Our Assembling Together
by Micky Galloway
One of the more visible signs of straying from the faith is the habitual neglect of Christians to come together with their brethren for edification. This seems to be a wide-spread problem in most every congregation of God’s people, especially on Sunday night and Wednesday night. However, the fact that it is widespread does not justify the practice. When approached concerning their absence, these may ask, “Where’s the scripture that says I have to come Wednesday nights?” or “Why do I have to attend every service?” These questions are evidence of problems – 1) one is untaught concerning the purpose of our assembling together, or 2) they don’t appreciate the blessings that are received in them.
In Hebrews 10:24-25, we can see the command of Christians to not forsake the assembling of the saints together. This instruction is too plain to miss without help. It was the “custom” of some (they had this problem, too, in the first century) to “forsake” this blessing and not “consider one another to provoke unto love and good works.” It is one way that we show consideration for the spiritual well being of one another. Our willful absence, in essence, says we are not concerned about such spiritual well being of others. Obviously, there is value in our assembling together - who can deny it?
God, in His infinite wisdom, commanded that we meet together to edify each other. The basic meaning of the word church, ekklesia, is “called out people.” The word “church” may refer to all Christians everywhere, as in Matthew 16:18, Ephesians 1:22. It may refer to a local group of disciples having mutual responsibilities to one another, a certain organizational structure, and its own peculiar work, as in Acts 20:17-35. This constitutes a local congregation with certain mutual responsibilities, whether in assembly or not, as in I Timothy 5:16. The word “church” may apply to an actual assembly of disciples in one place, as in I Corinthians 11:18, 14:19,23,35. The word “church” may refer to the disciples dispersed over the city, a distributive sense. Saul “laid waste the church, entering into every house, and dragging men and women, committed them to prison” (Acts 8:3). After one obeys the gospel and is added to the Lord’s universal church (Acts 2:47), he must join himself to a local congregation of God’s people in a specific place to worship and work (Acts 9:26). We are commanded to come together (assemble) with these disciples, to whom we have joined ourselves, as often as they meet together.
The apostle Peter teaches us to “long for the spiritual milk” (I Peter 2:2), and “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (II Peter 3:18). Our assembling together is designed by God for that very purpose. We come together to worship God in prayer, songs of praise and thanksgiving, and study of the Bible. Upon the first day of the week we are to partake of the Lord’s Supper and also give back to God a portion of that which He has blessed us with, as we have purposed in our hearts and according to how we have prospered. These commandments are given so the Christian may be built up in his faith and grow to maturity. These matters are not done when an individual deliberately chooses not to the assemble together with the saints. Would you really wish to stand in the day of judgment knowing you were guilty of this?
Something is terribly wrong, brethren, when Christians feel they don’t need to come together with those of “like precious faith.” I know many, whose “custom” this is, who are not so slack when it comes to attending their jobs, ball games, picnics or the many other secular activities that one may choose to involve themselves with.
It’s also wrong for these brethren to excuse themselves by saying, “the Bible doesn’t say not to,” and then be quick to condemn denominational arguments which use the same reasoning for their additions to God’s Word. Such is unauthorized, whether it be members of denominations or the brethren (2 John 9; I Corinthians 4:6)!
We need to realize, also, that simply attending services doesn’t make a person’s heart right with God. Jesus said, “they that worship Him must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:24). Our motivation for attending services must be to please God, not to socialize or to be done grudgingly to keep the preacher off your back. “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he…” (Proverbs 23:7). This pin-points the real problem with those who wilfully forsake the assembling together of the saints. If one’s heart is not right before God, simply preaching on attendance is not enough. We must repent and change our heart.
Finally, our influence is damaged if we willfully forsake the worship services. Not only is our personal influence damaged, but we harm the influence of the church. Jesus showed the tremendous influence Christians have in the world (Matthew 5:13-16), and we can be guilty, among other things, of being a stumbling-block to our husbands, wives, children, brothers and sisters in Christ and yes, even those in the world by neglecting the assembling of the saints together. Whether it is Sunday or Wednesday night, we cannot show those who watch us that we love the Lord and “hunger and thirst after righteousness” (Matthew 5:6), when we fail to assemble with the saints. Brethren, let us realize the purpose of our coming together is that praise and glory may be given to God and that we may be edified – “that I with you may be comforted in you, each of us by the other’s faith, both yours and mine” (Romans 1:12).