1
Collected
Writings of J.N.
Darby
Expository 7
By John Nelson Darby
B&P
Bibles & Publications
5706 Monkland, Montréal, Québec H4A 1E6
BTP #nnnn
BibleTruthPublishers.com
59 Industrial Road, Addison, IL 60101, U.S.A.
BTP# 15253
3
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
4
Contents
Notes on the Epistle to the Hebrews...............................6
Chapter 1. ..................................................................................... 8
All of One: Hebrews 2 ..................................................52
What Is Man? Hebrews 2:5-18 .....................................68
Perfection: Hebrews 6 ...................................................86
Christ’s Work and Its Consequences: Hebrews 9-10 ....94
Christ’s Coming, Faith’s Crowning: Hebrews 9:27-28 116
Faith: Hebrews 11 .......................................................132
Burning and Eating the Sacrices: Hebrews 13:7-19 ..140
Obedience the Saint’s Liberty: Hebrews 13:17-25 ......144
Brief Exposition of James ............................................151
Notes on the Epistle of James......................................211
Reading on 1Peter 1 and 2 .........................................221
Sanctied, Purged, and Kept: 1Peter 1:1-9 .................237
Our Pilgrimage, Priesthood, and Suering: 1Peter 2..251
Are You Brought to God? 1Peter 3:10-18 ..................266
5
Grace and Government: 2Peter 1 ............................... 273
Partaker of the Divine Nature: 2Peter 1:4 ..................281
Notes on 1John ........................................................... 285
Notes on 1John 1 ........................................................ 320
Fellowship With the Father and the Son: 1John 1 .....372
e Positiveness of Life in Christ: 1John 3:1-10 ........411
e Love of God, the Love of Saints, and Overcoming
the World: 1John 4-5 .........................................416
e ree Who Are Witnessing: 1John 5:6-21 ..........429
Notes on 2John ........................................................... 443
Notes on 3John ........................................................... 448
Epistle of Jude .............................................................453
On Revelation .............................................................461
Outline of the Revelation ............................................493
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
6
63015
Notes on the Epistle to the
Hebrews
e Epistle to the Hebrews presents to us the
continuation of the testimony, by Christ Himself, of the
Old Testament prophets. At the same time, this epistle
unfolds the glory of Christ according to the testimony
which these prophets have attributed to the Person of
Christ the Messiah. He, Son of God and Son of man, came
down here as an Apostle, bringing to us the divine truths;
then returned to God from whom He has received the
mediatorial oce of Priest, waiting for the moment when
He shall come in the governmental glory of Messiah. To
this present glory of Jesus as High Priest in the heavenlies
is conjoined a change of great importance in the operations
or actings of God. A heavenly call takes the place of the
earthly Jewish dispensation. is change of dispensation is
one of the principal features of the book.
In this epistle Israel is acknowledged of God as a people,
but is only recognized as such as seen in the remnant.
Accordingly this remnant is not separated from the whole
of the people, as the church is, but presents itself under the
gure described in the emblem of the olive tree (Rom. 1),
forming the branches upheld there by God. It crosses the
period of Christianity, partaking of the blessed promises
with the Gentiles who are also admitted on the olive tree
during that time. We are put, we Gentiles, by the doctrine
of Rom. 11 into the place given to the believer in the
Epistle to the Hebrews.
Notes on the Epistle to the Hebrews
7
e church is not at all in question in this epistle,
unless in chapter 12, where only it is named amongst those
gathered by God for glory. e church is a heavenly body
formed outside the arrangements of God in the ways of His
government on earth. It is not a continuation of anything
that preceded down here. Amongst the blessed families
of God it is the one nearest to Himself. e remnant of
Israel, alive during the period of the gospel, belongs to it; it
partakes of the nature of the new man (Eph. 2), in which it
ceases to keep its distinctive character of remnant of Israel.
But the doctrine of the Epistle of the Hebrews gives it that
character, and this gives a double place to this class of saved
ones, namely, the one of remnant of Israel on the earth,
and the other of members of the church united to Christ
in heaven.
