“But the man that is clean, and is not in a journey, and
forbeareth to keep the passover, even the same soul shall be cut off from among
his people: because he brought not the offering of the Lord in his appointed
season, that man shall bear his sin”—Numbers 9:13
The
first 12 verses of Numbers 9 deal with God’s instructions to Moses concerning
keeping the Passover on the 14th day of the 1st month
(vs. 1-5). Verses 6-12 present Moses with a problem in that there are
certain men who have been defiled by a dead body and thus would not be able to
observe the Passover but they do not want to be left out so they go to Moses
for a solution to the problem. Moses then seeks help from God in order to
resolve this issue. God’s answer is found in verse 12: a provision is
made for those people as well as anyone who might be on a journey to observe
the Passover on the 14th day of the 2nd month.
Now
take note of verse 13: Anyone who chooses without a legitimate reason to
not observe the Passover on the 14th day of the 1st month
would be sinning! I believe with all my heart that there is a great
principle found in this 13th verse that is most applicable to you
and I today—those who deliberately fail to assemble at the appointed times with
God’s people without a legitimate reason for so doing place themselves in a
most precarious position. I stand firm in the belief that if I fail to assemble
with God’s people to worship him when I do not have a legitimate reason for so
doing, I sin. As for myself, I apply this principle not only to Sunday morning
but Sunday night and Wednesday night as well. Many of our children are being
raised today with the attitude that one hour on Sunday morning is sufficient.
They are not seeing the kind of loyalty, commitment and faithfulness to God
that they should be seeing not only from their parents but those of us who
occupy the pews in our auditoriums. Many of our sons and daughters are seeing
the church and the Lord’s Supper being relegated to a secondary place in the
lives of those who claim to be disciples of Jesus. (Prov. 22:6, Eph. 6:4,
1 Tim. 4:12, Phil. 4:8). And we find ourselves wondering why those sons and
daughters sometimes become lukewarm, indifferent and unfaithful as it regards
God and the church. I make no apologies for this stand because I believe it is
in accord with God’s word (Heb. 10:25, Matt. 6:33, Phil. 2:12).
I
do want to focus for a moment on the Sunday morning worship because
there is an abuse of the Lord’s Supper made by some at this hour. Because we do
make available the Lord’s Supper on Sunday night, there are those who will
choose to go play golf, go fishing, go to a baseball game or a football game,
just sleep in late or do anything else that pleases them rather than be present
in the worship service where they can assemble around the Lord’s table
because after all they can come on Sunday night and engage in this observance.
With love in my heart I say to you that there is not one ounce of doubt in my
mind that this is an abuse of the Lord’s Supper and anyone who conducts
themselves in this manner will be sinning.
Mark 12:30
Charles
Hicks
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