The Gospel according to Matthew chapter 18, verse
20, For where two or three are gathered
together in My name, there am I in
the midst of them.
There are people who appear to think that
they bestow a great favor upon the Church
of God when they grace it with their
presence.
And the assumption is that they bestow a
great favor upon the Almighty.
Well, how reprehensible is their conception of the
living God and of their own importance as
in His presence.
And how God-dishonoring is the frame of
mind entertained by such people when they entertain
such a conception of the mercy and the
grace of God bestowed upon us in the
institutions of His Church.
There are other people are so obsessed with
the idea of numbers that they will not
patronize the services of God's worship unless great
crowds of people congregate there.
And you can readily see what is the
standard they apply to the presence of God.
They have more respect for numbers than they
have for the presence of God.
More respect for the presence of people than
for the presence of the Savior.
And if numbers are the criterion
of our esteem of the presence of
God, then we miss entirely the purport of
our Lord where He says, where two or
three are gathered together in My name, there
am I in the midst of them.
Let us suppose that on a particular occasion
where a much larger number of people gather,
on one particular occasion only two happen to
come to the service on a particular occasion.
And when the minister came to the pulpit
and found that there were only two there,
and he said to them, well, there are
so few of us here today, we better
suspend the service.
Of course, the minister then would be doing
the gravest dishonor to the promise of Christ.
He'd be offering the gravest insult to the
Lord of Glory Himself.
But let us suppose that on one occasion
only one came.
And when he entered the pulpit, he found
that there was only one in the congregation.
Well, it might be a little embarrassing for
him, and it might be a little embarrassing
for the particular person concerned.
But if the minister on that occasion then
said, there is only yourself here, we better
suspend the service, he would be doing the
gravest insult.
For Christ's institution is where two or three
are gathered together in my name.
There am I in the midst of them.
And we must always remember that where there
are only three, there are also four.
And the fourth is the Lord of Glory.
And where there are only two, there are
always three.
And the third is the head of the
church.
Now in connection with these words, there are
three things which I want to mention.
First, the institution.
Second, the requirement.
And third, the promise which Christ offers us
in this particular text.
First then, the institution.
We know, all of us, at least all
of us who have gone to school, know
what is the difference between the plural and
the singular.
Where there are more than one, we speak
of the plural number.
And where there is only one, we speak
of the singular number.
And we all understand that distinction.
And when we want to use another term,
and we want to speak of the plural,
we speak of plurality.
And when we have only one, and we
want to...
And so we can speak of plurality in
unity.
And that is the particular institution of which
our Lord is speaking in this particular text.
The plurality of at least two in the
unity of one.
Where two or three are gathered together in
my name.
We need to appreciate the place which this
institution of plurality in unity occupies in the
constitution of the human race.
The basic institution, or at least one of
the basic institutions in the constitution of the
human race, is the family.
And where you have a family, you always
have more than one.
You have at least two, the man and
the wife.
And the institution of God is that there
is plurality and there is unity.
They, too, shall be one flesh.
And we have the same illustrated on a
very much broader scale in the political spheres.
We have a commonwealth which is comprised of
a great many individuals.
But they are united under one government, and
sometimes under one head.
And so you have, on a much broader
scale, the institution of plurality in unity.
And you have the same in the Church
of Christ.
You have a great many individuals, but nevertheless
they are comprised in one body.
And you don't have the Church of Christ
unless you have that plurality in unity.
The plurality is the great multitude of those
who are united to Christ, and the unity
is the unity of one body.
There is one body and one spirit, even
as we are called in one hope of
your calling.
Now, what is it that lies back of
this institution in accordance with which God has
constituted the whole way?
What is it that lies back of it?
It is simply the fact that God Himself
is plurality in unity.
The plurality of three in the unity of
one.
Trinity in unity.
For He is not one who became three,
and He is not three who became one,
but He is one in three, and three
in one eternally and necessarily.
