WHY WE GATHER TOGETHER
Psalm 84:10 "For a day in thy courts [is] better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness."
Psalm 122:1 " I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD."
Matt. 18:20 "Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them."
Luke 4:16 " And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read."
Luke 24:52-53 " And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy: And were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God. Amen."
Acts 2:46-47 "And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved."
Acts 20:7 "And upon the first [day] of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them,.
I Cor. 16:2 "Upon the first [day] of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as [God] hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come."
The principle and practice of God's people gathering together in the presence of the Lord in a house dedicated to Him for the purpose of corporate praise and worship is clearly taught throughout the Bible by command, precept and example. The spiritual life of Israel was to be focused first upon the tabernacle and then upon the temple of the Lord. There they met with Jehovah. There the presence, power and provision of His Spirit became a reality. The sacrifices and symbols of the service rendered there, were designed to emphasize the power and presence of a living God. All of this, of course, pointed to the day the real sacrifice would be made and the Living Christ would rise again and promise to meet with His people until He comes again for them.
The privilege and priority of gathering together for corporate praise and worship is beautifully pictured in the poetic language of the psalmist as well. In the day of our Saviour the synagogue had become a place of praise and worship for the local community of Jewish believers. We are told it was Jesus' custom to gather together with the congregation in the synagogue in Nazareth on the Sabbath. After all, it was incumbent upon Him to fulfill every jot and title of the law before nailing it to His cross.
The events immediately following His resurrection confirm the priority the New Testament gives to gathering together with Jesus in corporate praise and worship. The history recorded in the Book of Acts and the corresponding Epistles to the early churches further confirm this priority. In the transition that occurred as the New Testament was given, it is clear that Jewish believers gradually came to understand that gathering together as assemblies of immersed believers on the first day of the week was the way of the New Covenant.
We know that in New Testament terms the local New Testament Church is the house of the Lord today. It is the spiritual building dedicated to the praise and worship of its Founder and Head. It would logically follow that He would be pleased when His body designates and dedicates a place for gathering together for regular corporate praise and worship
I believe He promises to meet with us today when we meet in that capacity. Scriptural command, precept and precedent indicate that if His body designates regular times for such weekly activities, He will faithfully honour His promise to meet with them. Great is His faithfulness! Would be unto God that ours would be the same!
It seems quite clear that our Saviour expects us to gather together with Him each week. We know the principle and practice of praise and worship is paramount. But it might be good to further explore the Biblical and practical purposes for gathering together and ask ourselves WHY WE GATHER TOGETHER.
WE SHOULD GATHER TOGETHER TO EXPERIENCE HIS PRESENCE. Do we really believe His promise that He will be in the midst of us? That we can come into His presence with thanksgiving; worshipping Him in Spirit and in truth, expecting the Living Saviour to be powerfully present in all that we say and do? When we consider the lackadaisical approach all to often taken to worship in our contemporary world, we are made to wonder if those who come together really see themselves as being in the presence of the awesome and mighty God of this universe.
Some who say they are Bible believers, tend to make a fetish out of informality. They seem to sincerely equate spirituality with a crass, conditioned and creative emotionality. It would seem, that in their understanding, being spirit filled (led or controlled) precludes any plan or order of praise and worship. They seem to advocate and often practice an uninhibited exhibitionism. They seem to say only noisy spontaneity could please the God they worship or reflect His character.
It would seem that some sometimes sincerely seek to stand and pridefully entertain God; rather than approach Him with humility and reverence. All of this could remind us of the foolish, frenzied and failed attempts of the prophets of Baal to awaken their god(s) in order to bring a powerful presence to bear upon the altar of sacrifice. An examination of the idolatrous and paganized worship activities in history, as well as in our contemporary world, confirms such a sensuous and sensational approach has always been the way of the heathen. In contrast, we see the hoary-haired old prophet, Elijah, speaking a few quiet simple words. Then the overwhelming presence of the almighty God of the universe is manifest to the remnant of Israel.
We do not have to speculate on God's preferred plan of conduct in the Body of Christ. In Paul's critique of the uninhibited excesses of the members of the church at Corinth, he makes the matter crystal clear. "For God is not [the author] of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints." (I Cor. 14:33) "Let all things be done decently and in order." (I Cor. 14:40) The context of these simple admonitions, when applied to gathering together with Christ, could lead us to but one conclusion. God desires a scriptural and simplistic approach to praise and worship.
None of this should inhibit or prohibit the desire of God's people to gather together in joyful expectation and anticipation of experiencing the presence of the Living Christ. We are to come together truly expecting to meet with God and His Son, Jesus Christ, through the ministry and power of the Holy Spirit of God. We should not come together merely expecting to see each other, but should have the attitude of the Greeks who came and said to Phillip, "Sir, we would see Jesus."
