[Evangelical]

I question the view that says when two or three are gathered, Jesus is automatically present, because with the Laodicean church in Revelation, they were a gathering of 2 or 3 or more believers, but Jesus was not in their midst but outside knocking on the door wanting to get in. (Revelation 3:20).

So I don't think it's correct that just because some believers get together they can claim to have the Lord's presence and be a genuine church.

I am not talking about Jesus's presence with each individual believer or Jesus's omnipresence (which all believers and even non believers have) , but His manifest presence in the church.

Many of you are thinking about church in terms of the outward, administrative or practical things. But this does not define a true church.
A true church is also not merely about two or three gathering in Christ's name. That is, just because two or three gather in some place, does not mean they can hold the Lord's table there or claim to be the true church in the city.

Merely copying the forms and patterns of the early church does not make it a genuine church. A church without the presence of the Holy Spirit is not the true church.

The local churches in the Lord's recovery were established not as a decision to copy a first century church model, but because Watchman Nee and Witness Lee had the presence of the Holy Spirit.

To get to the heart of the matter, the true local church in each city is the one that has the lampstand. The lampstand's purpose is to express spiritual light. The lampstand is the Spirit (Rev 4:5).

The true church in each city is the church that Jesus Himself has chosen to express spiritual light and have His manifest presence in that city.

In this sense, ZNPaaneah is correct that a two or three sized genuine church (with a lampstand) outweighs an entire false church (or self-proclaimed church). But to say that just any two or three believers can gather together somewhere and consider themselves the true church, I question that.