April 7, 2020
FROM YOUR PASTOR’S DESK:
WHERE & HOW WILL YOU WORSHIP NOW?
“Salute the brethren which are in Laodicean, and Nymphas, and the church which is in your house.” Col. 4:15. “And to our beloved Apphia, and Archippus our fellow-soldier, and the the church that is in thy house.” Philemon 2, KJV.
Note where the earliest of the churches were situated: “the church which is in thy house;” “the church which is in his house.” This was how the Christian church began in its pure infancy, and in the days ahead, this is how it will end in its spiritual maturity— because of the persecution crisis, not just the corona virus crisis when we finally lose our religious liberty, as prophesied and therefore will “certainly come to pass.”
I see the Master Teacher teaching in this corona virus crisis “classroom.” He is teaching those who’ve never experienced home-churching and home-schooling to learn on the fly in preparation for what is yet to come.
But for those who’ve had prior and current experiences in these activities, this is no time to revel nor to be self-confident. Remember Peter’s fall? “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall.” 1 Cor. 10:13. You only have a greater accountability to God and a greater responsibility to encourage, guide and exhort your own families, then church brethren all currently isolated in their homes to NOT fear, fret and thereby lose faith but to become “fellow-soldiers” and “be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.”
The following passage appears to have been written for a such moment like this, but certainly for the most momentous yet to come— “God has a church. It is not the great cathedral, neither is it the national establishment, neither is it the various denominations; it is the people who love God and keep His commandments. ‘Where two or three are gathered in My name, there am I in the midst of them’(Matt.18:20). Where Christ is even among the humble few, this is Christ’s church, for the presence of the High and Holy One who inhabiteth eternity [Isa.57:15,KJV] can alone, constitute a church.
“Where two or three are present and OBEY the commandments of God, Jesus there presides, let it be in the desolate place of the earth, in the wilderness, in the city enclosed in the prison walls. The glory of God has penetrated the prison walls, flooding with glorious beams of heavenly light the darkest dungeon. His saints, may suffer, but their sufferings will, like the apostles of old, spread their faith and win souls to Christ and glorify His holy name. The bitterest opposition expressed by those who hate God’s moral standard of righteousness [the Decalogue] should not and will not shake the steadfast soul who trusts fully in God. They that be doers [“not mere hearers only”] of the Word are building securely, and the tempest and storm of persecution will not shake their foundation, because their souls are rooted in the eternal Rock [Jesus Christ the Savior, not Peter, one of the 12 disciples].” E. G. White, Letter 108, Oct.26,1886.
This is how we can truly “worshipping God in spirit and truth” without skipping a beat in spite of the stay-at-home mandate help mitigate the spread of the coronavirus.
If this helps you, pass this on to those who it may also help at this time. “Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works [and words, and deeds] and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” NMF