While in the classroom today (with a little free time) I thought about why Christians meet together. There were three obvious reasons: Building up one another, provoking one another to go out and do good works, and exhorting one another daily. Doing all this will go far in keeping us on the straight and narrow road. We need to be with fellow-Christians as often as possible.

Our gatherings are for the purpose of associating together. Here is what we do NOT gather together for: To bring sinners to Christ. We do that as we go about our daily lives. Not to say we refuse to let a sinner visit our gatherings unless in so doing we must do away with the encouraging of one another.

There is a danger in allowing sinners into our gatherings. They cannot "discern spiritual things" and might choke to death spiritually. Several years ago in Tulsa, an elder's family brought their daughter-in-law to *church* to be converted. She was offended at what was said and wanted nothing to do with the *church* there after. The elder's wife in telling me about the incident blamed the preacher. I asked if she, her husband, or her son had taught her privately about the Lord. She admitted they had not. They mistakenly believed our gatherings were the place to convert sinners. BTW the preacher was soon sent packing.

Secial occasions certainly can be set aside to invite sinners to hear the gospel, but our gatherings are not for that purpose.

-- Anonymous, December 09, 1999

Answers

Grab your chairs everyone....I agree with Nelta!!!

Alexander Campbell, for one, felt that preaching on a Sunday morning gathering should always be towards "edifying and teaching the saints."

I agree!!

If we take the "equipping" view of the ministry....and of preaching....then our goal on a Sunday AM or PM should not be converting the lost....but equipping the saints....to do the work of evangelism through the week.

Seldom....seldom....seldom....do I preach an "evangelistic" message....it is most often "didactic."

And seldom...seldom....seldom....do I perform baptisms on a Sunday. People should be baptized as soon as they make a decision....regardless of the day of the week.

I agree with you on this one Nelta...(I'm sure that scares you).

-- Anonymous, December 09, 1999

Michael....

I'm sure you know enough early church history to know.....that most, if not all, of the early attenders of when the church gathered together, were Christians. During perseuction, you don't readily invite stangers to your "hideouts" where you are worshipping.

I'm sure you also know, that in our day of the "numbers drive"....many of our churches have gone "overboard" in their attempt to "bring them in" thus producing an extremely biblically illiterate congregations who are spoon fed the same pablum every week. (This by the way, was A. Campbell's point about constantly shoving an "invitational" gospel down people's throats who hear it week after week.)

Your question....can we have both is unnecessary. I believe if we preach, sound, biblical, expository sermons that teach and build up the brethren.....the unbelievers, who come freely to our services, will be attracted to that as well.

I don't see it as an either/or. But I do feel that many today have gone overboard in the "seeker" mentality....again, leaving a very comfortable, but unknowledgeable pew.

-- Anonymous, December 10, 1999

Tom,

I don't think the question ever was "Is it wrong to have unsaved people in your service?" That may be the question you are dealing with....but that wasn't the question here.

The question here had to do with our motivation for getting together....and in essence what drives our service planning.

I doubt there is a person here that feels it's wrong to have unsaved people in the congregation. Shoot.....we are glad for it.

But at least from my perspective and understanding of the Scripture.....our goal in worship is first.....worship...and second...equipping and edifying one another.

Will an unsaved person benefit from that?? There is little doubt.

Again, I simply think you made the question something it was not.

-- Anonymous, December 15, 1999

What about the very first worship service of the church? The Holy Spirit blew in and it became quite the evangelistic meeting. Paul's words in Colossians 4:2-6 seem to relate. Paul's concern in that text is for evangelism and it seems to me that it is not only applicable to the market-place but to the assembly as well. He says, be wise in the way you act toward outsiders, make the most of every opportunity. I think that an evangelistic focus for the church is very healthy. It is ours here at the Fort. Besides, you know as well as I do, that most evangelism is done today by our people via the means of inviting a friend to church with them. That is just hard cold fact. Can we live in both worlds? Can we edify the saints and still have evangelistically-driven services? Yes, and it is done in many arenas very well.

-- Anonymous, December 09, 1999

Gentlemen,

Is it wrong to have or invite Visitors into the Assembly? This is a question that is troubling our assembly at this very moment. We have one brother vehemently insisting that it is sin for a Christian to invite "a pagan" or a "heathen" [both favorite words of his] into the assembly. That being the case I went to the book for specific commands and principles. I share my findings in hope of helping answer this question AND also to recieve the benefit of your studies.

#1. In Numbers 15:13-16: Instructions given for a Stranger in the Assembly. 'All who are native-born shall do these things in this manner, in presenting an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the LORD. 14 'And if a stranger dwells with you, or whoever is among you throughout your generations, and would present an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the LORD, just as you do, so shall he do. 15 'One ordinance shall be for you of the assembly and for the stranger who dwells with you, an ordinance forever throughout your generations; as you are, so shall the stranger be before the LORD. 16 'One law and one custom shall be for you and for the stranger who dwells with you.'"  The teaching of the Law is clear: A Stranger who wants to present an offering according to the set precepts of the Tabernacle must be allowed to do so.

