The importance of gathering . . .

 

Every Sunday our pastors encourage those who attend the service live and those online to reach out to others who are not able or willing to go very far. Many of our brothers and sisters in Christ have been in isolation for a long time. They are lonely and needing fellowship. My husband and I take precautions, obey the guidelines, have been triple-vaccinated, and feel free to attend the live service. We go for groceries and run errands, but know others who are either more fearful or have other reasons for greater caution. When I call anyone, they are always glad for the contact and most of them will chat for a long time.

A day is coming when God will GATHER His people and we will be together forever. In the meantime, we have biblical promises of that happening on earth in the past and in the future. This pandemic has increased my awareness of the importance of those promises.

In the OT, several words describe people gathering. One of them is used to describe God’s gathering of people or nations and of these, most are about gathering His people Israel back to the land from which they were taken.

Deuteronomy 30:3. “Then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have mercy on you, and he will gather you again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you.”

Isaiah 54:7. “For a brief moment I deserted you, but with great compassion I will gather you.”

Jeremiah 31:8. “Behold, I will bring them from the north country and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth, among them the blind and the lame, the pregnant woman and she who is in labor, together; a great company, they shall return here.”

Isaiah 40:11 compares this process to a shepherd: “He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.”

God will also gather the nations to witness Israel’s temporary judgment because of their unfaithfulness to Him: Ezekiel 16:37 says: “Therefore, behold, I will gather all your lovers with whom you took pleasure, all those you loved and all those you hated. I will gather them against you from every side and will uncover your nakedness to them, that they may see all your nakedness.” However, these nations will be gathered and judged also, just as promised in dozens of OT prophecies and NT promises.

In the NT, gather is often used to describe harvesting or gathering crops and gathering fish in nets. Harvesting is a biblical metaphor for mission work, so gathering is used in that context too. For example: John 4:36 says, “Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together.”

As for God doing the gathering, this is implied in Acts 4:31, “And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness” and in many other passages. We come together because this is put in our hearts by the power of God and for His purposes.

GAZE INTO HIS GLORY. Fellowship with other Christians is about gathering. The Bible says we must “not neglect to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encourage one another . . . .” Facetime, Twitter, Facebook, Messenger, Skype, and the telephone all have their place, yet seeing one another face-to-face fills an empty place in our hearts that even the best technology fails to do. Also, one of the sad things about sin is that it separates people as well. In other words, our sense of ‘being with’ is missing concerning both God and other believers. It is that ‘loneliness in a crowd’ sensation, the feeling of being invisible even when gathered with others. The implication is that I need to always keep short accounts with God regarding my sins of attitude, words and deeds, and always be transparent with others, confessing my failures to them when necessary. This is an important part of that wonderful connection God builds as He gathers His people to worship together in fellowship and true communion.

 

God’s perfume

The Old Testament uses word pictures to describe how it will be when Jesus Christ comes and the Holy Spirit changes everything. One of His blessings is giving His people a love for good and a hatred for evil, resulting in great joy. It also makes God’s people smell good . . .

“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. The scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of uprightness; you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness. Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions; your robes are all fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia. From ivory palaces stringed instruments make you glad . . .” (Psalm 45:6–8)

In the New Testament, when Holy Spirit anointed God’s people His ‘fragrance’ was immediately evident in them. In the beginning, He changed their speech, their sense of His presence, and their power to bless others:

“And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.” (Acts 2:4)

“And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.” (Acts 4:31)

“But he (Stephen), full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.” (Acts 7:55)

“While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles. For they were hearing them speaking in tongues and extolling God . . .” (Acts 10:44–46)

Today, some Christians stop there and believe that the fragrance of the Holy Spirit or the evidence of His presence includes only speaking in tongues and boldly declaring the Word of God. Many will include miracles and healings as proof of Him in their lives. This is one extreme view.

Others counter this view. While those changes can happen, they can be artificial. For instance, some cults speak in tongues. This suggests that those ‘signs’ can be imitated, much like Pharaoh’s magicians copied several of the signs done by Moses. Those who suspect signs and wonders say they were that NT time only to convince people that Jesus changed lives, but these signs do not happen today. If they do, they are not genuine. This is the other extreme but what about many instances of miraculous healing, or genuine believers speaking boldly, even speaking in tongues?

For me, whatever anyone thinks about these NT ‘fragrances’ we can agree on another list of sweet smelling results of being filled with the Holy Spirit. Efforts to fake them are unsuccessful for this ‘perfume’ belongs only to the Spirit of God . . .

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.” (Galatians 5:22–26)

Fake perfumes have an undernote that gives them away. So does a false imitation of spiritual fruit. It will have an odor of pride, feistiness, and jealousy and other evidences of resistance to God and of interference to the power and anointing of His Spirit.

Lord Jesus, You cannot be imitated. I’ve known people who tried, who even fooled some. However, the real deal is never copied or faked because there is no one like You. Besides, when You are given first place in our lives, we don’t have to make an effort to smell good — it just happens!