The Assembly of the Church is an Irreplaceable Means of Grace

[1Co 14:23 NKJV] 23 Therefore if the whole church comes together in one place...

[A short podcast series is being done currently and can be found HERE.]

Given that most churches are not assembling together on the Lord's Day during this trial, we thought it would be good to teach a little on what is and what is not an assembly of God.

There is a lot of information on the internet today about what churches are doing in place of meeting together, and this serves to muddy the waters a bit on this issue. Some are meeting in homes as families, some are meeting online. And others are getting together in small groups.

Why is this important?

The Lord tells us in his word how he wants the church to behave. The Scriptures are written, in part, for that purpose. [1Ti 3:14-15 NKJV] 14 These things I write to you, though I hope to come to you shortly; 15 but if I am delayed, [I write] so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.

How to Have a Delightful Assembly

One of the greatest privileges and blessings we have in Christ is to spend the day (or a large part of it) together in the presence of Christ. A day in his courts is better than a thousand elsewhere! (Ps 84:10).

But how can it become what God intended it to be - a delight?  Do we want to have joy on the Lord's Day, especially when we assemble?  The Lord promises it to us! (Isaiah 58:13-14).

Here are some things we can do to bring joy to our Lord's Days assemblies.  Obviously, none of these work without the help of the Holy Spirit - hence the first one!

1. Pray for the Lord's Day - pray that the Lord would prepare the hearts of his people, that he would set our minds on Christ, that he would help us to come into his presence with joy, that we would deny ourselves in his presence, that we would delight in Christ and his works, that he would make the hearing of his word profitable, that he would help poor pastors who have the responsibility of preaching the word, that we would repent of sin, that we would call the Sabbath a delight, that we would set aside our love for the world and the things in it. (That's a good start!)