It is said of the beast having seven heads and ten horns, that he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his Name, and his Tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. Rev. xiii, 6.
There are three ways by which God is blasphemed.
1. By blaspheming his Name. The Papal beast did this by applying those titles to mortal men which belong exclusively to God. For example: the Pope has been titled, His Holiness, The Lord God the Pope, &c. The effects of this blasphemy may be seen even among Protestants. Whenever men take to themselves titles calculated to cause their fellow-men to look up to them with veneration, as possessing superior holiness, they detract from him whose name alone is to be exalted. The inspired Psalmist, in speaking of Jehovah, says, "Holy and reverend is his name." Ps. cxi, 9. Here is the only place in the Bible where the term, reverend, is used; and it is applied to God alone. Those who dispute the right of the Pope, to assume the title of Holiness, should not prefix "Rev." in their own names.
2. By blaspheming his Tabernacle. The Sanctuary or true Tabernacle which the Lord pitched, and not man, is in heaven. This has taken the place of the earthly sanctuary which was a pattern of the things in the heavens, and now there is no holy place on earth. When Jesus was crucified, the vail of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom, and now the Christian's mind is pointed to the antitype in heaven. But that blasphemous power has erected his sanctuaries on earth, and diverted the minds of men from the true, so that the latter has been almost entirely lost sight of. How often have we heard men speak of going to the sanctuary on the Holy Sabbath, when they meant nothing more nor less than going to the meeting-house on the first day of the week! And when men have been reproved for their pride in building costly houses of worship, how often have they plead as an excuse the magnificence and splendor of the temple built by Solomon, as though they were building the antitype of that temple, or forgetting that it was a shadow, pointing us to the true! Is not this blaspheming the Tabernacle?
And then the house must be dedicated, and the minister reads the prayer of Solomon at the dedication of the temple, asking God to hear their prayers, when they should pray towards the temple. Do they desire the people to look towards the meeting-house when they pray?
My mind was lately called up anew to this subject by seeing a new meeting-house built by one of the most enlightened denominations, or perhaps I might say the most enlightened. Above the spire, and surrounding the lightning-rod, was what I understood to be a representation of the seven golden candlesticks—seven small pillars, overlaid, probably, with leaf gold. Had they but known how soon the Lord will come, and remove those candlesticks out of their place, they might have saved themselves the trouble of building this new house, and worshiped God more acceptably in the old one, the little time we have remaining here.14But thanks be to God, we have a Tabernacle to which we may look, and beauty and strength are there. The Lord send us help from the Sanctuary, and strengthen us out of Zion. Amen.
3. Those that dwell in heaven are blasphemed. Jesus and the holy angels dwell there. Jesus is our High Priest, and the only mediator between God and men. The beast, in causing men to confess to priests on earth, to gain their intercessions in their behalf, has blasphemed the Minister of the Sanctuary in heaven. Angels are ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation. The Holy Spirit says by David, The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them. Is not the doctrine that the spirits of the dead are our guardian spirits, blaspheming against the true ministering spirits—"them that dwell in heaven," and consequently against God? The Catholics pray to Mary and the "saints," and others talk of the dead—those who were so weak as to fall by the hand of the destroyer—as being our guardian spirits, interposing their strength (?) to save us from destruction!