Tag: christian walk

The Perils of Legality

By Harry Foster

Acts 27:9-26,44.

We take this experience of Paul’s not merely for its own sake, but as an illustration of the supremely important truth of the difference between a legalistic attitude and a standing in grace. Out of terrors which might strike despair into the stoutest heart comes the ringing cry of the man who knows the grace of God,

Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer; for I believe God.’ (Acts 27:25)

All the exhortations of the Word are calling us to “go on,” but it is of extreme importance that we go on in grace, for once we are found on legal grounds there is an end to all progress. If the law reigned, neither Paul, nor the centurion, nor the master, nor the owner, could have any future at all. All hope of salvation would then be taken away. Since the grace of God reigns, however, they were able to be of good cheer, and to go on in hope.

Man’s Tendency Towards Legalism

There are few matters of graver importance than that of legality. Right through the Old Testament we are confronted with the oft-recurring tendency of the human heart to choose its own ground, which is legal, instead of accepting God’s ground, which is that of grace. Legality is a fault, not of the ungodly, but of those who have an earnest zeal for God. In the New Testament the same phenomenon reappears among the people of God. Like the Galatians they are ever prone to build again the edifice which at their conversion they had destroyed. Having been found on the ground of free grace, they are so quickly moving away from it; having begun in faith, they seek to be made perfect by works.

This tendency did not end with the New Testament. The multitude of sects and heresies in modern Christendom appals us. It would take a lifetime to discover the particular fallacy of each one, but here is a simple test which will almost invariably expose their untruth; in some point they make salvation to depend upon works and not upon grace. Not only does the great Roman Catholic system stand foursquare on grounds of legality, but every departure from Divine truth tends to move on to the same legal basis, for legality is very dear to the natural man. For this reason every new sect has its rules and prohibitions, its regulations as to what must be done and what is prohibited; not so much with reference to moral laws as to provide a basis of enjoying the Divine favour.

But the principle of salvation “by works of law” goes even deeper than this. Even among truly Evangelical Christians it is only too apt to creep in. If we track down the source of clashes, strained relationships, criticisms, schisms and pride, we shall generally find it in a failure in respect of the grace of God. In other words, legality has again asserted itself, even in the House of God. As it was with the Jews and the Judaisers, so with the Church of today; men are overtaken by a legalistic spirit even in their very zeal for God.

Some Features of Legality

Without attempting any precise definition of legality, may I indicate a few of its characteristics?

Legalists are always occupied with externalities. They attach the greatest importance to the niceties of orthodox practice and language as things in themselves. By them the simple practices of the New Testament are made into a ritual. The spirit of a thing is lost sight of in an exaggerated devotion to the thing, whereas to God nothing has value apart from the spiritual truth it is meant to express.

Moreover the legalistic mind is always obsessed with deciding what is right and what is wrong. That, after all, is what the law is for! Far be it from us to encourage any laxity in the matter of what is morally right or morally wrong. If, however, we make ourselves judges or arbitrators; if we let our relationship with other believers be governed by our own interpretation of what is right and wrong; if, indeed, being right, we insist upon our own rights, we have been overtaken by legality. There is no possibility of spiritual progress if it is made to depend on blamelessness, either in ourselves or in others.

There is an outstanding case of this in the parable of the two debtors. The one, you. may remember, was pardoned a large debt which he owed to his ‘master. But he immediately seized upon a fellow-servant, who owed him a trifling sum, and demanded prompt and full payment. He was punished as a wicked servant. So far as the matter of the hundred pence was concerned he was right, and his debtor was blameworthy. He had the law on his side: nevertheless his master condemned him. He was right; and yet he was grievously wrong. Having become an object of grace he sinned gravely in refusing to show grace to another. How many bitter words and cruel deeds among the Lord’s people are due to a legalistic insistence on what is “Scriptural”! An unforgiving spirit is but one aspect of legality. A proneness to be always judging the rights and wrongs of everything can manifest itself in countless ways, until it becomes an attitude of mind, a basis of life, and an obsession.

Then again legality is always profuse in argument. Reasoning is the business of the Law Courts. The emotions of the heart have little place there, but logic and ability to argue are essential. The pharisaical mind can dispute every matter and prove its own correctness, even from the Scriptures. It delights in controversy. It is so argumentative that it can never conceive of the possibility of its being wrong. It even dares to dispute with the Lord.

Legality is independent in a wrong way; it has forsaken the yoke of Christ to come under a yoke of bondage to law. The Galatians were told that if they sought to live by “works of law” they were “severed from Christ,” having “fallen away from grace.” Such a state does not necessarily involve gross evil living. It rather means that those concerned have departed from that utter dependence upon Christ which is essential to standing in Divine grace, and have become self-sufficient. The legalist imagines he knows just how and why God works, as though Divine activity could be reduced to mere formulae. He will probe into every circumstance where the Lord’s blessing seems to be lacking, seeking the cause in some supposed breach of spiritual rules. Now while it is true that spiritual principles do obtain in all God’s working, we can never confine Him to our understanding of His laws. Grace always goes beyond such limits, and surprises those who live by it. The legalist, however, is never surprised, for he imagines that he knows the explanation and the cause of all that takes place.

We refrain from enlarging on these features in order to stress our main point, which is the paralysing effect of legality on spiritual life.

Legality Hinders Love

“Sirs, be of good cheer!” Only a heart full of the grace of Christ could have enabled the apostle to speak such words to such men at such a time. If Paul’s attitude to his fellow-travellers had been at all legalistic he would never have addressed them thus. He had told the centurion what would happen, but his warning was despised and his advice unheeded. Quite clearly the leaders were wholly to blame for the sad predicament of the whole ship’s company: Paul was right, and they were altogether in the wrong. However, he did not allow his behaviour towards them to be governed by this fact. The legalist would have said that Paul deserved to be saved, and the others deserved to be lost. Paul was no legalist, so he made great claims upon the grace of God, and the Lord gave him all that sailed with him.

Happily, indeed, for Paul that he was no legalist, for perhaps he deserved as badly as any of them! What was he doing in that ship? Why had he persisted in going up to Jerusalem? And why had he become involved in Judaistic practices there? The centurion had foolishly taken his own course, instead of listening to the voice of the Lord. A careful reading of Acts 21 makes it difficult to resist the conclusion that the apostle himself had done the very same thing. His protest, “Ye should have hearkened unto me, and not have… gained this harm and loss” may well have been an echo of the Lord’s reproof to his own heart. What then? Has failure, even disobedience, alienated him from God’s love? The legalist says “Yes.” The Scriptures say “No,” for in spite of everything the gracious Lord stood by him, and said, “Be of good .cheer, Paul.”

