'Then were the disciples glad when they saw the Lord" (John 20:20)
Not infrequently we have applications from Christians wishing to associate themselves with us, because they are seeking amongst us for the solution of ills which have afflicted them in some center of formal religion. We may be sure that they will be grievously disappointed, if that idea is dominant in their minds.
The disciples were glad only as they saw the Lord in the midst. What has caused much of the unhappiness and disappointment has arisen through failing to see the Lord in the midst of His own. Then we are apt to limit our affections and interest to the merely social circle. Often that is as an inner ring within an outer ring of those with whom we formally associate in Christian observances. Moreover we need to see that in a much wider sense there are countless thousands with whom we do not associate who are as dear to the heart of the Lord as we are, and that in answering to the Lord's request in partaking of His Supper we should have these in view. We do not seek merely to express the fellowship of all the Christians in our locality, but we embrace in our thoughts the whole assembly of God in a world-wide sense, and that as two or three gathered together in the authority of His name we seek to express that truth.
It was a common expression at one time that certain Christians had been gathered to the Lord's name for forty years or more, and so on. Such is apt to be a misleading statement. The gathering to His name is not a perpetual gathering although it has a lasting significance. But it is only realized when we come together! If this fact is appreciated, we shall not be found claiming the monopoly of the Lord's presence, and so denying the same to any other Christian company, if those who constitute such are truly gathered in the authority of His name.
At the same time our being gathered together should leave a tangible mark upon us during the week of which the assembling forms a sort of vanguard. Even as it could be said of the disciples in the early part of the Acts, that people took knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus, so it is nowadays, the apprehension of the Lord's presence must necessarily have a similar result. The people around will recognize that although in the world we are not of it. Meeting with the Lord on the first of the week will entail sustaining a new character, viz., the bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus that His life also may be manifested in our body (2 Cor. 4:10). -T. Oliver (Galaskiels).