As mentioned in the introduction, we sincerely love those connected with the Open Brethren (as we do all of our Christian brethren in the various church denominations), but we firmly believe that the principles on which the Open Brethren meet are erroneous, and we have sought to point them out. We believe that we have done this clearly and simply, and we hope lovingly, so that no one wanting the truth could misunderstand what has been presented.
Are the Open Brethren Truly Gathered Unto the Lord’s Name?
There remains one point that needs to be addressed, “Are the Open Brethren truly gathered to the Lord’s name according to Matthew 18:2020For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. (Matthew 18:20)?” They profess to be so gathered, and this is evident in the fact that they (the “tight” arm) place a sign on their buildings stating that they are—oftentimes quoting this very verse to support their claim. But is this claim true? We believe that it is not. In examining the principles on which they meet, it is clear that they are not in accord with the true ground of the Church, and therefore, could not be gathered to the Lord’s name as Scripture speaks.
Matthew 18:2020For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. (Matthew 18:20) has often been called the “Magna Carta” of the Church because the verse has the basic elements and principles that constitute a Christian assembly. It is the first time the local assembly is mentioned in the Bible, and therefore, we would do well to pay special attention to it. The Lord did not develop and expand on the truth of the assembly at that time because the disciples didn’t have the Spirit yet, and they wouldn’t have been able to take it in (John 14:25-26; 16:1225These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you. 26But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. (John 14:25‑26)
12I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. (John 16:12)), but He did give the essential principles of it. He did this on many occasions in His ministry, giving but the seed of a certain truth, and then leaving it to be developed through the apostles when the Spirit came.
The Spirit’s Work in Gathering
There are two things that show that the Open Brethren could not be gathered to the Lord’s name according to Matthew 18:2020For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. (Matthew 18:20), even though they profess to be. Firstly, gathering Christians to the Lord’s name is viewed in Matthew’s gospel as a sovereign work of God by the Holy Spirit. While the Spirit is not directly mentioned in the passage, it is clear that He is the divine Gatherer. The words “are gathered together” indicate this. The Lord did not say, “Where two or three come together” or “meet together ... ” as some modern translations render it. “Are gathered” is in a passive voice, and this points to the fact that there has been a gathering power outside of the people themselves that has been involved in their meeting together on that ground.
Hamilton Smith said, “To use a simple illustration, I see a basket of fruit on the table. How did it get there? It was gathered together; it did not get there by its own efforts. The word for ‘gathered together’ in the Greek is ‘sunago’ which literally means ‘to lead together,’ and could be translated, “are guided together”—all of which suggests a Gatherer.” This shows that the divine ground of gathering for the Church is not a voluntary association of believers. It’s true that there should be personal exercise and energy on the part of those who are gathered by the Spirit to be found there at the place where Christ is in the midst, but that is not the side of things that is presented in Matthew 18:2020For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. (Matthew 18:20).
Who else could the Lord entrust with the gathering of His people together unto His name, but the Spirit of God? The best-intentioned men have sought to gather the Lord’s people together and have made a thorough mess of it. Being ignorant of the truth of gathering in the Scriptures, they have shunted them into denominational sects and groups, and have encouraged them to go to “the church of their choice.” The result is that Christians have been scattered in a thousand directions. This surely is not the work of the Holy Spirit.
Matthew 18:2020For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. (Matthew 18:20) indicates that when the Spirit of God gathers believers to the Lord’s name, He does not gather them in independent assemblies, but “together” with others on that same ground, regardless of where they are on earth, because “there is one body” (Eph. 4:44There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; (Ephesians 4:4)). Some may think that we are seeing more in the words “gathered together” than God intended, but since we are to interpret Scripture in the light of all other Scriptures, when we turn to the Acts and the epistles we see that the Lord was indicating the truth of the Church’s oneness in testimony. (As mentioned earlier, these truths are only mentioned here in embryo and are left for the Spirit of God to develop later by the apostles.) But there is no mention in the New Testament of Christian assemblies being independent of one another. The togetherness that the Open Brethren see in Matthew 18:2020For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. (Matthew 18:20) is nothing more than unity in a local gathering, but this is missing the point.
