May 29, 2022 – The Church in New York City

Because our table is the Lord’s table, not our table, we receive all whom God receives, all poor sinners fleeing to the Lord for refuge, not resting in themselves, but only in Christ.

At that same time God worked simultaneously in British Guiana and Italy to raise up the same kind of meetings. In 1829 there were also meetings in Arabia. In 1830 in Great Britain’s London, Plymouth, and Bristol, there were also meetings. Later, many places in the United States had meetings, and in the continent of Europe there were also many meetings. Not long afterwards, in almost every place in the entire world, all those who loved the Lord were meeting in this way. Although there was no outward union, yet all were raised up by the Lord.

One feature that marked the rising up of these brothers was that those who were titled and lorded gave up their titles and lordship, those with position gave up their position, those with degrees forsook their degrees, and everyone abandoned any worldly class or rank in the church and became simply the disciples of Christ and brothers one to another. Just as the word father is widely used in the Roman Catholic Church and reverend in the Protestant churches, so the word brother is commonly used in their midst. They were attracted by the Lord and thus met together; because of their love toward the Lord, they spontaneously loved one another.

Within the scores of years, from among these brothers God has given many gifts to His church. Besides J. N. Darby and J. G. Bellett, God granted special ministries to many of the brothers so that His church could be supplied. George Müller, who established an orphanage, recovered the matter of praying in faith. In his lifetime he had over 1,500,000 answers to prayer. C. H. Mackintosh, who wrote Notes on the Pentateuch, recovered the knowledge of types. D. L. Moody said that if all the books in the entire world were to be burnt, he would be satisfied to have just one copy of the Bible and a set of C. H. Mackintosh’s Notes on the Pentateuch. James G. Deck gave us many good hymns. George Cutting recovered the assurance of salvation. His booklet “Safety, Certainty, and Enjoyment” sold thirty million copies by 1930. Other than the Bible it was the most widely sold writing. William Kelly wrote many expositions; he was described by C. H. Spurgeon as one whose mind was as big as the universe. F. W. Grant was the most learned of the Bible in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Robert Anderson was the man who best knew the book of Daniel in the recent age. Charles Stanley was the one who best brought people to salvation by preaching the righteousness of God. S. P. Tregelles was the famous New Testament philologist. The book on church history by Andrew Miller was the most scriptural among the many church histories. R. C. Chapman was a man greatly used by the Lord. These were the brothers at that time. If we were to recount in detail others among the brothers, the number of all who were greatly used by the Lord would exceed at least a thousand.

Now we will see what these brothers gave us: They showed us how the blood of the Lord satisfies the righteousness of God; the assurance of salvation; how the weakest believer may be accepted in Christ, just as Christ was accepted; and how to believe in the Word of God as the foundation of salvation. Since church history began, there never was a period when the gospel was clearer than in their time. Not only so, it was also they who showed us that the church cannot gain the entire world, that the church has a heavenly calling, and that the church has no worldly hope. It was they who also opened up the prophecies for the first time, causing us to see that the return of the Lord is the hope of the church. It was they who opened the book of Revelation and the book of Daniel and showed us the kingdom, the tribulation, the rapture, and the bride. Without them, we would know a very small percentage of future things. It was also they who showed us what the law of sin is, what it is to be set free, what it is to be crucified with Christ, what it is to be raised with Christ, how to be identified with the Lord through faith, and how to be transformed daily by looking unto Him. It was they who showed us the sin of the denominations, the unity of the Body of Christ, and the unity of the Holy Spirit. It was they who showed us the difference between Judaism and the church. In the Roman Catholic Church and the Protestant churches, this difference could not be readily seen, but they made us see it anew. It was also they who showed us the sin of the mediatorial class, how all the children of God are priests, and how all can serve God. It was they who recovered for us the principle of meetings in 1 Corinthians 14, showing us that prophesying is not one man’s business but the business of two or three, and that prophesying is not based upon ordination, but upon the gift of the Holy Spirit. If we were to enumerate one by one what they recovered, we may as well say that in today’s pure Protestant churches there is not one truth that they did not recover or recover more.

