Turn, if you will, to Psalm 95. Psalm 95. Just now we sang, Brethren, we
have met to worship. If you would just switch two
words of the title in that hymn, it would be in the form of a
question. And it would be this, Brethren, have we met to worship? Have we meant to worship? We
know that we need to. We know that we ought to. And
we know, by God's grace, that we want to. Look here in Psalm
95, verse 1. O come, let us sing unto the
Lord, let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.
Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving and make a
joyful noise unto him with psalms. For the Lord is a great God and
a great king above all gods. In his hand are the deep places
of the earth. The strength of the hills is
his also. The sea is his and he made it
and his hands formed the dry land. O come, let us worship
and bow down Let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker, for He is
our God and we are the people of His pasture and the sheep
of His hand. Today, if you hear His voice,
harden not your heart as in the day of the provocation, as in
the day of the temptation in the wilderness, when your fathers
tempted me and proved me and saw my work. Again, verse 6,
O come, let us worship. Verse 7, He is our God. Our God. Our God. We are His people. That's not
everybody. His sheep. Think of that. Think of that. Just pause for
a moment and think of those blessed descriptions of being God's people. His sheep, His chosen, a miracle
of His mercy. My, what grace! What grace does
that involve? That any fallen son of Adam should
be called the sons of God. Isn't that a marvel? God make
it always to be a marvel to our hearts. He is our God. Therefore, it must follow. Considering
that mercy, that grace, the purpose of God in making us His people,
His sheep, once you consider that, it seems to naturally follow. Let us, all God's people, let's
all join together again, verse 1. Come, let us sing unto the
Lord. He deserves it. He deserves it. Let us make a joyful noise to
the rock of our salvation. O come again, verse 6, O come
let us worship and bow down. That's God's due. That's our
obligation. Our place is to bow down, to
kneel down before the Lord our maker. That's just the right
thing. That's just the right thing,
Louie. That's just what we should do. That's our obligation to
him, to give all the glory to that one from whom we have received
all this amazing grace. Whether we worship as Job did,
out of the sackcloth and the ashes, listen to this, then Job
arose and ran his mantle and shaved his head and fell down
upon the ground and worshipped. Broken hearted, Lester, but worshipped. Hurting, not exempt from that,
of course not, but he worshipped his God. Whether we do it as
we mourn or whether we do it as we rejoice, like those wise
men that John taught about a few weeks ago in Matthew chapter
2. We read that the star appeared to them again, and they rejoiced
with exceeding great joy, because that star led them to where Christ
was. And when they found the young
child, we read, they fell down and worshipped him. And that's
exactly what the psalmist said, O come and let us worship, let
us bow down, kneel before the Lord our maker. kneel before
him, not before a crucifix, not before a statue, not before a
picture or a cross or some other idol. No, these are not our makers. Man makes them, but they didn't
make man. No, that is God's work. God is our maker, the Lord. He
is our God. The Lord is a great God and a
great King above all gods. Yes, we ought to worship Him. We need to worship Him. And we
want to worship Him. Brethren, have we met the worship? I ask you the question, how can
we? How can we worship Him? And that
brings me to my text. Turn, if you will, to Matthew's
Gospel, chapter 18. Matthew chapter 18. One verse
is the answer to the question, how can we worship God? Verse 20. This is the Lord Jesus
Christ speaking. And listen to these sweet words.
As all his words to his people, full of grace and truth. He says
in verse 20, for where two or three are gathered together in
my name, there am I. There am I in the midst of them. The title of my message is Jesus
in our midst. Jesus in our midst. Think about
that. Think about that. My soul, what
an honored guest. None more so, none more precious,
more needed by us, more deserving of our most heartfelt worship
and adoration. Jesus in our midst. This is one
of those verses that it's easy to find divisions for a message
in. And I see four, and I'll be brief.