And it could not be otherwise, because God
could not be any other than that which
He eternally and perfectly is.
Or perhaps some refer to that
question as God is.
And it is just as sensible to ask
the question why as it is to ask
the question why God is.
God necessarily and eternally and perfectly is.
And He is three in one.
Of course, God is unique, and there is
nothing in His whole creation that is really
comparable to Him.
Who among the sons of men or what
in the whole realm of creation can be
compared unto the Almighty Himself?
He is absolutely transcendent.
He's absolutely unique, and He's beyond all comparison.
He's not in a class.
He's absolutely unique because He alone is God,
and there is none else beside Him.
And yet it is so that God has
made man in His own image, and He
has constituted the way in accordance with that
which is uniquely and transcendentally and incomparably true
with reference.
He has constituted the way to a certain
extent after the pattern of that which He
Himself uniquely and incomparably is.
Now it is in connection with the Church
of Christ, with that institution, that that pattern
appears particularly.
It is in the Church of Christ that
you have the great, the great example of
that which God has done in the human
race after the pattern of His own unity.
The Church, of course, is an institution of
redemptive grace, and it is preeminently the institution
of redemptive grace.
And it is made up of a great
multitude, drawn from every nation and kindred and
people and tongue, but it is one body
in Christ Jesus.
And the assemblies of God's people in this
world, met in accordance with the institution of
Christ and in accordance with His commandments, are,
as it were, the way in which this
unity which exists in the body of Christ
is expressed.
And it is the way by which God's
purposes of grace and salvation are promoted and
fulfilled in the world.
That is preeminently the institution of redemptive grace
in this world.
Now it is well for us to remember
the words of Scripture in another connection.
The writer of the epistle to the Hebrews,
you remember, says, Let us consider one another
to provoke and to love and to good
work, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together
as the manner of some is, but exhorting
one another daily and so much the more
as ye see the day approaching.
He is talking of the perfect day, of
the last day, the day of judgment, nothing
else.
As ye see the day, the perfect day,
the last day, the judgment day approaching.
Now we might think that the expectation of
that last day, when all the elect of
God will be perfectly united together in one
body, would, as it were, interfere without change
for the imperfect in this world.
It might seem that our preoccupation with the
eternal would impair our interest in the temporal,
and our expectation of the final bliss, when
the whole body of Christ will be made
perfect, would interfere with the imperfection and the
limitations which attach to the assemblies of God's
people in this world.
Oh, how much imperfection there is in all
the assemblies of God's people in this world,
and that we cast our eye to the
perfect day, when there will be no longer
any imperfection attaching to the body of Christ.
It might seem that that would interfere with
our interest in the assemblies of God's people
in this world, where sometimes there are only
very few gathered, and where there is always
imperfection.
But you notice that the line of thought
suggested in this particular text, which I quoted
from the epistle to the Hebrews, is just
in the very opposite.
Forsake not the assembling of ourselves together, as
the manner of some is, but exhort one
another daily, and so much to more, as
ye see the day approaching.
You see, the thought is that it is
the expectation of the perfect day that is
the incentive tool of God in this world,
and it is just the reason for it.
And when we examine the Scripture a little
further, or when we examine the direction of
thought a little further, then we see that
it is because even the imperfect assemblies of
God's people in this world are a foretaste
of that perfect presence of the Lord that
will be enjoyed at the perfect day, at
the last day, when Christ will gather out
of all nations and kindle the whole body
of the elect, and present them thoughtless to
the Father, without spot or wrinkle or any
such thing.
It is the expectation of the permanent enjoyment
of Christ's presence that gives renewed force and
incentive to the necessity of the
unity that there is in the body of
the Lord, of that which will ultimately be
dispensed in its wholeness.
And you can see the great grace that
the Savior, the Lord of the Church, and
the head of the Church, has bestowed in
this particular institution where two or three are
gathered together in my name, there am I
in the midst of them.
Two or three.
It is sometimes impossible to gather together more
than two or three in the unity of
the Spirit and in the bond of peace.
