IN HIS NAME Original Title: QUESTIONS YOUNG PEOPLE ASK REGARDING THE GROUND OF GATHERING FOR CHRISTIANS GOOD QUESTIONS THAT DESERVE GOOD ANSWERS VOLUMES 1 AND 2 Author: BRUCE ANSTEY Translation: MARIO PERSONA — page 16

In Ephesus we learn that “the angel of the church” (the responsible leaders) judged correctly everything that was inconsistent with the Lord. There it says “that you cannot bear the evil”. But unfortunately their hearts were not with Him (Rev. 2:2-4). In Smyrna any eventual increase in decline was temporarily paused by the great persecutions that fell upon that church. The severity of the tribulation made them return to the Lord. But in Pergamum, when the times of great persecution had ended, “the angel of the church” began to tolerate some who had “the doctrine of Balaam,” which is worldliness and idolatry. The angel was not accused of having these doctrines, but the Lord saw fault in them for not denouncing the evil, as the angel in Ephesus had done. In Thyatira a worse condition occurred: “The angel of the church” allowed the same evil doctrine and practice that had been opposed by some in Pergamum to be taught! (Compare Rev. 2:14 with 2:20). What began with a few professing evil doctrine ended with many teaching the same evil doctrine. This shows that if the existence of evil is not judged it will end up being accepted. In Thyatira the teaching of that evil had developed into a whole system of things called “Jezebel,” which certainly corresponds to Catholicism. In the Middle Ages this ungodly system exercised such a tyrannical power over the church as a whole, with its power and organization, that it controlled even the angel! Those who occupied a place of responsibility had failed to deal with it when they could have done so, and now it had grown into a monster that controlled them! (See Acts 27:14-15. The “Euroclydon,” a strong Mediterranean wind, took control of the ship and the crew could do nothing but let themselves be carried along: “And not being able to sail against the wind, giving up everything, we let ourselves drift”). The figure of “Jezebel” is appropriately used here, for that woman not only formally introduced idolatry into Israel, but also controlled and manipulated her husband, King Ahab. Such being the situation of the public condition of the church, where there was no longer power to deal with evil, the Lord separated a remnant, saying: “But I say to you, and to the rest [remnant]...”. He sets aside the great mass of people (Rev. 2:24). From that moment on He began to work with a remnant that could hear what the Spirit was saying to the churches. Here we have the word “remnant” used in connection with the Christian testimony. It is significant that the Lord did not place “another burden” or responsibility on them to fix the confusion existing in the Christian testimony, in an effort to bring the church back to its original state. Instead, He directed their focus to His coming, saying: “But what you have, hold fast until I come” (Rev. 2:25).

From that point on a notable change is seen in the way the Lord deals with the church. Until then, in the first three churches, the voice of the Spirit was directed to the church as a whole. “What the Spirit says to the churches” came before the promise “to him who overcomes”. This indicates that the reward for the overcomer was placed before the whole church, for the Lord was still dealing with it in a general way. But now, from this point on, the order is reversed. The call to hear “what the Spirit says to the churches” comes after the promise made “to him who overcomes”. This is the order in the last four churches. What the Spirit has to say with respect to the order in the church is no longer given to the multitude, but only to the one who overcomes. The reason is that only the overcomer is supposed to hear what the Spirit is saying. The multitudes are not expected to hear and repent. Paul's prediction to Timothy, that people, for the most part, “will not endure sound doctrine; but, having itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers according to their own lusts” had been fulfilled (2 Tim. 4:2-3), and therefore the Spirit was no longer speaking to the body as a whole.

Making an observation on such a change, J. N. Darby wrote that the body as a whole is “set aside” from this point on, for the great public mass of Christian profession is treated as being incapable of hearing and repenting. William Kelly wrote: “From that moment on the Lord presents the promise [to him who overcomes] first, and this because it is in vain to expect that the church as a whole will receive it... only a remnant [receives it], the overcomer, and the promise is for them; as for the others, it is all over.” As a result of this, the Lord no longer expected the mass of Christian profession to listen and return to the point from which it had departed. Any idea of recovering the church as a whole is abandoned, since it has reached a point where there is no going back. That is why I do not believe the Spirit is necessarily speaking to all people in Christendom today with regard to the truth of gathering. With the majority He is simply letting them go their way along with their denominational organizations.

Working with a remnant testimony since then, the Lord has been pleased to recover the truth that was lost through the carelessness of the church in previous centuries. However, He does not seem to find it appropriate to recover all the truth at once. The remnant mentioned in Revelation 2:24-29 is formed by the Waldenses, Albigenses and other similar groups that separated from the evil of “Jezebel” in medieval times. To them it was said, “What you have, hold fast until I come,” referring to that small measure of truth that they possessed. Some time later, at the time of the Reformation, the Lord allowed a little more truth to be recovered, namely, the supremacy of the Bible and faith solely in Christ for salvation. But that movement of the Spirit was frustrated by the reformers themselves, who joined with certain governments seeking help against the persecutions of the Church of Rome. That was the same as turning to the flesh for help, instead of depending on the Lord (Jer. 17:5; Ps. 118:8-9; Isa. 31:1). The result was the formation of the great national churches in Christendom, and there began the decline of Protestantism, as is shown in the church of Sardis (Rev. 3:1-6).

It was not until the early 1800s that the Lord brought a complete recovery of the truth of the “faith that was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3). This happened when some came out of all the formal organizations created by men in the church, and it is shown in the Lord's message to the church of Philadelphia (Rev. 3:7-13). At that time God established a corporate testimony of the truth of the one body. Before that time the remnant was formed by individuals who sought to go forward faithfully in separation from the corruption of the Roman church. We live today in the days when every man does what is right in his own eyes (Judges 21:25), and most are complacent with this lamentable condition. This is shown in the church in Laodicea (Rev. 3:14-22).

What concerns us here is that the Christian testimony reached a point of irremediable ruin, which required a change in the Lord's way of dealing with it. He abandoned any attempt to restore the public condition of the church and is now working with a remnant testimony. This is not to say that the gathered saints are exactly the remnant, but rather that they occupy, ecclesiastically speaking and as a testimony, a remnant position amid the confusion that permeates the church. Generally speaking, the remnant is formed by all true believers scattered throughout the great mass of mere Christian profession in Christendom.

Just as it was with Israel, in order to maintain today a remnant testimony of the truth that there is one body, the Lord does not need to have all the Christians of the world gathered to His name, even though this is His desire for them. As already mentioned, the very meaning of the word remnant implies that not all are there. In divine prerogative and grace God is taking one here and another there and is gathering them to the name of the Lord, so that such a remnant testimony may go forward. The maintenance of this is a sovereign work. This is seen in the Lord's observation to Philadelphia: “What He opens, no one can shut; and what He shuts, no one can open” (Rev. 3:7). Neither men nor the devil can prevent its continuation, although such a testimony may appear to go forward in great weakness. However humble the testimony may be, God does not need any of those whom He has gathered, regardless of how spiritually gifted they may be. If we do not want to remain and we abandon it, the Lord will gather others so that His remnant testimony is carried forward until His coming. The fact that there is someone gathered is already entirely a work of God; the grace that saves a soul is the same grace that gathers to the name of the Lord. If any of us heard “what the Spirit says to the churches” and saw the truth of how to gather, that was only because He opened our ears (Prov. 20:12).