CHAPTER VI

THE CHURCH

(CONTINUED)

ITS FAILURE AND THE PROVISION

FOR GUIDANCE IN THE LAST DAYS

Having considered the truth according to scripture as to the position of the church as a responsible witness, and also some of the systematic departures from its original constitution, testimony and administrative order, we may now see what light scripture affords for guidance in such conditions, which as we shall see have been foretold, and are provided for in the apostolic writings.

THE WORK OF MEN IN CONNECTION

WITH GOD’S BUILDING

From 1 Corinthians 3, we see that the church at Corinth had been established by the apostle Paul as “God’s building” on the true foundation Jesus Christ. It is there looked at on the public outward side, and the apostle 105

contemplates the possibility of others building in, not only “gold, silver, precious stones”, but also material not in keeping with the foundation, “wood, hay, stubble”, which would not stand the day of testing. This actually came to pass and is clearly seen in the history of the church since the apostle’s day. When we look in the light of the New Testament at the various systems into which the church has now become divided, it is evident that in building up these organisations whether Roman in the West, Greek, etc., in the East, or national State-established churches and other Protestant bodies, the full truth of Christianity has been more or less displaced by the introduction and development of doctrines, principles and practices which are the product of man’s mind, imagination and religious sentiment. Compare the warnings in the epistle to the Colossians (chap 2: 8, 16, 18, 20-23), where divine wisdom in the apostle exposes the principles of human philosophy, rationalism, ritualism and superstition, in the light of the greatness and glory of Christ in whom all the fulness of the Godhead dwells.

He is the image of the

invisible God, and redeems and reconciles to God, and is the Head in whom the saints are complete or filled full.

The state of things in the church generally, as reviewed in the last chapter, results in serious loss to believers associated with these 106

systems. Although they may be individually pious and devoted Christians, they are deprived, in a greater or less degree, of the enjoyment of the full character of the blessings and privileges of Christianity according to the mind of God. The mutual working out of church relations in the Christian fellowship according to the truth of the New Testament, is not practicable in any system which sets aside the Lord’s authority and ignores the presence of the Holy Spirit in the church, leaving no room for His operations in dividing to each individual according as He pleases, 1 Cor 12: 11.

Such systematic departures from the truth as we have been considering are destructive of the true character of the Christian fellowship.

The allowance of “leaven” whether doctrinal (Gal 5: 9), or moral (1 Cor 5: 6), affects the whole mass, and the church is under obligation to purge out the leaven and to put away evil and evil-doers from its midst.

Failure in regard to this has contributed largely to the present state of the churches.

Note the difference in this respect between the church and the kingdom. In the kingdom on its outward side in the parable of the wheat and the tares, the latter though the product of the enemy’s work are not to be rooted up, but to be allowed to grow together with the wheat until the harvest at the end of the age, Matt 13: 28-30. This was contravened by persecuting churches 107

(amongst which Rome stands out in history as the most conspicuous example) which in dealing with those they judged—often mistakenly—to be heretics, were not content to cast them out of their church systems by excommunication, but proceeded often to put them to death. On the other hand, some who ignore this difference between the kingdom and the church, have misapplied the Scripture in Matt 13: 28-30, as authorising them to relax church discipline and to continue in association with evil.

The existing state of confusion in the church emphasises the importance of distinguishing that which is connected with man’s responsibility from the spiritual structure which the Lord Himself builds, Matt 16.

This latter still continues intact under the Lord’s eye, for He knows those who are His, and what is of Himself in each one, all the moral and spiritual features which are now being divinely formed in the saints—the reproduction of the varied graces and the glories of Christ, which will be seen in their completeness in the heavenly city in the day of display. Every one who has believed the gospel and received the Holy Spirit has part in it. So far as public testimony however is concerned, it has become to a great extent submerged in the various church systems which men have built up, where the true spiritual constitution of the house of God is ignored

and

set

aside

by

human

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arrangements and worldly principles.

Whilst we are under obligation to judge these systems in the light of scripture, we need to look at the saints connected with them as the Lord Himself does. In a church such as Thyatira which tolerated the most grievous corruption, the Lord takes account of love and service and increasing zeal in works, and distinguishes a remnant who had not received Jezebel’s doctrine (Rev 2: 19, 24); and in another (Sardis) which had a name to live and was dead, He distinguishes some worthy ones who had not defiled their garments, and who should walk with Him in white, Rev 3: 1-4.

