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 We
have heard of a man who says he would attend church services
Sunday morning, even if the town fool should preach. He thinks
it disgraceful that some are "preacher-crazy" and
attend or stay home, depending upon who occupies the pulpit.
Before you commend the man, read the next line.
He
is equally provoked when some one urges him to be present on
Wednesday night for Bible Study, for he says the scriptures do
not command the Wednesday night assembly.
Seems
to me the poor fellow is wrong on both counts; i.e., he misses
the point concerning assembling with the saints, Sunday or
Wednesday. It is true, we should not be wed to the preacher; but
it is equally true that we should not be wed to a certain
"assembly". We must be wed to Christ (2CO.11:1-f). The
"assembly" is not an end within itself — just
"being there" or "doing five items" will
accomplish little. One should not "go to church"
because he wants to "go to church" but because he
wants to study God's word, praise God in song, in prayer, and in
every way in keeping with His will. He
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loves his brethren and is anxious to
join with them in the worship and work of the Lord. He eagerly,
joyfully, freely gives of his means — joining hands with his
brethren — to further the Lord's work. The Lord's Supper, on
the Lord's Day, is a memorial gratefully shared with all the
saints. A person with such an attitude seeks more opportunities
to continue what he truly wants to do. He does not measure out
worship (?) grudgingly, watching the clock.
HEB.10:25
says, "not forsaking the assembling" — read it
carefully. Not "the assembly" but the act of coming
together. This passage does not urge all to be present at a
certain convocation, but exhorts us to recognize the importance
of assembling with the saints. This applies to Wednesday as well
as to Sunday; whether "the day approaching" be the
destruction of Jerusalem or Judgement Day. ACT.20:7 authorized
the Lord's Supper upon the Lord's Day; no other day is so
designated. But the "oncer" heeds something worse than
the "town-fool preacher". He has fooled himself.
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