And Christ has made provision in His marvelous
grace for the minimum, not the maximum, but
the minimum.
And there may be only two who can
gather together unto His name, because there are
only two in a particular situation or in
a particular community who can gather together in
Jesus' name, that is, in the unity of
the Spirit and in the bond of peace.
O blessed be His name!
It is not always true that we are
reduced to the minimum.
But what does now is the fact that
Christ has made provision for the very minimum
of plurality in unity, and unity in plurality.
Where two or three are gathered together in
my name, there am I in the midst
of them.
Now, second, we have the requirement where two
or three are gathered together in my name,
in my name.
And what does that mean?
Everything hinges upon that little expression, in my
name.
Now, what does it mean?
Well, it's very difficult to be able to
determine exactly what is meant in this particular
instance.
But there are certain things which are very
clearly implied.
And which of these Jesus had particularly in
mind, it's difficult to determine exactly.
But in any case, if we cover the
implications of this arise by one way or
another at the meeting.
And there are four implications, or four things
implied which I shall mention.
And the first is that we meet together
in accordance with Christ's authority and institute.
It is very profitable indeed for the people
of God to gather, because they draw water
with joy over the wells of time.
There are innumerable advantages which are true from
the observance of Christ.
We derive inestimable benefits from this communion that
the people of God have with one another
in the unity of the faith.
But that is not to be the reason
why we gather together.
And of course, it is very pleasant.
We like to meet people who are of
kindred spirit and of kindred faith.
It's a great encouragement.
And it is intended to be of assistance
to the people of God for them to
meet together, to encourage one another.
That, of course, is implied in the words
which I quoted already, exhort one another daily
and so much the more as we see
the day approaching.
But that is not the fundamental reason why
the people of God gather together.
It isn't from the prophet that they derive
from it.
It isn't from the advantages that they derive
from it that they principally gather together.
They gather together principally for this reason that
it is Christ which is commanded.
And that, after all, is the basic reason
for everything that is done in the Church
of Christ.
We gather together because Christ.
And the second thing that is implied in
this little expression in my name is that
we gather together in union with Christ.
In Christ's name is simply in himself.
The name stands for the person.
And if you say, where two or three
are gathered together in my name, it is
just synonymous with saying if two or three
are gathered together in me.
In union with me.
You remember on another occasion when it is
said that many have received him, to them
gave he authority to become sons of God,
even to them that believe on his name.
You have the same expression there as you
have here.
In his name.
Even to them that believe on his name.
Well, to believe on his name is not
to believe in an empty vocable.
It's to believe in himself.
The name stands for the person.
And so when he says here, gather together
in my name, it means the same thing
as saying, gather together in me.
In union with Christ.
And so to gather together in his name
is to gather together in him.
That is to say, in the union which
he himself has detected.
So that we are united, first of all,
to him.
And then, because we are united to him,
we are united to one another, and we
can be united in the unity of the
faith.
Oh, what grave prejudice it has done to
the church of Christ when that great principle
is neglected or overlooked.
We must, first of all, be sure that
we are united to Christ himself.
For it is from him that all nurture,
all vitality springs.
As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself,
except it abide in the vine, no more
can he, except he abide in me.
I am the vine, ye are the branches.
And just as the branches derive all their
sustenance and their vitality from the vine, so
the people of God from Christ.
Oh, let us make sure of this, that
we are united to Christ in the bonds
of love and faith and obedience.
United to him in the efficacy of his
death and in the power of his resurrection.
And then, my friends, we shall have fulfilled
the condition that Christ speaks of in this
particular.
And the third thing that is implied here
is that there must be unity of faith.
Unity of confession.
You remember the great confession that Peter made
at Caesarea Philippi.
He said, thou art the Christ, the son
of the living God, and that is the
central confession.
Unless there is that confession in our heart,
unless there is that confession in our assembly,
we're not fulfilling the condition which Christ has
laid down for his church.
