Easy Summaries of John Nelson Darby on God’s Grace, the Rapture, Dispensations, the true Church etc.
Author: Sosthenes
Once the ruler of the synagogue at Corinth
Then a co-writer of a letter by Paul - just a brother - no longer an official
Now a blogger seeking to serve the Lord by posting some words that the Lord has given His Church.
Blest Lord, Thou speak’st! ‘Twas erst Thy voice
That led my heart to Thee;
That drew me to that better choice
Where grace has set me free.
John Nelson Darby
WHAT powerful, mighty Voice, so near,
Calls me from earth apart –
Reaches, with tones so still, so clear,
From th’unseen world, my heart?
‘Tis solemn, yet it draws with power
And sweetness yet unknown;
It speaks the language of an hour
When earth’s for ever gone.
It soothes, yet solemnizes all;
What yet of nature is
Lies silent, through the heavenly call;
No earthly voice like this!
‘Tis His. Yes, yes; no other sound
Could move my heart like this;
The voice of Him that earlier bound
Through grace that heart to His –
In other accents now, ’tis true,
Than once my spirit woke,
To life and peace, through which it grew
Under His gracious yoke.
Blest Lord, Thou speak’st! ‘Twas erst Thy voice
That led my heart to Thee;
That drew me to that better choice
Where grace has set me free.
Then would’st Thou that I should rejoice,
And walk by faith below;
Enough, that I had heard Thy voice,
And learnt Thy love’s deep woe –
Thy glory, Lord. This living waste
Thenceforth no rest could give;
My path was on with earnest haste,
Lord, in Thy rest to live.
Yes, then ’twas faith – Thy word; but now
Thyself my soul draw’st nigh,
My soul with nearer thoughts to bow
Of brighter worlds on high.
And oh! how all that eye can see
To others now belongs!
The eternal home’s so nigh to me –
My soul’s eternal songs.
For Thou art near; Thou call’st me now
In love I long have known,
While waiting on Thy will below,
Till Thou my hopes should’st crown.
And Thou would’st have me soon with Thee;
Thou, Lord, my portion art;
Thou hast revealed Thyself to me –
Thy nature to my heart.
My happiness, O Lord, with Thee
Is long laid up in store,
For that bless’d day when Thee I’d see,
And conflict all be o’er.
Yes, love divine – in Thee I know;
The Father’s glories soon
Shall burst upon my ravished view –
Thyself my eternal crown!
Thou mak’st me brighter hopes to prove,
Because Thou nearer art;
With secrets of eternal love
Thou fill’st my longing heart.
How shall I leave Thee, Lord? This joy
Is from Thyself; it is
My brightest hope without alloy,
My pure, eternal bliss.
With Thee, O Lord, I all things have –
Unclouded joy divine
In Thee, who first these “all things” gave
For ever to be mine.
Yet I will wait, in labour still
In Thy blest service here;
What Thou hast given me to fulfil –
Thy will – to me is dear.
“It is my meat to do the will of Him I serve; and I am glad to know it, because it is His – glad He has deigned to communicate it to me – glad to have it perfect as He gives it.” J.N.D.
I well can wait! Thou waitest yet
The word of that dread hour,
Which shall Thy foes for ever set
As footstool of Thy power.
Yet, Lord, were once Thy will fulfilled,
How better far with Thee,
With Thee, my joy, my strength, my shield,
In cloudless light to be.
O endless joy! how shall my heart
Thy riches all unfold,
Or tell the grace that gave me part
In bliss no tongue hath told?
The following verse is on JND’s gravestone in Bournemouth Cemetery – ed.
Lord, let me wait for Thee alone;
My life be only this –
To serve Thee here on earth, unknown;
Then share Thy heavenly bliss.
Lord, be it soon! Thou know’st our heart,
In this sad world, no rest
Can find nor wish but where Thou art –
That rest itself possessed!
Soon shall we see Thee as Thou art,
O hope for ever blessed!
Thou’lt call us, in our heavenly part –
The Father’s house – to rest.
