Page 11 - Contact Autumn 2020

“When the congregation is to meet for
public worship, the people…ought all
to come and join therein”
Our worship is enhanced
In Ephesians 5:19 and Colossians 3:16 Paul
speaks of the supreme importance of
corporate praise. In both passages he
encourages God’s people to sing psalms,
hymns and spiritual songs. What we often miss
in these passages is that our singing is not only
addressed to God but to one another. As Paul
says in one case, ‘…addressing one another…’
(Eph. 5:19) and in the other, ‘…teaching and
admonishing one another…’ (Col. 3:16).
The purpose, as Paul highlights in the
Colossians passage, is so that ‘the word of
Christ’ might ‘dwell in you richly’. This is
something that just cannot be done as we
sing along with a service on the screen.
The first Sunday I was able to gather back with
God’s people there was a felt and tangible
difference in the praise as I heard the voices
of my brothers and sisters join together in
worshipping God and it was a truly uplifting
experience.
God is present
Now, just to clarify, I’m not denying that
we can experience God’s presence personally
as individuals; we certainly can. But there is a
sense in which God is uniquely present when
his people are gathered together. Although
addressed to a specific situation involving the
church (Matt. 18:17), Jesus famously said, ‘For
where two or three are gathered in my name,
there am I among them’ (18:20). Because we
are called out as God’s covenant community
and gathered together in the name of Christ,
he meets with his people in a unique way as
they gather to hear his word preached, pray
together, and sing praises. The Spirit is
manifested in corporate worship in a way
that’s just not possible outside that setting
(1 Cor. 12:7; 14:26).
These are only a few of the reasons that
gathering as the people of God is so important
and why we miss out if we choose to absent
ourselves from the assembly of believers.
Again, I want to stress that this is not meant to
cause those who are unable through health or
circumstance to meet with God’s people to
feel guilty. The apostle Paul often found
himself unable to meet with God’s people but
was sustained as they came to minister to him.
This should be a call to each of us in the church
to do more to be present with the people of
God who are unable to gather with the body.
Nevertheless, whenever it is possible to come
together we should not neglect this immense
privilege. I finish with John Murray’s description
of the church which I believe is apt to all that
we have been considering:
‘The church is the assembly of the covenant
people of God, the congregation of believers,
the household of God, the fellowship of the
Holy Spirit, the body of Christ. It consists of
men and women called by God the Father into
the fellowship of his Son, sanctified in Christ
Jesus, regenerated by his Spirit, and united in
the faith and confession of Christ Jesus as Lord
and Saviour. Where there is such a communion
gathered in Jesus’ name, there is the church of
God’ (emphasis added).
Keith McIlroy