has eat side by side with the loved and lost, and if the place that once knew them now knows them no more, does not the very sense of change and the very pain of the vacancy add a new sacredness to the place, while dear memories of a beautiful past cling to its very walls and drape them with a sweet, sad sanctity? II. THERE IB A SANCTITY OF UBE. The sacred chambers were to be used by the priests, and in them sacrificial meals were to be eaten. 'l'hllll the sanctity of sacred usage was to be attached to these rooms. 'l'he commonest thing becomes holy when it is consecrated to a holy purpose. The shop may be a temple, the cowiter an altar, and the wares sacrifices, when the business is carried on for the glory of God in quiet obedi- ence to his will of righteousness. Thus the very bells on the horses may have "Holiness to the Lord" inscribed upon them. It is in this direction that we should move when we would abolish too narrow distinctions between the secular and the sacred. We should lose the -distinction, not by making religion earthly, but by making earth religious; not by desecrating the spiritual functions, but by consecrating things of the outer world. III. THERE IB A SANCTITY OF LIFE. This is the only true sanctity. The other forms of sanctity are its reflections and results. True holiness resides in the heart, and there alone. That is the holy place in which the holy man dwells. The pre- sence of the priest sanctifies the temple-chambers. But it is not the "linen ephod" or any badge of office that makes the true priest. Every man who has habitual access to the presence of God is a true priest of God. He who walks with God treads holy ground. A halo of sanctity surrounds the heavenly life. Whether this life be spent in a temple court, a hermit's cell, a Christian home, or in the hard, fierce world, it is encircled with holiness, and it weaves about it its own sacred tabernacle. Ver. 14.-Holy garments. The priests were to keep their holy garments in their holy chambers, wearing them in the sacred offices of the temple, and exchanging them for their common clothing before mixing with the people. This regulation was a neces- sary part of the Old Testament ceremonial, with its suggestions of separateness and external holiness. But it was susceptible of abuse, and sume of the modern reproduc- tions of it are certainly far from being commendable. I. THE ANCIENT SIGNIFICANCE OF HOLY GARMENTS. 1. The necessity of lwliness in all worship. God must be worshipped with clean hands and a pure heart-" in the beauty of holiness" (Ps. xcvi. 9). The old heathenish divorce of religion trom moro.lity could not be permitted under the Jewish economy. All that was most formal and external was intended to keep before the minds of the worshippers a clear perception of God's horror of sin, and a vivid presentation of his supreme love for righteousness. 2. The experience of holiness by individual men. Not only werEI the chambers in which the priests ate the sac1ificial meals to be holy, but even the garments worn by the priests were also to be sacred. The sanctity attachell to the person. The very bodies of Christian people are temples of the Holy Ghost (l Cor. vi. 19). 3. The renewal of holiness in every act of worship. It is necessary to see that we are in a fit condition to approach God. It is not sufficient that we were once pardoned and cleansed. Unhappily, fresh defilemeut is repeatedly contracted. It is therefore necessary that renewed cleansiug should be received. This was suggested by Christ's washing his disciples' feet (John xiii. 4-10). By Christ we can be fitted for entering the presence of God. II. TnE COMMON ABUSE OF HOLY GARMENTS. 1. In distinction of persons. 'l'ho priest in his robes appeared as a more holy man than the common worshipper in his every-day dress. This was inevitablo under the old Jewish system, but it should not be permitted in the present day. Yet what is culled "the cloth" is often supposed to carry a certain sanctity, and clerical attire is thought by the superstitious lo mark a spiritual separateness. But no such separateness exists in the Christian Church, all the members of which constitute "an holy priesthood" (1 Pet. ii. 6). 2. By observing seasons. 'l'he priests wore their holy garments for a time, and then laid them aside and assumed their ordinary apparel. Some people put on their religion as they put on their Sunday clothes. They are saints at church, and sinners in the world; holy on Sun4y, and profane on the week-days. 'l'his is all delusive. No man can live two hone!t lives. Religion claims our whole being and time. For the truo Christian all days &re sacred 360 THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET EZEKIEL. [arr. XLn. 1-20.
to Christ's service. 3. With mere external p,·ofession. The holiness resides only in the garment; the religion is nothing better than a clothing-it is no inspirotion. Such religion, like that of the Pharisees who cleansed the outside of the cup and ph1tter, is hypocrisy,