James O. Davis is the founder and president of Second Billion (TM). You are invited to learn more about Second Billion by visiting www.billion.tv.
INTRODUCTION
Have you ever heard someone say they do not have to go to church to be a Christian? There are those who used to regularly attend church, but now recklessly avoid church. There are many who attend church only three times in their life: When they are born, married and buried. You could say they come to church when they were hatched, matched and dispatched. The first time water is used, the second time rice is tossed, and the third time dirt is thrown.
Church attendance is vital to the spirituality of the believer. There are two important reasons Christians should attend church regularly. I want to share these two reasons as they relate to the temptation before the Second Coming. Why should we attend God’s House?
FIRST, BECAUSE THERE IS A GODLY RELATIONSHIP
To picture what this means, imagine a Moabite of old gazing down upon the tents and the Tabernacle of Israel from some lofty mountain height. Attracted by what he sees, he descends to the plain and makes his way toward the sacred enclosure surrounding the Tabernacle. It is a high wall of dazzling linen which reaches over his head. He walks around until he comes to the gate where he sees a man. “May I go in there?” he asks, pointing through the gate to where the bustle of activity in the outer court can be seen.
“Who are you?” demands the man suspiciously. Any Israelite would know he could not go in there.
“I’m a man from Moab,” the stranger replies.
“Well,” says the man at the gate, “I’m very sorry, but you cannot go in there. It’s not for you. The Law of Moses has barred the Moabite from any part in the worship of Israel until his tenth generation.”
The Moabite looks very sad. “What would I have to do to go in there?” he insists.
“You would have to be born again,” replies the gatekeeper. “You would have to be born an Israelite. You would need to be born of the tribe of Judah perhaps, or the tribe of Benjamin or Dan.”
The Moabite responds, “I wish I had been born an Israelite of one of the tribes of Israel.” As he looks more closely he sees one of the priests who has offered a sacrifice at the brazen altar and is cleansing himself at the brazen laver.
Looking in toward the Tabernacle, the Moabite asks, “What is in there, inside the main building, I mean?”
“Oh,” says the gatekeeper, “that’s the Tabernacle itself. Inside there is a room containing a lamp stand, a table and an altar of gold. The man you saw is the priest. He will trim the lamp, eat of the bread upon the table, and burn incense to the Living God upon the golden altar.”
“Ahhh,” sighs the man of Moab, “I wish I were an Israelite so that I could do that. I should love to worship God in that Holy Place and help to trim the lamp, to offer Him some incense, and to eat at the table.”
“Oh no,” says the man at the gate, “Even I cannot do that. To worship in the Holy Place one must not only be born an Israelite, one must be born of the tribe of Levi, of the family of Aaron.”
The man from Moab sighs again, “I wish I had been born of Israel and of the tribe of Levi and of the family of Aaron.” Gazing wistfully at the closed Tabernacle door he asked, “What else is in there?”
“There’s a veil,” replies the informant. “It’s a beautiful veil, I am told, that divides the Tabernacle into two rooms. Beyond the veil is what we call the Most Holy Place—the Holy of Holies.”
Now the Moabite is more interested than ever. “What is in the Holy of Holies?”
“There’s a sacred chest in there called the Ark of the Covenant,” answers the gatekeeper. “It contains certain holy memorials of our past. Its top is made of gold and we call that the Mercy Seat because God sits there between the golden cherubim. Do you see that pillar of cloud hovering over the Tabernacle? That’s to the Shekinah glory cloud. It comes to rest on the mercy seat.”
Again, a look of longing shadows the face of the man from Moab. “Oh, if only I were a priest. I should love to go into the Holy of Holies and gaze upon God and worship Him there in the beauty of His holiness.”
“Oh no,” says the man at the gate, “you couldn’t do that even if you were a priest. To enter into the holy place you would have to be a High Priest, or the High Priest of Israel. Only he can go in there, nobody else.”
The heart of the Moabite yearns again, “Oh, if only I had been born an Israelite of the tribe of Levi, of the family of Aaron. If only I had been born the High Priest, I would go into the Holy of Holies every day. I would go in three times a day. I would worship continually in the Holy of Holies.”
Once more the gatekeeper shakes his head, “Oh no. You couldn’t do that. Even the High Priest of Israel can only go in there once a year, and then only after the most elaborate of preparations. Even then, he can stay for only a little while.”
Sadly, the Moabite turns away. He has no hope of ever entering there.
The writer of Hebrew says, beginning in verse 19, ““Since therefore, brethren, we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, 20) by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, 21) and since we have a great priest over the house of God.”
The relationship you and I have with the Lord is, first, a place of access.
A) The place of access -- The Hebrew writer says we have “Boldness to enter into the Holiest.” The Moabite could not enter, nor could the average Israelite. But, today you and I have a place of access, we have the boldness to enter into the Holiest. Our relationship is not without a price, however.
B) The price of access -- “By the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us through the veil, that is to say, his flesh.” The veil represents two characteristics of Christ.
