this afternoon and we've been very thankful to have Pastor Neil Vander Well with us from Rockhampton and we do thank you Neil for coming and your time with everyone and certainly please give prayerful consideration to the things that he's been saying and recommendations and so on. And we'll, of course, pass on our greetings to our brethren in Rockhampton. God willing, the interim session meets on Saturday next. If there's any matters that you wish the session to consider, you could let me know. I can then put it on the agenda for the meeting, which will be completed shortly, God willing. And God willing, we meet next Lord's Day at 10.30 a.m. and 5 p.m. Central Standard Time. Thank you. Our call to worship this afternoon is Psalm 63, reading Psalm 63 in verses 1 and 2. Psalm 63, verse 1. Thou art my God. Early will I seek Thee. My soul thirsteth for Thee. My flesh longeth for Thee in a dry and thirsty land where no water is, to see Thy power and Thy glory, so as I have seen Thee in the sanctuary. Amen. Let us stand up and pray to God. O God, thou dost call us unto thyself that we might behold thy glory. We thank thee for this, thy Sabbath day, and for that great privilege thou would call us aside from our regular labours and the things of the week unto thyself and to thy worship. We thank thee for that privilege to be able to meet Again, towards the end of this day, we ask thou would show us something more of thy glory. Thou would enable us that we would behold thy beauty as we would gather in the sanctuary, not a temple upon the earth, but that we might approach unto thy throne in the heavens. We ask thou would bless thy word and thine ordinances amongst thy people. We ask in Jesus' name. Amen. Our Old Testament Bible reading is Isaiah chapter 54. We continue reading through the Old Testament. Isaiah chapter 54. We read the whole chapter. Let us hear God's word. Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear, break forth into singing and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child. For more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the Lord. Enlarge the place of thy tent and let them stretch forth the curtains of thy habitations. Spare not, lengthen thy cords and strengthen thy stakes. for thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left, and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited. Fear not, for thou shalt not be ashamed, neither be thou confounded, for thou shalt not be put to shame, for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood anymore. For thy maker is thine husband, the Lord of hosts is his name, and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel, the God of the whole earth shall he be called. For the Lord hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth when thou wast refused, saith thy God. For a small moment have I forsaken thee, but with great mercies will I gather thee. In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment, but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer. For this is as the waters of Noah unto me, for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee. For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed, but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee. O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted! Behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colours, and lay thy foundations with sapphires. I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones. And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord, and great shall be the peace of thy children. In righteousness shalt thou be established, thou shalt be far from oppression, for thou shalt not fear, and from terror, for it shall not come near thee. Behold, they shall surely gather together, but not by me. Whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake. Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work, and I have created the waster to destroy. "'No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper, "'and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment, "'thou shalt condemn. "'This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, "'and their righteousness is of me,' said the Lord.'" Amen. Let us sing praise to God from Psalm 119 in verse 25 through 32. Psalm 119, verse 25, my soul to dust cleaves, quicken me according to thy word, my ways I showed and me thou hurt'st, teach me thy statutes, Lord. So Psalm 119, 25 to 32, let's stand up to sing God's praise. My soul did hasten to thee, according to thy word. My ways I showed, and me thou hast teach'd. statutes old. The way of thy commandments make me awright to know. So all thy works that once I shall to others show my sort of mouth and drop a wave for heaviness and Do me according to thy word, give strength and send relief. From me the wicked way of lies, let far we move with thee, and graciously thy holy law do Thou grant unto me. I, Joseph, have the perfect way of truth and parity. Thy judgments that most righteous are before me laid have I. To thy testimony's cliff Please sit down. And our New Testament Bible reading is 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. We continue reading through the New Testament. We read the whole chapter with God's help. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. Let us hear God's word. But of the times and seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child, and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light and the children of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore, let us not sleep as do others, but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep, sleep in the night, and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and for an helmet the hope of salvation. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him. Wherefore, comfort yourselves together and edify one another, even as also ye do. And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love for their works' sake, and be at peace among yourselves. Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feeble-minded, support the weak, Be patient toward all men. See that none render evil for evil unto any man, but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves and to all men. Rejoice evermore, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks. For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Quench not the spirit, despise not prophesying, prove all things, hold fast that which is good, abstain from all appearance of evil, and the very God of peace sanctify you wholly, and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you who also will do it. Brethren, pray for us. Greet all the brethren with an holy kiss. I charge you by the Lord that this epistle be read unto all the holy brethren. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen. May the Lord bless the reading of his word to us. Let us now come to God in prayer. Let us stand up for prayer. Our Father which art in heaven, Thou Lord, Lord God Almighty, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, abundant in goodness and truth, that one who does forgive iniquity and transgression and sin, that one who shows mercy to thousands and yet who will by no means clear the guilty. We do come before Thee, O God, that holy and just and righteous God, that merciful and gracious, to praise Thee, to give thanks unto Thee. We thank Thee for Jesus Christ, for His cross, for His death, His for our iniquities, his resurrection, for our justification, and that we might be reconciled unto thee through him. We would gather, O God, in his name to give thanks unto thee through him in dependence upon thy Holy Spirit, asking that thou would be enabling that we would glorify thee, not only at this time as thy people, but that we would be built up and equipped to glorify thee in all of our lives, to be doing so as thy people, showing that love of the brethren one to another in this place among thy people here, but also to all those called by thy name, that so as men would see the love of thy disciples one for another, that they might know that they are thy disciples. Do ask for much wisdom and grace, for boldness, to be faithful witnesses in all the various parts of our lives, and for faithfulness indeed in fulfilling, doing the duties and fulfilling the callings that they would give to each one, whether it be in the home, in the family, whether it be out of the home, in the world, in the workplace, going about our lives, for much wisdom and grace, O God, to be those who are ready to give an answer of the hope that is within, and that with meekness and fear, to be those who are sanctifying the Lord God in our hearts, who are not fearing the fears of so many in the world, not having their fear and their terror of those things that might be, of even those things that are, of what are those schemes and devices of men and what is being plotted and such things. rather that we would be always remembering that the times and seasons indeed belong to Thee, but that all things are under Thee, and that we might indeed make our plans, we would devise in our hearts, but that it is Thee, O God, who will direct our steps. And we ask for grace to be giving diligence in plans, entrusting our plans unto Thee, to be praying without ceasing, to be casting our cares and our concerns upon Thee, and knowing that Thou dost care for us, to be bringing our prayers and supplications with thanksgiving, but that Thou would be guiding and directing, Thou would be helping in time of need, that even as we would come unto that throne of grace, where our Lord is seated at thy right hand, and that we might praise and glorify thee, Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, that thou would indeed be pleased to receive us. We do ask that thou would be watching over those who, each one with their particular temptations and particular situations and trials and tribulations and whether it be of health and difficulties in the body or difficulties in the mind, those troubles in the family or in the workplace of particular opposition, where there's particular opposition and friction as regards also the things of God and following after thee diligently and heartily, that they'll be giving much help in time of need, where there be those times, when there be those times of where thy servants would be, as it were, walking in darkness and seeing no light, that they would enable enable continued faith in Thee and being stayed upon Thee and resting upon Thee and not seeking to devise our own ways of to go where we might find light or seeking to make our own way ahead, but rather trusting on thee even when we don't know what will happen, leaving in that sense the consequences to thee and taking up the duties thou dost require of us. We do thank thee, O God, as we have read, for those who would exercise rule amongst thy people. We thank thee for that form of government thou hast set in thy word of elders and of deacons. We do thank thee for even the present situation of an interim session in regard to this congregation of thy people and do ask that thou bless all the necessary preparations and for the meeting in this coming week and the deliberations as regards not only the matters here, but other matters as regards like people. And we do ask that I'd be assisting Mr. Tuck also as the clerk of that session and his preparations, but for all the members, Mr. Law as well and myself. We do remember other ministers of thy ministers and the preaching of thy word for Pastor Lacey and Pastor Law as members of the Presbytery and in their labours upon thy Sabbath day as the Sabbath would continue around the world and that they'll be blessed in the preaching and the hearing of thy word. We pray, O God, as regards the the rulers that thou hast set over us, even as thou hast commanded that we would do so, remembering the kings and all in authority, that they may rule such that thy people might live quiet and peaceable lives in all godliness and honesty. And we do pray so that there might be justice, that there would be righteousness in the land, and yet we would lamento God before thee, we would so often see a great lack in these things and rather injustice and unrighteousness and God we would hold before thee this land we reside in and belong to a nation that is would seem to be running headlong away from thee in many ways as a nation and much unlawlessness much wickedness rather than sin being a shame, a shameful thing, rather than that which is good promoted, rather we see what is good being called evil, what is evil being called good, that which thou would esteem an abomination being celebrated and promoted. O God, in so many aspects and in every part of thy law we see these things. O God, if