For us to meet with the saints is to know and do the will of God; our purpose and goal on the earth is to do the Father’s will, and we do this by coming to the meetings of the church.
This is our last week on the deeper study of the matter of, The Will of God, and the focus this week is, Meeting to Know and Do the Will of God.
We have covered many essential and intrinsic aspects of the will of God, His eternal will, and we have seen that God’s will is for the all-inclusive, extensive Christ to have the preeminence in the universe, in the church and in our whole being.
God’s will is to head up all things through Christ and for Christ to be Head over all things to the church.
It is God’s will that this wonderful Christ would be our person, our life, and our everything, so that we may live a God-man life. God’s will is to have the church as the Body of Christ and as the one new man.
He wants that His will be done on earth in the kingdom of God as His realm.
And since the central aspect of God’s will is the church, we need to see more concerning the meetings of the church, and in particular see that we meet to know and do the will of God.
The basic definition of the church – the foundational definition – is that the church is an assembly, the assembly of the called-out ones, the ekklesia.
In actuality and practicality, the church in God’s will is inseparably related to the meetings; the thought in the Bible is that we meet to know and do the will of God.
If we were to consider in the Bible where is the first place that we find anything related to the meeting of God’s people, not necessarily the word “meet” or “meeting”, but expressions that clearly indicate this, we see this in Exodus.
God’s desire was to deliver His people out of Egypt so that they would go and hold a feast unto the Lord (Exo. 5:1).
For this, He established a way for them to be redeemed (the Passover) and to be rescued from Egypt, so that they would come to a place where they could feast with Him.
The thought of meeting is implied here. Then when they built the tabernacle, this was called the Tent of Meeting; it was the dwelling place of God, but at the same time it was the Tent of Meeting.
In the New Testament the Geek word “ekklesia” refers to an assembly of those who are called out; this is the house, the dwelling place of God.
We need to see how vital the meetings of the church are; if there’s no meeting according to God in the church, there’s really no church in practicality.
It is not the meeting in itself that is important, but the meeting to do the will of God and to know the will of God; in the meeting we come to know the will of God and to do God’s will.
For us to Meet is to Know and do the Will of God; Our Inner Life and the Church Meetings are Crucial to us
For us to meet is for us to know and do the will of God; our goal on earth and our purpose here is to do the will of the Father, and we do this by coming to the church meetings (Heb. 10:25).
Especially as we see the day drawing near, we should not abandon our assembly together, but come together, meet, enjoy the Lord, and seek to know the will of God and do the will of God.
If we want to know the will of God and if we want to do the will of God for which we exist, we need to come to the meetings.
Actually, besides our inner life with the Lord, nothing is as crucial, as important, and as profitable as the church meetings (1 Cor. 14:23-26).
Our job, our career, and even our success or failure is not as important as the matter of meeting, for to us to miss a meeting is a real loss.
When we miss a meeting, we miss God’s will; this doesn’t mean that we should be extreme regarding this, for the Lord may set some limitations on us or around us regarding meetings, but in principle our being has to be enjoying the Lord and be in the meetings, whether physically there or not.
These two are of equal importance: our inner life with the Lord and the meetings of the church.
In John 20 we see a little picture of this: the women came to the empty tomb, told the brothers, then the brothers came and examined and concluded that Christ must be resurrected, and they left.
But Mary remained, wanting the Lord, and the Lord did appear to her, and He told her to go to His brothers and tell them that He ascended to His Father and their Father, to His God and their God.
She had a direct contact with the Lord in the morning, and she wanted to stay there and even cling to Him, but He told her to go to the meeting of the church and fellowship.
Later the Lord appeared to them in the room they were gathered and locked in, and He breathed upon them.
The word ekklesia (Greek for church) indicates that the church – the dwelling place of God – is a meeting or an assembly of the called-out ones (Matt. 18:17-20).
How can we go on and have the deeper, higher, mystical, and intrinsic aspects of the church if we don’t have this basic and foundational matter that the meetings are crucial for the assembly of the called-out ones!
The church is a gathering of the believers, a meeting of a collective people; this is a definition of the church in a practical way.
How can someone say that he stands with the church and has his feet in the walls of Jerusalem, when he doesn’t meet with the saints?
How can we say we’re in the church but we do not go to any meetings, not even a small group meeting, a home meeting, a district meeting, a hall meeting, or a whole church meeting?
When we as God’s called-out ones meet together, this is the church (Acts 2:42; 8:1).
We do not meet because we have to meet but because as believers in Christ we have a meeting life in our spirit; we meet as God’s called-out ones!