The Orthodoxy of the Church, Chap 7, Section 3 of 9

Posted on May 29, 2022 in Corporate Reading, The Orthodoxy of the Church

During this time there was a clergyman in the Anglican Church by the name of John Nelson Darby who was very dissatisfied with the position of his own church, believing that it was not scriptural. He also met frequently with the brothers, although at that time he still wore the uniform of the Anglican clergy. He was a man of God, a man of great power, and a man willing to suffer. He was also a spiritual man who knew God and the Bible and judged the flesh. In 1827 he officially left the Anglican Church, put off the uniform of the clergy, and became a simple brother meeting together with the brothers. Originally what the brothers saw was rather limited, but when Darby joined, the light of heaven poured down like a torrent. In many aspects the work of Darby was similar to that of Wesley, but his attitude toward the Anglican Church was entirely different. In the previous century Wesley felt he could not leave the state church with peace; a century later Darby felt he could not continue in the Anglican Church with peace. But as to zealousness, wholeheartedness, and faithfulness, they were alike in many aspects.

It was in that same year that J. G. Bellett also attended the meetings. He also was an exceedingly deep and spiritual man. This kind of meeting, which was simple yet scriptural, moved him greatly. Concerning the condition at that time, he had this to say:

A brother has just been telling me that it appeared to him from Scripture that believers, meeting together as disciples of Christ, were free to break bread together as their Lord had admonished them; and that, in as far as the practice of the apostles could be a guide, every Lord’s day should be set apart for thus remembering the Lord’s death and obeying his parting command.

At another time J. G. Bellett said:

Walking one day with a brother as we were passing down Lower Pembroke Street, he said to me: “This I doubt not is the mind of God concerning us—we should come together in all simplicity as disciples, not waiting on any pulpit or ministry, but trusting that the Lord would edify us together by ministering as He pleased and saw good from the midst of ourselves.” At the moment he spoke these words, I was assured my soul had got the right idea, and that moment I remember as if it were but yesterday, and could point you out the place. It was the birthday of my mind, may I so speak, as a brother.

This was how the brothers groped gradually onward, received revelation gradually, and saw the light gradually. After one year in 1828, Darby published a little book called The Nature and Unity of the Church of Christ. This little book was the first among thousands of books published by the brothers. In this book Darby clearly declared that the brothers had no intention of setting up a new denomination or union of churches. He said:

In the first place, it is not a formal union of the outward professing bodies that is desirable; indeed it is surprising that reflecting Protestants should desire it: far from doing good, I conceive it would be impossible that such a body could be at all recognized as the church of God. It would be a counterpart to Romish unity; we should have the life of the church and the power of the word lost, and the unity of spiritual life utterly excluded…True unity is the unity of the Spirit, and it must be wrought by the operation of the Spirit…No meeting, which is not framed to embrace all the children of God in the full basis of the kingdom of the Son, can find the fulness of blessing, because it does not contemplate it—because its faith does not embrace it…Where two or three are gathered together in His name, His name is recorded there for blessing…

Further, unity is the glory of the church; but unity to secure and promote our own interests is not the unity of the church, but confederacy and denial of the nature and hope of the church. Unity, that is of the church, is the unity of the Spirit, and can only be in the things of the Spirit, and therefore can only be perfected in spiritual persons…

But what are the people of the Lord to do? Let them wait upon the Lord, and wait according to the teaching of His Spirit, and in conformity to the image, by the life of the Spirit, of His Son. Let them go their way forth by the footsteps of the flock, if they would know where the good Shepherd feeds His flock at noon.

