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!) 

The Sabbath and Work

One of the defining characteristics of the Sabbath is that it is a day without work. The remaining days of the week are there to accomplish all of the good work God gives us to do. 

Exodus 20:9 Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. 

The first thing we see God doing, in Genesis, is working. He declares it to be work in Genesis 2.  God worked for six days. He is a God who works.

Genesis 2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 2 And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. 3 So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.

Since God is a God who works, when he made man in his image, he gave him work to do. Genesis 2:15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.  

Work not only reflects God's nature (as he is a God who works) but is also something he gave Adam to do before he fell into sin. At this point in history, nothing had been soiled by the fall. Consequently, the work that God gives man to do, in and of itself (and within whatever other boundaries God puts around it in his word) is good. (It is sin that makes this good work difficult.)

What is the Purpose of the Sabbath Day?

There is sadly much debate about the Sabbath day today in the church, whether it applies to the church and so on. We will not address the debate yet, but instead simply look at the original purpose stated in Genesis, when it was created by Jesus Christ. 

We should remember that fact - that the Sabbath Day was a day created by Jesus Christ for particular purposes. In Mark 2:28, Jesus himself said, "And he said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath." And Paul tells in Col 1:16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--all things were created through him and for him. 

God made the world in six days. Everything that he was going to create, he did create in those days. And then he created the seventh day.

On this seventh day (in succession), in Genesis 2, we begin to see the Lord's purpose for this day. 

Gen 2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 2 And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. 3 So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.

Before one can draw conclusions about the day (whether it still applies or not), they must first understand the purpose of it. From the above, we see a number of things which teach us God's intent for the Sabbath.

Glad in the House of the Lord

Ps 122:1 I was glad when they said to me, "Let us go to the house of the LORD!" 

We should be very happy to go to the house of the Lord, which is to say the public assemblies of our church. And we should be happy when encouraged to do so.

The psalmist was. 

So many reasons for this, but here are just a few.

1. Jesus is there. Matt 18:20 For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.

2. He wants us there. Song of Solomon 2:14 O my dove, in the clefts of the rock, in the crannies of the cliff, let me see your face, let me hear your voice, for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely. 

3. We have been made acceptable to be there (which cost Jesus his life and torment on the cross). 1 Peter 2:5 you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.