Many of us in the Assembly feel very sad when we hear of some of the younger Christians leaving and moving to other churches. It is sad because one can only conclude that in spite of (sometimes) years of association with the Assembly, they appear to be oblivious of the Spiritual Heritage on which they are turning their backs. They seem to regard the Assembly as "just another kind of church," - a variation on a theme.

The fact that an Assembly might be based on Scriptural Principles seems to have escaped their notice, and the Assembly Practices are so often dismissed contemptuously as ‘Brethren Tradition’. It is even more distressing when, after leaving the Assembly, they embrace those very doctrines and practices which the early Brethren had found to be Unscriptural, and had rejected.

It may be that in the past, we have been neglectful in spelling out exactly what the Assembly stands for. With this in mind, I wish to mention TEN CARDINAL PRINCIPLES which exercised the early Brethren.

You will be the judge of the extent to which we have held fast to these Principles.

One of the outstanding Characteristics of the Early Brethren was their Devotedness to the Person of Christ.

This is exemplified in a booklet written by Anthony Norris Groves entitled "Christian Devotedness" in 1825. Groves argued in this little booklet that the words of the Lord, spoken to the disciples, are intended for all Christians. The Lord’s words to the rich young ruler, "Sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come follow me." were taken literally and implemented by Groves and his wife, and many of their contemporaries in the first few years. Nothing was allowed to stand in the way of their efforts to devote everything to Christ and His Cause. This meant that Careers, Worldly Prospects, Financial Prosperity, any kind of Advancement or Fame, had to give way to, and were subject to the prior claims of Christ and His Glory.

When they gathered together, it was the Person of Christ around whom they gathered. They gathered to His Name (Matt. 18. 20) - not under any other banner.

So, they repudiated any Sectarian Name - they were simply ‘Christians’. They felt it was unscriptural to call themselves after a Country or Nationality (Church of England, Church of Scotland), or after a particular Christian Leader, whose teaching they followed (Lutherans, Calvinists, Wesleyans, Zwinglians), or after a particular Doctrine or Practice in which they specialised (Baptists, Anabaptists, Pentecostals), or after a particular form of Church Government to which they adhered (Episcopalian - rule by Bishops, Presbyterians - rule by Presbyters, Congregationalists etc.), or announcing any Social Work in which they might get involved (Salvation Army, Church Army).

The early Brethren declined to call themselves any name other than that of ‘Christians’ or ‘Brothers’ (in Christ), but in spite of this, they were nicknamed ‘Plymouth Brethren’, but that was none of their doing.

Many Churches held, (and many still hold) ‘Communion’ Services only once a month, or even once a Quarter, and so often, the ‘Communion’ part, is squeezed in, or tacked on, at the end of another meeting, just as if it were of no importance. Of all the meetings which a church may arrange, the Lord’s Supper is the only one specifically requested by the Lord Himself, - namely that His disciples should meet together to break bread, and to do this "in remembrance of Him." It was obvious and logical to those early Brethren, in their devotion to Person of Christ, that this meeting, which is arranged to "Remember Him", should take Top Priority. This was what the early disciples did - they broke bread from house to house (Acts 2. 42, 46), and those Christians at Troas met regularly on a weekly basis - the first day of the week - for that very purpose of breaking bread. (Acts 20. 7).

The strength of the early brethren was their recognition of the Scriptures as the Sole and Supreme Authority in all Spiritual matters. There was, therefore, no man-made compilation of a Creed, or of 39 Articles of Religion as in the Church of England. There was no drawing up of a formal summary of their Christian beliefs as in a Creed, or of any Liturgy prescribing the forms of public worship.

They believed that the Holy Scriptures, penned under the infallible guidance of the Holy Spirit, presented the Church with an all-sufficient and permanent record, which constituted "the faith once for all delivered to the saints. (Jude 3) There was so much in Christendom which had accumulated over the Centuries. Man-made church rituals and ceremonies, customs and traditions, had been accepted without question. All these had to be ruthlessly discarded, unless Authority for their existence was found in Scripture. Only those Principles and Practices of the early Church, which are enshrined in the Scriptures, were now to be followed. The results of intense study by many godly and highly qualified men proved revolutionary in relation to the existing Church Traditions, as the remaining Principles show.

They believed that in order for the fulfilment of all that Christ had designed for and through the Church, the work should be carried out under the unrestricted control of the Holy Spirit.

With the gift of the Spirit came the means of the endowment of all spiritual gifts for the work of the Gospel, and all that would be involved in its ministry.

All these gifts were provided by the immediate operation of the Holy Spirit dividing to each one severally according to He will. (1 Cor.12. 11)

The concept of One Man Ministry in a local Church is foreign to the Scriptures. Many different gifts are given to many different people (1 Cor. 12. 4-11) In some churches, because the exercise of gift is restricted mainly to one man, the potential gifts of many others in the church are never developed and exercised. The local church is likened to the human body having different members fulfilling all their special functions for the benefit of the whole body (1 Cor.12. 25). The imposition of this man-made restriction leaves a church crippled, and is like tying up a person, and allowing them to use only one limb. During one of the Committee Meetings for the Billy Graham Crusade in 1991, one local Church of Scotland minister commented, "There is not one person is my church to whom I could turn to take my place on Sunday in my absence." I was able to state (rather smugly perhaps) that in Hillbank there were at least 20 men, who were quite capable of taking a meeting.