THE MINISTRY OF THE APOSTLE

JOHN

Attention may here be called to the ministry of the apostle John who came into prominence after Peter and Paul had finished their course. His great subject both in the gospel and first epistle is life, and the object of his ministry is that the children of God should be maintained spiritually in accord with that which was from the beginning; the manifestation of eternal life as seen and heard in the Son of God. In his first epistle he writes in view of the last hour which had already arrived morally, many deceivers and antichrists having come on the scene, who had gone out from the Christian profession.

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He emphasises that which is vital in Christianity: God known in His nature—

love—by His children. The family of God is the product of His work, formed in the divine nature as seen in Jesus Christ: “that which is true in Him and in you”.

The eternal life seen in the Son of God when on earth is now, consequent on His death, the present possession of those who believe on His name, and it is to be known consciously by the Spirit and enjoyed in the light of the full knowledge of God and the declaration of the Father’s name. The pretension of professors is brought to the test of their being found in practical accord with the truth as expressed in Christ, the righteous One; to walk as He walked, to walk in the truth, to practice righteousness, and to love one another. Appreciation of this ministry greatly helps on the line of spiritual recovery to the divine thoughts, which have been fully disclosed in the Son who is both the true God and eternal life, the Spirit also being the witness in the believer. Mutual love amongst the brethren, in the circle of the children of God, is the witness by which we know consciously that we have passed from death unto life (1 John 3: 14), and this is a condition needed for ability to work out true church relations.

After being obscured and lost sight of for many centuries following on apostolic times, light as to the true character of the church 110

and its divine constitution has now been recovered, but this can only be spiritually apprehended. The necessary state,

“strengthened with power by his Spirit in the inner man”, for which the apostle Paul prayed when writing to the Ephesians (chap 3: 14, etc.) is no less needed now, when the church outwardly presents a spectacle of disorder and ruin, with no prospect of general recovery on earth, so as to be a practical expression of the true original Christian unity of John 17: 21, and Eph 4: 3-6. To attempt to restore merely correct outward church order without spiritual vitality would not meet the case.

Concurrent with the recovery of light as to the divine constitution of the church and its true administrative order, the present voice of the Spirit has called attention to the instructions provided in Scripture for guidance in view of the last days of the church’s history; and also to the truth as to the second coming of Christ, both in its relation to the church and to the establishment of the kingdom in glory in the age to come.

INDIVIDUAL RESPONSIBILITY IN

VIEW OF THE FAILURE OF THE

CHURCH

We do well to cherish the divine thoughts, with regard both to the kingdom and the church, for these will not break down whatever the public failure may be. It is a 111

significant fact, often ignored and lost sight of, but quite unmistakable as the uniform testimony of scripture from Genesis to Revelation,

that

in

all

the

varied

dispensations and dealings of God with men, every institution which He has set up and committed to men’s responsibility has broken down in their hands. That the church would be no exception in this long line of failure is clearly indicated in the New Testament, and is painfully demonstrated in the records of church history, where we see verified the saying that ‘the corruption of the best thing is the worst of all corruptions’. In the development of God’s ways He has allowed thus a full demonstration of the failure and ruin of the first order of man, and that this was needed is evident in the reluctance and indeed the refusal of men in their self-sufficiency to admit it. All the mind of God however is secured and established in Christ who is the wisdom and power of God, the Man of His counsel and purpose who came to do His will, and has effected it by way of the cross, where fallen man even in his highest culture—the Jew with his religion and the Greek with his wisdom—was proved to be utterly estranged from God, and was brought to an end sacrificially that no flesh should glory in God’s presence, 1 Cor 1.

The truth of this is refused in the great bulk of the profession of Christianity, which has become characterised by corruption and 112

confusion, departure having come in in regard to the truth both of the gospel and of the church. The true character of the church as a witness to Christ has been largely falsified through the work of the enemy and through the unfaithfulness of Christians in admitting principles which give place to the world and the natural mind (1 Cor 2), all of which is according to the order of the first Adam, thus practically denying the teaching of the cross, and displacing Christ and the Spirit. No wonder then that the prospect of the Lord’s return as a present hope (Titus 2: 13) was lost sight of, or even denied as was foretold in scripture, Matt 24: 48; 25: 5; 2 Pet 3: 4. The kingdom abounds with “things that offend”, Matt 13: 41 KJV. The last phase in the history of the church as a responsible witness has arrived. Boasting in its self-sufficiency and fancied riches, and all unconscious of its spiritual blindness and poverty, it is about to be rejected by the Lord, who still stands however at the door, although outside, and will come in to any individual who hears His voice of loving counsel and rebuke calling for repentance, Rev 3: 14-20.

