WHERE TWO OR THREE ARE GATHERED TOGETHER (PART I)

“Power Devoid of Truth is Power Devoid of God”

By Akin Ojumu

Defective Gospel produces defective converts. False teaching leads to flawed Christians. Aberrant doctrine ends in aberrant believers. Wrong theology brings about wrong doxology. Without a proper grounding in and accurate understanding of the Word of God, there can’t be proper worship. Those who have a warped thinking about the true God would end up worshiping a false god.

Nothing is more dangerous than a Christian who diminishes the Word of God by the way they mishandle it. The widespread total disregard for teaching and preaching the Word with the mandatory accuracy and precision should be a trend of particular concern to all God-fearing people. It scares me greatly whenever I hear someone who claims to be a follower of Christ dishonors God by twisting and distorting His Word.

2 Corinthians 10:4-6

“For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.”

What terrifies me about the nearly universal profane and flippant attitude of modern-day preachers to Scripture is the lack of appreciation for its sanctity and inviolability. When you listen to the vast majority of preachers today, you come away with the impression that they consider the Word of God as just another malleable and adaptable inventory in their man-made toolbox of vanity from which they can draw accoutrements to erect their ideological fortresses inside of which they barricade themselves and their listeners against God and the Gospel. By their many unbiblical utterances, there’s the sense you get that these people believe the Word of God is a moldable plastic material that they can use to construct their arguments and lofty opinions raised against the true knowledge of God.

2 Timothy 2:15

“Make every effort to present yourself approved to God, an unashamed workman who accurately handles the word of truth.”

It’s imperative that you know that God has not lowered the standard for handling His Word. Those who preach the Word of Truth must do so with accuracy. Teachers of the Word must apply diligence and precision so that they accurately convey the intended meaning of the Scripture they teach. This was the standard in the 1st Century. It remains the standard even today. The idea that God changes His standard from one generation to the next is a lie from the pit of hell.

The early Christian fathers were not more enlightened than modern-day Christians. Many of the patriarchs of the Christian faith were illiterate fishermen and shepherds who did not receive any formal education. Yet, because of the presence of the Holy Spirit in them, they were inspired to write the Books of the New Testament, and through them and the Apostolic Fathers who succeeded them, the teachings of the Gospel were spread all over the world.

John 14:26

“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”

Just as the Holy Spirit taught the early Christians the Word of Truth, so also is He teaching us today. The same Holy Spirit that was in them is the Holy Spirit that’s now inside of modern-day Christians. So, the notion that God accommodates the preaching of an aberrant Gospel or the idea that He condones the abuse and misuse of His Word is a satanic strategy to downplay the devastation that false theologies and erroneous doctrines are wreaking to the Body of Christ.

Isaiah 8:20

“To the teaching and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn.”

2 John 1:9-11

“Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works.”

It’s important we all understand that anyone who does not teach the Word of Truth accurately or does not abide in the teachings of Christ neither knows God nor belong to Him. The idea that we should ignore the shallow and unbiblical teachings of a preacher simply because the preacher is demonstrating power is a satanic deception. Simply because a man performs miracles, signs, and wonders doesn’t make him a true man of God. The fact that a fortune-teller makes an accurate prediction is not proof he is a true prophet of God.

Matthew 24:24

“For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.”

God would never validate a false teacher by allowing him to perform signs and wonders. He would not authenticate the work of a twister and distorter of His Word by doing miracles through him. There’s no way God would vindicate a fortune-teller who has no regard for the fidelity of Scriptures. Any demonstration of supernatural power that’s not based on the solid foundation of sound doctrine or does not flow from the accurate teaching of the Word of Truth is a power that originates from the pit of darkness and not from the throne of God.

Ripping Bible texts out of their proper contexts and twisting them to mean something entirely different from their original intended meaning is the forte of charlatans. Religious ambulance-chasing scoundrels successfully perpetuate their deceptive schemes by skillfully misquoting Scriptural passages and cleverly misappropriating God’s Words to bolster their false assertions. The reason they succeed in their deceptive endeavors is because the vast majority of their target audience are impressionable biblically illiterate folks who are easy to con.

This commentary series is an attempt to deconstruct another one of the many Bible passages that have become a victim of abuse and misuse by false teachers and preachers of dubious variety. In this particular instance, the Bible text in question is the one where God said He’ll be there, where two or three are gathered together in His name.

Matthew 18:20

“For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”

Like many of you reading this commentary, I used to think this text is saying that God is present only where two or three people assemble to worship. We were taught to believe as though a quorum of two or more is what draws the presence of God down into our meetings. For years, I was made to understand that God is not there until there are at least two people gathered. In fact, we all quote this verse in the opening prayers of our meetings and fellowships to hold God accountable to His Word.

The logical extension of this misinterpretation of Matthew 18:20 is the notion that a gathering of only one person is a gathering where God is not present. In a sense, a man who is worshipping God all alone by himself in the corner of his room is a man who does not have the presence of God. Although we often don’t think of it along those lines or even realize that’s what we are pretty much saying, but that’s the obvious implication of such an interpretation of that verse.

By now, I’m pretty certain your mind is running on overdrive. You are probably asking yourself, “what’s wrong with that interpretation?”

Well, explaining why that popular interpretation of Matthew 18:20 is erroneous is the purpose of this commentary. We’ll take a deep dive into the text – which is really not all that deep, when you consider the immediate context – to examine what the Holy Spirit is really saying to us in the passage.

But you’ve got to wait till next time.