" Where Two or Three Are Gathered Together in My Name-There Am I in the Midst of Them."

These are the words of the charter of our meetings together. It is not simply that Christians chance to meet together; but they " are gathered-apart-and in his name." The presence of the Lord, in the sense referred to above, is not promised in this verse apart from the question of object of gathering, and power by which, gathered; and holiness characterizes both.
If they that fear the Lord speak often, in the evil day, one to the other-much more will innate life surely draw those that have it together. But something more than this is referred to here: -In His name, marks OBJECT; and gathered together, marks POWER: and the place is HOLY. The accidental meeting of any number of godly Christians, then, for a benevolent purpose, would not have the blessing promised; neither would a meeting which was religious in its object, but produced by any accident (as the want of a teacher), though it might be only of dear simple Christians as such; neither is the meeting of saints merely from brotherly love all that is referred to. " By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one toward another.... we know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren.... he that loveth him that begat, loveth him also that is begotten," etc., are passages which show that, as in this world like loveth like, so there is a natural congruity and affinity in the children of God one toward the other. But, besides these spiritual, heavenly affinities, we have to consider the mode and way in which the living God acts upon them, to form the church for the fellowship of Christ's, sufferings now, as hereafter of his glory.
For communion of saints may be looked at subjectively, or objectively.
Many portions are there which look' at the communion of saints subjectively, according to what is in the saints, and their circumstances-but this looks at it objectively, according to the power, and objects, and presence of God in accomplishing the intercourse-His working through the life given.
" He prophesied that Jesus should die that he should gather together in one, the children of God which were scattered abroad." The Lord Jesus will present the church to himself-" a glorious church, without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing" hereafter, in fulfillment of this promise. His deed, that will be, whether working upon them that sleep, or upon us that are alive and remain to His coming-His innate power alone, whereby he is able to subdue all things to himself, will accomplish that. In that hour no vile flesh shall remain, for he shall have changed our vile bodies, and fashioned them like unto his own glorious body;-and, gathered round Himself, the scene shall be laid in courts where Satan or his angels cannot come;-distinct and separate from the world, not only in its present moral evil (of joy without God), but above the world as to locality, in the heaven- lies. Here the object, the motive power, and characteristic separateness will be plain enough. Is this blessed truth merely in prospect before us-a matter of hope? It is so, surely: but it is ours also now, as having the earnest of the Spirit: so that (looking up to where the Lord Jesus now is) the Holy Ghost gives to our souls, as individuals, the present taste and enjoyment of these things. For the same Jesus, who, on the cross, cried "It is finished" -as to the work of atonement, has this double glory his; now, Quickener of the soul,-and hereafter, Quickener of the body. And the same Spirit, who, in that day, will be in the church complete in glory, is now, by his testimony to the person of Him who is the center of all God's counsels, is now, I say, forming and gathering together in the wilderness, in the name of Jesus, those who shall be in the glory.
And here, the same object, motive power, and characteristic separateness are seen, though the moral is left in weakness now, as hereafter it shall be innate with power in glory. And it is this, really, by which the character of a Christian, as an individual is formed. " Member of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones... one spirit with the Lord":-and this, now true, gives me my individuality of blessing, and my church position as on earth. I am a member in particular-a member of Christ. Who can interfere between me and Christ? He has a body; and He, or His many members, can neither do without me, nor I without Him, or them;-but still, it is simply as members of Christ that the subordinate members want the one the other. Until, as a whole, it is perfected in glory-the church militant, through grace, realizes, in its displayed parts, now, this blessedness-though it be in a Satan-usurped world, in bodies of sin and death. Now, this puts, to my mind at least, very simply, the proper answer to many a question of our own day. For that which does not answer to this description, is not Christ's church-let its pretensions be ever so accredited, or its claims ever so high.
Are you not a member of Christ's body-one spirit with the Lord? Then you are no member of the Church. You may be a member of Christ's body and through ignorance not know it, and then you cannot confess Him as the One whose you are and whom you serve; but if you really are not a member of Christ, why, you are not a member of Christ, and no part of the Church, which is His body, " the fullness of Him that filleth all in all"-the object, and power, and separation, come in here also. Afloat on the ocean, of perdition is he that knows them not-blessed with everlasting blessing the soul which is subjected to them. And if you are that in yourself, and yet are associated in fellowship with that which is professedly not so, then your fellowship here is not with the Church of Christ at all; and your ecclesiastical circumstances and your soul will, if there be liveliness of faith, be in conflict: and the same will be the case if those with whom you are gathered are Christian, and yet not gathered in the name of Christ, and by His Spirit. The individual and the body corporate should have identity in object, in power, and in separateness.