Legally, the centurion and his fellows had forfeited all rights to Paul’s love, even as the apostle might be thought to have forfeited all claims upon the love of God. Only grace can maintain love. Nothing so paralyses our sense of God’s love, and nothing so hinders love to others as a legalistic frame of mind about the rights and wrongs of conduct. Away in Corinth and Rome there were Christians quarrelling and standing aloof from one another over unimportant matters of judgment, allowing barriers to arise between them over foolish trivialities. Why? Because instead of receiving one another as Christ received them – in grace – they were criticising one another’s judgment and understanding of the truth. There is always division and a breakdown of brotherly love when relationships are brought on to a legal basis.

The Lord may have so dealt with us that we cannot do certain things which other servants of God practice. Let us not, indeed, compromise, or sacrifice our revelation of God’s will, but at the same time we must not despise these others, nor have a separateness of spirit towards them. Spiritual progress is always attended by this temptation to judge others. Those who approximate most closely to God’s will are most conscious of faultiness. If, however, progress is to be genuine it must be in the love of God, and the subtle tendency to become legal-minded must be resisted and overcome.

Legality Hinders Faith

Faith can only triumph where grace reigns. Surely if the law governed there would be no future for such men who had rejected God’s warning, and steered their own course. There would be no place for faith. Paul might justly have said, “All hope and expectations are gone. It is useless to trust or pray. We shall sink here as we deserve, for we have disobeyed the Lord.” He might have, but he did not. Instead, having impressed upon them how wrong and foolish they had been, he exhorted them to be of good cheer; for grace, thank God, is greater than all our folly and sin. Faith, then, can be strong. Paul is bold to believe that all will be saved according to the Lord’s promise.

Faith is impossible without grace. If God’s blessing is made to follow logically upon our observance of rules of procedure, any failure on our part suspends all further expectation from Him. How can faith persist and triumph, when God’s way has been missed, if there is no confidence in the abounding grace of the Lord? The Devil will invariably point out our faults and failures, sometimes bringing back to remembrance mistakes of years ago, in order to challenge and wither our faith. It is important for us to recognise our faults, and to learn from our mistakes, but we must not let them be the ruling factor. Grace reigns! Doubtless Paul profited from his mistakes. Certainly the centurion learned his lesson. But that was not all. They might still have been dejected and hopeless men, but for the Lord’s appearance in grace, bidding them rejoice and have faith. We too may feel dejected about ourselves or about others, and give ourselves to grieving over failure, spiritual dullness and unworthiness; but rather let us be of good cheer, and believe God!

Legality Hinders the Divine Purpose

So far we have spoken only of the human side, but there is a Divine aspect to the matter. Paul’s arrival at Rome was not merely for his own blessing; it represented a goal of God’s purpose. He had been chosen as an instrument for the fulfilment of God’s will, but had that depended upon a relationship based legally upon rights and wrongs, that will was doomed to failure from the start. After Paul’s doubtful conduct in going up to Jerusalem, and his still more doubtful behaviour there, the Lord twice appeared to His servant, encouraging him with the assurance that, though the way might be strange, the end was sure: “Thou must stand before Caesar.” What is true of this event in the apostle’s life is also true in the great end of all Divine purpose. The grace of God provides for the realisation of God’s full intention for His people, in spite of their unworthiness. Therein lies the supreme importance of abiding in grace. Satan knows that, while the people of God are found on the ground of legality, there is an arrest of the Divine purpose. If, then, he finds a zeal for God among them, he will seek to nullify it by introducing legality among them, thus causing them to set up barriers as to what must be and what must not; to regard the things of God from the viewpoint of earthly order and procedure, or to concentrate on the weaknesses or faultiness of one another. If he succeeds in this there is no good cheer, and there is no going on unto the fulness of Christ.

A glorious goal is set before the people of God. Legally they have neither the right nor the ability to attain it; but grace beckons them on, and cries triumphantly above the noise of the storm, “Sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even so as it hath been spoken unto me.” The full promise of God shall find fulfilment in a people who maintain their life in the realm where grace reigns.

 

First published in “A Witness and A Testimony” magazine, Vol. 20-3, May-June 1942

How are we to regard other Christians

We are called to stand apart from what is evil. But how do we act practically when it comes to our fellow believers, whatever their background or history. I believe that there are several considerations.
1. Do what the Lord would have done
2. Glorify the Lord yourself
3. Cause others to glorify the Lord
4. Go by scripture
5. Do not cause offence
6. Do not get into a dangerous situation – physically, mentally or spiritually.

walking-in-assemblyA most important part of our Christian life is the testimony that we give to others, believers or not. As to other Christians, Paul tells us ‘Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves’ (Phil 2:3). That applies to all – to one strong in the faith and well taught, down to one who, though the Lord’s, is not even sure of salvation.

It has been said that Christians who seek to be faithful to the Lord should be the humblest people in Christendom, especially if they have been well taught, but have failed in their practical Christianity. The writer can look back to times when he has flaunted his superior knowledge of Christian doctrine and possibly the scriptures, giving the impression of being a ‘superior’, even if not a ‘better’ Christian. He was no better than a Pharisee in the Lord’s time, and even a hypocrite. Indeed, on occasions, he was rebuked by simple believers for what he said or did.

It is not for this booklet to say what one should, or should not do, whether as to general relationships or as to specific instances such as social, family or religious events. To do so would be legality. It will, I trust give the reader some thoughts to consider prayerfully before being confirmed as to what the Lord’s mind is. One of the scriptures that should be considered is 1 Cor 10:28, ‘All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: … Whatsoever is sold in the shambles, that eat, asking no question for conscience sake: … If any of them that believe not bid you to a feast, and ye be disposed to go; whatsoever is set before you, eat, asking no question for conscience sake. But if any man say unto you, This is offered in sacrifice unto idols, eat not for his sake that shewed it, and for conscience sake: for the earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof: Conscience, I say, not thine own, but of the other: for why is my liberty judged of another man’s conscience? For if I by grace be a partaker, why am I evil spoken of for that for which I give thanks?’

