House of God

There is a fulness and a narrowness in the things of God which we do well to mark . The Gospel of the grace of God is for the world , and the gate is wide enough for all . The privileges and blessings of the House of God are only for the saints , and the door is therefore narrow . Let us remember this . It is an inversion of God's order , to restrict the Gospel to a few , and to admit the world to fill the children's place . There ought to be a distinctive line drawn in preaching the Word  between the children of God and the unconverted , and a right dividing of the word of truth , giving to each his portion . This has been fearfully set aside in Christendom . Mixed congregations of saints and sinners are frequently addressed and prayed for as "beloved brethren ,"and the "children's bread" is dealt out to all and several alike . The ungodly are made to believe that they are "inheritors of the Kingdom of God ,"and are thus hgardened in their guilt and condemned in their hypocrisy. The door of the Church is thrown wide open to the unconverted , and the table of the Lord and His worship id defiled and  degraded by the world being admitted to them. The Lord does not hold any guiltless who do , or who countenance and uphold such unhallowed deeds .  With Holy jealousy for His name , He has put a fence of truth around the "Holy things ,"and if men with impious hand throw it down or teach their fellows to disregard it He will avenge Himself upon them .May the Lord awaken the conscience of His saints to see the deep dishonour done to His name , and the eternal ruin brought upon the souls of men , by allowing and instructing unconverted men to presumptuously take part in the worship of God . The case of King Uzziah , who in the pride of his heart once entered the door of the Holy Place with a censer in his hand to burn incense and was smitten with leprosy , may well be a warning to such (2Chronicles 26:16 - 19 )and also that of Korah and his company , who were destroyed by the judgement of God for assuming to be priests when they were not . (Numbers 16.)

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