And here remark, that all and everything, the allowance of which would be a denial of this, must be ejected, or the FOUNDATION of the Church is denied. This is often questioned; but really it is too simple a thing to admit that any society has power to neutralize the conditions or terms of its own being, and still exist as the same thing. And be it remembered, to us, now, since the day of Pentecost the foundations of individual salvation and of the Church as a body, are not really separable. The thought involves in the particular case, a very wicked assumption of a power not possessed-for the Church is not a self-formed society, neither has power over itself, as we shall see-and it is morally and intellectually foolish. But there is no need to argue the case, for what God does not count His, none can make His•' and all the meaning which there is in the assertion of being a part of Christ's Church, when the elementary principles of His Church and His mind have been denied, is simply this, -we are deceiving ourselves.
I would say a few words on the application of this in detail.' And first, as to doctrine or truth. My corporate worship is the result of a common apprehension, by the Spirit, of the Father's grace through the Son -but I have it, first in my own soul as connected with individual salvation-and if the doctrine of Father, Son, or Holy Ghost is touched, not only is the ground of communion destroyed, but my individual salvation is called in question. Am I a saved man then? It is this which makes so sad the calmness with which one sees some either handle rudely, or bear quietly and unmovedly, assaults upon these foundations. I never can help thinking, Does he know he has a soul to be saved? If any one asked me to join in prayer or praise I should count myself happy of the occasion; but if, as we kneeled down, he said, " But remember, you must not use any expression which recognizes Jesus as the Eternal Son, or His perfect purity as man, if you would not grieve me." Could I pray with that man? He has destroyed the ground on which we were about to meet; and I could as soon kneel upon an imaginary line of air, six inches from the floor, as really unite with that man. We might kneel together, but there would, there could, be no prayer in common. Or, again, if he said, " But remember, I do not believe the Holy Ghost to be God Himself"-could I pray with that man? He has neutralized the power of my competency to join with him more than if he bid me pray aloud in perfect silence; and the same if he said, " But remember, I do not own God, even the Father, as the source." Soul-sickness and revulsion, and sorrowful pity-and not fellowship in the expression of dependence to Abba would, on my part, be the real character of our relationship one to the other. I am not supposing a case of mere puzzledness of mind, nor of one who, in addition to his own soul-sick state, was trying to spread the error as an open heretic, but of one who in decision of judgment, yet candid (though self-preserving) confidence, so spoke, or who was assuredly known to myself so to think. I have no fellowship with such a one, and, please God, I will not so sin against his soul or Christ, as to deceive him as though I had. Moreover, his statement not only dishonors God and discredits himself, but rouses my soul in indignation, by its value for its own foundations in the grace of God. The same might be said where any foundation-doctrine, not connected with the person only, but with any of the works of the Lord, or of redemption, was concerned.
But if true of one's soul in its individuality, how much more are these things true of the Church as such. Time was, and time will be, when, to a quickened soul, the revelation of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost was and will not be the name taught on earth. To patriarchs and to Jews other names of divine glory presented the correlative of their position, and so it will be hereafter. But the very being of the Church is inseparably connected with this name of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Ere that name was revealed, the Church was never spoken of; and when hereafter other names of God give in various places their distinctively peculiar glories, the Church will have her fair and proper scene in courts above, with the Son, in the house of the Father-itself the body, in which there is to the Spirit, as I judge, a most peculiar place. Look at the recorded origin in the divine genealogy of the Church, and you will find the name of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost peculiarly involved; Father, Son, and Holy Ghost together and severally there. Look at the wondrous development of the plan:- at the formation-at the Being - fortunes - destiny - hopes of the Church-and say whether the personality or distinctive peculiarities connected with Father Son, or Holy Ghost could be touched, and the Church not destroyed.
So far as to the truth of the God with whom we have to do, into whose family, as sons and daughters, each of us is brought.
But the mode in which we are blessed involves a good deal likewise as to what is lower than this, viz.-what is in, around, and against us-as the flesh, the world, and Satan.