Our purpose in mentioning this is to show that if the Spirit of God were the Engineer of the Open Brethren position, He would have “gathered” them “together” with others who are similarly gathered to express the truth of the one body. But, as we have seen, the Open Brethren do not even profess to be gathered on the ground of the one body; they believe in independency. Since the Spirit of God would not lead Christians to a ground of gathering that is contrary to the Word of God, we conclude that the Open Brethren could not be gathered on the true ground of the Church of God, as they profess to be.
Two Aspects of the Spirit’s Work in Gathering
Some of the confusion that people have in regard to being gathered to the Lord’s name comes from seeing only one side of the truth. It is not that the Spirit of God sovereignly gathers people to the Lord’s name and that they have no exercise about it; that would not be the whole truth. Scripture presents two sides of being gathered together where the Lord is in the midst. As mentioned, Matthew 18:2020For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. (Matthew 18:20) emphasizes God’s sovereign work in gathering, but Luke 22:8-128And he sent Peter and John, saying, Go and prepare us the passover, that we may eat. 9And they said unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare? 10And he said unto them, Behold, when ye are entered into the city, there shall a man meet you, bearing a pitcher of water; follow him into the house where he entereth in. 11And ye shall say unto the goodman of the house, The Master saith unto thee, Where is the guestchamber, where I shall eat the passover with my disciples? 12And he shall show you a large upper room furnished: there make ready. (Luke 22:8‑12) focuses more on what is required of us in being guided by the Spirit to that place of His appointment. Luke takes up the truth of gathering from the side of man’s responsibility. It says, “When ye are entered into the city, there shall a man meet you, bearing a pitcher of water: follow him into the house where he entereth in.” The Spirit of God is seen here in the figure of “a man” bearing a pitcher of water. (Many times, in Scripture, the Spirit of God is seen as an unnamed man working behind the scenes. This is because it is not the object of the Spirit to draw attention to Himself. He does not take a place of prominence in Christianity but works behind the scenes guiding exercised souls to that Scriptural ground where the Lord is in the midst of those thus gathered.) In this case, He led the disciples to the place where they could be with the Lord for the supper. “Water,” in Scripture, often signifies the Word of God (Eph. 5:2626That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, (Ephesians 5:26); John 15:33Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. (John 15:3)). Thus, we learn that the Spirit of God uses the principles of the Word of God to guide believers to the place of the Lord’s appointment. Some of the exercises that we need to have to be guided to that place are:
A sincere desire to know where the place of His appointment is. This is illustrated in Peter and John inquiring of the Lord, “Where wilt thou that we prepare?”
The energy of faith to go into the city and being exercised about being led to the place. This is illustrated in the words, “And they went ... ” (vs. 13).
The exercise of climbing the stairs of separation to the “upper room” (vs. 12). This would imply leaving behind every connection with the world—both secular and religious.
Lastly, having been directed to the place of His appointment, there is the exercise of making “ready” (vs. 12). This refers to the need of being in a spiritual state of soul suited to His presence. This is done by exercising self-judgment (1 Cor. 11:2828But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. (1 Corinthians 11:28)).
Scripture teaches us that the Lord has a place to which He gathers Christians together on Scriptural principles. Matthew 18:2020For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. (Matthew 18:20) says, “Where two or three are gathered together ... ” and Luke 22:99And they said unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare? (Luke 22:9) says, “Where wilt Thou that we prepare?” Again, Matthew 18:2020For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. (Matthew 18:20) says, “There am I in the midst,” and Luke 22:1212And he shall show you a large upper room furnished: there make ready. (Luke 22:12) says, “There make ready.” Both passages speak of this place. J. N. Darby said, “He [Christ] is the only centre of gathering. Men may make confederations amongst themselves, having many things for their object or aim, but the communion of saints cannot be known unless each line converges towards the living Centre. The Holy Ghost does not gather saints around mere views, however true they may be, upon that which the church is, upon that which it has been, or that which it may be on earth, but He always gathers them around that blessed Person, who is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”
The Lord’s Presence “in the Midst”
The second reason why we do not believe that the Open Brethren are truly gathered to the Lord’s name is that the context of the passage in Matthew 18 indicates that the Lord is “in the midst” of those whom the Spirit of God has gathered, to sanction the ground upon which they are gathered, and to authorize the administrative actions of binding and loosing that are done there. But, as we have pointed out, many of the principles on which the Open Brethren meet are not Scriptural, and thus, the Lord would not sanction with His presence a ground that is not according to His Word.