thou As we see thy judgment even impending on the land and in a nation being given over to such things, we would yet plead that thou would in wrath remember mercy. And if thou would be sending forth thy word in it being read, being preached and heard, and with it accompany thy word with thy Holy Spirit to great effect, O God, to the conversion of many, the turning of many to thyself, not only that their souls might be saved, but that they might seek thy glory in this world, if thou wouldst so be pleased. We do ask these things, O God, as we would take up thy word and the preaching and hearing of it, asking that thou would help us in our time of need. We pray in Christ's name. Amen. Let us turn in God's word to Matthew chapter 18. Matthew chapter 18. And we will read there from the beginning of the chapter and through to verse 20. And it is particularly verse 20 that we'll be considering this this afternoon with God's help. Let us read then Matthew chapter 18 and from verse one. At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus saying, who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? Jesus called a little child unto him and set him in the midst of them and said, verily I say unto you, except you be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whosoever shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me. But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe unto the world because of offences, for it must needs be that offences come, but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh. Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee. It is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire. And if thine eye offend thee, out and cast it from thee. It is better for thee to enter into life with one eye rather than having two eyes to be cast into hellfire. Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones for I say unto you that in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my father which is in heaven. For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost. How think ye If a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray? And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep than of the ninety and nine which went not astray. Even so, it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish. "'If thy brother shall trespass against thee, "'go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone. "'If he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. "'But if he will not hear thee, "'then take with thee one or two more, "'that in the mouth of two or three witnesses, "'every word may be established. "'And if he shall neglect to hear them, "'tell it unto the church. If ye neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican. Verily I say unto you, whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say unto you that if 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. where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. Amen. And so we consider then with God's help, verse 20, for where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. And the theme is Christ's promised presence. Now, as we come to this verse, we notice, of course, the context, something of which we have read, and particularly Christ, after speaking concerning how it is that any would enter into the kingdom of God, they must be converted, they must become as little children. So it speaks there of the humility of mind in heart that they must be before God and before men, that disposition that there ought to be within the church and then speaking in terms of the matters of offending against one another, not in terms of hurting each other's feelings, but it's talking about sinning against others and particularly in terms of causing others to sin and also hindering them in the way of holiness, of righteousness and so on. And then Christ speaks and teaches us concerning the dealing with matters, further concealing the dealing with matters of sin, one against another in the church, amongst God's people. And we have that instruction there in terms of going to your brother, going to your fellow Christian about that fault and bringing it to them, rather than just broadcasting it. to everyone else, going to them and seeking their restoration, their repentance, their reconciliation, and there's the process that Christ sets before us there, and that if there is no turning, these things ultimately brought to the church, and that we're not going to consider that this afternoon, but that particularly has reference to those that God has set as governors and a government in his church and speaks to that in verse 18 of that authority that he has given. And that is not in some way that we bind God to do whatever we please, but it speaks to God affirming that authority that is set on the earth and there's a great responsibility that when the elders have matters before them that they've been realizing that responsibility that they have under God to be governed by the Word of God and entrusting themselves to Him in all those things. In that context then, so the weight of responsibility in these matters of dealing with sin and unrepentance and discipline when necessary. Christ speaks of prayer, that if 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. And the context particularly, well, there's encouragement to prayer even to believers and in any matter, but the context thereof, those gathered for acts of government in the church to be not doing these things according to their own wisdom and not even seeking to be directed by the Word of God, by the Bible in that sense, by itself, but seeking wisdom from the Lord, coming to him in that sense with an open Bible and calling upon him, asking for help and wisdom in these matters before them. serious things and of great weight and responsibility. So there's the context, but while we recognize that context of government and discipline and so on, yet there's application to the corporate prayer of God's people. that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything." Yes, two of those who, in that sense, gathered for acts of church government, but two believers agreeing together, touching anything that they shall ask, that promise of the Lord to hear them, and we would say, according to his will, to answer them. And then Christ speaks of, in verse 20, for