The Lord with Two or Three
(No. 1761)
A SERMON DELIVERED ON THURSDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 4, 1883,
BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
"Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the
midst of them." Matthew 18:20.
WE have, in the verses preceding, the text a mention of the first
Church Meeting of which I remember to have found mention in the New
Testament. The Savior declares of His assembled people, "Verily I say
unto you, whatever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven:
and whatever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in Heaven." A few
Believers, gathered out of the world, have met in the name of the Lord
Jesus to attend to the affairs of His household here below. It is a
case of discipline. A Brother has trespassed against another Brother.
The offended one has sought him out privately and by personal
expostulation has endeavored to bring him to a better mind, but he has
failed. He has then taken with him two or three Brethren of the Church
and they have together pleaded with the offender that he would do that
which is right, but he is obstinate–even in the presence of two or
three witnesses he persists in his trespass and refuses to be won over
by kindly entreaty.
It only remains that they shall tell it to the Church. The Church is
grieved. It hears the case patiently and waits upon God in prayer. It
asks guidance and, at last, finding that there is no help for him,
removes the member of the body who is not in true sympathy with the
rest and is acting as if he had not the life of God in him. This being
done, according to Christ's rule–justly, impartially, lovingly, with
prayer–that which is done by a few men and women assembled here below,
is registered in the court above. What they have bound on earth is
bound in Heaven. What they have loosed on earth is also loosed in
Heaven. It is a happy privilege when they can loose the bound one! When
repentance is expressed, when the backslider is restored, when the
Church has reason to believe that the work of the Spirit is truly in
the heart of the offender, then the bond is loosed on earth and it is
also loosed in Heaven. The meetings of God's servants for the necessary
discipline of the Church are not trifling meetings, but there is a
Divine Power in them, since what they do is done in the name of Jesus
Christ their Lord. Oh, that Church Meetings were more generally looked
at in this solemn light!
Next, we are introduced to the Prayer Meeting. In the 19th verse we
read, "Again I say unto you, that if two of you," two of you, "shall
agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be
done for them of My Father which is in Heaven." It is a very little
meeting. It could not be smaller to be a meeting at all. There are only
two there, but they are two praying Believers. They are two of the
Lord's own servants, whose great concern is His kingdom! They are two
earnest persons who very greatly desire the prosperity of the Church.
They are two of kindred spirit, agreeing in love to God and the Truth.
And they have talked over the matter, considered it–and they feel
moved by the Spirit of God to unite their supplications about one
important subject.
Will they meet together and pray in vain? As they are only two, will
not the meeting fail to count with God? Assuredly not! The Lord Jesus
Christ has left them this gracious promise, that if they shall agree on
earth touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them
of His Father which is in Heaven! They are only two, but this suffices
to secure them the promised healing. Perhaps the exact petition which
they offer may not apparently be answered. Remember that God often
hears the prayer of our prayers and answers that rather than our
prayers themselves–by which I mean, that there is an inner soul within
true prayer which is the quickening life of true supplication. The body
of prayer may die, but the soul of prayer lives and abides forever.
If I am asked what my inmost heart prays for, I should reply the heart
of my prayer is–"The will of the Lord be done." Is not this the
essence, quintessence and extract of the prayer by which our Savior
taught us how to pray? He bade us say, "Your will be done in earth as
it is in Heaven." Is not this the finale of His own prayers, the
entreaty of His passion, His deepest and yet His highest pleading?
"Nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will." Now we want the will of
the Lord to be done–we do not desire it to remain as a secret decree,
but actually to be fulfilled–and it is ours, as it were, with the
finger of prayer, to turn the folded leaves, one by one, and exhibit
them to the light of fact so that the purpose of God may become an
accomplished thing in answer to the prayer of His people.
Do we mean anything more than this by our prayers? I think that when
well instructed, this is neither more nor less than what we intend. And
if it is really so and we come together, delighting ourselves in the
Lord, He will most certainly give us the desire of our hearts. When we
come together with our wills sanctified into the likeness of the Divine
will, then our prayers succeed till they become no presumption even if
we dare to say with Luther in one of his bold prayers, "Oh, my Lord,
let my will be done this time!" He ventured to speak thus because he
felt sure that his will must be in accordance with the Divine will.
Only there do you stand on solid ground! Only there may you plead
without any reserve for special blessings.