in each of them, but four things I think are very plainly answered
in the text. First, the people. Then, the
place. Then, the purpose. And then,
the promise. Those four things. First of all,
the people. Christ says, for where two or
three are gathered together in my name. Two or three. I remember, I thought about this
as I was preparing this message. And it has to be 30 years ago. I was a young man, Louis. I was
a young fellow. But I was sitting listening to
Brother Henry Mayhem preach. And this was his text, the same
one I've taken tonight. And he said, where should we
place the emphasis in this text of scripture? Where should it
be placed? And he said, usually, when you
hear this text read, the emphasis is placed upon the amount of
people who are gathered, the two or the three. But he said
the real emphasis should be placed here. There am I. There am I. Without His presence,
what else does it matter who is there or not? Without Him,
there's nothing. But those who do, those who are
gathered, are his people and none else as we read in Psalm
95. Those are the only ones who are
gathered in his name. None else are. Religion can gather
a crowd, but notice the text doesn't read that way. It doesn't
say that gather themselves, but are gathered. The great shepherd
does the gathering. And the fewness of those who
are gathered by him, even though it be two or three, is not without
comfort, is it not? Though their number may be few,
it is not a disclaimer to the promise. The few is no hindrance,
nor does it make void his precious promise of being in the midst
of them. It doesn't require a multitude. Oh, how gracious is our glorious
Redeemer that He should condescend to meet with even two or three
if they've been gathered in His name. Paul in Ephesians 2 calls
the meeting of saints gathered by their Redeemer for public
worship as being the household of God. Think about that. The household of God. Therefore, is it any wonder that
the Word of God instructs us that the most important thing,
the most important thing in a believer's life is what we're doing right
now? Right now. Nothing else is as
important as this. To gather together being gathered
by Him and to worship our great Redeemer. This is the only place,
and this text tells us that, this is the only place men are
assured of God's presence. I know He's promised to be with
His people always, even when they walk through the valley
of the shadow of death. But this is the only place, the
gathering together of His people, where He assures them of His
blessed presence. Is it any wonder that in Hebrews
10 we read these words, exhorting us not to fail in this matter,
not to neglect the assembling of ourselves together as the
manner of some is, as you see the day approaching, oh no, no,
do it even more and exhort one another, encourage one another,
be a help to one another. This is what happens when we
meet together. Is that important? Does that
matter? Does it really matter whether
God's people gather or are gathered together by Him or not? Does
it matter if they meet for worship, for praise, for prayer, for encouragement? Is it important? Ask Lot. Ask Lot. You know the story there. I need not elaborate much on
that. Ask Lot, was it important? I
wonder... No, I don't wonder. I declare,
I'm pretty sure that Lot regretted till his dying day the choice
he made to sojourn in Sodom instead of staying out on the plains
with faithful Abraham, a pilgrim and a stranger. Lot cast his
eye toward Sodom and he moved there for advantage. Oh, but
my soul, look what it cost him. And I've seen it happen. Haven't
you? I've seen that happen. There's
only two reasons that I can think of why professed believers neglect. I don't mean who are occasionally
providentially hindered. I don't mean that. That happens.
That happens. But for those who consistently
neglect the worship of God, it's for two reasons. One of two.
It either is evidence that they're in a sad, poor state spiritually,
or they don't know God. If someone who professes to be
a believer can consistently avoid, stay away from the worship of
God, stay away from meeting with God's people, and they're not
bothered by that, I declare they're a professor only. God's children
need this, do they not? John said they went out from
us. John doesn't mean they were providentially hindered, they
went out from us and they never came back. They never came back. Well, what does that mean, John?
