Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-07-24

the holy Of HOLES as the foundation o
their faith and worship. It Is our foun
dalton as well as theirs.
The sacrifices offered were the mean
used in those days to worship Jehovah
1t proclaimed their Thanksgiving To-
blessings bestowed and their rejoicing
because they realized His presence
They proclaimed the divine holiness
and the necessity of an expiation To-
sin. The sacrifices of themselves hat
no real spiritual efficacy. They coult
not put away the sin or make the tenn
pie At dwelling place for Jehovah
They prehgured the coming sacrifice O.
Christ. as the Lamb Of God that taketl
away the sin Of the world. Only
through Christ and His blood can W.
enter into the divine fellowship.
The sacred symbol of divine presence
that filled the house. was prophetic Of
the coming of the Lord in His glory.
In our struggle for a personal faitf
that will satisfy our modern religious
ideals. we fnd ourselves returning &c
the fundamentals that were fncor-
porated by Solomon in that first dedi-
model for tho dedication Of all public
buildings from that day to the present
that have been open fer the worship OF
God or the welfare of humanity. The
principal part of all dedication services
is the prayer that follows the pattern
prayer uIlcTSu CCuSuAASS o6o W SSAS
mon.
Prayer Of Dedication.
Only one other scriptural prayer. the
Masters prayer recorded in John. ex-
ceeds in grasp and comprehensiveness
the dedicatory prayer offered by the
king. Dean Stanley has well said: THE
e. ~ a6
length, and Is remarkab BILE as combining
the conception of the infnity Of the
divine presence with the hope that the
divine mercies will be drawn down or
the nation by the concentration of the
national devotions and even of the de-
votions Of foreign nations toward this
fixed locality"
In the reaching out after the foreign
er there IL an echo of Gods promise to
Abraham that in Him all the nations OF
the earth should be blessed. Racial
barriers were walls that separated
men and nations in the time Of Solo
mon. but his commercial transactions
with all peoples and the contribution
Of all nations toward the building of
the temple had given Solomon tho vi
sion that men need today to take in all
classes and races in their religious pro-
gram.
Christ commissioned His disciples to
preach tho gospel to every creature.
We, too, need to cry to the Father in
heaven TO do according to all that the
stranger calleth to Thee for"
Az Americans We are commencing to
realize our obligation TO all men to be
neutrals in their conflict and help end
their trials by bringing them all un-
der tho supremacy Of tho Prince OF
Peace.
the man who uttered the words Of the
petition, because you fnd that he ex-
presses the longing Of your soul for
tho personal presence OF God and the
revelation of His grace and power In
the lives Of men. II we are to have the
tice His presence by prayer. We all
ought to have our place of prayer. but
wherever that place Is located We car
only draw near to our God through the
mercy Of the Lord Jesus pleading the
promises Of His covenant and OF His
word that holds out hope for saints
solomon 10 the first one mentioned in
Scripture as having knelt in prayer
The Jews were accustomed TO stand
ture Is not an essential to prayer. for
one may kneel, stand. sit or walk II
he will como to God in che right atti-
tude of spirit in prayer.
solomon's posture revealed tho hu-
miIity of the king. and his public
profession of dependence upon the will
Of Jehovah He spread out his hands
toward heaven not AZ form. Tor Ms
gesture was the natural expression OF
his appealing to Jehovah and his de-
pendence upon His answering his peti.
tons. We, too, ought to approach Goo
through the Lord Jesus. humbly confess
ing our dependence upon Him and oui
unworthiness in our approach, appea
and attitude. seeking all and expecting
all things through the merits OF ou'
risen Lord.
II We draw near in the merits Of I'll.
Christ, confessing our sins. seeking
the forgiveness Of our God with al
the heart and with all the soul" tn
Lord, who hears in heaven. will for
give MS Our only hope Of keeping from
shining is turning Of our heart unit.
the throne of grace for strength t
stand fast and resist the tempter. oul
prayers must not be selfish. but II
spirit, scope. subjects be like that o
the model prayer which Jesus laugh
His disciples to pray. that Will cal
Let US seek by His aid to live live
worthy Of tho gospel that We profess
so that, true-hearted and whole heart
ed, we may walk in His statutes ant