The Prayer Meeting is not a farce, waste of time, or mere pious
amusement. Some in these times think so, but such shall be lightly
esteemed. Surely they know not the Omnipotence that lies in the pleas
of God's people! The Lord has taken the keys of His royal treasury and
put them into the hands of faith. He has taken His sword from the
scabbard and given it into the hands of the man mighty in prayer. He
seems at times to have placed His sovereign scepter in the hands of
prayer. "Ask Me concerning things to come: concerning My sons, command
Me." He permits us to speak with such boldness and daring that we
overcome Heaven by prayer and dare to say to the Covenant Angel, "I
will not let You go unless You bless me." If one Jacob can prevail over
a wrestling Angel, what can two do? What a victory would come to two
who joined in the same wrestling! "One of you shall chase a thousand,
and two put ten thousand to flight."
There is an accumulated power in united supplication–two do not only
double the force, but multiply it tenfold! How soon the gate of mercy
opens when two are knocking! God grant to each one of us a praying
partner! When John pulls the oar of prayer, let James join him in the
hearty tug. Better still, may we always believe in our Father's
Presence at our Prayer Meetings, so that we may find the words of Jesus
true when He says, "It shall be done for them of My Father which is in
Heaven."
Now, thirdly, we come to a promise which includes every meeting of any
sort or kind which is for Christ's Glory. So long as it is a sacred
meeting of saintly men and women for the purposes of devotion or
service–for the purposes of prayer or praise, or whatever else may be
most suitable for the occasion, here is the promise for them–"For
where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the
midst of them." This sanctions the Church Meeting; this prospers the
Prayer Meeting! Overshadowing every gracious assembly of the chosen we
see the great Shepherd of the sheep, who here expressly says, "Where
two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst
of them."
Now, first, we shall mention with regard to these meetings, matters not
essential. Then, secondly, we shall carefully mention a matter most
essential. And, thirdly, we shall dwell upon an assurance most
encouraging.
I. First, let us speak of MATTERS NOT ESSENTIAL. At the outset, we know
that numbers are not essential, for "where two or three are gathered
together in My name, there am I." It is very important in a large
Church that there should be large gatherings for prayer, for it would
be an evidence of a slighting of the ordinance of united supplication
if a fair proportion of the members did not come together for that holy
and blessed exercise. But still, where that cannot be–where the
Church, itself, is small–where, for different reasons which we need
not here recapitulate, it is not possible for many to gather
together–it is a very encouraging circumstance that numbers are not
essential to success in prayer. "Where two or three are gathered
together."
The number is mentioned, I suppose, because that is about the smallest
number that could make a congregation. We can hardly call it a
congregation where the minister has to say, "Dearly Beloved Roger, the
Scripture moves us in different places," as we have heard was once done
by a clergyman–truly it was an assembly of two and so was within the
number–and, under the circumstances, might find the Lord present. But
two out of a large Church would have been a wretched sign of decline.
If two were all that met out of a great Church, it would be a sadly
little company and the blessing might be withheld. Two or three are
mentioned, not to encourage absence, but to cheer the faithful few who
do not forget the assembling of themselves together, as the manner of
some is.
Still, the number has this advantage, that it is the readiest
congregation to be gathered. It is not difficult to make up two or
three. A husband and wife–there are two. A husband and wife and a
child–there are three. Or there may be two
unmarried sisters, or a widow and child–two can be easily made up.
Where there are no children, there may be a husband and a wife and a
servant–and these are three. Where there is no wife, perhaps there are
two brothers, or a brother and a sister, or perhaps three sisters. And
where there is no relation, but a man lives alone, it is not
impossible, surely, in the most deserted region for him to find one
other or two others with whom he can meet. It is a very handy
congregation because it can meet in a bedroom. It can meet in a
kitchen. It can meet in a closet–it can meet anywhere because it is so
small.
It is also easily hidden away. In persecuting times, two or three could
get together in a corner, a cave, a cellar, or an attic. For that
matter, two or three may be in prison together, and they can pray in
one narrow cell or they can do what Latimer and Ridley did when they
stood back to back at the stake and lifted up their hearts as one man.
That was brave praying, when the two bishops stood to burn with
devotion as well as to burn with fire for Christ's sake! I am sure that
Jesus was in the midst of them when they met upon the firewood. Two
people may meet in the street or in the field. They can get together in
the corner of an omnibus or a train and unite their supplications. Two
or three make a congregation which is among the small things, but who
shall dare despise what God has blessed? I commend to you the frequent
practice of praying by twos and threes.