Everyone that confesses that Jesus Christ is come
in the flesh is of God.
And let us make sure that we have
a unity of confession.
That is what is meant by the unity
of the faith.
The unity of confession in Jesus Christ as
the son of the living God.
And that means nothing less than that he
is God himself manifest in the flesh.
God himself on an equality with God the
Father, and nevertheless distinguished from the father as
the son of the father.
And there you have the kernel of the
Christian confession.
And the fourth thing that is implied in
this condition is that we come together to
meet.
Surely the condition is the counterpart of the
promise.
The condition is where two or three are
gathered together in my name.
And the promise is there am I in
the midst of them.
And we surely cannot get away from it.
But when Jesus says gather together in my
name with me.
And he never failed to keep that appointment
if we fulfill the condition.
You remember under the old testament there was
what was known, translated in our version as
the tabernacle.
But it can be more literally and perhaps
a little more perspicuously rendered if we say
the tent of meeting.
That's the literal ending.
The tent of meeting.
That is the tabernacle under the old testament
was the tent of meeting.
And why was it called the tent of
meeting?
It wasn't called the tent of meeting because
the people met together.
It's quite true that the people came to
the tabernacle.
But it wasn't called the tent of meeting
just because they met together there.
The meaning is that the Lord himself met
with them there.
And that was the reason why it is
the tent of meeting.
Meeting with the Lord himself.
And Christ is the grand fulfillment of the
tabernacle under the old testament.
He is the fulfillment.
Do you remember what John said?
The word was made flesh and dwelt among
us.
That is to say the word was made
flesh and tabernacle among us.
And it is in Christ Jesus preeminently that
the tabernacle of God is with man.
He is the grand fulfillment of all that
was symbolized and typified in the tent of
meeting.
And when we come together in obedience to
Christ's commandments, honoring his institution, united together first
of all with Christ, and united together in
the unity of that single confession, that there
is one body and one spirit, one Lord,
one faith, one baptism, one God and Father
of all who is above all and through
all and in all, then we can be
sure that when we come together in the
expectation of meeting with him, when we come
together in the assurance that his promise will
be fulfilled and that he will disclose to
us something of his matchless glory, then we
may be sure.
And if we ever go away disappointed, my
friends, it is not because Christ has failed
in the fulfillment of his promise, but because
we have failed in the faith and in
the hope and in the assurance of expectation.
Christ is always true because he is himself
the truth.
He failed in the fulfillment of his promise.
Now, finally, we have the promise.
Where am I in the midst of that?
And it's very simple.
It's that Christ is the essentialist of his
people, even when they are reduced to the
minimum of two bodies.
And you ask the question, well, how in
Christ?
And you ask yourself the question, how in
Christ?
Or you perhaps ask somebody else the question,
how in Christ?
And it would be no wonder indeed if
that question would baffle you, no wonder at
all.
And if you are not, if you do
have a sense of bafflement in trying to
answer that question, you don't really have appreciation
of the nature of Christ.
The apostle Paul speaks in another epistle of
the love of Christ that passes not.
And in another epistle, he speaks of the
peace of God that passes all.
And therefore it's no wonder at all that
Christ's presence with his people in this world
should be a great mystery that baffles our
understanding or baffles our comprehension.
Something incomprehensibly, comprehensibly mysterious about it, and never
forget that there is something here, notwithstanding its
reality, notwithstanding its reality in experience, is something
that surpasses understanding, that surpasses all explanation.
No wonder.
Can we, can we comprehend what Jesus meant
when he said, I in them and thou
in me, that they may be made perfect
in one, that the world may believe that
there are I in them and thou in
me, that they may be made perfect in
one.
Can we understand what Jesus means when he
says on another occasion, if a man loves
me, he will keep my word, and my
father will love him, and we will come
unto him and make our abode with him.
Can we understand it?
Can we fully understand it?
Of course not.
It's a great mystery.
It is one of the greatest mysteries of
the Christian faith.
