Later Contentions for the Faith
– G. W. Ware

In introducing to the Reader the following papers I desire to add somewhat to that which is stated in them, feeling that

• it is important that there should be on record an account of all the conflicts for the truth which have taken place during the last hundred years or so,

• for the sake of those who are imperfectly acquainted with what has transpired during that period.

We shall find that it is well, in considering these matters, to avoid details as much as possible, and confine ourselves to the moral issues involved in each conflict.

• It is this which is of importance for us today, for we shall, I think, see as we proceed that there is in them a present voice to each one of us …

The complete Author's Introduction is on History: Early Contentions and applies to this page as well.

So grave was the state of things, and there seemed to be such powerlessness to deal with the evil that was coming in, that at one time Mr. Darby seriously considered whether he could continue with the brethren any longer,

• but eventually he came to the conclusion that it was not the way of faith to leave them, and that his place was to remain and count upon God to come and deal with things in His own way.

• There was at that time a gathering meeting in Temperance Hall at Ryde in the Isle of Wight, which, though confessedly in a low state,
  • had never been refused by brethren in the neighbourhood or elsewhere as no longer walking in the truth.

• Mr. Darby's attitude in this regard is plainly shown by the following account by Mr. H. C. Anstey, of what transpired at a meeting held in London during that time.

A letter of commendation had been sent from Ryde to Kingston-on-Thames, where Mr. Anstey resided, and had been read to the saints in the usual way. Mr. Anstey remarks,

• "My having done right in reading to the saints a letter of commendation from a gathering in such a condition, was gravely questioned by our brother W. Kelly.

• "The usual monthly of brothers in London came on a few days after, and at the meeting – with about 150 brothers present, including W. Kelly – I asked JND before them all if I had done wrong in reading, as usual, a letter of commendation from Ryde.

• "He replied 'Certainly not; Ryde has never been judged out of fellowship'. W. Kelly replied – as did others – on behalf of his view of the matter.

• "JND answered, 'Your individual judgment has no weight whatever in such a case, Ryde is in fellowship, and a letter of commendation of one in fellowship there, is valid everywhere among us, until at a competent meeting of brethren it is shown before all that that gathering cannot be owned'. "

This account is fully confirmed by the following extract from a letter of Mr. Darby's evidently written to Sir Edward Denny, and quoted by him subsequently.

The letter quoted below cannot be found in 'Letters of JND'.

"The question of Ryde was raised at the London monthly meeting by Mr. Anstey's stating that he had received one from that meeting – Temperance Hall – and had been blamed by another for it.

• "I got up at the time and said he was quite right, as without pretending to decide the merits of the case, the meeting had never been disowned by brethren and he had no right to refuse a person on his own private opinion;

• "and then Mr. McAdam, and others, defended their – Temperance Hall – cause; Mr. Kelly having spoken nearly the whole of the meeting, to prove that they ought not to be owned; a pretty plain proof that it was not the case yet".

In America, Mr. F. W. Grant, who was the originator of the difficulty there, may have been more pronouncedly on the former line,

• while in England, Mr. C. E. Stuart, may have been more so on the latter.

• The movements, however, coalesced, as might have been expected, for both of these teachers had evidently before their minds lower ideals of Christianity than that presented in Scripture as being the mind of God for saints of the present dispensation.

• That they were essentially one is further shown from the fact that there was no division in America over what became known as the Stuart, or Reading, conflict
  • while there was no division in England over the conflict raised by Mr. Grant's teaching in America;

  • and the members of these connections have always been on terms of association as they passed from one country to another.

Mr. Grant's avowed teaching was that the saints of previous dispensations had "life in the Son",

• and he put forward views that would have lowered Christianity to their level,

• though he admitted that there was an increase of light at the present time.

Mr. Stuart reached the same point by his views as to new creation.

• His system revolved around his thought that Christian standing existed in the title and ability of fallen man, once guilty, to be before the throne of God without fear of judgment overtaking him.

• This man he introduced into Christian conditions – new creation – failing to see that that position involved the entire setting aside of man after the order of Adam, and our being created anew in Christ.

After the main conflict was over, Mr. Stuart put forward very unsound views as to the propitiatory work of the Lord Jesus,

• which he averred was not completed until He entered the presence of God on high, and presented His blood there.

• This error doubtless arose from an attempt on his part to adhere too strictly to the details of the type of Lev. 16.