There was a minister who had a little society which he called the
"Aaron and Hur Society." It consisted of two–one to hold up his right
hand and one to hold up his left, while, like Moses, he was on the
mountain pleading for Israel. We need this institution multiplied to
any extent. We need the twos and threes as well as the one separately
praying–and then a blessing will come. But numbers are not important
at all. We need say no more about them except this–I like to note that
the text puts it, "two or three," for, as one remarks, that is much
better than, "three or two." For if "three or two" are gathered
together, they are getting smaller! But if it is "two or three," they
are evidently upon the increase. If they have only increased from two
to three, they have advanced fifty per cent and that is something!
If this congregation were to do that, where should we all be able to
meet on the Sabbath? On week nights I would encourage you to try to
increase till we fill the upper gallery as well as the rest of the
building. "Two or three." It is a growing congregation–but still,
numbers are not essential to good speed in prayer. Next, the rank of
the people is not important. Does it say, "Where two or three ministers
are gathered together in My name"? By no means, no! Ministers may
expect the Lord to be in the midst of them, but they have no special
promise as ministers–they must come before the Lord as plain
Believers. The "two or three" may be unable to utter a word by way of
teaching the great congregation, but this is not mentioned in the
promise.
Does it say, "Where two or three instructed Christians, advanced in
experience, are met together"? No! There is no such limit expressed or
implied. In the matter of prayer, no special need is set apart for
those who are eminent in Grace. We do not read, "Where two or three
full-grown Believers are met." Much less does it say, "Where two or
three rich people are met together." No distinction is made! If they
are the people of God and if they are the little ones whom the Lord has
been describing–humble and lowly in spirit–where two or three of such
are met together in the Redeemer's name, "There," says Jesus, "am I in
the midst of them." It may be that a poor man and his wife are praying
together before retiring for the night. The Lord is there. A couple of
servants unite their supplications in the kitchen. The Lord is there.
Two or three little boys have come out of school and they love the
Lord–and so they have met in a corner to pray. The Lord is there. Do
you remember how Luther was encouraged while he and Melancthon, too,
were down in the dumps about the Lord's work? They were dreadfully
downcast, but as Luther passed by a room, he heard the voices of
children and he stopped. Some women, the wives of good men, had
gathered with a few holy children and they were praying the Lord to let
the Gospel spread in the teeth of the Pope and all his friends from
below! Luther went back and said, "It is all right. The children are
praying to God. The Lord will hear them. Out of the mouths of babes and
sucklings has He ordained strength."
So you see in the promise of the Divine Presence there is nothing said
about numbers and nothing about rank. Neither is a word said as to
place, except that it says, "Where two or three." "Where" means
anywhere! In any place where two or three are met together in Christ's
name there He is! Not only in the cathedral, but in the barn. Not only
in the Tabernacle, but in the field. "Where" means everywhere! In the
loneliest place, in the far-away forest, in an upper room, or on board
ship, or in an hospital–
"Jesus, wherever Your people meet,
There they behold Your Mercy Seat.
Wherever they seek You, You are found,
And everyplace is hallowed ground.
For You within no walls confined,
Inhabit the humble mind.
Such always find You where they come,
And going, take You to their home." Christ will be with you anywhere
when you are with Him in prayer!
Have you ever read how the Covenanters, when the times of peace came on
and they could worship in Church buildings, yet, nevertheless, often
looked back with sadness to the glorious days they had in the mosses
and on the bleak hillsides when they were hunted by Claverhouse's
dragoons and the Lord covered them with the skirts of His garments? See
the preacher reading his text by the lightning flash and hear his voice
sounding, afterwards, amid the thick darkness! The saints who had
gathered together to hear the Word of God had an overpowering sense of
His Presence which nothing could excel! We may meet for prayer anywhere
and expect Jesus to be in the midst of us! The place is not essential
even in the least degree.
When I see people running out every morning to church, it savors of a
superstition which ought to have died out long ago. When you look into
the church, you will find no great number assembled–generally the
rector and one or two of the family make up the company. But if the
whole parish came trooping out to church, I would say that they had
better stay at home and pray with their families! Family prayer is a
better institution than the tinkling of a bell every morning and the
collecting of people in a church! Have a bell of your own and be your
own priest! Open your Bible and pray with your children–that will be a
more acceptable sacrifice than if you plod, in your superstition,
half-a-mile to a so-called "sacred" place to enjoy the voice of a
supposed priestly man! Dedicate your parlor; consecrate your sitting
room; make your kitchen into a Church for God–for there is no
sacredness in bricks, mortar, stone and stained glass!