Our Father has predestinated us to meet together; coming together to the meetings is the will of God (Eph. 1:5; Rom. 8:29; 1 Cor. 14:26). This is a great principle in our Christian life.
The church today is the real Tent of Meeting, for God’s people meet together with God and with one another, and here we do the will of God and know the will of God.
Lord, cause us to realize that we are here on earth to do the will of God, so we need to come to the meetings of the church to know God’s will and do God’s will. May we realize that besides our inner life with the Lord there’s nothing as crucial, important, and profitable as the church meetings! Hallelujah for the church, the dwelling place of God, with all its meetings for the believers to know the will of God and do the will of God! May we not abandon our assembly together but all the more meet and enjoy the Lord together even as we see the day drawing near!
Regarding the Meetings as being of Great Importance since our Christian life is a Meeting Life
Our Christian life is a meeting life (Heb. 10:25; 1 Cor. 14:23-26).
If we are a human being, we need to be a believer in Christ; if we are a believer in Christ, we need to come to the meetings of the church – there is no choice, for this is our destiny!
To come to the meeting is not only our destination but also our destiny; our Father predestinated us in this way, and if we go along with His predestination, we will be under His blessing.
We may think that coming to the meetings of the church is too great of a sacrifice, for we need to make more money, develop our business, and we need to take care of our family.
But if we start skipping meetings, we start skipping the Lord’s blessing, and we start missing the will of God. Oh Lord!
We cannot be a Christian on our own; we may diligently get up and enjoy the Lord personally, we may read our Bible and the ministry books, but we cannot live without the Body, we cannot live without the meetings of the church.
Even these days during the lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, when the rules in our country are not to meet physically in enclosed spaces so that the virus would not spread, we still need to keep meeting.
There are zoom meetings, online meetings, phone-call meetings, whatsapp meetings, and all kinds of way to meet.
Our Christian life personally is related to the meeting life.
The saddest day for many employees in the world is Monday, for they have to return to work after doing whatever they wanted during the weekend.
For believers, however, Monday is a day filled with overflowing from the wonderful weekend spent in the Lord’s presence and in the meetings of the church.
Much of the grace the we receive is in the meetings, and much of the work that the Lord does is also in the meetings of the church (Acts 4:33; 13:1-2).
Not all of God’s grace is in the meetings, and not all that He does is in the meetings, but much of it is in the meetings of the church.
We may sincerely pray for the central work of God, for God to build Himself into us, saturate us, permeate us with Himself, make His home in our heart, and surely this is pleasing to God the Father, and He will answer this.
But certain things He would not do apart from the meetings; there may be a small-group meeting, a home meeting, or a larger church meeting that is used by the Lord to enlighten us concerning His will and enable us to do the will of God.
Since the Christian life is a meeting life and much of the Lord’s work is carried out through the meetings, we should regard the meetings as being of great importance.
Before the Lord, inwardly in our experience and enjoyment with Him, we need to have a high regard for the meetings, realizing they are of great importance.
We need to be saved from the present evil age, from this crooked and perverted generation, and join in with the saints to build the ark, the corporate Christ!
May the Lord save us from having one foot in the meetings of the church and another in the world!
And may the Lord save us from judging others from not meeting regularly with the saints.
May we not give up on others but rather bring this to the Lord and allow Him to infuse us with His regard for the meetings of the church.
Thank You Father for predestinating us to meet together! Hallelujah, as believers in Christ come together to the meetings to know the will of God and do the will of God, and our Christian life is a meeting life! Amen, Lord, we don’t want to miss the grace You give us in the meetings and the work that You do in us through the meetings. We open to You, dear Lord, and we want to have Your regard for the meetings of the church, realizing that the meetings are of great importance. Hallelujah, in the meetings of the church we know the will of God, we do the will of God, and we will fulfill His purpose!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Ron Kangas for this week, and portions from, CWWL, 1982, vol.1, “Experiencing Christ as the Offerings for the Church Meetings,” pp. 488-491, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Will of God (2020 spring ITERO), week 8, Meeting to Know and Do the will of God.
- Hymns on this topic:
– When the Lord was resurrected, / All religious things were through; / Christ is now our living temple, / Christ is all our offerings too. / With our Lord in resurrection, / Hallelujah, we’re released! / Pity all the old religion— / All our meetings are a feast! (Hymns #1281)
– Jesus, where’er Thy people meet, / There they behold Thy mercy-seat; / Where’er they seek Thee, Thou art found, / With grace and mercy to abound. (Hymns #862)
– Do you see them in the meetings, / Lifting up their voice on high, / Every brother, sister sharing, / Christ the Lord to magnify? (Hymns #1257)
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