In the book of Hebrews we are told mainly that the Lord Jesus today is in the heavens as the great High Priest, interceding for us continually. But in the same book there is another aspect of His ministry. While He is there in the heavens interceding for us, He is also here in the midst of the church singing hymns of praise to the Father. He is there, and He is here; He is there interceding for us, and He is here with us praising the Father. We should be able to say with the Apostle Paul, “It is no longer I that live, but Christ liveth in me” (Gal. 2:20, ASV). We should also be able to say, “It is no longer I that sing, but Christ singeth in me.” He and we are one. He as the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45) indwells our spirit (2 Tim. 4:22), and we are one spirit with Him (1 Cor. 6:17); so when we sing from our spirit, He sings within our spirit.
Of all the epistles in the New Testament, there are only two dealing with the matter of Christian meetings: the first, which we have already considered, is the book of 1 Corinthians; the second is the book of Hebrews. There are three passages in the book of Hebrews which we must see concerning meetings. When we collect them and put them together, we get the concept of the writer regarding Christian meetings. The first is the passage we have already referred to in chapter two, verse 12, saying that in the midst of the church the Lord Jesus sings hymns of praise. We must realize that the church here means the church meeting together—that is quite apparent. If there were no meeting of the church, how could the Lord Jesus sings hymns of praise in the midst of the church? The word “midst” indicates that the church is coming together; so this is the church meeting. This is a deeper way for us to meet together—by the Lord Jesus singing in us.
So many of us were born and brought up in Christianity. When we were there, the choir did the singing. Do you think the Lord Jesus could sing hymns of praise there? But that is still a kind of Christian meeting. The problem is that they meet in a superficial way, a formal way, a wrong way; they frustrate the Lord Jesus and hinder His singing in the meeting of the church. When I was young I knew of a kind of Christian meeting in which people rolled on the ground—they were called the holy rollers; others stood in the corner laughing—they were called the holy laughers; and some were continually jumping—they were the holy jumpers. To my realization it would be rather difficult for the Lord Jesus to sing hymns of praise there. The meetings we need, the proper meetings, are those in which the Lord Jesus is able to sing hymns of praise. This one matter will adjust us greatly. Do we have the assurance that whenever we come together, there is no frustration to Him singing in us? We must be assured that while we are singing, He is singing in our singing. This is tremendously meaningful. You may insist that such and such a way is the proper way for Christians to meet. Superficially speaking, you may be right; but let me check with you: while you are singing, is the Lord Jesus singing within your singing? If you do not have this assurance, your way of meeting is undoubtedly improper. At least it is not adequate. This passage of the Word is the strongest test to our way of meeting. If we do have the proper and adequate way to meet, we should have the certainty deep within us that when we are singing, when we are praising, the Lord Jesus is singing and praising within us. This matter must adjust and correct us.
The second passage regarding meetings in this book is in chapter ten, verse 25: “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is...” We need to have a habit of meeting; we need to build up a meeting habit. But, I would ask, if we have the habit of meeting, what do we have the habit of doing in our meetings? Do we occupy the entire time with ministry, prophecy, exhortation, teaching, etc.? Then how could the Lord Jesus sing the hymns of praise in the church? Do you see my point? Chapter ten, verse 25, indicates that when we come together we should exhort or encourage one another, and so much the more as the day of the Lord’s coming draws nigh. But we must put the passages of this one book together. If we isolate this verse in chapter ten of Hebrews, we may say that we should come together just for mutual encouragement. But if we put the passage in chapter two, verse 12, together with this, we will see that we should come together mainly to praise.