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Peoviueial
sling and stone , over the Philistine , who defied the armies of the living God The three children , through faith in the God whom they served , quenched the violence of fire * . The faith of Daniel shut the lions' mouths that they hurt him not . Ay , time would fail to recount Instances of its victories in those who believed . — -
< Who thus believed , being by the Spirit touched , As naturally the fruits of faith produced- — Truth , temperance , meekness , holiness , and love , As human eye from darkness sought the light . How could he else ? If he who had firm faith The morrow ' s sun should rise , order afiairs Accordingly ; if he who had firm faith
That spring , and summer , and autumn days Should pass away , and winter really come , Prepare accordingly ; if he who saw A bolt of death approaching , turned aside And let it pass ; assurely did the man Who verily believed the word of God / Though erring whiles , its general laws obey , Turn back from hell , and take the way to Heaven . '
" ¦ Yes , verily , men of faith are men of action , In Masonry we have taken the first 3 nd second step— -we are midway—we must , however , prove our work—we are to show to the world that we are just and upright men and Masons . Well , then , let us ascend the third principal round of Jacob ' s ladder , and prove to ourselves that weyundoubtedly have hope of salvation—faith in the Grand Geometrician of the Universe to confer it , by practising " that most excellent gift of charity , the very bond of peace and of all virtues . " Here , however , I must remind you that charity is not that which popularly bears the name—for we may give our bodies to be burned , and all our goods to feed the poor , and yet not have charity , —
" Let me rehearse Thy praise , O charity ! thy labours most Divine , thy sympathy with sighs , and tears , And groans ; thy great , thy godlike wish to heal Ali misery , all fortune ' s wounds , and make The soul of every living thing rejoice . '
" A man may become liberal through selfishness , or some other unworthy motive . He may desire to exalt himself in the eye of the w orld ; give to the poor , or contribute largely to charitable institutions through ostentation , but such is not charity . Neither is it the excellence of the institution that we support , nor the worthiness of the object wo relieve , that testifies in the presence of the Most High that we . possess the gift of charity . It is the motive that proclaims it in the Grand Lodge above . But it appears that it is a gift—it has been imparted tons .
Doubtless we have sought it diligently . We have desired the best gift ancl wrestled for it with the angel of the covenant . In being raised to the sublime degree of Master Masons , we passed from things temporal to things eternal , as regards Craft Masonry . We had , however , to take step by step to arrive at this knowledge . To be advanced to the third , we had to take the first and second degrees . ' In the first we cherished the hope of being admitted to the plenitude of Masonry—in the second , by faith , we were in a position to invoke the Almighty to prolong our day that we might
complete the overthrow of our enemies . When raised to the third , the selfishness of our own natural hearts was overcome , and ( being imbued with the active principles of universal beneficence and charity ) , we sought the solace of our own distress by extending relief and consolation to others in the hour of their affliction . The heart seemed too large to be kept within its own breast ; it overflowed with the milk of human kindness for the benefit of man in general , but more especially for the companions of our toil . The father's hearu yearns towards his child , even though there is nothing in that child to recommend it to his affections ; yet it is
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Peoviueial
sling and stone , over the Philistine , who defied the armies of the living God The three children , through faith in the God whom they served , quenched the violence of fire * . The faith of Daniel shut the lions' mouths that they hurt him not . Ay , time would fail to recount Instances of its victories in those who believed . — -
< Who thus believed , being by the Spirit touched , As naturally the fruits of faith produced- — Truth , temperance , meekness , holiness , and love , As human eye from darkness sought the light . How could he else ? If he who had firm faith The morrow ' s sun should rise , order afiairs Accordingly ; if he who had firm faith
That spring , and summer , and autumn days Should pass away , and winter really come , Prepare accordingly ; if he who saw A bolt of death approaching , turned aside And let it pass ; assurely did the man Who verily believed the word of God / Though erring whiles , its general laws obey , Turn back from hell , and take the way to Heaven . '
" ¦ Yes , verily , men of faith are men of action , In Masonry we have taken the first 3 nd second step— -we are midway—we must , however , prove our work—we are to show to the world that we are just and upright men and Masons . Well , then , let us ascend the third principal round of Jacob ' s ladder , and prove to ourselves that weyundoubtedly have hope of salvation—faith in the Grand Geometrician of the Universe to confer it , by practising " that most excellent gift of charity , the very bond of peace and of all virtues . " Here , however , I must remind you that charity is not that which popularly bears the name—for we may give our bodies to be burned , and all our goods to feed the poor , and yet not have charity , —
" Let me rehearse Thy praise , O charity ! thy labours most Divine , thy sympathy with sighs , and tears , And groans ; thy great , thy godlike wish to heal Ali misery , all fortune ' s wounds , and make The soul of every living thing rejoice . '
" A man may become liberal through selfishness , or some other unworthy motive . He may desire to exalt himself in the eye of the w orld ; give to the poor , or contribute largely to charitable institutions through ostentation , but such is not charity . Neither is it the excellence of the institution that we support , nor the worthiness of the object wo relieve , that testifies in the presence of the Most High that we . possess the gift of charity . It is the motive that proclaims it in the Grand Lodge above . But it appears that it is a gift—it has been imparted tons .
Doubtless we have sought it diligently . We have desired the best gift ancl wrestled for it with the angel of the covenant . In being raised to the sublime degree of Master Masons , we passed from things temporal to things eternal , as regards Craft Masonry . We had , however , to take step by step to arrive at this knowledge . To be advanced to the third , we had to take the first and second degrees . ' In the first we cherished the hope of being admitted to the plenitude of Masonry—in the second , by faith , we were in a position to invoke the Almighty to prolong our day that we might
complete the overthrow of our enemies . When raised to the third , the selfishness of our own natural hearts was overcome , and ( being imbued with the active principles of universal beneficence and charity ) , we sought the solace of our own distress by extending relief and consolation to others in the hour of their affliction . The heart seemed too large to be kept within its own breast ; it overflowed with the milk of human kindness for the benefit of man in general , but more especially for the companions of our toil . The father's hearu yearns towards his child , even though there is nothing in that child to recommend it to his affections ; yet it is