The Third Degree - The Master Mason

[Excerpt from “An Explanation of the Means of the Three Degrees of Freemasonry, A Discourse on Freemasonry,” by Harold J. Spelman, undated]

You are now a Master Mason! Congratulations! Be not fooled, however, in feeling that you have mastered your Craft. As we said in the beginning you have just begun a lifetime of study to understand the full import of the philosophy and theology of this noble and gentle Craft.

In this Degree you were involved with the third aspect of man, his soul and that which is encompassed in a discussion of the soul death and immortality. Freemasonry recognizes the melancholy truth that the end of man is death. No sooner are we born then we begin to die. But different we are from all living things in that we know what our end shall be. Freemasonry teaches that man is equipped with a soul and that this soul is immortal. This soul represents the God within us. For some reason unknown to man, God has determined that he shall enter the world only by and through man: each and every man, you and me. But this soul is imprisoned in and subject to the passions of the body. If we do not subdue our passions and allow the soul to do its work then the win of God will not be able to enter into this world and His work, our work if you please, will remain undone.

This is the great story that is the subject of the second section of the Third Degree The play that you took part in is a mind play. It all occurs within your mind and you are all the parts, all the actors in that play. The three Ruffians represent your passions, your base desires, the demands of the body, a reaching out for those things that will give you sensual pleasure. The First Ruffian demands the secrets of a Master Mason so he can work in foreign countries and receive Masters wages. He badly mistakes Masters wages for material wealth. In attempting to get these wages the Ruffians kill the soul. The plans drawn on the Trestle Board, these plans for a moral good life in accordance with the Masonic philosophy are no more. Greed and lawlessness rule. The soul no longer can do its work: Gods work. As a result the building of the Temple, that Temple to be built in your heart ceases and there is no place on earth for God to dwell: no sanctum sanctorum, no holy of holies.

But we were mistaken, the soul cannot be killed, it always is able to rise again. How does it rise again: by the Masters Word, by the strong grip of a Master Mason, in other words by a return to the principles and philosophy of Free Masonry. Once more by subduing the passions and allowing the soul to do its work will God be back in the Temple which you built, God once more can enter the world, and his mysterious work of creation carried on.

A word about the Masters Word: You may have thought it strange that the Masters Word has been lost. How could it be lost, you ask, when we are told it can only be given in the presence of three; Hiram Abiff, Hiram - King of Tyre, and King Solomon. Two still live; they must have it, why is it lost? The answer is in understanding what is meant by "The Word". The Word is not a word, a word such as appears in the print herein, it is more in the nature of The Word in John 1:1. The word is a total idea. The Word is a way of life, the way of life of a Freemason. Remember who the three represent, the Master, junior and Senior Wardens, and remember what they represent, Wisdom, Strength and Beauty. Therefore the meaning of the Word being lost is that the Masonic way of life can only be lived in the presence of Wisdom, Strength and Beauty and if all three are not present then that way of life, the Masonic Way of Life, can not be present.

So this is the belief of Freemasonry. Your body will die but we know with a sure and certain hope that the soul will live, and while it lives by and through the principals and philosophy of Freemasonry it will, by reason of your building the Fourth Temple in your heart be the home of God on earth and allow Him to bring his Kingdom to the world. Remember, as we said in the beginning: Brethren you have an awesome responsibility.

Go forth now as a Master Mason. Build your Temple in the hearts of men, study Freemasonry, and live the Masonic way of life allowing God, by and through your soul to do His work in the world.