where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. And so we can notice then that this is in the context of the church, in the context that it speaks of the government of the church, but already Christ has been broadening from the government of the church and speaking of the prayers of his people, and then the assurance that when his people are gathered together, even if there are two or three, that he would be in the midst of them. And so there's the promise of his presence. And so I want to consider this verse and this teaching with you this afternoon, that indeed there might be encouragement as to the presence of Christ with his people, even when they be gathered few in number, but as to what do these things mean? What is this gathered together? What is in my name? And what is Christ's promise that he would be in the midst of them? What is the significance of these things? And what comfort and encouragement and indeed challenges there for us in these things? Now I want to consider then these things under two main headings. Firstly, gathered in Christ's name, and then secondly, the promise of Christ's presence. And so there's firstly the matter of gathering, gathered in Christ's name. What is that? There's a promise, and as I mentioned, there is certainly a context leading up to this promise of matters of church government and discipline and so on. And there are those who, in a sense, eliminate or remove or take away this promise of Christ from the Christian and from the church, in a sense, by saying, oh, this is only about church government. But I don't believe that that's valid, and I've, in that sense, mentioned why. I believe that Christ, while he's speaking in matters of church government and discipline, but that as he is doing so, he is speaking more broadly in terms of prayer, in verse 19, two of you agreeing on earth, It's not only to those who are governors in the church, and then even further, wherever there be gathering in his name. It certainly includes church government, but not limited to. But what does it mean, the gathered together? Does this mean whenever two Christians happen to be together. So is this situation and this promise, does this apply just whenever two Christians happen to be together? They happen to be walking along the road together, or going for a hike together, or on the golf course together, or at the beach together. Is this promise, is this an accidental, along the way type thing? Or is it something more specific? Perhaps you've heard the claim and often in the context of when there is a gathering for public worship and in the suggestion or the exhortation that professing Christians ought to be attending the public worship of God. And there'll be those who will claim, go to this passage and say, well, it doesn't matter where we are. I mean, here I am. We're not in church, but here I am, perhaps with a Christian friend. I'm at the beach, and Christ says, I'm there wherever two or three are gathered. So what does it matter where we are? But I don't believe that that is right and on the basis of what Christ says here. And firstly, because when When Christ says, gathered together, it is not an accidental thing. The word there is that word in the Greek, sunagoga, the word that we get synagogue from, as in the Jewish synagogue, and it has to do with a gathering together. There is a purpose there, there's a deliberateness. And as we even, in terms of the context, before we come even to the in my name, but if we look at the verse before and we notice the connection of verse 20 and verse 19. for where two or three are gathered together in my name. What has gone before? What are we being given the reason for? What is this promise related to? It's related to that word of Christ, that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven, for where two or three are gathered together in my name. So that when there are two of you asking praying together, you're asking something of the Lord and so you're praying together that the Father will hear and it shall be done because when there are those two of you gathered together, you've come together for this purpose, I'm there with you. That's what Christ is saying. And this also, as we think on the matter of the context of the church government. This is broader than church government, but in the context of the encouragement to those who are given that responsibility in the church of government that Christ, and recognising that whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, that Christ is saying when you come together as those with responsibility and and authority in the Church, that as you prayerfully consider those matters before you, as you with open Bibles and asking for wisdom would come together, even if there are two or three of you gathered in my name as you're doing these things, then I'm there with you. And there is that encouragement there. So in the language used, the very word used, are gathered together, there's a deliberateness, a purposefulness, but also in my name, in my name, gathered together in my name. This is not about a mere mention of Christ's name, we come together and we say His name and so He's with us, some sort of invocation or some such thing. Rather, what is it? What does it mean, in my name? Well, as we think of the name of Christ, we think of the name of God, God's name is His revelation of Himself. It is more than just a title or one of his names in that sense. It is his self-revelation. One place, different scriptures we could go to, but one place where we see that name is so much more than in scripture, in the name of God, is more than a mere title. If we turn to Exodus chapter 33, Exodus chapter 33, and this is that time when after After that, Israel had turned from the Lord and made the golden calf, after the Lord had given the Ten Commandments from Moses, and they turned, and Moses was seeking the Lord. Sorry, it's before the golden calf. Moses was in the presence of the Lord and on the mountain. And there in Exodus chapter 33, in verse 18 and 19, We have Moses, we read there, and he said, it's Moses, I beseech thee, show me thy glory. And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee, and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. And he said, thou canst not see my face, for there shall no man see me. and live. And then we read, as we continue, that he put Moses in the cliff