Of course the guidance that Paul gives us in scripture is in relation to unbelievers. Our fellow believers are different, and it is wonderful if we can share our common appreciation of the Lord and God’s goodness with them, even if there are differences of interpretation and practice. In apostolic times there were no denominations or sects, as we know them today. But these thoughts should be relevant to all our relationships with our fellow human beings, believers or unbelievers.

We are called to stand apart from what is evil. But how do we act practically when it comes to our fellow believers, whatever their background or history. I believe that there are several considerations.

  1. Do what the Lord would have done
  2. Glorify the Lord yourself
  3. Cause others to glorify the Lord
  4. Go by scripture
  5. Do not cause offence
  6. Do not get into a dangerous situation – physically, mentally or spiritually.

The Lord’s actions are well known. He went to a wedding, and it was clear that the hosts did not appreciate whom He was. A tax gatherer was a ‘child of Abraham’ and when the Lord accepted his hospitality, He was criticised for it. ‘The Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them’ (Luke 15:2). Put simply the Lord socialised with others, but was totally undefiled by the environment.

We are told to do all things to the glory of God. That is a simple test. Can I glorify God in the company or place where I am invited? If so then I will affect others – wherever you are. On this line is the help I can be to others – practically as well as spiritually. We are told, ‘Let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith’ (Gal 6:10). Such help can take many forms.

Scripture does not give us rules, but 1 Cor 10 above is a guide. Some might ask, ‘Why would you be minded to go?’ I would be cautious about going to something religious, where I might be found in a position that I would find compromising. My friend or relative who invited me would understand it if you said, for example, ‘I do not feel I should go because I would be expected to take communion.’ But if I said, ‘I cannot go because the Christians I meet with don’t do this’, then I shouldn’t be surprised to receive the answer, ‘So you think you’re better than us!’   My friend could well have pre-conceived ideas of the sad history of the company I am with, and sees me as marked by the same attitude, even if less extreme than others. One is never going to help others as to the truth of the assembly if one behaves in a supeior way. It is not the Lord’s way. Do not give offence.

I can also give offence to those I meet with. I might feel free to go to something, but know that others would be offended. This is what Paul talked about in Romans 14. This was on the subject of vegetarianism, but it can apply to many situations. ‘Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother’s way. I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself: but to him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean. But if thy brother be grieved with thy meat, now walkest thou not charitably. Destroy not him with thy meat, for whom Christ died. Let not then your good be evil spoken of: For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost’ (v.13-16).

Finally we should not put ourselves in a situation where we might suffer harm – even in the company of other Christians. I guess in this I am mainly addressing myself to my younger brethren. Sadly there are able teachers who teach false doctrine. They might start with what is outwardly the gospel, but are really intent on getting a personal following ‘speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them’ (Acts 20:30) – you will find them calling for money, promising a better life here, telling you what to do to be a better person or a better Christian, or being carried away by emotional responses, not of the Holy Spirit. So if you are being invited to something like this (you can easily find out what they are like from the internet), you can respond with a polite, inoffensive, ‘No’. Your Christian friend will respect your feelings, especially if you can explain, using scripture, why you cannot go the way he or she would like you to go.

‘See that there be no one who shall lead you away as a prey through philosophy and vain deceit, according to the teaching of men, according to the elements of the world, and not according to Christ’ (Col 2:8 Darby).

 

 

Sosthenes

 

July 2015

Divine Guidance

I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye (Psalm 32:8)
The Lord sometimes guides, or rather controls, by providential circumstances, so that I do not go wrong, and I should be thankful that He does so. But I am like a horse or mule without understanding. If, like a stubborn mule, I am insubject to the Lord’s will, I must be controlled with bit and bridle. Providence does sometimes control, but it never guides persons; it guides things. Suppose that I am going to a place to preach, and my train is delayed and I miss a connection and hence fail to give my sermon. God has ordered things, but God has not guided me. It was my will to go, and I would have gone had the train not been delayed. This is not being guided by the ‘eye’, but controlled by the “bit” of God. Though providence overrules, it does not, properly speaking, guide.

Based on J. N. Darby‘s

I will guide thee with mine eye

eyeRead the following portions from the Psalms.

I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye (Psalm 32:8)

Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.  But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night (Psalm 1:1-2).

Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD (Psalm 119:1).
Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word (Psalm 119:67).
It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes (Psalm 119:71).
I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek thy servant; for I do not forget thy commandments (Psalm 119:176).

We need to see how the Spirit of God deals with the insubject soul. Before David confessed he said, ‘When I kept silence my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long’, and ‘Thy hand was heavy upon me‘ (Psalm 32:3-4).    The Lord’s hand is heavy upon a man until he confesses his sin (all sin, not just a particular sin) before God: then there is forgiveness of the iniquity.  Until then there is no forgiveness – that is the government of God.  When he said ‘Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me‘ (Psalm 51:5), he recognised the root principle of sin.  When there is confession of that,  there is then positive restoration of soul.

Freed from the bondage of things that hinder intercourse with God, the soul learns to lean upon God, rather than those things which take the place of God.  It understands deliverance, and is confident in times of trouble.  In Psalm 32:9, we are told not to be like a horse or mule.  A mule is stubborn.  When our wills are at work, there is not free intercourse in our hearts and affections with God – consequently we are not being led simply by God.  When the heart is in a right state, the whole body is ‘full of light‘ (Luke 11:34), quickly perceiving the will of God by the indwelling Holy Spirit.  We are ‘of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD’ (Isa 11:3):,” without any object but the will and glory of God.  Just as the Lord delighted in His Father’s will (See Psalm 40:8), so we will be guided by the Father’s eye, and therefore full of joy.

Before I embark on anything, I should seek God’s mind, judging my hearts as to what may be hindering. If I have not done so, and later meet with difficulties, I will be uncertain as to whether it was God’s mind or not, and be discouraged.   But on the other hand, I have God’s mind and am in communion with Him, I shall be ‘more than a conqueror’ (Rom 8:37).  The power of faith removes mountains: as I am obedient, the Lord gives me to find out His way.

Many speak of providence as a guide. The Lord sometimes guides, or rather controls, by providential circumstances, so that I do not go wrong, and I should be thankful that He does so.  But I am like a horse or mule without understanding.  If, like a stubborn mule, I am insubject to the Lord’s will, I must be controlled with bit and bridle.  Providence does sometimes control, but it never guides persons; it guides things.  Suppose that I am going to a place to preach, and my train is delayed and I miss a connection and hence fail to give my sermon. God has ordered things, but God has not guided me.  It was my will to go, and I would have gone had the train not been delayed.  This is not being guided by the ‘eye’,  but controlled by the “bit” of God. Though providence overrules, it does not, properly speaking, guide.

