Question:
How can this be the right place when there are all kinds of things going on that are not right? There are strifes, divisions, worldliness, etc. If the Lord were truly in the midst, He wouldn’t allow these things to happen.
Answer:
The problem here is that we have made the tolerance of evil in an assembly the criterion for judging whether it is gathered on the right ground or not. Again, we can understand how a person might come to this conclusion: you would naturally think that if the Lord were truly in the midst of a certain company of Christians, there wouldn’t be any trouble. He wouldn’t allow it to go on, because if He did, then He would be condoning it—which is something He wouldn’t do.
Well, we are not the first to raise this question. Long ago, Gideon asked, “Oh my Lord, if the LORD be with us, why then is all this befallen us?” (Judges 6:1313And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the Lord be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt? but now the Lord hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites. (Judges 6:13)) This conundrum results from having a false premise. The truth is that the Lord is in the midst of the “gathered saints” to sanction that ecclesiastical ground, but it does not equate to Him condoning their state. Scripture distinguishes between these two things, and we need to do so as well. If we see them as one and the same thing, we’ll come away with some mistaken conclusions. This is true in personal life and also in assembly life. For instance, as believers, the Lord is with us at all times in an individual sense (Matt. 28:2020Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen. (Matthew 28:20); Heb. 13:55Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. (Hebrews 13:5)), but we can’t conclude from that, that He condones everything that we do. And, of course, it’s the same with the assembly.
This is illustrated in Malachi. As you know, Malachi had the solemn duty of delivering God’s last message to His earthly people—the Jews—before the Lord came. The people in Malachi’s day were in a right position, but in a wrong condition. Having returned from Babylon to the divine center of that day—Jerusalem—they were at the right place. Since this was so, they had the Lord’s presence “with” them (Hagg. 2:4-5). But they were in a wrong state, and therefore, Malachi was sent to exercise the people about this. We might wonder how the Lord could dwell among them when there were all kinds of wrong things going on, but it’s because the Lord’s presence with His people (collectively) does not equate to Him approving of their state.
In the New Testament, we see the same thing. The state in the assembly at Corinth was deplorably low. There were all kinds of things going on that were wicked—division, fornication, bad doctrine, and other things that struck at the foundations of the faith. Yet when the Apostle Paul wrote to them, he addressed them as “the assembly of God.” They were still recognized as an assembly that was—as far as divine ground is concerned—“of God.” It was owned of God as being such. In chapter 5, he states that when they were “gathered together,” it was “with the power of the Lord Jesus Christ.” According to Matthew 18:18-2018Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 19Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. 20For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. (Matthew 18:18‑20), this power, or authority, is only consequent upon the Lord being in the midst. Hence, not only was that assembly still owned of God, but the Lord was there in their midst. Note: it doesn’t say “Where two or three, going on well in a good state, are gathered ... there am I in the midst.” Such a condition is not put on it.
Again, we might wonder how it could be that the Lord would still identify Himself with an assembly that had gone so far wrong. It is not that the Lord condoned the evil in Corinth; He would not have borne with it indefinitely—for then, it would have given a wrong message to the world. But at the point of Paul’s writing the epistle, the Lord was giving space for repentance. Sooner or later, the Apostle would have to come on the Lord’s behalf and deal in judgment with that assembly if they didn’t set those things right (1 Cor. 4:21; 221What will ye? shall I come unto you with a rod, or in love, and in the spirit of meekness? (1 Corinthians 4:21)
5Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? (1 Corinthians 3:5) Cor. 1:23). As you know, the warning in the first epistle was received, and the saints at Corinth were repentant, and they corrected those things that were wanting (2 Cor. 7:6-166Nevertheless God, that comforteth those that are cast down, comforted us by the coming of Titus; 7And not by his coming only, but by the consolation wherewith he was comforted in you, when he told us your earnest desire, your mourning, your fervent mind toward me; so that I rejoiced the more. 8For though I made you sorry with a letter, I do not repent, though I did repent: for I perceive that the same epistle hath made you sorry, though it were but for a season. 9Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing. 10For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death. 11For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter. 12Wherefore, though I wrote unto you, I did it not for his cause that had done the wrong, nor for his cause that suffered wrong, but that our care for you in the sight of God might appear unto you. 13Therefore we were comforted in your comfort: yea, and exceedingly the more joyed we for the joy of Titus, because his spirit was refreshed by you all. 14For if I have boasted any thing to him of you, I am not ashamed; but as we spake all things to you in truth, even so our boasting, which I made before Titus, is found a truth. 15And his inward affection is more abundant toward you, whilst he remembereth the obedience of you all, how with fear and trembling ye received him. 16I rejoice therefore that I have confidence in you in all things. (2 Corinthians 7:6‑16)). This shows that the Lord does not remove the candlestick in a place quickly, but rather, gives space for repentance when things are wrong (Rev. 2:2121And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not. (Revelation 2:21)). It is interesting to note that in Revelation 2:55Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent. (Revelation 2:5), the word “quickly” (as found in the KJV) is not in the original Greek text. It should simply read, “I am coming to thee, and I will remove thy lamp out of its place, except thou shalt repent.”
Out of the false premise that the Lord could not be in the midst of an assembly that has things in it that are wrong, comes the idea that we should leave it because it is in such a state. The reasoning is that if the Lord is not there, then we shouldn’t be either, because you wouldn’t want to be in a place where the Lord is not in the midst. Some who have wanted to leave the assembly anyway have used this false premise as a convenient excuse to make a quick exit. The old cry is, “There is evil there, and the Lord surely wouldn’t want me to be in fellowship with evil!”