As to the danger involved in this, I cannot do better than quote what another has recently remarked,

• "If we read them" – i.e. the Old Testament details – "in the light of the New Testament they amplify the New and bring them out,

• "but if we approach the New from the Old, we shall subvert the New, and that is what Christendom has done.

• "If you take up any thought in the Old Testament and carry it through into the New, it will subvert what it typifies.

• "If you take up the New Testament in the light of the Old Testament you have details of what is definitely intended for our instruction in righteousness".

See 'Response from Known Relationships', an address at Peterborough, England, 1925, 'Ministry by J. Taylor', 24: 136.

Both these teachers failed to grasp the distinctive character of Christianity as based on the believer being delivered from his status in the flesh and after the order of the man who was "of the earth, earthy",

• and his being set up in wholly new relations with God, after the order of the second Man who is "out of heaven".

• The status and ability of the first man can add no lustre to such a position as this in which the believer is regarded as complete in Christ. Col. 2: 10.

• Mr. Stuart's opposition to the present heavenly calling of the saints had long grieved his brethren, and it was felt that this underlay the attitude he maintained against the teaching of Mr. J. B. Stoney and others.

• He averred that such scriptures as 1 Cor. 15: 48 only applied to the resurrection condition, and had no present application to us as believers.

Again one would ask the question, are we clear of this snare? Is it not still being used by the enemy of souls,

• and do we not find the tendency to bring into the profession of Christianity that which does not emanate from Christ, but from the order of man that was set aside in His death?

• How could we expect those who are on such lines to be found walking in the communion of the mind of the Holy Ghost as to present Divine intentions?

The insidiousness of the attack lay in the fact that while certain brethren insisted that everything which had been established in Christ was true of all believers on the ground of title – which was undoubtedly true as far as it went –

• they disregarded that subjective work of the Spirit which forms us morally by "beholding the glory of the Lord .… into the same image", thus qualifying us for the present conscious enjoyment of our portion in Christ.

• We can easily see how this would produce an unreal condition of soul and cause the believer to settle down satisfied with certain dogmatic statements as to that which is objectively true of him as "in Christ",
  • with little or no exercise as to his being led experimentally into the present enjoyment of such things by the Spirit.

• How different the attitude of one who, like Moses from the top of Pisgah, contemplates the purpose of God, as presented to us in Romans 16: 25-26, in the full recognition of the title of His people to it all,
  • and who is actuated with affectionate desire to pass over into the present enjoyment of the promised possession.

The brunt of the attack fell upon Mr. Raven, who sought strenuously to maintain the truth.

• The conflict raged chiefly around the truth as to eternal life.

• By many this had long been regarded as something imparted to the believer at new birth, bringing with it to the soul the confirmation of eternal security,
  • instead of seeing that it was an order of blessing provided by God for man, as a free gift, into which the Spirit would introduce the believer, and by doing so enable him to contribute to the present pleasure of God.

Eternal life was evidently a condition of life into which such as the young ruler – Luke 17: 18 – had a great desire to enter, for they had had the desire kindled in their hearts to be found among the "saved ones".

• This lay at the bottom of the question put to the Lord in Luke 13: 23, "Sir, are such as are to be saved few in number?".

• As to this class Mr. Darby says in a footnote, "Spared in the judgment of the nation by Messiah, so as to enter into the kingdom; 'the remnant' ".

• They are again referred to in Acts 2: 47, where we read, "The Lord added to the assembly daily those that were to be saved".

• In another note Mr. Darby says, "the remnant of Israel whom God was sparing …. The Lord now added these to the Christian assembly. Compare Luke 13: 23. Are the sozomenio, that class, few – The Jews discussed this point much".

• This remnant among the people who were expecting to find eternal life in the kingdom in a material way when Messiah came, now found it in the assembly in a spiritual way.

• In a day yet to come, of which the Lord Jesus spoke in Matthew 25, the remnant of Israel again come into view as "these my brethren" who were waiting for the kingdom to be set up.

• They had been used in the preaching of the everlasting gospel, and as a result of their preaching there are seen saved ones from among the nations, whom the King speaks of as "Ye blessed of My Father", and invites them to "inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the earth's foundation".

• They are again referred to in the last verse of the chapter when the King says that the righteous shall go away into eternal life.

• Potentially, both they and the "brethren" had life already, but now they get this further blessing that they enter into the kingdom and find eternal life there. This indicates the setting in which eternal life must be considered.

It is now to be enjoyed in a spiritual way by those who belong to the assembly in connection with heavenly things;

• it will be enjoyed in the future in a material way in connection with earthly things by those who are accounted righteous and enter the kingdom.