The first characteristic of the veil is the incarnation of Christ -- The veil was blue, scarlet and purple. Blue is the color of Heaven, representing the Son of God. The color scarlet reminds us that He was the Son of Man, the last Adam. The very name “Adam” means “red”. If we take a measure of the red and pour it into the blue, the blend produced is purple. The deity of Jesus is perfected and blended with humanity. Purple represents the blending of the deity and the humanity of Jesus.
For example, when we see Jesus going to the woman at the well, He says, “Give me something to drink.” There we see His humanity. When He discerns the sin of the woman, we see His divinity, His deity. When He falls asleep in the boat, we see His humanity. When He stands up and rebukes the wind, we see His deity. Inside the incarnation of Jesus was absolute humanity and absolute deity. He is the God-man.
The second characteristic of the veil is the perfection of Christ -- He is impeccable. The veil shows that Christ was so perfect, so pure, so precious that mere sinful men cannot compare with His impeccable nature. The moment we seek to approach God on our own, God says, “I demand absolute perfection, like the sinless life lived by the Lord Jesus Christ.” It is impossible to approach God, except for one thing. The veil was rent; it was not removed, it was rent. We can approach God only through Jesus, whose shed blood on the Cross now makes it possible for our sins to be covered, to be forgiven.
Our relationship with Jesus provides an access to God, at the cost of His death upon the Cross. Notice the proof of this access.
C) The proof of access -- What did the writer say? “And having a High Priest over the house of God.” Christ has entered into the Holy of Holies. Because He is there, we can be there too. He does what no High Priest of Israel ever dared to do—He takes others with Him into the Holy of Holies. When the High Priest went into the Holy of Holies, he had to stand. His work was never done. Jesus made one sacrifice for the sins of the world, and then He sat down. His work is finished.
We should be faithful in attendance to the house of God, first and foremost, because there is a godly relationship.
Picture in your mind a heavenly courtroom scene. God is seated with Jesus to His right. Inside this courtroom are the scales of God’s righteousness and judgment.
A man is asked to stand on the scales. An angel then places a plaque of the Ten Commandments on the other side. The man finds that he comes up short on the scales of God’s justice.
The man is asked if there are any weights he can add to his side. He responds by placing his baptismal certificate, his tithing receipts, and his church attendance ribbons. Plus, he adds all his good works and good deeds. But, still the scales do not change.
The Father asks if Jesus has anything to say. Since the man never did accept Jesus’ offer of salvation, but chose to be religious on his own, Jesus replies, “I have nothing to say except that I never knew this man.” The man is condemned to eternity in hell.
Another man goes through the same process and comes up short when the Ten Commandments are placed on the scales. Asked by the Father if he has anything to say or add in his defense, the man replied that he has none.
Jesus was asked if He had anything to say. Stating that this man did repent of his sins and was forgiven, Jesus took the Cross from Calvary and placed it on the scales. The scales leaned in favor of the man. This man was a believer. He understood that it was not what he did to save himself, but what Jesus did for him on the Cross.
We have an Advocate, a High Priest. It is not what we do, but what He has done. We are not saved by works and faith. We are saved by faith that works. Because of what Jesus Christ did, we now go through Him, the Veil, to the Heavenly Father. Oh, what a Godly relationship!
Church attendance is vital to the spirituality of the believer. The second important reason Christians should regularly attend church is because of their great responsibility.
SECOND, BECAUSE THERE IS A GREAT RESPONSIBILITY
A) The imperative to worship God -- Verse 22 says, “Let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water, 23) Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; 24) and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, 25) not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more, as you see the day drawing near.”
There is a great responsibility for you and me to attend church and worship God. The writer is talking to believers. Three times the Hebrew writer says, “Let us”. It is not “let me” but “let us”. As believers, we have a great responsibility. The New Testament always emphasizes saints, not saint. In other words, the whole church is involved.
1) The purity of worship is God-ward -- There are three elements to the purity of worship, which is directed God-ward.
First, pure worship of God involves conscientiousness. The scripture says, “A true heart”. We are to worship God with a true heart. Pure worship, or purity of worship, involve consciousness.
Second, pure worship of God involves confidence. We cannot worship God without faith in Him and His Word. There must be no natural hesitation about approaching God. He has told us to come in full assurance of faith.
Third, pure worship of God involves spiritual cleanliness. Our hearts must be sprinkled from an evil conscience. “Having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” The reference to bodies washed with pure water speaks of the same truth. The idea is not so much that of a mere physical cleanliness, although the Law urges the importance of hygiene. The idea is one of spiritual cleanliness. God is still a Holy God.
The purity of worship, which is God-ward, but the profession of witness, is self-ward.
2) The profession of witness is self-ward -- In verse 23, the writer emphasizes the possibility of wavering and says, “Let us hold fast the profession of our hope that it waver not, for he is faithful that promised.” Hope is a forward-looking word.
The Hebrews were in constant danger of going back because of the pressures brought to bear upon them by religion, society and government. The Bible shows us the purity of worship, which is God-ward; the profession of witness, which is in-ward or self-ward; and, the responsibility of worship, which is outward or man-ward.
