brother,” replied good Captain Owen, “if you speak of unfaithfulness to Christ, I plead guilty to that every day.” The reply neatly exposed both the vagueness and the possible Pharisaism of the charge.
If assumption be only bold enough there is no calculating its probable success. Remarks of this kind were heard on every hand: “Do not let love for Mr. Müller and his work blind you to what is due to Christ; Christ must be first—not Christians, however dear”.[1] If a leader were too scrupulous to throw dust in simple people’s eyes after some such fashion, he might count on losing thousands of adherents. In equal honour with the name of Captain Owen I would associate the name of Henry Young. Young put forth A Plea for the Honour of Christ. The tract was written in opposition to the censorious pretensions of the Exclusive party, and its very title involved a bold counter-claim. The following quotation is in point. “A beloved brother writes me: ‘Is it Christ or persons that engage your affections? The Spirit sacrifices all for Christ.’ My answer is, ‘I own the paramountness of Christ’s claims, but deny the opposition. … Does the Spirit sacrifice the Church to Christ? … We may presently come to sacrifice Christ in the person of His saints, … His brethren—His members—looked at collectively—His bride.’” Nor can I prevail on myself to omit this fine passage: “Truly it is grievous to see such instances as have occurred of the greatest excesses committed by the rash, the forward, and the inexperienced, in the way of invasion of the peace of gatherings, sanctioned by those who know better; and
- ↑ “Put Christ in the first place, and the nice Christians in the second, and you will be all right. … Diotrephes is bad enough, but Open Brethrenism immensely worse,” were the published words of a well-known Exclusive.
