"Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them."
In this lesson, Jesus is again speaking expressly to, and about, His Church. He promised herein that whatever we do on behalf of His Church, if its done correctly, will be sanctioned before God, "Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven."
By making that statement, Jesus granted His Church authority over anything they might need to further His divine purpose.
There are some who contend that this quote grants divine authority to certain individuals, even the authority to forgive sin, (Catholic popes, bishops, priests, et al). Nothing could be further from the truth! In the first place, there is only one remitter of sin, that is the Son of God crucified. By applying the term "they" in the quote, Jesus made it very clear that in order to qualify for the divine authority to act concerning His Church, there must be at the least, two members in agreement. He said, "if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.". That means that there must be at least two members in agreement before the promise was made valid. That requirement totally nullifies the notion that any one man/woman might be authorized to act on behalf of the Church.
There is another lesson that must be taken from the above quote. Most of the worlds religions make the claim that their members are required, by some divine authority, to perpetually assemble themselves together two or three times per week.
It is true that Hebrews 10:23-25 says, "Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching."
However, that is not a command to regularly in the same place, to the contrary, it is a command that we simply not forsake "the assembling" of ourselves together. By coming together in the same place two or three times per week, we take time away from our own divine purpose, which is to SPREAD the news of God's amazing grace through Jesus Christ crucified. That is not to preach it in the exact same spot over and over.
Jesus promised, "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." We need not all be gathered together in one place to minister the gospel, if there are, even as few as two, the Lord's message can be preached. We need only to continually encourage each other and remain ever mindful of our own divine purpose.~
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