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EDWARD D. ANDREWS (AS in Criminal Justice, BS in Religion, MA in Biblical Studies, and MDiv in Theology) is CEO and President of Christian Publishing House. He has authored over 140 books. Andrews is the Chief Translator of the Updated American Standard Version (UASV).
Hebrews 10:24-25 Updated American Standard Version (UASV) 24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the custom of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.
CORONA VIRUS (COVID 19) Answer At The End
No young Christian and no old Christian can have real success in the Christian life without the fellowship of other believers. The church is a divine institution, built by Jesus Christ Himself. It is the one institution that abides. Other institutions come and go; they do their work for their day and disappear, but the church will continue to the end. “The gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” (Matt. 16:18) The church is made up of men and women, imperfect men and women, and consequently is an imperfect institution, but none the less it is of divine origin and God loves it, and every believer should realize that he belongs to it and should openly take his place in it and bear his responsibilities regarding it.
The true church consists of all true believers, all who are united to Jesus Christ by a living faith in Himself. In its outward organization, at present, it is divided into 41,000 different denominations and local congregations, but despite these divisions, the true church does exist. It has one Lord, Jesus Christ. It has one faith, faith in Him as Saviour, Divine Lord, and only King; one baptism, the baptism in the one Spirit into the one body (Eph. 4:4, 5; 1 Cor. 12:13). As a whole, for the most part, the true church does agree biblically, and that there are few divisions among the true church congregations, as they are mostly united in the same mind and the same judgment. (1 Cor. 1:10)
But each Christian needs the fellowship of individual fellow believers. The outward expression of this fellowship is in membership in some organized body of believers. If we hold aloof from all organized churches, hoping thus to have a broader fellowship with all believers belonging to all the churches, we deceive ourselves. We will miss the helpfulness that comes from intimate union with some local congregation. I have known many well-meaning persons who have held aloof from membership in any specific organization, and I have never known a person who has done this, whose own spiritual life has not suffered by it. On the day of Pentecost the three thousand who were converted were at once baptized and were added to the church (Acts 2:41, 47), and “They continued steadfastly in the apostle’s doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread and in prayers.” Their example is the one to follow. If you have received Jesus Christ, find some company of others, as soon as possible, who have received Jesus Christ, and unite yourself with them.
In many communities, there may be no choice of churches, for there is only one. In other communities, one will be faced with the question, “With what body of believers shall I unite?” Do not waste your time looking for a perfect church. There is no perfect church. If you wait until you find a perfect church before you unite with any, you will unite with none, and thus you will belong to a church in which you are the only member and that is the most imperfect church of all. This is why we qualified the term of the true church above with words like (for the most part, and that there are few divisions, as they are mostly, …). The local churches in Paul’s day were very imperfect institutions. Let one read the epistles to the Corinthians and see how imperfect was the church in Corinth, see how much there was that was evil in it, and yet Paul never thought of advising any believer in Corinth to get out of this imperfect church. He did tell them to come out of heathenism, to come out from fellowship with infidels (2 Cor. 6:14–18), but not a word on coming out of the imperfect church in Corinth. He did tell the church in Corinth to separate from their membership certain persons whose lives were wrong (1 Cor. 5:11, 12), but he did not tell the individual members of the church in Corinth to get out of the church because these persons had not yet been separated from their fellowship.
As you cannot find a perfect church, find the best church you can that reflects the first century Christianity and is truly biblical. Unite with a church where they believe in the Bible and where they preach the Bible. Avoid the churches where words are spoken open or veiled that tend to undermine your faith in the Bible as a reliable revelation from God Himself, the all-sufficient rule of faith and practice. Unite with a church where there is a spirit of prayer, where the prayer-meetings are well kept up. Unite with a church that has a real active interest in the salvation of the lost, where young Christians are looked after and helped, where minister and people have a love for the poor and outcast, a church that regards its mission in this world to be the same as the mission of Christ, “to seek and to save the lost.” As to denominational differences, other things being equal, unite with that denomination whose ideas of doctrine and government and the ordinances are most closely akin to the Word of God. But it is better to unite with a living church but not a church based on emotionalism. We live in a day when denominational differences are becoming ever greater and greater, and oftentimes they are of great consequence, and one will often feel more at home in a church of some biblically grounded denomination than in any accessible church of his denomination that is not grounded in God’s Word. The things that divide the denominations are significant when compared with the great fundamental truths and purposes and faith of the first century Christianity and the Word of God.
If you cannot find the church that agrees with the pattern set forth above, find the church that comes nearest to it. Go into that church and by prayer and by work try to bring that church as nearly as you can to the pattern of what you think a church of Christ ought to be. But do not waste your strength in being overly critical against either church or pastor. Seek for what is good in the church and the pastor and do your best to strengthen it. Hold aloof firmly, though not conspicuously or attracting attention, from what is wrong and seek to correct it. Do not be discouraged if you cannot correct it in a day or a week or a month or a year. Patient love and prayer and effort will tell in time. However, if the church is unreceptive to correction; then, one should not remain on the Titanic church that is going down. (Matt. 7:21-23) Nevertheless, drawing off by yourself and snarling and grumbling will do no good. They will simply make you and the truths for which you stand repulsive. Thus, keep seeking, keep searching, and you will find the church or denomination that is a mirror-like image of first-century Christianity, reflecting the Word of God.