3) The responsibility of worship is man-ward -- In verse 24, he says, “Let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds.” One believer will encourage, help and stimulate another to evidence the true fruit of a saved life. Christians were not intended to go it alone, but to derive help from the fellowship of others. The Bible does not teach lone ranger Christianity.
It is amazing what the Bible says about “one another.” In John 13:14, the write says, “Wash one another’s feet.” Romans 12:10, “Prefer one another.” Romans 12:16, “Be of the same mind one to another.” Romans 14:19, “Edify one another.” Romans 15:7, “Receive one another.” Romans 15:14, “Admonish one another.” 1 Corinthians 12:25, “Care for one another.” 1 Peter 4:10, “Minister gifts one to another.” 1 Corinthians 16:12, “Greet one another.” Galatians 5:13, “Serve one another.” Galatians 6, “Bear one another’s burdens.” Ephesians 5:21, “Submit to one another.” 1 Thessalonians 4:18, “Comfort one another.” Hebrews 3:13, “Exhort one another.” James 5:16, “Confess your faults one to another.” James 5:16, “Pray for one another.” 1 Peter 4:9, “Use hospitality one to another.” 1 John 1:7, “Fellowship with one another.”
As brethren, there is a great imperative. “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together” is not an option but a command. He says we are not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together as the custom of some is. The word for “assembling together” is “episynagogue,” which means “gathering together”. It is used here and in 2 Thessalonians 2:1. Here, it refers to the gathering together of believers on earth. In the latter, it refers to the gathering together of believers in the air.
We love to talk about the great gathering over there, but in God’s eyes it is just as important for there to be regular gatherings together here. He says, “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together.”
There is a great imperative, but there is also a glorious incentive to gather together to worship God.
B) The glorious incentive to worship God -- The writer says, “So much the more as ye see the day approaching.” The day referred to is the Day of the Lord heralded by the Rapture of the Church. Listen, “As the darkness deepens all around,” there is an abundance of evidence everywhere that the Lord’s coming is near. Believers, especially, need each other’s fellowship. We are to cling together and resist every pressure that would draw us away from the assembly of God’s people.
In this passage, “Forsaking the assembling of ourselves together” is equated with forsaking the Lord. Jesus and the Church are not identical, but they are inseparable. There are three figures of speech used by the writer to describe the Church. One is a building—Christ is the Foundation. The second is a body—Christ is the Head. The third is a Bride—Christ is the Bridegroom. Our lives should be co-mingled in love, faithfulness, fidelity and fellowship. Can you imagine a building without a foundation? A body without a head? A bride without a bridegroom? Listen, it is unmitigated folly and audacity to say yes to Jesus, but no to the Church. If we forsake the Church, we are forsaking Christ.
More and more, as we see the storm clouds of the Tribulation coming, and the signs being fulfilled around us, we should “not forsake the assembling of ourselves with God’s people in God’s House.”
CONCLUSION
I fly a lot in my travels, nearly 180,000 miles this year alone. Often, when I arrive at my gate of departure, there are some signs that tell me when my flight will occur. At first, there may be no one behind the counter and no sign on the board with destination, time and flight information, although I have been told that this is my gate of departure.
In time, someone does come to the counter and places the information on the sign. I still know it is not time for my flight because no plane has arrived at the gate. So, I continue to patiently wait.
After a while, I notice a worker outside carrying two orange batons. I realize I may not have to wait much longer because this man directs the plane. Other activities pick up as luggage equipment is pulled into place.
Then, in the distance, I see the plane land and slowly make its way to my gate. The man with the orange batons signals where the plane should park. Suddenly, the brakes are applied and the plane comes to a halt. The person who was behind the counter then goes through a door, down the jet way, and begins to maneuver the jet way to the door of the plane. Finally, the door of the plane is opened. But, it is still not time for me to board my flight. I must continue to wait.
Once all the passengers have gotten off the plane, a clean up crew goes onboard to clean and straighten things for the next group of passengers. Outside, workers are unloading luggage, reloading new luggage, loading food and fuel, and mechanics are checking the plane for its next trip. I am more than ready to begin my flight, but it is still not quite time to go.
As final arrangements are made for checking people in at the counter, the counter attendant finally picks up a microphone and announces that he is ready to board the plane. It is still not my turn, because he said he would board by row numbers, beginning at the back of the plane. Finally, my row number is called. I board, take my seat, and soon the door of the plane is closed. Soon, the engines will roar and the plane will take off.
There were signs before the plane arrived that told me my plane was coming. Other evidences told me that it would not be much longer. Then, if I was going to be part of this flight, I had to be ready to board, take my seat, and buckle my seatbelt. Finally, I was able to make the trip I had planned.
All around we can see signs that are being fulfilled. Soon, we will hear the sounds of Christ’s return.
We must avoid the temptations to neglect our godly relations and our great responsibilities. God has called us to be faithful and to “not forsake the assembling of ourselves together” in His House. I challenge you to commit your heart and life to Him today, to be prepared and ready for Jesus’ soon return!
