JESUS – a Name which is above Every Name

My dear friend Edwin has sent me this little piece: Jesus – a name which is above every name. He issues regular snippets which he calls Golden Nuggets (an inexhaustible vein of gold). I have taken the liberty of reproducing the same article. I am sure you will enjoy reading it.

It was originally written by Henry R. Wilkinson, a talented Christian artist who lived in Coniston, a village in the beautiful Lake District in Northern England. He died around 1970. Here is a copy of one of his paintings. Clearly he had a love for God’s creation, and this love can be seen in his work. Moreover this article paints a delightful verbal picture of our Saviour and the way in which His Name has been cherished throughout the Christian dispensation.

If you want to be on Edwin’s mailing list, please click here. Incidentally he maintains a stock of old ministry and very helpful Christian books which he provides free of charge or at a very low price (except of course for shipping costs). I am sure he will be pleased to give you more information. He trades under the name of Saville Street Distribution.

Incidentally, in the last few weeks, Edwin’s mother, Alice, was taken to be with her Lord. She was born in St Petersburg, Russia where her parents went to the same meeting as Daniel Otsing, the writer of that remarkable hymn O Lord, with our Ears and Hearts Open (number 131 in the Little Flock hymn book). As her father was Swedish, they fled the country when the communists came to power.

JESUS – a Name which is above Every Name

It remains when all else disappears; it endures when everything else perishes, and retains fame, prestige and lustre in the midst of transitory fading splendour.
Amongst living kings, queens, princes and princesses it is reverently honored and esteemed, and whilst the authority of such is great its dominion and power is infinitely vaster than theirs. The influence it exercises for good in an evil world far exceeds the questionable domination of all the combined dictators in the earth.
Angels, keeping their own estate, know it and worship whilst they rejoice together in seeing it apprehended in the faith of men’s hearts. Fallen angels, devils, demons also know it, confess it, but fear and tremble.
Many sober minded leaders amongst men recognise it, commanders of armies and navies, defenders of fortresses and outposts.
It has flashed into the vision of falling air pilots and stirred the memories of stricken seamen in ocean depths, of dying miners in the dark tombs of the earth.
Many a doctor has been fortified by it, whilst nurses have whispered its wonderful music to the weak and dying.
It has been a power for hope and comfort to the despairing in concentration camps, in dread dungeons and cruel prisons.

Perish it cannot — endure it will, for the immutable win of the everlasting God has decreed it.

Schemes, plans, conspiracies, ambitions hold sway for a while but the sway of the wonderful name of JESUS continues on and on forever.

In favour and disfavour, in honour and dishonour, in fervent adoration and in· caviling reviling, in loving appreciation and in neglectful indifference, amongst believers and unbelievers, around kingly thrones and in nomadic encampments, in colleges and in workshops, amongst white races and colored, around the belt of the Equator and on Arctic ice floes, by Indian river sides and in Canadian forests — this strangely magnetic name — JESUS — is the one power to move the hearts of men.

Its unfailing testimony has echoed in the theatres and palaces of ancient Rome — it was carried to the limits of its far-flung empire. When that empire fell, the Name remained, reached Gaul and Goth, Briton and Celt, and on to northern lands, ever spreading. It traveled with and into history, reached the Dark Ages, shone in cloister and cell, wood cabin and cave, east, west, north and south, always the same in unfailing attractiveness, arising afresh for every new generation in renewing hopefulness and power for blessing. In an unceasing effort to eradicate it from the earth Satan has employed every agency, all his cunning, all his hate.

By persecution and destruction, by flattery and fraud, by patronage and promises, by corruption and violence he has never slept in his campaign to blot it out, but here it is yet. It sounds in the silence of the night, awakes with the dawn and comes into speech in the daytime. At every turn and angle it confronts us and is forced upon our attention.

It lives because He lives, and because He lives to the ages of ages His Name shall likewise endure.

Listen, reader! Is there known to you any other name like it, however great it be? Do you know any name/word in the whole vocabulary of man of which we can truly say such wonderful things?

Like a lone mountain peak rising high in gleaming majesty far above all other heights, this one unique name of unsurpassed wonder and significance soars upward in sublimity in its own great testimony to men. God intends that it shall be so in order that men universally shall look to Him — JESUS.

There is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. (Acts 4:12)
Thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. (Luke 1:31)
Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. (Romans 10:13)

Where else can we look with hope? It is a time of unparalleled fear and anxiety amongst men; new powers for death and destruction have been discovered and developed, and that coveted peace for which men have looked, toiled, fought and died is further away than ever, and yet it is there, all of it, in JESUS.