There are many godly Christians, especially those connected with National or other established church systems, who would admit the existence of many corruptions and departures from New Testament Christianity; but they reason from the analogy of the 113

national Jewish religion of old connected with the temple, that such conditions though regrettable would not justify them in separating from the established church system in their country. They refer to the wicked kings of Judah who introduced religious corruptions and idolatry into the Land, and argue that in such cases a pious Jew would not forsake the temple, nor separate from an ungodly nation, but would wait on God for reformation or the raising up of godly kings such as Hezekiah and Josiah; similarly that in the corrupt conditions in the time of the prophet Malachi the faithful remnant would go on with the Temple service until God intervened. It is clear, however, that the constitution of the Christian church is fundamentally different from that of the nation of Israel, and that such an analogy would not be applicable, as it would contravene the definite teaching of the New Testament. This we have already seen in the early part of chapter V, dealing with the constitution and apostolic ordering of the church, and also with a similar misuse of the Old Testament in the introduction of clericalism.

The history of Israel is full of moral instruction for us in the principles of the divine government, but to ignore the Christianity of the New Testament and make unintelligent applications of the Old Testament Scriptures can only lead to 114

confusion and error.

In the present condition of the church there is need for moral and spiritual discernment to recognise and appreciate that which is according to the mind of God, so as to follow up the divine principles given to us by the Spirit through the apostle Paul at the end of his course, for guidance in the difficult times of the last days, 2 Tim 2: 19-22; 3: 1-5, 13-17. We saw in chapters IV and V that the unfolding of the truth of the church both in its universal and its local aspects was committed to the apostle Paul. He was also the “wise master builder” or architect (1 Cor 3: 10), who laid the foundation of numerous local churches in the Gentile world. It is significant that in his last epistle he looks on to the coming in of failure and corruption on the public outward side, of that which he had laboured to establish. In the first epistle to Timothy we have seen that he had been left at Ephesus with a charge from the apostle, to maintain amongst the brethren the order, doctrine and conduct which was in keeping with the true constitution of the House of God. In contrast to this, in the second epistle, which contemplates general departure from the truth, emphasis is laid upon individual responsibility to the Lord, the public profession of Christianity being likened to “a great

house”

including

elements

of

unrighteousness and vessels to dishonour, such as the teachers referred to in chap 2

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who had gone astray from the truth and were overthrowing the faith of some. The believer cannot leave the Christian ‘profession’

because it has been corrupted, but the apostle indicates a path by which the individual who seeks to be true to the name of the Lord, may be clear from evil associations.

If the church has failed as a witness-bearer, having become so leavened that it has lost the power to purge out the evil and remedy the disorder, the responsibility remains with each individual believer to clear himself. In such conditions the true witness “the testimony of our Lord” will be under reproach, and if one is not to be ashamed of it (2 Tim 1: 8) he needs to be in the light and power of the knowledge of Christ Jesus as the Head and Centre of the divine system, where everything is secured and established according to the purpose of God in the risen Christ, and thus to be fortified for the endurance of the suffering necessarily bound up with the conflict. To be fully identified with the testimony involves withdrawing from unrighteousness, and separation from associations not in accord with the Lord’s name, so that “with those that call on the Lord out of a pure heart” (2 Tim 2: 19-22), he may follow up the principles and conduct to which Timothy as the pattern servant of the Lord is called to give heed in this epistle. He had been fully acquainted with the apostle’s doctrine in regard both to 116

the gospel and the church, and this was to be guarded as a sacred deposit. It is not to be lowered nor compromised nor any part of it given up however difficult the days may be, and the importance of the Holy Scriptures is emphasised in this connection. They are able to make a child wise unto salvation, and also to make the man of God complete, fully furnished unto every good work. See also Rom 15: 4; 1 Cor 10: 11.

Those walking together in the path thus indicated would, as forming part of the great Christian profession, rightly feel and own the common failure and ruin. They would be secure from undue individualism tending to independency and disintegration, in so far as they were subject to the one Lord, and in the recognition of the One Spirit; and on the other hand, whilst giving heed to the exhortation not to forsake the assembling of themselves together, they would be preserved from any pretension to reconstitute the Church, or to join in attempts by compromising the truth to build up an outward unity. They would seek to walk together in the light of the church both in its local and its universal aspects, and to be true to its divine constitution and to its order, according to the apostle’s doctrine, and to be found in moral suitability to the Lord, keeping His word and being true to His name.

They would not pretend to the exercise of apostolic authority required for the official appointment of elders or bishops; but they 117

would gladly recognise and submit to those raised up by the Lord with the needed moral qualifications for rule and to take the lead in care and local administration, such as those referred to in 1 Cor 16: 15-16; 1 Thess 5: 12-13. At the beginning the church continued in the teaching and fellowship of the apostles, in breaking of bread and prayers (Acts 2: 42), and all these are still available at the close of its history.

