Gathered into the Lord’s Name, in our Spirit, and with the Cross – the Ground of Oneness

Wherever we may be, when we meet with the saints, we should be gathered into the Lord’s name, in our spirit, and with the cross; this is the ground of oneness, and this keeps us one in the Body of Christ.

In Deut. 12 we see a very important principle and ordination from God for His people’s worship of Him; whenever they worshipped God and gathered together, they could not just do it in their own way or in the place of their choice, but they had to do it in God’s way and in the place of His choice.

God ordains that His people would come together to the place of His choice and there worship God in His way, with His sacrifices, and together with God’s people.

God is very strict and particular in this matter; the Gentiles and the pagan people can do whatever is right in their own eyes, and they can worship their gods in their own ways, but it is not so with God’s people.

Rather, God’s people are to first destroy and smash all foreign idols, and then worship God in the place ordained by God and with the sacrifices that He desires.

The history of the children of Israel tells us, however, that God’s people went after the gods of the nations, setting up idols and their altars under every flourishing tree and on the hills, and having high places.

May we be saved from a situation of degradation and division, and may we be freed from the desire of doing what is right in our own eyes or worship God in the way that we want.

May we take God’s way, and may we allow God’s ordination to limit us even in our worship of God.

Division and apostasy always comes in as a result of idolatry; when we take God’s ordination and worship God according to the way that He wants and in the place of His choice.

May we not take the way of the nations, doing what is right in our own eyes; may we come to the Lord, hear Him and listen only to His word, and meet in the Lord’s name, in our spirit, and with the cross.

God wants that the enjoyment of Christ with God would be at the unique place of God’s choice for the keeping of the oneness of God’s people.

In the Old Testament this place was Jerusalem, and in particular the temple in Zion; in the New Testament, this unique ground of oneness is the Lord’s name, our mingled spirit, and the cross.

The Lord’s name should be the only name we gather into; our mingled spirit should be the only place we are gathered into; the cross should be applied to our being whenever we meet together.

This is for the keeping of the oneness among the people of God.

Being Gathered into the Lord’s Name, in our Spirit, and with the Cross, the Ground of Oneness

Wherever we may be, whomever we may be, as long as we are believers in Christ who love God and His purpose, we need to be gathered in nothing else but into the Lord’s name, in our spirit, and with the cross; this is the ground of our oneness.

Although we are many believers scattered all over the earth, and although we meet in different localities, we all meet in the same place – in the Lord’s name, in our spirit, and with the cross; this one place is the ground of the unique oneness (Deut. 12:5-6; Jer. 32:39).

Our unique meeting place is not a meeting hall but the Lord’s name, our spirit, and the cross.

If we are in the Lord’s name and we do not denominate ourselves by any other name, if we are in the mingled spirit being exercised to be one spirit with the Lord, and if we allow the cross to operate in us to terminat the flesh and the self and the natural man, we are on the ground of oneness.

When these three things are present, we are in the right place to worship God; that place is the ground of the unique oneness, for there we have the one name, the one spirit, and the one cross, so we can offer the one worship to the one and true God!

Outwardly speaking, we are divided by geography, for we meet in separate cities all over the world; inwardly speaking, however, we meet on the scriptural ground of locality, having the practice of having one church for one city, one city with only one church (Acts 8:1; 13:1; Rev. 1:11).

This is a clear pattern in the New Testament; whenever the gospel reached a particular locality and a good number believed into the Lord in that place, they became the church in that locality; the only boundary or name of that church was the boundary of that city.

There was a church in Jerusalem and there was a church in Antioch; there is no more than one church in one city, for there’s one Body in this universe, one church universally, and each local church is a local expression of the one universal church.

This is both the New Testament pattern and God’s wisdom to keep His people one.

Because we are still in space and time, in order for us to be preserved in oneness, we need to meet inwardly by being into the Lord’s name, in the mingled spirit, and by the cross, and outwardly we need to meet on the scriptural ground of locality, being the one church in one city.

This doesn’t mean that we are yet another church in the city where we live; rather, it means that there’s only one church in the city we live in, and all believers in our city are one church.

This is very clear in the Lord’s word – to preserve the testimony of oneness of God’s people, there should be one church in one city, and all believers need to meet in the Lord’s name, in the mingled spirit, and by the cross.

In spite of the geographical separation, we all meet in the same place – in the name of the Lord Jesus, in our mingled spirit, and with the cross; this is the oneness, and this is the ground of the proper worship of God.

It is sad, however, to see the situation of degradation and division in Christianity today; there are so many so-called “churches” everywhere in a big city, and each one is differently denominated from another, having a “different flavor” and “appealing to a different audience”.

This is a shame to the Lord and a victory of the enemy, for so far he is succeeding in dividing the Body of Christ. May we return to the genuine ground of oneness, meeting only in the Lord’s name, in our spirit, and by the cross.