What does that prove? It means they were never really
of us. Because if they had been of us,
one with us, one in heart, one in grace, one in the experience
of His great salvation, if they had been one with us in that
sense, they would still be with us. They would continue with
us. This is what he's saying. Nothing, nothing replaces coming
together. when it's two or three. No CD,
now don't misunderstand me, I'm thankful for these things, thankful
for these tools, but no CD or DVD or chat room on the internet
or blog can take the place of gathering together with God's
people. Here's the promise, there am
There am I, the Lord himself says, in the midst of them. We
talked just prior to the service. I was so thankful last Sunday
when Bobby sent me an email, because I doubt I would have
thought of it otherwise, reminding me of the live streaming, is
that what you call it, of Clay Curtis's service in New Jersey. And I watched them, watched them
both, watched and listened and were blessed by them. But it
didn't take the place. I was thankful for it. But it
didn't take the place of gathering here. It just wasn't the same. I visited Brother Lowell, not
yesterday evening, but one of the times because he's been in
the hospital except for those few days home for a month, over
a month. And he told me, you know, Larry,
I miss being in service with God's people. He said, when I
was able to come, he said, I would get up early and start getting
ready. I should have known this. I should
have thought of this, but I hadn't. But he said, Larry, it takes
me a while to get ready. It takes me a while. So I get
up early and take my shower and get ready because I don't want
to miss service. I don't want to miss what God
might have for me. I don't want to miss what God
might do, what God might speak through his word to my heart. And my promise to you is this,
my brothers and sisters in Christ, concerning Sunday service, this
midweek service, you that work, that travel a distance, that
come in here not feeling great, My promise to you is this. By
God's grace, I'll not stand here without a message that I haven't
sincerely sought from my God for your soul. By His grace,
I'll do that every time. God's truth concerning this two
or three, the people, is our first point. God's truth is always
with the minority, isn't it? Isn't it? Now the world says
and the religious world joins in. Might makes right. Has anyone ever told you, Lester,
that goes to the big uptown First Baptist Church, every community's
got one? They can't be wrong. They must have the truth. Look
at all the crowds that go there. They must have the truth. Numbers
mean everything to man, don't they? but not God. God's not
impressed. Remember that multitude in Revelation
17 that we spoke about a few weeks ago? The multitude that
worshiped the beast? That fell down before Babylon? Babylon? False religion? The majority bowed down before
her. Why? Because their names weren't
written in the Lamb's Book of Life. But they that follow the
Lamb are called and chosen and faithful. Just last night, yeah
I think it was last night, I was watching the evening news and
this was in Tuscaloosa. I was just half paying attention
because there's not much worth listening to on the news anyway,
but they interviewed this woman who belonged to a church who
were standing out in front of the church, taking turns, members
of this congregation, taking turns reading God's word, and
they were going to do that for 90 straight hours without a break.
And she said, I've taken my turn doing it. And I was so moved. I was so moved. She said, standing
here, I can see the courthouse over there. And the first thing
that entered my mind, why? Why? Why? What's that accomplishing? Look,
if you will, in John's Gospel, chapter 6, for just a moment.
John chapter 6. Here's a good example of what
I'm saying. John chapter 6. You're so familiar
with it, so we'll just read a few verses concerning this account.
But here in John chapter 6, look first of all at verses 10 and
11. Here's a multitude of people. It mentions the men But they
were women and children besides. But look at verse 10. And Jesus
said, make the men sat down. Now there was much grass in the
place, so the men sat down in number about 5,000 besides the
women, besides the children. My soul, would you look at that? Would you look at that? Verse
11. Behold this, and Jesus took the
loaves that that lad had brought. Well, now, wasn't that lucky? That lad just happened to, before
he left the house that morning, take a few loaves and fishes.
When Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he
distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that
were sat down, and likewise of the fishes as much as they would. My soul. He's never caught off
guard. That's why we read in the verses
prior to that, Jesus knew what he would do. Isn't that comforting?
Philip, where are we going to buy bread for this vast multitude? Jesus knew what he would do,
and this couldn't have been more orderly than if it had been planned
for six months in advance. Nothing catches him by surprise.
It does you, Lou, and it does me. Oh, but not him. Not him. He always knows what He will
do. Now look down, if you will, in
this same chapter of John 6 at verse 24. The multitude is fed,
filled. The Lord sends His disciples
across the sea and He comes walking on the water. You know the story.
And here comes the multitude after Him. Verse 24, when the
people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, neither his disciples,
they also took shipping and came to Capernaum seeking for Jesus.
And when they had found him on the other side of the sea, they
said unto him, Rabbi, when camest thou hither? Now looking at those
verses alone, isn't that an impressive picture? Isn't that impressive?