There is guidance with knowledge, and guidance without knowledge. The former is our blessed privilege; but we may need the latter to humble us. In Christ everything was exactly according to God. In a certain sense He had no character. When I look at Him, what do I see?  Constant, never-failing, perfect obedience. There is great diversity of character amongst men – one tender and soft, another decisive and domineering.  You do not see that in Christ: there is no unevenness – every faculty in His humanity was obedient, and subject to the impulse of God’s divine will.

In Colossians 1:9-11, we find the individual to be ‘filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding‘  The Holy Spirit guides us as to the divine will, and there is no need even to pray about it.  If I have spiritual understanding and have prayed a lot in general, I will have enjoyed such communion so as to know God’s will.  The way is full of stumbling blocks. As children of light we miss them.  If we walk in the night we have to look out for the stones and it is easy to stumble over them.  Jesus said, ‘Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world.’  (John 11:8).

May our hearts be led to desire to know and to do God’s will. It will then be not so much a question of what that will is, but of knowing and doing God’s will. And then we shall have the certain and blessed knowledge of being guided by His ‘eye’.

Sosthenes

June 2015

For original see   I will guide thee with mine eye

‘Experts in the Art of Dying’ –  Christ-like Conduct During the Armenian Genocide   

I have just read an article about this in the Barnabas Fund Magazine. They reproduced some experiences recorded shortly after this awful happening. These were put together by Sisag Manoogian in 2014, under the title above. Persons, driven from their homes, knew that survival was impossible behaved in a Christ-like way, praying for and loving their tormentors. Many of the stories – there must be thousands more – were from the memories of Turkish Muslims, some of whom doubtless turned to the Lord as a result of the conduct of these poor people.

Christians are still suffering for the Name, even in Britain, let alone the Middle East, Africa and North Korea.

armenia 1I am writing this on the day that Armenia is marking on the 100th anniversary of the terrible persecution, massacre and genocide of the Christian Armenians at the hands of the Moslem Turks. Not that the persecution was necessarily because they were Christians, but the way in which this benighted people behaved in the face of such atrocities was Christian, and a model for us all.

I have just read an article about this in the Barnabas Fund Magazine. They reproduced some experiences recorded shortly after this awful happening. These were put together by Sisag Manoogian in 2014, under the title above. Persons, driven from their homes, knew that survival was impossible behaved in a Christ-like way, praying for and loving their tormentors. Many of the stories – there must be thousands more – were from the memories of Turkish Muslims, some of whom doubtless turned to the Lord as a result of the conduct of these poor people.

Christians are still suffering for the Name, even in Britain, let alone the Middle East, Africa and North Korea.

 

One is reminded of the letter to Smyrna.

8And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive;9I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan. 10Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. 11He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death. (Rev 2:8-11)

Here are some extracts:

 

      • Some ferocious gendarmes marveled when seeing men and women, even children, instead of trembling in the presence of death, show calm and dignity, and instead of cursing, pray for the forgiveness of their murderers. In their defenselessness they tried to defend the weaker ones: in their hunger they shared their last piece of bread with the poorest.

 

      • The pastor of the Syrian church in Ourfa saw thousands of women and children, who were exhausted with the journey, and so had to spend one night on the ground there, and march on next morning. He said nearly all were hungry, thirsty, and literally naked. Some of them found pieces of charcoal and wrote on the rocks, ‘As Jesus did not deny us, do not deny Him: We have not denied Him, follow us’.

 

      • These women were asked to repeat a short sentence after the Turkish teacher, or lift up their testimonial finger to show that they were willing to accept Islam, which meant they could stay free in their homes, but they refused, choosing rather to suffer and die in the desert.

 

      • The Armenians gave up everything precious, but clung to their Bibles. They thanked God first before they drank water after five days‘ hot journey in the desert without anything to quench their thirst. Innocent victims showed wonderful peace and offered earnest prayers for the salvation of Turks and Turkey, before the rope was around their necks to hang them.

 

      • On one occasion Elmas saw a line of Armenian children being systematically beheaded by Turkish soldiers. Terrible thunder and lightning broke out, which the Turks relished as showing the approval of Allah for the killing of the Christian children. But when a bolt of lightning killed some of those doing the beheading, the rest of the soldiers were terrified, stopped the beheadings, and sent the remaining children away.

 

      • The Turkish authorities rounded up the elderly, the women and the children, and told them they were going to walk to Der El-Zor, near Aleppo, where they could settle and live. All of them, even the pregnant women, were forced along the route in the heat of the summer of 1915. Eventually they realised that their promised destination was an empty desert region, with no settlements, no food and no water.

 

      • The Armenian men were told by their captors, ‘Convert to Islam and you will be safe.’ The Armenians shouted, ‘We are Christians!’ In response the Turkish soldiers doused the church building [where the men were imprisoned] with flammable liquid and set it on fire.

24 April 2015

J N Darby – Some JND Snippets –

The great truth and essence of Christianity is that it takes the heart out of this world, and fixes it on Christ. It makes us live by Christ, on Christ, and to Christ.

Golden nuggetBut then the life of Jesus is to be manifested in me, and there I get my proper responsibility as a Christian.  Since Christ appears in the presence of God for us, we are to appear in the presence of the world for Christ.  If He dwells in you, then let us see Him in you.

(J.N.D Notes and Jottings p4)

 

When guilty, you are justified; when you have offended, you are forgiven; and when you are defiled, you are washed. If I look at guilt, I want justification; at offence, forgiveness; at defilement, cleansing.

(J.N.D Notes and Jottings p7)

 

God never told people they were lost, until Christ had died to save them.

(J.N.D Notes and Jottings p11)

 

Are you part of My bride – My body – and you won’t take the cross here with Me? What is crown up there is cross down here.

(J.N.D Notes and Jottings p20)

 

Whoever has the Spirit of Christ is a member of the body, and that we own; though if one be walking inconsistently, and in some actual thing that calls for it, he must be put out. For fellowship, therefore, he must be not only a member of the body, but also a member of the body walking uprightly.

