Ephesians 1:10 “That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:”

Hello readers, hope you had a good week, today I am in Ephesians again, and not out of chapter 1 yet! But let’s look at this word “gather” in the book of Ephesians, because when we are saved, we are awaiting our gathering in Christ.

Just think, one day, everyone that believed in Christ will be gathered together. That’s one big gathering! And there’s a big feast at that gathering, the marriage supper of the Lamb no less. It’s something we really can’t even comprehend, but it’s something we wait in anticipation of.

But we do understand the concept, because we all have “gatherings”, people have them all the time where they “get together”. Gatherings of friends and family are common place, and they can be great occasions, such as weddings or anniversaries or reunions… well how about the gathering in Christ?

And it’s a blessed hope this gathering, because it’s when we see all our brothers and sisters in Christ. Perhaps you were close to someone who died recently or long ago, but if they were saved, you will see each other in glory. And so this is a blessed hope that many people have died believing, and the bitterness of death and the separation it brings will be done away with once and for all in Christ.

Gather means “To bring together; to collect a number of separate things into one place or into one aggregate body.” And it’s interesting that the secondary definition also relates to harvesting, reaping or cutting and bringing into barns or stores. So this word is loaded, and very relevant to the saints of God, who eagerly await the fulfillment of God’s marvellous promises to them in Christ.

And remember, it is “in Christ”. And really, this verse alone does away with many false doctrines out there about salvation… because everything and everyone must be in Christ, for all time. He’s Abraham’s saviour, Moses’ saviour, David’s saviour and my saviour. He is the saviour of all men… and here we know that it is for all time as well “the fulness of times”.

Yeah sure, people in the Old Testament may not and did not necessarily understand what we now know, but Jesus Christ himself said “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.” What about David? For the Bible says in Acts 13:34 quoting a verse in Isaiah “I will give you the sure mercies of David.” David was forgiven and saved based on the covenant God made him regarding Christ… and so are we. So guess what, everyone is gathered in Christ from first to last, and if you’re not in Christ, you’re not in at all and will be left on the outer, hence “outer darkness”.

The Bible says in 2 Thessalonians 2:1 “Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,” so we must live with this gathering in view. Indeed, in the face of perilous and uncertain times, we must now more than ever cling to this hope. We are waiting for his coming “And to wait for his Son from heaven” when he comes to gather us to himself “and so shall we ever be with the Lord”.

A recent thought I’ve had about “gathering” is when Jesus Christ did the miracle of the loaves and fishes in John. Jesus took five loaves and two fishes and fed five thousand with them. Amazing what prayer can actually do! It can make a small meal go a long way. But that’s another blog entirely! But the Bible says in John 6:12 “When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.”

And man, this is what is so incredible about the concept of gathering… is you might be tempted to think that God might miss me. When we gather stuff up we tend to miss stuff. Have you ever gathered your gear to go to work or someplace and found you’ve forgotten something? But no one and nothing is going to be lost and unaccounted for. He doesn’t lose those he’s saved. And he hasn’t lost a fragment of his word either… so believe the Bible, because it’s 100% preserved for us. Nothing has been lost, no meaning, no context, no words, no translation, no promises, no salvation.

By the way, if you’re not saved, you are not going to be in this gathering, just as nobody who belongs will miss out… likewise nobody who doesn’t belong there will be in there. Remember Jesus told a parable about a marriage a king made for his son, and eventually there were a lot of people gathered to marriage feast… but there was a guy who didn’t belong in that gathering. You’d have thought maybe in the crowd and the fact he was there he could have been forgiven. But he wasn’t forgiven, he wasn’t saved, he didn’t belong and he was cast out.

Now, I’m not so sure about this, but I do believe in Luke 17, when Jesus was speaking about one being taken and one being left, and the disciples said “where Lord?” Where are they being taken? And Jesus said “Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.” Well these eagles will gather where the body is. I mean, Ephesians is going to talk in detail about the body of Christ, which is us, taken out before destruction… and that was the consolation of the Thessalonian church, hey, don’t be shaken by false doctrine… you haven’t missed the gathering, and you won’t miss it and can’t miss it. God’s not forgotten you, and God doesn’t make mistakes, not even in the smallest details. When the trumpet sounds, we all go up. So it’s a blessed hope waiting for Christ, and that’s what we live looking for, stop looking for anything else.

And practically speaking, let’s gather unto Christ and with Christ, for Jesus said “He that is not with me is against me: and he that gathereth not with me scattereth.” Gather with him, because he’s not gathering unto you… and that should be what’s mutual between believers. And if you do believe in Christ, how come you’re gathering with this world against Christ on just about every issue of life? Why do you have more in common with unbelievers than believers? See, the criteria for the future gathering is the present gathering… you must be gathered with Christ now if you have a hope of being gathered in the future. So many people expect to live an ungodly life now and someone how pop up in glory at the end of it all, like the future is just going to be something magically different… even though the Bible makes it clear our future is being determined in the here and now.

So thank you for reading today, I hope you got something out of it. Mark 13:27 “And then shall he send his angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven.” Don’t miss out on this blessing in your life, because this will be a great time for all time. Man a future without Christ will feel very naked… because it is nakedness, spiritual nakedness forever, never clothed upon by Jesus Christ. That’s what gave that guy in Jesus Christ’s marriage parable away… no wedding garment. So please do not miss this gathering, make sure you do not, and you can make sure of that now by repenting of your sin and believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, calling upon his holy name to save you, redeem you, and who gathers you and us all.

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