Lord Jesus, we return to the genuine ground of oneness to be the local expression of the universal Body of Christ. Hallelujah, there is only one Body in this universe – there is only one universal church, and we all can express it here on earth as the many local churches, one church in one city! Amen, Lord Jesus, we are gathered into Your name, in our spirit, and with the cross, being one with You and one with all the saints for Your unique testimony on the earth! Hallelujah, Christ is our oneness, we are gathered into the Lord’s name, we exercise our spirit, and we allow the cross to operate in us so that we may be kept in the oneness of the Body!

Not caring for our Preference but for the Lord’s Presence by being in our Spirit, in the Lord’s name, and by the Cross

It is quite sad to see that, even though there are many believers who live in the same city, in the same area, and even on the same street, they will not meet together because they have their own preference.

They may prefer to meet with certain kinds of people, in a certain setting, with a particular pastor or worship leader, and with a particular programme of worship. Oh Lord Jesus!

If Paul were here today, he would have asked, Was this preacher or that teacher crucified for you? Who is Paul or Cephas to say that I am of Paul and I of Cephas?

We in the church life in the Lord’s recovery must not care for our preference but for the Lord’s presence.

We need to realize that, in whatever locality the Lord put us in, we should be gathered into the Lord’s name, we should meet in our spirit and with the cross.

If we do this, we meet in the same place and we are one with all the saints, although we may meet in different localities, for this one place is the unique ground of oneness.

When we meet together, we need to take God’s way and His preference, not our way and our preference; according to God, the flesh, the self, and the natural man cannot be in the meeting, so the cross must be applied.

We need to met in the name of the Lord Jesus, in our mingled spirit, and with the cross; this is the place where we meet, and here we have the oneness which we endeavor to keep in the unique name of the Lord.

In one city there may be many meeting halls or districts, but there’s still only one church, that church in that city.

For example, in Jerusalem there were many meeting places and many homes in which they broke bread or had prayer meetings, there was still only one church in Jerusalem.

Today in the locality we are there may be many homes where we gather for the prayer meeting or the home meeting, and there may be many halls or districts in which we gather on the Lord’s day to break bread and have the prophesying meeting, but still, there is one church with one administration and one testimony.

There is only one church in the universe, so there’s one expression of the church in any given place.

This is the ground of the church; the church needs to keep the principle of having one church for one city, one city with only one church, otherwise the church will be divided.

May we learn to put aside our preferences (which divide us!) and be for the Lord’s preference, His choice, caring more for His presence as the Spirit of reality, the reality of His name (Matt. 18:20; 1 Cor. 1:10; Exo. 33:14).

When we say that we gather in the Lord’s name, we actually gather in the reality of His person, and today the name of Jesus is the person of Christ, and the reality of this person is simply the Spirit.

To be gathered into the Lord’s name is simply to be gathered into the Spirit of reality.

The fulfillment of the type in Deut. 12 is not a matter of a geographical place but a matter of our spirit (John 4:21-24).

At the entrance of the church there’s the cross, and in order to meet as the church, we must experience the cross with the crucifying of the self, for the overthrowing of reasonings and every high thing rising up against the knowledge of God (2 Cor. 10:5).

We need to allow the cross to operate in us to overthrow any reasoning and high thing rising up against the knowledge of God, and we need to exalt Christ alone so that He may be all and in all for God’s expression and the unique testimony of oneness (Matt. 16:24; 1 Cor. 2:2; 2 Cor. 10:3-5; Col. 1:10, 18b; 3:10-11).

Amen, may we meet in the Lord’s name, through the cross, and in the mingled spirit, exalting only Christ so that He may be seen and manifested among us!

Lord Jesus, we put aside our preference and care only for the Lord’s presence as the Spirit of reality; we only want to have the Lord’s presence as we meet into the Lord’s name, in the mingled spirit, and through the cross. Amen, Lord Jesus, may the cross operate in us to crucify the self and overthrow any reasonings and high things rising up against the knowledge of God! May only Christ be exalted among us so that He may be our all and in all for God’s expression and the unique testimony of oneness!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by bro. Minoru Chen for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Deuteronomy, msg. 11 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of Deuteronomy, week 9, Enjoying Christ with God on the Ground of Oneness.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – Gathered in Thy name, Lord Jesus, / Losing sight of all but Thee, / O what joy Thy presence gives us, / Calling up our hearts to Thee! (Hymns #204)
  – All the meetings Christ appointed / And attended here on earth / Were apart from all religion, / All its rituals, forms, and dearth. / Resurrection, not religion, / Must be our reality; / Let us meet in resurrection, / From all dead religion free. (Hymns #1281)
  – In spirit and in truth, O Lord, / We meet to worship here; / As taught by Christ, the Son of God, / We now in Him draw near. (Hymns #865)