August 5, 2011
Dear Brother ______,
It is nice to hear from you again. I trust that you and your wife are well through the Lord’s good mercy. You are very gracious in responding to my letter, and I appreciate your Christ-like spirit. I have been thinking about what we have discussed in our correspondence thus far and have been puzzled about the exact position the KLCs take in regard to the Lord’s Table. I say this because there are two different (and seemingly opposing) views among you. I’m not sure what your actual position is.
The first one, as I understand it, is that it is not possible for anyone to know where the Lord’s Table is today because the ruin in the Christian testimony is so great. Therefore, no company of Christians can claim to be at His Table. To think otherwise would be presumptuous and not manifesting the humility that should mark the godly in a day of broken testimony. I think Mr. R. K. Campbell takes this position in his book, “The Church of the Living God.”
If the KLCs really believe that it is not possible to know where the Lord’s Table is, then it seems to me that the only upright thing to do is not to break bread at all until the Lord shows them where it is. Every truehearted and right-minded believer would only want to break bread at His Table, because it’s the only way that Scripture indicates that it should be done. To cease to break bread at least shows godly care and concern for not setting up an independent man-made table, which, if done, would dishonour the Lord and further the ruin. I know of some in Australia who had lost their way in the fall-out of the sad divisions among brethren, and for many years they would meet together for prayer meetings and Bible meetings, but they were careful not to break bread for fear that they might be doing it on independent ground, and not at the Lord’s Table as Scripture states. You have to respect them for it. They honestly didn’t know where the Lord’s Table was and didn’t want to add to the ruin by going ahead and setting up something that quite possibly could be a schismatic table. But the KLCs have not done this; they evidently do not have this concern.
It sounds pious to say that we don’t know where the Lord’s Table is, but it’s hard to believe that the Lord would ask His people to do something in a collective sense—i.e., break bread at His Table until He comes—knowing at the same time that it would not be possible for them to do it. He would be asking us to do something that cannot be done! This, to me, doesn’t put the Lord in a good light. We live in days when the truth of the assembly has been recovered; the Lord has opened the door for His people to practice the truth of the assembly that has been closed for centuries. Scripture says, “I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it” (Rev. 3:88I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name. (Revelation 3:8)). This means that even our failures and divisions can’t shut that door! It will remain open until the Lord comes (Rev. 3:1111Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. (Revelation 3:11)). This being the case, God can, and has (I believe), made a way through the confusion for exercised believers to partake of the Supper at His Table. As mentioned, the Lord has asked us to remember Him in the breaking of bread at His Table “till He come” (1 Cor. 11:23-2623For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: 24And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. 25After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. 26For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till he come. (1 Corinthians 11:23‑26)), and now that the truth of the assembly has been recovered He will provide a way for us to do so until that moment. This shows that God is greater than all the ruin.
I’ve heard some say that the Lord’s Table was identifiable among brethren prior to the major divisions that took place in the 1880s, but since then it cannot be identified. Again, it’s hard for me to think that the Lord’s Table has disappeared from view when the Lord has promised to hold the door open as to the practice of the truth of the assembly till He comes. Prior to his death, J. N. Darby detected a general eroding of the holding of the truth of the one gathering center among brethren and said, “The great part of the collective conflict is with the willful misunderstanding of the truth of Christ as the one gathering center. No one is a more bitter opponent of this truth than the one who knows it but doesn’t walk in it.” It is clear from this that he believed that it was identifiable in his day. But where did it go since then? How was it lost? I believe that the right collective path can be traced through those difficult times in the 1880s by using the first principle I mentioned in my previous letter. I believe that it holds the answer for all who are truly searching. If you look at the five major divisions among the so-called “exclusive” Brethren (Kelly–1881, Grant–1884, Stuart–1885, Raven–1890, Lowe/Continental–1909) and note that a binding assembly decision was made in the name of the Lord in each case (Matt. 18:18-2018Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 19Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. 20For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. (Matthew 18:18‑20)), it will be clear as to who remained at the Lord’s Table and who didn’t. In each situation there were those who rejected the decision and departed from divine ground into division.