My, can you visualize that? Thousands and thousands of thousands
sitting down. And here's the master. The fishes,
the bread are multiplied in his hand. He hands, he reaches in
and hands it to the disciples and they feed thousands and thousands
of people. And these people, they follow
him across the sea. A multitude. Isn't that impressive? Oh, but take another look. Take
another look. It's speaking of those same so-called
disciples in verse 66. After hearing our Lord's teaching
about God's sovereignty, about man's depravity, about no man
can really come to Him except the Father draw him, look at
this picture, verse 66. From that time, many of His disciples
those that experienced the miracle, those that crossed the sea, went
back and walked no more with him. Oh, and we hear say, the
majority can't be wrong every time. Every time. You know why? You know why? Turn back. Verse
63, our Lord says, it is the spirit that quickeneth the flesh. Everything they done was done
by the flesh. Every move they made was done
by the flesh. It is the spirit that quickeneth,
the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak unto you,
they are spirit and they are life, but there are some of you
that believe not, for Jesus knew from the beginning who they were
that believed not and who should betray him. And look at that
multitude now, turning their backs on the Son of God and walking
away. Now look, he stands there with
twelve. Where did the crowd go? 12 remaining, and one of them is
a hypocrite, one of them is a devil, and he asked him, will you also
go away? Do you want to join the crowd?
And look what Peter said. Oh, blessed is that man or woman
who from their heart can give the same answer. Lord, to whom
shall we go? Thou has the words of eternal
life, and we believe and are sure that Thou art the Christ,
the Son of the living God. One of Mr. Fortner's many hymns
expresses it like this. All saints are one around the
world, and those in heaven too, the universal church of God,
a glorious multitude. As one great chosen family, we
gather around God's throne, redeemed and called by grace divine to
make His glory? No. That brings us to our second
point, the place. Our Lord says, here in our text,
where two or three are gathered together. Again, I point out,
He doesn't say that have gathered themselves, but are gathered.
He does that, and He surrounds Himself. In Revelation, we read
this expression over and over again. There is Christ in the
midst of them. Christ walking in the midst of
the seven golden candlesticks, His church. Christ himself surrounded,
stands in the midst of His church. If I be lifted up, I'll draw
all men unto me. And wherever they are gathered
together, You have this sweet, sweet promise. He's there wherever
it is. If they're gathered in his name,
I'm in the midst of them. Some have gathered in forest,
in hiding, at the threat of death, if caught worshipping their God,
but whether inside or outside, Christ says, wherever they are
gathered in my name, I am there. Where is not really important,
or how many, but why and who? I've heard people say, it's ridiculous. Just can't worship without the
extra thing. Stained glass. Oh, just can't
worship without that. Can't do without that. Can't
worship without a crystal cathedral or choirs. And put robes on them
choirs. And we want our preacher, our
clergyman, to dress like a clergyman. Special lighting for effect.
And on and on and on. One thing, one thing, shouldn't
say thing. The only thing necessary, essential
to salvation, or rather to worship, is Jesus Christ himself being
in our midst. He's the one thing needful, nothing
else. I got a phone call this afternoon
while I was preparing this message. And this, Dick didn't recognize
the number, I'm always a little apprehensive about that. But
I answered. They wanted to speak to the worship
director of Fairmont Grace Church. And
I said, well, I'm the pastor. Will I do? Oh, yeah, you'll do. If that's all you got down there,
we'll talk to you. But she asked me, what do you
do to raise money for the young people, for the youth group?
And I said, girl, lady, at Fairmont Grace Church, we preach the gospel. That's all. She said, goodbye,
goodbye. Edward didn't need to hear nothing
else. Isn't that sad that in our day
the preaching of the gospel is the one thing people do not want,
do not recognize? Again, Brother Don's hymn. He
wrote this, wherever your people gather, Lord, around the mercy
seat, be pleased to grant your grace and power wherever your
church may meet. Some gather in a stately place,
some in a modest home, but all who know your love and grace
to worship Christ have come. Oh God grant that. Now third,
the purpose in coming together. Oh here's where the emphasis
lies. May it be so in our hearts as
well as in this verse of scripture. where two or three are gathered
together in my name. What does that mean? What does
it mean to gather together in his name? It doesn't mean to
come in as most churches do, where people sit and wave their
hands up in the air and roll their eyes back in their head
and cry the word Jesus. That's not gathering in his name.
