From Small Beginnings

by Keith Dorricott, North York, Ontario, Canada | Category: Leadership In Remnant Times | Dec 1993

Beginning and Ending Days

In some ways, the days of Ezra and Nehemiah are more instructive for us today than are the days of the Acts of the Apostles in our own dispensation.

We should not expect today, for example, a re-enactment of the dramatic events of Pentecost and the early churches of God. Those were the early days of the dispensafion and God bore witness to what was being intro~ duced, as He had on previous occasions, "by signs and wonders

according to His own will" (Heb. 2:4). Those were "beginning days"; in contrast, these are "ending days". Both serve a purpose.. God gives both "the early and latter rain" while He patiently waits for His precious fruit from the earth (James 5:7). It is not that the power of the Holy Spirit is any less today, or that God is less ambitious in His purposes, but how He accomplishes that purpose at each stage may differ. This is "the day of small things" (Zech. 4:10).

And so, although those in churches of God are a remnant, a minority, they are a different kind of remnant from the little flock with which this day of grace began. This is not a day for introducing new truth, but for reca~ turing and restoring old truth that has been losL

'What Kind of Leaders are Required?

Times like that call for a certain kind of leadership. And so God raised up Ezra the scribe and Nehemiah the governor, both of whom had the single-mindedness that we have observed in previous months. He raised up men like Zerubbabel and Joshua, who initiated the altar service, to set the priorities of the people correctly - service Godward first. He raised up straight-talking prophets like Haggai, who issued the challenge to stir up first the leaders and then the rest of the people; and Zechariah, who gave the vision of the future magnificence of God's house. Days of restoration required such leadership then, and they do now also.

Smallness

A remnant, by its very name, is a portion left over - usually a minority. The people of God have always been a minority. Few find the narrow gate (Mat. 7:14), because it permits no compromise. "Not many mighty

are called" (I Cor. 1:26). It is God's

glory that is at stake; it leaves no place for human boasting.

Smallness can sometimes present difficulties when viewed through human eyes. If a cause is not popular, can it be valid? It is a natural thing for us to despise the day of small things (Zech. 4:10). For that reason, one of the frequent challenges to the leaders, both in those days and these, is to combat discouragement among the people. Satan seems relentless in using this device in opposing God's work in remnant days. Disappointment occurs when our hopes and expectations are misplaced, even sincerely. People let us down, or circumstances do not occur as we would like. "Hope thou in God" (Ps. 42:11), scripture reminds us, and we should realize that the purposes of the sovereign God will not be thwarted. Leaders can help the people to lift their eyes to this view of things, "seeing Him who is invisible" (Heb. 11:27).

But a wall alone will not ensure the holiness of God's people. There is a standard of purity that must distinguish the people in their lives also. We must be distinguished not only by our teaching and ecclesiastical position, but very much bv our character.

The word of the Lord to the prophet was very clear "...build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified" (Hag. 1:8).

This building would never match the splendour of Solomon's great structure. But to God, it was no less His house; it was for His pleasure and He would be glorified in it. From the divine perspective, all such buildings on earth, whether the Tabernacle in the wilderness, or Solomon's Temple, or this one, or Herod' 5 later, all were just a representation of the true magnificent dwelling place of the Majesty in heaven - of "the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man" (Heb. 8:2). Any differences in relative glory between them were therefore secondary to the significance that the house was in fact rebuilt and was functioning again. This was the vision that men like Haggai and Ezra saw.

Searching for Truth

In the early chapters of the Acts, those who were of "the Way" stood out distinctly. Similarly, Israel in its early days were "a people that dwell alone" as Balaum described them (Num. 23:9). But in these days, many claim to possess truth, and confusion abounds. These are days when it is necessary to search for the truth of God to find it.

Paul's descriptions in his epistles apply today: "grievous times" (2 Tim. 3:1); "the evil day" ~ph. 6:13); days of "commandments of men who turn away from the truth" (TiL 1:14). In these days, a clear vision and understanding of the Churches of God comprising the house of God is vital, so that we are not tempted to turn

aside. Where will we get it? This is not a day of "open vision" (1 Sam. 3:1) when truth is given by direct revelation. It is not a day of apostolic decree, relayed from the mouth of the Lord Jesus personally. Where is the seeker of truth these days to turn?

