Second Letter

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Beloved Mother,
In my last I sought to direct your attention to a few of the most evident features of the ruin into which the present dispensation has fallen. I want, to-day, with God's help, to direct it to some of the thoughts on this subject supplied to us by the Word of God.
In the first place, it is important to notice that the Church's failure was no unforeseen thing. On the contrary, it is the very thing foreshadowed in the Word—just as much so as the failure of the Jewish or legal dispensation was fore-announced in the Jewish Scriptures—the Old Testament.
First of all, look at the thirteenth of Matthew. There you find, first, a parable showing how the kingdom of heaven was to be planted, through the sowing of the seed of the Word. Then one showing how the devil would sow tares (false professors) among the wheat. Then another, setting forth how the thing would grow into a tree in whose branches the "birds of the air" would come and lodge; this is followed by another announcing how "leaven," being introduced into it, would finally leaven or corrupt the whole; and still another showing how the Lord, at the end, will dispose of the respective elements— the good and the evil, the true and the false.
To understand these parables you must note that the "birds of the air" and the "leaven" are, in Scripture, symbols of evil—here evil persons and evil principles.
Pass on to Rom. 11:17-2417And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree; 18Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee. 19Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in. 20Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear: 21For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee. 22Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off. 23And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be graffed in: for God is able to graff them in again. 24For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert graffed contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be graffed into their own olive tree? (Romans 11:17‑24), and note the apostle's prophetic warning to the Gentile of a fate identical with that which had overtaken the Jew. Compare the admonition, "Lest He also spare not thee," with that of Moses to Israel in Deut. 29:1818Lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turneth away this day from the Lord our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations; lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood; (Deuteronomy 29:18), etc. and 30: 17, 18. In both cases it is a "Lest" and an "If"—not the language of express prophetic announcement, but of admonitory warning. In the case of 'Israel how dreadfully prophetic in fact! not less so, alas, for ourselves!
There then is the prophecy, and here all around us are the facts. The ruin was foretold, and the ruin has come. The solemn inquiry arises, And what is to be the end of it all?
We have already seen the answer in the words of Paul, "Thou also shalt be cut off" (Rom. 11:2222Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off. (Romans 11:22)). Judgment, God's judgment, awaits it all. See it foreshadowed in the fate of the five foolish virgins (Matt. 25), representatives of the unfaithful portion of the professing Church. (See also Matt. 24:48-5148But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; 49And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; 50The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, 51And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 24:48‑51).) Judgment will begin at the house of God, the professing Church; and fearful will it be for those who are then found in it; the wise virgins will have entered in to the marriage before that day, thank God! (1 Thess. 4:16, 1716For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. (1 Thessalonians 4:16‑17).)
One other interesting question meets us in connection with it, whose answer is important to our right understanding of it, and our discernment of the pathway through it: When did the ruin come in? We find it in the New Testament.
Its first intimation is in 2 Thess. 2:77For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. (2 Thessalonians 2:7); the mystery of iniquity was already at work, so early as the date of that epistle. The place of the epistle in the Church's history is between Acts 17:1010And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews. (Acts 17:10) and 18: 11, when the gospel through the apostle had but just reached Corinth; and in the Corinthian church it began to show itself early, as one sees from the apostle's language about divisions in 1 Cor. 1:1010Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. (1 Corinthians 1:10); but happily the apostle's authority was still sufficient for its repression.
The next intimation of its imminent nearness is in the passage in Acts 20. I have already touched on this, where the apostle shows that it might be expected to appear even among the generation to whom he spoke.
In 1 Tim. 5:1515For some are already turned aside after Satan. (1 Timothy 5:15) there is another hint how rapidly the evil was developing, but it is in his second epistle to Timothy-the last of Paul's writings-that the failure stands fully confessed. The epistle is written throughout in a minor key. Its instructions to his "dearly beloved son" are no longer concerning the ordering of "the house of God, the pillar and ground of the truth," but how to keep himself in the midst of fast consummating decay. It is no more a question of "ordaining" bishops and deacons, but of committing truth to "faithful men." It is not now, as we might say, the advancing soldier exhorted to "fight the good fight of faith," shunning the ordinary temptations that might hinder his progress (1 Tim. 6:10-1210For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. 11But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. 12Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses. (1 Timothy 6:10‑12)), but the soldier on the defensive, as it were, called on to "endure hardness," in the effort to maintain his ground, under the pressure of surrounding evil.
How changed already were the times since the apostle, in the joyful confidence of a willingly acknowledged apostleship, could write to the Corinthians (1 Cor. 16:1919The churches of Asia salute you. Aquila and Priscilla salute you much in the Lord, with the church that is in their house. (1 Corinthians 16:19)), "The churches of Asia salute you!"
Years had rolled by since then. During two of them the apostle had been a prisoner in Caesarea; during two more a prisoner in Rome. What victory had not the adversary gained in the absence of that faithful heart and vigilant eye! How soon was the prophecy of Acts 20:2929For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. (Acts 20:29) fulfilling itself. He writes now, "All they of Asia be turned away from me." From whom? From the Lord's apostle! How declension was coming on apace!