(J.N.D Notes and Jottings p38)

 

“If a man serve me, let him follow me”; that recalls a line I read many years ago, “It is harder to live a Christian than to die a martyr.”

(J.N.D Notes and Jottings p45)

 

The great truth and essence of Christianity is that it takes the heart out of this world, and fixes it on Christ. It makes us live by Christ, on Christ, and to Christ.

(J.N.D Notes and Jottings p67)

 

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We need more Devoted Christians

Our conclusion, then, is simple undivided devotedness to Christ. Christ is to be the only object, as we do those things that faithfulness and nonconformity to the world entail. We have a bright, heavenly hope connected with Christ crucified, and Christ in glory. He is coming and will receive us to Himself and make us like Him. Hence we should be as those who wait for their Lord.

lay-preachingChristian devotedness is something different from human kindness and philanthropy, born out of a sense of obligation. It is motivated by love for our self-sacrificing Redeemer and a desire to be pleasurable to Him.

A simplified précis of John Nelson Darby’s paper ‘Christian Devotedness’ by Sosthenes

To be truly in the testimony of God, Christians must be devoted. Devotion must be founded on the truth and sound doctrine and exercised in the power of the Holy Spirit. Christians need to be clear as to redemption, and have the peace that a Christian has through divine righteousness. He must know the living power of the heavenly Comforter, and be sure of the blessed hope of the glorified Christ’s coming again. Held in the power of the Holy Ghost he is should be separate from the world.

Christianity has had a great influence in the world. Humanitarian activities such as caring for the sick and poor, have become recognised duties of society, even where infidelity prevails. But there are higher motives than these – true devotedness.

 

Christ’s Devotion to His Father

Normally, Christians should abide in the calling wherein they are called. (1 Cor 7:20). Christ is to be our life and the object or motive of our lives. There are two aspects to that life. One is devotedness; the other is submission to the will of God. We see this in Christ. His communion with His Father was perfect, as was His desire to glorify Him. His walk was that of undivided obedience to His Father’s will.

Christ loved His Father and was obedient to Him gave form and character to His love to us. As He becomes our immediate object, we become followers and imitators of God. We walk in love as Christ loved us. “Be ye imitators of God as dear children, and walk in love even as Christ hath loved us and given himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour.” (Eph 5:2). Love descending from God, and working in man, rises up towards God as its object – it can be nothing lower. “Hereby know we love, because he laid down his life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.” (1 John 3:16).

 

Devotion – out of Love, not Merit or Reward

Devotedness is devotedness to Christ. The spring and source of true devotedness is divine love filling and operating in our hearts. We learn divine love in redemption. This sets us in divine righteousness before God. God’s perfect love towards us has given us eternal life in Christ when we were dead in sins, and forgiveness and divine righteousness when we were guilty. Now we enjoy divine love, to enjoy God by His Spirit dwelling in us: even at the judgment seat, Christ, the judge, will be our Saviour. So are we to be in this world.

Of course there were those things Christ did, which we can. He stood alone in self-sacrificial love. But we are able to display Self-sacrificial love too, as having His life, Himself, in us.

Any question of merit or self-righteousness is shut out, and our self-seeking labour is set aside. “Grace reigns through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ” (Rom 5:21). The thought of reward or merit, destroys the whole truth of devotedness, because love is no longer the motive. It is self, like James and John, looking for a good place in the kingdom. There is reward in Scripture, but it is used to encourage us in the difficulties and dangers which higher and truer motives bring us into. Christ Himself, “for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame” (Heb 2:2).

Christ’s motive was love. Moses’ motive was caring for his brethren. Such reward is as great mercy: every man receives his reward according to his own labour.

The first effect of devotedness is to adore God, delighting in Jesus, consciously united to Christ by the Holy Spirit. Divine love flows, as it did in Christ, into and through our hearts – we become animated through our enjoyment of it. The love of God is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord; not the less God, but God in Christ.

A creature must have an object, and for us that object must be God, – God revealed in Christ as the Father; for in that way God possesses our souls. Christ becomes our first and governing object, then our fellow Christians and then our fellow men. Hence, all true devotedness is the action of divine love in the redeemed, through the Holy Spirit.

So we have a new life which enjoys His love, delighting in Him, and displaying love towards others. Its genuineness is tested, because Christ has to have the first place. Paul says, “Not as we hoped,” (it was more than he hoped), speaking of active love; “but first gave their own selves to the Lord, and to us by the will of God” (2 Cor. 8:5). It is more than a new nature. Our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, and God’s love is shed abroad in the heart.

 

False Devotion

We may have a prejudicial zeal, compassing sea and land, but that is the work of Satan. If so, we act out of a sense of natural benevolence or obligation, and get irritated if our work is not accepted. This is not love. The activity of love does not destroy the sense of obligation saints have a sense of obligation too, but of a different character. Because of grace, they are motivated freely by love. “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty” (2 Cor 3:17). it has the divine character – love. The Spirit of God is the Spirit of adoption, and he fixes our hearts on God’s love.

Paul says, “I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal 2:20) This is a divine life, a life of faith, a life living wholly by an object, Christ – the Son of God loving and giving Himself. Here we get the practical character and motive of Christian devotedness – living to Christ. Because of that, “We are not our own, but bought with a price,” and have to “glorify God in our bodies” (1 Cor 6:20). The perfection of the offering and the absoluteness and perfectness with which it was offered, has power over our souls. All the incense of the meat-offering was burnt on the altar.

 

The Hindrance of the Flesh

So we are to yield ourselves to the love of the blessed Son of God. The flesh may seek to hinder us, for its objects are not those of the new man and the Holy Spirit. We love the brethren and all the saints, bearing and forbearing, for Christ does, seeing the saints grow up to Him who is the Head in all things, and walk worthily of the Lord. Like Paul, we seek to see the church presented as a chaste virgin unto Christ. We continue love, though the more abundantly we loves, the less we are loved. And we are ready to endure hardness as good soldiers of Jesus Christ.

Self likes to be served; love delights to serve. A man of pleasure flings away money; so does an ambitious man. They judge the value of things by pleasure and power. The covetous man judges everything by its potential to enrich. The Christian judges of everything by Christ. If anything gets in the way of His glory he casts it away. He does not regard it as a sacrifice, but a hindrance – to him it is dross. Christ gave Himself: now we have the privilege of forgetting self and living to Christ. On earth Christ girded Himself and served His own. Now we have the privilege of serving Him. Living to God inwardly is the only possible means of living to Him outwardly.

