十。为了拥有天堂的盼望
学生有测验考试；工厂有品质管制；社会有法院、法官、警察；医学界有合格证。这些的共同点就是生命中的每一方面，每一领域，都重视“标准”。达到标准学生才升级；达到标准产品才可以上市；公民不犯法才不用害怕警察、法官。考试合格，医学院才发毕业证书和医生执照。您我希不希望没有考上执照的外科医生帮我们动手术开刀？没有飞行执照的，我们敢不敢乘坐他的飞机呢？我们要不要花钱购买不合格的汽车呢？我们敢不敢住在没有警察、法官和法院的社会呢？因为很多人不想按照“标准”过日子，没有警察和法院的社会都会乱。
我想您和我都会同意，“标准”是个好观念，好规定，好方向。我们期待别人合乎标准。我们以“真金不怕火炼”和类似的话劝别人努力，经过考试、考验，达到“标准”。问题是我们不一定把这句话应用在我们自己的生命中。我们不一定以很高的标准来要求自己。也许我们为别人预定很高的标准，但却给自己比较低的标准。
圣经的信息是，当世界末日，审判日，天上的神要以他的标准审判我们。圣经说得很清楚，“按着定命，人人都要死一次，死后还有审判。”（希伯来书9:27）。使徒保罗告诉希腊雅典的学者说，“因为他[神]已经定好了日子，要借着他所立的人，按公义审判天下，并且使他[耶稣基督]从死人中复活，给万人作一个可信的凭据”[使徒行传17:31]。耶稣基督告诉听众说，“弃绝我又不接受我的话的人，自有审判他的。我所讲的道在末日要定他的罪”（约翰福音12:48）。耶稣基督的道理就是我们做人的标准；神要以耶稣的真理衡量我们的行为。
耶稣的话就是神审判天下的标准，所以我们应该聆听，学习，遵守耶稣的话，以他的话为我们生活上的目标和标准。这样，当审判日我们才可以“…坦然无惧；…我们也不至惭愧地躲避他了”（约翰一书2:28）。
每一个星期天基督徒应该参加敬拜聚会。在聚会当中基督徒听道而进一步的明白神的真理，使得他们更加亲近神，而依靠神过圣洁的生活。我们尽量的追求神的标准。参加每周日的敬拜聚会是基督徒的责任。感谢神，敬拜神，纪念耶稣基督的十字架是基督徒的本分。如果不参加主日聚会，基督徒怎么能够“…坦然无惧”的站在神的面前接受审判呢？在审判日，他怎么好意思对主说，“我没有去敬拜您，没有吃主餐纪念耶稣的死亡和复活，我没有学习您的话。每星期天我都随己意而行，而没有花时间敬拜您，唱诗歌赞美感谢您。我没有得着每周日的敬拜可给我的属灵力量，我也没有鼓励弟兄姐妹得到这个力量。主啊，我完全忽略了希伯来书十章所说的‘我们不可放弃聚会，好像有些人的习惯一样；却要互相劝勉。你们既然知道那日子临近，就更应该这样。’（希伯来书10:25）。”是的，基督徒有责任敬拜、赞美神，学习神的话，鼓励弟兄姐妹。如果基督徒不这样做，“那日子临近”。“那日子”就是末日，审判日；所有基督徒都必接受神“标准”的审判。
我们认为学生有测验，工厂有品质管制，社会有法院、警察，医学院有考试，都是应该的。那么，宇宙的大主宰怎么不应该也按照他的标准审判天下呢？如果医学院的学生要通过考试，才可以拿到医生执照，世人为何不必要为他所作所为负责之后才进天堂呢？基督徒更加如此。
如果基督徒参与每周日的敬拜聚会而对主耶稣忠心，我们可以期待听到耶稣欢迎我们进入天堂，说：“又良善又忠心的仆人哪，你作得好！… 进来，享受你主人的快乐吧！…蒙我父赐福的，来承受创世以来为你们预备好的国吧”（马太福音25:23, 34）。
Why Christians Attend Worship Every Sunday
10: In Order to Go to Heaven
By Edward Short
Students take exams; factories have quality control personnel; society has courts, laws and policemen; the medical world has certification boards. What all of these have in common is that every facet of life and every area of endeavor involve standards. A student can go on to the next grade only if he passes the tests; a product goes to market only after the QC Department stamps it “Standard;” a citizen need not fear the police and judge if he doesn’t break any laws. A medical school grants a diploma and medical license only after the med student passes all the exams. Which one of us wants an unlicensed surgeon to operate on us?! Would we ride in an airplane piloted by someone who had no pilots’ license? Would we purchase a car that failed factory inspection? Do we want to live in a society that has no policemen, no judges and no courts? Since many people wouldn’t live according to a “standard,” a society without police and courts would mean chaos and anarchy.