Who has not heard of the Good Samaritan? Who does not know of the Good Shepherd? Who has not read or heard of Him who went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil, for God was with Him?

Some names are loathsome to men; others inspire courage, others fear and terror, but the name of JESUS has a winning charm of holy attractiveness, which no other name ever could have. Nobody fled from Him in fear, but great crowds came near to hear his wonderful speaking. With what intense yearning He cried to men: “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” “If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.”

He has not changed. What He was He is; and the same words of earnest and loving entreaty still hold good today, coming in all their heavenly charm and sweetness from JESUS now crowned with glory.

His name is the finest credential possible. It is an imperishable commendation to every man whatever his color, race or nationality, of that marvelous grace of God which would have all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.

Golden Nuggets are published by:-
Saville Street Distribution
Venture, Princes Esplanade,
Walton-on-the-Naze, Essex CO14 8QD

I Will Lift Up My Eyes to the Hills – Psalm 121

But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him (John 4:23).

A Song of degrees.

1 I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.

2My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth.

3He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber.

4Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.

5The LORD is thy keeper: the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand.

6The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.

7The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul.

8The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.

It is Lord’s Day morning. Instead of being at the Lord’s Supper, I am sitting beside my bed in hospital, having had a routine prostrate operation. Hopefully, God willing I will be out today. Meanwhile my wife is at the meeting; she will be coming to see me afterwards.

So I spent a little time with the Lord, thanking Him for what He has done, rejoicing in His resurrection and ascension, praising Him for His glory as the Son of God, glad to be one of His brethren and in a vessel which is so precious to Him, His assembly or church, soon to be united to Him in glory. Then I thanked the Holy Spirit for His service, taking the things of our Lord and showing them to us, but worshipping Him too, as being God – no less than the Father and the Son. Then trough Christ we have access by the Spirit to the Father, who sought and found worshippers. I was able to thank the Father for the Son, our blessed Lord who has brought the many sons to glory – and just to think that through grace I am one of those worshippers! I missed being with the brethren, of course, but what a privilege it is to give God praise and worship even from a hospital.

Then I got out my iPad and looked for a ‘morning service’. I found a site where a preacher, an elderly American gentleman, spoke from Psalm 121: I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help (v.1). He prayed; he spoke of God’s goodness and the gospel and what Jesus had done and redemption was in His name. Then a woman sang ‘My Redeemer is faithful and true’. After that one would have expected the preacher to give the glory to God. Instead he read a series of letters from persons who had received blessing and ended with asking for money* to be sent to an address in South Dakota. What was the object of his preaching?

I don’t want to be critical. I am sure he loved the Lord and desired the blessing of souls. But surely worship is the object of the preaching. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him (John 4:23).

* Let’s face it. What were his costs? What are mine? Pretty well zero! You don’t need a studio/church; you don’t need professional broadcasting equipment; you don’t need trained singers and musicians. A home camera or video recorder, and a web-site or even You-tube are sufficient.

Sosthenes

January 2015

Suis-je Charlie? The Charlie Hebdo Massacre

How far is it legitimate to offend?
Is it right to openly criticise or mock another religion?
Christianity and Islam are both peaceful religions, aren’t they?
Should ‘freedom of speech’ be unrestrained?
What should I do if I am offended?
What would Jesus have done?

Adoss Newsletter No 16

January 2015

A Day of Small Things

By Σωσθένης Ὁἀδελφὸς – Sosthenes the Brother

Dear Brothers and Sisters in the Lord

Suis-je Charlie?

The horrible events of last week when 17 people, 8 of them staff of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo were killed, raise a number of serious questions for the sincere believer

How far is it legitimate to offend?
Is it right to openly criticise or mock another religion?
Christianity and Islam are both peaceful religions, aren’t they?
Should ‘freedom of speech’ be unrestrained?
What should I do if I am offended?
What would Jesus have done?

How far is it legitimate to offend?

Jesus said a number of things that would have offended religious Jews, especially the Pharisees.

Ye have not the love of God in you (John 5:42)
Ye are from beneath (John 8:23)

John the Baptist and Stephen too:

Generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? (Luke 3:7)
Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears (Acts 7:51)

Against that we are exhorted to live peaceably with all men (See Romans 12:18). When Paul was in Ephesus, he did not openly attack the pagan religion. These men .. are neither robbers of churches, nor yet blasphemers of your goddess. (Acts 19:37). But that did not stop many practitioners turning to the Lord and burning their valuable books.

