Public Assembly of the Saints

"When ye come together in the church" (1 Corinthians 11:18)

He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of Jehovah, He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in whom I trust. For he will deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, And from the deadly pestilence. He will cover thee with his pinions, And under his wings shalt thou take refuge: His truth is a shield and a buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night, Nor for the arrow that flieth by day; For the pestilence that walketh in darkness, Nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. A thousand shall fall at thy side, And ten thousand at thy right hand; But it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold, And see the reward of the wicked. For thou, O Jehovah, art my refuge! Thou hast made the Most High thy habitation; There shall no evil befall thee, Neither shall any plague come nigh thy tent. For he will give his angels charge over thee, To keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, Lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: The young lion and the serpent shalt thou trample under foot. Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble: I will deliver him, and honor him. With long life will I satisfy him, And show him my salvation.
(Psalms 91:1-16)

Every Sunday people gather in public assemblies all around the world and they have been doing so for many years. But what is the purpose of public gathering as a church? One obvious answer to that question is that God has commanded it. We must not forsake the assembling of ourselves together. But that is only a very minor reason for God's true children as they gather together. It is true that we love the fellowship of the saints and that we need this fellowship for our own spiritual growth. But this is not the primary reason for our public assembly. Whether we gather on Sunday morning, Sunday night or Wednesday night, the purpose of our public assembly is that we may worship God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Brethren, we have met to worship,
And adore the Lord our God.

As often as we come together, let us celebrate the praises of our covenant God. In our singing, our praying, our preaching and our hearing, it should be our goal to praise our triune God for his grace and glory. For another thing, when we come together, we should come seeking a message from God. Our hearts long to hear the Lord speaking to us through the Word. We want a message from Christ to comfort and challenge, assure and search, abase and uplift, wound and heal our hearts. And when we come together as a church, let us come to be instructed by God. Beloved, we need to be constantly taught of God. We need to be taught our weakness and sin. We need to be taught Christ's love and grace, his ability to redeem, his willingness to forgive, his power to save, his promises to comfort, his strength to preserve and his merits to glorify.
As often as we gather in our public assembly of worship, may it please our God to fill our hearts with praise to him for his covenant grace, his redeeming love, his sanctifying presence and his saving fullness.

"Grace for Today" by Donald S. Fortner, August 10