The outside of a Church is as holy as the inside. Far ought such an age
as this to be from the revolting superstition which makes the houses of
the godly to be common and unclean in order to magnify the parish
church! May we get back to the simplicity of Christ! "Neither in this
mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem shall men worship the Father." The time
is coming, yes and now is, when in every place God seeks spiritual
worshippers who worship Him in spirit and in truth. And will you please
notice this–that as numbers and rank and place are all non-essentials,
so also is the time! There may be–there ought to be to us from holy
habit–an hour of prayer. But though that hour is especially and
rightly the hour of prayer–for he that has no appointed time for
prayer may probably forget to pray–yet still that pious custom must
never degenerate into superstition as though Heaven's gate were opened
at a certain quarter of an hour and shut during all the rest of the
day! Meet whenever you please!
No time will be unseasonable. All hours are good–from 12 o'clock at
night to 12 o'clock the next night–and so onward. The hour of prayer
is the hour of need, the hour of opportunity, the hour of desire, the
hour when you can come together. Let every hour, according as occasion
permits you, become the hour of prayer! I have heard it said,
sometimes, in the country, "Well, we cannot get our people together for
a Prayer Meeting because they are busy at the harvest." If the preacher
were to get up at four o'clock in the morning and hold a meeting for
prayer out in the field, itself, while yet the dew is on the
grass–would it not be a wonderful thing for him and for his flock?
Suppose the people cannot come to pray at six o'clock in the evening,
make it seven, make it eight, make it nine, make it ten!
Perhaps the young folks had better be in bed at so late an hour and
there may, thus, be legitimate objections to some hours for public
gatherings, but yet, twos and threes may sit up as late as they like to
pray and no policeman will come round and tell them to go to bed! Our
rulers do not ring the curfew! The Lord our God does neither slumber
nor sleep– He is always waiting to be gracious. And, once more, there
is nothing said, here, about the form which the meeting is to take.
"Where two or three are met together in My name, there am I in the
midst of them." "They are going to break bread together." Very well,
they are quite at liberty to do so. And if they have met in the Lord's
name, He will be in the midst of them.
"But they are going to hear a sermon." All right, so they may.
Preaching is an ordinance of God and He will be in the midst of them.
"But they are neither going to hold the communion, nor to hear a
sermon–they are going to pray." Quite right! The Lord will be in their
midst. "But they are not going to pray, that is to say, vocally. They
are going to
read Scripture and sit and think on it." Quite right! The Lord will be
in the midst of them. "But they are not even going to read, or sing, or
pray vocally–they are going to sit still." The Lord will be in the
midst of them if they meet in the name of Jesus. "Where two or three
are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them."
Do not be the dupes of those who say, "This one particular form of
service is the only one." Christ has not put it so! And we will not be
brought into any bondage by those who call themselves, "Brethren," and
are the most unbrotherly brothers that ever lived! They tell us that we
are all wrong–we cannot expect to have the Lord with us. To answer
these is not difficult. "Dear brothers, we are not at all grieved by
your talking as you do, for we know you are wrong, since we have the
Lord with us. It does not matter at all to us what you say so long as
we enjoy His company and see the prosperity which He gives to us. So
long as we do not quarrel with one another once every few years, we are
not anxious to follow you in your methods which are illustrated by your
bitter feuds.
"As long as we do not split up into the most miserable sections of
sectarians that ever disgraced the name of Christ, we shall not be
greatly wounded by any remarks which you have to make. Condemn and
welcome, for your condemnations are mere wind! May your abjurations be
blessed to us and may they ease your minds, also, by relieving your
minds of a little of your bitterness! We believe that any form which
true worship takes is a form which the Lord Jesus Christ not only
tolerates but sanctions if His Spirit is there. But if you meet without
that Spirit of God, even though you should think yourselves Infallibly
correct in the form which your meeting assumes, that form will be of
very little use to you. I bless God for the grand liberty of worship
which is given here! I bless God that He has not laid down this
regulation and that, but has left His people to His own free Spirit."
"Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." "Where two or
three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of
them." So much on non-essentials.