All outward activity, not governed by devotedness to Christ, is fleshly and even a danger to the soul. It tends to make us do without Christ and brings in self. I dread great activity without great communion.

Devotedness is a humble, holy thing, doing our Master’s will – it is the true part for every Christian. We want wisdom – God gives it liberally; Christ is our true wisdom. We want power – we learn it in dependence through Him who strengthens us. Devotedness is dependent, it leans on divine strength in Christ for He can do all things, and all that He does is good. So we have the Lord’s help despite the trials and difficulties – we are “more than conquerors through him that loved us” (Rom 8:37). Nothing separates us from that love.

There is something else that we have to look at. Dedicated service in love is a joy and blessing. But we are in a world where such service will be opposed and rejected, and our flesh has a tendency to self-preservation. Peter presented this thought to the Lord, and He said “Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men” (Matt 16:23). In point of fact, the flesh is a continual hindrance: it instinctively shrinks from devotedness to Christ, because it means giving up self, bringing reproach, neglect, and opposition on us. We have to take up our cross to follow Christ. If not, we shall at best be “John Marks” in the work. And we will be those who say, “suffer me first“. There should be no self-seeking, no self-sparing, and no self-indulgence! If we are to live to Christ, we must hold ourselves dead, and alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. He is our life.

 

Our own Hearts

Now we come to the management of our own hearts. “Always bearing about in our body the dying of the Lord Jesus” is the great difficulty and tests our state of soul. But we have power in our sense of grace. Christ died and gave Himself for us, so by grace we hold ourselves as dead to all but Him. That would be comparatively easy, were self and Satan’s power not opposing us. But to have Christ’s dying always above self, necessitates Christ, by God’s Spirit, dominating all our affections. This is the only way of devotedness in God’s sight. All else belongs to the first Adam and to the scene he moves, and perishes with our last breath. It is only the life which we live by Christ which remains.

As devoted, we have to please Christ in everything. Worldly dress and manners, indeed worldliness in every guise, disappear. These things are not be agreeable to Him whom the world rejected, because He testified to it that its works were evil. The place of the Christian is to be the epistle of Christ. The world’s motives, thoughts, relationships do not enter into his heart.

There is another point which we may do well to notice. This makes plain the difference between devotedness and natural kindness. “Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” Our profession of Christ is to be so distinct that people will know to Whom our good works should be attributed, and glorify our Father which is in heaven.

 

Conclusion

Our conclusion, then, is simple undivided devotedness to Christ. Christ is to be the only object, as we do those things that faithfulness and nonconformity to the world entail. We have a bright, heavenly hope connected with Christ crucified, and Christ in glory. He is coming and will receive us to Himself and make us like Him. Hence we should be as those who wait for their Lord.

More devoted Christians are needed, – devoted in all their ways, in heart and soul, to Him who loved them and gave Himself for them.

Sosthenes – April 2015

Darby – French Letter No. 148A – Getting Stronger in Faith

J N Darby
John Nelson Darby

Extract from 148

Do not be discouraged, dear brother, about your dear daughter. There are hearts which close up in a crowd, which often are open only to God. Sometimes this is linked in some way to some fault. But they have confidence only when they are near God and hide amid the noise of the world where hardier souls are found. God has care of these hearts, but they must be cared for as much as others, for the flesh which is always there always tends to associate with the world. If life is there, which I do not doubt, it must be cultivated as with any other soul, leaving its manifestation to God. One has said: the grace of God in the heart of a man is a delicate plant in a bad climate. One must think about this.

When the faith of your daughter becomes firmer and leans less on its joy in Christ, or rather on the joy which flows from Him, your daughter will have more confidence to face the world. It is necessary to wait for the work of God, and, in the meantime to watch that the world does not spoil this work. There is difficulty in finding one’s first freshness again; but if it is kept, all this will be rediscovered later, more solid, and more completely Christ itself.

 

Letter originally written in French, translated by Sosthenes, 2013
Click here for original – If you have any comments on the translation, feel free to let me know.

J N Darby – French Letter No. 131 – Feeling for a Brother gone astray

J N Darby
John Nelson Darby

131[1]

Bristol – 27 July 1862

To Mr B

Beloved Brother

You are mistaken if you think that I consider you to be a lazy person. Such an idea has never come into my mind. I have sometimes thought that you lacked courage. I do not doubt that the judgment which you carry of yourself is exact. As to G, I ignore the details of what has passed there. Mr K, who visited me the other day, told me about some [of them]. All this history has pained me profoundly, for the family, but also for him who has caused the scandal. He has been devoted; he has suffered sometimes for the Lord. This must be a weight on the spirits of all who think about it. I had no idea at all at that time of what has led to the catastrophe, as the iniquity came about, or how the affair became public But whatever the instruments, it is necessary to look higher. If the hand of God is upon us, it is His hand, in love no doubt, but His hand. I do not think that the evil which has been judged in this poor brother would be the only thing which has obliged God to put His servant under the iron rule, for it has been His servant. His inflexible character has made discipline necessary, at least so it seems to me. God would never have allowed it to be before the whole world as it has been. How He has handled fallen Christians, and treated them with a gentleness which man perhaps would have said he did not deserve, and which they themselves have said and felt they did not deserve, for He does not like to injure or break us. Why has this poor brother been dragged in public for his faults? It could be that such and such has been the instrument, and others have been embittered against him; but it is God who holds all our hearts in His hands. What I hope is that God in His grace, God who always acts in love, will act by these means, however sorrowful they are, to lead this brother to be softened, to commit to judge himself, to humble himself before God; then surely God will bless him, and I desire this with all my heart. It could be that God has judged it necessary to treat this evil hardly, for fear that it should take root; whatever it be, we have to consider His ways.

I do not have any view regarding your relocation; where the wisdom of man fails, God leads us and directs the affairs of His dear church through our weaknesses and even by means of our weaknesses, if our heart is right. I hope that you will be blessed in V, and I do not blame you at all for what you give as lessons.

