“What is the centre round which God’s assembly is gathered? The centre is Christ—the living Stone, as we read in the Epistle of Peter, “To whom coming as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, ye also, as living stones, are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ” (chap. ii. 4, 5). It is around the person of a living Christ then, that God’s assembly is gathered. It is not round a doctrine, however true; nor round an ordinance, however important; but round a living, divine Person. This is a great cardinal and vital point which must be distinctly seized, tenaciously held, and faithfully and constantly avowed and carried out. “To whom coming.” It is not said “To which coming.” We do not come to a thing, but to a Person. “Let us go forth therefore unto Him” (Heb. xiii.). The Holy Ghost leads us only to Jesus. Nothing short of this will avail. We may speak of joining a church, becoming a member of a congregation, attaching ourselves to a party, a cause, or an interest. All these expressions tend to darken and confuse the mind, and hide from our view the divine idea of the assembly of God. It is not our business to join anything. When God converted us, He joined us by His Spirit to Christ and to all the members of Christ, and that should be enough for us. Christ is the only centre of God’s assembly.”
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Related posts and pages:
Centrality and Balance
Centrality and Eccentricity
Christ the Center – Pt. 1: “Centering the Clay”
Christ-Centered Christianity 