THE BUILDERS by Roderick S. Owen

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Mar 30, 1904

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 30, No. 13.

THE BUILDERS

By Roderick S. Owen

(Continued.)

THE room to which we are now going is called Love. You notice that it is a double room, with a large archway between the apartments. On the arch is written, 'If ye love Me, keep My commandments.' In these rooms there are no windows, but ten large doors, four in the first apartment and six in the second. Over the four doors is the motto, 'Love the Lord with all thine heart;' and over the six, 'Love thy neighbor as thyself.' Matt. 22:37-40.

These doors are made of a substance which transmits light (Prov. 6:23); so that this room is beautifully illuminated, and by this light we see clearly our relation to God and to man, and by these doors we go in and out before God and the people. On the lintels are written, 'Duty to God,' 'Duty to man.' These doors are openings to a pathway for our feet which is the highway of holiness. Isa. 35:8. And do you see these footprints in the sills? They were made by the feet of my Master, for He trod this way before me, and in His steps I find written these words, 'I have kept My Father's commandments, and abide in His love.' John 15:10.

"O, with what joy we can pass in and get through these doors, when we know that we are stepping in the footprints of Jesus!"

"Yes," said the neighbor, "it must be a great pleasure to you; but do you know that some of the people have omitted these doors altogether, and say that they are not necessary? Others have changed some of them. In our house the doors are much like these, excepting the fourth one in the first room. We were thinking of making ours like this one, but some of our neighbors said that it was too old in style; that it was all out of date; that no one used it now, excepting a few old fogies and the Jews; and so we were persuaded to put in a new style of door, a very pretty one. Sunday It has a beautiful, large panel, on which is seen a picture of the resurrection of the mighty One. I like it very much, but I must confess that when I read the Guide-book I feel just a little uneasy about that door. And now, having seen this one, I realize that it corresponds much more nearly with the description given in the Book than does mine."

"Yes, my friend, I have tried to follow the Book exactly in all things. But let us notice this door more closely, and then I will relate a personal experience. You see in this door there are three panels, a large one on each side and a smaller one across the center, connecting the other two. On the panel to the right you see at the top the word 'Creation;' at the bottom, the words, 'Father and Son.' On the one to the left you see at the top the word 'Redemption,' and at the bottom, 'Father and Son.' On the middle panel is the word 'Memorial.' Do you see what a dark shadow there is on the right-hand panel? and there are also six dim pictures on it. But you will notice that the longer you look at them, the darker grows the shadow, and the more indistinct the pictures."

"On the left-hand panel there are also pictures, indistinct at first, but as you look at them the light grows stronger and the pictures brighter. The memorial panel gives out a steady light; were it not for this fact, the pictures on the creation panel would be lost to view."

"But I must relate my experience. I came into this room one day, and seated myself in this chair, which is so arranged that when leaning upon this arm called History, you can look straight through the Creation panel, and when leaning on the other arm, called Prophecy, you get the best view through the Redemption panel."

"I placed the pillow, Faith, under my elbow upon the History arm of the chair, and began to read the first part of my Guide-book. When I began to read, there appeared before my eyes a great expanse of space—an empty void. Then I heard a voice, and immediately there appeared a dark, mysterious-looking mass. Again the voice spoke, saying, 'Let there be light,' and out of that darkness there sprang a wondrous light. By the light I saw that the mass was pliable, yielding, and that it had no fixed form. Again that voice was heard, and the mass began to rotate, assuming the form of a globe. Again the voice was heard, and the light gathered to one side, and there appeared the first picture upon my panel—a world, rolling in space like a ponderous ball, one-half radiant with light, the other shrouded in darkness. Then a voice said, 'The evening and the morning is the first day.'"

"I looked again, the surface of the globe seemed clear as crystal, and underneath this transparency of air appeared another surface of" water on the one side, clear but sparkling in the light, and on the other side, clear but darkening in the shadow. And the voice said, 'Let there be a firmament in the midst of heaven;' and immediately a volume of water was lifted up, forming a vast canopy above the air, which passed between the waters, thus forming the firmament, and separating the waters from the waters. The second picture on my panel was completed, and I heard a voice saying, 'The evening and the morning is the second day.'

"I now began to look upon the waters which were under the firmament, and I heard the voice say, 'Let the waters that are under the firmament be gathered together, and let the dry land appear.' Gen. 1:19. O, what a moving was there! The land arose and came to view, the waters fell away from sight, filling the vast reservoirs of earth's interior. When the commotion had subsided, what a picture was there!—the vast expanse of land, composed of broad, beautiful valleys, surrounded by lofty mountains which towered in graceful slopes. Vales, skirted by hills, arose in varied but pleasing forms. Plains sloped away to shores of seas beyond."

"Water was distributed in seas, lakes, and ponds; in rivers, brooks, and rills; each gleaming like a sparkling jewel or a thread of silver upon the bosom of the earth."

"As I viewed this pleasing picture, the voice spake again, saying, 'Let the earth bring forth grass' (verse 11), and herbs, and trees. Over the face of nature there spread a carpet of green of varied shades, bestudded here and there with clumps of herbage of blending colors, while from the midst of it all, to grace the slopes of mountains and of hills, there arose the trees, from the lofty cedar of Lebanon or the spreading oak of Bashan to the pale quaking-asp or the swaying willow by the brook. And the voice said, Let each one bear seed in itself, after its kind, and lo! upon the blades of the grasses, upon the sprigs of the bushes, and upon the twigs of the trees, there burst forth flowers of wondrous beauty, to sway to and fro, and to fill the air with their fragrance. The third picture was complete, and the voice said, 'The evening and the morning is the third day.'"