By the fact of a heavenly call resulting from the setting
up of a new dispensation, conded to the Messiah in the
heavenlies, the Epistle to the Hebrews pours upon the
remnant a blessing which is also heavenly. And besides this
blessing adapting itself to the purposes of God towards
His people Israel, the epistle unfolds to us the privileges of
the second covenant, which can already be realized under
the present state of things, although in truth the covenant
may only receive its accomplishment in the future. What
is also remarkable is to nd some expressions speaking of
a blessing which could have a fulllment only after the
rapture of the church.
ere is no mediator for the church; it is seen in Christ
and perfect; but the saints, seen as individuals, receive
succor from the Mediator: this shows that in them there
may be weakness or failure.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
8
Let us remark also that the Holy Spirit, in putting under
the eyes of the Hebrews these numerous developments
concerning the change of dispensation, purposes by it to
detach the remnant from the rst covenant, in order to
bind it in heaven to a heavenly Christ.
Chapters 1 and 2 unfold those glories of Messiah which
pertain to His apostleship. It is, although a new feature,
joined in chapter 2 to the humiliation of Christ. e Prince
of salvation, for the benet of the children of God He is
bringing to glory, has borne the suering of death and
passed through aictions. By this He is made bearer of
the qualities necessary to priesthood. Accordingly in these
two chapters are laid the foundations of His apostleship
and also of His priesthood: of His apostleship in that
He as God came Himself to bring the word to men; of
His priesthood in that He as man passed through the
experiences of the God-fearing man.
Chapter 1.
Verses 1, 2. “ God spake to us in his Son,” not in the Son
as instrument of His word, but Himself, God the Son, by
the prophets, but in [the] Son.
“ In these last days.” At the end of the prophetical period
God Himself spake to us: His testimony follows that of the
prophets, but His is necessarily superior to theirs. As to “
the worlds,” the Greek word in the Epistle to the Hebrews
is used in a general sense to indicate all that is in existence:
it is used in the plural again in chapter 11: 3.
Verse 3. “ e exact expression of his substance “; Christ,
“ the image “ of the invisible God. He has revealed down
here by His presence the God who dwells in inaccessible
Notes on the Epistle to the Hebrews
9
light. All His acts did show that He was God. He showed
His grace when He pronounced the forgiveness of a sinner,
and His kindness when He took little children in His arms,
etc. “ Having made by himself the purication of sins.” e
purication of our sins is here attached to the divine title of
Jesus; it is part of His divine glory as much as the creation
and preservation of all things. e title is the same also
when it is mentioned a little further on: “ He sat down.”
Verses 4-14. e Son, who brought us the word, is put
in contrast with the angels by whom God dictated His law.
Verse 4. “ Having become “ or having taken a place.
ese words indicate the place taken by Jesus at a given
time, without looking at what He was previously.
Verse 5. “ ou art my Son: to-day have I begotten thee.”
Scripture speaks of Jesus as Son in two dierent aspects: as
Son of God, born in the world, and Son according to the
eternal relationship. is verse refers to the rst of these:
Jesus is seen here not in His glory as essentially divine, but
in His glory as born Son. Nevertheless it is very important
to consider the glory of Jesus as Son of God before His
incarnation; for we could not speak of the love of God as
we do, if the One He gave us was not His Son.
Verses 7-9. “ Who maketh his angels spirits, and his
ministers a ame of re.” It has pleased God to give to these
agents of His power this nature of spirits. But as to the Son
it is said, “ y throne, O God! “ God, in the exercise of His
will, makes of His angels spirits, or ames of re; but of the
Son we do not read that God makes anything of Him. God
said of Him, “ O God! “ is Son exists or subsists in the
divinity. ough the angels are in a state superior to that of
man, they are, notwithstanding their glory, in a condition
very inferior to that of the Son.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
10
In these three verses the Lord is seen in a personal glory
higher than what is shown in verses 4-6. ere we have
the Son begotten of God, here He is God Himself. “ y
throne, O God, is forever and ever.” How much doth this
raise the dignity of Messiah! Nevertheless the same One,
who is God, is anointed by God. He becomes man and is
in a condition where He nds companions. Wonderful link
of man with God in Christ!