O rest ineffable, divine,
The rest of God above,
Where Thou for ever shalt be mine;
My joy, eternal love!
His counsels, all, fulfilled in Thee;
His work of love complete;
And heavenly hosts shall rest, to see
Earth blest beneath Thy feet!
This poem forms the base of two hymns in the Little Flock Hymn Book
Walking in the Light of the Assembly,
Where does Islam come into Prophecy?
Darby’s Spiritual Songs
What a Price He Paid!
Who hath despised the day of small things
Adoss Newsletter No 9
June 2014
A Day of Small Things
By Σωσθένης Ὁἀδελφὸς – Sosthenes the Brother
Dear Brothers and Sisters in the Lord,
Walking in the Light of the Assembly
I have sought to write, with God’s help, a short paper on a subject which still causes difficulty for many, despite all that has been opened up of assembly truth since John Nelson Darby and a few others broke bread in Dublin 186 years ago.
The children of Israel, when they had gone through Jordan took 12 stones from the Jordan and placed them on dry land. The next generation would ask, ‘What mean ye by these stones?’, they would be told, ‘The waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it passed over Jordan’ (Jos. 4:6-7). It is like that now. There have been those who fought the Lord’s battles, taking issue with the establishment and ‘nationalist’ Christendom. They were opposed, but God sent an earthquake by Darby and others through the evangelical profession. Those that separated were blessed, numbers grew enormously throughout the world, and men like Moody and Spurgeon with large personal followings had considered joining. Even without those that would have followed these men, what started as a non-sectarian movement had already become as sect. it was not surprising that there were divisions – the ‘open’ division of 1848, the Glanton division of 1908, and more scattering since then. Things came to a head in 1970 when a man in New York declared ‘We are the church!’ How preposterous! Like Laodicea, the Lord had to spew such a line out of His mouth, leaving a few poor weak and scattered souls to humbly go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach. (Heb. 13:13).
But each generation has to face things, like the children of Israel. Only those of us over 60 are old enough to remember what really happened in the 1960’s and 70’s. Satan has only a limited armour, and he attacks in similar ways year after year. But if we have not learned the lessons of history, dependently with God, we will become his prey. That is why I have written, I trust in God’s grace, Walking in the Light of the Assembly. Several spiritual and well taught people in England and the USA have read it and provided helpful comments, which I have incorporated. It is not ready to be printed yet. But I am emailing a PDF version of it to on the ADOSS mailing list, and to others besides. Please pass it on to others who are concerned as to the truth – and love the One who is True, and I look forward to receiving comments and corrections. You can also download it here.
May you be blessed as having withdrawn from iniquity, you follow righteousness, faith, love, peace, with those that call on the Lord out of a pure heart. (2 Tim 2:22 Darby).
Where does Islam come into Prophecy?
I do not know the answer to that. God has told us to be intelligent as to the signs of the times (Matt. 16:3), but also, ‘It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.’ (Acts 1:7). As a good teacher, who was in the meeting I attend, used to say ‘The prophetic clock has stopped’.
John said, ‘Even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.” (1 John 2:18). Doubtless Mohammed was one of these, and his legacy is still around. Even now a fanatical group, ISIS, is gaining momentum in Syria and Iraq seeking to establish a caliphate uniting the entire Muslim world and rule with strict Islamic code. Where will that lead?
We read of various satanic beings in Revelation – the Antichrist, the beast, the false prophet, the harlot, all murderous and all enemies of God’s people (of course we will not be there!). Is Islam’s activity foretold in Rev. 9, Abaddon /Apollyon (the destroyer) being one of the names of Allah? Will Rome make a pact with Islam, reconciling the Sunni and Shiite factions, having successfully united apostate Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox Christendom?
What are your thoughts?
