Why we gather....

Frankly, there are very few things I "like" about going to church.  In this consumer, man-centered, materialistic, narcissistic, christian culture that we find ourselves in, "church" on Sunday can be extremely depressing if you are actually paying attention to the people, what is being said, and the lack of Christ-likeness among those who wear his name (and of course I include myself in that statement.)

I could list all of the biblical reasons, in spite of the above reality, that one should attend a weekly worship service.  I only need one motivating factor, and that is my loyalty to Christ.  I am not loyal to a local church.  I am not loyal to anyone at the church.  My loyalty is to Christ alone.  All else, and everyone else, will fail me, as I will fail them.  I love when people ask me on Sunday, "What are you doing today?" and I can answer, "I have a special date with the love of my life."

We gather to worship Christ!  In fact, Christians in other lands gather at risk of death.  Just maybe it's important to sincere, genuine believers to gather for worship.  They certainly would have more seemingly legitimate reasons to not gather than we do.  Don't you think?

They Gather to Worship the Christ

By Frederick J. Stevens  1883-86

They gather, they gather from Island and main,

From seacoast and valley, from mountain and plain.

From Africa's fountains, from India's strands.

They gather-to learn what Jehovah commands.

They gather, they gather, a swift-swelling tide.

Resistless, on-flowing, a flood spreading wide.

They gather, they gather, and countless the throng,

To worship the Christ with the Incense of song.

They gather, they gather from China, Japan.

From city and hamlet, from tribe and from clan.

From tropical forests, from deserts of sand.

Commingling their praises a symphony grand.

They gather, they gather, a swift-swelling tide.

Resistless, on-flowing, a flood spreading wide.

They gather, they gather, and countless the throng.

To worship the Christ with the Incense of song.

They gather, they gather, the young and the old.

The king and the peasant all seeking one fold,

The soldier and statesman, the noble and slave.

All trust in his promise to guide them and save.

They gather, they gather, a swift-swelling tide.

Resistless, on-flowing. a flood spreading wide.

They gather, they gather, and countless the throng

To worship the Christ with the Incense of song.

The Red Sea of God's Wrath

"We shall see Him as He is!" 1 John 3:2

Then we shall behold Him who died for us, that we might live forevermore; whose matchless love made Him swim through the Red Sea of God's wrath, to make a path in the midst of it for us, by which we might pass safely to our heavenly Canaan. Then we shall see what a glorious one He is, who suffered all this for us! Then shall we be more able to understand, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love really is.

When we shall fully realize that the waters of wrath which He was plunged into, are the wells of salvation from whence we draw all our joy; that we have received the cup of salvation, in exchange for the cup of wrath which He drank--how will our hearts leap within us, burn with seraphic love, as Heaven resounds with our songs of salvation!

We shall eternally, without interruption, feast our eyes upon Him--and be ever viewing His glorious perfections! In Him shall we see everything desirable--and nothing but what is desirable. We shall look into the heart of God, and there see the love He bore to us from all eternity, and the love and goodness He will bear to us forevermore.

We who are heirs of God, the great heritage--shall then enter into a full possession of our inheritance; and the Lord will open His treasures of goodness unto us, that our enjoyment may be full. We shall not be stinted to any measure--but the enjoyment shall go as far as our enlarged capacities can reach. We shall be fully satisfied, and perfectly blessed in the full enjoyment of divine goodness.

Our love to the Lord, being purified from the dross of self-love, shall be most pure. We will be all love, when we come to the full enjoyment of God in Heaven, by intuitive and experimental knowledge of Him, by full participation in the divine goodness.

The enjoyment of God and the Lamb will be ever fresh and new to us, through the ages of eternity; for we shall drink of living fountains of waters, where new waters are continually springing up in abundance. Our joy shall be pure and unmixed, without any dregs of sorrow; solid and everlasting, without interruption. We shall swim forever in an ocean of joy--where we shall see nothing but joy wherever we turn our eyes. The presence and enjoyment of God and the Lamb will satisfy us with pleasures for evermore; and will afford us everlasting delight!

"You will fill me with joy in Your presence, with eternal pleasures at Your right hand!" Psalm 16:11


Thomas Boston (17 March 1676 – 20 May 1732)  Excerpt from:  Human Nature in its Fourfold State

And this is why I read the Puritans!


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Ritual Observances, External Morality, Emotional Experiences...

So many people (both inside the visible church and outside) are confused about what Christianity is.  This is so helpful in clarifying things for so many:

What does the Lord require of you?
 To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." Micah 6:8

Simplicity and comprehensiveness mark the requirements of my God. He can abbreviate His demands into the fewest words; but they are words which embrace . . .
  the inward and outward,
  the present and future,
  the earthly and the heavenly.

I may fall into serious error regarding His will for me:

It is not a religion of ritual observances which He requires. How easily I attach an undue importance to ceremonies and forms, rites and penances and fasts!

Nor does He solicit primarily a religion of external moralities. God looks on my heart.

