Written by Philip Thompson

Matthew 12:30 He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.

In this verse there are two words that really stick out to me. With all that’s currently going on in the world, particularly with how the world interacts with most churches and how a lot of so-called Christians act toward the world, in such a way as to show themselves friends, it seems like these two words are very pointed towards the current era.

These two words are “with me”, in the context of the verse these words carry significant importance. This is because Jesus is speaking in defense of the Pharisee’s accusation that he “doth not cast out devils… but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils”.

And as he defends against this accusation, he says this about those who would gather, but in this verse, he is speaking about those who would gather not “with Him”.

Clearly this applies to the Pharisees, when Jesus says “gathereth”, it has the idea of “gathering together” in the way of building up, in the sense of someone gathering the materials and building a skyscraper. The Pharisees were certainly “gathering” they were a very prominent group with a lot of prestige. They had counsels and customs and ways that were tradition and highly reverenced.

Theres just one problem with this kind of “gathering” that the Pharisees were doing, it wasn’t with Jesus. Notice Jesus’ specific wording, He didn’t say “he that gathereth not scattereth abroad”, that would be a rather redundant statement. Instead, he clarifies that there is a right way to gather and a wrong way to gather.

“he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.”

Jesus is saying that no matter how marvelous your gathering, no matter how high and wonderful your splendor is, it is no good if it’s not “with him”.

This is where we can begin to make application to the world today.

And there are three main applications of this principal of “Gathering without Jesus”

The first is seen in the world.

Think of all the amazing things that are happening in the world, there is currently a very prominent, wealthy, adventurous man, that is looking at the possibility of colonizing mars.

There are currently wonders of engineering that would break my brain should I try to understand it.

There are sciences that are so detailed and so incredibly delicate to study that only the very best of the best can approach them.

There are inventions that we hold in our hands every day, there are inventions that we utilize every day, that most of us do not nor will ever understand.

This is one example of gathering, society is seemingly so advanced, but there’s a problem, along with this advancement that has been happening over the last few decades has come this attitude, this idea, that God, His Word, His commandments, his help, is no longer needed in our society.

To give an example of this change in heart consider that this country’s first congressional meeting in September 7th 1774 was commenced with a reverent word of prayer and in the Olympics held in 2024 an opening ceremony which in no uncertain terms completely mocked Jesus Christ and God’s Word by having a play done by 12 men in drag “recreating” the last supper.

This change of society’s attitude toward God is not only in the news, nor to be viewed as a one off thing, we can see it in every day life, people joking about how they’ll “Go to hell for that”, is one example, they do not respect God in the slightest!

People also that say things about how much they love God, how they go to church, but then in the next sentence will say something so dirty its painful to hear.

Its clear that today is not the day in which people have a pure heart before God, its clear that we as a society, we live in a world, where people are gathering, but certainly not with God.

The second way in which we can see this is in today’s so-called churches.

Consider how in almost every town you can find many, many churches, now consider how much sin is in that same town.

The reality is that most of those churches are not preaching a true gospel and not preaching against sin, not preaching that we are to live holy lives.

As I write this there is currently a church on either side of our church, as well as more around the corner. Yet down the street in clear view is a smoke shop just as blatant as could be.

If the true gospel were followed in Federalsburg, MD then that smoke shop would close down in a heartbeat!

And so our churches are gathering for sure, memberships are high (at least in the false ones), and there are few people that wouldn’t say they are a part of a “church”.

However there is more sin and open rejection of God’s teachings than ever before.

The third way in which this gathering not with Jesus is seen is in the personal life.

This is the most important one to correct, people are the building blocks of society, people are the building blocks of the church.

Thus it is the cause of the first two, There needs to be a reverence to God akin to “God, you are the one who is able to do anything, I cannot do anything without you, please be with me.”

Gathering with Jesus means that He is supreme and constantly our focus, many times in the Bible it speaks of Having God’s instruction set before our eyes, such a verse can be found in Proverbs.

Pro 7:2  Keep my commandments, and live; and my law as the apple of thine eye. 

Now perhaps you are reading this and are now slightly sad, because you are walking with God and sad that you feel helpless to change your surroundings, I’d like to encourage you.

A personal, true, righteous, walk with God is something that we can have no matter what is going on around us.

Consider Noah, a “preacher of righteousness”, he was the only one in the entire world who “found grace in the eyes of the LORD.”!

He walked right, and loved God and he was rewarded. If we could talk to Noah today he would tell us that the only thing he regrets is not walking closer to God!

Consider Jeremiah, a man who preached God’s word for decades and for decades was ridiculed and hated, If we could talk to Jeremiah today he would tell us about how the only thing he regrets is that he didn’t serve God even more fervently!

Consider David, a “man after (the Lord’s) own heart” according to 1st Samuel 13:14, He was persecuted and was constantly attacked throughout his life, hunted by his king, Saul. And his son Absalom tried to overthrow his kingdom and kill him!

But again, if David could speak with us today he would tell us the only thing he regrets is that he wasn’t closer to God.

And so, let’s continue on for God, believe me, when we are in heaven the only thing we’ll regret is our sin, and lack of following God.

1Sa 12:24  Only fear the LORD, and serve him in truth with all your heart: for consider how great things he hath done for you.