Every Lord's Day, millions of Christians defy their civil authorities and gather together to worship in obedience to the King of kings. Why is it that those in repressive Communist and Islamic regimes risk all to gather together to praise God and listen to his Word?

Why do fewer and fewer people go to church in the free Western world with its rich Christian heritage? Why does there appear to be a developing trend in orthodox Reformed churches, including "our" churches, that fewer are attending the second service? What is going on?

An important part of the answer seems to be that people in anti-Christian regimes may have a greater appreciation for the awesome privilege that gathering with God's people to worship entails.

Worship is Meeting God⤒🔗

To worship is to come before God with thanksgiving and praise.

Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song ... Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care.Ps 95:2, 6-7

If this was true of the old dispensation, how much more today when God has come to his people in the Spirit on the basis of Christ's work of redemption. Small wonder that God's Word enjoins us: "Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing" (Heb 10:25). This meeting together is described in terms of worship and entering the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus (v. 19). Indeed, there is the exhortation: "Let us draw near to God!" (v. 22)

It is not by chance that when we come together for worship and have expressed our trust and dependency on God, then it is God himself who greets us in his presence through the mouth of his servant, the minister of the gospel. "Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Cor 1:3). And our worship ends by God sending us on our way with that wonderful blessing of Numbers 6. "The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace." So God puts his Name on his people and blesses them (Num 6:27)! The second service ends just as spectacularly: "May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all" (2 Cor 13:14). The entire worship service is conducted in God's presence with the proclamation of his Word as the central focus. So obvious should it be that God is the centre of everything and that he is present in our worship that if an unbeliever should walk in "he will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, 'God is really among you!'" (1 Cor 14:25)

Because of God's presence, one needs to prepare oneself to meet God who is holy. This preparation includes getting our minds ready to meet God. After all, God's holiness stands in stark contrast to our unworthiness and sin and so we can only enter into worship with a contrite heart (cf. Ps 51:17; 6:1-5). Preparing for church also includes making decisions about what to wear so that one is suitably attired both to appear before God and to be within the holy congregation. Surely nothing but our very best is to be reserved for Sunday dress! Furthermore, nothing in what we wear should detract from the focus that we or our neighbour has on the worship. Once in church, to be silent and in awe of God is most appropriate when waiting for the service to begin (cf. Hab 2:20).

What a privilege that sinful people can appear before God in holy worship! What evidence of his grace and mercy that the way is opened to the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus (Heb 10:19)! Small wonder that millions brave persecution and oppression seeking every opportunity to meet together every Lord's Day in secret, trusting God whom they worship with joy and gratitude.

But in the West, attendance for worship declines and in our own circles we hear the question more frequently: "Do we have to go to church twice a Sunday? There is no biblical mandate for that so why should we go twice?"

The Second Service←⤒🔗

To say that there is no biblical warrant for a second service is saying too much too quickly. In Old Testament times there was a pattern of morning and evening worship. This is evident from the need to bring offerings to God both at the beginning and end of the day (Num 28:1-10). A Song for the Sabbath, Psalm 92, reflects this pattern when it jubilates: "It is good to praise the Lord and make music to your name, O Most High, to proclaim your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night (vv. 1-2; my emphasis). Not surprisingly, the New Testament church also worshipped in the evening of the first day of the week (Acts 20:7).

The entire Lord's Day is to be a holy day of rest and worship. Having two services dominate the day enhances that characterization and helps make it a reality. These services as it were frame the day and set its tone. The Lord's Day is a holy day. It is sacred time in which we have the privilege of focusing especially on the Lord and his work for us in Jesus Christ.

And what a blessing such a time is! It nurtures our faith and enables us to grow stronger as Christians so that we are better equipped to resist the temptations of the world. By honouring the Lord's Day we make use of the means of grace: the preaching of the gospel and the use of the sacraments. We need those means to build up our faith so that we can be true to our God for as Christians we live in a very hostile environment. It is not for nothing that those who have been set over us call us to Sunday worship. They know it is necessary for the wellbeing of our souls (cf. Heb 13:17).

But ultimately answering objections and convincing someone on an intellectual basis that a second service is in line with Scripture is not sufficient. Would a thankful Christian not want to worship at every opportunity? Is the Sunday not the Lord's Day and should we not take every opportunity to be in his presence!? Is being satisfied with only one service when two are available not ultimately insulting to the Lord who has loved us in unfathomable ways and wants to meet with his people? Surely neglecting a second opportunity for worship is not a sign of progress but rather of underestimating the privilege and importance of communal worship. This is particularly so when one contrasts this development with the devotion of millions of God's children who risk much just to attend worship in parts of the world where civil governments prohibit or discourage it.

The Real Issue←⤒🔗

"Why do we have to go to church twice" is the wrong question and shows that the significance of the worship service is not understood. To go to church is a privilege of God's grace. He addresses us there and gives us his blessing. Would any child of God want to miss such an opportunity? Elsewhere Christians risk much for the privilege. Would we do less? If you have tasted something of God's grace and mercy in your life, would you really want to miss being in his presence with his congregation to thank, praise, and worship him?!

Furthermore, if Christ so loved the church that he gave himself up for her (Eph 5:25), would we not want to spend as much time as possible with his bride, the church, in worship and so show our love to our Saviour?

The principle of Isaiah 58 still holds. "If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath. a delight and the Lord's holy day honourable, and if you honour it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, then you will find your joy in the Lord" (vv. 13-14). The Lord's Day properly used gives us a foretaste of the eternal joy to come in God's presence. As our Catechism puts it, we may "so begin in this life the eternal sabbath" (HC, Q/A 103).