Must I attend every service?” There are two types of people who ask that question, those who honestly wonder, and those who don’t desire to give God their all. The latter make up the majority that ask this question. They are not going to spend time reading an issue like this for that will take up their valuable time and their mind is already made up; they just don’t like to go to all the services. If this is not you, we are glad you are taking the time to do some reading on this subject. We believe this entire issue will serve you well. It has been designed to answer from top to bottom questions surrounding attendance as well as other facets of our assembling. This particular article is designed to better understand Hebrews 10:25 in its context.

Hebrews 10:25 says, “not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.”

The Context

Hebrews 10:25 is one verse, in one chapter, in one book. As with any Bible study it is good for us to know the context of a passage. We want to spend time talking about the passage itself, but we first want to learn of its setting.

The book of Hebrews was written to Christians of a Jewish background. Evidently many were thinking of making a return to the Old Law or to merge parts of it into the New Law. Thus, Hebrews was written to note the superiority of Christ and His new covenant and the annulling of the first covenant. Note the following passages:
 “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things” (Heb. 1:1-2).

 “And Moses indeed was faithful in all His house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which would be spoken afterward, but Christ as a Son over His own house, whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end” (Heb. 3:5-6).

“For on the one hand there is an annulling of the former commandment because of its weakness and unprofitableness, for the law made nothing perfect; on the other hand, there is the bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God” (Heb. 7:18-19).

“But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second” (Heb. 8:6-7).

Chapter 10 continues the arguments of the writer to emphasize the new system of Christ. He is the new sacrifice for sin (10:1-10), He is the new priest (10:11-18), and He is the new and living way (10:19-39). Jesus was both the priest and the sacrifice. Therefore, the Old Law was no longer in effect for a new way has come.

This was made possible by the blood of Jesus Christ (10:19-20), a blood we must treasure for it is precious (10:29). If we turn away from this new and living way we make all things void for our salvation (10:26). Since Christ did this “for us” (10:20) the writer exhorts all to service for Him…Therefore,”Let us” (10:22, 23, 24)! Chapter 10 verses 22, 23, and 24 all begin with the phrase “Let us” which excludes no one who desires to be a part of the new and living way, not even the writer. Let us understand these verses.

Hebrews 10:22 – “Let us draw near with a true heart.” Conversion to Christ ought to lead one closer to Him every day. A true heart is always seeking to please His Lord.

Hebrews 10:23 – “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering.” When we were converted we declared our allegiance to Him and His cause. We must be diligent to maintain our word.

Hebrews 10:24 – “Let us consider one another.” We also have a commitment to each other who are in Christ. Our life has many spiritual pitfalls. Satan is quick to utilize them all to make us fall. We need each other to be encouraged to keep on keeping on and to grow. How do we do this? The simple solution is given by the Holy Spirit. Verse 25, don’t forsake your assembling.

The wisdom of the Holy Spirit is given to keep us faithful, to give us the best chance for spiritual survival. He said we need each other. When we come together as a church, that is a time when we are stirred up to love and good works. Remember this is part of the new and living way. To reject it is to reject the way. Interestingly, you can’t keep the commands of verses 22, 23, and 24 if you violate verse 25. If you violate verse 25, how are you considering others (v. 24)? If you violate verse 25, how are you holding fast your commitment you made to God (v. 23)? If you violate verse 25, how are you drawing near to God, when you miss opportunities to do so with the saints (v. 22)? Ironically, like a toppling house of cards your commitment falls to the ground.

The Verse

Now let us look more closely at verse 25. We want to answer the question about forsaking. There are some who make the argument that this only includes those that completely abandon the assembly. Is this what is taught in verse 25?