“ y throne “; not the Father’s throne, but the
governmental throne of Messiah. “ y companions,” or, as
in Psa. 45 from which these words are quoted, “thy fellows.”
When Christ is in the humiliation of the cross God calls
Him His Fellow (Zech. 13); when He is in glory, God then
gives us to Him for companions.
Verses 10-12. Here is a higher degree of Christ’s glory.
He is the eternal God, creator of all things. It is no more
Godhead hidden in the anointed Man, but the Creator-
God — Godhead fully revealed. us, there is no room for
misconception as to the Person of the Messiah.
Verse 13. e superiority of Jesus over the angels is
doubly established. e Holy Ghost, after having put Him
in contrast with the angels as regards His divine Person,
views Him as man; “ To which of the angels said he at any
time, Sit on my right hand? “ is contrast of the Man-
Messiah with the angels goes on in the next chapter.
CHAPTER 2.
Verses 1-4. is is an exhortation of the Holy Ghost
brought in parenthetically. We must keep close to the word
of God, the more so as having been pronounced by the Lord
Himself. How shall we escape if we neglect it? is greater
privilege imposes greater responsibility. It is the preaching
of a great salvation, made by the Lord Himself when on
Notes on the Epistle to the Hebrews
11
earth; not the gospel preached and the church united after
the death of Christ. is testimony consequently goes on
to the millennium without speaking of the church, a fact to
be noticed not only in these verses but in the whole epistle.
We nd also in this exhortation that the testimony of
the apostles is swallowed up in the apostleship of Christ.
Paul is apart from it; thus we see a dierence between the
testimony of Paul and that of Peter. In Peter’s discourses
in the Acts he never presents the Lord as Son of God.
In conformity to the testimony addressed to Israel, he
presents in Jesus the Man approved of God down here,
risen afterward, and gloried by God in seating Him at
His right hand, “ as Lord and Christ.” Whilst Paul, who
was brought in outside the teaching of the twelve to reveal
that free grace of God which forms a church united to
Christ in heaven, sets himself from the beginning of his
testimony to show clearly that Jesus is the Son of God.
Verse 5. “ For unto the angels hath he not put in
subjection the world to come of which we speak.” is is
millennial glory. e words “ the world to come “ do not
apply to heaven, but there will be a change on earth. Angels
are the instruments of the providential government of God
during the present period. We are still in the age which
existed before the coming of Christ-an age which began
with Noah. But we must notice the two principal phases
of it: Moses and Sinai, the time of separation from the age
for Israel; and Nebuchadnezzar in whom God entrusted
the power to the Gentiles when He declared His people
Lo-Ammi; “ not my people.”
Verse 9. “ A little inferior to the angels for the suering
of death “; “ a little “ refers to the degree rather than time.
Jesus went down to the lowest of creation to be able to
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
12
grasp it all. But this point is not unfolded here; it is only
said that He went lower than the angels. Notice that in this
place the death of Jesus is attached to God’s grace; “ By the
grace of God,” it is said, He suered death for all. It is the
Man who died to accomplish the grace of a God of love.
Other passages present, in the death of Christ, the Man
falling under the judgment of God.
Verse 10. “ For it became him for whom are all things,”
etc. e rst object was to bring many sons to glory; but
it was necessary that the One who presented Himself before
the majesty of God for man should bear the consequences
of the state in which man was found. “ It became him,”
God, “ for whom are all things and by whom are all things.”
It became His Majesty that the Prince of salvation should
pass through the suering of death.
Verse 11. “ For both he that sanctieth and those who
are sanctied are all of one.” Christ is a separated Person
and exercises a sanctifying power. We, as children of faith,
are sanctied by the double fact that we are separated in
Him, and we receive of His power a new life. What He is
as man, we are by the new life in us. When on the earth
He was dependent on His God, obedient, separate from
evil, etc.: we are such also by a moral fact, and become so
practically.
