Isaiah 8:14 And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offense to both the houses of Israel… I suppose that what all of us mourn over most in a bustling age, is a loss of sacredness in life. We have no wish to secure the false-sacred — that which is merely ascetic; nor that which is merely solemn-sacred — the dull monotony of darkened church or gloomy retreat. We naturally say, if this is God's world; if civil and civic duties, social and relative responsibilities, are all God-ordained ones, it is likely, at least, that here, we may be able to secure a heavenly citizenship amid earthly cares and customs. God will not call us to the wear and worry, the strain and temptation, of a life in the world, and leave our souls without sacred home and spiritual retreat in Himself. How often this idea recurs in the sacred writings. God is our refuge and rest — our hiding place, our dwelling place. I. THE SACREDNESS THAT A REVERENT HEART DESIRES. Our Lord lived and worked amongst men, dined with the Pharisee, dwelt with the quiet family at Bethany, consecrated the marriage feast, and went to the publican's home. We, too, may secure sacredness for our lives. II. THE SACREDNESS THAT MAKES SANCTUARY IN GOD HIMSELF. This is so beautiful: He shall be for a sanctuary. He whom wicked men dread and flee from — flee from, indeed, because He is a sanctuary; for, as of old, darkness cannot dwell with light, nor irreverence with reverence, nor mammon worship with devotion to God. We may carry very bad hearts into very beautiful places. Place is easily made unsacred. But the Divine nature must be spiritual Into fellowship with God there can enter nothing that is false or worldly or vile. 1. Sanctuary in a person. Yes; for even here, in this dim sphere of earthly friendship, our best sanctuaries, apart from our Saviour Himself, have been those who bear His likeness, and who do His will. If asked where the fountains of our reverence have been best nourished, and where the noble thoughts that make us men indeed, have been most wondrously fed, we should think of friends that have received us into the sanctuary of their love and friendship, and helped to diminish the dross of our character and to brighten the gold of our faith. 2. We abide in Him who says, "I am He that liveth, and was dead, and behold I am alive for evermore." And if by His own Divine nature He is a sanctuary, He is so by experience too. He has been tempted in all points as we are, yet without sin. "He suffered, being tempted." III. THE SACREDNESS OF ALL THE FUTURE DAYS. "He shall be." Names vary concerning what God is to suit need and experience. We translate the want, and then God's name is translated to meet it. I am hungry, He is Bread; I am thirsty, He is Water; I am faint, He is Wine; I am heated in the way, He is a Rock Shadow in the weary land. We can suppose, therefore, that the word "sanctuary" meets special wants. Life is not always a seeking for a refuge, but it is so especially at certain times and in strange and desolate experiences. In 1ooking forward, therefore, ourselves to life's future seasons, we see what the soul within us cannot do in itself, and what nature can never perfectly be to any of us. Christ, and He alone, will be now and forever — a sanctuary. IV. THE SACREDNESS OF PERSONAL LIFE IN GOD. We cannot say, as mediaevalism said, Enter the Church and be saved. We want to obey God's sweet will — to seek more and more for union with Himself through Christ Jesus. (W. M. Statham.) Parallel Verses KJV: And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. |
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