Let us look at these, Satan, whether I am looked at as an individual or as a member of Christ's body, Satan and I have the same relative position. To bear with his assaults and resist him in every way, with the word of our testimony and the blood of the Lamb - one knows that one is called to. Can I as an individual be at peace with him? Surely not; but what if it were proposed by any company to make a compact with him, or to allow him the place of government, which in the Church belongs to the Lord alone, am I to submit to this? And when I have done my all to prevent it, if others will, must I, would I dare to remain? What! a devil owned for direction, as in Irvingism, instead of the Holy Ghost? Not I most surely! God helping me. What fellowship has Christ with Belial? The question is not, Are those thus beguiled Christian or not? But has a false spirit, a devil, had the Holy Ghost's place allowed to him by them? If he has, come out from among them, and touch not the unclean thing: and come with the more zeal, according as you believe those left are Christians; it is your best hope of saving them-to get out thence whence prayer will not ascend-where, if you stay, you cannot help them. How strongly does John 16 show that the Church's very being is the testimony of Satan being conquered-" Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged." Inside the fold of Christ he has no allowed place.
A deliberate sanction of worldliness would be just the same. " We are not of the world, as Christ is not of the world;" and " He gave himself for our sins that He might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father." The church was left to be a widow till her lord's return; and the widow that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth. The contrast of this is, " I sit as a queen and shall see no sorrow." It may require much self-judgment, and most surely will require direct guidance from the Lord Jesus Christ himself ere we can tell correctly, either as to ourselves or others, how far this or that thing of the world is as the withered leaf of the by-gone year, which will, if left alone, drop off of itself when the fresh sap flows, or as the spring bud of the new year about to develop itself; but the Lord Jesus Christ has his eyes of fire still, and in holiness He does discern, and while His gentleness will surely be shown in guiding aright those that will do His will, the individual soul which has no power by which to discern the world (little as any of us know how to use what discernment we have) is not a
Christian at all; nor is the body, which has no power to judge of robes defiled by the world, the church of Christ, or owned as such by Him. Who can read John of the Ephesians, etc., and not see that the very being 17 or church is the emphatic testimony of this world's rejection and the introduction of a better one to come.
Emphatically we start as Christians with an end of the flesh (our flesh) through the death of Christ, and with a commencement of the spirit (His spirit) in ascension. Whether freedom from the lot of Adam the first, or standing, privilege, hope, calling or walk, are concerned; see Rom. 6 vii. viii. And, as in his body, one spirit with the Lord is our blessing. Flesh is flesh, whether it be trained in the court, sensitive, pathetic, delicate; or wild in the wood, rough, rude and grasping. And flesh is not to be owned or allowed in the church. How hard to walk in the power of the cross daily. How compassionate the Lord amid our failures! But, as a matter of principle, flesh is judged in the individuality of the Christian's standing, and in the body in which he has His position, and clearly it must be put down. The law was a system which measured man; but by the gospel is I measured into the church (the end of flesh having been found in the cross). " All spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus."
I would repeat here, too, a thought which (common, I conceive, in Protestant Luther's day) is too much forgotten now. As, "no hurdle, no fold," so, "no discipline, no church." And this may be seen as a point at which the common adversary is driving in many ways. Where the spirit of the Lord is, there must be judgment and discipline, as we see in 1 Cor. 11 by the individual, or the body, or the Lord. And the fact that there is no such judgment exercised here or there, in what may call itself by the name of the Lord, only shows that he does not own it as His. Discipline which goes upon that which is common to the church as a whole, bringing it to bear upon the individual, is surely not sectarianism.
If the table of the Lord does receive one saying "I desire to break bread because the Lord has enjoined it to His disciples, and I am one"-it is quite clear that the last clause, "and I am a disciple," would be the ground of future conduct or discipline.
If theoretically one did not see that discipleship is in the word much more a matter of subjection to certain influences from above, and has more to do with a nature, objects; motives, positions, hopes, &c., than, with the adoption of any set of notions; yet surely we have seen practically, that so it is. A Jew, a Turk, a Socinian, a Romanist, etc., etc., if each were being drawn by the Spirit to God, through Christ, would find a sympathy the one with the other, and more than this, if they compared motives, objects, hopes, etc., they would feel that there was in them what corresponded. I say not that at first they would be able to rise so far above themselves as to see either the common power above, or the common portion within, to do that correctly might require either much power of the Spirit, or gift.