I desire with all my heart that God will send out workmen into His harvest[2]; but nobody can exceed his gift, and what is done beyond can only be dangerous to himself and perhaps to all. Yes, I ask that God may raise up workmen; and that there will be faith and devotion. I ask it with all my heart, but I do not pretend even to have an opinion on all the cases that arise. I am profoundly interested in the work, you can well believe. In consequence, the activity of workmen touches me closely, but I believe that God has the upper hand in everything; and my confidence is in His goodness and in His faithfulness. Naturally, when one is much interested in a thing, one thinks of all that happens. I am accused of letting too much go, but it seems to me that I rely on God, for the work is His. If I could be useful in this work, it is a grace which He confers upon me, but I see that often when one wants to govern and direct too much, it is faith in God which is lacking.

As to my journey to Canada, family business has stopped the brother who knows the country and who would have had to escort me ….

Greet the brethren affectionately. If I am not bound for Canada, I have a little hope of seeing them.

May God keep and bless your wife

You ever affectionate brother

PS – I have just had excellent meetings the provinces, and the brethren are generally going on well.

 

Letter originally written in French, translated by Sosthenes, 2013

Click here for original – If you have any comments on the translation, feel free to let me know.

[1] a different version of this letter also appears in JND’s published Letters – vol 1 p324

[2] See Luke 10: 2

J N Darby – Lettre No 103

New-York, 1868

A M. P.

J N Darby
John Nelson Darby

Bien-aimé frère,

Heureux de recevoir de vos nouvelles. Grâces à Dieu, elles sont bonnes en général de France et de Suisse. En France, l’œuvre chemine avec bénédiction ; et en Suisse, dans un endroit que j’ai visité à mon dernier voyage dans ce pays, endroit faible, et où l’ennemi avait fait des ravages, il paraît que le Seigneur, dans sa grâce, ranime et attire les âmes. Le frère X. est très utile dans le canton de Vaud. Que notre Dieu le garde et le tienne près de lui. Il n’en reste pas moins qu’il y a partout disette d’ouvriers.

Pauvre E. est très bas, je le sais. Il y a bien des années qu’il n’a pas voulu écouter la voix de Dieu ; il avait toujours la pensée d’être M. le ministre, et il est tombé dans le piège. Il faut le laisser faire et ne pas s’occuper de son opposition. C’est la puissance du bien de la part de Dieu qu’il faut chercher ; et s’il en est ainsi, les plaignants restent à sec sur le rivage.

Quant aux questions qu’on a soulevées sur les souffrances de Christ, j’ai trouvé dans ce sujet la plus profonde édification pour mon cœur. Je ne doute nullement qu’il n’y ait dans mes écrits, sur ce point et sur tous les points, la faiblesse et les inexactitudes d’un homme qui n’écrit pas sous l’inspiration divine ; mais plus je lis ce que j’ai écrit, plus je suis convaincu que mes adversaires ont perdu la plus précieuse vérité à l’égard du Sauveur, et qu’ils sont tombés dans de très graves erreurs. Toutes ces discussions ont été en grande bénédiction pour les frères en Angleterre. Je ne crois pas que Béthesda ait un principe quelconque, sinon de réussir. Ils sont en relation avec tout le monde, et ne s’inquiètent ni de l’unité du corps, ni de la fidélité au Seigneur. M. X. se vante d’avoir des indépendants, des méthodistes et je ne sais quels autres, pour enseigner les orphelins. Lui, et ceux de son bord, étaient en communion à Bristol, dans une grande conférence, avec des personnes qui enseignent des erreurs abominables ; cela leur est indifférent ! Ici, en Amérique, leurs agents et alliés sont en pleine communion avec ceux qui nient l’immortalité de l’âme et les doctrines qui en découlent ; ils me l’ont avoué, et ont ajouté qu’ils voulaient l’être. Voilà ce qui est en vogue ici. D’après ce qu’on m’a dit, Béthesda s’est tout à fait mondanisé ; mais ne vous en occupez pas. Vous trouverez toujours que la marche de ceux qui soutiennent ce parti, suffit pour juger de chaque cas particulier, sauf qu’ils manquent de droiture. L’unité du corps et la solidarité de l’Eglise, dans sa marche, sont niées par tous ceux qui ont exprimé leurs vues sur ce point, soit à Béthesda, soit par les neutres. Au reste, le grand but de M. Newton était de détruire la doctrine de l’Eglise, et Béthesda est tout simplement une église dissidente qui se croit meilleure que les autres, mais accepte la position de la dissidence et ses rapports avec le monde chrétien. Avant la rupture, M. C. examinait les candidats au ministère d’entre les dissidents, et on avait des jours de prières à l’occasion de leur consécration. M. M. a dit que, pendant 20 ans, sous l’influence des frères, il s’était séparé par orgueil du monde religieux, mais qu’il avait cessé de le faire et y était rentré.

Je continue mon travail ici ; c’est une œuvre de patience. Le monde règne en maître, avec l’argent et les plaisirs ; beaucoup de chrétiens, membres d’églises dites “à la discipline,” fréquentent les théâtres ; mais je suis en relation avec beaucoup d’âmes qui cherchent quelque chose de meilleur, plusieurs ont trouvé la paix, – chose, on peut le dire, inconnue ici, – plusieurs reçoivent la venue du Seigneur, et plusieurs sont exercés à l’égard de leur position dans ces corps organisés par les hommes, qu’on appelle “église”. Les frères aussi, qui avaient été en relation avec ceux qui nient l’immortalité de l’âme, sont délivrés, et marchent avec nous. Nous sommes à peu près une trentaine, heureux ensemble, mais éparpillés dans une ville ou plutôt sur un espace beaucoup plus grand que Paris, car ce sont deux ou trois villes qui entourent le havre de New-York.

Je crois que Dieu établit un témoignage, tout faible qu’il soit, ici à Boston, la vérité pénètre, mais il faut de la patience. Le Seigneur en a bien eu avec nous ; il a même pu dire (ce qui ne devrait pas être le cas maintenant) : “J’ai travaillé en vain” ; mais je suis encouragé. Les âmes qui recherchent la vérité et le dévouement à notre précieux Seigneur (ce à quoi je tiens autant qu’à la connaissance), sont attirées ; je les laisse cheminer comme Dieu les conduit, sans les pousser d’aucune manière à se lier davantage avec nous ; mais les liens fraternels se fortifient, et la vérité pénètre.

A Boston, il y a peut-être extérieurement plus de portes ouvertes ; mais comme les âmes qui ont des besoins se rapprochent toujours davantage, je ne pense pas quitter New-York en ce moment. J’ai passé un mois à Boston.

