Divinity who dwelleth in them, and all places are full of his glory and immensity, the divine writings incessantly warn us every where to respect the presence of God, who seeth and who watcheth us; on no occasion to offer any thing to his eyes which may wound the sanctity of his regards; and not sully with our crimes that earth which wholly is his temple and the dwelling-place of his glory. The sinner who bears an impure conscience, is therefore a kind of profaner, unworthy of living upon the earth; for, by the sole situation of his corrupted heart, he every where dishonours the presence of the holy God who is ever beside him, and he profanes every spot where he bears his crimes, for all places are sanctified through the immensity of the God who filleth and consecrateth them.
But, if the universal presence of God be a reason why we should every where appear pure and without stain to his eyes, doubtless those places which, in that universe, are particularly consecrated to him, our temples, in which the Divinity, as I may say, corporeally resides, much more require that we should appear in them pure and without stain, lest the sanctity of the God who filleth and dwelleth in them be dishonoured.
Thus, when the Lord had permitted Solomon to erect, to his glory, that temple so famed for its magnificence, and so venerable through the splendour of its worship and the majesty of its ceremonies, what rigid precautions did he not take, lest men should abuse his goodness in choosing a special dwelling-place amid them, and lest they should dare to appear there, in his presence, covered with stains and defilements! What barriers did he not place between himself, as I may say, and man; and, in drawing near to us, what an interval did not his holiness leave between the spot filled with his presence, and the eyes of the people who came to invoke him?
Yes, my brethren, take a description of it. Within the circle of that vast edifice which Solomon consecrated to the majesty of the God of his fathers, the Lord chose, for the place of his abode, only the most retired and the most inaccessible spot; that was the holy of holies, that is to say, the sole spot of that immense temple which was regarded as the dwelling-place and the temple of the Lord upon earth. And, besides, what terrible precautions defended its entry! An outer and far distant wall surrounded it; and there, the Gentiles and foreigners, who wished to be instructed in the law, could only approach. Secondly, another wall very distant concealed it; and there the Israelites alone were entitled to enter: yet was it necessary that they should be free from stain, and that they had carefully purified themselves, through stated fastings and ablutions, before they should dare to approach a place still so distant from the holy of holies. Thirdly, another wall more advanced still separated it from the rest of the temple; and there the priests alone entered every day to offer sacrifices, and to renew the sacred loaves exposed upon the altar. The law required that every other Israelite who should dare to approach it, should be stoned as a sa-
