Stones of the Temple; Or, Lessons from the Fabric and Furniture of the ChurchField, Walter
Religion
Stones of the Temple; Or, Lessons from the Fabric and Furniture of the Church
Field, Walter
Christian art and symbolism; Church architecture; Symbolism in architecture
world, He should be Himself the heavenly life of its living members.
Long had it been 'contained in the Scriptures: Behold, I lay in Zion a
chief _corner stone_, elect, precious; and he that believeth on Him
shall not be confounded[210],' and in the fulness of time 'the stone
which the builders refused became the _head stone of the corner_[211].'
"And next see, my friends, how the figure is carried out by the two
Apostles, St. Paul and St. Peter, so as to embrace all the faithful
members of Christ's Church. They are represented by St. Paul as 'the
whole _building fitly framed together_[212],' and by St. Peter, as the
living stones which compose this living temple--'Ye also as _lively
stones_ are built up a _spiritual house_[213].' And this figure of a
living temple is thus constantly employed by the sacred writers: 'Know
ye not that your bodies are the _Temple of God_?' writes St. Paul to the
Corinthian Church; and, again, 'Ye are the _Temple of the living
God_[214].' St. Jude is following out the same idea when he exhorts
Christians to _build up themselves in their most holy faith_."
The Vicar ended his sermon with an earnest, practical application of the
subject. "Let me entreat you, my dear friends, often to suffer the
solemn thoughts which this sacred symbol suggests to dwell on your
minds: '_The temple of the Lord_ is holy, which temple _ye are_.' Holy
Prophets and Holy Apostles, and confessors, and martyrs, are the
foundation of the sacred building; the Holy Jesus is the corner stone,
in whom ye--the living stones--must be _fitly framed together_. Mark, my
friends, there must be _no schism, no division, no rent or fissure_,
that ye may be a spiritual house perfect in all its parts, and pure in
all its adornments. Oh, then, cherish that heavenly life within you,
which alone can keep the building compact and firm! Be fruitful in good
works. Remember faith without works is not living, but _dead_[215]. 'Put
on charity, which is the _bond of perfectness_[216],' and will be the
best evidence to God and man, and to your own souls, that you possess a
living faith; that you are, indeed, _living stones in a living temple_.
Be sure the cement that must unite the living stones of the spiritual
house is brotherly love and fervent charity. Without these, the house
will be divided against itself; its walls will be 'daubed with
untempered mortar[217],' and, instead of living stones, there will be
but the dead, outlying blocks of a ruined house. 'Except the Lord build
the house, their labour is but lost that build it[218].'
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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