Willow Ridge Sermons

June 29th, 2025 • "For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them." – Matthew 18:20

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Host

Beau Bradberry

Senior Pastor

What is Willow Ridge Sermons?

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Well, good morning. If you have your Bibles, and I hope you do, I want to invite you to join us in

Matthew chapter 18 is where we will be. Specifically, when we look at the whole passage, we'll start

in verse 15. If you do not have a Bible, we have some free ones back here at this black table.

We'd love for you at the end of the service to come by and grab one of those. It's a gift from

us to you. We would love for you to be able to engage with us as we dive into God's Word each

week. So please make sure that you stop by and get one of those. A couple of things just kind of

going on. I found out this morning, was talking to Bobby David. Bobby is, his nephew is Daryl Cheeks,

our missionary in the Philippines. And Bobby was sharing with me that he had heard from Daryl in

the first quarter, as they count salvations, that 83 people had given their life to the Lord as a

result of that ministry. And so, yeah, absolutely. It's just fantastic and wonderful to see that all

that God is doing and how God allows us as a local church to be able to participate in different areas

all throughout the world with what he is doing. And we count that as a privilege and as an honor to do

that. Before we get into our passage this morning, it was neat. You know, sometimes when we're reading

through, and so if you're first time here, we're kind of looking at some of those commonly misunderstood

Bible verses that are found. But there's a Bible verse this weekend that's kind of landed

with just some newness and some freshness for me in my life this morning. I just want to share that

with y'all as we get going. And it's found in Genesis chapter 2, verse 18. It says,

Aaron and Emma went out of town this weekend and left with, they went with Aaron's mom. They went off

to the beach for the weekend, kind of a long girls weekend, taking off, go down there, didn't get

invited, not bitter. We're moving on past that, right? And so I call Grayson on Friday and I'm like,

hey buddy, I'm going to stop by and pick up some food. What would you like? And he was like,

could you get cereal and Chinese food? So thank you Panda Express. Large meal for a family. Let's

share it with you. All right. $35 has fed me and Grayson three different meals. Four boxes of cereal

from Dollar General has fed us three different meals. It is not good that man shall be alone.

Right? Fellas, this is what it would have been like. I'm telling you, not a good situation.

She'll be back around one o'clock today. Praise the Lord. Well, so here's our Bible verse for this

morning. We're going to look at Matthew 18, 20. God's word says, for whether two or three are gathered

in my name, there I am among them. Would you go to the Lord with me in prayer? God, we thank you for

your word. We thank you for the authoritative word that you give us. Lord, your perfect word. God,

today as we study this particular verse in context to which Christ gave it to us, God, in the areas

where we have misused or misunderstand, Lord, we thank you and we praise you that there's grace.

God, may we wrestle with the difficult sometimes things through scripture to understand the beauty

and the fullness of who you are, Lord, and what you've called us to. And may these be your words and not

mine. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. So let me read our focus verse one more time. One more time.

Matthew 18, 20. For whether two or three are gathered in my name, there I am among them.

It's interesting kind of going through and looking at these verses and different ones that we were

going to look at over the course of the summer. And when I landed on this verse, I would argue that of

all the verses that we have discussed, of all the verses that we will discuss, this verse has kind of

been probably the most misused. But honestly, I don't think misused in a manipulative way.

But I know that I have, and I know that you probably have misused it, or in a church context, you've

heard this verse discussed or used, and oftentimes it's actually misused. This verse came across to me as

one to kind of put out front for us to think through. Actually, this past January, I got an

email one Sunday morning actually from Daryl Cheeks, our missionary in the Philippines. And he's like,

hey man, can you help me understand this verse and use it in context? And so we talked through

email kind of working through this. So when this verse is typically misused, it's typically used in

a worship service, a Bible study, a prayer time with a group of people, right, like a community of

believers who are gathered together, right? So there's more than one of them, there's a handful,

there's several, and this verse is used as they maybe prepare to pray or prepare to open God's Word,

and it's used almost as like an invitation or an acknowledgement that because there is more than

one person there, that God is also there. So we gather together for prayer. We say things like,

God, we know as we gather together that your Word tells us we're two or three gathered in my name.

And here's the truth, this isn't a blatant lie, right? We know that whether there are two or more,

God is with them. We can see that and draw that out from Scripture, but there can also be confusing

parts of Scripture because if it's whether there are two or three are gathered, then you're there,

which is sometimes how it's understood, then does that mean where there is one that He is not?

Or where there is none that He is not? So I just want us to talk a little bit this morning about

what I'm talking about, just the presence of God, so that you and I can have a right doctrinal,

theological understanding about the presence of God, because Scripture does tell us that God is

omnipresent. God is omnipresent, and what that means is God in His entire being is present everywhere.

It's one of the many ways that He's different from you and I.

