Coming Together
The idea of ‘coming together’ has been part of mankind since the beginning. In Gen. 1:28, the first recorded Words of God to man and woman were: “Be fruitful, and multiply”. When this occurred, because man is a social being, they gathered together. They did so for safety as well as for other reasons. We find in Gen. 6:1-2 that ‘sons and daughters’ were continually born as men “took them wives of all which they chose”. We read in Gen. 6:5 in the days that followed, because men failed to ‘come together’ before God “the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually”. We all know how that turned out as God destroyed the world due to their wickedness. Incidentally, all who failed to get in the ark truly “came together” in the destruction of the great flood.
Of course, we also know that not all perished, as some did indeed “come together” into the ark. We are told in Gen. 6:8 that Noah “found grace in the eyes of the LORD”. Then, we read in Gen. 6:9b why this was. Noah walked with God. This meant that Noah followed the Commands of God, including the building of the ark, as Gen. 6:22 shows. “Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.” The result of Noah and his family being obedient and “coming together” in the ark is obvious. 1Pet. 3:20b tells us of the benefit of so doing: wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.
Later, after Noah’s sons and their wives were “fruitful and multiplied”, once again man populated the earth. We see in Gen. chapter 11 that they “came together” in one place in the land of Shinar. An observation of the Lord is found in Gen. 11:6. “And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.” Because of their evil intent, God confounded the language, and they could no longer all “come together”. As we can see, when man defies God, man will also be separated from God. All who are separated from God eternally will ‘come together’ in Hell.
There have many “gatherings” of men for various purposes. Each one in its own way is a ‘coming together’. In Gen. 49:1, not long before Jacob’s death, he called his sons to him to “tell you that which shall befall you in the last days”. In the next vs, he said: “Gather yourselves together, and hear, ye sons of Jacob; and hearken unto Israel your father.” He asked them to “assemble” or ‘come together’ to tell them why the three elder sons would not receive the blessing, and in blessing Judah, prophesied of the Christ. In Gen. 49:10 we see: “The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.”
We know that Christ has come, and that He bears that sceptre. This device is that which is carried by a ruler and is a sign of sovereignty. We know also that Christ has “all authority”. In Matt. 28:18, after the Lord’s resurrection, as they had been instructed, the apostles ‘came together’ to meet Jesus on a mountain. There, He said to them: “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.” This means He has ‘all authority’ and has been given the “sceptre”. He is the ruler of the kingdom. Previously, while in Caesarea Philippi, Christ had asked the apostles whom man said He was. They answered accordingly. Then, came the question “But whom say ye that I am?”, to which Peter answered “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (Matt. 16:15-16). Additionally, after Peter made this ‘profession’, in Matt. 16:18 Jesus declared “upon this rock (this profession that Christ is the Son of God) I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” He now rules over the church.
Prior to the church being established, God used another ‘coming together’ to introduce the church for which Jesus died to the Jewish world. The event to which we refer was Pentecost, A.D. 33. The Jews were still ‘coming together’ in accordance with the O.T. Law of Moses. We are told in Acts 2:5, “And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven.” Each of these had the great opportunity to hear of the church Jesus purchased with His blood, as well as how they could obey and become part of it. Following this in Acts 2:41 we find, “Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.” Then we read in verse 44, “all that believed were together, and had all things common;”. The church had ‘come together’ and believed and followed the same thing.
Today, the Lord has Commanded that the church continue in this. We see this in 1Cor. 1:10. “Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.” This is repeated in Phil. 3:16. “Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing.” As we (Christians) “gather” for worship, we are to do so “in spirit and in truth” as Jesus stated in Jno. 4:24.
What concerns me greatly, is how some seem to think they can do this while not even ‘coming together’ as they worship (?) ‘virtually’. Virtual, by definition is “simulated”. It’s not even real worship as God Commands in His Word. We are told in Heb. 10:25 “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together”. This is the same thing as “Don’t stop ‘coming together’ for worship every time the church meets!” To fail to do this is to defy God. As we have pointed out, defying God results in being separated from God – yes, for eternity. Think about it!
Dennis Strickland – Mooresville church of Christ
