Biblical Togetherness

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Biblical Togetherness

Introduction: For 2000 years Christians have regularly assembled. That’s 104,000 Sundays. “Going to church,” as it is called, is so common that few people even know why, and many others give assembling a low-priority. For some, just about anything can be given precedence over assembling. Some are more bold, making comments like, “I can be a Christian without being a part of a church.” Even for some Christians assembling as a church is dependent on one’s schedule and whether or not a particular assembly is either worth the effort or convenient. These approaches to Christian togetherness is further indication that a large percentage of people have lost or never understood the reasons the Lord asked us to meet together.

The purpose of this lesson is to give some context for togetherness, why God created a local group of Christians, and why assembling together is a critical part of God’s design to accomplish his work.

  1. Assemblies of the New Testament
    1. Most people probably do not realize that the NT records different reasons Christians assembled. We are so accustomed to what we call a “worship service” that we have limited the biblical purposes of Christians coming together. In fact, please give some thought to how much we have been influenced by centuries of Roman Catholic Church formal worship services, in which a “service” is provided by the clergy for the laity instead of meetings by which all members participate in building one another up.
    2. Acts 2:42, 46 The early Christians came together and devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles, fellowship, breaking of bread and prayers. They even met together every day in the temple and found ways to go to each other’s houses and eat together. Why?  
      1. First, they were devoted to learning as much as possible about God and about the Messiah they had waited for so long to come.
      2. Second, they were devoted to each other and loved each other deeply. They had a common cause, an eternal cause, and a purpose for life in this world that superseded all else. They recognized that they needed each other.
    3. Acts 6:1-5 When there was a problem in the church the apostles “summoned the full number of the disciples” and asked them to choose seven men who could oversee the serving of the needy widows. The women would certainly be involved in this assembly. It is also interesting that in verse one and in verse seven, Luke emphasized that the word of God continued to increase. The sense is that an internal problem in the church would have hindered the primary objective of spreading the gospel and therefore the importance of the church solving the problem. The apostles further emphasized the goal in verse two.
    4. Acts 12:1-5, 12 After James was put to death by Herod, Peter was also arrested. However, “earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church.” Again in verse 12, after Peter was released, he went to the house of John Mark’s mother “where many were gathered together and were praying.” This was in the middle of the night.
    5. Acts 14:27 “And when they arrived and gathered the church together, they declared all that God had done with them, and how he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles.” Consider the effect this had on the church. They became a part of the effort and would have shared Paul’s joy just as in 15:3.
    6. Acts 15:4, 22 When there was a major disagreement concerning how the gospel was to be preached, first the apostles and elders gathered and then the whole church.
    7. 1 Corinthians 1:10 A follow up to Acts 15, this text implies assemblies were needed on occasions in which unity on particular teachings in scripture needed to be explored. In this type of assembly, it would be necessary for there to be a full church discussion, women included.
    8. Ephesians 4:12-14 implies the same type of assemblies. “…to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.” 
    9. 1 Corinthians 11:17-34 A Lord’s Supper assembly
    10. 1 Corinthians 14:26 A “revelation” assembly in which everyone who speaks is in a position of teaching and revealing the word. This assembly would be somewhat parallel to our preaching assemblies.
    11. As you can see, some of these assemblies were “occasional,” that is, assemblies that fit a particular occasion but not done at a regular time each week. Regardless, each of these assemblies have a purpose for the growth of the church.
  2. The Biblical Explanation and Need for Assemblies
    1. Ephesians 4:1-16 We do not have time for a detailed explanation of this text, but we can quickly see that there are major goals and purposes that can only be met by a church regularly meeting together.
      1. 1-6 Create unity both in how we treat each other and the foundation for our unity. Brent was telling me about an eldership that didn’t meet with the deacons or preacher or even members unless there was an issue that needed solving. Can you imagine a married couple having that point of view? Even when there is not an issue, members need to be together so that we stay deeply connected and not become “suspicious” of each other.
      2. 7-16 Each member is a gift to the body so that “each part is working properly” and “makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.” 
      3. 11-16 Consider that a major part of this process is, “until we all attain…” to unity of faith and knowledge to mature manhood. A church is not to live in permanent stagnation where parts of the body never come to maturity. Whether Sunday morning, Sunday evening, Wednesday night, or other Bible studies, the elders and I work hard to meet the goals of this passage. 