Nor is it a religion of emotions of which He is in quest. I must not put excitement and tears, in the place of saving grace and childlike obedience.

But see, my soul, God asks us to act justly. I cannot be His, unless I do justly. Everything that takes an improper advantage of another, and all that departs from the straightest line of absolute rectitude--I must hate and abjure. It is a demand which pierces deeper than it seems. For the integrity of conduct He desires--is the outcome only of a conscience He has quickened, and a will He has bent into submission to His law. The ethics of the Gospel are preceded and rendered possible, by the redemption and regeneration of the Gospel.

And God asks tenderness. He counsels me to love mercy. The world is full of sorrow, and I am to move through it as a good physician, befriending and uplifting those in need.

It is what He does Himself. Every glorious quality has its fountain in Him--but pre-eminently the quality of mercy. He is the great Forgiver and the great Helper--no earthly father loves like Him, and no mother is half so mild. So my feeble torch is but kindled at His altar. My charities and philanthropies must be learned in His school, who pardons my ten thousand transgressions!

And God asks humility. He commands me to lay my hand in His, and to walk humbly in His company. 

Nothing is so essential as poverty of spirit. It is the source and spring from which alone runs the fertilizing river of a holy life. The humble heart is where the flowers of Heaven find their congenial soil, and grow into beauty and fragrance.

 I only begin to be a disciple, when my proud heart is brought low--and my Savior is lifted high.

Now, my Father, if these are to be the features of my soul--then it is manifest that none but You can create them, and can nurture them, and can lead them to their perfection. Do the work Lord, and have the glory!

   ~  ~  ~  ~ 

(Alexander Smellie, "On the Secret Place" 1907)

AFFLICTION

"I have refined you in the furnace of suffering." Isaiah 48:10

One of the reasons why God uses afflictions, is to prevent Christians from backsliding. In times of prosperity . . .
  pride is apt to rise and swell;
  carnal security blinds their eyes;
  the love of riches increases;
  spiritual affections are feeble;
  eternal things are viewed as far off, and concealed by a thick mist.
These circumstances are, indeed, the common precursors of backsliding.

But to prevent this evil, and to stir up the benumbed feelings of piety--the believer is put into the furnace! At first he finds it hard to submit, and is like a wild bull in a net. His pride and his love of carnal ease, resist the hand that smites him; but severe pain awakes him from his spiritual sleep. He then finds himself in the hands of his heavenly Father--and sees that nothing can be gained by murmuring or rebelling. His sins rise up to view, and he is convinced of the justice of the divine dispensations. His hard heart begins to yield, and he is stirred up to cry mightily to God for helping grace. Although he wishes and prays for deliverance from the pressure of affliction--yet he is more solicitous that the affliction should be rendered effectual . . .
  to subdue his pride,
  to wean him from the love of the world, and
  to give perfect exercise to patience and resignation
--than that it should be removed. He knows that the furnace is the place for purification. He hopes and prays that his dross may be consumed, and that he may come forth as gold which has passed seven times through the refiner's fire!
(Archibald Alexander, "Thoughts on Religious Experience" 1844)

A Prerequisite to Christian Counseling?

As I was thinking about the amount of time spent by elders, and lay people for that matter, in counseling Christians; the thought entered my mind as to whether or not those seeking counseling spend much time in communion with God.  I think it is easy for those of us who counsel to begin to think that people need us in order to grow in grace.  It somehow feeds our own need to be needed.  I think one of the main reasons is that we (modern Christians) spend little to no time in communion with God.

Would it be unkind to have a prerequisite established before counseling is offered?  And what would that prerequisite be?  J.C. Ryle has some suggestions:

Regular and habitual communion with the Lord Jesus, is absolutely essential to growth in grace! I mean that daily habit of communion between the believer and his Savior, which can only be carried on by faith, prayer and meditation.

 

It is a habit, I fear, of which many believers know little. It is possible to have "union" with Christ--and yet to have little "communion" with Him.  Communion implies a habit of daily application for things needed, and of daily pouring out and unburdening our hearts and minds. It is getting close to Him and laying hold on Him with confidence--as a loving, personal Friend.

 

Now I believe that no man will ever grow in grace, who does not know something experimentally of the habit of communion. We must seek to have personal intimacy with the Lord Jesus, and to deal with Him as a man deals with a loving friend. We must realize what it is . . .

  to turn to Him first in every need,

  to talk to Him about every difficulty,

  to consult Him about every step,

  to spread before Him all our sorrows,

  to get Him to share in all our joys,

  to do all as in His sight, and

  to go through every day leaning on, and looking to Him!

So there you have it--your prerequisite.  Before a person can seek counseling they must first say honestly that they have:

turned to Him first in every need,
talked to Him about every difficulty,
consulted Him about every step,
spread before Him all our sorrows,
get Him to share in all our joys,
do all as in His sight, and
go through every day leaning on, and looking to Him!

What do you think might happen if all those who requested counseling were told that they must first do all of the above for an entire month, before they would receive counseling?   I think there would be a drastic reduction in counseling requests!