The Orthodoxy of the Church, Chap 7, Section 2 of 9

Posted on May 29, 2022 in Corporate Reading, The Orthodoxy of the Church

I have already spoken of the behavior of the Nicolaitans and the teaching of the Nicolaitans in the church in Ephesus and the church in Pergamos. Moreover, I have indicated how they represent a class of priests. Among the Israelites the Levites could be the priests and the rest could not. But in the church all the children of God are priests. First Peter 2 and Revelation 5 tell us clearly that all who are bought with the blood are priests. Yet the Nicolaitans specifically created the office of the priest. The laity (common believers) must go to the world to take an occupation and perform secular affairs. The priests are above the laity and attend to the spiritual affairs. Now I will say something by way of repetition regarding the matter of the mediatorial class. The Jews have Judaism, and the Nicolaitans developed from a behavior to a teaching. We see the existence of a class of fathers. They attend to the spiritual affairs, while others take care of secular matters. The laying on of hands is their business; only they can bless. If we have to inquire concerning a certain matter, we cannot ask God ourselves; we must ask them to inquire of God for us. At the time of Sardis the condition improved. The system of the fathers was abolished, but the clergy system arose to take its place. In the Protestant churches there are the extremely strict state churches, and there are also the scattered private churches. However, whether it be a state or private church, the existence of the mediatorial class is always seen. The former has the clergy system while the latter has the pastoral system. Concerning the system of the priestly class, whether it is called fathers, clergy, or pastors, it is something which is rejected by the Lord. The Protestant churches are a change in form of the continuance of the Nicolaitan teaching found in Pergamos. Although in the Protestant churches no one is called a father, yet the clergy and pastors are exactly the same in principle. Even if we change their name and call them workers, as long as they are standing in the same position, they have the same flavor.

I have already brought forth much Scripture as a basis for showing that we are all priests. But now there is an argument between God and men. Since God says that everyone in the church is qualified to be a priest, why do men say that spiritual authority is only in the hands of the mediatorial class such as the fathers? I repeat, as many as are redeemed with the precious blood are priests. Why does the Lord not rebuke Philadelphia, but rather praise her? Remember that the beginning of the mediatorial class was at Pergamos and the practice of the mediatorial class was in Rome. They have the popes who exercise dominion over them, they have the high officials exercising authority over them, and they have the Vatican (the church-palace) high officials, etc. But the Lord says, “You all are brothers.” Hold fast to Matthew 23:8 and 20:26. The Bible does not have the system of pastors. The Lord said, “Do not call anyone on earth your father, for One is your Father…Neither be called instructors, because One is your Instructor” (23:9-10). But the Roman Catholic Church uses the term father, and the Protestant churches use the term pastor. In the nineteenth century there was a great revival which abolished the mediatorial class. A great recovery transpired after Sardis: The brothers loved one another, and the mediatorial class was abolished in the church. This is Philadelphia.

In 1825 in Dublin, the capital of Ireland, there were several believers whose hearts were moved by God to love all the children of the Lord, regardless of their denomination. This kind of love was not to be frustrated by the walls of denomination. They began to see that in the Scriptures God says there is but one Body of Christ, regardless of how many sects men may divide her into. They further read the Scriptures and saw that the system of one man administering the church and one man preaching was not scriptural. So they began to meet every Lord’s Day to break bread and pray. In 1825—after more than a thousand years of the Roman Catholic Church and several hundred years of the Protestant churches—there was the first return to the simple, free, and spiritual worship in the Scriptures. At the beginning there were but two persons; later, there were four or five.

In the world’s eyes these believers were lowly and unknown. But they had the Lord in their midst and the consolation of the Holy Spirit. They stood on the ground of two clear truths: First, the church is the Body of Christ and the Body is one, and second, there is no clergy system in the New Testament, that is, all the ministers of the Word set up by men are not scriptural. They believed that all true believers were the members of this one Body. They warmly welcomed all who came into their midst, regardless of their denomination. They did not have the consciousness of any sect. They believed that all true believers had the office of the priest and could freely enter into the Holy of Holies. They also believed the ascended Lord had given various gifts to the church for the perfecting of the saints, for the building up of the Body of Christ. Therefore, they were able to depart from the two sins of the clergy system—offering sacrifices and one man preaching the Word. These principles enabled them to welcome all who were in Christ as their brothers and to be open to all the ministers of the Word who were ordained by the Holy Spirit to serve.