God is not limited by space, by time, or by circumstance.

That everywhere there is, there is God. That's why David writes in Psalm 139, verses 7 through 10,

where shall I go from your spirit, or where shall I flee from your presence?

If I ascend to heaven, you are there. If I make my bed in Shiloh, you are there. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.

So where is God? He is everywhere. He is everywhere at all times, in all cases, and we can praise Him for that.

He's here now. He's with you when you leave.

We also see, and we see this in Scripture, and this is a little bit unique and special that we see when we talk about the presence of God, is that we see it in the incarnation of Christ.

John 1, verse 14,

And the word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

And that what we know, Jesus, the Son of God, took on flesh. We see in Jesus, that fully God and fully man, that this is who He is.

In John 14, 9, Jesus says, when you've seen me, you've seen the Father.

So God is everywhere.

We see God in His presence in the person of Christ.

But then there's, and this is probably the way that you and I are most familiar with, of what we talk about, what we speak to in our Christian language, is in the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

1 Corinthians 6, 19 through 20,

Or do you not know that your body, your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God?

You are not your own, for you were bought with a price, so glorify God with your body.

So God is everywhere.

God is Jesus.

And then God indwells us.

In Acts 1-8, it's the fulfillment of the promise that Jesus gives you, the coming of the Holy Spirit, that He will fall on us as believers.

As believers.

And then we see the fulfillment of this in Acts 2 of the early church,

And then it's the continual indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the lives of every man, woman, and child who puts their faith and hope in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

It's the promise of what we have.

So this indwelling of the Holy Spirit, it's a permanent action taken by God to live in the body of believers.

This is how new birth happens, this is how we are confirmed within us that we belong to God, this is how we receive our spiritual gifts, this is how we understand Scripture, this is how we are convicted of our sins, right?

And the list goes on and on and on.

It's not because we're some great moral creatures who have come to enlightenment.

It's the very presence of God, the Holy Spirit who lives in us.

So let's look at this passage.

So if God is omnipresent everywhere,

if God is in the person of Christ, fully God, fully man,

and dwells in the body

of every believer,

this isn't trying to explain

a concept

that's not real.

This is a real tangible piece of who we are.

Then what do we do

with Matthew 18, 20?

What do we do with this?

These are the words of Jesus.

These are red letter words

in our gospel of Jesus

for where two or three

are gathered in my name,

there

I am

among them.

So what we want to do this morning

is understand these pieces

of God, but understand

the fullness of what

these words mean by asking

in ourself,

in what context,

in what setting,

for what purpose

did Jesus give this promise?

It's a promise that he gives

to his followers.

It's a promise that he gives to us

that we can cling to,

that we can hold to,

that we can use

so that we live in the confidence

of who we are

and who he's called us

to be.

When I was talking to someone

this morning

and they were,

we were talking about something

kind of sitting back in the office

and they asked about this

and so I was telling them,

I was like,

well,

here's the context of this verse.

It's a verse that we've mostly,

all of us have heard probably.

And I said the context

and then they go,

huh,

really?

So maybe you have that

with us this morning,

right?

Let's read Matthew 18

starting in verse 15.

If your brother sins against you,

go and tell him his fault

between you and him alone.

If he listens to you,

you have gained your brother.

But if he does not listen,

take one or two others

along with you

that every charge

may be established

by the evidence

of two or three witnesses.

If he refuses to listen to them,

tell it to the church.

And if he refuses to listen

even to the church,

let him be to you

as a Gentile

and a tax collector.

Truly I say to you,

whatever you bind on earth

shall be bound in heaven

and whatever you loose on earth

shall be loosed in heaven.

Again I say to you,

if two of you agree on earth

about anything,

they ask it,

it will be done for them

by my Father in heaven.

For where two or three

are gathered in my name,

there I am among them.

So let's look at this context.

The context for this verse

that Jesus gives

is church discipline.

It's church discipline.

Now, I'll be honest with you,

church discipline

is probably not the hot topic

that gets everybody excited, right?

Like, let's run some low attendance,

we're going to talk about

church discipline and tithing.

And everybody's like,

ah, I got somewhere I got to be.

You know what I mean?

Like, this is one of those

that's like, ah.

But I think it can be unfairly criticized

as harsh.

But I think what we'll see

in this passage of Scripture

is that the goal

is not an attack of the person,

but attack on sin.

And Jesus striving to hold us,

the church,

accountable to a standard

when it comes to sin.

Right before this,

Jesus is teaching.

Jesus is in one of those

teaching modes that he has.

And right before he goes

into church discipline,

Jesus talks about

the parable of the lost sheep

and the emphasis on that

of restoring someone,

of bringing someone back.

Like, praise the Lord,

hallelujah,

this is what happens.