I believe that both you and I will agree that “standards” are good and should be implemented. We want other people to live by standards. We encourage others to do their best, to pass exams, to clear the bar, and to meet other challenges. We quote proverbs such as “true gold fears no fire” and other such statements. The problem is that while we apply these standards to others, we don’t necessarily make ourselves live up to them.
The Bible has a message—that there will be a Day of Judgment, and that on that day God will judge each of us according to his standard—his word, the Bible. The Bible speaks plainly when it says that, “…just as it is appointed for mortals to die once, and after that the judgment…” (Hebrews 9:27 NRSV). The apostle Paul told the scholars in Athens, Greece, “because he [God] has fixed a day on which he will have the world judged in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed [Jesus Christ], and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead” (Hebrews 17:31 NRSV). Jesus Christ himself told his audience, “The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; on the last day the word that I have spoken will serve as judge” (John 12:48 NRSV). The teachings of Jesus Christ are the standard by which we’re to live; God will measure our lives according to the truths of Jesus.
The words of Jesus are the standard by which God will judge the world, so we should listen to, study and obey the words of Jesus. We should take the words of Jesus as the goals of our lives and the standards by which we live. If we do, then on the day of judgment, we “may have confidence and not be put to shame before him at his coming” (1 John 2:28).
Christians should take part in the worship assembly each Sunday. During the worship, Christians hear the truth of God preached, and they come to a better understanding of it. This in turn draws one closer to God and helps him rely on God and live a holy life. Let’s do our best to live according to God’s standard. Participation in the worship assembly each Sunday is a responsibility of Christians. How grateful to God we are that worship of God and commemoration of the cross of Jesus are duties that Christians enjoy! If we don’t attend worship on Sundays, how will we be able to “have confidence” when we stand before God’s throne and are judged? On the day of judgment, how embarrassed a Christian will be to look at God and say, “I didn’t worship you, I didn’t partake of the Lord’s supper in memory of Jesus’ death and resurrection, and I didn’t study your word. I did whatever I wanted to on Sundays, and didn’t take time to worship and sing hymns of praise to you. I didn’t receive the spiritual strength that I would have, if I had attended worship each Sunday, and I didn’t encourage my Christian brothers and sisters to receive such spiritual strength either. Lord, I paid no attention whatsoever to what Hebrews chapter ten said, ‘not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching’” (Hebrews 10:25). Yes, Christians have the responsibility to worship and praise God, to study God’s word, and to edify other Christians. A Christian may fail to do these things, but “the Day is approaching.” That “Day” is the end of the world, the day of judgment. On that day every Christian will be judged by God’s “standard.”
We believe that it’s fine and well for students to take tests, for factories to have quality control, and for there to be police and courts in society. We agree that medical schools should evaluate students. Why then should the God of the universe not judge the world according to the standards that he has set? If medical students must pass examinations before they’re given a medical license, why shouldn’t all people take responsibility for all their actions before they can enter heaven? This is even truer for Christians.
If Christians participate in worship services each Sunday and if they’re faithful to the Lord, then we’ll be able to look forward to hearing the Lord welcome us into heaven, and say, “Well done, good and trustworthy slave; …enter into the joy of your master. …Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matthew 25:23, 24).