#2. In Joshua 8:33-35. What happened at an Assembly of Gods people. "Then all Israel, with their elders and officers and judges, stood on either side of the ark before the priests, the Levites, who bore the ark of the covenant of the LORD, the stranger as well as he who was born among them. Half of them were in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded before, that they should bless the people of Israel. 34 And afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessings and the cursings, according to all that is written in the Book of the Law. 35 There was not a word of all that Moses had commanded which Joshua did not read before all the assembly of Israel, with the women, the little ones, and the strangers who were living among them."  Here at a sacred Assembly of Gods were strangers who were allowed to stay and listen to the word of the Lord.  Might not some of them have been invited by the people of God in order to hear the word, come to faith and obey the commands?

#3. In Zechariah 8:  A time was coming where Jerusalem would be called the City of Truth. Time of Messiah; verse 8 they shall be my people, I shall be their God; verse 13, I will save you, and you shall be a blessing; verse 19, a time of joy, love of truth and peace.

 Verse 22-23. It will be a time when Gentiles will come and grasp the sleeve of a Jewish man [Christians are the Israel of God!], saying Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you. Question: Where does the New Testament LIMIT where the Gentile [that is the non-Christian] may go with the Christian?

 In the light of 2 Corinthians 6:14-15, those [and how I do dislike to use this word because of all the modern baggage] seeking the Lord were seeking to take upon themselves the yoke of the Lord.

 The practice of having strangers exposed to Gods word and some of the sacrifices appears to have been obeyed by Gods people up until the time of Christ. The NT Temple had the court of the Gentiles.

#4. In Matthew 28:19-20  "Go [participle] therefore and make disciples [imperative] of all the nations, baptizing [participle] them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 "teaching [participle] them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."  I have always taught that there were four Commands here: Go, make disciples, baptizing, and teaching. A closer inspection of this text revealed that I was wrong! There is only ONE Command [imperative] here to make disciples. That Command is accompanied by three Participles.  The first Participle is an Aorist, so the go here is really having gone, stating a completed action of the past, e.g. that the Apostles had already completed their decision to go and now having gone and continuing on that path, they were to make disciples.  The verb for make disciples does not indicate how disciples are to be made, it designates only activity that will result in disciples. It connotes only results, not methods and ways.  The only how to help comes from the two Present, Active, Participles, Baptizing and Teaching. Again, there are no restrictions placed on how to or where to baptize or teach.

#5. In 1 Corinthians 14:13-25:  In verse 16, Paul uses a very awkward phrase. He says in English, how will he who occupies the place of the uninformed say Amen If he is speaking of an accidental visitor then why did he not just say, how will the uninformed? When he says, occupying the place of, it must be admitted that the primary use of place is of a specific physical location, separated from other physical locations. Couple this with the early churchs practice of catechumens and this phrase may well be understood of those folks who were present with the church, but who were not informed enough in their faith to have obeyed the gospel yet. I believe there is evidence that these folks were catechumens, those in the process of becoming disciples.  In verse 24, Paul is clearly speaking of a non-Christian in the assembly of the church. As the Christians interact with the non- Christian in the assembly, Paul makes several points: i. he is convicted - internally ii. he is judged or examined by all - that is questioned iii. his heart is revealed  to him iv. external  he falls down on his face [demonstration of repentance], he worships and declares, God is truly among you. Surely he is now ready to be taught more BECAUSE he came into the assembly.

 If visitors just wandered in[to peoples homes, for that is where the saints often met] and the church was not in the habit of actively inviting non-believers to come and hear the word, then why does Paul give the church two separate arguments on how to behave in their presence  verse 16, so they will understand; verses 23-24, so they will not say you are out of your mind.  If a visitor comes in on their own can we honestly say to them, we are glad you are here today? If you say yes, then would you not be able to say the same thing to a visitor who was invited in to hear the gospel by a Christian who went out and shared their faith with them?

#6. In 2 Corinthians 6:14-15. Places the limits on believers interaction with non-believers. This forbids Christians from getting entangled with [certainly marrying] non-Christians. It does NOT forbid us from trying to win them to Christ, either by isolated personal Bible study or a discipling process which exposes them to word of God being taught to the church.  Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? 15 And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever?  The verb unequally yoked is a hapax logomina, it appears ONLY here in the NT. When NT writers chose unusual phrases or words it was because they were attempting to communicate a very specific truth. The command here is for a Christian not to mix seed with a non-Christian [actually, with another of a different type].  The adjective form of the above verb appears in Leviticus 19:19. 'You shall keep My statutes. You shall not let your livestock breed with another kind. You shall not sow your field with mixed seed. Nor shall a garment of mixed linen and wool come upon you. The basis of this principle is found in Eden. God said that kind would reproduce its own kind. Since in marriage two become one, what do you get when you mix a Christian with a non-Christian? A mess!  A Side note: yoke together WITH unbelievers, with is a dative associative  that is, the yoke belongs to the unbeliever! It is their yoke! The yoke of the unbeliever is unbelief and by the Christian getting into it he is professing that he really does not believe what the Lord has commanded about being separate is important.