I will never forget experiencing the 1988 bicentennial celebration of the arrival of the first settlers in Australia. John and Judy, a couple I had led to the Lord in their home and who had been baptized in our church, invited us to be special guests aboard their small yacht. We joined an estimated ten thousand craft on beautiful Sydney Harbour for the two day affair. We were privileged to view from a prime vantage point one of the most fantastic fireworks displays imaginable; with the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House in the background. We spent the night in a beautiful little cove. Early the next morning we sailed out to the heads to meet, greet and escort the fleet of tall ships as they sailed into the harbour. It was a thrilling sight to see. We spent a greater portion of the day watching a parade of ships, including replicas of the Bounty and First Fleet sailing ships. An estimated one million people were gathered on the foreshores of the harbour.
When it came time for the speeches and ceremonies, a VIP barge containing the Prime Minister, Governor General and other dignitaries was anchored just in front of the Sydney Opera House. John managed to maneuver us to within forty meters of so of this barge. The greatest thrill of our entire experience came when the launch transporting Prince Charles and Princess Dianna from their yacht, the Britannica, to the VIP barge, passed by a few meters away. We could have almost reached out and touched them! To be so close to the presence of such royalty was a once in a lifetime experience.
But how could this compare with the personal presence of Jesus Christ with His people as they gather together to celebrate His resurrection and worship and praise Him? We do not come together to merely see and experience the presence of an earthly prince or monarch, but with the very King of Kings and Lord of Lords!
It should go without saying, that we should behave and even dress appropriately for such a rendezvous with royalty. Who would wish to go into the presence of a king or even an important official without being appropriately attired? Even those seeking meaningful employment, recognize being slack and slovenly in dress would be insulting and could jeopardize their prospects. What is more important and who is more deserving of our utmost reverence and respect?
Yet we see a developing and disturbing contemporary attitude to praise and worship. It is the idea of dressing down. It seems even Bible believing people are being influenced by this new marketing approach to Christianity. They attempt to make praise and worship part of a product designed for acceptance by the world and the worldly. Increasingly, it seems sincere people are seeking to satisfy the sensitivities of those they see as seekers by slovenly and slavishly imitating their standards of behaviour and dress. What some might see as a sincere, sacrificial and salutary effort to please God, pleases the world instead. "For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ." (Gal. 1:10)
Why is it not good enough today to expect people to come to the house of God to experience the presence of God through praise, prayer and preaching of the Word? Why is there so much emphasis placed upon special things? Special gimmicks, special speakers, special films, special skits, special plays, special programs, special services and special sensations, seem to set the stage for much of today's pseudo-worship. The idea seems to be that if we can produce enough sensationalism and conjure up enough emotional response, we can be successful in showing seekers the presence of the living God.
WE GATHER TOGETHER TO EXPERIENCE HIS POWER. Our Saviour also promises His presence will always be powerful if we are faithfully obedient to His Word. In His primary three promises to the church He began building on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, He emphasized His authoritative power. (See Matt. 16:15-20, 18:15-20, 28:18-20) In the first instance, this was powerfully confirmed and illustrated on the Day of Pentecost. This promised power is not only to be experienced in our going out into the highways and byways of life to share His powerful message of the gospel, but as we come together in prayerful anticipation as well.
The anticipation, acceptance and expression of His powerful presence should permeate our coming together. We should open our hearts to His promised powerful presence that He might work His way and will in our life. Oh, how we need His powerful touch in our hearts today. In the crude, crass, cruel and ungodly world in which we live, it is vital that we experience His powerful presence as we come together. The media's portrayal of murder, madness and mayhem has become so common place. Hearts are hardened and consciences are seared by societal sin and sacrilege. The power of God is needed to break our hearts because of sin and sinners around us. It is only through experiencing His power, revival and renewal that we can truly go forth from His presence, weeping, bearing precious seed, that souls may be saved and the sounds of joy may echo among God's people both here and in heaven.
But do we truly come together expecting to experience such power today? The story is told of a young boy who was afraid to be alone in the dark. As he grew older, this fear became a basis of real concern. After considerable help, encouragement and persuasion, it was determined that he would go to his room and go to bed all on his own one night. As he started upstairs his father said to him, "Now remember when you get to your room you won't be alone. God will be there with you." As the frightened little boy tiptoed up the stairs and opened the door into his darkened room he whispered, "God, if you are here, please don't move! I'm scared!"