In the Kelly division there was a definite assembly decision made at Park Street, London, that Mr. Kelly and those with him would not accept. H. A. Ironside’s, “Historical Sketch of the Brethren Movement,” states that Mr. Kelly “refused to bow to the London [Park Street] decision.” He put forth a public statement called, “Why Many Saints Were Outside Park Street in 1881,” explaining why. He and his followers had their reasons—stating that it was done in a high-handed and “regimental” way. But in view of the principle I referred to in my previous letter, even if it were so, it was still a binding decision. Mr. Kelly believed that a right assembly decision had to be discerned by communion with the Lord, not just by what took place officially. He couldn’t deny that an assembly decision had been made in Park Street, so he attacked the principle of bowing to assembly decisions prima facie, saying that brethren were “idolizing assembly judgments.” But when you leave things to what must be discerned subjectively, things are put on an unsure ground of feelings and impressions—some of which could be biased or founded on ignorance of Scriptural principles. This only confuses things and opens the door for the enemy to work. This mistaken idea led Mr. Kelly and those with him into division. Mr. Darby, on the other hand, believed that what was done officially (in assembly) should be bowed to—prima facie. If you follow it through, you’ll find that in each of the other divisions, there were definite decisions made in the name of the Lord, and similar consequences resulted when those decisions were rejected.
The second position that the KLCs apparently take in regard to the Lord’s Table is that they believe that the KLC re-union fellowship, and the TWs (those who submitted to the decision of the assembly in Tunbridge Wells – 1909), and probably others, are all at the Lord’s Table; it’s just that they are not in practical fellowship with one another. Mr. Edwin Cross said this to me in a personal conversation. (He was the founder of Chapter Two Booksellers, England, and is now with the Lord. You probably knew him.) This seems to contradict the first position of nobody knowing where the Table is today. Evidently those who take this second position believe that the Lord’s Table is not gone from sight, and they see it as being with these two fellowships, and maybe with others. But this confuses me. If the TWs and KLC fellowships are both at the Lord’s Table, where He is in the midst, then the Lord would be condoning and authorizing division among His people, because these two companies are not in practical fellowship with each other. Also, if they were both on the same ground, then they would recognize each other’s administrative decisions because the Table is one, but they/we don’t. How can both be at His Table, yet not be in fellowship? Fellowship at the Lord’s Table is a practical thing. Scripture says, “The bread which we break, is it not the communion [fellowship] of the body of Christ?” (1 Cor. 10:1616The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? (1 Corinthians 10:16) – W. Kelly Trans.) If we take into consideration the three points I made in my previous letter, it seems clear which of the two is truly at His Table.
It is a mistake to think that there are those among us proclaiming that we have the Lord’s Table. We do not do this. Those who are not with us are the ones who are saying that we proclaim it. I don’t know if it is an attempt to put us in a bad light, or what—the Lord knows. We see from Scripture that God has one place (one ecclesiastical ground) on which He would have His people to meet for worship and ministry, and we trust that the Lord has led us there. But we don’t proclaim it because we could be mistaken. We have looked to Him for direction in being led to that one ground of fellowship and center of gathering, and we trust that God has directed us to that place of the Lord’s appointment. This is not presumption; it is faith. Those with whom I fellowship do not proclaim that they are on that ground, but we believe (until God shows us otherwise) that the Spirit of God has led us to that place. The truth of gathering is not about the people; it’s about the Lord having a gathering center. There is always a danger of shifting the focus from the Lord in the midst to the people whom the Spirit of God has gathered there and saying that they have the Lord’s Table. Our focus should be on Christ in the midst. Remember, our gathering together is “unto Him” (Heb. 13:1313Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach. (Hebrews 13:13)).
I believe that Scripture teaches that there is still a gathering center on earth. The question often asked is, “Which Christian group has the Lord’s Table?” But this is the wrong angle to approach the subject. The answer as to who has the Lord’s Table is—the Lord! It is His table, and He is leading exercised believers to it. God wants us to be exercised about it and to seek the Lord’s mind for guidance in this matter—just as Peter and John asked the Lord “where” that place was in their day (Luke 22:99And they said unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare? (Luke 22:9)).
Your brother by grace,
Bruce Anstey