Of course, let us not get too hung up with prophecy. It is important, but not to be studied academically or out of curiosity. Just so we can be those waiting for the Lord’s return – ‘The Spirit and the bride say, Come’ (Rev 22:17)
Darby’s Spiritual Songs
When I have not known what to put on ADOSS – or perhaps lacking the spiritual energy to go to the goldmine and find the next nugget to summarise, I open a little book Spiritual Songs, by JN Darby (Published by Kingston Bible Trust). It is a wonderful source of comfort and inspiration. So I will take one and put it on ADOSS. Recent postings have included,
If you pay a price for something, it is because you have placed a value on it – normally greater than the price. The servant in Matthew 18 owed 10,000 talents. A talent was worth 16 year’s pay, so 10,000 talents meant 160,000 year’s pay – 4000 lifetimes – or in modern money – £4.68 billion ($7.2 billion) – in short an enormous amount which no domestic servant could conceive of. The interest would have been over £200/$340 million a year! What’s more, the foolish servant thought he could repay his master given time. And our Lord has valued your soul and mine more than any financial amount.
What a pity that servant did not behave like his Master! He took his fellow servant by the throat and demanded repayment of 100 denarii, 100 day’s pay or about £12,000 ($20,400), a repayable sum given time. The wicked servant was sent to prison for ever – tormented alone in the lake of fire. A brother pointed out to me – the other servants told their master, they did not confront the man. There are matters we should take to the Lord and let Him sort it out, even tough it might try our patience.
And what about Esau? He could have had the birthright. And what did he value it at? – one meal! Hebrews tells us he was profane. He did not find repentance. God hated him.
May we all value our salvation, our birthright, our inheritance, and may we value our brother or sister and not demand from them when we have been forgiven so much.
We are already nearly half way through 2014.
Tis not far off-the hourWhen Christ will claim His own;We soon shall hear that voice of power;The Lord Himself shall come!
We ought to remember what we are in ourselves, when we talk about exercising discipline – it is an amazingly solemn thing. When I reflect, that I am a poor sinner, saved by mere mercy, standing only in Jesus Christ for acceptance, in myself vile, it is, evidently, an awful thing to take discipline into my own hands.
Excerpts from a Paper by J N Darby entitled ‘On Discipline’
John Nelson Darby
We ought to remember what we are in ourselves, when we talk about exercising discipline – it is an amazingly solemn thing. When I reflect, that I am a poor sinner, saved by mere mercy, standing only in Jesus Christ for acceptance, in myself vile, it is, evidently, an awful thing to take discipline into my own hands.
But the church may be forced to exercise discipline, as in the case of the Corinthians, 1 Cor. 5. I believe there is never a case of church discipline but to the shame of the whole body. In writing to the Corinthians, Paul says, “Ye have not mourned,” etc.: they all were identified with it. Like some sore on a man’s body, it tells of the disease of the body, of the constitutional condition. The assembly is never prepared, or in the place to exercise discipline, unless having first identified itself with the sin of the individual. If it does not do it in that way, it takes a judicial form, which will not be the ministration of the grace of Christ. Its priestly character in the present dispensation is one of grace.
All discipline until the last act is restorative. The act of putting outside, of excommunication, is not (properly speaking) discipline, but the saying that discipline is ineffective, and there is an end of it; the church says, “I can do no more.”
As to the nature of all this, the spirit in which it should be conducted, it is priestly; and the priests ate the sin-offering within the holy place, Lev. 10. I do not think any person or body of Christians can exercise discipline, unless as having the conscience clear, as having felt the power of the evil and sin before God, as if he had himself committed it. If that which is done is not done in the power of the Holy Ghost, it is nothing.
It is a terrible thing to hear sinners talking about judging another sinner, sinners judging sinners, but a blessed thing to see them exercised in conscience about sin come in among themselves. It must be in grace. I no more dare act, save in grace, than I could wish judgment to myself. “Judge not, that ye be not judged; for with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again,” Matt. 7:1, 2. If we go to exercise judgment, we shall get it.
THIS world is a wilderness wide;
I have nothing to seek nor to choose;
I’ve no thought in the waste to abide;
I’ve nought to regret nor to lose.