The rejection of the Holy Spirit was in Acts 7. Thereafter the testimony is in those who have the Spirit witnessing the effect of the glad tidings. There is no need to offend. Indeed we should not.

Is it right to openly criticise or mock another religion?

We need to state the truth. Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism are false religions. Judaism was of course of God, but to follow it now means calling the blessed Son of God an imposter.

We can do this in a way that reaches people’s consciences. There is no need to raise their passions of resentment. I look at a cartoon of Mohammed with a tear in his eye, and am unmoved. Mohammed is nothing to me. But he is to my Muslim friend, and he will be as offended by the cartoon as I am of some verbal or graphic misrepresentation of my Saviour.

Christianity and Islam are both peaceful religions, aren’t they?

I often hear that the perpetrators of these heinous crimes are doing a disservice to Islam. Islam, submission, is a peaceful religion. Millions of deaths, even in the 21^st century have been inflicted by Christians against those of other religions.

True Christians, follow the One who said, ‘Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you’ (Matt 5:44). On the other hand, those poor people who follow Mohammed are taught from the Koran to kill infidels:

Allah is an enemy to unbelievers (Sura 2:98).
On unbelievers is the curse of Allah (Sura 2:161).
Slay them wherever ye find them and drive them out of the places whence they drove you out, for persecution is worse than slaughter ( Sura 2:191).

I am not a student of the Koran, and do not know the context of these passages. Nor do I know the interpretation that mullahs and imams give on them. But I do know: by their fruits ye shall know them. (Matt 7:20) and by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned (Matt 12:37).

Should ‘freedom of speech’ be unrestrained?

In the West we have many freedoms for which we can thank God. Our brethren in many other countries do not enjoy these freedoms. We can distribute tracts, preach in the town centre, visit prisons and talk about the Lord Jesus. Many secularists would try and stop us.

To incite violence or ferment racial hatred is wrong, immoral and illegal. Rightly so. But to proclaim the grace of God and His salvation is another thing.

Non Christians – especially journalists – point out inconsistencies and hypocrisy. There is nothing wrong with that. They also may raise questions which cause us to get to the Lord for answers. That is good too, even if we do not like it. But when we are charged with xxx-phobia, or yyy-ism just for quoting the Word of God, that is different.

We need to pray that those freedoms that we cherish might be maintained.

What should I do if I am offended?

Be like our Master:

Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously: (1 Peter 2:21-23).

Or be as Peter again said, ‘Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing’ (1 Peter 3:9)

What would Jesus have done?

The quotation from 1 Peter 2, above partly answers this question. When it was a question of anything personal He bore it. When it was the rights of God, especially the Person of the Holy Spirit, He was severe in His reply: ‘Whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin, (Mark 3:29) – solemn, if the hearers listened.

So ‘Suis-je Charlie?’

My answer ‘Non!’ The website of the National Secular Society (UK) says, ‘Je suis Charlie’ means ‘Je suis secularism’.

Charlie Hebdo is a self-professed atheist magazine. It will not hesitate to offend the believer and mock our Lord and Saviour. But we cannot condone the attacks against them. May Charb, his friends and colleagues have turned to the Lord in their last moments!

God’s blessings, your brother,

Sosthenes Hoadelphos

J N Darby – Rest – There is rest for the weary soul

THERE is rest for the weary soul,
There is rest in the Saviour’s love;
There is rest in the grace that has made me whole –
That seeks out those that rove.

There is rest in the tender love
That has trodden our path below;
That has given us a place in the realms above,
But can all our sorrows know.

There is rest in the calming grace
That flows from those realms above;
What rest in the thought – we shall see His face,
Who has given us to know His love!

There is rest in the midst of grief,
For grief’s been the proof of love;
‘Tis sweet in that love to find relief,
When the sorrows of earth we prove.

There is rest in the Saviour’s heart
Who never turned sorrow away,
But has found, in what sin had made our part,
The place of His love’s display.

There is rest in the blessed yoke
That knows no will but His;
That learns, from His path and the words He spoke,
What that loving patience is.

Where He too has gone before,
Is the path which we have to tread;
And it leads to the rest where sorrow’s o’er –
To the place where His steps have led.

Mr Darby adds:

In this world of sin and misery Christ necessarily suffered “- suffered also because of righteousness, and because of His love. Morally, this feeling of sorrow is the necessary consequence of possessing a moral nature totally opposed to everything that is in the world. Love, holiness, veneration for God, love for man – everything is essential suffering here below.”
J.N.D.

Synopsis Vol 4 page 133 – Romans 8

John Nelson Darby (1800-82)

Wriiten 1879
In Hymns for the Little Flock 1962 and 1973 – No 85 and in Psalms and Hymns and Spiritual Songs 1978 – No 169
Meter 8.8.11.8.

