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The Pathway of Safety; or, Counsel to the Awakened By the Right Rev. Ashton Oxenden, D.D. CHAPTER III: HELPS BY THE WAY THE LORD’S DAY.—GOD’S HOUSE.—PUBLIC PRAYER.—SERMONS.—THE HOLY COMMUNION. A. GOD’S HOUSE There was a time when you went to church as a matter of form, or for decency’s sake, or to satisfy conscience; but now you go for quite another reason—because you delight in being there. Your happiest moments are spent within those sacred walls; and you feel it good to join your fellow Christians at the hour of prayer. David’s words now find an echo in your heart; ‘I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord;’ ‘A day in Thy courts is better than a thousand outside.’ (Ps.122:1; 84:10) The moment you enter God’s house, try and get a feeling of reverence upon your mind. The Lord says, ‘Reverence my sanctuary.’ (Lev. 26:2) And surely it is no light thing to be in His presence. You remember what He said to Moses, when he drew near to the burning bush; and that bush was for a time a sacred place, for God was there:--‘Put off your shoes from off your feet; for the place wheron thou standest is holy ground.’ (Ex. 3:5) Always keep this idea strongly fixed in your mind—that God’s house is a holy place. It is His temple, the presence-chamber of the great King, where He promises to be in the midst of His servants. Let your feeling be something like Jacob’s at Bethel, when he exclaimed, ‘Surely the Lord is in this place. This is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.’ (Gen 28:17) It is most important to accustom our minds to a feeling of solemn awe, the moment we enter God’s courts. This will do a great deal towards keeping us from wandering and trifling thoughts, and will help us to realize His presence. Remember that the hours you spend there are most precious hours, for which you will have to give a strict reckoning. Prize them, then, and make much of them, for they will soon pass away. You can read at home, it is true, and you can pray in secret; but is it nothing to be told by your Lord, ‘Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst of them?’ (Matt. 18:20) But you are in danger in God’s sanctuary, as well as elsewhere. Satan will endeavor to draw away your eyes, and make them wander, and to steal away your heart, and fix it on some trifling object. Wherever seed is cast in a field, the birds of the air follow, ready to devour the grain. And where the seed of God’s word is sown, there will ‘the wicked one’ be on the watch to ‘snatch it away.’ Ask God, then, to fix His truth in your heart, and to cause it to root there by the power of the Holy Spirit. Ask Him to keep you by His grace, or you may go to the house of God Sunday after Sunday and yet miss the blessings which He is so ready to give you. Make this a special subject of care and watchfulness.
The Pathway of Safety; or, Counsel to the Awakened, Ashton Oxenden **************************************************** PREVIOUS CHAPTER -- NEXT CHAPTER ©God’sGWG To get past "Truth Speaks" go to www.Godsgwg.com and click on the "Weekly Word" button. To be taken off the subscription list send an email to Chuck_Long@juno.com and inform me to do so.
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