“ Are all of one.” We are in the same condition as the
Head of this new family, which could not be the case with
angels. e rst time we see Jesus identifying Himself
with man is when entering His public career. At John’s
baptism He identied Himself with those in whom grace
had produced the rst movement of faith in answer to
the testimony of God. He did not place Himself with the
indels who despised the testimony of John and refused
Notes on the Epistle to the Hebrews
13
His baptism, but with the pious remnant in whom, though
very weak at the beginning, grace was operating. at class
of people, put aside by John’s baptism, formed at the time
the sanctied ones, “ the saints in the earth “ on whom the
good pleasure of the Lord was resting; Psa. 16 But it is not
said of Jesus and of men, that they are all of one: it is said,
“ He that sanctieth and those who are sanctied are all
of one.”
1
“ He is not ashamed to call them brethren.” Jesus gave
this title of ‘ brethren ‘ after His resurrection, not before.
He has put us into His position, but not when He came
down to ours.
2
Verse 12. “ I will declare thy name to my brethren, and
in the midst of the church will I praise thee,” Psa. 22
3
Jesus
knows so well the Father’s favor towards anyone who nds
himself in the grasp of death, that He can declare to His
brethren the name of a Savior-God and reveal all His
kindness.
1 is contradicts the doctrine of the Irvingites, whose error is
to identify Christ with sinners and not with the sanctied.
2 To show the preference He had for His disciples when on the
earth, the Lord said, “ My mother and my brethren are those
who hear the word of God “; but it was not for them a title of
relationship with Jesus.
3 We remark in Psa. 22 three classes of people associated with
the joy of Messiah delivered from death. In verse 22 are those
whom Jesus names His “ brethren,” and of whom He makes a
congregation- the “ little ock “-” Go and tell my brethren.” In
verse 25 is “ the great congregation “: Judah and Israel; in verse
27 “ All the ends of the earth.” e title of “ brethren “ belongs
to the remnant which will be on the earth after the rapture of
the saints, also to the one which exists now, and the blessing of
Heb. 2 will be free to have its course in favor of the saints till
the moment of Christ’s appearing.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
14
Verse 13. “ I will put my trust in him,” as God. Taking the
position of man, He had necessarily to take this condition.
He walked as a pious man in the dependence of faith.
ese words “ I will put my trust in him “ correspond to
the expression “ all of one “ (v. 1). ey show that walking
by faith and realizing the life of the remnant were in Jesus
who identied Himself with the rescued ones of His
people. e two things, the life of faith in Messiah, and
His association with the remnant of Israel, are found in
Psa. 16:1-3.
Verses 14, 15. Jesus had to meet Satan in the very
circumstances where man was. e adversary, in stamping
death upon man’s conscience, kept him in entire captivity.
e law did nothing less than add to the power of the
enemy on the conscience; but Jesus comes forward, and the
enemy sees himself compelled to throw against Him this
dreaded death. Jesus received the blow, overcomes death,
and delivers His own.
Verse 16. “ e seed of Abraham.” It is always the same
thought: Christ identifying Himself with the sanctied.
Verse 17. “ e sins of the people.” It is an expression of
the Old Testament. e Jews are kept in view all through
this epistle.
Verse 18. “ He himself hath suered being tempted.”
Christ Himself has experienced our trials; He has endured
the temptations, etc. But let us not forget that He was
found there not by necessity but by the Spirit of God.
4
“ Himself has suered.” ere is no suering when one
gives way to temptation, but there is suering if one resists
4 “ Being tempted “ is to be induced to act beneath the position
in which we are before God. ere man fell. Jesus alone could
stand. e Christian is also tempted; the worldly man, as slave,
is the more easily carried away by Satan.
Notes on the Epistle to the Hebrews
15
it. In that case, the more there is of suering, the more
of spiritual life is revealed. Christ was really tempted; and
though for Him the evil could come only from outside,
still He suered under the pressure of temptation. Having
known temptation, Christ can sympathize with those who
suer being tempted, and He can come to their help. He
does not bring any help to innocent man, nor to man in sin,
but He brings succor to the saints in their struggle with sin.
e power of temptation is less when it is felt than before
it is felt or discerned. But when the struggle comes we nd
Christ to sustain, however serious may be the case. If one
has fallen, two things remain to do; to extirpate whatever
opened the door to the enemy (in other words, to judge
the evil to the root); and in the future to leave oneself in
the Lord’s hands. e two things are seen in Peter’s case;
John 21.
