IPC Messenger
A W eekly P ublication of T he I ndependent P resbyterian C hurch
O ffi c e 912-2 3 6 - 3 3 46 | F a x 912- 236-3676 | E-Mail [email protected] | Website www. ipcsav.org
V olume 14 • N o 42
S
OCTOBER 2017
Where Jesus Is
ome will not be convinced by what
we’ve said about the church so far.
That Jesus said, “I will build my
church” (Mt 16:18) and says nothing
about building anything else, and said,
“Tell it to the church” (Mt 18:17), and
all that in the way of structure is implied
by that phrase, and all that the Apostles
understood by that phrase, still fails to
resonate. The keys of the kingdom? The
power of binding and loosing? No, some
still are not persuaded.
We’ve saved what is perhaps our
strongest argument for last. Jesus says
in the same Matthew 18 cited above
that “where two or three are gathered
in my name, there am I among them”
(Mt 18:20). Where is Jesus today? One
might assume that because Jesus is God
the Son, He can be present anywhere
and everywhere. Indeed, He is. He is
omnipresent. Our interest, however, is
not in His omni presence, but His blessed
presence. Granted, that too can be
manifested anywhere. We mustn’t tie
God’s hands or restrict Him in any way.
He may make His blessed or favorable
presence known on the golf course, at
the pier, or on the back porch.
The serious question for our
consideration is, where has He promised
to be present? The issue is not where
might He be present but where will He
be present because He has promised to
be present. The answer is, where two or
three are gathered in His name. He has
promised to be present in the assembly
of His disciples, even the most humble
of those assemblies. The question then
must be, do I wish to be where Jesus is?
Dare I miss out on the opportunity to
be where Jesus promises to be present?
Remember, we’ve made the case that the
church as described in Matthew 18:15-
20 cannot be regarded as an informal,
ad hoc, irregular gathering of self-
selecting believers. It has a structure, a
membership from which one may be
included and excluded; it has standards
of belief and conduct to which one
must conform, a form of government by
which decisions are made, and a system
of discipline by which the privileges of
membership may be limited or removed.
We can see the implementation of
these principles at work in the apostolic
church as the Apostle insists that the
church “remove the wicked man from
among you” (see 1 Cor 5:1-13).
We are given a glimpse of the ascended
Jesus visiting churches in Revelation 2
and 3. Most of these churches are deeply
flawed. He warns of withdrawing from
them. Yet He is there, speaking to them,
dealing with them on the basis of their
collective responsibility. Jesus is present
with His assembled church.
So, again, we ask, do we wish to be
where Jesus promises to be? Calvin
warns, “Whoever either neglects the
sacred assemblies or separates himself
from his brethren and is slothful in
cultivating unity demonstrates by this
fact that he cares nothing for Christ’s
presence.” 1 Do we wish to sit at His feet
and be taught? Do we wish to enjoy
fellowship with Him? (see 1 Jn 1:1, 2).
Do we wish to experience His presence?
Again, we cite Calvin: “The first thing
1 Calvin, Harmony of the Gospels, II:232, my
emphasis.
IPC Messenger
CONTENTS
2 Music Ministry
4 Women’s Ministry
5 Student Ministries
6 Family Corner
7 Children’s Ministry
8 Moral Concerns
9
Missions and
Ministry
10
Announcements
and Events
to realize is that those who desire Christ’s
presence will meet in His name.” 2 Where is
Jesus? He is wherever His true church
is. He is in the midst of the assembly of
His people. Is this not where we need to
be as well?
—TLJ
2 Ibid., my emphasis.