II. But now, secondly, there is A MATTER WHICH IS MOST ESSENTIAL and
that is, that they should be gathered in Christ's name. Does not this
mean that the gathering must be that of Christians met together as
Christians to have fellowship with Jesus Christ and so with one
another? Does it not mean that they must be met together in obedience
to His will, as they understand it, to carry out His will as they find
it in the New Testament and as the Spirit of God opens up that New
Testament to them? Does it not mean, also, that they must be met
together distinctly for the Lord's pur-poses?–to honor Christ, to
bring glory to His name, to worship Him?
They must be met together not to a kind of mystic, invisible, unknown
Christ, but in His name, for Christ has a name–a distinct Personality,
a Character–and that must be known, loved and honored, or else we have
not met in His name. Are we not to meet because He bids us meet and
because we have His authority for meeting, His authority for breaking
bread, His authority for Baptism, His authority for prayer, His
authority for praise, His authority for the ministry of the Word, His
authority for reading the Scriptures, His authority for mutual
edification, or whatever form of worship seems most suitable? We meet
not to carry out our own devices, but to carry out that which is
appointed us by our Lord Himself.
And does not this gathering into His name mean that we are, first, to
be known by His name, and then to get close to one another by drawing
more and more near to Him? The way to be gathered together is to be
gathered by Him and to Him. If all press to the center, they all press
to one another. If each man's aim is personal fellowship with Christ,
personal knowledge of Christ, personal trust in Christ, personal
adoration of Christ, personal service to Christ and the getting of a
personal likeness to Christ, then we are all coming together. While our
fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ, we also
have fellowship with all the saints. This should be the great objective
of all our gatherings, to be brought more fully into Christ–and all of
us must, meanwhile, believe that Jesus is in the midst and we must come
together unto Him.
You do not meet, tonight, to listen to a certain preacher, but because
through that preacher you have been helped to get nearer to the Lord
Jesus Christ and, therefore, you are glad to hear his voice and glad to
worship God with those friends with whom you have fellowship in Christ.
You do well to come where you have found Christ before–and you do well
to stay away from any gathering where you have not found Christ. Some,
as they go out of the place where they usually worship, are sadly
compelled to cry, "They have taken away my Lord and I know not where
they have laid Him." Do not go where Jesus is not present! And if you
are distinctly obliged to say, "I have heard sermon after sermon almost
without mention of His name. I have gone for months together and I have
not had a sweet thought of heavenly fellowship arising out of the
service"–then do not go there again.
Do not go to any Church or Meeting House merely because you have been
in the habit of going. If your father used to live in Islington, but
has now moved, you do not think it necessary to go and call at his
empty house, do you? Go where the Lord has met with you and where you
may expect that He will meet with you again! Sabbaths are too precious
to be thrown away by sitting still to be starved. Even a cow does not
care to be tied up in an empty stall! And a horse does not run to an
empty manger. Seek the Lord Jesus and do not rest till you find Him. We
must gather into His name and get closer and closer to Him, or else the
Lord's Day will run to waste–and barrenness will devour our souls.
III. Now, as usual, I have taken up too much time with the first two
heads, for the last is the most important and that is, AN ASSURANCE
MOST ENCOURAGING–"Where two or three are gathered together in My name,
there am I in the midst of them." First then, very briefly, how is the
Lord Jesus there? Notice the exact words. Catch the gracious sense. He
does not say, "I will be there." He says, "I am there." He is the first
at the gathering! "Where two or three are gathered together in My name,
there am I." Not, "I will be," though that is true, but He puts it in a
more Divine fashion– "There am I." Jesus is there already before
another arrives! He is the first in the congregation, the first in the
assembly and they come gathering to Him! He is the Center and they come
to Him. "There am I."
How is He there? As we, His people, meet, He is there because He is in
every one of us. It is a blessed thing to see Christ in His people. Did
you ever try to do that? I know some who try to see the old man in
Christ's people. It does not take them long to see the body of sin and
death–and it is not a refreshing sight when they see it. But oh, to
see Christ in His people–what a charming sight it is! And I think,
with regard to every child of God that I know, that I can see a little
more of Christ in him than I can see in myself. I cultivate the
practice of endeavoring to see my Lord in all His people, for He is
there and it is irreverent not to honor Him.