Then look onward to 2 Tim. 2:1818Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some. (2 Timothy 2:18): the resurrection being denied by some, the sorrowing servant of God is driven back on the same consolation that God gave to Elias of old—a remnant still kept for the Lord and known to Himself—the foundation still standing, however crumbling the superstructure! The parable of Matt. 13 was already being fulfilled—the tree was growing great, and the birds of prey were already possessing themselves of its branches—the house of God, which holiness becomes, was fast developing into " a great house," in which were no longer only pure and valuable vessels (as in the temple of old) meet for the Master's use, but a confusion of the worthless and the vile (as in ordinary human habitations) profaning His presence.
Into what a sad condition must the life of the Church have fallen already when the apostle had to write such things as are found towards the close of his letter! How must the Holy Ghost have been grieved when not a man was found in the Roman assembly to stand by God's witnessing servant!
From Paul let us now turn to John. What shall one think of the spiritual state of a Church in which a Diotrephes could acquire such authority as to secure the rejection of an apostle's epistle, and the casting out of those in fellowship with him? (3 John 99I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not. (3 John 9), 10.)
What a commentary are the epistles to the Seven Churches of Asia on Paul's words: "All they of Asia be turned away from me!" How rapidly was the whole thing heading up into open ruin when its representative character was that of those Seven Churches! And the same state of things shows out in 2nd Peter, and in Jude.
The testimony is full and decisive. Morally, the Church was in ruin even before the apostles had all quitted the scene. I say "morally," for though the declension was deep and broad, it still retained "a name to live." The break-up, whose premonitions were there, was not yet reached; the Church remained still a unit, and stood yet on "the foundation of God," though, alas! the wood, hay, and stubble were fast overlaying the gold, the silver, and the precious stones. The case had not yet attained to that utter hopelessness which renders separation imperative; but it was fast hurrying towards it, and the Spirit of God graciously availed Himself of the occasion to trace out beforehand, for the faithful, the pathway of obedience and faith against the coming day.
Before entering on the examination of this—which I shall leave for another letter—there are two thoughts that presented themselves to me in connection with the ruin, which I think it well to look at. The first was: How does this state of ruin comport with the Lord's assurance to Peter, in Matt. 16:1818And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. (Matthew 16:18), that the gates of hell should not prevail against His Church?
The Spirit has been careful to anticipate, and Himself supply the answer to this, in one of the passages already before us, "The foundation of God standeth sure," and "The Lord knoweth them that are His" (2 Tim. 2:1919Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. (2 Timothy 2:19)). Amid all the ruin the purpose of God runs on, and the Holy Ghost still gathers out the members of the body of Christ. All that has been entrusted to man's responsibility has indeed failed, but that which is of God's own sovereignty endures, and will triumph.
The second question is: Does it not seem hard to admit the thought that ruin should so very early have overtaken a divinely-ordered work?
This difficulty is specious, but it is unreal. I can quite understand its being most serious to minds imbued with the unscriptural notion that the present is the final dispensation, and therefore the perfection of God's work, and that a millennium is to be looked for as its natural development and result; but the difficulty disappears when examined in the light of the Word.
First, it is to be borne in mind that the failure is in man, not in God. It is the thing committed to man's trust that has broken down, and no one who has formed a scriptural estimate of what man is will wonder greatly at any mischief he does.
Next it is to be noted that the failure is distinctly predicted by God Himself, and consequently provided for in His plans and purposes.
And further, it is to be kept in view that it is simply in analogy with what has gone before in all the past history of God's dealings with man; and, as Solomon says, "The thing which hath been, it is that which shall be," so long as man is left to his own responsibility in anything. Creation was but just completed when man spoiled everything by his fall. Forty days had not elapsed from the day when Israel entered into covenant with Jehovah, promising, "All the words which the Lord hath said will we do" (Ex. 24:3; 32:193And Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord, and all the judgments: and all the people answered with one voice, and said, All the words which the Lord hath said will we do. (Exodus 24:3)
19And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing: and Moses' anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount. (Exodus 32:19)), before the whole thing was ruined by their setting up the golden calf, and Moses broke the now useless tables of the violated covenant.
And as of the past so of the future. Even after the reign of righteousness, under the Lord in person, during which Satan is bound, and the Spirit of God unhindered in His work of grace, no sooner shall the tempter be loosed again than the old results will re-appear (Rev. 20:7-97And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, 8And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. 9And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. (Revelation 20:7‑9)). One need not therefore wonder nor stumble over the facts of our own dispensation.
But if such be of a truth the character of the human heart—its proneness to err, and to love darkness rather than light—what a lesson of dependent watchfulness does it not read us! What need for a subject mind, for a careful adhesion to the Word, for a constant abiding in Him who is the light of the world, and following whom alone we can be assured that we "shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life."
May God keep our feet in the midst of it, and guide them "into the way of peace."