dvocating truth, they are obliged to counteract the work
of those who are proclaiming falsehood and claiming that they have the
message from heaven.
If those who have done this kind of work had felt the necessity
of answering the prayer of Christ that He offered to His Father just
previous to His crucifixion,—that the disciples of Christ might be one
as He was one with the Father,—they would not be wasting the means
entrusted to them and so greatly needed to advance the truth. They
would not be wasting precious time and ability in disseminating error,
and thus necessitate the devoting of the laborer’s time to counteracting
and quenching its influence. A work of this character is inspired, not
from above, but from beneath.
“Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of
His servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? let him trust in
the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God. Behold, all ye that kindle
a fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks: walk in the light of
your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of
Mine hand; ye
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shall lie down in sorrow.” The message that has been borne by those
who have proclaimed the church to be Babylon has made the impression
that God has no church upon earth.
A Living Church
Has God no living church? He has a church, but it is the church
militant, not the church triumphant. We are sorry that there are defective
members, that there are tares amid the wheat. Jesus said: “The kingdom
of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: but
while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and
went his way.... So the servants of the householder came and said unto
him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then
hath it tares? He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants
said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he
said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat
with them. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of
harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and
bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.”
In the parable of the wheat and the tares, we see the reason why the
tares were not to be plucked up; it was lest the wheat be rooted up with
the tares. Human opinion and judgment would make grave mistakes.
But rather than have a mistake made, and one single blade of wheat
rooted up, the Master says, “Let both grow together until the harvest;”
then the angels will gather out the tares, which will be appointed to
destruction. Although in our churches, that claim to believe advanced
truth, there are those who are faulty and erring, as tares among the
wheat, God is long-suffering
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and patient. He reproves and warns the erring, but He does not destroy
those who are long in learning the lesson He would teach them; He
does not uproot the tares from the wheat. Tares and wheat are to grow
together till the harvest; when the wheat comes to its full growth and
development, and because of its character when ripened, it will be fully
distinguished from the tares.
The church of Christ on earth will be imperfect, but God does not
destroy His church because of its imperfection. There have been and
will be those who are filled with zeal not according to knowledge, who
would purify the church, and uproot the tares from the midst of the
wheat. But Christ has given special light as to how to deal with those
who are erring, and with those who are unconverted in the church. There
is to be no spasmodic, zealous, hasty action taken by church members
in cutting off those they may think defective in character. Tares will
appear among the wheat; but it would do more harm to weed out the
tares, unless in God’s appointed way, than to leave them alone. While
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the Lord brings into the church those who are truly converted, Satan at
the same time brings persons who are not converted into its fellowship.
While Christ is sowing the good seed, Satan is sowing the tares. There
are two opposing influences continually exerted on the members of the
church. One influence is working for the purification of the church, and
the other for the corrupting of the people of God.
Judas Given Opportunities
Jesus knew that Judas was defective in character
