This expression is based on Matthew 18:20 and 1 Corinthians 5:4. It refers to the Spirit’s work of gathering Christians together on earth around the Lord Jesus Christ on the true ground of the Church of God. The Lord’s presence in their midst sanctions that ground upon which they are gathered as being the place of His appointment where Christians are to meet together for worship and ministry. His presence also authorizes their administrative actions of binding and loosing, which they may take in matters of discipline, etc. However, the Lord’s presence in the midst of those thus gathered does not sanction their state, for at times it may be low.
Many Christians think that Matthew 18:20 is simply stating the fact that whenever and wherever Christians get together for any reason or purpose, social or religious, that they have the Lord’s presence with them. While it is true that the Lord is “with” Christians wherever they may be and for whatever purpose they gather together (Matt. 28:20; Heb. 13:5), that is not what the Lord was teaching in Matthew 18:20 when He said that He would be “in the midst.” It is confusing the Lord’s being “with” believers and His being “in the midst” of believers gathered to His name. These are two different things.
The following three points will help us to understand what it means to be gathered to the Lord’s name:
Firstly, God’s PURPOSE in gathering Christians together unto the Lord’s name is that there would be a living demonstration of the unity of the body of Christ on earth (Rom. 12:4-5; 1 Cor. 10:17; 12:12; Eph. 1:22-23; 5:30). He desires that there would be a visible expression of the oneness of the body resulting from believers walking together ecclesiologically—that is, in Church doctrine and practise (Eph. 4:1-4). God has called all Christians into one universal (world-wide) fellowship wherein He would have them function together practically in this way (1 Cor. 1:9), where uniformity and unity would be seen among those thus gathered in several ways:
• In assembly function and order (1 Cor. 1:2; 4:17; 7:17; 11:16; 14:33-34; 16:1).
• In the act of breaking of bread (1 Cor. 10:17).
• In matters of inter-assembly fellowship, letters of commendation, etc. (Acts 18:24-28; Rom. 16:1; 2 Cor. 3:1-3).
• In matters of assembly discipline (1 Cor. 5:12-13; 2 Cor. 2:6-11).
• In the formation of gatherings in new areas (1 Thess. 2:14; Acts 8:4-24).
The practical oneness of the body of Christ is alluded to in Matthew 18:20 in the words “gathered together.” (Practical oneness among Christians is also mentioned in John 10:16; 11:51-52; 17:11, 21, but in the context of the oneness of the family of God.) The Lord did not disclose the truth of the one body in His earthly ministry because the disciples did not have the Spirit yet and wouldn’t have been able to take in the truth of it (John 14:25-26; 16:12). But He did indicate that there would be a new kind of oneness coming when the Church was formed. Thus, the Lord gave the seed of that truth in His ministry, but left it to be taught by the apostles when they received the Spirit.
Sad to say, the Church has largely not understood God’s purpose in gathering. Either through good intentions or through self-will, it has become divided in practical function, and is now fragmented in over a thousand sects and independent fellowships (denominational and non-denominational). Thus, the Church today renders a testimony to the world of being divided—both in doctrine and in practise. It hardly needs to be said that it is not what the Lord intends.
Secondly, to accomplish this objective in Christian testimony, God has an appointed PLACE where He would gather Christians together to express the truth of the one body. It is not a literal, geographical location on earth as in Judaism (Jerusalem), but a spiritual ground of Scriptural principles upon which He would have Christians to meet together to manifest this unity. This is indicated by the words “where” and “there” in Matthew 18:20.
Hebrews 13:13 tells us that this place of meeting is “outside the camp.” The “camp” is a word that the Spirit of God uses to denote Judaism and all of its related principles and practises. Thus, this fellowship to which Christians are called is free of that Judaic order of things. Christians have generally (for hundreds of years) missed this point too, and have brought many things connected with Judaic worship into their places of worship. They have ignored the plain teaching of Scripture which says that the tabernacle is a figure of the true sanctuary into which we now have access by the Spirit (Heb. 9:8-9, 23-24; 10:19-22). Instead, they have used it as a pattern for their church organizations, and have incorporated many things from Old Testament worship in a literal sense. This would be things such as: the use of literal temples (cathedrals), having a caste of ordained men to officiate on behalf of the rest of the congregation, having an orchestra, having a choir, the wearing of robes, the practise of tithing, Law-keeping, etc. The Christian world today has a proliferation of Christian fellowships which are rife with things borrowed from the Judaic order. Anyone looking for the place of the Lord’s appointment (and desiring to be truly gathered to His name) would have to look away from all such places in Christendom, because those places have the trappings of Judaism in their worship services, and the fellowship to which the Spirit is leading Christians is outside of all that. (See The Camp.)
