Sacred site

“ And again—The Lord has ordained that all the most holy things pertaining to the salvation of the dead, and all the most holy conversations and correspondence with God, angels, and spirits, shall be had only in the sanctuary of His holy Temple on the earth, when prepared for that purpose by His Saints; and shall be received and administered by those who are ordained and sealed unto this power, to hold the keys of the sacred oracles of God. ”

“ The sages have seer, and said that this entire creation is indwelt and inspired by God; and we have been taught, it has been brought home to us, that this wide-spread universe is the sacred temple of the supreme Deity. When exalted to this blessed consciousness, wherever we be, we stand on the holy ground of His temple, we are always and everywhere in the sanctifying presence of our God. ”

“ Oh, if there is a sacred place on earth, a home of peace, a shrine, a holy of holies, a place where heaven and earth are nearest, where God descends and takes up His abode, it is in the heart of the man who is penetrated through and through with the sense of God's greatness, and who walks before Him in reverence and continual worship. ”

“ We desire, our Father, that we may do this work with holiness of heart, that we may have the Spirit of the Lord our God to rest upon us, that we may dedicate and consecrate this place to be most holy—a sacred and holy place unto thee, whereon may be erected a Temple that shall be acceptable in thy sight. ”

“ A piece of land may be reserved for the deity without a dwelling-house being erected to him upon it, and a sacred tree, stone, or altar, with the holy precinct surrounding it, may be recognized as a place where the worshipper can meet his god and present his offerings, although no temple is attached. ”

“ It cannot be denied that the moment is opportune for an attempt to arrive at a solution of the question of the Holy Places. The most important external influences have disappeared for ever, and largely on this account, despite occasional setbacks, a new spirit of accom­modation is increasingly evident among the representatives of the various rites that live together in these sacred surroundings. ”

“ Why the Baptist Temple had such worship as a sentimental matter brings forward the facts that the graves of the loved, the home of childhood, the trysting places, the old fireplace, or the churches where sainted parents worshiped are influential because of the suggestions which come with sacred memories. ”

“ They would see a prostrate crowd of worshipers devoutly kissing the walls and pavement of the sacred edifice, their fervent prayers directed to the bones, the blood, or ashes of the saints, the walls covered with votive offerings, representing the favors received from saints in answer to their prayers and illustrating the abuse of indiscreet or idolatrous devotion, in recognition of the image, the attributes, and the miracles of the tutelar saint, which had the same value to their mind as a local divinity in the pagan religion. ”

“ There we find the costly temple, in the construction of which were gold, silver, precious stones and costly fabrics in unrestricted abundance; sacred places over which the people may not pass, and which the feet of priests and Levites only may tread; ceremonials which bring death to those who touch them with other than priestly hands; altars and fires, blood and incense, and priests, all of divine ordering, so that we read:
Then the king and all the people offered sacrifice before Jehovah. ”

“ We must reassert that this fact is not recorded here to sustain any idea that the Temple is a sacred place above many other churches, cathedrals, and holy places, but to sustain the opinion that there are places more sacred than others to certain people, and that burdened hearts and minds would act wisely if they sought some such place when the answer to their prayer seems especially vital. ”

“ We possess every facility for being rich, but we long to behold the beauty of the Lord, and inquire in his holy temple. The place of his sanctuary, which we greatly desire to beautify, is a site of surpassing natural beauty. ”

“ The white circle of tents; the dim wood arches; the upturned, earnest faces; the loud voices of the speakers, burdened with the awful symbolic language of the Bible; the smoke from the fires, rising like incense,—carried me back to those days of primitive worship which tradition faintly whispers of, when on hill-tops and in the shade of old woods Religion had her first altars, with every man for her priest and the whole universe for her temple. ”

“ May this sanctuary, when completed, long remain a house of prayer for all people, where incense shall be offered unto thy name, and a pure offering, and thy word and ordinances by the influences of the Holy Ghost. Here may multitudes be born again, and be nurtured in knowledge and piety; so that they may be prepared, in the kingdom of thy glory. We are unworthy, O Lord, through our manifold sins, to offer unto thee any sacrifice ”

“ The temples in the country were generally surrounded with groves sacred to the tutelar deity of the place, where, before the invention of temples, the gods were worshipped.
“The most usual manner of consecration of images and [Pg 27] altars was by putting a crown upon them, anointing them with oil, and then offering prayers and oblations to them. ”

“ That is the canon of church building as ordained by God himself—make the church as grand an offering as you can, but keep the ritual pure—fill the temple with all the emblems of his glory, but remember that it is he only who is to be worshipped. Such is the teaching of revelation; and now we turn to nature, that boundless temple which God has built up to himself with his own hands. ”

“ O Almighty God, who hast built thy Church upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone: Grant us so to be joined together in unity of spirit by their doctrine, that we may be made an holy temple acceptable unto thee; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. ”

“ At sunset of the second day's journey the sacred city will rise up before you; and all night there will be feasting and rejoicing. You will be housed as fittingly as mortal men can make your lodging, in the long rooms behind the temple. Far more spacious are they than these. Here, in [Pg 189] communion with the gods your brothers, the night will quickly pass away; and when the morning dawns, and many people fill the temple, then you shall enter among them, and shall pass up the steps of the sacred shrine and shall enter into the high place, where purifying water will be placed in the deep. ”

“ Golden lamps continually burn before the sacred places, and you rarely visit the church without seeing some procession of monks, with crosses, censers, and tapers, threading the shadowy passages, from shrine to shrine It is astonishing how many localities are assembled under one roof. At first, you are shown the etone on which Christ rested from the burden of the cross ”

