[Biblemat] A) GOD HAS SPOKEN

[J5827Sasser at wmconnect.com]

Brethren and Friends, Jim Sasser here.  A very good Saturday
morning to each and everyone.  May God bless you and yours.
Here is an article from my files:

GOD HAS SPOKEN

     A roadside billboard says, "Love God/Hate Church?"  It then proposes a 
solution by offering something new.  A new
and different approach to the matter.  The language is really
ambiguous.  "Church" might be used to mean a religious org-
anization.  It also might be intended to mean assemblies with
which one is dissatisfied.  If one claims to love God, but hates
the Lord's church, then he really does not love God.  If one
claims to love God but hates to worship God after His own
order, then he really does not love God.  In either case there
is utterly a fault, and the solution is not to devise a new kind
of church or a new kind of worship (Matt. 15:8,9).

     The solution to the problem is determined by the real prob-
lem itself.  If the problem is with the church one is acquainted
with, then he needs to search out a local body of saints that
is following God's pattern of worship revealed in the New Testament.  Ample 
information is provided in God's Word to
acquaint people with the Lord's church.  If anyone hates the
Lord's church, then he needs to listen to what God has said
and believe what He has said.  Then he can really love God 
and keep His commandments (Jno. 14:21,23,24).  This includ-
es the command to worship Him in spirit and truth (Jno. 4:21-
24; Rev. 22:9).  Entertainment, fun and frolic are not part of
true worship.  Reverence and true devotion to God, sober 
contemplation of God's goodness toward mankind should be
at the heart of worship, so that people can mourn their sins
and rejoice in salvation in Christ, expressing their sorrow and
joy in prayers and singing and eating the Lord's Supper,
along with joyful giving and diligent study of the Scriptures.
If these things do not appeal to one, then he needs to get a
new heart, rather than to seek a new form of worship.  God
loves the church, and those who love God will also love the
Lord's church (Eph. 3:8-11; 5:25-27).   ----- Gilbert Alexander.   </HTML>
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