The Gathering Place Where Family Matters

“God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all of them that are about Him” (Psalm 89:7).

The pastor was young and quite new at the First Avenue Baptist Church. It was quite distressing to him to hear the loud chatter, fooling, and laughter during the prelude moments of the worship service. The organist practiced several times during the week, but nobody could hear her on Sundays because of the commotion of the boisterous congregation. Sometimes it took two or three times of the pastor calling to the congregation before they even began to settle down for the worship service. He prayed a lot about this, and then came the moment on Sunday morning when the young pastor stood before the congregation and called for their attention. He lovingly said, “Church family, we are here to worship the Lord who is awesome and glorious in every way. This morning I am asking you to respect Him and to take your seats. Please open your Bibles to Psalm eighty-nine and quietly read a verse or two. As our organist is playing, ask the Lord to speak to you through the service. Tell Him how much you are looking forward to worshipping with your church family.” With that the young pastor took his seat and did the exact same thing. Guess what? There was a hush and anticipation of what it meant to worship the Lord. It was a great service that Sunday, and this is exactly how that church family gathered to worship every Sunday! There would be plenty of time for conversation and fellowship after the service. But this church family discovered the blessing of quietly preparing to worship the Lord because of how they respect Him.

For today: God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints. This is a good reminder for us today!

“Sing unto the Lord a new song, and His praise from the end of the earth” (Isaiah 42:10).

Did you know that the book of Isaiah is like a miniature Bible? It contains sixty-six chapters just as the Bible contains sixty-six books. The first thirty-nine chapters of Isaiah contain the commandments of God and His judgments upon disobedience. The second half of the book of Isaiah, those twenty-seven chapters, present the coming Messiah, our Lord Jesus Christ in His glorious work. This corresponds with the twenty-seven books of the New Testament. No wonder Isaiah commands the people to, “Sing unto the Lord a new song.” Singing to the Lord is one of the ways that we worship Him. We acknowledge His greatness, and we come before Him with a song upon our hearts. Even if we are not trained musicians, we can still sing to the Lord. Think of some of those wonderful hymns that are rich in doctrine. Think of some of the beautiful worship choruses today that are rich in magnifying our glorious Savior. Include a few moments in your regular time of prayer to simply sing to the Lord a new song.

For today: I’m never going to do special music in a church service, but I will still sing to the privately Lord today. How about you?

“Then opened He their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures, and said unto them, ‘Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day’” (Luke 24:45-46).

How awesome that moment must have been! Although the Lord Jesus forewarned his disciples that He must suffer, be killed, and rise again the third day, the disciples did not seem to understand this. Like us, they heard the truth but somehow did not grasp it. I said, “Like us,” because sometimes the instructions seem to elude us. But now the Lord Jesus opens their understanding. His suffering, death, and resurrection are clearly understood. The disciples grasped it. There is a wonderful lesson in this for us. God’s Word is like no other book. Before we read the Scriptures, it will be wise for us to ask the Lord to teach us and to open our understanding. We need the wonderful work of the Holy Spirit to teach us and to guide us into all truth. May the Lord richly bless your time in the Bible today. I hope that you are rejoicing in the risen Savior who is our blessed Lord.

For today: The Lord wants to speak to us through the Scriptures. I want to be listening. How about you?

“And He said unto them, ‘These are the words which I spoke unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the Psalms concerning me’” (Luke 24:44).

It was a blessed time at that country church. Several folks had recently asked the Lord Jesus to be their Savior. Pastor McHenry was having a special class for those new converts. During the time that he taught the class about Christ, several of the members were amazed to learn that the Lord Jesus is spoken of throughout the Scriptures. They discovered that He is pictured in the Law of Moses. He is promised throughout the Prophets. He is proclaimed in the Psalms. Ruth, one of the newest converts in the class, turned to Laurie and said, “I knew that the Lord Jesus is incredible. But I had no idea that He is to be found throughout the entire Bible. It takes on a whole new meaning. I’m going to be watching for Him whenever I read the Old Testament.” The pastor assured her, as well as the rest of the class, that they would learn much more about the Lord Jesus. In fact Pastor McHenry closed the class with this thought, “The more you read the Scriptures, the more you will get to know the Lord Jesus. The more that you know about the Lord Jesus, the more you will love Him.” The wise counsel given to the class that day is great counsel for you and me today. The more we know about our precious Savior, the greater our love and admiration will be for Him.

For today: Are you reading in the Old Testament? Be watching for the Lord Jesus in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms!

“And the angel answered and said unto the women, fear not ye: for I know that you seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here: for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay” (Matthew 28:5-6).

What a grand and glorious day! Our precious Lord Jesus became the perfect sacrifice. He fully satisfied the demands of the holy God. He was the recipient of the Father’s wrath and abandonment when He took upon Himself our sins. In horrible agony the Lord Jesus shrieked with the pain of becoming sin and being forsaken by His Father in Matthew 27:46. Now in Mathew 28, it is early Sunday morning. I could say lots about the fact that there were no men coming to the Garden tomb. However, for the sake of this little devotional, I will briefly point this out and move on to the fact that the ladies came to the Garden tomb early that Sunday morning. There were great obstacles that they had to overcome. There had been an earthquake. The city was packed with people who were there for the Jewish festival. They no doubt wondered how they would roll the stone away from the tomb. They would have to face the Roman soldiers. Yet nothing could keep them from going to that tomb. Lo and behold, when they arrived, the tomb was empty. The angels greeted them with the glorious announcement that the Lord Jesus was not here! He is alive. The Father’s stamp of approval clearly is demonstrated by the resurrection of the Son. Death could not keep Him. The grave could not hold Him. Gloriously, victoriously, and with great power the Lord Jesus rose from the dead. Every Sunday we celebrate His great resurrection. Today is a special day when believers gather throughout the world to celebrate the spectacular resurrection of our Savior. I hope it will be a grand day for you as you celebrate with your Savior.

For today: He’s alive! There are no greater words that can ever come to us. He’s alive!