He is with them and is in them–why should we doubt it? That is
something worth remembering. If so many temples of the Holy Spirit come
together, why, surely, the Holy Spirit, Himself, is there–and the
place where they stand is holy ground! Jesus is in their thoughts, in
their objectives, in their desires–yes, and in their groans, in their
sorrows, in their spirits, in their inmost souls. Where two or three
are gathered together in His name, there is He in the midst of them!
And, next, He is with us in His Word. When the Book is opened, it is
not mere words, it is the living and "incorruptible seed which lives
and abides forever." And Christ is in it as the Immortal Life, the
secret life-germ in every seed that we sow! Christ is the Way if we
teach men the road to Heaven. Christ is the Truth if we preach the
doctrines of Grace. Christ is the Life if we enjoy and feed upon His
precious name. Where His Word is preached, there He is, for it shall
not return to Him void, but it shall prosper in the thing whereto He
has sent it. Christ is in His ordinances. He has not dissociated
Himself from Baptism which is the blessed symbol in which His death,
burial and Resurrection are clearly set forth.
He has not separated Himself from that other ordinance in which we
behold His passion and see the way in which we become partakers of it,
by feeding upon His body and His blood. He has promised to be with us
even to the end of the world in the keeping of those Divine memorials
of His Incarnation and Atonement, His life and His death. And then the
Lord Jesus Christ is with the assembly by His Spirit. The Spirit is His
Representative, whom He has sent as the Comforter to live with us
forever. You must have felt Him, sometimes, convincing you of sin,
humbling you and bowing you down–then cheering you, comforting you,
enlightening you, guiding you, relieving you, sustaining you,
sanctifying you! Oh, what light He brings! What life He brings! What
love He brings! What joy He brings!
When the Spirit of God is in the midst of God's people, what merry days
they have! What days of Heaven upon earth! Does not this fact that
Christ is among His people show us that He must be Divine? How can He
be everywhere in all the assemblies of His people unless He is the
Omnipresent God? There may be professing Christians who feel a kind of
fellowship with Socinians, but I have none. I will not call them
Unitarians, for I am as truly a Unitarian, myself, as any of them can
be! I no more believe in three gods than I believe in 30 gods! There is
but one God to me and, therefore, I am in that sense a Unitarian–and
Socinians have no right to the name merely because they deny the
Godhead of our Lord Jesus. We believe Father, Son and Holy Spirit to be
one God! But Jesus Christ is God and whoever casts that Truth of God
away, casts away eternal life! How can he enter into Heaven if he does
not know Christ as the everlasting Son of the Father? He must be God
since He has promised to be in thousands of places at one time–no mere
man could do that.
Next, where is the Lord in the assembly? He has promised to be with His
people, but where is He? "There am I in the midst of them." Not up in
the corner, but here in the midst of them is the Lord! He is the Center
to which all saints gather. He is the Sun in the heavens lighting all.
He is the Heart in the midst of the body giving life to all the
members. "In the midst of then." Is not this delightful? The Lord Jesus
Christ does not come into the assembly of His people to bless only the
minister. No, you are all equally near in proportion to the Grace of
nearness you have received. He is in the midst of you! He is in the
center of all hearts! Like the center of a wheel, from which all the
spokes radiate, Jesus Christ is the middle of the company. Armies place
the king or some great general in the heart of the host, in the place
of honor and command–so, as our army marches to battle–our King is in
the center. The King is in the midst of the saints in all His Glory and
His Presence is their strength and their assurance of victory. Glory be
to our present Lord–He is in the midst of us right now!
And if He is in the midst of His people, what will He do? Why, He is
there to sanction every little gathering of His people–to say to the
twos and threes–"You are not Dissenters, for you have met with Me. You
are not Nonconform-ists–you are conformed to Me and I am one with you.
You are the Established Church–you two or three. I have established
you in My everlasting love. Those that meet in My name I have
established them and I have endowed them–and the gates of Hell shall
not prevail against them! I sanction your assemblies if you are My
people." He is there to bless those who supplicate and adore. But, mark
you, the text does not say this in so many words–and do not you say
it, Brothers and Sisters, next time you pray. Did I not hear you say,
"Lord, You have said, 'Where two or three are met together in My name,
there am I in the midst of them, and that to bless them and do them
good'"? That last little bit is your own–that addition is not in the
Bible, for it is not the Lord's way to say what never needs be said.
What other blessing do we need than Christ in the midst of us? If He is
there, the blessing is not what He gives–He Himself is the blessing!
It is not what He does–it is Himself! It is not even what He says–it
is Himself. Oh, blessed be His name for what He gives! And blessed be
His name for what He does! And blessed be His name for what He says!