        1. I do not just randomly pick something to preach each week. The elders and I have a maturity goal for the church and have a long term goal for each lesson. But when there is regular neglect of the assemblies, accomplishing the goal of this text for all members to grow to unity and maturity becomes an impossibility.
        2. Simply ask yourself: How are we supposed to accomplish the requirements of this text? How often would we have to meet? And how dedicated do we need to be?
    2. 1 Corinthians 12:14-18 The local church is referred to as members of a body. Jesus used the “body metaphor” to indicate a number of principles:
      1. One member of the body cannot function alone. God’s intention is that we function together.
      2. God’s work cannot be accomplished separately because God intentionally did not give any one member of the body the talent to do so.
      3. Connecting together to do God’s work forces us to learn to love like God loves so that we are prepared for eternity. 1 Peter 2:9, we are royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession. 
      4. Because of the importance and eternal nature of God’s work, our work together must take precedence over all other relationships.
      5. Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 “A threefold cord is not quickly broken.”
    3. Hebrews 10:19-31 This is the most commonly used text concerning the Christian assembly, but it is also the most commonly misused text.
      1. When we place this text within the overall message of the letter, verses 19-39 are a conclusion of all that the writer has described in what God has done through Jesus as a “great high priest” serving in the true Holy Place. We are called upon in verses 22-25 to serve God based on these blessings and remember in verse 29 that to not respond with thankfulness to God’s grace is to “trample underfoot the Son of God, profane the blood of the covenant, and outrage the Spirit of grace.” 
      2. Therefore, these were regular assemblies for the purpose of keeping each member strong, growing to maturity in order to avoid “slipping” or “drifting”  (Hebrews 2:1; 5:11—6:12). Why would we think that 10:25 was the Sunday Morning worship assembly? While that may be included, the writer’s concern is the brethren maintaining endurance to to the end (10:36-39).
    4. The problem most of us have is that we believe the Hebrew writer is exaggerating. Our response is, “Oh come on, we are not going to fall away just because we miss various assemblies.” Consider, is God exaggerating? There are a number of problems with this point of view:
      1. First, the apostle is telling us the opposite. Throughout the letter we are plainly told that we easily slip and drift and the remedy is (1) growth in knowledge to the point of maturity and (2) constantly encouraging one another (3:13). We are deceiving ourselves if we think it can’t happen to us. Falling away is gradual and imperceptible. 
      2. Second, what are we doing instead of assembling? In other words, what is being given the priority over doing the Lord’s work? What is covetousness? It is putting anything before God. Colossians 3:5 calls covetousness idolatry. And in 1 Corinthians 5:11, Paul commanded the church to withdraw from those who were covetous or an idolator.
      3. Third, did you notice the phrase in verse 25, …and all the more as you see the day drawing near”? The writer did not put a “minimum-assembly-necessary” standard. He defined meeting as an urgency to prepare for the approaching “Day” and added, “all the more.” Then he followed up with the word “for” in verses 26-31 indicating the danger such Christians were in who did not follow his admonition.
      4. Fourth, the command isn’t primarily about you and me. Verse 24, “Let us consider one another to stir up to love and good works.” Every person here should be able to identify ways in which you are stirring other Christians up to love and good works. This isn’t, and never was in scripture, about attending a worship service. Frankly, the scriptures never mention such a thing. Meeting in order to stir each other up, including all we do when we are together, is the way God receives glory and praise. That is the essence of Paul’s point in Ephesians 4:1-16. All of us together are to “grow up in every way into him…to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” 
  3. Dangers and Consequences of Neglect
    1. Hebrews 10:24-26 is a boldly warning to us that without the regular encouragement from one another to love and good works, we will fail. We are not created to endure to eternal life without one another.
    2. Further, did you notice “love and good works?” Obviously, it is not just being together to share social time. It is because we are called to bear fruit for the Lord (John 15:1-8). If we do not bear fruit, we are cut off. Remember! Israel kept “worshiping” and being together, but Jesus compared them to the fig tree outside the city that had leaves but no fruit. He cursed it and it died. Please ask yourself: what fruit are you bearing? How are you stirring others up to love and good works? And, how are you being stirred up to love and good works? 
    3. Beware as you think about the principles of this lesson that you do not ask the question, “Well, how much do I have to do?” Instead, we should all be asking, “How much can I do in order to love the Lord with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength.” All service to God should be judged by that standard.

Berry Kercheville

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