Does the promise and prospect of God's powerful presence moving among us thrill us or threaten our status quo as we come together? If God really spiritually moved among us in a tremendous way, would we be frightened or fulfilled?
Remember when Jesus came walking across the water to His disciples as they cowered in their little cockle shell of a ship; tossed about by the raging winds and storms? When the Master of the winds and the waves strode powerfully toward them, what did they think and say? They were frightened. They were sure they were seeing a ghost! Are we sometimes just as sceptical and frightened of the powerful presence of the Living Saviour as they seemed to be?
Perhaps we should remember again the words of that grand old hymn of the faith, "Brethren we have met to worship, and adore the Lord our God. Will you pray with all your power as we try to preach the Word. All is vain unless the Spirit of the Holy One comes down . . ." Our coming together is vain unless we come expecting to experience the power of the living God.
WE SHOULD GATHER TOGETHER TO PRAISE HIM. Our daily life should be a hymn of praise that culminates in our coming together to praise and worship Him on His day. "Unto him [be] glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen." (Eph. 3:21) "Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee." (Heb. 2:21)
If we have not praised and glorified our God with our lives in our outgoing during the week, then it would be understandable if we found it less than a joy and a bit difficult in doing so when we gather together. Should it be surprising that those who compartmentalize their lives into the secular and sacred find it irksome and boring to meet with God's people for true praise and worship on the Lord's Day? Perhaps this is an explanation for the apparent paradox of so many who profess to be Christians forsaking the assembling of themselves together with God's people.
Jesus told us that we should let our lights so shine before men that they may see our good works and glorify our Father. This simple analogy is easily understood. We are to go out into the world and let our little light shine into every dark nook and cranny of own little world. We are to reflect His love to all those around us. We are to live to the praise of His honour and glory. Then we are to bring that same little light to His appointed place of praise and worship in the New Testament Church and place it upon the collective candelabra that it might be amplified for all the world around to see. If we have failed to reflect His light with our daily life, how brightly will it shine in our worship and praise as we assemble with Him and His people?
WE SHOULD GATHER TOGETHER TO EXPERIENCE HIS PASSION AND PREACH HIS WORD. We know that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation. We know the centrality of the cross should have in all that we say and do. Beginning at Pentecost, we can see the focus placed upon the cross by the preaching of the apostles and pastors in the early churches. Paul said, "But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world." (Gal. 6:14)
Sir John Bowring, a onetime governor of Hong Kong, was a gifted naturalist, statesman, political economist and linguist who could speak and write in thirteen different languages and dialects. One day when he was in the Orient he was looking over an area recently devastated by an earthquake. Standing high above the ruins, like a lonely sentinel, stood the tower of a church. And piercing the sky with its silhouette, on the very tip of the tower was a cross. That sight so moved Sir John Bowring that he penned the immortal words of the beautiful grand old hymn:
"In the cross of Christ I glory, Towering o'er the wrecks of time,
All the light of sacred story, Gathers 'round its head sublime.
When the woes of life o'er-take me , Hopes deceive, and fears annoy,
Never shall the cross forsake me; Lo! it glows with peace and joy.
When the sun of bliss is beaming, Light and love upon my way,
From the cross the radiance streaming, Adds more lustre to the day.
Bane and blessing, pain and pleasure, By the cross are sanctified,
Peace is there that knows no measure, Joys that through all time abide."
The thought and truth of this old hymn is just as apt today. For thrusting out of the midst of the turmoil and violence of today's suffering world, stands the cross of Christ - there is no greater symbol. It symbolizes His ultimate triumph. The triumph of love over hate, forgiveness over judgment, hope over despair and life over death!
The tendency today to make the preaching of the cross secondary in the sanctuary and to present it as some sort of outdated and outmoded way of getting the message of the gospel out, could not be of God. Again it was Paul who said, "For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God." (I Cor. 1:18) We who believe and have personally experienced this great truth, should not be intimidated by those who would call us old-fashioned, archaic and out of touch with modern methodology. I truly believe the following from one of my devotional books:
The Tried and True,"
"I tend to want to stick to the tried and true, especially in matters of eternal significance. As the old saying goes, "Give me that old time religion." If it was good enough for Paul and Silas and our forefathers in the faith, it is good enough for me. If I am going to spend my time and energy contending for a faith, I want it to be the faith of our fathers as it was once delivered to the saints. If I am going to pay the price of real committal, I want to purchase the approval of God, not the praise of men. If I going to preach a gospel, I want to ensure I only proclaim the powerful gospel of Christ."