Chapters 3 and 4 are a digression; they present a subject
totally dierent, which, though not the apostleship nor
priesthood, is nevertheless attached to these two subjects.
ere are literally two digressions: the rst (chap. 3) looks
at the Son as set over His house, and is linked to the glory
of God in chapter 1; the second (chap. 4) takes up the
promised rest, and links itself to the glory of the Son of
man in chapter 2.
CHAPTER 3.
Verse 1. is chapter begins by presenting an outline of
the two rst chapters. It follows from the apostleship and
priesthood of Christ that there is for the saints a heavenly
calling. ‘ You, brethren, who are partakers of it, consider the
One in whom we possess such high privileges.’
“ Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the holy
calling.” It is only in chapter 3 that the author of the book
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
16
speaks to the Hebrews. It presents many indications that
the epistle was by Paul; but, not being an apostle of the
circumcision, he does not mention his name. He writes
not as an apostle but as a teacher. e expression “ holy
brethren “ indicates here individuals called from heaven,
and walking towards heaven without meaning the church,
although that is composed of persons equally called from
on high. e holy calling admits, with the saints of this
dispensation, those of the Old Testament, and probably
also the saints which will be on the earth after the rapture
of the saints. In the course of the epistle the holy calling is
put in contrast with the earthly calling of the Jews.
Verse 2. “ As also Moses was faithful in all his house,”
Christ is faithful to the One who appointed Him.
Verses 3-6. In contrast with the lawgiver, who had only
the place of servant in the house which pertains to God,
Jesus is counted worthy of a glory so much the greater, for
He is the One to whom the house belongs; He is appointed
over His house, and He occupies that place as Son. He
Himself rules His own house that He has built. And more
than this, this Son is God Himself: “ he that buildeth all
things is God.”
is house, as we see, answers to the tabernacle formed
in the wilderness, and presents its two features. It is rst the
house of God as uniting the whole of creation (v. 4). God
dwells amid His works. It is in that sense, and alluding to
the High Priest passing through the tabernacle with the
blood, that it is said of Jesus, “ He has passed through the
heavens.”
Secondly, It is also the house of God as gathering the
called ones. God resides in the midst of His saints. We
Christians are “ his house,” the family He governs. is,
Notes on the Epistle to the Hebrews
17
though gathering those who are called, does not present
itself under the special conditions of the church as a body.
It is one thing to say of a man he is the head of a house,
and another to say he has a wife. e called saints form the
house of God existing now, as the house of Israel formed
the previous one. e expression “ house of Israel “ signies
the posterity of Israel, but considered in the conditions
and collective privileges of the whole family. It is in the
same sense that it is also said, “ the house of David,” and
“ the house of Aaron.” ere is this dierence between
the house of Israel and the house which to-day unites the
holy brethren: the one was formed by descendants, and the
other is by calling. Peter speaks also of the saints as being
the house-a spiritual house; the edice. e Epistle to the
Hebrews views the house in the members which composed
it.
Verse 6. As it is by calling, it is necessarily by faith that
this house is formed. If faith is forsaken, the house exists
no more. is is what the Holy Ghost is putting before
the consciences of the Hebrews to encourage them to
persevere: “ Dwell in faith, else you will not be recognized
“; for they were always inclined to keep to things that were
visible. “ If we hold fast the condence and the rejoicing
of the hope rm unto the end.” is advice, given for the
interests of the house, is nevertheless given to individuals.
Responsibility is always individual, even when it is meant
for common interests. We must keep rm condence and
rejoicing of the hope. Glorious privileges which bind us
together! e security of the saints is in no way touched
by this; for the advice is for each individual practically, and
not on the doctrine of security.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
18
If there is a real giving up on the part of any one, it just
shows that the plant has no root; Matt. 13:21.
Verses 7-19. In these verses are many exhortations to
the Hebrews to warn them of the dangers of a fall. ese
exhortations are founded upon the declarations in Psa.
95, where the Holy Ghost puts before them the misery
of those who, after having left Egypt, murmured and fell
in the wilderness. To prevent such an end we must guard
the way. Verses 7-11 are a parenthesis, we must read, “
Wherefore … take heed, brethren.”