It is evident enough a man may get into a place upon the ground which is the opposite of that upon which he remains there. I was taken into the favor and peace of God upon the alone grounds of mercy in Him, and sin in me. My remaining in favor and peace are upon very different grounds, viz.: holiness in Him, and a new nature, through grace given to me. Save Christ, none but those who were sinners will be in glory; but no sin shall be there, nor murderer, nor liar, etc., nor anything that defileth. The cross, if the expression of pity to the sinner, damns his sins; it is simple faith, as being a poor sinner, in the Lord Jesus alone Which gives salvation and Church membership. But this is not without the Holy Spirit, and it gives a new nature. And if grace save him, does grace destroy itself in so doing? Has the Father's heart and house no appeal to him, no lesson to teach beyond this,-" Thou shalt not die." Is Christ not a living person, who drew' him and to whom he is drawn? Is he merely the Quickener of dead souls-in his title of Second Adam, Life-giving Spirit? Is he not also the Changer into His own image, from glory to glory-the Judge of works (where we fail to judge), as well as the Shepherd and Bishop of Souls-and is not the Church the House of God, "the habitation of God through the Spirit."
Some walking in the flesh would make the scriptural directions for us into a sort of "Act of uniformity"; others again, would so far hinder their having force (on the ground, either of the church's ruin, or of their own uninstructedness) as to state that every one may do that which is right in his own eyes, provided he is honest. Both these are wrong, and lead to lawlessness.
If you ask what is the guide in discipline, I answer:-Christ's honor; and the science of the Divine nature in man (2 Peter).
Now, while scriptures contain the theory of this, they are neither their own power, nor the intelligence by which they are understood. And they teach us that living souls on earth have a living Shepherd in heaven, one who is the fountain and sustainer of life. Directly you begin to deal with the soul of a saint, you get to that which Christ is keeping and training; and unless you are guided to act in unison with Him, you cannot see what ought to be done. This is a solemn truth, as also that in 1 Cor. 11, that the conduct of the individual Christian, of the saints collectively, and of the Lord, are all linked together.
Practical holiness may not be trampled under foot. Chief of sinners as I am, yet, saved through grace, I would rather walk to the end of days alone, than be the manifest sanctioner of sin. If I fail, let me confess; if not, let the saints judge me; and, if not, may God in His mercy not say, "Let him alone." Let God have glory, even in my failures, by confession, and let Satan have the blame, why should I carry it. Such a union is Romanism in its worst features; and be it remembered, that a work of the flesh like fornication, is not worse than spiritual wickedness-than filthiness of the spirit. Some sins are sins in the very nature ' of things-as lying. God cannot lie; Satan is the father of lies. Some things would be sin at one time and not sin at another. To kill a man, when divinely commanded to do so, was not murder.
And, moreover, the word of the Lord is plain: discipline in the Church, even to exclusion, goes upon the ground, not that a man is not, but is a Christian-delivered to Satan for the destruction of the flesh-that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.
The delusion referred to would make the table the place where God was dishonored in the worst form: it separates between Christ and the Holy Ghost entirely; and lends the sanction of the Lord's name on earth to every evil thing.)
I have not spoken, and do not propose doing so now, upon the question of daily separating the daily growth of evil, and of the training and purging of one's soul and those of others from the daily defilements of the world. But only of such an allowance and sanction to elements of evil-in the world, the flesh, and the devil; whose judgments are presupposed in the church's very existence. As to the other, I would only remark, what was spoken of at the commencement, that the personal presence of the Lord and our walking with Him as a living person, will be found of paramount importance in this; because, having the mind of Christ, as a matter of privilege, it is alone by communion with Himself that we get the proper understanding of His thoughts, affections, and desires. And sure I am that the soul which knows and lives in his presence, will neither allow evil in itself nor in others around it, whom it will see and know as in His presence, one with Him and it, and whom it will suppose to be sharing with it the sympathies, thoughts, and affections of its risen Lord. Preposterous is the thought of sustaining communion with the Lord in allowed evil in any form round about us. It cannot be. In the light of Him, risen and returning, every spot will be detected. We know Him who has said, and every man that " hath this hope in him, purifieth himself even as He is pure."
Is the house of the Lord-the family of God, the habitation of God through the Spirit-to sanction evil in doctrine, morals or practice, which no individual Christian as such would dare to do?
