Today’s Scripture Threshings for Saturday, March 2, 2019
Today’s Text: Matthew 18:18-20
Key Verse: Matthew 18:20 (ESV): “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”
A look at chroniclers work of the Old Testament brings back one story of a King named Asa. He was Rehoboam’s grandson. He had had a long reign of peace, which could be traced to the fact that he trusted in divine strength and not upon vanity. His reliance was never in things or people—even when war-clouds of a great multitude railed against the land. He was content to set his troops of few men in order because he knows that "there is no restraint to the LORD to save by many or by few." (1 Samuel 14:6)
We tend to place too much emphasis on what we can do by ourselves than what God can do. We pursue the crowds, and base our judgment on statistics. We are driven by abilities or the size of our group. We are so easily moved by popular opinion in most of our ways. But Jesus has a different opinion. He is our better Asa. He knows that "there is no restraint to the LORD to save by many or by few.” No man or number can or should play God in our religious experience. Through the power of faith, a man is much more than a multitude.
Our text offers us an assurance that even in our smallest gathering in the name of Jesus, He is with us. God is never moved by multitude. He is just as much interested in the struggling church plant as he is in the megachurch. He is just as present and active in the small prayer meeting as he is in our stadium size conference. A popular Early Church axiom reads: “Ubi tres, ibi Ecclesia” i.e. where three are there is a church. Our strength is never in numerical standard, but in our fulfilment of the true character and commission of the church.
Our Lord loves the crowd. He was moved to go up to the mountain and began to teach when he saw the multitude (Matthew 5:1); but here He is teaching us that He’s not any more present with us during our best days than He is when we feel low. He is concerned about great multitude, but he is not anxious about numbers. He will bless the smallest group that is faithfully seeking his glory and obeying his Word. Speaking to the inner circle of the disciples, who were only three, and whom He addressed as little flock, Jesus assured them to fear not because the Father was pleased to give them kingdom (Luke 12:32). Strengthen your feeble hands in these words of the Lord. Don’t despise or dispose of your small flock. The Lord is pleased with you, and is with you. It is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Believe me: you have the strength of a thousand.
Quote for the Day: “If you understand how one man puts a thousand to flight, and two men ten thousand; then you’d understand how a man with God is always in the majority.” (Simon Olatunji)
Prayer: O LORD our God, We rely on you, not in the strength of our multitude. O LORD, help us not to rely on horses, or trust in the multitude of chariots, or in the great strength of our horsemen, but in you, the Holy One of Israel. In Jesus Christ name. Amen.
With all my Love and Prayer,
Simon Wale Olatunji, PhD
The Darling Bishop (DaBishop),
2321 S Belt Line Rd., Suite 144,
Grand Prairie TX 75051 USA
Email: reachingout@hopeforallnations.org
BBMme: E3F988D2
[Today’s Scripture Threshings is a devotional guide of The House of Prayer Evangel Church USA. Feel free to use it in your family altar and personal quiet times; and to contact us for further enquiry, help and partnership.]
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