The Lord Jesus gave the simple answer in John 17:14. In telling His Father what He had done to equip His few apostles for the work ahead, He said, "I have given them Thy Word". That is enough! We have easily available to us what no generation in Bible times ever enjoyed: the complete canon of Scripture. This, together with the indwelling Spirit of God to open it to our minds, is sufficient to reveal this great truth to us in these confusing days.

Just as Ezra, for example, found it appropriate to resort to the writings of the law and the prophets before Him to align what the people were doing with it (Nehemiab 8), 50 we today must do the same. No vision based on only our own thinking or personal experiences can replace that. "We have the word of prophecy made more sure; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed; as unto a lamp shining in a dark place" (2 Pet. 1:19).

The Need for a Wall

If Ezra addressed the need for the house, then Nehemiah realized the need for a wall. He was distressed as he made his private reconnaissance to assess the damage. The restoration of the wall of separation brought considerable criticism and opposition, but to

Nehemiah, he was "doing a great work" and he would not be deterred (Neh. 6:3). He discerned the threat of compromise from Sanballat and Tobiah with their ulterior motives, as Ezra had done earlier. He was inside and they were outside; there was a difference.

So also in these highly tolerant days, there is always the threat of the accusation of being "narrow-minded", "intolerant", even "arrogant", in taking a separated stand. But this is God's wall, not ours, and we must maintain our place inside it.

Separated to Holiness

But a wafl alone will not ensure the holiness of God's people. There is a standard of purity that must distinguish the people in their lives also. We must be distinguished not only by our teaching and ecclesiastical position, but very much by our character. How these two always need to correspond and how we need to guard against the possibility of hypocrisy! Paul refers in his opening remarks to Titus to "the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness" (1:1). Truth and godliness must be linked in our lives.

And so there needs to be, as we have seen in those remnant days, that frequent confession and repentance of both sin and omission as the Word of God is continually brought to us, that cleansing "from all defilement of flesh and spirit" (2 Cor. 7:1). "Follow after

the sanctification without which no man shall see the Lord" (Heb. 12:14).

The privilege of access to the holy place requires it.

A Growing Remnant

But if a remnant begins small, it is God's desire always that it should grow. Noah's family was a remnant from the corrupt generations around him; to them God said "be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth" (Gen. 9:1). Abram was a remnant from the nations after Babel; to him God promised, "I will make of thee a great nation" (Gen. 12:2). Israel was singled out of all the nations and went down as seventy persons into Egypt, but became "as the stars of heaven for multitude" (Deut. 10:22). God wills that all should be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth today (1 Tim. 2:4). It is God's desire that this will result in the planting and maintenance of churches of God which grow together" into a holy temple in the Lord (Eph. 2:21). But how should this growth of churches of God occur? What is our responsibility? Certainly we must not weaken the wall of separation. But the wall had gates in it gates for the people to go out in testimony to those outside, and for them to bring back in those who responded to it. Again the word in Haggai 1:8 is instructive: Go (up to the hill country where the raw materials are), bring (them back to the divine centre), and

build (them into the one house for God's glory). This reminds us of the teaching of the Lord's parable of the vineyard in Matthew 20; the householder had to go outside to the marketplace to bring in labourers to the vineyard. Today it is the same; bringmg in requires going out.

Until the Lord Comes

What outstanding qualities of initiative and dedication those leaders showed in those momentous days! How they guided and instructed! They led from among the people, with a care and a competence, and a complete prayerful reliance on the Lord, whose holiness and glory they guarded jealously. Through them the work flourished, so that there might be a remnant of Israel in the holy land when the time came for the arrival of the Messiah at His incarnation.

So too the re-establishment of a house and people for God over the past century is an indication that the return of the Lord is drawing nearer. He is coming to receive the fruit of the "latter rain" from the vineyard (James 5:7). And so we close our consideration of these great events of long ago, and their relevance to those who hold the testimony for 'God today. Let us show similar faithfulness in these remnant days "till He come" (1 Cor. 11:26).

Keith Dorricott, North York, Ontario, Canada | Dec 1993
Leadership In Remnant Times