The mistake here is that we imagine that there is a certain degree of trouble and evil that can be tolerated in an assembly; and if that line is crossed, somehow, that assembly mystically loses its status as being on divine ground. Since everyone has a different idea as to what that degree is, each is left to his own discretion to decide as to when he thinks an assembly is no longer truly gathered to the Lord’s name. This reminds us of the days when the judges ruled. At the end of that book it says, “Every man did that which was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:2525In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes. (Judges 21:25)). Sad to say, this sort of thing leads to confusion.
It has been often asked, “When should a person leave an assembly?” It is simply this: you leave when the Lord leaves. But when is that? In the apostles’ day, it would have been when the assembly wilfully refused to correct matters within it, and an apostle dealt with it in an apostolic judgment as acting for the Lord (1 Cor. 4:21; 221What will ye? shall I come unto you with a rod, or in love, and in the spirit of meekness? (1 Corinthians 4:21)
5Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? (1 Corinthians 3:5) Cor. 1:23). Today, it would be when another assembly gathered to the Lord’s name—after much remonstrance and longsuffering—officially disowns it as an assembly on divine ground. This would be a binding decision made in the name of the Lord (Matt. 18:18-2018Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 19Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. 20For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. (Matthew 18:18‑20)).
If we think that we have to leave an assembly because of certain things going on there, when it has not been formally disowned by another assembly gathered to the Lord’s name, we are going ahead of the Lord. Really, we are as much as saying that we are more holy than the Lord Himself. If He can still be in the midst of an erring assembly (albeit grieved because of its state), we can still be there too.
What we can do until the problem is rectified, or the assembly is disowned, is to “mourn” over the low state of the assembly. It may be that the Lord will come in in a governmental action and deal with the problem or persons at fault (1 Cor. 5:1-21It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife. 2And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you. (1 Corinthians 5:1‑2)). But Scripture does not indicate that we are to leave an assembly because it is in a low state. W. Potter said, “Suppose this gathering got into a terrible state. The thing to do is to humble ourselves before the Lord, but not to get out of it.” He also said, “If the Spirit of God has gathered us to the Lord’s name, we dare not leave that position until we have the Word of God for it.”
The third epistle of John gives us light in this connection. Conditions in the local assembly where Gaius lived were terrible—to say the least. An elder in the assembly (Diotrephes) had departed from his role of leading, caring, and shepherding the flock, and had commandeered the control of the assembly and ruled over it in a fleshly way. He was a power-mad elder gone awry. The result was that many persons were hurt by his brutish and self-seeking ways (compare Jeremiah 10:2121For the pastors are become brutish, and have not sought the Lord: therefore they shall not prosper, and all their flocks shall be scattered. (Jeremiah 10:21)). The six evils of Diotrephes were:
He loved the preeminence, having single-handedly taken control of the assembly.
He suppressed a letter from the Apostle John to the assembly.
He unjustly accused the apostles with malicious words.
He refused to receive those who had gone forth labouring in the Word and doctrine.
He hindered those who did receive labourers.
He excommunicated people unjustly.
We can ask, “In such conditions, what can the righteous do?” (Psa. 11:33If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do? (Psalm 11:3)) You will notice that there are two things that are conspicuous by their absence in the epistle: firstly, the Apostle John does not tell Gaius to leave the assembly because of the terrible things that were going on there. John didn’t say to him, “Gaius, you don’t have to put up with that; just pack your bags and leave.” No, that was not an option. Secondly, John did not tell Gaius to get Demetrius and some of the other brethren there, and put that man out of fellowship (excommunication). It is not that that wasn’t what should have been done—it would have been the right thing to do. But this epistle views things in an assembly when conditions have gotten so low that there is no power left to deal with evil. (Being a “third” epistle, it presents conditions that have grown out of what is found in the “second” epistles.) It would be no use trying to fight Diotrephes, because those who did would end up out of fellowship themselves! He had the upper hand in the assembly and would put any resisting persons out. So, trying to excommunicate him was really not something that the assembly had the power to do.
When things have gotten to this point in an assembly, this epistle shows us that there is still a recourse—the Lord Himself. As Head of the Church, in that day He could send an apostle to deal with the problem. This is seen in the words of John, “If I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth” (vss. 10, 14). John planned to come to that assembly and deal with Diotrephes in an apostolic judgment. It would be a divine intervention because his actions as an apostle were really an extension of the Lord’s authority. Today, there is no apostle on earth to intervene on the Lord’s behalf in this way, but the Lord can still intervene governmentally—in a providential way—in difficult assembly situations. John’s coming perhaps would represent that reality in our day. Like Gaius, and any other exercised saints in that assembly, we are to wait for the Lord to act in His time.
In the meantime, John told Gaius to “imitate ... what is good” and not to fall in with Diotrephes’ evil. It seems that John anticipated Gaius asking how that could be done in such a difficult situation that existed in this assembly, so John pointed to Demetrius. He as much as said, “He is your example.” He said, “Demetrius hath a good report of all [men], and of the truth itself.” This is quite amazing. “All” would include Diotrephes! It means that Demetrius lived in such a way that he had a good report with Diotrephes. Yet John adds, “And of the truth itself.” This indicates that Demetrius hadn’t compromised any of the truth. It means that he had found a way to go on in the presence of Diotrephes, and still live in a way that would please the Lord. This shows us that there is a way to go on, even in the most difficult circumstances in an assembly. The answer is not to leave.
Summary:
The presence of trouble or evil in an assembly doesn’t mean that that assembly is not on divine ground, but rather, that it is in a low state. If an assembly continues in an evil course, it would eventually be formally disowned and no longer gathered to the Lord’s name. Until that time, the Lord is still in its midst, though most surely grieved over its poor state. It is our place to remain there until the Lord intervenes to set it right, or until that assembly has been formally set aside.