…Voilà, cher frère, ce qui concerne l’œuvre. Pour moi, le Seigneur et la Parole sont mon tout ici-bas, et ils ne sont qu’un, dans un certain sens. Je sens toujours davantage que le Saint-Esprit seul peut opérer du bien ici-bas, mais je comprends toujours mieux que le “chez-soi est dans les cieux”. La Parole m’est toujours plus claire, plus précieuse ; je sens que notre position, quelques faibles que nous soyons, est celle du témoignage de Dieu, mais tout en jouissant beaucoup de la Parole, je sais aussi que nous ne connaissons « qu’en partie ». Ce que le Saint-Esprit nous donne, nous le possédons de la part de Dieu, et nous avons à y marcher ; c’est notre tout. La sagesse de Dieu lui-même s’y trouve ; cela se coordonne nécessairement avec ce que nous ne connaissons pas ; nous sentons par cette ignorance, notre entière dépendance de Dieu, mais le fait que nous apprenons de lui inspire de la confiance. Suivre la Parole, voilà notre affaire : nous jouirons ainsi de la présence du Seigneur. Encore très peu de temps, et nous le verrons.

Saluez avec affection tous les frères. Que Dieu vous bénisse et vous garde.

Votre toujours affectionné frère.

J N Darby – French Letter No. 103 – Continuing the Work

I am happy to receive your news. Thank God, it is good in general as to France and Switzerland. In France, the work proceeds with blessing; and in Switzerland, in a place that I have visited on my last visit to the country, a weak place where the enemy had made ravages, it seemed that the Lord, in His grace, revives and draws souls. Brother X is very useful in the canton of Vaud. May our God keep him and hold him near to him. The fact remains that there is shortage of workers everywhere.

New York – 1868

To Mr P

Beloved Brother,

J N Darby
John Nelson Darby

I am happy to receive your news. Thank God, it is good in general as to France and Switzerland. In France, the work proceeds with blessing; and in Switzerland, in a place that I have visited on my last visit to the country, a weak place where the enemy had made ravages, it seemed that the Lord, in His grace, revives and draws souls. Brother X is very useful in the canton of Vaud. May our God keep him and hold him near to him. The fact remains that there is shortage of workers everywhere.

Poor E is very low I know. Many years ago he did not want to listen to the voice of God; he always had thought of being Mr Minister, and he fell into a trap. We must let him be and not be occupied with his opposition. It is the power of good on God’s part which must be sought; and the way it is, the complainants remain broken on the shore.

As to the questions which have been raised about the sufferings of Christ, I have found in this subject the most profound edification for my heart. I do not doubt that there have been in my writings, on this point and on every point, the weakness and inexactitudes of a man who is not writing under divine inspiration; but the more I read what I have written, the more I am convinced that my adversaries have lost the most precious truth as to the Saviour, and that they are fallen into very great errors. All these discussions have been a great blessing for the brethren in England. I do not think that Bethesda has any principle whatever, other than to succeed. They are in touch with everybody, and get worried neither about the unity of the body, nor of faithfulness to the Lord. Mr X brags of having the independents, the Methodists and I do not know what others, to teach the orphans. He, and those on his side, were in fellowship in Bristol, in a big conference, with people who taught abominable errors; this is indifferent to them! Here in America, their agents and allies are in full fellowship with those who deny the immortality of the soul and the doctrines which flow from it; they have avowed this to me, and have added that that is what they wanted. This is what is in fashion here. According to what they said to me, Bethesda is completely worldly; but do not occupy yourself with that. You will always find that the walk of those who support this party is enough to judge each case in particular, except that they lack uprightness. The unity of the body and the solidarity of the church, in its walk, are disclaimed by all those who expressed their views on this point, either in Bethesda, or by the neutrals. Besides, Mr Newton’s great end was to destroy the doctrine of the church, and Bethesda is just a dissident church which believes itself better than the others, but accepts the position of dissidence and their relations with the Christian world. Before the rupture, Mr C examined the candidates for ministry of the dissidents, and they had days of prayer on the occasion of their consecration. Mr M[1] said that, during twenty years, under the influence of the brethren, he had separated by pride from the religious world, but that he had stopped doing so and returned there.

I continue my work here; it is a work of patience. The world is master, with money and pleasures; many Christians, members of churches said to be ‘disciplined’, frequent the theatres; but I am in touch with a lot of souls who seek something better. Several people found peace – a thing, one can say, unknown here – some people accept the coming of the Lord, and several are exercised regarding their position in these bodies organised by men, which they call ‘church’.

The brethren also who had been in touch with those who deny the immortality of soul are delivered, and walk with us. We are a little around thirty, a happy meeting, but scattered in a city covering a bigger area than Paris, because there are really two or three cities which encircle New York harbour.

I think that God establishes a testimony, very weak though it is, here in Boston, the truth penetrates, but patience is needed. The Lord definitely had it with us; He even could say (may it not be the case now): “I have laboured in vain”[2]; but I am encouraged. Souls who seek the truth and devotion to our precious Lord (which I hold to as much as knowledge), are attracted; I leave them to walk as God leads them, without encouraging them at all to link themselves thus with us; but fraternal links get stronger, and the truth penetrates.

In Boston, there are perhaps more opened doors outwardly; but as more souls with needs always come, I am not thinking of leaving New York at the moment. I spent a month in Boston.

… There dear brother, is what concerns the work. For me, the Lord and the Word are my all down here, and they are but one, in a certain sense. I sense even more that only the Holy Spirit can work good down here, but I understand even better that ‘one’s home is in heaven’. The Word is always clearer, more precious to me; I have a feeling that our position, however weak we are, is that of the testimony of God, but while enjoying the Word a lot, I also know that we know “in part”[3]. What the Holy Spirit gives us we possess on God’s part, and we have to walk there, this is our all. The wisdom of God Himself is found there, it coordinates necessarily with what we do not know; we feel by this ignorance our whole dependency on God, but the fact that we learn of Him inspires trust. Follow the Word, here is our business: so we shall enjoy the presence of the Lord. Yet a very short time, and we shall see Him.

Salute all the brethren with affection. May God bless you and keep you.

Ever your affectionate brother

[1] presumably Mr C and Mr M are Henry Craik and George Müller, who oversaw the meeting at Bethesda chapel.

[2] Isa 49: 4

[3] 1 Cor 13: 9

 

Letter originally written in French, translated by Sosthenes, 2013
Click here for original – If you have any comments on the translation, feel free to let me know.

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