Currently virus numbers are trending down and some in the church have received their first or second dose of the vaccine. With that in mind, over the next few weeks, our staff will be providing a series of articles to help you think through when you should return to the church building. It is our goal to encourage you to prayerfully consider when you should return and not to make you feel guilty for watching from home (unless God has shown you that you should return, and you have not done so yet).
The Gospel: For Our Gathering - By Pastor Sam Kelly
Scripture makes plain that God’s eternal plan is to unite all things together in Christ (Eph. 1:10). In accomplishment of this plan, God is gathering to Himself a vast heavenly assembly of them who trust in His Son from every tribe, tongue, nation, and people.
In the beginning with the fall of Adam, sin’s brokenness wrought disastrous consequences, separating us from God and dividing us from one another. But, God initiated His reconciling process to bring blessing to “all peoples on earth” (Gen. 12:1-3). He gathered Abraham and his descendants to Himself in a covenant relationship and from that relationship He brought forth Israel. Through His dealings with Israel God prepared the world for the coming of the Messiah and the ultimate gathering of people from every nation. God rescued Israel from slavery in Egypt and gathered them at Mount Sinai promising that they would be a “kingdom of priests and a holy nation” if they obeyed His word and remained faithful to His covenant. This “day of assembly” was formative for Israel and in the wilderness and the Promised Land, the Israelites assembled on multiple occasions to meet with God. They expressed their devotion by responding to His revealed will (scripture) with sacrifice, faith, praise, and obedience. God sought to bless Israel by gathering them to Himself, however their disobedience and unfaithfulness to the covenant of God incurred His judgment and they were scattered among the nations (Deut. 4:25-40; Jer. 11:6-13; 19:7-9). Even still the prophets spoke of the day to come when God would restore Israel by gathering them to Himself again and make a new covenant inviting all nations to share in this gathering (Deut. 30:1-3; Isa. 40:9-11; Jer. 31:31-34; Ezek. 36:24-28; Jer. 3:14-18; Isa. 2:1-5).
In many ways, the fulfilment of those promises are seen in the person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ. He came as the good shepherd to gather the lost sheep of Israel to save them, and be their good shepherd by leading, feeding and protecting them as the flock of God. Moreover, the promise of Abraham finds fulfillment in the drawing of people from all nations to himself, by making disciples of all nations, and the building of His assembly (church) against which the power of death would not prevail (John 10:14-16; Ezek. 34:11-24; John 12:32; Matt. 28:19, Matt. 16:18). He rescued the people of the new covenant from the kingdom of darkness and brought them into the kingdom of the Son (Col. 1:13-14). Our High Priest Savior-King has gathered those who trust Him to the throne of God, and if we are in Christ by faith we are already participants in that heavenly assembly, His eternal church (Heb. 12:22-24). He continues to build His church sending messengers who preach His word and by the Spirit He gathers men through repentance and faith (Acts 2:37-42; 8:4; 9:31). Believers are being gathered to Christ through the preaching of the Gospel. As they receive access to the Father in one Spirit through Jesus Christ, they are drawn to one another by this relationship with God they now have. As they gather together there is an ever-deepening bond generated by God’s Word and Spirit.
“The visible, living assembly of the redeemed saints becomes the grand, spiritual temple of God” - John MacArthur
Under the new covenant, although each believer is a temple individually, there is another temple where God meets with us, “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit” (Eph. 2:19-22). God dwells among the community of saints when the church comes together. He is in our midst. Peter says that we are living stones being built up “as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 2:5). That describes worship. Our church is not our facility, built with stone. Our church is a temple, built with living stones, wherein God dwells. When we gather we are a place of worship and God is present in a way not possible anywhere else. He dwells among the assembled saints and His glory is in their midst.
“Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near” (Heb. 10:19-25).
Those who neglect meeting together cut themselves off from the means by which Christ feeds, assures, and protects His people. We can’t have confidence and assurance apart from the gathered church. So, if you haven’t yet returned, examine yourself and your reasons for not doing so. If they are found to be made in faith, good conscience, and reasonable wisdom, then by all means continue to grow in Christ through our online worship service, your Zoom Sunday School class, and your spiritual disciplines, in anticipation of returning. But, if your reasons are found lacking and reveal a disobedient heart, make every effort to return to the living temple of God and let’s stir up one another to love and good works. Christ is coming soon, and this makes our mutual encouragement and gathering together all the more urgent. That Day—where God will finally gather all who trust in His Son from every tribe, tongue, nation, and people—is hastening on. We must commit and grow in faithfulness. We must remain ready, as His gathered people, for the gathering to come.