CORONA VIRUS (COVID 19) Should Churches Be Permitted or Should They Gather Together During a Pandemic and Who Chooses
Yes, Hebrews 10:24-25 commands all Christians to gather together just as simple as Matthew 28:19-20 commands all Christian to make disciples by teaching them God’s Word. There is a bit of irony in that some Christians who seldom went to church before the COVID 19 are not throwing out the, ‘we are commanded to assemble together.” In addition, it is a bit of irony that almost no Christians were ever obedient in obeying the command to go out into their community and make disciples by teaching them the Word of God and persuading the unbeliever to become a believer. Any they are not bringing this command up at this time along with the ‘do not forsake the assembling together.’ This is certainly selective complaining and selective obedience. But for now, let’s set those issues to the side. We are to be obedient to the government that has been allowed to stay in place by God for our protection.
Romans 13:1 Updated American Standard Version (UASV) 13 Let every soul be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except by God, and those that exist have been placedby God.
Does this verse mean that God has miraculously set up and established every governmental authority since the beginning of man? No, not at all. God is indirectly allowed governments to form, meaning that they serve a purpose by their presence. Many governments make some effort to make laws that protect their public. Some governments abuse their power in the extreme, like Adolf Hitler. Obama abused his power in that he willfully contributed to the United States abandoning their biblical Judeo-Christian values and shift toward the liberal progressive worldview. He also willfully weakened the United States ability to protect the world from existing threats. Governmental authorities exist because God has allowed them to exist. In some cases, some leaders use their power to protect religious freedom and promote a biblical worldview. The United States has protected the world for over a century from wicked nations and other threats, spilling much of their people’s blood and treasures. The world has largely been ungrateful. However, this peace that we have had since World War II, has allowed Christians to carry out their evangelism work in relative freedom. – Matthew 24:14; 28:19-20; Acts 1:8.
Acts 5:27-29 Updated American Standard Version (UASV) 27 And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest questioned them, 28 saying, “We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.” 29 But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.
In the event that the government tells Christians that they cannot do something that the Bible says that they are to do or tells them to do something that the Bible says that they are not to do, they are to obey God, not man. However, this is relative to the circumstances. The Jewish council was trying to stamp out the spread of Christianity, a government pausing all activities in the case of a pandemic is not necessarily trying to stamp out Christianity. Now, if the government is being selective and allowing other things; eventually, this becomes a case of taking legal actions first in the courts, and then if no recourse takes place, obeying God rather than man.
1 Timothy 2:1-2 Updated American Standard Version (UASV)
2First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, 2 for kings and all who are in high positions, [why?] that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.
Certainly, logic dictates that if we are urged to pray for a politician; then, we can act on behalf of our prayer by voting for that politician. Why do we pray and vote for politicians? We vote for politicians that have a track record of passing legislation that will protect religious freedoms while we lead a peaceful and quiet life carrying out the great commission that Jesus gave us. If we want religious freedom in a time like this, we should have considered it during the election of 2018. Now, we have another chance here in 2020. We need to pray that the politician will see the light as to when it is safe to return to worship. If they fail to do so, we will talk about other verses below. But it should be said that Trump has said he will enact an executive order for churches to reopen if the leaders fail to see the light, so to speak.
Romans 13:1 Updated American Standard Version (UASV)
13 Let every soul be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except by God, and those that exist have been placedby God.
Does this verse mean that God has miraculously set up and established every governmental authority since the beginning of man? No, not at all. God is indirectly allowed governments to form, meaning that they serve a purpose by their presence. Many governments make some effort to make laws that protect their public. Some governments abuse their power in the extreme, like Adolf Hitler. Obama abused his power in that he willfully contributed to the United States abandoning their biblical Judeo-Christian values and shift toward the liberal progressive worldview. He also willfully weakened the United States’ ability to protect the world from existing threats. Governmental authorities exist because God has allowed them to exist. In some cases, some leaders use their power to protect religious freedom and promote a biblical worldview. However, this peace that we have had since World War II, has allowed Christians to carry out their evangelism work in relative freedom. And they have enjoyed the freedom of assembling to worship God as we see fit. Matthew 24:14; 28:19-20; Acts 1:8; Hebrews 10:24-25) We are to obey the government that is reasonably asking us to stay home during a pandemic. Once the government and the people have flattened the curve and learned how to effectively deal with the pandemic, it will soon become unreasonable for Governments that are anti-Jedo-Christian to retain stay at home order for religions but permit liquor stores, marijuana stores, and abortion clinics to be open. Then, we apply another Bible verse.
Acts 5:29 Updated American Standard Version (UASV) 29 But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.
Yes, if the government is unjustifiably so trying to forbid a Christian to carry out a Bible command; then, the above applies, and the Christians obey God’s Word over the government. Patience must be shown if you have an alternative way of carrying out the Bible command. Give a little more time instead of rushing in foolishly. All of the Bible needs to be applied, which included dozens of verses that tell us not to be foolish in our dealings with others.
Rules for Service During the COVID 19 Pandemic
Keep the Sunday meeting to 60-90 minutes. Four meetings on Sunday (9:00-10:30; 11:00-12:30; 1:00-2:30); 3:00-4:30)
Assign members to each service, do not let them choose because many might show up at one particular time and that would defeat the purpose. In your notice, tell the members, if you come at another time than assigned, you will be turned away. Assign them times based on your knowledge of them. Maybe all the elderly together at a later time in the day.
Limit your prayers charismatics. No need for a 20-minute prayer, especially when Jesus said the Father is not impressed with your many words. (Matthew 6:7, 8).
