The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1911-01-06
By Rev T A Lewis, p p IT, p.
Printed at the request Of DR.. l.. K
Woodward, WV. MI, and other
Members Of the Lodge.

And the city lieth four-square,
and the length thereof is as great as
the breadth; and he measured the
city with the reed, twelve thousand
furlongs; the length and the breadth
and the height thereof are equal.
And he measured the wall thereof,
hundred and forty and four cubits,
according to the measure of man.
that IL, OF an ANGEL
Revelation XXI. 16, Il
You have done me the honor Of in
viting me to preach before YOU today
in commemoration OF The day dedi-
Gated to the memory Of st. John the
Evangelist. 7 have chosen text
from his writings, and subject
which is near kin to your traditions.
Architecture. in it, broadest sense,
Is probably the Oldest of4the arts; and
yours iscertainly the oldestcf the fra
ternities. Itmay be that tilese two were
in some sense co-eval, Tar when man
begins to build, he is no longer self
sufficient; he must associate, CO..
operate, ana fraternfze In at
tempting, therefore, to speak upon
Divine Architecture trust | may
sufficiently emphasize the occasion,
and use it to profitable purpose. A
considerable part of the Holy Scrip
ture il taken up with the architect
ural description of Gods house
There is, first, the description of the
building OF the tabernacle in the
wilderness. God gives special and
minute details and measurements to
Moses with reference to every part
OF the plan, and he Is warned, "See
that thou make all things according
to the pattern that was showed thee
in the mount" Then Solomon un-
dertook to build. the temple in Jeru-
salem under solemn charge from
David, his father; which was to take
the place of the tabernacle and be-
come the permanent abode Of Israel's
God And again the full details and
measurements are given by divine
| inspiration. "A1l this, said David,
have I been made to understand in
writing from the hand of Jehovah,
even all the works of this pattern"
| Next comes the long captivity OF
Israel in foreign land, and the de-
struction of the temple by fire. But
to these captives the Prophet Ezekiel
was sent to encourage them with a
vision showed him o. he new temple
to be built more bea4%ful than any
yet seen. And here again we find
exact details and measurements are
given by the angel to the prophet.
I presume few persons ever read
these details, and those who do may
wonder why they should be included
in the divine book. The whole ac-
count of creation in the Scriptures is
contained in about fourteen hundred
words. Whereas the plan OF the
Tabernacle takes about twenty-fou1
hundred words; the plan of Solo
mons temple about thirty-three
hundred words; and the plan OF
EzekieTs temple thirty-seven hun
dred. This is hint Of the impor-
tance attached to these structures
and suggests to US that the building
of Gods house il the great business
of revelation, to which even creation
itself is but a preliminary; and that
this house of God is progressive
structure, evolving from a simple
tent in the wilderness, through the
stately edifice on Zion's hill to that
mystical and universal temple OF
Ezekiers vision; and still waiting its
final development in a tabernacle
which shall not be taken down. In
| The scene is moved forward beyond
this world, and heaven IL opened. Nc
longer is one building sufficient. II
is worldwide city now to be con.
structed, having no temple, because
it is itself a temple God is every.
where in it and all the world is Gods
house. As in the case of the other
structures we have given us here
minute details and measurements
1t is to be constructed on an orderly
] and exact plan. There Is to be nc
confusion, but with scientific pre-.
cision the structure is to 90 UP, and
Gods final house, as His first, Is tc
be perfect in detail, exact and fitting
in every part, the climax of the glory
OF God a. the Great Architect.
That part of my text which gives
1 it the significance l design to dwell
on here IL the statement at the close
til; the plan and measurement oi
| this building of God is "the measure
of u man, that il, Of an angel" This
Is u me a profound and thrilling
truth As the first creation ended In
the creation of man, Gods last and
best work; 50 in the second creation
the final building of city for the
\ habitation of God, man again emerges
as the fittest type, the most glorious
symbol of the real dwelling-place Of
the Most High, even as it is said, II
will dwell in them" The taber-
nacle of God is with men," "Ye are
the temple of the living God"
N III ID this which gives significance
and interest to all such descriptions
in Scripture, and especially to those
OF the text. For this Is really de-
scription OF the building OF a perfect
man. Gods masterpiece among the
structures He will rear on this earth
il to build a man patterned after the
holy and immortal spirits of the
heavenly world, 30 that the measure
OF a man may be in truth the meas
ure of an angel. Let US come ther
with reverent minds to the study ot
this divine architecture, not in vair
speculations, but in practical
study of Gods design for us Hii
creatures, al symbolized in this vis.
ion OF St John Let us learn the
/ measurements and the proportions
or the perfect man.
\ 1. The first suggestion seems tc
be that the perfect man Is to be bull
according to principles as exact ar
Mathematics. He - not conglomer-
ate of qualities and traits thrown
together at hap-hazard. Many OF Us
act as IL we did not know this. How
often, in the ardor and hopefulness
of youth, did we look at the noble
| lives portrayed in biography and fee