“ If we are right in the assumption that they are of sacred origin, and were the temples and consecrated grounds of the ancient people, we can, from their number and extent, form some estimate of the devotional fervor or superstitious zeal which induced their erection, and the predominance of the religious sentiment among their builders. ”

“ These four words, 'The Word became flesh,' are the foundation of all our knowledge of God, of man, of the relations between them, the foundation of all our hopes, the guarantee of all our peace, the pledge of all blessedness. 'He tabernacled among us.' As the divine glory of old dwelt between the cherubim, so Jesus is among men the true Temple, wherein we see a truer glory than that radiant light which filled the closed chamber of the holy of holies. ”

“ The kingdom of God, the temple of the Lord, were to be present, not in this or that place, but in every place where Christ himself is active in the Spirit, and where through him the worship of God in spirit and in truth is established. Every Christian in particular, and every church in general, were to represent a spiritual temple of the Lord; the true worship of God was to be only in the inward heart, and the whole life proceeding from such inward disposition, sanctified by faith, was to be a continued spiritual service ”

“ The land will be turned into a Paradise, and the temple will stand in the centre of the land in a section of country dedicated wholly to the Lord. To this, all nations will regularly journey, to learn the way of God and worship before Him. ”

“ But thus the former temple doth denote the present church; the Holy of Holies, heaven; the high priest, Christ; the blood, His Passion; the coals, His love; the thurible. His flesh; the burning incense, prayers of sweet savour; the altar, the hosts of heaven; the ark, Christ in His humanity; the mercy-seat, God the Father; the two cherubims, the twain Testaments, the which do look towards each other because the two do agree; the vestments which be washed, mankind. ”

“ There, in the temple built to his name according to the pattern he has revealed, baptisms and all the ordinances necessary on earth in the work of salvation for the living and the dead, are performed by divine authority, and there the Spirit of God is poured out in rich effusion, bearing witness to the humble of heart and contrite of spirit that they and their labors of love are accepted of him and sealed and recorded in heaven. ”

“ Through Christ we are made living temples of God. "The house of God." says the Lord, "is a house of prayer." A church which is no longer used for prayer becomes a nonentity; it is no more than a ruin. This is an image of a soul which has ceased to pray; it is a crumbling temple. Unhappy soul, to whom prayer has become strange and difficult! ”

“ When we enter a church, the part which is the center of attention is always the sanctuary—the place of the Altar. To this the other parts all lead up. It is the most elevated part, and here the dignity and beauty of the decorations center, just as {31} all our life in the fellowship of Christ's Church here on earth, our cross-bearing, and the worship by which we are prepared and trained on earth and in Paradise, all lead us heavenward. ”

“ Know you not that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? It may be understood of the church of Corinth collectively, or of every single believer among them; Christian churches are temples of God. He dwells among them by his Holy Spirit. They are built together for a habitation of God through the Spirit, Eph. ”

“ UPPER PARADISE On upper Paradise there are three grand spheres of activity, the Deity presence, the Most Holy Sphere, and the Holy Area. The vast region immediately surrounding the presence of the Deities is set aside as the Most Holy Sphere and is reserved for the functions of worship, trinitization, and high spiritual attainment. There are no material structures nor purely intellectual creations in this zone; they could not exist there. It is useless for me to undertake to portray to the human mind the divine nature and the beauteous grandeur of the Most Holy Sphere of Paradise. ”

“ How lovely is the sanctuary in the eyes of all that are truly sanctified! Gracious souls see a wonderful, an inexpressible, beauty in holiness, and in holy work. A tabernacle was a mean habitation, but the disadvantage of external circumstances makes holy ordinances not at all the less amiable; for the beauty of holiness is spiritual, and their glory is within. ”

“ It is in this vast temple, where he unveils his glory, that I offer up my orisons and my incense; and not on altars built by human hands, or within temples consecrated by priestly incantations."
"I agree with you, that power, and wisdom, and goodness, are displayed in the works of God, and that we may worship him either in the glen or on the mountain top, beside the running stream or within the recesses of pathless woods; but, as we are sinners, can we indulge any hope of mercy, unless he condescend to promise us forgiveness? ”

“ The Temples, the houses of our God, when acceptably dedicated, become to us the gates of heaven. They are esteemed most holy unto the Lord of all places upon the earth; therein the faithful approach nearest unto God, and obtain the greatest fellowship and inspiration of His Holy Spirit. ”

“ We are not only wonderfully made by the divine providence, but more wonderfully made anew by the divine grace. This living temple is built upon Christ as its foundation and will be perfected in due time. 3. The gospel church is the mystical temple; it grows to a holy temple in the Lord (Eph. ii. 21) , enriched and beautified with the gifts and graces of the Spirit, as Solomon's temple with gold and precious stones. Only Jews built the tabernacle, but Gentiles joined with them in building the temple. Even strangers and foreigners are built up a habitation of God, Eph. ”

“ Every such local church has Christ in the midst, is a temple of God, and indwelt by the Holy Spirit 1 Corinthians 3:16,17. When perfected in organization a local church consists of "saints, with the bishops elders and deacons." ”

“ Every Christian must delight in God’s sanctuary. It is to him, as a worshipper of God, “his place;”—the place where, at stated times, he ought to be, and where he chooses, and desires, and loves to be. ”

“ By no temple being seen in the city is signified, that in the New Church there will be no external worship separate from internal: because the Lord alone will be approached, acknowledged, and worshipped in his Divine Humanity, which in the supreme sense is what is meant by the temple. ”

“ If they do not find God and His eternal attributes among the solemn splendours of the church, they will turn away from its altars and aisles, and go forth into the temple of God's creation, and strive to interpret for themselves the heavenly inscriptions of Divine love. ”