REASONS WHY WE SHOULD BE CAREFUL TO ATTEND THE PUBLIC ORDINANCES OF GOD

1. Because God has commanded it, (Hebrews 10:25) “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.” The Lord calls His people to be present there, wherever it is. Thus there was the tabernacle of the congregation in the wilderness, and thither the people resorted to the public worship; afterwards it was the temple. Ordinarily the synagogues under the Old Testament were the places of public worship, the ruins of which the church complains of in Psalm 74:8. It was the practice of Christ Himself to attend these places, as we find in Luke 4:16. He sends ministers to preach, and therefore commands people to hear.

2. Because the public assemblies are for the honor of God in the world. They are that place where His honor dwells, where His people meet together to profess their subjection to His laws, to receive His orders, to seek His help, to pay Him the tribute of praise, the calves of their lips. Forasmuch as all are obliged to these things, all are obliged to be present and attend, and to cast in their mite into this treasury. Therefore the people of God look on Christ’s standard in the world as fallen, when these assemblies are gone, as Elijah did in I Kings 19:10.

3. Because these assemblies are the ordinary place where Christ makes His conquest of souls, (Romans 10:4) “How then shall they call on Him in Whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of Whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?” The gospel is Christ’s net wherein souls are caught. And it is always good to be in Christ’s way. Who knows when that good word may come that may take hold of the man’s heart, and make him Christ’s prisoner, bound with the cords of love? A great number were caught at the first sermon preached after Christ’s ascension, and cried out, “What shall we do?” (Acts 2:37). So Lydia hearing the apostle Paul, her heart was opened. (Acts 16:14). The gospel is the power of God unto salvation. Happy are they that get the deepest wounds in this field, “For the weapons of this warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds, casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringeth into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” (II Corinthians 10:4-5).

4. They are Christ’s trysting-place (meeting place) with His people, the gallaries wherein our Lord walks, (Exodus 20:24); the mountains of myrth, where He will be till the day break. Those that watch for communion with God, should seek Him there, and wait on Him where He has promised to be found. What a disadvantage had Thomas by his absence from one meeting where Christ met with the rest of the disciples!

5. The delights of Christ and His people meet there; for ordinances are the heaven on earth. Christ delights to be there with His people, (Psalm 87:2) “The Lord loveth the gates of Zion, more than all the dwellings of Jacob,” and (Luke 22:15) “With desire,” said our Lord, “I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer.” And they delight to be there with Him, and for Him. How passionately does David desire the ordinances! (Psalm 84:1-2) “How amiable are Thy tabernacles, O Lord of Hosts! My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God.” He prefers a day in God’s courts to a thousand: “I had rather,” says he, “be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.” And again, “One thing,” says he, “have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple.” (Psalm 27:4). What good news was it to him to hear of an opportunity of waiting on God there! (Psalm 122:1) “I was glad,” says he, “when they said unto me, Let us go up into the house of the Lord.”

Lastly. The necessities of all that have a mind for heaven require it. Had the ordinances not been necessary, God would never have appointed them. And sure they are not more necessary for any than for those that least see their need of them. These are the blind souls that have need to come to the market of free grace, for that eye-salve that opens the eyes of those that see not. Have not Christ’s soldiers need of them to clear their rusty armour? Do not dead souls need them to quicken them? Sleepy souls, to awaken them? They are the pools in the way to Zion, which the travellers to Zion have much need of to quench their thirst in their weary journey.

Surely the due consideration of these things may engage us all to make conscience of being all there present, as God gives opportunity.

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