The Pulpit Commentary — Luke — Volume 2 — Section 153

occasion is a plain inclicntion of the importance be attached to ri<1ht tbou<1bt concernin" the sanctuary, and to the right use of it. He brought into prominen°ce the act of prayer as that which should, above all thingR, characterize the house of God. We enter into bis thought if we consider- !. THE BENSE IN WHICH SAORIFICE WAS PRAYER. The temple existed primari!y and pre-eminently for sacrifice, 'There, and there alone, might sacrifices be offered to the Lord. It was the one place in all the land where the sin offering~ and thP, burnt offer- ings could be presented. Was it not, then, essentially, the place of sr,crifi,;e 1 Truly; but sacrifice, when rightly viewed, was a form of prayer. In it and by it the offerer drew near, consciously, to the loving God; in it he made confession of sin to God; in it be made acknowledgment of his continual indebtedness to God; in it he supplicated the mercy and the grace of God. But this is prayer; it is prayer in the form of offer- ing rather than in words. Less than this-this conscious approach, this confession, thanksgiving, and supplication-is not prayer at all. Inasmuch, then, as the temple was the place of sacrifice, it was the place of prayer. JI. THE FACT THAT THERE WAS ROOM lN THE TEMPLE FOR PRAYER AS WE ORDI· NARILY UNDERSTAND IT. We gather from our Lord's own words that the temple was the place commonly chosen by the people for the offering of prayer (eh. xviii. 10). It was toward the temple that the exiled Jews looked when they knelt down to pra_v in distant lands; and it was in the temple that they stood to pray when that sacred building was within reach. It was, no doubt, regarded as of all places in the world the very fittest in which to realize the presence of Jehovah, and to spread forth the soul's desires and aspirations before him. '!'here were many places for prayer, but that was the place of prayer. III. 'l'HE PLACE OF PRAYER IN THE CHRISTIAN SANCTUARY. By what, above all things else, should the Christian sanctuary be characterized? 1. It should be the place of common assembly. Where all classes of the people meet together, the rich and the poor, and feel that the Lord is the Maker of them all (Prov. xxii. 2); where tbu learned and the unlearned worship and bow down together, and "kneel before the Lord their Maker" (Ps. xcv. 6); it is the place where human spirits meet, and where earthly circumstances are of no account whatever-where wealth does not weigh, and rank creates no distinction, 2. It should be the place of spiritual enlightenment. (1) Where the Word of God is read, and should be read (as it may be) impressively and effectually; for there is nothing in literature which is more fitted to attract and interest a mis- cellaneous assembly; (2) where the will of God is faithfully delivered, and the gospel of Christ expounded and enforced; (3) where the cause of the Master and of mankind iM fully and earnestly pleaded. But most especially is it: 3. 'l'he place of prayer. Here, either in sacred psalmody, or through some prepared formula, or led by the extemporaneous thought and aspiration of the minister, the worshippers draw nigh to God in every way in which he is approached by man-in adoration, in communion, in thanksgiving, in confession, in supplication, in consecration. No worshipper in the house of the Lord can reach a higher level of spiritual attainment than when he pours out his heart in prayer to God in these various utterances; and no minister in tl1ti house of the Lord can render to the people gathered tog:ether a truer or higher ser- vice than when he helps them thus to appruo.ch the Father of spirits, and thus w come into direct communion with him. Then is the house of God put to its noblest and worthiest use when it is made by those who meet within its walls "the house of prayer."-C. Ver. 46.-Desecration. Our Lord was touched and troubled with n holy indignation as he saw the temple of Jehovah turned into a place of traffic; tbo.t which was intended for the approach of the bumo.n spirit to God made to serve the purpose of bard bargaining, and oven, as we judge from the language uf tho text, of dishonest dealings. It was a shocking, an intolerable desecration, and, exerting the authority which always resided in him and which he occasiono.lly put ioto exercise, be drove these buck~ters from the sacred pla,;e which they were desecrating by their presence and their practices. What places are we now tempted to desecrate "t I. THE SANCTUARY, Whon, instead of mo.king it a place of worship, of drawing near to God, of ppeaking to him or for him, of le:irning something more of his holy will, we 160 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. LUKE. [err. x1x. 1-48.