Page:Groves - Darbyism - Its Rise and Development and a Review of the Bethesda Question.djvu/10

 truth of the one Church, has been, in all ages, the effort of those who have really divided the true Church of God, by arrogating to themselves alone, the name, title, functions, and dignity, that belong to the whole body.

On this most deeply important matter much of the whole question at issue rests, between Mr. Darby and his followers on the one hand, and the brethren from whom they are now separated on the other. If we turn to the first few chapters of the Revelation we see unmistakeably the mind of the Lord revealed to us. Amongst the things that shall be hereafter, we are there brought in vision into the Holiest of Holies, and in chapters iv. and v. see the church of the Heavenlies in its glory, as figured by the living creatures and the Elders—their position, their song, their redemption, and their dignity, all speak to us of the glory of the Bride of Christ, the Lamb in the midst of the throne. In the preceding chapters, however, we have not what shall be, but what was,—a picture of that which was visible on earth, the present condition and circumstances of those, who are here awaiting the advent of their Lord, and who are commanded to watch, to fight, and to overcome. The whole scene is one of conflict and of trial, the exact fulfilment of that which the Apostle Paul warned the Ephesian elders to expect in the visible church of God—not prosperity and rest, but a constant succession of those two great dangers which have beset the path of the saints all through their journey, namely, the coming in of grievous wolves among them from without, and the rising up of false teachers from within, whose object would be respectively to destroy in the one case, and to lead away disciples after them in the other. Both these evils we see marking the condition of the seven Apocalyptic Churches, and He who holds the stars in his right hand is there revealed as walking amidst the golden candlesticks, even He whose promise was, “Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end.” He who is now amongst us, still walking up and down amongst the churches; for the seven churches are not descriptive of the then state of the church alone, but reveal that which will characterize it all through this dispensation. These chapters reveal to us what the presence of Jesus amongst his people really means: it is no simple promise of protection—it is a promise of that watchful care and jealous love, which, walking among the assemblies, metes out to each its meed of praise and its needed warning. As we have already noticed, each church occupies a place of its own, having an individual responsibility to the Son of Man, who upholdeth them all, unseen by man, witnessing all that goes wrong, and with his eyes of fire not overlooking