In our day of new methodology perhaps we should refocus on God's focus. I believe it is obvious that the symbolic significance of the two ordinances He gave us relate to the preaching of the cross. Someone has called this table talking and picture preaching; proposing that these two pictorial ordinances were given to keep our preaching and practicing pure and primarily focused upon His passion as portrayed by the cross.
I believe the preaching of the Word is not only a primary vehicle in bringing the lost to Christ, but is a vital tool in preparing God's people for the race they must run and the spiritual battle they must fight in this world. We should come together to recharge our spiritual batteries, so to speak. The pulpit should be a place of connection to God through His Word. I often think of this when I hear of the tendency of God's people, who would not hesitate to watch a three or four hour sports presentation or movie on television, feeling bored and beset upon if a sermonette lasts longer than twenty minutes. I have a mobile phone. To really recharge it effectively, takes more than an hour. I have a hand drill. To give it the power it needs for the most ordinary job, takes more than an hour as well. Is it any wonder churches are filled with spiritually weak and anemic Christians?
It should be obvious that a powerful pulpit is essential if the people of God are to experience the power of God when they come together. The people of God should keep this in mind all week long. They should pray for their pastor. Pray that in the midst of all the problems, perplexities, paradoxes and people encounters of the ministry, he might have time to go aside and get with God in the privacy of His study and receive the power
and unction of the Holy Spirit as he prepares to preach the Word. If the power and presence of God seems to be missing from your pastor's pulpit, perhaps you could ask yourself how much could be done to free his hands from the detail and tedium of the ministry? Perhaps it would be good to look to the example of Aaron and Hur in Exodus 17 or to the purpose for the selection of the first deacons in Acts 6.
WE SHOULD GATHER TOGETHER TO EXPERIENCE HIS PEOPLE. Surely this principle and practicality underlie the statement of the writer of the Hebrew letter, "Let us hold fast the profession of [our] faith without wavering; (for he [is] faithful that promised;) And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some [is]; but exhorting [one another]: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. " (Heb. 10:23-25)
Many people seem to have the wrong impression about this. They evidently feel people go to church to proudly display their self-righteousness and demonstrate their self-sufficiency. Quite the opposite is true. We should go to church as a confession of our frailties and faults. Our very attendance at the house of God is an open admission of our need for God and His people. Instead of being a religious display case for those who have spiritually arrived, the church is sanctuary for sinners who are trophies of grace. It is a spiritual hospital designed for the healing of the hurting who need the help and encouragement that can only be found in the fellowship of God and His people.
We should come together to positively exhort and encourage one another in the work of the Lord. We have enough discouragement in the world around us. We should also comfort and edify one another. "Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do." (I Thess. 5:11) I've read in a number of sources through the years that one of the common misconceptions among even Christian parents is the false idea that God has appointed them to be mere policemen and disciplinarians. That is sometimes the way it came across to me as a child. When I look back upon my years of being a parent, I regret I did not sincerely say well done as often as I should have to my children. I read recently that parents should make it a point to praise their child twice as often as they criticize them; no matter how badly the child might behave. Would this not be a good rule In relationships among God's children as well?
Do you remember the saying, "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me?" Nothing could be further from the truth. In our coming together we should always remember our words should be seasoned with the salt of love and concern for others. "Let your speech [be] alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man." (Col. 4:6) Wounds inflicted by sticks and stones can heal in time, but hastily spoken hurtful words can cause wounds that last for a lifetime. Dr. Larry Crabb in his study on the, "Ministry of Encouragement," gives a number of examples where simple phrases such as, "You're a loser," "You can never do anything right," "You are no good," spoken by a parent, caused hurt and harm that haunted children for a lifetime.
Yes, we should gather together with God's people to encourage and edify one another. But is it not true that it is often easier to criticize than to commend? But we should always remember that criticism is a poor substitute for positive action. Criticism may often be the first line of defense of those who may know they are not living up to their own responsibilities. The very simplest way of dimming the spotlight of conviction on oneself is to lay down a smoke screen of criticism.
God's people in the local church should build each other up. They should not participate in or tolerate criticism as a way of life in the Body of Christ. They should build up rather than tear down. They should lovingly work to help each other to correct any conceived defects or faults.
It is said that when Lord Nelson was facing an important battle he had two sea captains who were always criticizing and contending with each other. He called them to his ship. In the privacy of his cabin he took both their hands and placed them together in his hand and squeezed. Then he said, "I hear you two have been having trouble. Let there be no more. Remember, the enemy is out there. We need all our energy to fight him."
The same thing is true in His church. We should always remember that the enemy is on the outside. We are doing battle with the god of this world and his crowd. So let us gather together faithfully to experience the presence, power, passion, and preaching that is to be the focus of the people of God!