of the rock and passed by him. But then we look, if we just go further into chapter 34 and verse 5 to 7. So mindfully, we just read Moses saying, show me thy glory. And God says, I will proclaim my name. before thee the name of the Lord and then chapter 34 verse 5 the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there and proclaimed the name of the Lord The Lord passed by before him and proclaimed, the Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and upon the children's children unto the third and the fourth and to the fourth generation. And we read, Moses made haste and bowed his head toward the earth and worshipped. So we see God proclaiming his name. It was not just, here is my title, this is what you have to call me, but rather revealing himself. and his glory to Moses. That's context for us when we come in the Scriptures to such places as Proverbs 18, 10. The name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous runneth into it and is safe. It's not about taking refuge under a certain title or or any such thing, but seeking the Lord himself. His name is who he is and who he's revealed himself to be. Think of the Lord's, that form of prayer that Christ has taught us, commonly called the Lord's Prayer, and that petition, hallowed be thy name. The Lord asking that God would enable us to glorify him, not just to take a name to esteem a certain title. Yes, his titles and attributes and ordinances and so on, we had to esteem and to use in a holy and reverent manner. But if we think of the language of the Shorter Catechism in explaining that petition, hallowed be thy name, in question 101, we're asking that God would enable us and others to glorify him in all that whereby he maketh himself known. That's what we're asking, that God has revealed himself to us in a manifold way, and that we are asking that he would enable us to glorify him as we ought. And so as we think on what Christ says here, where two or three are gathered together in my name, He's speaking of those who have taken his name and those who are called by his name. And so it's not just speaking of a title, to have his title on us as it were, but to be his, to be a Christian, to be trusting in him, to be following him as he has revealed himself in the scripture. And so if we think on this then, so the gathering together, a purposeful thing in his name, this has to do with it. It's faith in him, but that's based on a knowledge of him. This is not an accidental gathering that Christ is speaking of here. That is, we're Christians and we happen to be here together, so this is what Christ has promised to be with us. This is what he's talking about. It's not just about, in that sense, being together, but about being gathered together in his name. And to be gathered in his name, we even look in the context, we see what does that include? Well, it includes for the purpose of prayer, coming together to ask things of God. It includes for the purpose of And that's obviously connected with the prayer for the purpose of matters of church government, those things that there would be a gathering together of certainly some in those matters. We might, as we think on the name of God, the name of Christ particularly, and the knowledge of Christ, a gathering together to know him. to open his word, to be seeking to grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. The Bible teaches us and Christ teaches us that all of our life is to be lived, in that sense, in his name, In Ephesians 5 verse 20, we read that we are to be giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. But as we think of all of life in that sense, in the name of Christ, that whatever we do, if it would be acceptable to God, it must be offered in Jesus' name. Offer your bodies living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God. Now, how are they acceptable to God? Not because of who we are, but because of who Christ is. But in that all of life, the Bible shows us in that sense, particular times of being gathered together for prayer, for the worship of God, for the taking up of Christ's ordinances. Now we can do these things, if we think of particular acts of worship, reading the Bible, praying to God, such things, the singing of God's praises, we can do these things individually and we can know that God hears us and God is with us as individuals. God is near to those who call upon him, who call upon him in truth. And we can call on him at all times and in all places. And we have those many assurances in the scriptures. But what we have here is a promise as regards these things done in a corporate, together, gathered together way. Not just accidental, but a together way, where two or three are gathered together. And so this is the, what does this look like? It looks like family worship, household worship, also Christian friends, brethren. Christian brothers and sisters gathered together, coming together for prayer. It includes the courts of the church where two or three gathered together for matters of church government. It includes the public worship of God and the scriptures speak of it. Christ says, gathered together in my name. through Corinthians, this language of when you come together in the church as opposed to in the home and so on, the coming together to call on the name of the Lord. So to be gathered together in Christ's name, what is in view is not an accidental happening to be together, but a coming together for the purpose of, prayer, for the purpose of worship, for the purpose of the study of the word of God, for the purpose of acts of church government. These are the things in view. Now what then, secondly, is promise? There's a promise of Christ's presence. Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. Now as we think of this from the beginning, we see here immediately, we're reminded of Christ's divinity. How can Christ promise this? Because he is God. Because he is God. And we are thinking in his humanity, he has a body and he is now in the heavens. As far as his humanity is concerned, he is seated in the heavens, but by his spirit he is in all places. If he'll be present when every small or large group of believers is gathered together in his name, he must be the everywhere present God, and that word that we use, omnipresent, everywhere present. And so, as we think on this promise, firstly, that we are to think of Christ's omnipresence, his being everywhere present. What does God say? 1 Kings 8, 27, Behold, the heaven Solomon says, Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee. God not only fills the heavens and the earth, but He is immense. He is infinitely greater than the heavens and the earth. He is without any limit. Jeremiah 23, 24, "'Do not I fill heaven and earth?' saith the Lord." And so David, as he was thinking on these things, Psalm 139, marveling at God's greatness and at His immenseness in verse 7, he says, "'Whither shall I go from thy spirit, or whither shall I flee from thy presence?' Now, we are taught this here, for Christ to give this promise, he has to be, as God, omnipresent. And there's a great comfort there, isn't there, at all times, that there is nowhere where one of God's children will find themselves where Christ is not, where the Father is not, because he is the infinite God. But, as we come to this verse, while that doctrine underlies, in that sense, the promise of Christ here, there is more. There is more here than the truth that Christ is everywhere. And the second thing then to consider is, is the promise of Christ that he is present with every believer? The scriptures teach that he is present in and with every believer by his Holy Spirit. And so David can say, Psalm 23, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, thou art with me. There's that great comfort and assurance that wherever we might find ourselves, that God and Christ by his Spirit is with us. Christ promised, Matthew 28, 20, lo, I'm with you always. even to the end of the age. And that promise indeed for his church and particularly our predication as we see here, but also for the individual believer. God says in Christ, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. Now the reality is that we as believers don't always feel this, do we? It is true. It is objectively true. It's objectively true that Christ as God is omnipresent by His Spirit. It is objectively true that Christ as Saviour and Redeemer and Lord is with every one of His children wherever they are. reality is and not that we're not going to spend much time on that aspect of things this afternoon but because particularly of our sin because we stray from the way that God would have us to be walking in that the Lord would remove in that sense his felt presence from us and so it may be as As we read in Isaiah chapter 50 verse 10, it may be for the child of God that though he fears the Lord and obeys the voice of his servant, that he walks in darkness and sees no light. It's not that God has actually and Christ has actually left him. I will never leave you nor forsake you. because God would not have us, as has been said, to be happy in our sin. He would rather have us to be happy in holiness, that he would remove the joy of our salvation, and in that sense, his felt presence. We would not be aware of his presence. It would seem as his hand is heavy on us and his face has been turned from us. And so we would call out that he would shine his face upon us and that he would draw us to himself. But nonetheless, The basis of our calling out to him that he would renew his mercy to us in that sense is his promise that he would never leave us nor forsake us. Precious promise of Christ's presence with each and every one of his children wherever they are and whatever they are going through and also that nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. But there is more here. because Christ here is not speaking only of his omnipresence as God, and neither is he speaking here particularly of that promise of his presence with each and every one of his disciples, those who trust in him, but there is a promise of his presence with his gathered people. a promise of his presence with his gathered people, where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. This is Christ's promise that he as God, and he can only give this promise as the one who is truly God, because he can be with them wherever they are gathered and whenever they are gathered together in his name, he gives this promise. As we think on this promise of his presence, let us go again in that sense to God's promises to be with his people throughout the scriptures. When we think of God's presence with his people, let us think of his going before his people on the way out of Egypt, going before them, giving them the sign of the cloudy pillar, the pillar of cloud by day, the pillar of fire by night. look to that gracious sign of the Lord's presence with his people and his blessing upon his people when the tabernacle was completed. when all had been done according to his commandment and the glory cloud came upon the tabernacle. When the temple was completed and all had been done according to the pattern that was given through David the prophet and the commandments of God obeyed by Solomon and the glory cloud coming upon And what does the Bible speak of? There's God's glory, his presence with his people. What does the Bible describe of the tabernacle and the temple? It was God's temple, God's palace, his dwelling place, the place where he would meet with his people, the place where they would gather, where they would assemble. So Exodus 25, 22, God said to Moses, as he was giving him the pattern of the tabernacle. There will I meet with thee, and I'll commune with thee from above the holy, the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of testimony. And so the promise that God would meet with Moses there. We find him in that sense meeting with Aaron and the priests there. But these things weren't only for Moses and for the priests. What do we find as we come into particularly the Psalms? We find that great desire and expressed so often from the mouth of David, that sweet psalmist of Israel, but not only for Him, but as those words that are given to the people of God, those desires that are set before us as that which we ought to have, of that desire to be with God, to be meeting with Him. And we might think of Psalm 84, we read at the beginning of the service from Psalm 63, we see those things there, Psalm 42, 43, other places, but Psalm 84 at this time, Psalm 84, verses 1 to 4. How amiable, how lovely are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts! My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord. heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God. Yea, the sparrow hath found a house, the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, even thine altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God. Blessed are they that dwell in thy house, they shall be still praising thee. Selah. So this, we see this, this is how that desire that God plants in that sense in the heart of his children, that they would be near him, that they would be with him. And what does that look like? Not just, yes, it includes a seeking of him in the secret place. Without that, all falls short. But it includes, and we see that so often in the Psalms. There's the tabernacle in the temple and God's blessing there on the corporate worship of his people, but also in the Psalms, the desire to be in the sanctuary, to be in that place where God has promised his blessing. Psalm 133. Psalm 133. Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. It is like the precious ointment upon the head that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard, that went down to the skirts of his garments. As the Jew of Hermon, as the Jew that descended upon the mountains of Zion, for there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life forevermore. It is a blessing, isn't it, of believers gathering together. There is more than just believers gathering together here in that unity. It is believers gathering together under the blessing of God because they're in the presence of God. They're coming together in Zion and these things looking beyond the earthly Jerusalem and that mountain in Palestine and to the heavenly Zion, to the Church of God. Indeed there in Israel, as the Church found in Israel as a nation in the Old Testament, chiefly, but now through all nations. So God declared himself to be present in the midst of his people, and now Christ says, I am there in the midst of them. Christ says, there am I in the midst of them. Now we see these, we read in the accounts of scripture, these occasions of great manifestations, demonstrations of glory, The Lord going before his people, that pillar of cloud, that pillar of fire, the glory cloud coming down on the tabernacle, coming down on the temple, these great demonstrations of glory, the majesty of God. Have you wondered sometimes, have you perhaps longed for such things? Have you thought, well, wouldn't that be wonderful? if we might have such a thing. Oh, this place we might be meeting a pillar of cloud, a pillar of fire. But know that in Christ, we have that which is far greater. These things, the tabernacle, the ceremony, the visible splendor, the gold, the silver, the garments, the sacrifice, all those things, the temple in far greater measure. Our flesh, in a sense, can look to those things and think, well, if we had those things, and if we had the glory cloud, then we could know Christ was with us, and what an encouragement that would be, and what a testimony to the world. You know, those things. The Bible speaks of Hebrews. Paul speaks of those things as weak and beggarly elements. Those things are the shadows. We have the body. We have Christ. And we have here Christ, the Word made flesh. Christ, Emmanuel, God with us. God manifests in the flesh. The one who humbled himself, who took on our flesh, who died, to destroy the works of the devil, to reconcile his people to God, to bring us to God through faith in him, who's now ascended into heavens. He, while he was upon the earth, he promised that when you gather in my name, I am there in the midst. Yes, he was there with the people of Israel, a sign for them, the pillar of cloud and fire and so on. He is just as truly with his people in these days. And while there might not be a pillar of cloud, while there might not be a pillar of fire, while there might not be that outward splendor, yet that we have the fullness, we have the reality of those things. All those things that were given as outward signs, particularly for the people of God, or in elementary school as it were, the ABCs of religion, these tangible things. But we have the reality in Christ. In Christ, the now risen and ascended Lord Jesus, he has promised that he will be with us even when there are two or three gathered in his name. We don't, there are those, and I'm not saying that the language is always understood in this way, but sometimes there are those in terms of the context of public worship who speak of a prayer of invocation. Now, I'm not saying that could never be used, but the idea that could be taken from that is that we call God down, we invoke God. But the reality is, We don't call God down. Christ has promised to be with us. Indeed, we can, we ought to hold his promise before him. Oh God, thou hast promised, so do. And we see that through the scriptures. We have his promises, we plead his promises. But we don't call him down. He says, when you gather together in my name, you gather together trusting in me, you gather together in my word, you gather together to worship God, to come to the Father through Christ and dependence on the Holy Spirit, I'm there. That's the promise. And what is he there for? What is he there for? He's there. to lead, he's there to rule, he's there to teach, he's there to feed, he's there to comfort, to bind up the brokenhearted, to strengthen the weak, to enable, he's there to bless. There am I in the midst. And how is it? Well, it's not in the flesh because he is in heaven. It's by his Holy Spirit. And how can we know that he is there? There are those, and you hear maybe, you've probably heard reports from different places, gatherings of those in various Christian groups and churches and so on. People might say they'll come away from a certain event and say, oh, I just felt that the spirit was moving. You know, the songs were so wonderful, the music was wonderful, and it just felt like this and that and the other thing. But no. We come back in that sense to the cold hard reality, the objective truth of scripture. When you're gathered together in my name, what does that look like? What is Christ's name? Well, it's who he's revealed himself to be and where has he revealed who he is to us? In his word. And when his word is opened and read, when it is taught, preached and heard, when his commands are followed, when whatsoever he has commanded is being taught and being followed, then we're gathered in his name. When there's faith in him, when there's a