The first great mystery of the Christian faith
is the incarnation of the Son of God.
That's the mystery of godliness, and we cannot
unravel all its truths.
But one of the greatest mysteries of our
Christian faith is the presence of Christ in
and with his nature.
It surpasses our understanding.
But remember this, that although it surpasses our
understanding, it is not something that is unintelligible.
It is not something that is a complete
blank in our understanding.
It's not all darkness.
There is light at the center.
Of course, as you, as you extend the
circumference of light, you extend the circumference of
mystery.
Yes, but remember this, that there is always
the focal point of light.
There is, there is, there is something intelligible
about the presence of Christ with his people.
There is something that, that comes within the,
the, the scope of our understanding.
It is something that comes even within the
scope of our experience.
If we are united to Christ in the
bonds of faith, and if we don't have
any experience, any understanding of the presence of
Christ with us, then it is just because
we do not know what it is to
be united.
It's a reality that is understood after all.
It's a reality that is apprehended, and it
is a reality.
What shall we say about our, our, our
understanding of this grace?
Well, you remember that when Christ ascended upon
high, he said, Lo, I am with you
always, even unto the end.
Or, Lo, I am with you all the
days, even unto the end.
Christ were not present with his people in
this world, if he were not in them,
if they were not in him, and if
he were not present with them, there would
be no such reality as the Church of
God.
There would be no experience of salvation.
There are two ways, indeed, in which he
is, first of all, present with his people
by his word.
He is present with them by his word.
On the day of the resurrection, we only
know the name of one of them.
They were on the way to Emmaus, and
they were very sad.
And Jesus drew near, and he went with
them.
And you remember, they did not know it,
because their eyes were open, and yet Jesus
was speaking to them incognito about himself, beginning
from Moses and all the top himself.
And afterwards, when they discovered that it had
been Jesus who was with them, you remember
what they said?
Did not our hearts burn within us while
he talked with us by the way, and
while he opened to us this literature?
And it's just as true, my friends, that
Christ is present in the Church of God
now.
He's present with his people in all generations
now.
When the word of God is read, when
the word of God is preached, and I
protest, my friends, if you know Christ, I
protest your experience of that fact, that oftentimes
in hearing the word of God read in
the assemblies of God's people, or hearing the
word of God preached in the assemblies of
God's people, afterwards you were able to say,
and you didn't fully realize it at the
time, did not our hearts burn within us
while he talked with us by the way,
and while he opened to us this scripture?
Christ is present with his word as really,
as truly, as efficaciously now as he was
in the flesh.
On the day of the Resurrection, your heart
will burn within your way of it.
You have been taken up so much with
the glory of the Redeemer, that at that
particular moment you were fiercely aware of the
fact that your heart was burning.
Christ is present in his word in accordance
with Christ.
I will praise you beyond all your expectations.
Then in the second place he addressed, Jesus
said to his disciples, I will praise the
Father, and he will give you another Comforter,
that he may abide in you forever, even
the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot
receive because it seeth him not, neither knoweth
him, but ye know him, because he dwelleth
with you, and shall be in you.
Yes, it is the peculiar prerogative of the
Holy Spirit to take of the things that
are Christ's and show them unto us.
That's his unique prerogative in the economy of
salvation, and where we fulfill the conditions, the
Holy Spirit is there glorifying Christ, and is
glorifying him in our apprehension, glorifying him in
our understanding, glorifying him in our respection.
The Holy Spirit it is who glorifies, and
I tell you, my friends, that if you
in reality come in accordance with Christ's institution
and fulfill the condition of his promise, the
Holy Spirit will be working silently perhaps, very
secretly indeed, but nevertheless efficaciously to glorify Christ,
and that is the presence of Christ himself.
John said, we beheld his glory, glorious of
the only begotten of the Father, full of
grace and truth, and as you get renewed
visions of the fullness of grace and truth
that are in Christ Jesus, out of his
fullness you will receive.
