22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels,
23 to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made
Invisible Companions
You have come to . . . an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly. —Hebrews 12:22-23
One Sunday morning while traveling in West Virginia, we visited a small church in a tiny village. Only 15 people were present, yet they radiated joy as they sang. And the pastor preached from the Bible with enthusiasm. But I couldn’t shake a feeling of sympathy for him and his people. With little chance for growth, it looked like a discouraging ministry.
But the testimony of a young seminarian showed me how wrong I was! Assigned to minister in a small village chapel, he was dismayed when only two people stayed for the communion service. As he read from the liturgy, he came to the words: “Therefore, with angels and archangels and all the company of heaven, we worship and adore Thy glorious name.” That sentence changed everything for him. In his heart he said, “God forgive me. I did not know I was in that great company.”
When we came to Christ in faith, we joined an invisible host of companions, what the writer of Hebrews says is an “innumerable company of angels,” and “the general assembly and church of the firstborn” (12:22-23). Keep this amazing reality in mind as you worship God. It will give great meaning to every service, whether thousands of fellow worshipers are present, or just two or three. By: Herbert Vander Lugt (Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. — Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved)
The little girl was happily humming a hymn as she dusted the furniture to help her mother.
“Mommie, will I be dusting God’s chair when I get to heaven, the way the hymn says?” she asked.Mother looked up with surprise,“Which hymn, honey?”“And dust around the throne,” her little girl quoted.It took a while before the mother learned that she was quoting a line from the hymn “Marching to Zion,” with the phrase, “and thus surround the throne”!
