All believers are one in the risen Christ, and the will of Christ is that that unity should be manifested to the whole world. How deeply and touchingly this is seen in the present intercommunings of the Son with the Father: “That they all may be one; as Thou, Father, are in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us; THAT THE WORLD MAY BELIEVE”; and again, “I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that THE WORLD MAY KNOW that Thou hast sent Me, and hast loved them, as Thou hast loved Me” (John 17:21,23). Thus, instead of earthly divisions and discord, the blessed Lord would have us manifest to the world our oneness with Himself in glory. We are dead with Him, risen with Him, and shall be glorified with Him. But O! to walk worthy of this oneness with the risen Christ. However we may have failed, I am not thereby excused from faithfulness to Him; and I cannot therefore be identified with, anything that grieves Him or is contrary to His mind. Sects and divisions have been shown to be utterly contrary to His will; therefore I must separate from them all if I would walk according to God’s Word. I can own no church but the one body, no principle of church government but that of the Holy Ghost, no name but that of the Lord Jesus Christ — alone Head of the risen body, the church of God.
The path may be difficult, but when was the path of faith easy? These are perilous times. Evil is called good; good, evil; indifference, neutrality. “Wherefore He saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.” “Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is” (Eph. 5:14,17).
The Lord is at hand, and He hath said, “Surely I come quickly.” How very soon the last sound of discord shall be heard! O, haste the day when the exalted Lord shall be forever owned and adored. O, my fellow believers, with such a prospect shall we not, during this little while, seek to do His blessed will? He would have us separate ourselves and purge ourselves from every vessel of dishonor. (2 Tim. 2:19-21). He would have us gathered in His name. (Matt. 18:20). Surely we need no argument in addition to our Lord’s revealed will.
I would add a few words, in conclusion, to those who are gathered in the name of the Lord Jesus, desiring in everything to be subject to the guidance of the Holy Ghost.
Let us remember, beloved brethren, that God has gathered us together in the name of the Lord Jesus; that we have not met of our own will; that we have only to seek the glory of Christ, and to win souls to Him. Let us not be ashamed of His precious name and the blessed place in which He has set us as witnesses of Him. Yea, let us rise as one man to make known the claims of Christ. But this can only be done in unshaken faith. There may be the name and form, and not the power. When gathered in the name of the Lord Jesus, do we always expect the Spirit to testify of Him? If men go to hear an eloquent preacher, they expect to hear him. Do we thus expect the teaching of the Spirit of God by the Word? God is pleased to use gifts, but His own presence is more than all gifts.
I am hot speaking of a blind impulse, or of what some call man’s inward light. No; I ask, do we really believe in the presence of the divine person of the Holy Ghost? Then let not one rise to deliver his own thought, ready prepared as it were; and let not the weakest say, I am not fit to be used of God. Let there be a real yielding of ourselves to God, to be kept silent, or used to speak the words He shall give — it may be but the reading of a verse of Scripture. Have we not often felt more of the real power of God’s presence at such a time than we can possibly describe? How blessed to feel you are in His very presence, to hear His words, as though He were speaking in an audible voice. O, may there be such fervent prayer that the manifest guidance of the Spirit of God may be seen and felt in every gathering. Have faith, my brethren, in God.
To my brethren who are still in the sects of men, whether Roman, Greek or Protestant — of whatever name — let me earnestly entreat you to seek divine guidance in the Scriptures of truth. My confidence is in God, that He will, by this feeble paper, lead many of you to own the name of the Lord Jesus in unfeigned subjection to the Spirit of God. We may never know each other here, but when we meet around the throne, then we shall not regret having left every sect, and every name, and having been gathered only in the name of the Lord Jesus. Do not suppose that I imply that the name of Jesus is not dear to all the children of God in the various divisions of the professing church. No; for to you who believe He is precious. But you are not gathered in His name alone, as the one body of Christ. Each sect has some other name, or some other principle, which hinders all the children of God being gathered with them, in contrast to the true ground of being gathered by the Spirit of God to the name and person of Christ. In thus gathering, there is no barrier to any or all the children of God walking in subjection to the Holy Ghost.
Nor can such a gathering or assembly of God be truly called a sect, any more than the assembly of God in the days of the apostles could.
Nor would I for a moment imply that my brethren in the various divisions deny the existence of the Holy Ghost. What I say is, that when they meet for worship or teaching they do not submit to the Holy Ghost, and allow Him to preside over the meeting, using whom He will, as in 1 Corinthians 12:14. They have departed from the Spirit’s rule, and have set up human order. And thus one member is burdened, and the others become mere listeners. There is work for every member, according to the measure of grace. All cannot speak in public; but cannot God use the feeblest attempts — a word by the way? Yea, often the prayer of a poor man, filled with the Spirit, is more blest to the saints of God than the eloquence of an Apollos.
May the Lord Himself lead us all into unfeigned subjection to the Holy Ghost, according to His blessed Word.
(Continued and to be Continued).