God’s objective is to have Christians meet on one ground of gathering at one divinely owned Center (Christ in the midst), even though they may live in many different locations on earth. This unifies Christians practically and renders a singular testimony before the world that they are “one body.” In fact, this is the first collective responsibility that Christians have in walking worthy of their calling (Eph. 4:1-4). Hence, the Lord’s presence in the midst (in this collective assembly sense) could only be where God gathers Christians unto the Lord’s name. If the Lord owned with His presence in the midst, every group of believers who gather for worship and ministry in their different places, then He would be sanctioning the many divisions in the Church’s testimony. It would be sanctioning the very thing that He decries! Hence, the Lord couldn’t be (in this sense) in every place where Christians gather. W. Potter said, “Suppose the Lord gave His presence now to the different denominations, what would He be doing? He would be sanctioning what is contrary to Him. He can’t do that” (Gathering Up the Fragments, p. 87). He also said, “You don’t mean to imply that the Lord is not in the midst of any others in the same sense? Decidedly He is not” (Gathering Up the Fragments, p. 90).
This may sound narrow and exclusive, but it really shouldn’t be surprising because the very nature of Christianity is exclusive. There is only one way to be to be saved (Acts 4:12), and only one way to the Father (John 14:6), etc.—and there is only one way in which God would have Christians meet together for worship and ministry. The whole Christian revelation of truth is exclusive, and we cannot apologize for the truth; it is what it is.
Thirdly, even though Christians are spread all over the world, God has the POWER to gather them together in this way. He does this through the work of the divine Gatherer, the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God leads exercised believers to the place of His appointment. Who else could the Lord entrust with the gathering of His people together unto His name, but the Spirit of God? The best-intentioned men have sought to gather the Lord’s people together, but being unaware of the truth of gathering, they have formed Christian fellowships of their own devising. Having made these various Christian fellowships, they encourage believers to “go to the church of their choice,” as if it were a matter of their personal preference. The result is that Christians have been absorbed into various man-made Christian fellowships that are independent of one another, rather than being united in one universal fellowship. This cannot be the work of the Holy Spirit for He never leads contrary to the Word of God.
If the Holy Spirit has led Christians to come together for worship and ministry in their many independent fellowships, then He would be the Author of the divisions in Christendom! He then, could be to blamed for the divided state of the Christian testimony! Surely no sober Christian would charge the Spirit of God for creating the sad and divided state of the Church’s testimony. H. Smith said, “Is the Holy Spirit gathering all the variously divided and independent companies who seek to appropriate this promise [in Matt. 18:20]? Such an assumption necessarily involves placing the blame for the existing deplorable and Christ-dishonouring divisions and independency upon the Holy Spirit. Are these multi-centers seen in the professing Church due to the work of ‘the Spirit of Truth’ who came to glorify Christ? Far be the thought!” (Gathered Together, p. 3).
While the Holy Spirit is not directly mentioned in Matthew 18:20, it is clear that He is the divine Gatherer. This is seen in the words, “are gathered together.” The Lord did not say, “Where two or three come together” or “meet together,” as some modern translations render it. “Are gathered” is in a passive voice, and this points to the fact that there has been a gathering power outside of the people themselves that has been involved in their meeting together on that ground. This shows that the divine ground of gathering is not a voluntary association of believers. H. Smith said, “To use a simple illustration, I see a basket of fruit on the table. How did it get there? It was gathered together; it did not get there by its own efforts. The word for ‘gathered together’ in the Greek is ‘sunago’ which literally means ‘to lead together,’ and could be translated, ‘are guided together’—all of which suggests a Gatherer” (Gathered Together, p. 2). Strong’s Concordance states that the word “sunago” (#4863) means “to lead together” or “to collect.” Vine’s Expository Dictionary of the New Testament states that “sunago” means “to gather or bring together” (p. 482).
Luke 22:7-10 views the subject of gathering and the Holy Spirit’s work as the divine Gatherer from a different perspective. Like Matthew 18:20, this passage also has the “where” and the “there” (vss. 9, 12), but Luke takes it up from the side of man’s responsibility, whereas Matthew views it from the side of God’s sovereignty. Luke shows that Christians need to be exercised about being at the place of the Lord’s appointment.
In Luke 22, the Spirit of God is seen in the figure of “a man” bearing “a pitcher of water,” leading exercised believers to the place of the Lord’s appointment. Many times in Scripture the Spirit of God is seen as an unnamed man working behind the scenes. This is because it is not the object of the Spirit of God to draw attention to Himself. In Christianity, He works behind the scenes guiding exercised believers into the truth (John 16:13-14), and it’s also the reason why He is not directly mentioned in Matthew 18:20. The “water,” which the man carried, signifies the Word of God (Eph. 5:26). This then indicates that the Spirit of God uses the principles of the Word of God to lead believers to the place of the Lord’s appointment.
Luke 22, therefore, focuses on what is required of us in being guided by the Spirit to the place. We need to have a sincere desire to know where the place of His appointment is. This is illustrated in Peter and John inquiring of the Lord, “Where wilt thou that we prepare?” (vs. 9) There also needs to be the energy of faith to go and thus seek to be led by the Spirit to the place (Gen. 24:27). This is illustrated in the words, “And they went ... ” (vs. 13). There is also the exercise of climbing the stairs of separation to the “upper room” (vs. 12). This would point to the need for separating from every connection with the world—both secular and religious (2 Tim. 2:19-22). Lastly, having been directed to the place of His appointment, there needs to be the exercise of making “ready” (vs. 12). This would refer to being in a right spiritual state of soul that would be suited to His presence. We make ready our souls through self-judgment (1 Cor. 11:28).