The Power, Hopes, Calling, Present Position, and Occupation of the Church

We need to understand what the church really is, and to distinguish between the kingdom and the church. In the kingdom we get the display of God’s power and government, whereas in the church it is union and fellowship

The church is Christ’s representative on earth. By one Spirit we have been baptised into one body, whose Head is at the right hand of God in heaven, united to the members, formed into a body down here on earth by the power of the Holy Spirit. Scripture calls this ‘the church.’

The hope of the church is founded on her relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ in heaven. She is united to her Head there, seated in heaven in Him, waiting to be there physically. The occupation of the church ought to be in constant, incessant reference to her Head. If not, she cannot act for Him. She looks, to her Head, the only source of power, and joins with the Holy Spirit in the cry ‘The Spirit and the bride say, Come’ (Rev 22:17).

‘After These Things’ Chapter 5.1 – The Power, Hopes, Calling, Present Position, and Occupation of the Church

A summary of a paper by J.N. Darby entitled: ‘The Church – What is it? Her Power, Hopes, Calling, Present Position, and Occupation’. It is published in Darby’s Collected Writings – Volume 12 (Evangelical 1) Page 372

‘After These Things

5.1 The Power, Hopes, Calling, Present Position, and Occupation of the Church

The Church and the Kingdom

The Kingdom – Past, Present and Future

Paul’s Ministry as to the Church

The Church – its Power and Responsibility

The Hope of the Church

Conclusion

The Church and the Kingdom

We need to understand what the Church really is, and to distinguish between Church and the kingdom. The question, ‘What is the church?’ evokes numerous theories. Some say it is ‘visible,’ others ‘invisible’; some, that there will be a church by-and-by, but there is none now; that there is no church on earth (there may be churches), but only when all are assembled in heaven will there be a church. All these are erroneous

To understand the Church’s place, one must trace its place in the context of its whole history from its commencement at Pentecost, through the current day of grace, the Rapture, the tribulation, the Millennium to the Eternal Day. The church is Christ’s representative on earth – the epistle of Christ (See 2 Corinthians 3:3). As the tables of stone represented what God demanded from man, so should the Church be the revelation of what God is to man in grace and power.

We should also distinguish ‘the gospel of the kingdom’ and ‘the kingdom,’ from ‘the gospel’ (in its full scope) and ‘the church.’ Paul preached the kingdom of God – that is very different from Christ’s reign of power on the earth, when Christ will have His bride united to Him in glory. When Paul speaks of his ministry, he distinguishes between the ministry of the gospel of salvation and the ministry of the church.

The Kingdom – Past, Present and Future

Up to the time of Samuel, the point of association between the people and God was through the priesthood. But the priests were unfaithful, and then the Lord wrote ‘Ichabod’ (See 1 Samuel 4:21) upon what had been Israel’s glory. The ark was taken by the Philistines; the priests were slain and the link between God and the people was broken. God’s plan was that Israel should have a king. However, Israel set about it the wrong way: they got Saul who did not understand the signs. David understood them and was the type of Christ the King.

After King David is introduced, the priesthood ceases to be the habitual link between the people and God. God says, ‘I will raise me up a faithful priest . . . and he shall walk, before mine anointed for ever[1]’ (1 Samuel 2:35). A royal person is the link between God and the people. When Solomon dedicated the temple (as a Melchisedek priest), the priests could not stand to minister; the glory of the Lord had filled the house of God, the king praised God and blessed the people.

Finally, the King was presented in humiliation in the Person of Christ. John the Baptist says, ‘Repent ye; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand’. (Matthew 3:2 – the King coming in judgment). After John was rejected and cast into prison, Christ, the mightier One, takes up the same testimony: ‘From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand’ (Matthew 4:17). Jesus went about Galilee, teaching and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, healing the sick. The power of God was with Him, and it was seen. Then, the King having been rejected, the apostles went out preaching the kingdom. They also knew ‘the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven’ (Matthew 13:11), and God was with them. At present it is more testimony than power, but there will be a special testimony to the coming of the kingdom before the close of this dispensation.

The kingdom is still to be set up in the Person of Jesus Christ. He must go to a far country to receive a kingdom and return (See Luke 19:11). This is the ‘world to come’ (Hebrews 2:5, etc.), and the power of Satan will be set aside. Heaven will be in the seat of the kingdom. We will reign with Him there, joint-heirs with Christ, siting on thrones.’

