FOREWORD

FOREWORD

In this book an attempt has been made to meet a desire, often expressed, for an account of the way the Lord has taken, since the beginning of the nineteenth century, to recover the truth of the assembly given to the apostle Paul - which was so soon lost in accordance with the Spirit’s express warning as given us in 1 Timothy 4:1-3 and 2 Timothy 3:1-5 - and to maintain it against successive efforts of Satan to overthrow it. A very useful book on these lines was issued by the late Mr. G. W. Ware, but it had only a private and limited circulation, and is not now generally available, besides which the course of time since it was issued has brought further recovery of truth, and further opposition to it, which have been treated of in the following pages.

The object in view has been, as far as possible, to emphasize the particular truth that was involved in each conflict, rather than to dwell unnecessarily on history and personalities, and the method adopted has been to draw largely on letters written by those who were alive at the time of the occurrences in question, or who were well acquainted with them. In the process of compiling this history, much assistance has been derived from the book by Mr. Ware above referred to.