I Will Surely Gather You

I Will Surely Gather You

Whom will He gather? The “seven thousand” who have not bowed their knees to “Baal.” “‘Lord, they have killed Your prophets and torn down Your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life.’ But what does the divine response say to him? ‘I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.’ Even so then, at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace.” Rom. 11:2-5.

Just as the prophet Elijah felt that he was alone, so have all those felt who stood in the gap for truth and justice on the day of trial. Nevertheless, even if there is only a single person who stands in the gap, there can still remain a little flock who sincerely love the truth and have not bowed their knee to Baal, who have not given up, who have not submitted to the flesh and sin and the power of Satan.

They were still there even though Elijah hadn’t seen any of them. God, who sees the heart, saw them and knew where they were.

What does this say to us now? It is all about finding these seven thousand. By God’s grace, we have already found many of them. Now it is vital to find the rest! As it is written, “Gather My saints together to Me, those who have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice.” Ps. 50:5. However, what does David say in Psalm 12:1? “The godly man ceases, for the faithful disappear from among the sons of men.” Finding them is not so easy.

People can commit two principal errors. One of the errors is to believe that everyone who praises Jesus’ name is pious. Those who believe this will be deeply disappointed and deceived. The other error they commit is to think that they are the only one who is pious. There are sure to be several, even if there are not very many; and percentage-wise, there are very few.

Where can we expect to find those who are of the truth? You can expect to find them anywhere: in the world, and among God’s people; among respectable citizens and among bad citizens; among those who have been baptized in the Spirit and among those who have not been baptized in the Spirit; among those who are in bondage and among those who are free.

We cannot always go by what the eye sees and the ear hears; we have to make an effort to discern the motivation that is behind what we see and hear in people. What all these people—the seven thousand— who are of the truth have in common is that they have a deeply rooted desire for that which is noble and perfect and godly. However, this noble desire can easily be buried under various other things.

“He who is of God hears [receives] God’s words . . . .” John 8:47. Therefore it is of the utmost importance that people get to hear God’s words in truth. “Faith comes by [the preaching of] the word of God.” Rom. 10:17. It is difficult to perceive correctly whether a person is of the truth or not until he has heard the Word, preferably several times.

It is therefore a greater work than we usually are aware of; namely, to give people an opportunity to hear the Word. In that way we have an effective part in gathering His saints.

“Unless the Lord of hosts had left to us a very small remnant, we would have become like Sodom, we would have been made like Gomorrah.” Isa. 1:9. God has also left us a very small remnant of His upright children in Christendom, those who desire to walk in Jesus’ steps at any cost. We can say, “Had it not been for God’s gracious guidance, we would not have found this very small remnant. We would have become like Sodom; we would have been made like Gomorrah.” But now we have found this blessed, small remnant. God be praised!

“Thus says the Lord: ‘As the shepherd takes from the mouth of a lion two legs or a piece of an ear, so shall the children of Israel be taken out . . . .” Amos 3:12. This refers not only to Israel according to the flesh, but it also symbolically applies to us—the spiritual Israel.

How blessed it is to belong to these seven thousand, this small remnant, these “two legs,” and this saved “piece of an ear.”

It is also very blessed to find the others who belong to this precious “piece of an ear.”