Throughout Scripture and over the centuries of the church, God has used a remnant of the faithful to do His work and bring renewal. Our own John Hess will be a commissioner to this year's General Assembly, which will certainly be a divisive and explosive meeting. Biblical standards for ordination are being challenged, the authority of Scripture is being undermined, the uniqueness of the person and work of Jesus Christ is being questioned, and the list goes one. The reason we stay is because God has called us to be a remnant and to strengthen what remains. The notion of a pure church is a myth, and it is idolatrous to think that we can create or find one.
All churches are mixed bags, and they all have problems of one sort or another.
Never does He urge them to start a new church or to begin a new fellowship. He urges them to remain and to repent. Our calling is to be faithful to the Lord in the midst of the problems and to seek to be an influence for Christ in the cause of righteousness. The second lesson we can learn is that we should heed the call to awake when it comes. If you are at home and your alarm clock goes off, and if you don't get out of bed and heed the call to awake, you'll be late for work or school.