John Nelson Darby
THIS world is a wilderness wide;
I have nothing to seek nor to choose;
I’ve no thought in the waste to abide;
I’ve nought to regret nor to lose.
The Lord is Himself gone before;
He has marked out the path that I tread;
It’s as sure as the love I adore;
I have nothing to fear nor to dread.
There is but that one in the waste,
Which His footsteps have marked as His own;
And I follow in diligent haste
To the seats where He’s put on His crown.
For the path where my Saviour is gone
Has led up to His Father and God,
To the place where He’s now on the throne;
And His strength shall be mine on the road.
And with Him shall my rest be on high,
When in holiness bright I sit down,
In the joy of His love ever nigh,
In the peace that His presence shall crown.
‘Tis the treasure I’ve found in His love
That has made me a pilgrim below;
And ’tis there, when I reach Him above,
As I’m known, all His fulness I’ll know.
And, Saviour! ’tis Thee from on high
I await till the time Thou shalt come,
To take him Thou hast led by Thine eye
To Thyself in Thy heavenly home.
Till then, ’tis the path Thou hast trod
My delight and my comfort shall be;
I’m content with Thy staff and Thy rod,
Till with Thee all Thy glory I see.
John Nelson Darby (1800-1882)
Written 1849
Edited version in Little Flock Hymn Book (1962, 1973) and in Psalms and Hymns and Spiritual Songs 1978 – No 139
Well, he seems to have strong views on some things. But don’t talk to me about clericalism. He may not have the title of pastor or minister, but he clearly runs his little meeting, and is very pleased with the way he has it!’
A few years ago I was with a Christian colleague, visiting a client a few miles from his home. My colleague, a real lover of the Lord, was preparing to become a Baptist minister. I had had conversations with him about the principle of clericalism. He said that in his church all were involved, the principle that one man should be in charge were probably not right, but that is how things were, and there was nothing one could do about it.
There was a respected, well taught brother in the town we were visiting, and, though I did not know him well, I thought he could be of help to my friend, so I called on him, with my colleague in tow. We had a good talk, maybe not as I had planned, certainly nothing on clericalism.
After we left I said to my colleague ‘How did you get on?’ His answer ‘Well, he seems to have strong views on some things. But don’t talk to me about clericalism. He may not have the title of pastor or minister, but he clearly runs his little meeting, and is very pleased with the way he has it!’
Wherever two or three are gathered together in Christ’s name, He is in the midst.
If anyone, through the flesh, separated from two or three walking godlily before God in the unity of the whole body of Christ, it would not merely be an act of schism, he would … deprive himself of the blessing of God’s presence.
If the evil is not put away, but persisted in, is the Spirit of God with those who continue in the evil, or with him who will not? Or is the doctrine of the unity of the body to be made a cover for evil?
I cannot stay in evil to preserve unity.
If any Christians now set up to be the church, or did any formal act which pretended to it, I should leave them as being a false pretension.
A Letter by J N Darby on Separation
I am not so afraid of leaving an assembly, or setting up another table, as some other brethren
Wherever two or three are gathered together in Christ’s name, He is in the midst.
If any Christians now set up to be the church, or did any formal act which pretended to it, I should leave them as being a false pretension.
John Nelson Darby
I write rather because of the importance of the point than for any immediate occasion of circumstances: I mean leaving an assembly, or setting up, as it is called, another table. I am not so afraid of it as some other brethren, but I must explain my reasons. If such or such a meeting were the church here, leaving it would be severing oneself from the assembly of God. But though wherever two or three are gathered together in Christ’s name, He is in the midst, and the blessing and responsibility, of the church are, in a certain sense also, if any Christians now set up to be the church, or did any formal act which pretended to it, I should leave them as being a false pretension, and denying the very testimony to the state of ruin which God has called us to render. It would have ceased to be the table of the people and testimony of God, at least intelligently. It might be evil pretension or ignorance; it might call for patience, if it was in ignorance, or for remedy, if that was possible: but such a pretension I believe false, and I could not abide in what is false. I think it of the last importance that this pretension of any body should be kept down: I could not own it a moment, because it is not the truth.
