QUESTION: Matthew 18:20 and Luke 22:7-10 indicate that the Spirit of God is the divine Gatherer, that He guides Christians to the place chosen by God. If the position of the so-called "gathered saints" is in

The problem here is that we adopt the number of people in a group of Christians as the standard of measurement. Our idea is that if there are many people, then that must be the place to which the Spirit of God is guiding people, but this is a false criterion for judging the true ground of meeting.

Where do we get the idea that the more, the better? This is a worldly principle that we find in every sphere of life here -- in business, in sports, etc. However, such an idea should not have a place in the church of God. We do not read in the Scriptures that there would be large groups of faithful believers in the last days. The Bible indicates that in the last days the number of evil men would increase -- and not of faithful men (2 Tim 3:13). This is the great difference between the first and second epistles to Timothy. In 1 Timothy the mass of Christian profession is seen walking well, although a few individuals had turned aside to error. In 2 Timothy (which describes the last days) exactly the opposite occurs; the mass is seen going badly, and there are only a few individuals following faithfully. In fact, the Scriptures show that the only groups that are described as large in the last days are heretical movements! For example, 2 Peter 2:1-2 says: “But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction on themselves. And many will follow their depravity, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed”. I am not saying that all the large groups of Christians existing today in evangelical Christendom teach reprovable doctrines, but that if large numbers were a sign of being right, then the Catholic Church would be the correct place -- they gather more people than any other denomination. Surely we cannot be naive.

God is not occupied with increase in numbers as much as we are. Have you ever noticed that in the Scriptures when numbers are mentioned it always says something like “about three thousand souls” or “about five thousand” (Acts 2:41; 4:4)? Even in counting a small number, it says “about twelve men” (Acts 19:7). God is showing us that we should not be occupied with the number of people involved in His testimony -- which, by the way, was David's sin (2 Sam 24:1).

A phrase that is often said is “Our church is growing”. What is meant is that the number of people in that particular group is increasing. Now, all of us would like to see that happen, but in the Scriptures growth is used to denote spiritual development in the soul, and not the numerical size of a group of Christians. Suppose I were in a meeting that had 50 Christians gathering regularly for worship and ministry, and I saw that there was not much interest there. They would be more interested in sports, in their homes, etc. Although I could be grateful to see them gathered, I would leave saying to myself:

“I would like to see a little more devotion there”. Then, after a year, suppose I returned to that same group of 50 believers and immediately noticed an evident change. I would see them really occupied with the things of God, asking many questions and staying together after the meetings to have fellowship with one another. Their understanding and maturity in the truth would definitely have progressed. Even though they had not added a single person, I could say that they had really grown! This is the way growth is used in the Scriptures.

When we become occupied with numbers there is always the temptation to compromise principles in order to add more people. For example, we could get more people into our meetings if we announced that a rock band would perform there. But we will not do such a thing, for we must serve in accordance with the principles of the Word of God, if we want to count on the Lord's approval (2 Tim 2:5).

I believe I have not yet answered the question, so let us look at some passages that have to do with the subject.

ANSWER: There are many thousands of people gathered to the name of the Lord today, but relatively speaking there are few compared to the great mass of believers throughout the world. I believe there are at least three reasons for the small size of this testimony.