• It was doubtless this which the Lord Jesus referred to when He spoke of earthly and heavenly things in John 3: 12.

• It was this condition of life to which the Lord referred when He said to the young ruler as recorded in Matthew 19: 17, "If thou wouldest enter into life, keep the commandments".
  • And again in Mark 9: 43-45, He speaks on the same subject.

• All this demands a careful consideration, and fully confirms what has been said by another, that eternal life always involves a sphere.

• One would like to affirm that new birth and life, viewed potentially, must precede entrance into eternal life, whether now, in assembly conditions, or in the world to come.

• In referring thus to the assembly we do not speak of it as the body of Christ, etc., but rather as
  • the sphere in which the authority and rule of the Lord Jesus are maintained at the present time, – the kingdom in mystery.

The life which is our portion as a result of our being quickened together with Christ, and as such constantly referred to in scripture, is another aspect of the subject of life into which we cannot now enter further than to say that

• in this aspect it is the life of eternity, when time shall have ceased to be. Into this also the believer has a present entrance in the power of the Spirit.

Those who opposed, for the most part, confounded these presentations of life, failing to see that the believer is made potentially alive in view of his entering into the enjoyment of eternal life,

• which Mr. Darby once said consisted in "an out-of-the-world heavenly condition of relationship and being" – evidently an 'over-Jordan' condition, when connected with believers.

"He came, eternal life into this world, but was alone in the out-of-the-world heavenly condition of relationship and being in which eternal life consists: which was before the world, not only in God, but in counsel for us, given us in Christ, manifested in Him alone in the world, and now consequent on His being lifted up and gone out of it into the heavenly place of which He brought word, that into which we are introduced in Him", 'Bible Treasury', Jan. 1867, 6: 206-7. This is part of an anonymous answer to an inquiry; it has commonly been attributed to JND.

• Hence they lost the real force of the truth about it, as "consisting in conditions" fully set forth in the Lord Jesus as a blessed Man living here in relation to God, as His Sent One. John 17: 3.

• It was dogmatically insisted upon by them that He was 'It' whatever that might mean to them but at the same time is was said that 'it' was in us.

• This was the force which they unwarrantably gave to the word "hath" in such passages as John 3: 36, overlooking the plain statement of scripture in 1 John 5: 11-12, "God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son". "He that hath the Son hath life".

• Moreover they failed to grasp the true character of that subjective work of the Spirit, which brings the believer morally into accord with what is presented objectively to him in Christ – "which thing is true in him and in you". 1 John 2: 8.

• This resulted in the moral force of such a scripture as that addressed to Timothy, "Lay hold on eternal life", being lost.

Incidentally, it came out during the controversy that there was much obscurity in many minds as to the truth regarding the Person of the Lord Jesus.

• Mr. Raven insisted that He brought into Manhood all that He ever was as a Divine Person, and that though there was change in condition there was none in Person,
  • thus refuting the contention that His Person was constituted of a union of God and man.

• In this he was fully in accord with the teaching of Mr. Darby who wrote in his 'Practical Reflections on the Psalms' – 'Collected Writings', 17: 19 –
  • "He had taken a place while never ceasing to be God, and which Godhead alone could fulfil the conditions of, outside Godhead; but in which, as man to satisfy God, to glorify God in an earth of apostasy and sin" etc.

• When challenged as to his teaching in a conference at London, and being asked 'Who was it that died on the cross?' he unhesitatingly replied 'The Son incarnate'.

• He maintained that this gave its character to His Manhood which was wholly of a new order – Mr. Darby said it was sui generis – and such as had no previous existence among men,
  • and that in Him, as Man risen from the dead, there is presented to us manhood in new conditions altogether – outside of flesh and blood and made available for the believer according to the eternal purpose of God.

Those who had eyes to see, had no difficulty in discerning that from 1879-1890 the enemy made a determined effort to annul the truth as to the heavenly calling of the saints.

• His endeavour plainly was to destroy its moral force for present testimony, either by seeking,

• as in Mr. Stuart's attack, to introduce into the souls of the saints a spirit of allowing that which, however estimable it might appear to be, nevertheless emanates from the order of man after the flesh; or,

• as in the attack on Mr. Raven by inducing them to disregard that subjective work of the Spirit which fashions saints after the pattern of the Heavenly One.

How we need to be prayerfully on our guard today lest we fall under one of these influences,

• and grieve the Spirit by so doing and thus hinder the effectuation of the purpose for which He has come down from on high.

