'LL bACCAlAUkEAII
Sermon was Preached Before a large
Audience Sunday Evening by
Rev. J. L. Boyd.
In spite of the stormy weather the
Christian church was filed to it's ut
most capacity last Sunday evening with
people eager to hear the Baccalaureate
sermon delivered to the class of .OS, by
Rev. j. L. Boyd, pastor of the M. E.
church, whose subject was "Temple
Builders taking as his text Take
heed now, for the Lord hath chosen
thee to build an house for the sanctuary;
be strong and do it, Chron. 2S:10.
Elder j. j. Rupert had charge of the
services, the singing by special choir
and duet by Misses Ruth Farauhar
and Mabel Dorm being very pleasing
feature of the evening. Rev. Boyd
showed that truth, purity ana service
are essential to a strong character.
Many words of appreciation have been
heard concerning the sermon, and we
give synopsis of his splendid address:
This is David's commission to his H.
lustrious son, Solomon, to build the
temple. A work of vital Importance,
and of worldwide interest. 1t was the
working out Of Gods plan, hence it's
Significance.
| Ihls text as it comes to US across the
centuries is our commission to arise and
build. think of you young people as
temple builders. Something fascinat-
ing about building, whether we build
with stones and brick or with heart
throbs and tears. AS the eyes of the
world were turned toward Solomon as
he builded, SO the eyes of your little
world are turned toward you. The tenn
pie you are building is character, and
your friends as they witness the begin
ming of your efforts are wondering
whether your building will collapse in
the course Of construction or whether
it will fall with the first storm. We
will trust that you may build so we'll
that it will stand through eternity. If
you build wisely your world will widen
and widen, and the interest in your en-
deavor will ever increase.
From Solomon, the wise builder, and
from the glorious building which he
erected, let US learn how to build, how
to fulfill Gods great purpose in US.
lst. The first lesson we learn is from
the fact that pattern was provided
for the temple. Then David gave to
Solomon, his son, the pattern God
wrote the pattern upon David's brain
in letters of fire. He never forgot it,.
So God gave to Moses pattern for the
tabernacle, and then admonished him,
saying, "And look that thou make them
after their pattern, which was showed
thee in the mount" Every building
that is worth while must have plan.
If man proposes TO build a shack,
then he may dispense with plan. But
not SO with temple. So it is in life.
He who would build character that is
worth while must have pattern. The
aimless life is nothing better than a
shack. But you, Glass of '0S, are temple
builders, and therefore bring you the
plan, and this is the pattern: unto a
perfect man, unto the measure of the
stature of the fullness Of Christ" Christ,
the perfect man, our model. He says:
Follow me- With your eyes fixed
upon Him, and your hearts desire urg-
ing you on to be like Him, not much
danger of failure. When the perplex-
tiles of life press upon you, and you
hardly know which way to turn, you
will do we'll to ask the question, made
familiar by recent author, "What
would Jesus do?" May the Holy Spirit
SO write this plan upon your brain and
hearts, that all others will be rejected,
and your character and life moulded
after the fashion of this heavenly
pattern.
End. The next lesson to be learned
is from the foundation. The foundation
of Solomon's temple was the eternal
rock of Mt. Moriah. There where Abra-
ham had offered Isaac, and David had
offered sacrifices to stay the plague,
there the temple was reared. Again we
deal with an essential principle. If the
building is to be worth while the
foundation must be adequate. You re-
member how in excavating for the
foundation for our new court house they
struck an old we'll and were forced to
go down ID feet deep and pour in loads
OF concrete before they dare begin
the building. So of character. There
must be something to build upon. Your
only sure foundation is God. David
said to Solomon, "My son, know thou
the God Of thy father. If thou seek
him, he will be found Of thee" DR.
William A. Quayle, in his great essay on
"The Centrality of God," calls attention
to the fact that God is to the spiritual
universe what the sun is to the phys.
ical.: Gardens grow and fruits ripen, and
there are waving fields of grain because
there is sun. Without the sun the
world would be blind, cold, dead. Sc
the soul without God, blind, dead
Young people know God. If there is
mystery here as to where you will find
God, bid you turn to Jesus Christ, fol
he says" ,"He that hath seen Me hath seer
the Father" There is something within
that calls for God. "My heart and my
flesh cry out for the living God,' is the
cry of the Psalmist, and Of your heart
Heed the cry. Know God. Build on
this sure foundation, Jesus Christ being
the chief corner stone, then your char.
acter will endure.
3rd. The next lesson is from the ma
terial used. Nothing but the best went