love for him, when there's a desire for his glory, then we can know whatever we're feeling like, that he is in the midst. When there's such an assembly, such a gathering, he is there. And he is there, even if there's such a gathering and there's only two or three of us, and there's only two or three called by his name, gathered together in his name, he's there. And when such an assembly is advertised, There will be the public worship of God in this place. God's word is going to be read. God's word is going to be preached. God's word is going to be sung. He's going to be called upon according to his revealed will. You can go to that place and you can know that whoever else isn't there But if you are there as one trusting upon Christ, and there is one other believer there, one who, as far as you're concerned, and obviously God knows, but trusts upon the Lord and loves Him, that their Christ will be with you. He is in the midst. You will be in the presence of the King of kings and Lord of lords. Now, does this mean, no, does this mean that we can't call upon God of ourselves in the closet? Of course not. Throughout the scriptures we see that and we're commanded and encouraged to go to the Lord ourselves and the Lord is with his people and he hears and there's those precious promises. But this is a particular encouragement as regards gathering with the people of God. But know too that if these things are absent, There can be a gathering together of those who even are Christians or have the name of Christian, but if Christ's word is not being opened, if it's not being studied, if his commands aren't being followed, then whatever ceremonies are performed, whatever experiences are felt, But if it's not in His name, then He is not there. There is no glory. Rather, the glory has departed. And it doesn't matter how many hundreds and thousands of people are in that place. There might be many gathered. The question is, is it in His name? And so there's encouragement here. Encouragement to gather in Christ's name. even when it's with a few. It's not that we ought not to exalt in fewness. There are those who would seem to exalt in fewness in a sense, to go to this place and say, well, there ought only to be two or three of us here because that's what Christ has made a promise about that. There's no virtue in that sense in fewness, but it can be the reality. And whether it's 2 or 3 or 10 or 20 or 100, the point is we ought not to despise the 2 or 3. Sometimes that 2 or 3 will be by choice. You and another believer, you're gathered together to call upon the Lord together. Christ says, I'm there. It might be for prayer. It might be for matters of church government. It might be by the reality of the situation, persecution and such things. The point is Christ's promise to his people. Matthew Henry, I think, makes a helpful comment. He says, it is not the multitude, but the faith and sincere devotion of the worshippers that invites the presence of Christ. And though there be but two or three, the smallest number that can be, yet if Christ make one among them who is the principal one, their meeting is as honorable and comfortable as if they were two or three thousand. So yes, there can be discouragements to small gatherings of God's people, but we need to be remembering that promise of Christ and to know As the scriptures say elsewhere, if God be for us, who can be against us? And it doesn't matter to the Lord whether there be many or few. If he is on our side, then we have the victory. So encouragement to be meeting together as God's people. to be making that priority of the public worship of God, to be the gathering together of the people of God. I want to close reading the end of that Psalm 84, where the Lord addresses us in that sense. It says before us how our hearts should be as regards His presence in His courts. Psalm 84, verse 9. Behold, O God, our shield, and look upon the face of thine anointed, for a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I'd rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. For the Lord God is a sun and shield. The Lord will give grace and glory. No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly. The Lord of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee. Amen. Let us come to God in prayer. Let us stand up for prayer. Our Father in heaven, The desire is to be near Thee, O God that has created us, to worship Thee, to glorify Thee. We confess of ourselves we go astray and that rather than cleaving to Thee, our souls would cleave to the dust of the earth and those things that we would find a temporary satisfaction O God, that our hearts would be inclined unto thee, that thou would indeed be to each one a sun and shield, that our great desire would be to be in thy presence. And even if we were offered a thousand days elsewhere, enjoying the greatest pleasures that this world could offer, that we would, above all, be in thy presence, even as a doorkeeper, as a gatekeeper, though for a day. O God, that thou would set before thy people that great blessing of thy presence, and we thank thee that even as we gather in, whenever we would gather, even in fewness of numbers, that we might know Christ, the King of kings, is with us by his Holy Spirit. We do ask all in his name. Amen. Let us now sing. Praise to God from, we continue in Psalm 119, Psalm 119, and from verse 33 to 40. Teach me, O Lord, the perfect way of thy precepts divine, and to observe it to the end, I shall my heart incline. So let us stand up and sing Psalm 119 from 33 to 40. Teach me, O Lord, the perfect way of Thy precepts divine, and to observe it to the end. I shall my heart incline. Give understanding unto me, so shape my law, shall I. Yea, here with my whole heart I shall observe it carefully. In thine oars, Path, make me to go, For I delight therein, my heart unto thy testimonies, and not to greed incline. Turn thou away, my sight and eyes, from view in vanity. and in thy good and holy way, be pleased to quicken thee. Confirm to me thy gracious word, which I did gladly give unto thy servant, Lord, who is devoted to thy fear. Turn thou away my feared reproach, for good thy judgments be. Lo, for thy precepts I have longed, in thy truth quicken me. Let us receive the Lord's blessing, the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, the communion of the Holy Ghost be with you all. Amen.