The parable right after this

is Jesus sharing the parable

of the unforgiving servant,

of how to forgive someone.

These are two things

that you and I see

and we're drawn to.

These are those goosebump passages

that we get

as the Holy Spirit

is working in us

to draw us,

to convict us.

We're going to restore someone.

We're going to forgive someone.

We're going to see this happening.

But sandwich right there

in the middle.

Jesus talks about

this is what

church discipline looks like.

This is the necessity of it.

So let's look at what Jesus says

for us as we find this.

Here's the setting.

A brother or,

that's the term that is used

as brothers,

but this could be any believer.

A brother or sister in Christ

has committed a sin

and very specifically

committed a sin against you.

And I think this is something

that we can probably

all relate to, right?

I don't know about you,

but I know

that I have sinned

against others

and I've also,

unfortunately,

sat in the other seat

and felt that

sin against me.

And what Jesus walks through

is when this happens

and we acknowledge

that this will happen,

when this happens,

how do we handle

conflict?

How do we handle

conflict in light

of the gospel?

How do we handle

conflict in a way

that brings glory to God?

And how do we handle

conflict

in a way that

unifies the church

and not,

doesn't divide the church?

So he gives three steps.

Three steps that are

kind of build

in severity

of what this looks like.

Step number one,

he says,

go to them

in private.

Verse 15,

if your brother

sins against you,

go and tell him

his fault

between you

and him alone.

if he listens

to you,

you have

gained

your brother.

Hmm.

I lost count

in how many times

I've failed at this.

Our tendency

can be

when someone

does this

to not do

what Christ

has called us to,

but to ignore

or to gossip.

Can I tell you

what happened

to me?

Let me tell you

what someone's done.

Or,

I see their sin,

I'm going to ignore it.

I see their sin,

I'm going to dismiss it.

Both of these

is what Christ

points us to

are not

essential

when he's

calling us

to be committed

to maintaining

healthy,

gospel-centered

relationships

within

the body

of Christ.

Aaron and I

celebrated

21 years

of marriage

this past

June 19th.

I was thinking

about

the

difficulties

early on

in marriage.

I mean,

you're learning

how to live

with someone

that you've

never lived

with before.

You're learning

how to share

things like

finances.

You're learning

how to put

others' needs

ahead of your

own.

And these

aren't things

that we're

necessarily

great at.

One of the

things that I

found and

that I remember

back in mine

and Aaron's

relationship

early on

is someone

would do

something

against the

other one.

right?

And maybe

this wasn't

like a sinful

attack

but it was

something where

you felt

hurt.

You felt

bothered.

You felt

offended.

And then

we would just

kind of

swallow it

down and

suck it up

and think

we'll just

or I'll just

move on

past this.

and the

next thing

you know

three weeks

later one

of you

leaves the

empty carton

of milk

in the

refrigerator

and one

person blows

up at the

other.

Right?

It's what

happens.

Instead of

saying like

hey can we

talk about

this we

say hey

can we

ignore

this?

And then

it builds

and builds

and builds.

And so

Christ has

given us a

picture of

the church

as much as

something like

not putting

your dishes

in the dishwasher

or not

getting the

mail as

you come

in or

putting an

empty milk

carton back

into the

refrigerator.

While these

things are

small and

petty within

the context

of a

marriage

much more

so is the

sinfulness

of one

another

within the

body of

Christ

exceedingly

building and

that you and

I are called

not to commit

further sins

of gossip

but not to

commit further

sins of

ignoring.

That God

calls us

to engage

within this

and your

thought could

honestly be

a lot like

my thinking

sometimes with

this.

Well that's

just going to

create more

conflict.

That's just

going to

create more

drama.

That's just

going to

create unnecessary

conflict between

me and another

person and it

could destroy

the relationship.

But what's

more important

your relationship

or their soul.

And so

Jesus is

calling us

in this

first step

to a

personal

private

conversation

where the

goal

there's a

goal to

these

is not

let me get

something off

my chest

where the

goal isn't

well let me

call you out

on something

right.

This kind of

plays back

to a few

weeks ago

where we

talked about

judge not

lest you

be judged.

It's not

ignore.

It's the

heart in

which we

confront.

It's the

heart in

which we

sit down

with one

another and

so the

goal for

this of

what we

see in

Matthew 18

is forgiveness

restoration and

reconciliation.

That's the

goal.

It's not the

airing of

grievances.

It's not how

I'm right and

you're wrong.

It's not the

gotcha.

It's not let me

cut you with

my words because

you cut me

with yours.

It's

forgiveness.

It's

restoration.

It's

reconciliation.

And that's

always the

goal.

And the

beauty of

that is

what we

find is

that's the

path and

the plan

of the

gospel.

It's

forgiveness.

The release

of wrongdoing

that someone

has committed

against you.

Let me

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