Paul’s Ministry as to the Church

There is another aspect to Paul’s ministry. Man is at enmity with God, Jews and Gentiles alike being known only as children of wrath. Paul preached the gospel to every creature under heaven. He was not simply a minister of the gospel; he was a minister of the church to fulfil the word of God (See Colossians 1:25)[2]

Paul deduced that there is a body of which Christ is the Head, associated and connected with Him in His headship over all things. ‘By one Spirit are we all baptised into one body,’ (1 Corinthians 12:13). God ‘gave him to be the head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all’ (Ephesians 1:23). Ministries, gifts of healing, etc., as are the ‘joints and bands’ (Colossians 2:19) are not in heaven, but now on earth. The Head is at the right hand of God in heaven, united to the members, formed into a body down here on earth by the power of the Holy Spirit. Scripture calls this ‘the Church (or Assembly – Darby).’

There is something in Matthew 16:18 that is often overlooked. The Lord says to Peter, ‘Thou art Peter, and upon this rock will I build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven.’ He gives the keys to Peter – the keys of the kingdom, not of the church[3]. The church is that body which the Holy Spirit forms into unity. The Lord Jesus Christ is its Head, He sitting at the right hand of the Father in heaven.

The Church – its Power and Responsibility

In Scripture it is not the power of the church, but the power that works in us – the power of God working in the church. The Head supplies what is needed. ‘Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us’ (Ephesians 3:20). He nourishes His church according to its need. His powerful operations are however limited by the moral condition of the church. However, God is true and will not act in the power of grace contrary to the moral condition of the church or any individual. He may bear with its state in patience, but God will never sanction publicly what He disapproves of.

When we think of the saving of souls, it is rather the sovereign operation of the Spirit of God through the gospel. But the church is a vessel of power, and miracles testify to the power of Christ as the risen Son of man.

We must understand where we are, before we can get the blessing suited to our being part of the body of Christ. Christ never alters His mind. His grace remains the same, as does what He seeks from the church in responsibility, but the ways in which He acts vary. In the days of the apostles the church was adorned with all sorts of miracles: it is different now. Christ will never give up His thoughts about the church; but if we are only doing what we feel to be right, He will make sad work of what we have done. ‘He that gathereth not with me scattereth.’ (Matthew 12:30).

If Christ gathers, He scatters that which is not gathered in the power of unity with Himself – just like a pack of cards. This may surprise and humble us, but it does not discourage us since we look for God to act. The church’s power is in her weakness and her spirit constant, simple, unmingled dependence.

The Hope of the Church

While Christ remains sitting at the right hand of God in the Father’s throne, the only thing He owns as the Church, is the body down here. When He leaves His Father’s throne to take the Church unto Himself, she will form a glorious body in heaven.

The hope of the Church is founded on her relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ in heaven. She is united to her Head there, seated in heaven in Him, waiting to be there actually. As the bride of Christ on earth, she is a pilgrim here and desires to have no more to do with the world than Christ has. She will see things set right in the kingdom, but this is not her hope: her hope is her marriage with the well-known heavenly Bridegroom. That is how Paul knew that the Church’s place was to be with Christ there. In 1 Thessalonians 4:17, Paul says, ‘Then shall we ever be with the Lord’, our bodies changed. What follows that? Nothing! A great many things may be happening now, but the Church’s hope is to be with Him and like Him, for she will see Him as He is.

We have a heavenly calling, but that does not in itself convey the thought of the church. We must not confuse what we are as members of the church with the Church[4] itself. Many things are true of the members that do not apply to the church as a distinct body. As individuals, we are called, and look to be caught up into heaven; we have a heavenly portion as the brethren of Christ. We are builded together for the habitation of God through the Spirit (Ephesians 2:22): that is the calling of the church down here. Called, we endeavour ‘to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body…’ (Ephesians 4:3-4):

As to our present position and occupation, one thing is very different from the early church. When the Spirit of God was working at the beginning of the gospel, the testimony had great power, producing a visible, identifiable gathering – a substantial result. There is nothing like this. The sheep have been scattered; there are all sorts of opinions. Even unity involves separation from evil,[5] I must look to Christ as the Centre of truth. If my soul is not prepared to look to Him and gather with Him, I shall be cast into the uncertain condition of the differing opinions of every saint I meet. If Christ is our common object, there will be a coalescing power. I find the church of God in a unity which attaches itself to Christ alone, as the sole centre.

The Church ought to be in constant, incessant communion with her Head. If not, she cannot act for Him. She must get beyond the crowd of Satan’s power, to the Head, the only source of power. Then she can join in the cry ‘The Spirit and the bride say, Come’ (Revelation 22:17). So should the Church have her own light, with what is outside shut out.