• What a hindrance it is to the effectuation of Divine intentions in the souls of the saints, where there is the allowance of any traits of the first man,
  • or the disallowance of the operations of the Spirit to bring about the moral traits of the Second Man in the souls of God's people.

• In either case the vital force of Christianity is destroyed.

The undisputed facts of the case were as follows.

• In the town of Alnwick, some miles distant from Glanton in Northumberland, that gathering had fallen into great confusion owing to local differences among the saints,

• which resulted in their having ceased to assemble together, and there were two companies in the place, both of which appealed for the fellowship of gatherings around them.

It had been generally recognized that under such conditions matters should be left in the hands of the Lord, who, as Son over God's house, had alone authority to deal with them;

• but plea was put forward by some that because saints composing the gatherings at Alnwick could not assemble together for the enjoyment of assembly privileges, there was nothing of assembly character in the place.

• The truth, however, was that all these saints at Alnwick were, in the faith of their souls – however greatly it might have been weakened – truly desirous of walking together in the light of the mind of God about the assembly, ostensibly so, at any rate.

• That there was nothing at Alnwick characteristic of the "assembling together" of the assembly, no one disputed, and it was finally admitted by all that under such conditions as existed at this time,
  • there was not one assembly function which saints there could discharge. They were deprived of the privileges of assembling together, unless indeed it were for humiliation and their confession of their common shame.

Now if is asked what are we to do when saints have failed in this manner, the enquiry must be referred to Scripture.

• While we find there is a great deal of instruction as to the administrative responsibility of saints concerning matters in their own locality
  • we search in vain to find one word which would authorize saints in any specified locality intervening in the affairs of another.

• We read, indeed, of 'office' but all points to it being confined to certain specific localities and that it was not general, as in the case of gift, which is given to the whole church.

• We learn, moreover, that each local company, as forming part of the one assembly of God on earth, has a responsibility deputed to it from the Lord, to act for Him. and in His name, in relation to matters in their own locality,
  • but there is not a word about His having deputed authority to them to take up matters of an assembly character outside the sphere of their own local responsibility.

• On the very contrary, what we do find is, that when an assembly has failed in its responsibility to Him, the Lord takes it up personally. See Revelatiom 1, 2, and 3.

• We are, therefore, fully justified from Scripture in saying that when saints fail locally as at Alnwick, all that the other gatherings can do – not for a moment shutting out the work of the spiritual in view of the restoration of those who have erred, Gal. 6: 1 – is
  • to wait until such time as there is evidence of restoration by the Lord, in the company, to which the right hand of fellowship can then once more be extended in His name.

• This does not necessitate that all must be recovered. Some may, after every effort, remain obdurate and irreconcilable, and may have to be left on one side; but this the Lord can make clear in His own way.

Now, instead of acting on these lines of scriptural principles, brethren at Glanton, urged on by some in Newcastle and in Northumberland, assumed to themselves authority to receive to the breaking of bread,

• certain from one of the companies at Alnwick who had been sitting behind at Glanton, eventually sending them back to Alnwick as a recognized company in that place.

• There were those at Alnwick who consistently refused this breach of divine order, which Glanton made and persisted in and never recognized their procedure nor sought fellowship there.

• It was felt by many that they had acted in ignorance of divine principles and it was pointed out to them that they had assumed to themselves rights which the Lord had not delegated to His saints.

• They practically yielded the point, but afterwards under pressure brought to bear upon them from other quarters, they took up the position that having acted in the name of the Lord
  • – although as we have seen they had no authority from Him to do so – they could not withdraw from it and their action must be recognized.

• Thus they not only transgressed the commandments of the Lord, but with outside support they insisted that they were right in what they had done, and "teaching men so" – Matthew 5:19 – placed themselves under the rebuke of the Lord.

It was felt that this was an insidious effort of the enemy to entice saints to substitute expediency of human device for those principles which the Holy Spirit had come to maintain

• and that if we were to have the continuance of His support we must refuse the suggestions.

The lack of principle that had wrought such havoc in the Bethesda question was painfully evidenced by those who supported Glanton in this action.

• This has borne its own sad fruit in the way that considerable numbers from among them drifted into either the Bethesda, or Stuart or Grant fellowships.

• On the other hand, very many of them have had their eyes opened and have judged the evil of their position and sought restoration to fellowship with those with whom they had previously walked.

Who is there among us who has not felt in his own spirit the temptation to avoid the sharp consequences of the maintenance of God's holy principles by the same act of expediency?