Verse 13. “ While it is called to-day.” It is “ to-day “
as long as the word of God is proclaimed, and there is a
call on God’s part; the judgment will be the close of this
calling.
Verse 14. Instead of the word “ condence,” we may read
“substance,” “assurance.” It is a gure to explain something
so very sure that we might think we could take hold of it
materially. is word occurs again in chapter 11: 1.
Verses 16, 17. e Greek is indenite in this passage, but
it is only a question of punctuation. e principal object of
the counsel is to point out, that those who had sinned in
the desert did not enter into Canaan. In consideration for
the Hebrews, and not wishing to be too hard upon them,
Paul gives us to understand that but few among them
entered the promised land. e warning which precedes
leads us on to chapter 4, where rest is spoken of.
CHAPTER 4.
Verses 1-11. e rst portion of the chapter is occupied
with two subjects: one is the revelation that those who fell
in the desert fell by unbelief; the other, a demonstration
that a rest is still before us. From which a new warning
comes to us to be careful, to live a life of faith. “ Seeing
Notes on the Epistle to the Hebrews
19
therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and
they to whom it was rst preached entered not in because
of unbelief … let us labor therefore to enter into that rest
lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief,” verse
11. ere are privileges which we possess; let us fear to lose
them: we are His house, and to keep to that state, let us
take fast hold of what placed us there-the assurance and
glorious object of this hope. We have privileges set before
us-the rest of God and His glories; “ Let us labor therefore
to enter into that rest,” not missing the walk of faith. It is
always faith which sustains and takes us out of diculties in
reference to the place of testimony, or as belonging to that
house which professes the hope, or our individual portion,
or our possession of that rest. e rest that remains, into
which we enter, is God’s rest.
Verses 12, 13. All that does not agree with that rest, to
which we are walking, must be judged on the way. We are
judged by the word of God. He Himself, by His searching
word, discovers to us the state of our soul, and probes it to
its deepest and dearest feeling. All that is within us must be
revealed before Him. God, in reference to His government,
generally judges only the outward state of things; but when
it is His intercourse with His people, or His rights of love
towards them, He judges more deeply. We are shown by
the historical books of the Old Testament how the merciful
Lord renewed His blessing whenever the people returned
to Him; but if we read the prophets, we shall see how
God searches deeply and judges the evil which must not
remain after the blessing has returned. During the time
of Josiah we see a good return of the people towards God,
and there was also abundant blessing; but this does not
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
20
prevent Jeremiah saying to the people by Jehovah’s orders,
“ Acknowledge thine iniquity,” Jer. 3:13.
Verses 14-16. ough we have the word of God to keep
us when in danger, we have also the priesthood of Christ
to help us through the diculties of the way. His word
judges in us what shows itself as the principle and will of
the esh. e priesthood comforts us in what is weakness
or inrmity. Verses 14-16 are the beginning of chapter 5,
without detaching them from chapter 4; it is indeed very
precious to see the connection of the priesthood with our
trials in the wilderness.
Verse 16. We go to the throne of grace, and not to the
High Priest; because there is on the throne of grace a High
Priest; and we draw near to God with assurance full and
free. If we cannot approach God with the assurance of
His love towards us, we are not yet made free. We address
ourselves to the Lord in reference to the testimony, His
church, and His work; or to the Father, in His relationship
to His children; to God, when referring to the state of man,
or creation-what belongs to the relation of the creature
with God.
CHAPTER 5.
We enter here into the main subject of the epistle, namely,
the priesthood of Christ. e developments of it extend to
chapter 10:22. During the course of these developments
a contrast is drawn between Christ and Aaron, and also
between the two priesthoods with the view of unfolding
how the new institution is far superior to the old one.
Chapter 5. e principal subject brought to view is the
glorious introduction of Jesus into the priesthood, and the
appreciation of the qualities with which our Lord entered
into this new oce.
