“But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the Church of God, the pillar and ground of truth”  I Timothy 3:15

The first occurrence of the word (church) in the scriptures is (Matthew 16:18) where Jesus declared:

“I will build my church.”  It is the Greek word ekklesia (ek-klay-see-uh) from which we get our English word “ecclesiastical” referring to things that pertain to the church. The literal meaning is “A called out believing baptized assembly or congregation.”

The word ekklesia was not new to the disciples. This word was applied to the popular assembly of Greek citizens that helped to govern a city or district (Acts 19:32,39). Also, the Greek translation of the Old Testament used akklesia to describe the congregation of Israel when it was gathered for religious activity (Deut. 31:30).

Jesus spoke about “my church” in contrast to these other assemblies. This was to be something new and different, for in His church, Jesus Christ would unite believing baptized Jews and Gentiles and form a new temple, a new body. Jesus Christ is the builder of the church, the head of the church. Believers would meet in local congregations, or assemblies, to worship Christ, learn how to be disciples of Christ and serve Christ.

In Paul's letter to the Ephesians, he describes the church in three ways: 
We are the “Lord’s Building“
The church is the “Lord’s Body”
The church is the “Lord’s Bride.

”The devil is determined to demolish His building (Eph. 2:19-22), cause disease, dysfunction and discord in His body (Eph. 4:16-Eph. 5:30) and defile His bride (Eph. 5:25,29). He tries to accomplish this from within and from without. We must remember  that when the Church is least like the world, it does the most for the world. When the Church, trying to reach the world, became like the world, she lost her impact on the world. How tragic that we have cooperated with the enemy in breaking down our own walls! We have lost our own distinctiveness and destroyed our own defenses.

Knowing these truths, we are therefore obligated to attend the times designated and determined for the worship of Christ, the teaching and preaching of the Bible, and service! “Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised) and let us consider one another to provoke unto love and good works: not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another; and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching (Hebrews 10:23-25).

It is apparent from these verses that some wavering believers had been absent from the appointed meeting times of the church fellowship. It is interesting to note that the emphasis here is not on what a believer gets from the assembly, but rather on what he can contribute to the assembly. Faithfulness in church attendance encourages others and provokes them to love and good works.

One of the main motives for faithfulness is the soon coming of Jesus Christ. In fact, the only other place the word translated “assembling” (Hebrew 10:25) is used in the New Testament is II Thessalonians 2:1, where it’s translated “gathering” and deals with the coming of Christ.

In the midst of weekly living with all of it’s worries, weariness and wickedness: Surly we can see the need to assemble with the called out!

We need to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. Romans 12:1  We need to assemble to have the demands of discipleship described and defined for us. The business of life and the habits of the flesh can hinder our memory. When we assemble with the called out believing and baptized and worship in the truth of God’s Word, it is distinguished once again that Jesus presented to His disciples only two approaches to life:  

Deny yourself - Live for yourself
Take up your cross - Ignore the Cross
Follow Christ - Follow the World
Keep your soul - Lose your soul
Share His reward and His glory -Lose His reward and His glory

Whatever you do, don’t miss our appointment with being called out, and don’t fail to assemble with the Church!