That thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God. I Timothy 3:15b.
We are the house of God. It is not the building that is so significant, for God has made us living stones to build up the house of God (I Peter 2:5). But it is important that we have a conscience about the church building. It is a sanctuary, indeed, because God made it so. He appointed it, and that gives it a sanctity that we should give it. Keep the church clean. Learn to walk the way you really should before the Lord. Do not be destructive of things. Why spend money to replace things that need not to have been replaced?
Keep the little children from running around. Reverence must be established better than it is. We have such a freedom and liberty in the church that it is easy to be busy ministering and let the children run up and down the aisles. They have to learn, but they won’t unless we teach them and try to help them. If we had an old, dead church it would be different. The stiff, starchy attitude would be easily taught; but we have things so full of life that it is difficult to convey to the little children, “Be alive but be quiet.” They have to learn to do it.
Talk about the things of the Lord to the children at home, so they become conditioned to hearing the word and understanding it. Then when they come to church, you won’t have to bring crayons, food and everything else, because you are getting Junior to do something besides being a nuisance during the church service. They don’t have to be that way. The children’s Church at Study is dedicated to train the children to come into the church and be worshipers of the Lord.
Train the children to worship at home. There they can run and play, then have a half hour where they sit and listen to the Word, just as they would in church. Teach them at home. Times are very busy, but you will find that you will get more done than you would if you are confused because your home is in pandemonium. When you get to church, you are embarrassed and distracted if you do not know what to do with your children. So teach them! Teach them reverence for the house of the Lord.
Some of you hardly knew what a church was until God met you. Your life is entirely different now. It is not a lawless, rebellious thing where you minister to the whims of the flesh. Now you have meaning to your life; there is a purpose to your existence. You are not being disciplined just to put you in a groove. Who wants that? We are not conforming you to a certain behavior—we are helping you to know the discipline of God upon your life so He can use you, so He can speak through you.
… Touch nothing unclean; Go out of the midst of her, purify yourselves, You who carry the vessels of the Lord. Isaiah 52:11. We walked unruly in the past, but who wants the life of sin? We do not want it; there is something glorious we can reach for. Is discipline worthwhile? It is the difference between a husband and wife barely enduring each other or having a good marriage. That is worthwhile.
If you remain miserable, it is because no discipline is wrought in your spirit to help you. But if you want to see God, learn to be disciplined, learn to give; learn that you came not to be ministered unto but to minister and to give your life for others as Christ did (Mark 10:45).