His Promised Presence

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James McClendon, Jr. (1924–2000) explores Matthew 18:20, observing that it is Christ who brings us fully into his presence by taking initiative; we cannot invoke or conjure him, but must obediently gather in his name.
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Jesus Christ is alive; He promises His presence “where two or three are gathered” in His name (Matt 18:20). The Christ who brings us fully into the present by His presence takes the initiative: we do not produce Him by some liturgical conjure or evoke His memory by some spiritual stimulus; rather we expect Him as we expect a lover, a friend, an elder brother who has promised and whose promise, whose troth, never fails. When we come obediently together, the risen One is there. —James Wm. McClendon, Jr., “The Signs of Salvation: Christian Worship,” Chapter Nine in Doctrine (Systematic Theology, Vol. 2), 377-378
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James Wm. McClendon Jr.
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Matthew 18:20
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