Conclusion

Darby concluded: ‘We should get near enough to Christ to enjoy Him, and to know Him truly, and to gather up all that is like Him. If not separated by affection from the world, we shall be separated by discipline in the world. He will vex our souls to get us separate, ‘Because thou servedst not Jehovah thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart . . . therefore thou shalt serve thine enemies which Jehovah thy God shall send against thee’ (Deuteronomy 28:47 – Darby).’

[1] God said ‘before mine anointed’, not ‘before me’.

[2] For ‘fulfil’ Darby uses the word ‘Complete’ which gives the thought that everything was out as far as the inspired speaking of the Holy Spirit is concerned. Strong says the word is πληρόω/pléroó/Strong-4137 – fill to individual capacity.

[3] Elsewhere Darby noted ‘When looking at the building of church, J N Darby noted, ‘There are no keys for the Church. One does not build with keys. The keys are for the kingdom’ Collected Writings Vol 14 (Ecclesiatical 3), p80.

[4] See Foreword as to the use of the capital and small ‘c’ for church.

[5] See Darby’s Separation from Evil, God’s Principle of Unity – JND Collected Writings – Vol 1 Ecclesiastical 1 – p353.

From our book ‘After These Things – Summaries of John Nelson Darby’s Papers on Prophecy – and more…’ Compiled by Daniel Roberts. For more about this book click on the picture or CLICK HERE

J N Darby – Sons – Father, Thy name our souls would bless

FATHER, Thy name our souls would bless

As children taught by grace,
Lift up our hearts in righteousness
And joy before Thy face.

Sweet is the confidence Thou giv’st,
Though high above our praise;
Our hearts resort to where Thou liv’st
In heaven’s unclouded rays.

There in the purpose of Thy love
Our place is now prepared,
As sons with Him who is above,
Who all our sorrows shared.

Eternal ages shall declare
The riches of Thy grace,
To those who with Thy Son shall share
A son’s eternal place.

Absent as yet, we rest in hope,
Treading the desert path,
Waiting for Him who takes us up
Beyond the power of death.

Unchanging glory fills the place
Where Jesus dwells on high;
But brighter joy our spirits trace
With Him, for ever nigh!

We joy in Thee; Thy holy love
Our endless portion is –
Like Thine own Son, with Him above,
In brightest heavenly bliss.

His Father Thou, and ours thro’ grace,
We taste the same delight –
Blest in the brightness of Thy face,
In heaven’s unclouded light.

Father! Thy love my portion is,
As son, like Christ, with Thee;
Oh, who can tell of love like this,
So sov’reign, full, and free!

O Holy Father, keep us here
In that blest name of Love,
Walking before Thee without fear,
Till all be joy above.

John Nelson Darby (1800-82)

Written 1879

Parts of the above are in Hymns for the Little Flock 1962 and 1973 – Nos 25 and 26
Part of the above is in Psalms and Hymns and Spiritual Songs 1978 – No 25

C.M. (8.6.8.6)

Darby on Romans 16 – Conclusion

Even though he had never been to Rome, Paul’s heart was at home with many there. He knew the faith and service of some, and wrote to them as an assembly. As the apostle of the nations, he had his service for Christ for those in Rome.

He had a comprehensive service, embracing all the counsels of God, bringing the elements of the gospel together, to make the saints complete in Christ. The fruit will be hereafter. The apostle cites many who served diligently in the sphere in which God had placed them – from those who were of note among the apostles, to Phoebe, the deaconess or servant of the church at Cenchrea, who had been a helper of many. God does not forget any.

The apostle then tells the us to mark those self-important persons who cause divisions, exploiting their own mental abilities and acting contrary to the doctrine they had learned. We are to avoid them. Such insubject activity separates our hearts from God. True hearts, like John the Baptist, knew consciously by the Spirit that everything that is right is from God. Even if we are weak, and lack faithfulness, we have a testimony from God with more power than the pretensions of man. This preserves us. Our hearts are kept simple, while the mischievous hearts, with their fair speeches, are judged.

So Paul says, ‘I would have you wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil’ (v.19). God has, in His gracious wisdom, traced out a path in the world for us. We do not need to know all the evil, or even any of it: we are just to walk in the wise and holy path, conversant with what is good, lovely, and of good report. If we know the one right path across the waste, and live by God’s word, we do not need to learn from those who lost themselves. ‘By the words of thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer’

Paul ends Romans 16 with salutations, for fellowship in love characterises the spirit of the gospel. Tertius, to whom Paul had dictated the letter, gives his salutation. The Roman epistle, along with the others such as Ephesians and Colossians which had the character of commandments of the Lord: accuracy was important. (See 1 Cor. 14:37). The salutation at the end came from Paul’s own hand, verifying that the whole epistle was his, and that it had inspired apostolic authority.