Notes on the Epistle to the Hebrews
21
Verses 1-4. e priesthood being a mediatorial charge,
established to maintain the relationship of the weak and
the inrm with God in His majesty, it was necessary that
the high priest should be endowed with qualities which
enabled him to show compassion to those who were weak
and inrm. Aaron as a man subject to inrmities as other
men, would have failed in this condition of the priesthood
if he had not found in the priesthood itself what tted him
for compassion and sympathy. He was to oer sacrices not
only for the people but also for himself, and these oerings
produced feelings towards others; for at the same time that
they established his position before God, they were also
the commemoration of his own inrmities. Qualities then
were necessary in the high priest’s person. But Aaron was
trusted with the charge solely on account of God’s call. “
And no man taketh this honor unto himself but he that is
called of God, as was Aaron.” e high priest was called of
God to that charge, and was formed by Him to maintain
it. ese are the two principles unfolded to us by the Holy
Ghost in the Levitical priesthood.
Verses 5, 6. But if there are qualities and titles belonging
to the dignity of a high priest, it is Jesus who possesses
them and unites them gloriously in His own Person. In
Him it is not a high priest as an inrm man under the
obligation of oering for himself before oering for others;
no, but we have the Son of God proclaimed High Priest by
God Himself- Him to whom God said, “ ou art my Son,
today have I begotten thee … ou art a priest forever after
the order of Melchizedec.” Jesus has before God a position
entirely His own, a position which belongs to Him as Son.
And more: His Person presents the high dignity that He
could not only oer the sacrice, but could oer Himself.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
22
It is according to these personal perfections that Jesus was
entrusted with the priesthood, and is now before God.
Blessed be God! who has given us for High Priest the Son
of His love, He who gave His life for the life of wicked
man, and whose mercies towards the inrm could not fail
us whose weakness demands of the High Priest every day
new supplies of compassion and mercies!
Verses 7, 8. Nevertheless, if Jesus did not require to
be formed in order to show compassion, He had to learn
something: “ He learned obedience through the things
which he suered.” He learned, not to obey, “ for the law
of God was in his heart,” but He learned obedience, having
been obedient in circumstances the lowest and most
painful which it was possible for man to pass through,
for He went down to death. If Jesus suered, it was not
for Him a necessity which He could not avoid: it was
according to the will of God who had appointed Him that
portion in the world. e Holy Ghost makes us feel the
right Jesus had not to pass through death, when He says, “
though he were Son.” Jesus passed through all the degrees
of man’s suerings, so that there is nothing in the sorrows
of His saints which He does not know, and is unable to
sympathize with them in. But this school of suering He
went through, before being made High Priest, “during the
days of his esh “; and now that He has gone through it
all He succors us. is is a case very dierent from that
of Aaron and his sons. It was needful that they should
be in the same circumstances as their brethren, inrmity
being necessary to them for the fullling of their functions,
whilst in the new priesthood the One who exercises it is
not a man in inrmity. It is the Son without weakness, who
Notes on the Epistle to the Hebrews
23
knows by past experience the whole truth as to the state of
man.
“ Who in the days of his esh, when he had oered
up prayers and supplication with strong crying and tears,
unto him that was able to save him from death.” At this
time the enemy, who at the outset had sought to seduce
Jesus by oering Him the things that are agreeable to man
(Luke 4), was presenting himself against Him with the
terrible things. Jesus never asked that any cup should pass
from Him; save that one which meant that God would
hide His face from Him. He felt in His soul at that hour
of Gethsemane all the pangs attending the reception of
the blow which God Himself was about to direct against
Him. However, when He enters into the thought that it
is the Father who has prepared the cup, He accepts it and
oers Himself. In Gethsemane Jesus had to contend with
the power of the enemy: “ is is your hour and the power
of darkness.” On the cross He bore the wrath of God, and
cried, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? “
“ And was heard.”. Jesus was heard, in the rst place,
by an internal deliverance, inasmuch as He was enabled to
take the cup from His Father’s hand, and not from the hand
of Satan. In His struggle in Gethsemane He overcame the
direct power of the adversary. e latter, conquered in the
conict he had entered into against the soul of Christ, was
powerless when he came in his instruments. e hour of
the power of darkness was not entirely spent; but Jesus,
delivered from the terrors the enemy had pressed on His
soul, and free to escape death if He chose, gave Himself up.
