Behavior in the House of God
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distinct utterance, is one of God’s instrumentalities in the work of
saving souls. All the service should be conducted with solemnity and
awe, as if in the visible presence of the Master of assemblies.
When the word is spoken, you should remember, brethren, that
you are listening to the voice of God through His delegated servant.
Listen attentively. Sleep not for one instant, because by this slumber
you may lose the very words that you need most—the very words
which, if heeded, would save your feet from straying into wrong paths.
Satan and his angels are busy creating a paralyzed condition of the
senses so that cautions, warnings, and reproofs shall not be heard; or
if heard, that they shall not take effect upon the heart and reform the
life. Sometimes a little child may so attract the attention of the hearers
that the precious seed does not fall into good ground and bring forth
fruit. Sometimes young men and women have so little reverence for the
house and worship of God that they keep up a continual communication
with each other during the sermon. Could these see the angels of God
looking upon them and marking their doings, they would be filled with
shame, with abhorrence of themselves. God wants attentive hearers. It
was while men slept that Satan sowed his tares.
When the benediction is pronounced, all should still be quiet, as if
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fearful of losing the peace of Christ. Let all pass out without jostling or
loud talking, feeling that they are in the presence of God, that His eye
is resting upon them, and that they must act as in His visible presence.
Let there be no stopping in the aisles to visit or gossip, thus blocking
them up so that others cannot pass out. The precincts of the church
should be invested with a sacred reverence. It should not be made a
place to meet old friends and visit and introduce common thoughts
and worldly business transactions. These should be left outside the
church. God and angels have been dishonored by the careless, noisy
laughing and shuffling of feet heard in some places.
Parents, elevate the standard of Christianity in the minds of your
children; help them to weave Jesus into their experience; teach them
to have the highest reverence for the house of God and to understand
that when they enter the Lord’s house it should be with hearts that are
softened and subdued by such thoughts as these: “God is here; this is
His house. I must have pure thoughts and the holiest motives. I must
have no pride, envy, jealousy, evil surmising, hatred, or deception in
my heart, for I am coming into the presence of the holy God. This is