But still more blessed be His name because He Himself'loved us and gave
Himself for us–and now comes, Himself, into the midst of His people!
Now, dear Friends, if Christ Himself is in the midst of His people, He
will bring us peace, just as He did when He dropped into the assembly
of the 11, the doors being shut. He stood and said, "Peace be unto
you!" And when He had said that, He showed them His hands and His side.
It was Himself, His own peace and His own Person which made His
disciples glad. Then He said, "As My Father has sent Me, even so send I
you." This was His own commission from His own lips to His own servants
and, having said this, He breathed on them and said, "Receive you the
Holy Spirit." Thus His own breath and His own Spirit coming upon them
made them strong for service–and that is what He means when He says,
"I am in the midst of then."
Does not this make our meetings delightful–Christ in the midst of us?
Does not this make our meetings important? How one ought to strain a
point to be there! If we have ever met with Christ, we shall not bear
to be away. We shall long to meet Him again and count it a great denial
if we must be absent. Does not this make our meetings influential? The
gatherings of God's people are centers of influence. When the gathering
contains but two or three, if Christ is there, the eternal power and
Godhead are present! And out of this Zion, the perfection of beauty,
God has shined. Where even two or three are met together and He is in
the midst of them, "there breaks He the arrows of the bow, the sword,
and the shield, and the battle." He will make His power known and the
glory of His Grace shall go forth out of those little companies even to
the ends of the earth–
"Where two or three, with sweet accord,
Obedient to their Sovereign Lord,
Meet to recount His acts of Grace,
And offer solemn prayer and praise,
'There,' says the Savior, 'will I be,
Amid this little company–
To them unveil My smiling face,
And shed My glories round the place.'" "Oh, but," you say, "the pulpit
is the great power of God, is it not?" I answer, it is so because of
the prayers of God's people. One may speak, but what of that, unless
the rest shall pray? Preaching is God's ordinance–His battle-ax
and weapons of war. But, as far as the Church is concerned, the arm
that wields these weapons must be the prayer of the whole body of the
faithful–the gathering together of the saints in the name of the Lord
Jesus Christ! "Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together, as
the manner of some is," but come together as often as you have
opportunity–not neglecting other duties–but balancing them, one with
the other! He says, "Seek you My face." Let your cry be, "Your face,
Lord, will we seek."
When Sir Thomas Abney was Lord Mayor of London, in the middle of the
banquet which takes place on the first night, he disappeared for a
quarter-of-an-hour. And when he came back, he said to the friends
around him that he had been keeping a particular engagement with a most
intimate friend and so he had retired for a while. That appointment was
to have family prayer with his household in the Mansion House. And that
gathering for prayer he would not have given up on any account
whatever. Say to all other things, "You must stand back. I have a
particular appointment–I must meet the Lord Jesus Christ with two or
three of His people. He says that He will be there and I should not
like Him to say, 'Where is My servant? Where is My son? Where is My
daughter? Are they absent when I am here?'"
It is such a blessing to get to know the Lord Jesus personally. I heard
the other day of a famous infidel, an agnos-tic–that is, an ignoramus,
a person who knows nothing–and he went to a certain house to meet an
elderly lady of considerable literary renown. He was told that she
believed in the Word of God and was a faithful follower of the Lord
Jesus. And so he thought that he would have a word with her before he
went away. "Madam," he said, "I have been astonished to hear one thing
of you. I hear that you believe in the Bible." "Yes, Sir," she said,
"every Word of it." "And pray, Madam," he said, "however came you to
believe in that Book?"
She replied, "One of the principal reasons that I have for believing in
the Book is that I am intimately acquainted with the Author of it."
That was a blessed answer! Faith gets to know Christ and so, knowing
Christ, and meeting Him in the midst of His people, it becomes armed
against all unbelief and goes forth in its panoply conquering and to
conquer. So will it be with you, Beloved, if you meet the Well-Beloved
alone in your closets–and if you add to this a frequent attendance at
the holy assembly. I pray you, do not let us have to complain that one
of you is away! Come always. My heart will rejoice if our meetings are
filled with men and women who there seek communion with Jesus! Come,
for Jesus is with us! Come, for it would be most unseemly for Him to be
here and you away.
I pray you come and make this house like Heaven, which is thronged with
shining ones who rejoice because Jesus is in their midst! Amen.