The Unseen Guest

‘Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst.’ (Matthew 18:20)

Let’s say that different...

‘Where even just two or three of you meet together in my name, I will be right there with you.’

This is the promise of Jesus to all who follow him and believe in him. He might be the unseen guest, the silent listener, the person in the fourth chair, but he will be there.

Note however, that there is no mention of a priest, a pastor, a ‘worship group’, or an organist having to be there. He simply stated that wherever in the world just two people meet together in his name to talk about the things pertaining to God’s kingdom, or to pray, or encourage each other in the Bible’s teaching, then Jesus himself is in the same room, cave, tent, or even as you shelter in a bus stop from the rain.

You do not need anyone’s permission to come together and read the Bible, have a time of prayer, or simply to meet up because you are of the same mind. Christ is the head of his church and he is the access into God’s presence. The church is not a building, neither a denomination. The church is the people - every Believer- who belong to Christ.

The Bible says that whoever receives him as their Saviour and Lord, they are privileged to be the children of God. If this be so, then his children have full rights and access into the Father’s house and throne room. Nobody has any right to forbid them entry, nor do any have the legal authority to tell them they cannot meet with God whenever they wish to.

God had no intention for us to just sit in church every Sunday singing choruses and listening to the man on the platform telling some stories from what often is an actor’s stage. If that is all there is to our faith, then all we have is some form of religious institutionalism that has no power and no evidence of a real living God.

The church of the New Testament got filled with the Holy Spirit, and then went everywhere preaching the gospel in every house. It was not the apostles (the leaders) only who saw phenomenal growth of new converts, but the crowds of ordinary men and women who ‘went everywhere preaching the word (telling everyone about their new-found faith’. (Acts 8:4) 

The apostles never locked the congregation into a planned church programme where you just sat there, threw some coins into the basket, and could not meet with other members for a meeting unless the pastor gave you permission.

In my church in Wales, I was delighted whenever any of the people opened their homes to hold Bible-studies or prayer meetings. I was thrilled when individuals used their initiative and passion to go out and evangelize in their community. “I would love for God to make all of His people prophets (preachers, evangelists), and that the LORD would put his Spirit upon them!”  (Numbers11:29)

Sadly, the platform and pulpit are guarded and held aloft through fear and competitiveness. The ministry is sometimes seen as being open only to the educated and ‘qualified’; but God will take the nothings of this world, even those considered foolish, and show his glory through them. God does not need a brilliant mind; but with a humble and passionate heart, he can turn the world upside-down. (1Corinthians 1:27)

We live in a new time period now. Things have drastically changed. 

It is time to get back to New Testament Christianity, which is more about Believers meeting with Believers, rather than our modern-day practise of church-goers sitting in rows of chairs, (while secretly checking our their text messages but making out to be all religious!).

We need fire in our meetings, passion in the pulpits, and congregations of those who believe that they are called to be living witnesses for Jesus every single day of their lives.

Pilgrim warrior