• Let us not say that this conflict is over and passed when in countless ways, the enemy is still seeking to entangle us in the snare.

After a lengthy attempt to justify Glanton's actions, Dr. W. T. P. Wolston states: "For several years there has been, as is well known a divided spirit among those outwardly walking together. "On the one hand were those whose energies and affections found vent more in the direction of the testimony of the gospel to the unsaved … "On the other hand were those before whose minds that which pertained to the Church – its privileges, its blessings, its destiny – loomed much more distinctly, while points of ecclesiastical procedure held great sway. "Each perhaps thought … they could do without the other – and in some instances perhaps even desired to be quit of the other. This was utterly wrong, but this state existed. "Along with this, and markedly during the last four or five years, a system of doctrines, diverse and strange, as compared with that which most of our souls had been reared and nurtured, has come upon the scene. "In 1905, Notes … at Chicago containing very questionable statements about the Church appeared, were circulated largely, and by some applauded highly. See: 'Ministry by J. Taylor', 1: 108-255 and Biography: J. Taylor: His Conflicts. Sober men like … were greatly distressed with these teachings, as also was JB [ James Boyd ] who paid a visit to America that he might see Mr. J. Taylor of New York, who was very largely responsible for the utterances". From: 'Plain Facts regarding Alnwick and Glanton'. The sting is in the tail. Rev. 9: 10. As Dr. Wolston indicates, "the root of the matter" was really the favouring of the gospel over the assembly and the rejection of ministry, both of which JBS referred to as far back as 1873.  GAR See: History: Review of Truth: Manchester - 1873 and Ministry: G. R. Cowell: The Gospel and the Church.

See the Index of 'Ministry of J. Taylor', Book 1 (Scriptures), page 10, for comparisons of 1 Corinthians 5 and 2 Timothy 2. 'Righteousness and the Pursuit of it', Rochester, U.S.A., May, 1918, 'Ministry by J. Taylor', 9: 484 (497-506) is of particular interest. Mr. Geo. W. Ware, author of this 'Review', was present and took a helpful part in that reading.

These reveal the mind of the Lord as to the manner and spirit in which those who profess His name in a day of ruin should act in relation to evil-doers.

• that in the light of both these scriptures – the former giving us the commandments of the Lord on the subject, and the latter indicating how we can carry them out in a day of ruin –

• all we can do is collectively refuse to walk with evil-doers, having come to the conclusion before the Lord that they are as such unfit for any Christian fellowship and telling them so in His name.

• The holiness which becomes God's house is thus fully maintained, without there being any assumption of acting as, or representing the assembly when discipline becomes necessary.

The preposterous claim 'We are the church' was the pretentious prelude to the shameful exposure of blasphemy and immorality at Aberdeen in July 1970. "Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall", Proverbs 16: 18.

It was thus afresh emphasized that assumption in any form does not become "a poor and afflicted people who call on the name of the Lord" in a day of great confusion

• and who seek to regulate their course in the light of divine principles, with the sense in their souls of how grievously they have been departed from on every side.

• If we act on any other lines, or in any other spirit, it is evident that the Holy Ghost will be hindered among us,
  • as it is clear that He cannot uphold a people who are not walking together in the communion of His mind as to the conditions that are existent in the church of God today.

We feel sure that any thoughtful reader of the foregoing pages will endorse the remark made at the commencement,

• that though Satan may have been defeated in the main attacks on the truth recovered to us, he is still pursuing the object he had in view in making them.

• It is evident that he is persistently seeking to instill into souls unholy principles, the acceptance of which would place those who received them outside the communion of the Holy Ghost, whether in regard of assembly praise or living testimony.

In writing thus, reference has not been made to the light which afresh came out through the teaching of Mr. Darby and others as to the believer's union with Christ and his place in sonship before the Father and all that flows from these and kindred truths.

• We have rather had before us, not so much to develop the believer's heavenly position according to eternal counsel,
  • but rather to show the danger we are in at the present time in view of the efforts of the enemy to defeat the maintenance of the position in responsibility down here.

• Still one would solemnly assert that without some apprehension of this heavenly line of things, the position in responsibility cannot be taken up according to the mind of God.

Moreover, one would desire to point out, as a principle of the ways of God, that what has been won in conflict can only be maintained as we are held in the appreciation of that which the Spirit is giving from time to time as to the mind of God for His saints.

• The history of the past hundred years has abundantly shown that ignoring this has been the secret cause of the shipwreck of many who, until the fresh test came, had apparently maintained the position against the assaults of the enemy.

G.W.W.