The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1908-11-12
THE PULPIT.
AN ELOQUENT SUNDAY SERMON 9Y
THE REV. MERLE A. BREED.
Theme: Eealizing the Pattern.

Lincoln, Neb.-The Rev. Merle A.
Breed. who recently entered upon the
NTH year OF his pastorate Of the Con-
gregational Church at Monticello,
Iowa, occupied the pulpit of the First
Congregational Church of this city
Suiday morning He spoke from He
brews s5: "See, saith he, that thou
make all things according to the pat
tern that was showed thee in the
mount" taking the subject, The
Pattern in the Mount. the Building
on the Plain" Mr.. Breed said in the
course OF his sermon:
Our text, which is a quotation from
Exodus 25:40, sets before us a pic
ture as interesting as IL Is suggestive
The hosts OF Israel have been waiting
long before Mount Sinai Their lead
er, Moses, is hidden in the cloud
capped, flre-rlven summit in COM
munion with Jehovah While the
people are waiting in the plain, he
has gone forth to the mountains S tow
ering peak to be with God, to hear
His will for them and for himself. and
TO bring down a divine pattern of a
tabernacle for Gods worship and the
uplifting OF mems hearts and lives to
heavenly things, The people in gem
eral had but earthly ambitions. While
Moses was hidden in the clouds and
darkness of the mount, they were
occupied with dancing and feasting,
with eating and drinking, and maxi
ing golden calves TO worship, Moses Is
beholding the pattern of that taber-
nacle about which the religious life
OF the nation was to arise, and which
was to stamp its impress upon the
world. Moses Is filing his soul with
the vision which he is to endeavor to
realize among the rude, ignorant, SUI
perstitlous, half-wild Israelites in the
plain beneath him. To one man came
the vision Of heavenly things. The
rest we're to receive it through him.
His life work was to be that of bring
ing this within their reach and max
ing it real to them.
The vision splendid came to him on
the heights. The details, measure
ments, gathering of materials. labor
of construction, were all to be wrought
out on the levels of common life upon
the plain. We may easily imagine
that the children of Israel and the
rowing tribes about them greatly ad-
mired the completed tabernacle, with
its curtains of blae. purple ard scar
let, with its ark and altar. frs candle
stick and cherubim. its pillars and
table, its cauopes and courts. its holy
place and holy of holies, its laver,
mercy-seat and mysterious separating
vail. But there was one who had
seen something better, who knew
that, beautiful and costly as it was,
the tent of meeting but dimly fore
shadowed forth the glory of that pat
tern shown him in the mount. The
people saw only the tabernacle in the
plain, but the eyes of Moses looked
beyond and through that and saw
the pattern he had beheld in the
mount with God. And that is our
thought together this morning, the
pattern in the mount. the building In
the plain, for life still has its Sinais
where we behold ideals, and it has
its plain, where these are to be real
ized. Surely he is a sorry builder
who has seen no pattern in the
mount.
For the success of our building
much will depend upon our choice OF
a pattern.
The costliest building is manhood
and womanhood. that something we
call self, life, character Yet there
is much haphazard building. With
the greatest variety Of plans there is
little attention to standards and al
infinite variety Of results, because the
pattern is not selected with the care
an architect draws his designs upon
his trestle board
What shall we build our lives
hovel, or palace, or temple? 1t is an
exhilarating reflection that every act
or thought is building them into
something What an infinite variety
of patterns. We can not build after
them all-which shall we choose
There must be unity in the design
The eclectic method, pure and simple
will hardly avail for this. What ont
age approved fails to win the appro
baton of the next There must bC
permanence and real worth in the
pattern, II It is TO satisfy ourselves oi
others as the years pass. AS we reaC
history and the great names Of pas
eras move before US, we often fee
how transient they were. How like
hovel Is Midas, the Phrygian king o
legend and story. How like a mold
ering trireme upon the shores of tim
is Pompey the Great. How like
dust covered ruin in the Romai
forum is Caesar.
Now we may all be tabernacle
builders, like Moses, If we will
For this method Moses followed 4
not to be thought OF by US as excep
tlonal. u is a type for us each in ou
building. We, too, are building
building every day, building 10
eternity" and our Scripture lessor
told us that our building must stant
Gods test. We have like opportuni
ties with the great Jewish lawgiver
If he had eyes 10 see God, and ear
to hear God, so have we. VIII W
choose the tabernacle pattern for on
lives? Every human soul" wrot
Hartford's greatest divine, has
complete and perfect plan, cherishe
for 1t in the heart of Coda divin
biography marked out, which IL en-
ters into life TO live. This life. right
ly unfolded, will be a complete an
beautiful whole, an experience le
on by God, and unfolded by His Sc
cret nurture, great IN its conception
great In the divine skill by which
is shaped; above all, great In the me
mentous and glorious issues II pre-
pares.' Life may be used for othe
purposes, no doubt, but do they sal
isfy? Is not life insipid. unsatisfyinf
lost, till It is all wrought out a temple
a dwelling place for God most high? =?
Here some will say, But my life
cast on other levels. 1t deals wit
common things, with the doing {
momentous acts and routine servicl
What opportunity can there be fo
me 10 achieve such large or worth
results? II conditions were dineren
or my calling other than It is, all thf
might be of interest TO me. | long /
mt inst thla lntn NV living hnt N