Behavior in the House of God
445
Lead all you can to listen to the truth in the house of God. We must do
much more than we are doing to snatch souls from the burning.
It is too true that reverence for the house of God has become
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almost extinct. Sacred things and places are not discerned; the holy
and exalted are not appreciated. Is there not a cause for the want of
fervent piety in our families? Is it not because the high standard of
religion is left to trail in the dust? God gave rules of order, perfect and
exact, to His ancient people. Has His character changed? Is He not the
great and mighty God who rules in the heaven of heavens? Would it
not be well for us often to read the directions given by God Himself to
the Hebrews, that we who have the light of the glorious truth shining
upon us may imitate their reverence for the house of God? We have
abundant reason to maintain a fervent, devoted spirit in the worship
of God. We have reason even to be more thoughtful and reverential
in our worship than had the Jews. But an enemy has been at work to
destroy our faith in the sacredness of Christian worship.
The place dedicated to God should not be a room where worldly
business is transacted. If the children assemble to worship God in a
room that is used during the week for a school or a storeroom, they
will be more than human if, mingled with their devotional thoughts,
they do not also have thoughts of their studies or of things that have
happened during the week. The education and training of the youth
should be of a character that would exalt sacred things and encourage
pure devotion for God in His house. Many who profess to be children
of the heavenly King have no true appreciation of the sacredness of
eternal things. Nearly all need to be taught how to conduct themselves
in the house of God. Parents should not only teach, but command,
their children to enter the sanctuary with sobriety and reverence.
The moral taste of the worshipers in God’s holy sanctuary must
be elevated, refined, sanctified. This matter has been sadly neglected.
Its importance has been overlooked, and as the result, disorder and
irreverence have become prevalent, and God has been dishonored.
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When the leaders in the church, ministers and people, father and
mothers, have not had elevated views of this matter, what could be
expected of the inexperienced children? They are too often found
in groups, away from the parents, who should have charge of them.
Notwithstanding they are in the presence of God, and His eye is
looking upon them, they are light and trifling, they whisper and laugh,