The apostle closes with ascription of praise to the only wise God, owning Him as the One who is able to establish them according to his gospel. He recalls the character of the testimony contained in that gospel, of which he speaks in so many places in so remarkable a manner.

In this epistle Paul does not develop the mystery: his object is to show how a soul stood in liberty before God. Conscience and justification must be individual. Still he shows that ‘There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus’ (Rom 8:1). We are in Christ, and in chapter 12, one body in Christ – the full scope of the counsels of God – a mystery hidden from ages, even though they were in prophetic scriptures (v.26 Darby). He does not unfold the mystery in this epistle, but preached according to the revelation of it: Christ the head of all things, Jews and Gentiles forming one body, united with Him in heaven as Head. This had been kept secret since the world began, though it was in God’s counsels before creation. The foundation for our heavenly and eternal blessings had been laid in Christ’s work. Through all the inspired epistles the truth was made known to the nations ‘according to the commandment of the everlasting God.’

God, whose counsels were not confined to Judaism, commanded His message to be sent to the nations. He had His counsels and views in man, and in the Son, the Seed of the woman, and would accomplish the counsels in power. Now the original purpose of God was being made manifest for the obedience of faith to all nations.

A simplified summary of part of the introduction to John Nelson Darby’s Exposition of the Epistle to the Romans

Darby on Romans 15 – Paul’s Service moves to Rome

In the providence of God’s ordered path, Paul witnessed to all the authorities from the Sanhedrim to the Emperor, and the Lord’s grace sustained him in it. His apostolic service was to close in unwilling captivity, and Paul is delivered by the Jews to the Gentiles to suffer in grace, like his Lord, at their hands. Of course, Paul did not face it perfectly like the Lord Himself: He did so in the calmness of unvarying perfection, drinking the cup none else could, and that, if it could be, was more perfect than anything.

The apostle sums up what he had taught, especially the gospel of the nations. Christ ‘was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made to the fathers’ (v.8), but the nations had no such promises – they had to glorify God for His pure mercy. Because they had rejected Christ, the Jews also had to depend on God’s pure mercy. Paul quotes from the Old Testament, showing that this mercy to the nations was always contemplated by God – there should be a root of Jesse to reign over the nations and their hope should be in Him. (See v.12, Isa 11:10, Matt 12:21). He rests on the word hope. ‘Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost” (v.13). Such is the Christian’s joy and peace in believing, that his spirit rises in hope, trusting in God, and looking forward to the blessed time when all shall be accomplished in light – when he will be with Jesus.

Paul now refers to the public ministry that had been confided to him by Jesus Christ. He wrote to the saints in Rome as a minister of the gospel of God to the Gentiles. He presents himself figuratively as a priest (a minister), so that he could offer up the Gentile Christians to God, consecrated, sanctified to God by the Holy Spirit. He shows how he had laboured in power, and how he had not gone where Christianity was already established, but to poor souls far away from God and light. Now this ministry was closed.

Paul had finished his service in Asia and the Greek speaking world, having laid the foundation, preaching in spite of the dangers, where no one else had. He had formed and taught assemblies from Jerusalem to Illyricum, so now they could resist evil and false doctrine. The Greek world was Christianised: others might build, but Paul’s work was done. He had learnt to work wherever God called him to do so. Now the Latin world was before him, starting with Rome.

But now he was going to Jerusalem to minister to the saints. His apostolic ministry finished, he undertakes a diaconal service to Jerusalem. He certainly did not fulfill his mission as intended (See v.31). Indeed his fears as to what might happen in Judaea are stated in verses 30-32 [and more so in Acts 20:22].

God would not allow Latin Christianity to have an apostolic foundation. There were already Christians in Rome. We do not know who founded the Roman assembly – there is no evidence that it was Peter. There had been no wise master-builder: Christianity founded itself there. He came to Rome as a prisoner after two years’ captivity in Caesarea; then he remained two years captive in his own house in Rome. Now the history closes.

As far as we know Paul never went to Spain. Subsequent history may be inferred from 2 Timothy and other scriptures. This in no way affects the moral or ecclesiastical bearing of any of the epistles.