#7. In James 2:1-7.  The situation here is that two men come into the Assembly. One is rich and another is poor. A casual reading of the English text does not immediately indicate if either man is saved or lost. However, I believe that there is evidence supporting the position that these two men were not saved in the context of James argument.  Christians looked upon the poor man with disgust. Yet the context of verse 5, has not God chosen the poor... to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, makes it clear that the poor man is a much better candidate for conversion than the rich man. Why point this out if the poor man was saved?  And yet, they were looking favorably upon the rich man. In context James says three things about rich men: 1] the oppress you  that does not sound like a brother in Christ. 2] they drag you into court  that does not sound like a brother in Christ. And 3] they BLASPHEME that noble name by which you are called  surely not a brother in Christ. James point? The rich man is much less likely than the poor man to get saved and by their actions the Christian were sabotaging the gospel.  The conclusion seems clear. I believe that James is giving the Christians instructions on how to treat non-Christians who come into your assembly. Is my understanding of this absolutely certain? No. Do most conservation brethren agree with my understanding? Yes.

#8. Post-Apostolic teachings of the early church:

And this food is called the Eucharist. And no one is allowed to partake of it but the one who believes that the things which we teach are true, and who have been washed with the washing that is for the remission of sins for regeneration, and who is living as Christ commanded. - Justin Martyr 160 AD

There can be no spiritual anointing among heretics. For it is clear that the oil cannot be sanctified nor the Eucharist celebrated at all among them. - Cyrian 250 AD

When they wish to repent, we receive the pagans into the church to hear the Word of God. However, we do not receive them to communion until they have received the seal of baptism and are made complete Christians. - Apostolic Constitutions 390 AD

During communion let the door be watched, lest any unbeliever, or one not yet initiated, should come in. - Apostolic Constitutions 390 AD

Conclusions:  From the Old Testament on, the Lord has made limited provisions for those who were hungering and thirsting after His righteousness to come among His people and learn, even in their Assemblies.  Evangelism is the sacred duty of every Christian. We are commanded to Make Disciples as we are going. We are told to make disciples by teaching, baptizing and teaching. Since Matthew 28 places no limits on how or where we are to teach or baptize neither can we.  The Assembly of the saints is primarily for Christians to learn and apply the Apostles doctrine, enjoy our mutual fellowship, partake of the Lords supper and to pray. In many instances the assembly has been deformed into Entertainment Time and the ONLY time for evangelism. Some Christians at the most only invite people to the Assembly, they never personally have the joy of studying Gods word with the lost. This is a perversion of Gods purposes for His people. And yet the non-Christian may greatly benefit from being invited to the assembly because others will certainly invite them to study the word.  In the Assembly, the non-Christian may benefit from hearing the Apostles doctrine and from praying. However, they are surely NOT in fellowship with the saints NOR can they partake of the Lords Supper.  The thrust of the Gospel is to seek and save the lost [Luke 19:10]. The disciples invited others to come and hear the words of Christ [John 1:46]. When the disciples attempted to keep folks away from Christ, from hearing His words and receiving His blessings, Jesus sternly rebuked them [Mark 10:13-16]. Jesus taught His followers to go out AND invite in those who are willing come to His wedding feast [Matthew 22:1-14]. The call of the Spirit AND of the Church is Come. The call of those who have heard the gospel is Come. And WHOEVER is thirsting is told to come [Revelation 22:17].

-- Anonymous, December 10, 1999

Opps. sorry the points on the above conclusion section ran together. Just read each little box as a separate point. Tom

-- Anonymous, December 10, 1999

Did everyone leave the room? In discussing the question of if it is improper to bring the unsaved into the Assembly, I would like anyone who believes it is wrong to do so to please tell me if they are consistant in their belief and practice: Do you bring your unsaved children into the Assembly with you?

Tom

-- Anonymous, December 14, 1999

Unsaved children are not sinners until they reach the age of accountability. Actually, they are saved until that time. They will not long after that time be *unsaved* if they are taught by godly parents. Again, we don't keep people out of our gatherings unless it keeps us from encouraging and edifying one another through interaction. We don't bring them to the gatherings for the reason of teaching them the gospel, unless we have certain events where we invite them for that purpose. At those times we are not interacting for encouragement but teaching the gospel to the lost. We will do as the early Christians did (and were taught to do) GO GO. Go about our daily lives telling the story of Jesus.

Of course, the way *church* is set up today with one man doing the preaching instead of interacting one with another his sermons many times are first principles and the invitation is offered. That also is not found in scripture (no principle, thereof.)

-- Anonymous, December 14, 1999

Danny,

Ah, sorry for muddying the waters. I guess that I was reading the original question through the present conflict we are having here.

My understanding of WHY we meet together on the Lords Day comes from Acts 2. We assemble to be instructed in the Apostles doctrine, to fellowship with the saints, to pray and to observe the Lords supper.

My understanding of HOW we meet together on the Lords Day comes from 1 Corinthians 14. As we assemble and do things together we must consider  does it edify, does it exhort, does it comfort, does it cause understanding, does it cause the unbeliever to bow down and say, God is among you, is it done decently and in order, does it help to make disciples.

Tom

-- Anonymous, December 15, 1999