Notice first the Holy Spirit makes His argument from the negative. Do not forsake. There is great wisdom in such wording if you didn’t want Christians to miss any services. Had the Holy Spirit put positively “go to the assembly” then one could go once a week or month and would be technically “going to the assembly.” And if someone challenged him he would simply reply, “But I do go to the assembly” and he would be right. But when God says negatively, don’t forsake, he can’t make that argument. Such wording necessarily includes all assemblies that a local work would provide. Not just Sunday morning only! Let’s not be guilty of adding to the word of God. The Spirit could have said, “on the first day of the week” if He wanted but He did not. The term “assembling” refers to any coming together and a local church has a right to decide how many assemblies it wants to have. There were some New Testament churches that met more than once a week (Acts 2:46; 12:5; 14:27).

What about the term “forsaking,” does it only mean complete abandonment forever? No, this Greek word has been used sometimes to refer to actions of abandonment lasting a couple of hours or a couple of days (Matt. 27:46; Acts 2:27, 31). Our question is this, how many times does a Christian have to miss to forsake the assembly? Could forsake ever be used to speak of a one-time act? Consider the following: How many times does a man have to cheat on his wife to have forsaken her? How many times does a judge have to break the laws to have forsaken the law? How many times does a solider have to disclose classified information with the enemy to have forsaken his country? Now closer to our discussion, how many Sabbaths did a Jew have to break to have forsaken the Sabbath law? Would it be acceptable if he argued like many do today saying, “Well, I keep most of them?” What if he reasoned, I will only miss one Sabbath to do yard work? Scripture reveals one was picking up sticks one Sabbath and he was stoned to death. Question: Did he forsake the Sabbath? How many times?
Further, the passage says that it is the manner (or habit) of some. If “forsaking” is defined here as “complete abandonment,” how is that at the same time one’s habit? It looks like complete is not so complete if it is one’s habit. Think of it this way; if one misses 8 out of 10 times does he have a habit of missing? Yes. Has he left forever? No. But has he forsaken the assembling of ourselves together? Yes. When one willfully fails to assemble one time, he has abandoned the assembling on that one occasion. If he often fails to assemble, he has made a habit of forsaking the assembling.

What is hard to figure out is the “complete abandonment” theory. At what point does missing church services become forsaking? Is it at 5 assemblies, 10, or 25? Could one come once a month, 12 times a year, and satisfy God because after all he ha not completely abandoned the assemblies? Who knows, since no one would be able to tell definitively when forsaking takes place. God’s law is to convict a sinner of sin, but how can that be done if one doesn’t know when sin enters the picture regarding this? However, when this verse is preached in its simplicity it convicts those who are guilty of willful forsaking.

The Context Continued

When one decides to be a member of a local work he is agreeing to be a part of that work and to meet with that work. If he doesn’t want to meet with that work why commit to it by being a member? This passage here shows that the new and living way is designed to bring us close to God and help others do the same and this involves the assemblies. If the church has decided to have Sunday morning Bible class, and I am a member, then I will be there. If the church has decided to have Sunday evening service, and I am a member, then I will be there. If the church has decided to have Wednesday night Bible class, and I am a member, then I will be there. If the church has decided to have a Gospel Meeting, and I am a member, then I will be there. And if I CHOOSE not to be there then I am sinning.

“For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries” (Heb. 10:26-27).

There may be circumstances when you have no choice but to miss. God understands such situations and they will be further discussed in this issue. But it is ironic that verse 26 would follow the often neglected command in verse 25. It seems almost as if the Holy Spirit can see that this would be an issue that brethren will always wrestle with. The new and living way cannot be rejected. Attendance, which is part of that way, cannot be rejected. And if we do get careless with it, we are outside of the way of salvation and Jesus’ sacrifice cannot arbitrarily forgive us. The Hebrew writer emphasizes the judgment to come for forsaking the new way. When they forsook the old way in Moses’ time they were stoned. Just imagine the pain that awaits those who reject Christ and His way (10:29). We ought to fear falling into God’s hands in such a condition (10:31). And yet many today will do so because they had a great distaste for His assembly, they disdained preaching on attendance, and they rejected the will of God for themselves.