Basic HTML Version
Keep Silence Before Him, July 2
The Lord is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before
him.
Habakkuk 2:20
.
From the sacredness which was attached to the earthly sanctuary,
Christians may learn how they should regard the place where the Lord
meets with His people. There has been a great change, not for the better,
but for the worse, in the habits and customs of the people in reference
to religious worship. The precious, the sacred, things which connect us
with God are fast losing their hold upon our minds and hearts, and are
being brought down to the level of common things. The reverence which
the people had anciently for the sanctuary where they met with God in
sacred service has largely passed away. Nevertheless, God Himself gave
the order of His service, exalting it high above everything of a temporal
nature.
The house is the sanctuary for the family, and the closet or the grove
the most retired place for individual worship; but the church is the
sanctuary for the congregation.
In the name of Jesus we may come before Him with confidence, but
we must not approach Him with the boldness of presumption, as though
He were on a level with ourselves. There are those who address the great
and all-powerful and holy God, who dwelleth in light unapproachable,
as they would address an equal, or even an inferior. There are those who
conduct themselves in His house as they would not presume to do in the
audience-chamber of an earthly ruler. These should remember that they
are in His sight whom seraphim adore.
Those who assemble to worship Him should put away every evil
thing. Unless they worship Him in spirit and truth and in the beauty of
holiness, their coming together will be of no avail.
It is your privilege, dear young friends, to glorify God upon the earth.
In order to do this, you must direct your minds away from things that
are superficial, frivolous, and unimportant, to those that are of eternal
worth.
[190]
197