The Temple in Paradise

THE TEMPLE IN PARADISE Let me remind you of that legend about the temple in Paradise. This record is not found in the Book, but to-day we know a great deal that is not there.

Tradition says that there was a temple in Paradise for Adam and Eve to worship in. The place would certainly not be crowded! But this temple was built of pearl, and was the most magnificent shrine that ever stood on this planet.

The foundations were diamonds, and the dome was a mighty flash- ing sapphire. It was the most majestic temple the world has ever But the story says that on the day when Adam sinned it fell into ruin and was strewn all over the planet.

So the diamonds and pearls, the topaz and beryl, and all the rest of the precious stones found to-day are the remnants of the primitive shrine. There is a profound lesson under that legend. Through human sin and folly the temple of truth has been shattered, and in the creeds and philoso- phies of men of all nations you find the scattered remnants mixed with rubbish, yet shining in the dust. But on the day when our Lord stepped into our midst and said, “I am the Truth,” we got the temple back in more than fabled splendour, let down from God out of Heaven.

It makes all the difference whether you get the whole truth or only a bit of truth, a glittering speck of truth; it is another thing when you get the whole redeeming truth set forth in the majestical figure which stands in the midst of the Christian revelation (John xiv. 6).—DR. W. L.

WATKINSON. DO THEY MISS US? Once there gathered on a southern shore a group of men and women. They watched three small craft stand out to sea.

They saw them vanish into the great and vast western ocean. Whether they passed into the Heaven above, whether they floated on the sea below, who could tell? And many a time amid western isles Columbus and his men thought, Do they miss us at home? Do they think of us as still living amid these western isles?

When they returned as men from death, what did they return to? To love, to home, to all that meant for them fame and immortality. So often on earth we think of our loved dead, now floating on earth, now passed into Heaven. Wherever they are, let us lift our hands and say, “Thou art still in the keeping of Him who says C 2 The Art of Sermon Illustration the first is the last.

The will of God still remaineth the will that saves. Thou art in His eternal keeping. Has He not said, “I have the keys of death and of hell”? (Rev. i. 17-18).-DR.