Furthermore, if the Lord did give His presence to the Open Brethren position in the sense that it is spoken of in Matthew 18:2020For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. (Matthew 18:20), He would be condoning an obvious division in the public testimony of the Church. And consequently, He would be the Author of a division!
Two Aspects of the Lord’s Presence With His People
Many of our Open Brethren friends may feel that they have enjoyed the Lord’s presence in their midst in a very marked way in their meetings. And they may wonder how it could be said that the Lord is not in the midst of Open Brethren meetings. But this is because they are confusing two different aspects of the Lord’s presence with His people.
As mentioned, Matthew 18:2020For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. (Matthew 18:20) refers to the Lord’s presence sanctioning the ground upon which the Spirit of God has gathered His people. It is speaking about proper Church ground. But the Lord’s presence is spoken of in another sense in Scripture. He said, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” (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); 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)). In this sense, the Lord is with all Christians as individuals. If Christians, as individuals, get together for any reason, secular or religious, He would be with them there in that sense. Unfortunately, some have a difficulty understanding this, and ask, “How can the Lord be in the midst of His people, and yet not be there with them?” They conclude that it is pure nonsense. But the simple answer is that Scripture speaks of the Lord’s presence in two different ways. As discerning Christians, we are to “approve things that are excellent [differ]” (Phil. 1:1010That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ; (Philippians 1:10)).
Nor should we think that the Lord is “in the midst” sanctioning the state of those whom He has gathered; Matthew 18:2020For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. (Matthew 18:20) is not speaking of the state of His gathered saints—for it may be terribly low—but the ground on which they are gathered.
An Imitation of the Truth of Gathering
Hence, it is one thing to say that we are gathered to the Lord’s name, and entirely another to truly be gathered to His name. Even though many things outwardly look Scriptural among the Open Brethren, we do not believe that they are gathered on the true ground of the Church. As we have shown, human principles and order have been adopted to keep these assemblies functioning—not to the same extent of the denominational churches—but they are there. We believe that this has been done because the Lord is not in their midst according to Matthew 18:2020For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. (Matthew 18:20). Sad to say, they have substituted human order for divine order, and this is leaning on the “arm” of the flesh (Jer. 17:55Thus saith the Lord; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord. (Jeremiah 17:5)). We realize that this conclusion may be offensive to those who are in the Open Brethren assembly position, but we feel it incumbent to speak the Word faithfully (Jer. 23:2828The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the Lord. (Jeremiah 23:28)).
As previously mentioned, the Open Brethren profess to be gathered to the Lord’s name, and even put a sign on their building stating that they are, but this in itself does not mean that it is so. Mr. Hayhoe used to say that it is something like a person looking for a physician. He may go down the street and find a sign on an office building stating that such and such a physician’s practice is there. Turning in and noticing that there are no diplomas or certificates posted to prove the doctor’s authenticity, he asks the nurse at the desk, and she replies, “Oh, he doesn’t have a certificate from a medical school, but he is a good doctor and you will like him.” Similarly, the Open Brethren may state that they are gathered to the Lord’s name—and they may have good intentions in doing so—but they really don’t have authority from Scripture to take that ground because they do not meet according to all the truth of Scripture. Mr. Vern Clark summed it up aptly by saying, “The whole thing is but an imitation of the true ground of gathering.” Our dear brethren in this false position may not realize this, so we would encourage them to search these things out for themselves in the presence of God, with an open Bible and an open heart, and see if it is so (Acts 17:1111These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. (Acts 17:11)).
In drawing this study of the principles and practices of the Open Brethren to a close, we trust that we are not being harsh or judgmental in our conclusions. At times it has probably sounded that way to those affectionately attached to that church position, nevertheless, we have sought to state the truth, and we cannot make excuses for it. We trust that it has been done faithfully and lovingly. We now leave it to the Lord to exercise souls.