Stones of Stumbling

“Now may the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the patience of Christ.” 2 Thess. 3:5.

The multitudes have never been on the Lord’s side, nor can we expect that they ever will be. Do not be afraid or impatient when you are directed to examine your own ways, but love the Lord and wait patiently on Him. God has never led His servants in glory and triumph here on earth, but He has purified them in the furnace of humiliation. He has separated them from the multitudes so that He Himself can work with them. Once God has succeeded in breaking them down, He gives them tasks to carry out.

“But we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly and not according to the tradition which he received from us.” Verse 6.

Paul was a master when it came to providing a spiritual upbringing. He imparted a doctrine that gave them stability as well as guidance, and then he exhorted them to withdraw from all those who did not live according to this doctrine. This separation sets you apart—you hear better and see more. Do not be afraid of separation; the safety that is in numbers only provides rest for the fearfulness of the flesh, but he who trusts in the Lord is greater than ten thousand. Besides, what can the multitudes contribute to our salvation or our eternal well-being? Did not Christ tread the winepress alone? He alone can save. Was not Paul a solitary, burning flame who, by the mighty arm of the Lord, was hurled out among the base and ungodly Gentiles who sat in darkness? Joseph was despised by his own people, but it was through the rejection of a single man that God brought salvation. He led things in such a way that the least became the greatest. Moses was no different than his brethren; but when he fled to be alone in the presence of the Lord, the Lord trained him to become a great leader of His people.

Truth shall spring out of the earth, and righteousness shall look down from heaven, and these two kiss. In the same way, the Lord’s witnesses also come up from a lowly, undistinguished place. They grow up under opposition, but because the Lord has placed His seed and the power of germination within them, they grow up without fear. Such ones blaze a path through things that are highly esteemed, where people do all they can to glorify a position which they believe is important, in spite of the fact that it is nothing.

While the cloud rests over the tabernacle, let us remain at rest as the children of Israel did and attend to what the Lord wants us to attend to. Num. 9:19. Do not be in a hurry to move on; be faithful in the dark cloud, for the Lord has said He will dwell with you there. 2 Chron. 6:1. But when the cloud lifts, then you can get up and do your work in the light. If we are not faithful while the cloud is resting over the tabernacle, we will not fulfill our task of attending to the things that the Lord wants us to attend to, when it concerns our own preparation. Neither will we be found faithful when the cloud lifts and revival comes, and it is time to lead others forward into the Promised Land.

Dear soul, be content to remain in quietness. Lie there like an unshakable stumbling stone in Zion, so that those who have proud eyes can stumble over you and be crushed when they fall on you. Do not be hasty. He who believes does not act hastily. Just let the religious showmen parade all their glory—all those things that will be led away to Babel. Remain steadfast in your place, hard as a rock and quiet as a stone.

God will set you free if you attend to the things He wants you to attend to. Let the multitudes go. And if a thousand fall at your right hand and ten thousand at your left, just carry out your service in quietness before the Lord. Then you will observe that the ones who are in the forefront of those who show off their religiosity will also be in the forefront of those who are on their way to Babel.