When John Wesley drafted the constitution of the Methodist Church, he wrote, “Whoever wishes to escape the coming wrath can be a member of the Methodist Church.” Please bear in mind that this is too broad. We admit that we are behind John Wesley in many things; he was a great vessel used by the Lord. There are many things which we have not yet learned; we are behind him in many things. But there is one thing we can tell him: “Brother, do you not think that this statement includes too many people?” In reality the church cannot include all those who wish to escape the coming wrath. Even Buddhists can be counted among those who wish to escape the coming wrath.
I would like all of us to consider what the church is. The church is a group of people who possess the life of Christ. What is the church? The church is the Body of Christ. Therefore, Christian oneness can only be applied to God’s children. It cannot include those who are nominal. They are of the world and are not yet regenerated. They are still sinners in the eyes of God and cannot be included in the church. Therefore, they cannot be part of our oneness.
A servant of the Lord serving in a denomination once said to me, “We receive all saved ones!” I said, “Of course you do! Any church should be expected to receive a saved one. But may I ask whether you reject unsaved ones?” He told me, “You are smart. You can tell who is saved and who is not, but I cannot tell.” I mutely agreed but said again, “I am not asking if you know whether a person is saved; I am asking if you would receive someone whom you know is not saved? We are not arguing about facts but about principle. My question is whether you would receive a person whom you know is not saved.” He said, “Even if we know that he is not saved, I am afraid that we would still receive him.” If a church receives an unsaved person as a matter of principle, it is not the church. We are not talking about facts. For instance, we are not concerned with whether or not Simon in Acts 8 was saved. There are many people who seem to be saved when you talk with them, but who in fact are not saved. In this case there is no violation of principle. But there are some who receive everyone no matter whether or not he is saved. This involves a matter of principle.
Today we are not quibbling about the procedure of receiving. We are talking about the principle behind our receiving. We may decide to say that all descendants of Hwang-ti are Chinese; this is a matter of principle. If someone makes a mistake by including someone who is Japanese, that is an error in procedure. But if you also decide that a Japanese person should be counted as being Chinese, you are broadening the principle. Throughout the ages there have always been mistakes. We ourselves often make mistakes. We ask God for much mercy, for we have nothing to boast of in ourselves. But we know the Lord’s preordained principle that the church cannot open its door to receive unbelievers.
Therefore, brothers, any group which openly practices the principle of receiving both the saved and the unsaved is not the church; it is the world. If wheat and tares are both present, what we have is not the church of God. In the church everyone should be called ones. If some are called while others are not, what we have is not the church.
If a group opens its door widely to both believers and unbelievers, then this is not a Christian group. Their oneness is not Christian oneness. One day the Lord may open one’s eyes to see the need to leave this group. If this happens, please bear in mind that he is not forsaking genuine Christian oneness by leaving the group, because there is no Christian oneness with his group; there is only confusion and mixture. When one leaves this kind of group, he does not leave Christian oneness. If there is a group which receives and mixes both believers and unbelievers, both saved and unsaved, God commands us to come out of it!