If anyone, through the flesh, separated from two or three walking godlily before God in the unity of the whole body of Christ, it would not merely be an act of schism, he would … deprive himself of the blessing of God’s presence.
But then, on the other hand, united testimony to the truth is the greatest possible blessing from on high. And I think that if anyone, through the flesh, separated from two or three walking godlily before God in the unity of the whole body of Christ, it would not merely be an act of schism, but he would necessarily deprive himself of the blessing of God’s presence. It resolves itself, like all else, into a question of flesh and Spirit. If the Spirit of God is in and sanctions the body, he who leaves in the flesh deprives himself of the blessing, and sins. If, on the contrary, the Spirit of God does not sanction the body, he who leaves it will get into the power and liberty of the Spirit by following Him. That is the real way to look at it. There may be evil, and yet the Spirit of God sanction the body (not, of course, its then state), or at least act with the body in putting it away.
If the evil is not put away, but persisted in, is the Spirit of God with those who continue in the evil, or with him who will not? Or is the doctrine of the unity of the body to be made a cover for evil?
I cannot stay in evil to preserve unity.
But if the Spirit of God, by any faithful person, moves in this, and if the evil is not put away, but persisted in, is the Spirit of God with those who continue in the evil, or with him who will not? Or is the doctrine of the unity of the body to be made a cover for evil? That is precisely the delusion of Satan in popery, and the worst form of evil under the sun. If the matter, instead of being brought to the conscience of the body, is maintained by the authority of a few, and the body of believers despised, it is the additional concomitant evil of the clergy, which is the element also of popery. Now, I believe myself, the elements of this have been distinctly brought out at [Plymouth?]; and I cannot stay in evil to preserve unity. I do not want unity in evil but separation from it. God’s unity is always founded on separation, since sin came into the world. “Get thee out” is the first word of God’s call: it is to Himself. If one gets out alone it may require more faith, but that is all; one will be with Him, and that, dear brother, is what I care most about, though overjoyed to be with my brethren on that ground. I do not say that some more spiritual person might not have done more or better than I: God must judge of that. I am sure I am a poor creature; but at all cost I must walk with God for myself. . . .
Some get hold of a particular evil which galls their flesh, and they leave. Do you think that the plea of unity will heal? Never. All are in the wrong.
I should not break bread till the last extremity: and if I did, it would be in the fullest, openest testimony, that I did not own the others then to be the table of the Lord at all.
Suppose clericalism so strong that the conscience of the body does not act at all, even when appealed to; is a simple saint who has perhaps no influence to set anything right, because of this very evil, therefore to stay with it? What resource has he? I suppose another case. Evil goes on, fleshly pretension, a low state of things on all sides. Some get hold of a particular evil which galls their flesh, and they leave. Do you think that the plea of unity will heal? Never. All are in the wrong. Now this often happens. Now the Lord in these cases is always over all. He chastens what was not of Him by such a separation, and shews the flesh in detail even where, in the main, His name was sought. If the seceders act in the flesh, they will not find blessing. God governs in these things, and will own righteousness where it is, if only in certain points. They would not prosper if it were so; but they might remain a shame and sorrow to those they left. If it be merely pride of flesh, it will soon come to nothing. “There must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest.” If occasion has been given in any way, the Lord, because He loves, will not let go till the evil be purged out. If I do not act with Him, He will (and I should thank Him for it) put me down in the matter too. He loves the church, and has all power in heaven and earth, and never lets slip the reins.
I should not break bread till the last extremity: and if I did, it would be in the fullest, openest testimony, that I did not own the others then to be the table of the Lord at all. I should think worse of them than of sectarian bodies, because having more pretension to light. “Now ye say we see.” But I should not (God forbid!) cease to pray continually, and so much the more earnestly, for them, that they might prosper through the fulness of the grace that is in Christ for them . . . .
