Where In The Bible Will I Find:

Attending All The Services Of The Church

God made man a free born agent, that is, he created man, not a robot. Man is free to decide, to choose right or wrong, to obey, follow Christ and be saved, or to reject Him and be eternally lost. Christ said, "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them" (Matt. 18:20).

Every time we assemble for worship, whether it be on the Lord's day, mid-week Bible study, or at any other time designated by the elders, Christ is also present. When we make every effort possible and are present at every service of the church we are saying, "I am to be here because I am in the presence of the Lord."

When we absent ourselves from ANY service, except it be for some uncontrollable reason (and don't call it providential, because providence is from God, and God is not going to keep any one from attending any service of His church for any reason), or something that we have absolutely no control over, death, sickness, weather, or such, then you are saying, "Rather than being in the assembly where Christ is present, I had rather be with the devil watching TV, on the river bank fishing or at some ball game."

O! Sure we will not admit that, but that is exactly what it amounts to. Look at the attendance record for the Lord's Day morning worship service. Whatever the attendance record is for this service you will notice that about half that number will be present for the evening service. Why? Is this a good parallel reference to our Lord's teaching in Matthew twenty-five verses one through thirteen?

Turn to these verses and read them. What percentage of the people is the Lord saying that will remain faithful to Him? Which of these is He saying will be on His right hand, and which will be on His left hand, and what will He say to each group? Read the answer in Matthew 25:33-46.

My dear friends, we do not attend ANY church service because we HAVE to. If we love the Lord as we should, we will WANT to be present at EVERY service. Our attendance pattern shows the depth of our love for the Lord. Do we ever stop and think just how much God loves us, that He gave His only Begotten Son to die on the cross for us, that Christ was willing to die, that He did give His life for us, because He loved us so much?

Are we saying to God, “O! Yes, I know you gave your most precious possession for me, but I do give you one hour of my precious time each week, is that not enough? I'm tired on Sunday and Wednesday evenings, and besides, I have other things I like to do." Will this attitude put us on the right hand or on the left hand of the Lord? We MUST put the Lord FIRST in our life. "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you" (Matt. 6:33). If we put the Lord first in our life, He has promised, “…I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee" (Heb. 13:5).