Let us not despise the gathering together.
Two, do not despise the day of small
things, for to despise the day of small
things is to despise the presence of the
Father, of the Son, and of the Holy
Spirit.
My friends, if you were invited to an
interview with Royalty, with Queen Elizabeth of England,
would you dare to patronize, because there would
only be two there besides yourself?
Would you refrain from going, because there would
only be two present?
Would it in any way interfere with the
great privilege and honor which God upon you
to be ushered into the presence of Royalty,
simply because of the fewness of the number?
It isn't the criterion of number, is it?
It's the presence of Her Majesty the Queen.
Of Him who is given all authority in
heaven and in earth, who is exalted far
above all gathering angels, did
not despise to speak to the Samaritan woman,
did he?
He spoke to her alone.
And do you know that eternity, that heaven
will eternally resound with the praise which emanated
from that with the woman of Samaria?
Christ did not despise to speak to Nicodemus,
and the repercussions will be eternal.
And are we to despise the presence of
Christ, because perhaps only two or three persons,
human persons, are present on that particular occasion?
Don't you see the awful insult that we
offer to the Lord of Glory when we
despise the attempt, however much they may be
despised by this present evil?
When my friend said that when Christ is
present with two or three, there is, if
I may use the figure, there is dropped
into the pond of stones and the ripples
in endless cycles.
And these ripples break from the source of
eternity.
The veracity of him who is the truth
is pledged to the fulfillment of his promise
that where two or three are gathered together
in my name, there am I.
And don't despise the presence of Christ because
it is the presence of him who is
the faithful witness, the first begotten from the
dead, the prince of the kings of the
earth, the king of kings, the lord of
lords.
And is there any glory comparable to his
glory?
Is there any tabernacle that is comparable to
that which is great?
By the majesty of the king eternal, immortal,
invisible, where there are two, there are always
three.
And the third is the Lord of Glory.
And we go a step further where there
are only two in Christ's name.
There are always five, and there are never
less than five.
And the third and the fourth and the
fifth are the Father, the Son, and the
Holy Ghost.
Jesus said, I will pray the Father, and
he shall give you another comforter, that he
may abide with you forever, even the spirit
of truth.
Jesus said, respecting himself and the Father, that
they all may be one, that thou, Father,
art in me, and I in thee, that
they also may be one in us.
I in them, and thou in me, that
they may be made perfect in one.
And as we meet in humble expectation of
Christ's person, as we wait upon his words,
as we pray for his spirit, that he
may glorify Christ in accordance with his prerogative,
then our hearts will burn within us, and
the bells will begin to ring in the
deepest recesses of our spirits, and they are
bells that are responsive in heaven.
And then we shall be able to sing,
there is a river which streams whereof makes
love the Spirit of God, the holy place
of the Tabernacles of the Most High.
God is in the midst of her, she
shall not be moved.
God is one, that
will I think of that I may dwell
in the house of the Lord all the
days of my life, to behold the beauty
of the Lord.
Why?
How shall we be for the communion of
the Lord, for the inheritance of the saints
in life, if we have defied the presence
of the King eternal, impartial?
Oh, let us plead his promise, let us
expect his glory, for the two or three
are gathered together in my name, there.
O Thou eternal and ever-blessed God, who
has given us exceeding great and precious promise,
that by these we might be partakers of
divine nature, and escape the corruption that is
in the world through love.
Do Thou captivate our hearts, O Lord, and
do Thou grant that we might be bound
in the commitment of faith, of love, of
hope, and may we come to the knowledge
of Christ Jesus our Lord.
Oh, do Thou proclaim us, O Lord, so
that we shall be the bondservants that we
may know nothing of Jesus Christ and Him
crucified.
Do Thou grant us Thy benediction, enable us
to sing Thy praise, that we part the
one with the other, and may we be
bound together in the bond of everlasting communion,
because they are the bonds that by the
redemptive love of our Lord and Savior Jesus,
for His name's sake.