Fellowship in
the local church - The privilege (1/2)
John Scarsbrook
All these, and many more questions need to challenge us in
days when we deplore the apathy and indifference of unbelievers – yet we too can
be guilty of the same failings with regard to the Lord’s assembly. It is not
always a healthy exercise to keep looking back to the past. However, we can and
should learn lessons from previous generations. Men and women of spiritual
quality, who knew their God, and their Bible, worked ambitiously and tirelessly,
saw souls saved, and assemblies planted and established. They also faithfully
served in their generation, and left a precious legacy of which we are the
current custodians.
In the world of sales and commerce, there are some
companies that operate on a principle of ‘added value’. It is a form of
assessment which is applied to those in positions of responsibility. The purpose
is to seek to estimate the positive contribution made by each individual and
thus to enhance and benefit the whole department or company. Ours is a far
greater responsibility than any earthly attainment – ‘we serve the Lord Christ’,
Col. 3. 24.
How much of value am I contributing to the assembly where
the Lord has placed me? With this in mind we need to consider another matter
before we try to quantify our responsibilities. We will never feel the weight of
our responsibilities until we appreciate the inestimable privilege of belonging
to an assembly of the Lord’s people. A local assembly is a very precious thing!
A company of Christians who meet together in a manner outlined in the New
Testament, owning no denominational status and giving allegiance to the
authority of the Lord Jesus Christ alone. It is a microcosm of that great
company of believers who comprise the church, which is His body. To be a part of
such a living vital reality, ‘pillar and ground of the truth’, 1 Tim. 3. 15, is
a privilege beyond measure. And yet there are some believers, both young and not
so young, who are associated, sometimes for many years with a company, which has
never grasped the delightful, simple truth of what a local assembly really is!
It is possible that children of believers, brought up within such a fellowship,
may not appreciate the distinct and dignified character of a New Testament
assembly.
There are those who would readily claim association with
‘the Brethren’ or ‘the Brethren Church’, as compared with the Baptist, Methodist
or Pentecostal Church. Such thinking only serves to add a denominational tag,
which finds no authority in Scripture. Praise God! We are brethren and sisters,
linked together in Christ by salvation, with many other brethren who own a
variety of denominational names. Yet we cannot condone nor support the
position they adopt nor, in some cases, the practices they allow. assembly, 1
Cor. 3. 16, 17. In both the Lord should have full authority. Every time we pray,
speak or act in His name, we are acknowledging submission to His authority. The
whole concept of a local church or assembly is in essence based upon New
Testament teaching.
There are, however, some helpful illustrations in the Old
Testament which give us an understanding of the character and dignity of that to
which God has called His people. You will recall that throughout Scripture from
Exodus 25 onwards, we find a number of tangible structures, which God was
pleased to own as His dwelling place. There was the tabernacle in the
wilderness, and the temple built by Solomon. Then there was the temple built by
Zerubbabel after the captivity. This was later extended and embellished by
Herod, but even so, the Lord Jesus owned it as ‘my Father’s house’, John 2. 16,
until such time as His final rejection, when it became to the nation of Israel
‘your house’, Matt. 23. 38, and was pronounced ‘desolate’. In this present day
of God’s grace, there is no physical building which God owns as His house. Yet
where there is a desire to be obedient to the word of God in doctrine and
practice, the Lord is pleased to grace with His presence the gatherings of His
people. Paul assures the believers at Corinth that both individually, 1 Cor. 6.
19, 20, and as an assembly, 1 Cor. 3. 16, 17, they were the temple (the
sanctuary) of God, and, as such, His dwelling place. In Psalm 27. 4, 5 we find
four references to the place where God dwells. Although written in an Old
Testament context, they illustrate beautifully what a New Testament assembly
really is. [To be
concluded]
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[Courtesy: Precious Seed Online]