IMPORTANCE OF NOT FORSAKING THE ASSEMBLY.

IMPORTANCE OF NOT FORSAKING THE ASSEMBLY
By James S. McDonald, Jr.
Why did we come together to worship Sunday? Was it because we had not seen each other since last Wednesday night or maybe even the previous Sunday? Was it because we were anxious to talk together about the winning ball game? Were we hoping for some comments on the new suit or outfit? Did we look forward to our weekly “after church” eating out together? Or was it the fellowship dinner after the worship services that was our main focus for coming? How often have we heard someone say that s/he was disappointed with the service because s/he did not get much out of it. Or brother so and so’s prayer was too long. Or the babies were too noisy. Or the preacher preached too long. Or “they” did not sing any of the old favorite songs. All of these expectations and disappointments are the result of a misdirected concept of just actually what worship is and what we should expect from our worship to God. To begin, true worship is toward God. Jesus said, “But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:23,24). We have totally missed the purpose of our worship to God when we come expecting to get something out of the worship. Our purpose should be to put into the worship: to render our worship toward God. There is only one spectator to our worship, and he is God! Now, that is not to say we will not get something out of our worship. We will. But that is not our purpose; and what we get out of it may not always be what we expect. Just what is worship? The Greek concept of “worship” being “a kiss toward God” illustrates perfectly what our worship should be. For when we worship in spirit and truth, we render toward God our love, our adoration, our reverence. All is toward God. He is the spectator of our worship. We are all participants. It was He who ordered the how of our worship. Our worship should be to please Him and not ourselves. What we carry away from our worship will be the satisfaction of having rendered ourselves to Him in worship. Today we hear much about making changes in our worship to better suit the present generation. That whole movement has lost sight of the true purpose of worship and the object of our worship. To change any aspect of His worship to suit our own pleasures is to take away from God what is His and what He wanted in His worship. Jesus addressed this problem when he condemned the religious leaders of His day for the changes they had made in the worship which was to be toward God. He asked them, “Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?” (Matthew 15:3). They were changing God’s commandments to better suit their own “tradition.” Because of these man made changes, their worship was no longer acceptable to God. In strong, straight forward words, Jesus said to them, “Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Matthew 15:7-9). In the parallel record in Mark 7, Jesus added: “Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do. And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition” (Mark 7:7-9). They had allowed their emphasis on the trivial matters of their own standards of value to out weight the commandments of God. Their worship was now empty and meaningless. God was not getting anything out of their worship! They had changed their worship to suit their present generation. Does this sound familiar? True worship, worship acceptable to God has always had to be in keeping with what God wanted out of the worship. There are many illustrations of this principle. Why was Cain’s worship not acceptable? (Genesis 4:3-5; Hebrews 11:4). Why were Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, burned with fire as they worshipped? (Leviticus 10:1,2). Why was Saul’s service toward God unacceptable in 1 Samuel 15? The answer to each of these and to all other such examples of vain worship is because changes were made in God’s commandments. Why we have not learned from these instances of vain worship is a puzzle. But we have not. At the least, there are those who want the worship services to be changed to be more directed at making the worshippers “feel good.” Others want the services to be more informal (come as you are), with music and other activities designed more to entertain the congregation. Some would add solos, choirs, or choruses to the worship to “enhance” the worship and to make it more appealing to the present generation. When we add solos and choirs or choruses or any other innovation not commanded of God to the worship, it is no longer “toward God” but toward ourselves. Our worship has become vain, pleasing men and not pleasing God. When we add man made instruments of music, solos and choruses, we are no longer singing and making melody in our hearts unto God. We are pleasing our selves, and God is not pleased. Again we ask: Why did we come together to worship Sunday?