The priesthood of all believers is one of the great principles of the New Testament Church. Every true Christian, young or old, male or female, is a priest, and is able to offer to God sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving. In contrast to the religious systems of Christendom, the Bible says nothing about two Classes of Christians; the Clergy, who claim to be Priests, and who are distinct from the rest of the church congregation, known as the Laity. There is no provision in the New Testament for such a distinct order of men different from the ordinary believer. The early Brethren therefore rejected any suggestion of Clerisy as quite foreign to the teaching of the Bible.

In their study of the Scriptures the Brethren found that the Universal Church of Christ has no human earthly Headquarters, which had jurisdiction over local churches. Each local Church stands by itself, and is directly responsible to its Head in heaven. (Col.1.18; Rev.1-3.) The Church, both local and Universal is a Unity, but its Unity is that of an Organism rather than an Organisation. There is no other Authority than Christ. There are no grounds for the "ordination" of one man, by a fellow-man in an official church hierarchy, to be placed in charge of a local church, or a group of churches. Scripture teaches the Plurality of leadership. Elders, Guides, Overseers, Bishops (all meaning the same thing) are appointed by the Holy Spirit to rule and care for each local church (Acts 20. 17, 28) and they have no official authority or control outside their own assembly.

The Eighteenth Century was a time when Sectarian Barriers were strictly enforced between the Denominations, who were jealous of their membership.

For example, the Church of England Christian could not "break bread" with the Baptists because He had not been baptised by immersion as a believer. The Christian from the Baptists could not "take Communion" with the C. of E. Christians because he had not been "confirmed". But ‘real’ Christians in the C. of E. were very much aware that they were "taking Communion" in their own church with many who were only nominal professing Christians, who had not been born again.

The early Brethren viewed these different Denominations as having set up man-made Sectarian Barriers, which prevented genuine Christians from having Christian fellowship with one another. They divided the Body of Christ (1 Cor. 1.13). They believed that "The Unity of the Spirit" (Eph. 4. 3) is a Spiritual Unity, and not a man-made external organisation. As all genuine Christians were "Members of the Body of Christ" (1 Cor. 12. 27) they gladly welcomed to the Lord’s Table all whom the Lord had received. (Rom. 15.7) In this way they demonstrated the real Spiritual Unity of Christians across these Sectarian barriers. They regarded "Life in Christ" as the basic requirement for Christian Fellowship, and they disregarded denominational affiliations.

The early brethren implemented the teachings of Christ, and the example of the Apostle Paul regarding their material needs. The phrase "taking nothing of the Gentiles" (3 John 7) was interpreted as grounds for refusing to accept any financial help from those who were not Christians. They would not take collections in any of their meetings where there might be non-Christians present. They believed that God was able the meet all their financial needs. Following the example of George Muller, they proved that through prayer and faith God could provide all the necessary funds. Following the example of Anthony Norris Groves, many hundreds of men and women were commended by their Assemblies, and went forth in faith to serve as missionaries in other lands, having no guaranteed income. They proved that God was faithful in supplying all their needs.

 9. WAITING FOR THE SOON RETURN OF THE LORD

Another Scriptural truth which was recovered by the early brethren was that of The Coming of the Lord. Not all brethren were agreed on the details of the Prophecy, but most were "pre-millennialist". They believed that Christ will come to take to heaven all his own, whether living or dead, before the thousand year reign spoken of in Revelation 20. 1-6.

The Return of Christ became the subject of intense study by a number of early brethren, and for the next hundred years it was frequently the topic for a great deal of ministry. It was regarded as The Hope of the Church, and they lived in the daily expectancy of the soon return of Christ for His people.

 10. THE URGENT NEED TO SPREAD THE GOSPEL

In the past one of the special features of the "Open" Assemblies has been their zeal in the Gospel, both in the British Isles and in the Foreign field. It was normal to hold regular open-air Meetings in Public places or on Street corners, and for Tract Bands to visit house-to-house with Gospel Literature week after week. Periodically some Assemblies would arrange for a local Gospel Campaign to be conducted by a full-time Evangelist. Some Assemblies had, literally, hundreds of children from their immediate neighbourhood attending Sunday School, and Children’s Meetings. As a result of the work of many evangelists vast numbers became Christians and many Assemblies established. From these Isles hundreds of men and women have gone to carry the Gospel to other lands. They went out, as A. N. Groves did at the beginning, in faith, in dependence upon God, and their labours have been abundantly blessed throughout the world.

Times have changed, and so too, have the Assemblies. Modern situations demand new solutions and methods, but these PRINCIPLES, do you not agree, are just as valid today as they were 160 years ago?

© J. Burton-Smith.