“But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly1 of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.” – Hebrews 12:22-24 

Scripture reading: Revelation 7:9-17

What a day of rejoicing that will be! The saints of God from all times and places gathered in one multitude in the presence of God and the Lamb, lifting up their hearts and voices in loud cries that adore the God of our salvation. What a day of rejoicing that will be!

Our weekly worship is a foretaste of that and we should experience it as heaven on earth. It is a microcosm of heavenly worship. We gather with the saints in the presence of God to declare His glory. Of course, the saints are not yet the saints made perfect. Of course, our worship is still tainted by sin. Of course, our vision of God in all His Triune glory is still not as sharp as it will be. After all, we now see by faith; then, by sight. Of course, we come to corporate worship from lives that are marred by living in this sin-cursed world. What we experience each Lord’s Day is not exactly what we will experience.

However, it is the closest experience we have to what the saints will one day experience when Christ returns in all His glory. That should make us cherish the weekly assembly of the saints. That our experience now differs from what we shall experience then, should make us long for the coming again of our Saviour when He will finally usher us into the presence of God and say, “Behold, I and the children God has given me.”

Suggestions for prayer

Thank God for the joy of corporate worship. Remember in prayer the saints scattered throughout the world who will one day be gathered together with us before the throne of God. Pray that the Lord Jesus may come quickly so that we may worship God in perfection.

Reverend John van Eyk has served as Senior Pastor of Trinity Reformed Church (United Reformed) in Lethbridge, Alberta since 2017.