To Encourage You

2 Thessalonians 2:1 “Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him . . .”

Are you a member of a Bible-believing church?  If so, do you attend regularly?  Why or why not?  Maybe it’s not something you think much about.  Maybe you’re of the opinion that “you don’t have to go to church to be a Christian,” or that “not everyone in a church is a Christian.”  I’ve heard both thoughts expressed many times over the years, and there’s certainly some truth in each of them. Or perhaps you know of some people that do attend church and their walk doesn’t match their talk.  Perhaps you’ve had a bad experience with a church in the past, and know of some real problems in church leadership.  You think you’re better off on your own than to be a part of such a group of people.  However, regardless of these arguments, it is clear that the Bible speaks often of the church, including local assemblies of believers to whom Paul wrote many of his epistles. 

The Scriptures command us to “not neglect meeting together, as is the habit of some” (Hebrews 10:25). Surely, then, it is God’s will for believers that we come together in this way.  Of course, if God commands it, the Christian should obey, no matter what. Still, it may be that you would ask, “But why? What real benefit is it to me?” 

These are the kinds of things my mind went to after I read the passage above this morning.  This verse talks about “being gathered together to Him.”  It’s an interesting phrase.  In its context it is referring to the time of Jesus’ return when all believers will be gathered together to meet the Lord in the air.  Believers will be gathered from throughout the world and from throughout history into one place in a great assembly of the saints that will usher in an eternity with our Savior. What an awesome time this will be – one that all believers should be looking forward to with great anticipation.  But then I looked for other places in which this phrase of being “gathered together” was used. Interestingly, there is only one. It’s in the passage that I’ve already made reference to from Hebrews 10.  There it says this: “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”(Hebrews 10:24-25).  Here, “to meet together” is translated from the same Greek phrase “gathered together” from 2 Thessalonians 2. But note the context – we are to not neglect this opportunity “to meet together” particularly as we see “the Day drawing near,” i.e., the same Day that is being referred to in the 2 Thessalonians 2 passage about the second coming of our Lord. 

Here we see a picture of what the assembly of Christians in a worship service on earth really is – it is a precursor of that great gathering together of all believers on the coming great Day of the Lord.  And when you think about it, that’s exactly what such gatherings are. It’s a gathering together of believers out of a world where the majority of people give no thought to God into a place that is a picture of heaven on earth.  It’s a place where saints gather to worship Jesus in the midst of a world that is quick to use the name of Christ as nothing more than a curse word. It’s an oasis of light in the midst of a world of spiritual darkness. It’s a place where Truth is proclaimed in the midst of a world where lies dominate the media and popular thought. It’s a place where the gospel of hope is proclaimed in a world so full of hopelessness and despair. And it’s a place where the saints on earth actually join together with the saints and angels in heaven in one place to praise our Lord.  Yes, it’s a place we join together on what we call “the Lord’s Day,” a remembrance of His glorious resurrection on the first day of the week, and a time to look forward to the time we will someday meet the One Who is the Resurrection and the Life face to face.  And it’s a place where we look back as we partake of the ordinance of communion to remember Jesus’ words that “This is my body, which is given for you. . . (and) This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood” (Luke 22:19-20). And at the same time, we look forward to the time that Jesus told us was coming when He would partake of the communion “new with (us) in (His) Father’s kingdom” (Matthew 26:29). 

But one more thing. We’ve been told in the Scriptures that the church has another name. While the bread of communion represents the body of Christ, the church is the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:12-27). Each one of us is called a member or part of that body. And just as the members of our physical body need all the other members, the same is true for the body of Christ. So when we fail to meet with and participate in the body of Christ, we rob ourselves of what God ultimately has for us, and we rob others of what we can give. If we truly love Christ, we will love His body. There’s no separation between our view of Him and our view of the church.

So why do we meet together?  First, because it is simply obedience to our Lord’s command. And if we love Him, we will obey Him. But more than that, we can be sure that each and every one of our Lord’s commands is given to us because He loves us.  It is the way God has given us to “gather together” as a touch of Heaven on earth, in spite of our imperfections as we do so, as we look forward to that great gathering together in the end.