And, note here, that the church is called to " walk worthy of the Lord unto all well-pleasing." It is not merely morality, but spirituality of walk. " Ye walk as men" was Paul's rebuke-not bad men; but, as men. The saint, as partaker of the divine nature, most surely has his tastes, and perceptions, and inward assurances, which, while accordant to the word, will often take the lead in guidance; and which cannot may not be neglected or despised, if he would have a conscience void of offense. A mere servant can measure his doings by the written compact; but a son has the honor of the Father and His family upon his heart. Moreover, as having the mind of Christ, and serving the living and true God, guided by His Spirit,-it is not evidences, such as the carnal natural mind can weigh, which alone weigh with him. My soul may be assured that God is moving, or removing, in a way of which no evidence tangible to sense can be found. Surely I am responsible to walk in that way.
Where is the spiritual wisdom in saying " God is evidently in much power among that gathering of saints-but, I wait for an evidence, such as I could show to man, ere joining myself to them;" or again, "God has gone out from the midst of that people, or they are utterly given up by God;" and yet, to say " I remain with them till I have an evidence of this, I can show to others." Nothing could lower the grace in which we stand more than this. For, in the abstract principle of such a thought, either redemption is not upon a higher ground than creation; or else, at best, the renewed nature is all which it recognizes, and God himself is shut out as the origin, sustainer, and end of that nature. Surely if any such awful conviction were justified-if justified in saying such a word of any gathering-some action is incumbent upon me. The distinctive characteristic of faith, as seen in James 2, is, that it is energetic.
God does not require me to convince the conscience of others, though he may require me to testify to them. He knows I cannot give conscience to any, though bound to keep my own unspotted.
The. Church is a habitation of God through the Spirit. Alas, for me, if I adhere to the place where He is not, upon the foolish thought, that what is called by me, or man, the church, must have the Spirit-there will be no fruit therein. It is Romanism. And, while sad, indeed, the thought of turning one's back upon any company where He is, assuredly I am bound to expect, and to realize, that His presence, in sustainment and government is there, where I go-and to cease going where he is not. Let all human weaknesses be allowed for in me and in others, still God is God; and the soul that has known the realizings of faith in conversion, can, and will, in humbleness, know the self-same testimony to it, of the reality of the presence of the Holy Ghost, when it finds itself in that which the Lord Jesus owns, as corporately part of God's church in the wilderness.
For the Bride-chosen companion of the Lord, is the one, whose hope is the Bridegroom's self-and Him alone. O for more understanding of the wondrous grace in Him, who now condescends to open his heart and mind to the chaste virgin that is espoused to Him. We are for Himself, and He is for us-as those wonderful words, "Bridegroom" and "Bride" teach. What grace has our God, to have such a title and such a glad honor for His Son, and for us. Both titles tell of joy-His speaks of power; hers, of beauty. But they answer the one to the other, as none other of our correlative titles do; and the savor of either one is more peculiarly for the other; and the other, more immediately only. Be the company in whose presence they shall be seen divine, as the Father's whose house is theirs; or below them both, as of angels; or of the world, seeing His love making the display that she is loved even as He is loved-still they have a joy in one another's love. Each needs the other; and both are perfected alone, when together. What means that title, "Bridegroom" without a Bride? or who is the Bride apart from the Bridegroom? What joy such as of the Bridegroom and the Bride? What glory, brighter witness, either of the worthiness of the Lamb, whose wife she is-or of the rich, divine grace of the Father's heart. May we remember whose we are, and serve him with a whole heart.
W.
P.S. Let the children of God weigh this paper. The writer prays-that wherein it is defective (much more, if in any matter it is wrong) in PRINCIPLE or unguarded in STATEMENT,-they may detect and object; and only receive what is of the Lord. Of the general value and correctness he has no doubt whatsoever in his own mind.
The Headship of Jesus to His church, and his being Lord of all, closely connected as they are, are quite distinguishable. The distinction hangs upon the difference, not of "relative positions," so much as of "subsisting relationships."
The saint knows his headship now, as a member of the body of which Christ is head, and as a servant in the kingdom in which He is Lord. This paper, though in principle applying to both, treats more of the former than of the latter. I notice this, because "profession and responsibility arising thence" are little treated of here, as more pertaining to the kingdom. Moreover, my object being to keep the elements of first principles, and their development before the mind,-I have intentionally avoided entering into any details of properties connected with these elements. What I mean is this, God separates me to Himself from the world, the flesh, and the devil. This is my subject. Whenever He acts, he acts worthily of himself; this gives what characterizes his acts. In redemption, how richly does the savor and fragrance of it fill all things, and rest upon the saint. This, though most precious, is not my subject, and is therefore little entered upon.