The close of Paul’s service is deeply affecting. He was so like his Master, though at a distance. He had worked with energy and exercise. There were failures because of the materials with which he, like the Lord had to use. Nevertheless, despite the materials, God’s ultimate purpose was accomplished. Compare Rom 15 with Acts 20:29-33 and Isaiah 49:4-6.

A simplified summary of part of the introduction to John Nelson Darby’s Exposition of the Epistle to the Romans

Darby on Romans 14:1-15:7 – The Spirit in which Christians should Behave towards one another

The Christian should not put a stumbling-block in his brother’s way. It is uncharitable to lead a weaker brother to violate his conscience – that would drive him away from Christ, as if Christ made the one for whom He died lawless. We should not despise the weak brother or sister because of the scruples which they would not have, if they understood deliverance. Conversely, the weak person should not judge the strong, charging him with evil because of his freedom. God will be the Judge. ‘Every one of us shall give account of himself to God’ (v.12).

In Romans 14, we have the spirit in which Christians should behave towards one another. There are those who are weak in faith, not fully in the light and power of new creation. They love the Lord; they have been purchased by Christ’s precious blood. but like a Jew they observe days and diet. That is weakness. So we are to receiving such in grace, not doing anything which could unsettle their faith. If the heart is pure, no meats are defiled meats – ‘To the pure all things are pure’ (v.20) . But if a person defiles his conscience, even through an unfounded scruple to him, it is unclean. If somebody normally felt he should regard a certain day, or abstain from a certain food, but does not in order to feign liberty, that is sin – it is not of faith .

Each stands or falls to his own Master, and God is able to make both the weak and the strong stand. Every one is to be fully persuaded in his own mind, not acting on another’s faith. Each is responsible to the Lord and must look to Him. We are to be peaceful edifying others.

The Christian should not put a stumbling-block in his brother’s way. It is uncharitable to lead a weaker brother to violate his conscience – that would drive him away from Christ, as if Christ made the one for whom He died lawless. We should not despise the weak brother or sister because of the scruples which they would not have, if they understood deliverance. Conversely, the weak person should not judge the strong, charging him with evil because of his freedom. God will be the Judge. ‘Every one of us shall give account of himself to God’ (v.12).

Romans 15:1-7 belong to chapter 14. The strong are to bear the infirmities of the weak, and, like Christ, not to please themselves. He meekly bore the reproaches that fell on Him, walking so faithfully and perfectly that, when men were disposed to reproach God, the reproach fell on Christ. ‘The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me’ (v. 3, Ps 69:9). The Old Testament scriptures were written for our instruction, so that we might know that God’s mind. Our reproach is His reproach, as we serve and have part with Him in faith and confidence. It is the path of love, serving others for Christ’s sake. But God is patient, bearing with our stupid, ignorant, and often inconsistent hearts. He occupies Himself with all our little trials to comfort us in grace. So have we receive one another as Christ received us – weak in faith – that we might be here to the glory of God. This closes the exhortations of the epistle.

A simplified summary of part of the introduction to John Nelson Darby’s Exposition of the Epistle to the Romans

Darby on Romans 13 – Obey the Civil Authorities

n Romans 13, Paul exhort the Christians in Rome to be subject to the civil authorities, ‘the powers that be’. Civil power is of God, so where there is power, it must be of God; I own God and the authorities. Resisting them is resisting God’s ordinance. They are God’s ministers to maintain order. So we pay our bills and taxes, thus fulfilling the law.

In Romans 13, Paul exhort the Christians in Rome to be subject to the civil authorities, ‘the powers that be’. Civil power is of God, so where there is power, it must be of God; I own God and the authorities. Resisting them is resisting God’s ordinance. They are God’s ministers to maintain order. So we pay our bills and taxes, thus fulfilling the law..

Paul reminds us of the Lord’s coming: ‘It is high time to awake out of sleep; for our salvation is nearer than when we believed’ (v.11). In the busy and pleasure-seeking course of this world, it is still night – the world is asleep (The night is far spent, the day is at hand – v.12). But for us, the day has dawned; the Morning Star has risen in our hearts. As godly persons, we have done with works of darkness – we walk honestly in the light. We still have to face conflict, but our armour is the light we walk in. Hence we detect and foil the weapons and snares of darkness. Our ways bear the character of Him who is the true light, the Lord Jesus Christ. Having the hope of being like Him, we purify ourselves as He is pure, and we walk as He walked. (See 1 John 3:3, 2:6). The Christian is looking for Christ’s coming to bring the light and day of God to this dark and benighted world.

A simplified summary of part of the introduction to John Nelson Darby’s Exposition of the Epistle to the Romans

Author: Sosthenes

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