It means to come together for His honor, for His glory, and
His praise, feeling I must worship Him. I must hear from Him. I must behold Him. Nothing else matters. Nothing
is more essential to my soul than that. And oh, what a privilege,
what an honor, what a blessing when Christ enables us to do
that. Listen to these words of Christ's bride to his church.
I'm reading from the Song of Solomon. These are the words
of Christ's bride, his church, in the Song of Solomon. This
is her prayer. Awake, O north wind, and come
thou south. Blow upon my garden. that thy
spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved..." This is the
church's prayer. "...let my beloved come into
his garden and eat his pleasant fruits." And here's his answer. Here's the bridegroom's answer.
I am coming to my garden, my sister, my spouse. I have gathered
my myrrh with my spice. I have eaten my honeycomb with
my honey. I have drunk my wine with milk. Eat, O friends, drink,
yea, drink abundantly, O beloved." Again from the Song of Solomon,
listen to these words. Draw me, the church says. Draw
me, we will run after thee. The king hath brought me into
his chambers. We will be glad and rejoice in
thee. We will remember thy love more than wine. The upright love
thee. Jesus Christ himself. That brings
us to our last point. The promise of his presence. Where two or three are gathered
together in my name, there am I. There am I. There am I in the midst of them. Oh, what an honored guest. There
am I, the eternal God, the one who loved us from everlasting. There am I in the midst of them. the one who became likened to
his brethren, flesh and blood, that one who was made sin for
us that we might be made the righteousness of God in him,
there am I in the midst of them." Judas, not Iscariot, we read
in John 14, before our Lord went to the garden, he asked, how
will you manifest yourself to us and not to the world? And
our Lord said, my father and I will come in to thee, my people,
and manifest myself to thee as not unto the world. Oh, there
am I, the great I am, those seven I ams of John's gospel, seven
perfection. I am the bread of life. I am
the light of the world. I am the door. I am the great
shepherd of the sheep. I'm the resurrection and the
life. I'm the way, the truth and the life. I am the true thine. All that. All that. All that He is. He says, I am
in the midst of thee. What a contrast. What a contrast. Now, when you lie your head down
on your pillow tonight, may God bring that thought back to your
heart. I with Him. He in the midst of us. One with Him. One with Him. I am His. I am His. And He's mine, Lester,
forever. Isn't that glorious? What an
honor to be gathered by Him and Him in our midst. No wonder the
psalmist said, I was glad when they said unto me, let us go. Let us go into the house of the
Lord. Glad that I had a place to go.
Glad that I had a heart to go. Glad I was going with others
who wanted to go as well. Turn, if you will, to Psalm 133. We'll bring this to a close.
Psalm 133, verses 1 and 2. Psalm 133. Behold how good and
how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. It
is like precious ointment upon the head. Now remember, Christ
is our head. That ran down upon the beard,
even Aaron's beard, that went down to the skirts of his garments. Oh, precious ointment, the sweet
savor of Jesus Christ, flowing down from His head, our glorious
head, to every member of His redeemed body. Indeed, how precious,
how sweet. One more passage, John's Gospel
chapter 12. Here's an illustration of what
we just read in Psalm 133. Here's a demonstration of that
very thing. In John chapter 12, verse 1,
Then Jesus, six days before the Passover, came to Bethany, where
Lazarus, which had been dead, which had been dead, he's not
dead anymore, because he who is the resurrection and the life,
it said, Lazarus, come forth. where he which had been dead,
whom he raised from the dead, there they made him a supper.
Well, they should. And Martha served, but Lazarus
was one of them that sat at the table with him. There am I in the midst of them. Then took Mary a pound of ointment
of spikenard, very costly. And she thought, nothing's too
good for him. And anointed the feet of Jesus
and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house, listen to this,
and the house was filled with the odor of the ointment. May
the aroma of Christ's presence fill our hearts and our worship
of him perfume this place every time we are gathered here. are
gathered by him to worship in his name. Quoting from the hymn
by Mr. Fortner one more time, and will
be done. A special favor we would seek,
who worship in this place, pour out your spirit, flood our souls
with visions of your grace. There am I, in the midst of them. Amen. Amen.