Then the whole multitude of the country of the Gadarenes round about besought Him to depart from them, for they were taken with great fear: and He went up again into the ship and returned back again. Luke 8:37
When a cousin of mine was studying for his doctorate in a large American city, some of his work involved people at a mental institution. Some of these people were able to leave the institution freely, including one man who went out one Sunday morning to attend a church service. He entered a large ornate church building near the mental institution and found a convenient seat near the back. However, some of the church ushers recognized him as being from the institution, and, concerned that he might act irrationally, asked him to leave. He did so quietly. The next day, my cousin heard about the expulsion of the man and went to talk with him. The man did not appear upset and told my cousin, ‘It’s OK, God was talking to me about it, and it’s OK’. ‘Oh,’ said my cousin, ‘What did God say about it?’ The man replied, ‘God said it’s OK, because they kicked Him out of the same church years ago.’
We can laugh at that story, but it is also sad to think that many places that claim to represent or involve God actually exclude Him from their presence. Just like the Gadarenes in today’s text, these places are afraid that God will mess up their plans and interfere with their business and lifestyles. For example, those groups that accommodate and condone ‘alternative lifestyles’ are absolutely without the presence of God, who has declared such behaviour an abomination to Him. Any claim they make to having God’s presence is either a lie or a total delusion. But what about our Assemblies, is it possible to have an Assembly – or an Assembly member – without the presence of the Lord Jesus?
There are known instances of people who have been in Assembly fellowship who were never saved. There are also (too many) instances of believers in Assembly fellowship who are not in any way living for their Lord. There are also Assemblies that have become cold and legalistic or have become lax and liberal to the extent that very little of the presence of the Lord or obedience to His Word is detectable.
It is a sad and solemn thing to exclude the Lord Jesus from our midst. May we as individuals and as His Assembly never be guilty of doing so. -Jim MacIntosh