The Sanctuary in Private Life
‘*Men shall worship Him, every one from his place.” — Zupu. ii. 11.
HE prophet says there is a time coming when there will be no distinction drawn between the secular and the sacred. In the Jewish dispensation it was not allowed that every man should worship God “from his place” — from the spot on which he was standing. On the contrary, there was one place where all were enjoined to worship — Jerusalem; it was to her the tribes of God were exhorted to go up, it was from within her gates that the smoke of the incense ascended. But the prophet says there is a new age coming when within his own gates every man shall have his own temple. There is a day approaching when there will be no need of locomotion to carry us from things temporal to things eternal. It will be done by a breath of
the spirit, by a movement of the heart. I shall not need to leave my place, in the sweet by and by — I shall worship from my place. No matter where my place may be, it will become my temple. Each service to man shall be called a service of God. No more shall it be said, “Go up to the house of the Lord”; we shall each worship from our place. The mother shall worship from her place; her altar of sacrifice will be the nursery. The daughter shall worship from her place; her offering to God will be her filial devotion. The servant shall worship from her place; her domestic service will be her Divine service. The merchant shall worship from his place; his gains will be a gathering for God. All song shall be a psaltery, all social music a sacred melody. LEHach gift shall be a garland for Him. My wealth shall wield His sceptre; my power shall plant His seed; my fame shall fan His praise; my voice shall vibrate to His name; my hand shall help His sanctuary; my feet shall follow His steps; my special grace shall minister to His spiritual glory. I shall not need to stand beside the cross, for I shall bear in my own body the dying of the Lord Jesus.
My afflicted brother, my afflicted sister, thou who art laid aside on bed of languishing and made useless for life’s running, I have a message of comfort for thee. Thou canst worship from thy place — canst serve God from the couch whereon thou liest. Thou art saying in thy heart, “I can never go up to Jerusalem to serve God; I can never be of any use in the things of. the kingdom.” But there is no longer any need for thee to go up to Jerusalem; thou canst serve God from thy place. Thy sacrifice is here — here on thy bed of pain. Thine offering is here — here in the silence of thy room. There may be few witnesses of thy sacrifice. But had - Abraham many witnesses! Was not Mount Moriah as lonely as any sick-chamber — a solitary battle with his own will! Doubtless he thought he was being shunted from the world; but in truth he was making history — he was laying the foundation-stone of the kingdom of God. God’s place for thee has been Mount Moriah — a solitary sacrifice. He may have called thee, as He called Abraham, to ascend the mount “early in the morning” — may have overshadowed thee while it was yet life’s spring. Wilt thou say, “To what purpose is this waste”! Is the shadow of God waste! When the Spirit broods over the face of the waters and eclipses my sun, is that waste! When I am hid in the secret of God’s pavilion, is that waste! Is not one hour of God’s private teaching worth a whole day of His public school! O glorious eclipse, O splendid hiding, O grand obscurity, O shadow that tells of light, we shall not ask earth’s broken ones to find a better place than thee.