There is another problem which we must notice. Some brothers who have seen the ground of the local church feel that if they take this ground they will be cut off from the fellowship of other groups of Christians. Not too long ago, a brother asked me this question: “How can we take the ground of the local church, yet still be identified with all the people of the Lord?” I answered that it is impossible. Why is this so? It is simply because today is a day of division.
For example, we know that before the captivity, all the people of Israel lived in the land of Canaan. At that time, it was possible for everyone to be identified with all the people of God. But at the time of captivity, some were carried away to Egypt, some to Syria, and the majority to Babylon. Thus they were divided. In this kind of situation, how could one Israelite be identified with all the people of Israel? If he were identified with all those in Babylon, he would be cut off from those in Egypt and Syria. If he were identified with the group in Egypt, he would be cut off from those in Babylon and Syria.
Today it is impossible to identify ourselves with all believers. Do you think you could be identified with the saints in the Roman Catholic Church? It is impossible. However, it is not a matter of being identified with all saints. It is a matter of taking the command of the Lord to return to the proper ground. At the expiration of the 70 years, the Lord commanded all the Israelites to return to Jerusalem. We also must take the Lord’s command to return to our “Jerusalem.” We can never be identified with all the Lord’s people today, because so many will not obey the Lord to come back to the ground of unity.
Even if we did not take the ground of the church, we could never be identified with all the children of God in the present situation of division. It is impossible, because all the children of God are divided, separated and scattered. What we must do today is not to be identified with all the Lord’s people, but to take the way of the Lord’s recovery by coming back to the original ground. We would like to fellowship with all the saints, but the situation today does not allow us to do so.
There is really no need of taking this matter into consideration. As long as we are willing to be general and ready to fellowship with all the saints, that is sufficient. Whether or not we can identify with all the saints is not our responsibility, but their responsibility. They all must come back to “Jerusalem.”
If all the saints would return to “Jerusalem,” there would be no problem. The problem is that some are willing to come back, but the majority are not willing to come back. Should we remain then in the divisions? No, we must come back to the ground of unity. Others will say that by so doing we create more divisions. They will say that before we came back to the proper ground, there were not as many divisions, but after we returned, there is a further division. They will say that we have increased the number of divisions. But we should not take this kind of accusation. Actually we are not causing a division, but rather recovering the proper unity. The proper unity can only be on the proper ground. To remain in the denominations is to keep the divisions. When we return to “Jerusalem,” we return to the proper unity and are not responsible for any division. Who then is responsible? It is those who will not come back to the original ground of unity.
In 1937 in Chefoo, North China, I was invited to a dinner with some Christian leaders. Nearly all the leaders of the denominations of that city were there. After a time they said, “Brother Lee, we have heard you say that we all must be one. But the more you speak about oneness, the more you create division.” Then I answered, “Brothers, we all know that the believers in Corinth were divided. Some said they were of Paul, some of Apollos, some of Cephas, and some even of Christ. But all were rebuked by the Apostle Paul. In the light of this I would ask you if you think it is right for me to call myself a Presbyterian or a Lutheran or a Baptist?” They replied, “No, we would not ask you to do that.” So I said, “What then shall I do? Since you do not ask me to be a Presbyterian, a Lutheran or a Baptist, what shall I do and where shall I go?” They could not answer me. I continued: “Since I love the Lord, I must preach the Gospel, and undoubtedly there will be some who will be saved through my preaching. Since you have said that I should not be in any denomination, should I send those who have been saved through me to a denomination which I cannot join?” Still they could not answer me. Then I boldly said, “So you see, we are forced to take the ground of unity so that we can meet together in the proper way. You say that we cause division, but who is responsible for the divisions? If all of you will promise me to drop all the denominational names and divisive elements and come together as the local church in this city, I will immediately ask the brothers to close our meeting hall. At this they shook their heads and said that this would be impossible. So I said very strongly, “Who then is responsible for the divisions?”
We must not take this kind of accusation. People insist on their divisions, yet they condemn others for creating more divisions. A number of the Israelites did go back to Jerusalem. Apparently, they increased the number of groups. But actually, they did not bear the responsibility for divisions. It was those who insisted upon remaining in captivity and not obeying the command of the Lord to go back to Jerusalem who were responsible for the divisions among the Lord’s people.
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