_NO TEMPLE THEREIN_
"_And I saw no temple therein!_"
--REVELATION xxi. 22-27.
And that because it was all temple! "Every place was hallowed ground."
There was no merely localized Presence, because the Presence was
universal. God was realized everywhere, and therefore the little
meeting-tent had vanished, and in place of the measurable tabernacle there
were the immeasurable and God-filled heavens.
Even here on earth I can measure my spiritual growth by the corresponding
enlargement of my temple. What is the size of my sanctuary? Am I moving
toward the time when nothing shall be particularly hallowed because all
will be sanctified? Are the six days of the week becoming increasingly
like the seventh, until people can see no difference between my Monday
manners and my Sunday mood? And how about places? Do I still speak of
"religion being religion," and "business being business," or is something
of the sanctuary getting into my shop, and is the exchange becoming a
side-chapel of the Temple?
"_And the Lamb is the light thereof._" When we have done with the local
temple we can dispose of its candles. When we pass out of the twilight
into the morning "the stars retire." The fore-gleams will change into the
wondrous glory of the ineffable day.