Thus giving the Lord His place not only individually but also collectively, and making room for the Spirit and His activities, there would be liberty for the working out of true church relations. The spiritual sphere of church privilege would then be open to them as there might be ability to enter into it, and they could count upon the Lord’s approval and support in seeking to carry out divine principles. For this all scripture is available for guidance, and also for those who have ears to hear, the living voice of the Spirit maintaining a ministry of light and food, and giving the Lord’s mind for the moment as questions or difficulties may arise.

Without the maintenance of these moral and spiritual conditions, attempts to carry out what might be thought to be correct scriptural order, could not have the Lord’s support and might be expected to result in disappointment and failure, and to add to the already existing confusion in Christendom.

This alas! has been only too often verified, as 118

in the case of some under the influence of personal feeling and jealousy, and others defective in the understanding of principles of truth and unable to discern the Lord’s mind in times of crisis. In such conditions activities of mind and will, have resulted in both leaders and those influenced by them, missing their way.

Past history may well remind us of the need for the apostle’s warning, “Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall” (1

Cor 10: 12 KJV), and thus preserve us from pretension and self-confidence. It is reassuring, however, to find that everything was foreseen and provided for in scripture.

Whatever may be overthrown, the firm foundation of God stands secure, and as established in that which subsists abidingly

“in Christ Jesus” (a characteristic expression used seven times in 2 Timothy), we are encouraged to hold the ground in view of the coming of the Lord.

THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST

This is confirmed by the epistles to the seven churches in Revelation 1 to 3, already alluded to. In addition to—

(1) their bearing on the local churches in the province of Asia existing at the time John wrote, and

(2) the moral application suitable at any time 119

either to a local church or an individual, we have also here

(3) the Lord’s prophetic review of the various phases in the whole course of the church’s history (“the things that are”, chap 1: 19) in its public position of responsibility as a witness

bearer

(the

seven

golden

candlesticks), from the fall at Ephesus in the loss of first love and the threatened removal of the candlestick (chap 2: 4-5), down to the final rejection in Laodicea (chap 3: 16), the last four churches being found at the end going on concurrently until the coming of the Lord which will close the history of the church on earth.

Whatever the state of the professing church may be, there is a word of encouragement for the overcomers in whom the continuity of the true witness is maintained. It is noticeable that in this connection each individual (every one who has an ear) is called upon, not to listen to the church as in Matthew 18: 17, but to hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

The church in Philadelphia is encouraged to hold fast in view of the Lord’s return. It is with this bright outlook that the book of the Revelation closes, and the Lord’s last presentation of Himself to the churches awakens a response by the Spirit in the affections of the bride—the true church—

“come, Lord Jesus”, Rev 22: 16-17, 20.

A common present-day form of unbelief in 120

this regard, admits that the Scriptures uniformly hold out the promise of Christ’s coming as a present expectation for His people, but it argues that the course of history proves that the hope has not been fulfilled, and therefore must have been a mistake.

Christian faith, hope, and love take a very different view of the Lord’s promise. There should be no difficulty in seeing adequate reasons for the hope of the Lord’s return being intentionally left with the church as a present expectation, whilst the actual date was not revealed.

On the one hand it would have the effect of detaching us in mind and spirit from undue occupation with earthly things, and from hopes connected with a world system which although it may outwardly recognise God, is morally antagonistic to His rights. On the other hand the appeal this promise makes to the affections of the church for the absent Bridegroom would keep us alive to His interests here and awaken us to the present realisation of the heavenly system of glory now established in Christ at the right hand of God, and which He will bring into public display when He returns, Col 3: 1-4; Heb 12: 22-24. At the same time it would maintain us in an evangelistic spirit of active sympathy with the prolongation of the day of grace, and with the free offer of the water of life to

“whosoever

will”,

accounting

God’s

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longsuffering towards men to be with a view to their salvation and blessing.

During the present period it is in the saints who form the true church that the moral features of the kingdom are seen, and its principles maintained, but the kingdom itself has a wider bearing, and will extend to other circles than the church. During the interval between the rapture of the church to heaven when the Lord comes for His saints (1 Thess 4: 15) and the second stage of the coming when He returns with them to reign (1 Thess 3: 13; Rev 19: 11-16) “the testimony of Jesus”

is continued on earth in other companies, such as the Jewish remnant who will maintain it in the face of the full power of the forces of evil (Rev 12: 17; 14: 1-5; Matt 24: 21-22), and also the white-robed Gentile multitude who will go through the great tribulation, Rev 7: 9-17. In the full extent of the kingdom after Christ’s return all things will be headed up in Him, both things in heaven and things on earth, Eph l: 10.

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