Second, both in Deuteronomy 12 and in the New Testament, God's way to keep the oneness of His people is to have a place with His name, the unique name. The name in which we gather for the worship of God is a matter of great importance. We should never think that it is insignificant. Today Christians should be gathered together into only one name, the name of the Lord Jesus (Matt. 18:20). However, Christians are accustomed to being gathered into other names, such as Baptist, Presbyterian, Episcopalian, Lutheran, and Methodist. To be gathered into these different names is to be divided, because these names are the base of divisions.

According to the type in Deuteronomy 12, it is a serious matter to be gathered into a name other than the unique name of the Lord. To have other names for our worship is an abomination; it is spiritual fornication. We are Christ's counterpart, His wife. Since we are His counterpart, we should not have a name other than His name. To take another name is to take another person. Just as a wife should bear the name of her husband, not the name of any other man, so we, the believers in Christ, should bear only His name and not any other name. This means that we should not bear any denominational names, such as Baptist or Presbyterian. Rather, like the church in Philadelphia, we should not deny the Lord's name (Rev. 3:8); that is, we should abandon all names other than that of the Lord Jesus Christ. Not designating ourselves by any title or name, we should simply be gathered together into the name of the Lord.

Third, both Deuteronomy 12 and the New Testament reveal that the place chosen by God for our worship of Him is the place of His habitation. Where is God's habitation today? According to Ephesians 2:22, God's habitation, His dwelling place, is in our spirit. Yes, as a church we should be gathered into the name of Christ, but we also need to be exercised in our spirit. If we come together under the name of Christ but, instead of exercising our spirit, we remain in the natural mind or, even worse, in the flesh, we will not be in the habitation of God. In gathering together for the worship of God by enjoying Christ, we must gather into the name of Christ and we must be in the spirit. Otherwise, we will lose the proper ground of the church.

Concerning our meeting for the worship of God, we all must learn two crucial things. First, we must learn to reject every name other than the name of the Lord Jesus and to be gathered into His name. Second, we must learn to reject the flesh, the self, and the natural life and to exercise our spirit. In everything related to the worship of God, we need to exercise our spirit. Whenever we sing, we should sing with our spirit. Whenever we praise, we should praise with our spirit. Whenever we speak, we should speak with our spirit. If we do this, the meeting will be in God's habitation.

Fourth, in Deuteronomy 12 and in the New Testament we have the altar, the cross. Along with the name and the habitation, we must have the altar, which signifies the cross. Paul's word in 1 Corinthians 2:2 indicates the importance of this. "I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ, and this One crucified." The crucified Christ was the unique subject, the center, the content, and the substance of Paul's ministry.

At the entrance of the church is the cross, and everyone who would come into the church must experience the cross and be crucified. To experience the cross is to be set aside, to be annulled, to be reduced to nothing. In the church there should be only Christ, not us. Where should we be? We should be on the cross. This means that we should not bring anything of the old man, anything of the flesh, the self, or the natural life, into the church. When we are on the cross, we are truly in the spirit.

As we are preparing to come to the meeting, we may pray, "Lord, if I still have something related to the flesh, the self, and the natural life, I ask You to forgive me and to cross out these things. Lord, I need to be crossed out and then anointed with Yourself." If we all come to the meeting in this way, we will meet in the name of Christ, we will meet in God's habitation, and we will meet under the application of the cross.

Our meeting for the worship of God should be in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, in our spirit as the place of God's habitation, and in the place where the cross is. We do not uplift a physical cross, but we do have the practice of applying the cross to our being. Therefore, we have the name of the Lord Jesus, we have God's habitation, and we have the cross. If we have the name, the habitation, and the cross, there will be no divisions among us. No matter how many believers there may be in our locality and no matter how many meeting places, we all will be one—one in the same name, one in the same habitation, and one under the same cross.