As we are well familiar, in our Christian walk we are to be ever learning, looking for God’s truths as looking for gold nuggets as Ellen White said. Recently an experience happened concerning His truth and awoke me to something I had not considered. It was — Honor in His Temple. I was aware of the basics, but learned that there was more to this honoring Him within His house. Let us look into this neglected area of proper reverence to our Lord.
The experience was mentioned in the prior post “Cry Aloud, Spare Not”. To summarize, I had learned that irreverent speaking should not occur within God’s temple. This led me to look into this area more fully.
As we have posted in prior posts, the sealings of God are now taking place . It is being placed upon only those who sigh and cry for the abominations done in the church and our lives. Let’s look at some of the abominations that take place within —God’s temple.
Recently my church friend by whom God used to enlighten me about proper temple reverence, shared her thoughts about the subject. She said that when we go to the court house and into the judge’s courtroom, how must we act? Are we respectful? Ofcourse. Do we chat with our friends and family in there? If we did we’d quickly be warned or else taken out. How much more should we keep an honorable quiet and show respect in our Maker’s earthly house, the God of the universe?
Let us read from the pen of inspiration.In speaking of entering the sanctuary, she says ” When the worshippers enter the place of meeting, they should do so with decorum, passing quietly to their seats…Common talking, whispering and laughing should not be permitted in the house of worship, either before or after the service” (Testimonies for the church, Vol. 5, p.491)
She continues “If when the people come into the house of worship, they have genuine reverence for the Lord and bear in mind that they are in His presence, there will be a sweet eloquence in silence.”(Ibid, p.492)
One of the main reasons we come to our Lord’s earthly house is to give Him our collective thanks and praise. We should think of what we experienced with our Lord during that week. Maybe a prayer answered, a revealing dream given, a general closeness felt in the week. We can then give Him real sincere heartfelt thanks and praise as we come before Him in honor.
Here’s some good solid ways we can show our Lord that we want to come before Him in the honor due Him–
1) We can dress our best. But nothing extravagant. Wearing of shorts, mini-shirts, tennis shoes, etc. should be strictly avoided.
2) Our bible is with us, showing Him it’s His word that we cherish.
3) Our grooming is presentable. We certainly refrain from jewelry and chains and such. I was struck just how offensive jewelry and the like is to the Lord when I learned (Isaiah 3:18). In the last days, and after the church judgement, He tells us what he will do. “In that day the Lord will take away the finery: The jingling anklets, the scarves, the crescents; The pendants, the bracelets, the veils: The headdresses, the leg ornaments, and the headbands;The perfume boxes, the charms, and the rings; The nose jewels, the festal apparel, and the mantles: The outer garments, the purses , and the mirrors:The fine linen, the turbans, and the robes.” If these are not pleasing to the Lord, let us begin now, to shun these upon entering the sanctuary.
4) As mentioned we keep a proper quiet upon entering the sanctuary. No chatting or worse–laughing.
5) We arrive early because one of the rudest, disrespectful things to our Lord and to others, is to arrive late. Would you arrive 20 or 30 minutes late to a meeting with your boss? One of the worse sights is to see someone or a family come into church about half way through the sermon! Cmon, if you are going to blatantly advertise your lack of reverence for our Lord, don’t even show up. Better to try to arrive early next time than to show such disrespect and carelessness.
6) Turn off the cell phones. It truly is abhorrent to see a person playing with their cell, such as a game or viewing worldly sites, or even their own emails. Do we not have 6 days during the week to do this?
7) Sleeping or cat-napping is a BIG no-no. Again, try going to a meeting with your boss and as he is talking–take a nap.
8) Hats should not be worn by the men. Women may wear them, but modest in their appeal. As Paul clearly states “Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonors his head.” (1 Cor.11:4)
9)Proper kneeling. In the service we are asked to kneel and pray. Some do the “lazy” kneeling, with their bottom resting on the end of the pew and the knees on the cushion bracket. Is this the best you can do before the God who created you? Let us kneel upright and properly.
10)Keep control of the children. If you got a baby who continually is crying, step outside the sanctuary. If the little ones are chatting or playing, warn them sternly to keep quiet. The small ones are going to soak up the impressions of reverence if we teach it. ” Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Prov.22:6)
So when we come into God’s house, we are to be ever mindful that it’s not a social club, a place where we can chat, laugh, giggle and just forget who the great One is , who is there in our midst. I really think it would be a great idea to place a beautiful kingly chair right there in the altar area of the sanctuary. So people would remember every time they look up Who it is that is sitting there. One last thing, we as SDA many times fail to stay after church , to kneel and pray.Maybe, just maybe this can enhance our prayer life.
In closing, we will do well to place in our hearts and minds, the proper reverence due our Lord in His temple. He is worthy of this.
In Christ, Whom all glory and honor is due . Amen.
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