He advances towards the wicked and delivers Himself into
their hands. Evidently His soul was no longer under the
pressure of the enemy. But He was more entirely heard in
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
24
His resurrection. “ He asked life of thee, and thou gavest it
him, even length of days, forever and ever,” Psa. 21:4.
“ And was heard in that he feared.” It may be quite as
well rendered “ on account of his piety “ or “ of his respect.”
It is the same word as in chapter 12: 28, “ with reverence
and godly fear.” “ By the things which he suered.” Instead
of fullling righteousness in an even path, He met with
constantly growing diculties. He suered in order to
learn obedience.
Verses 9,10. All trial being ended for Jesus, God brought
Him to perfection by placing Him in a condition where
no trial is possible and into which Jesus entered; being
acquainted with the suering of a holy man, struggling
with this world, and the power of darkness. It is in this
position that God has proclaimed Him High Priest. us
Jesus, far from being with us in a fellowship of suering,
is the One who is with God (having overcome everything)
and who gives us the help needed to bring us out of our
distresses. It is as Man that Jesus exercises the priesthood,
but, what is very remarkable, it is as the Son that He has
been declared Priest.
If, by the very nature of this oce, it was needful that
He should be the Man-mediator, it was necessary also that
His work should commence with God, from whom all
grace ows.
But the Son, before receiving the priesthood, was led
by God through suering in order to prepare Him for this
oce. is sums up into two leading subjects the truth
concerning the priesthood of Christ which are put forth
in this chapter.
Verses 11-14. Before presenting fuller details on the
subject of the new priesthood, the writer of this epistle
Notes on the Epistle to the Hebrews
25
stops to exhort the Hebrews, whose slowness in the faith
made the unfolding of this truth dicult.
Considering the time that had already elapsed, they
should have been in a better condition to bear the word
of the doctrine of Christ. is warning takes up the end of
chapter 5, and the whole of chapter 6.
CHAPTER 6.
Verses 1-3. Leaving the weak notions of Christ which
a Jew or a Pharisee could have understood and admitted,
“ let us go on to perfection,” receiving the testimony of
God respecting the Christ whom He has raised to a
heavenly glory. Why cleave to these Jewish notions when
in possession of the precious revelations which belong to
the heavenly calling?
“ Let us go on to perfection,” to the perfect man, to that
stage in which our faith lays hold of Christ in His present
glory and cleaves to the blessing which ows to us from
this Christ in heaven.
Verses 4-8. To return to these early Jewish notions, after
having received a promised faith in a heavenly Christ, is to
be in the road to forsake Christ Himself. Now, from such a
fall there is no recovery. All the characteristics mentioned
in verses 4,5, may be possessed in the church without
being born of the Spirit. One may be a partaker of the
Holy Ghost, that is to say participate in His operations,
without necessarily having received the Holy Ghost who
dwells in the saints and is in them the seal of their faith
and redemption. Indeed, it was by the Holy Ghost that
Balaam, viewing from the heights the beauty of the camp
of Israel, rejoiced and exclaimed: “ How goodly are thy
tents, O Jacob, and thy tabernacles, O Israel! “ and yet the
sequel shows that he was not a child of God.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
26
“ If they shall fall away “-have forsaken Christ-a warning
similar to that in chapters 3 and 4; but with this dierence,
that the warning of chapter 6 looks at the Hebrews as in
a lower and more general condition. In the former case
they are exhorted to press forward and not to stop in their
way. Here they are reminded of their responsibility as
having been the objects of God’s care. Such care should be
responded to.
Although we do not now see the glorious operations,
which in the beginning accompanied the testimony of
the gospel, by which through their merely external eects
individuals were often led to profess the faith, yet things
remain in principle the same.
A man may nd himself in the sphere where God is
acting in grace, he may go so far as to profess the faith
and may after all remain unconverted, in spite of the share
which he has had in the blessings God was pouring out for
the conversion of souls. Grace has lavished her riches upon
him, but in vain. At last the time comes when it is shown
that, though it has received the rain from heaven, this soil
has remained barren. It is then nigh unto cursing and its
end is to be burned.
Nevertheless their state gave reason to hope better
things than this sad picture. e rain of the blessing of God
which had fallen on them by the word had produced fruit.
God could acknowledge their work and labor of love.
Verses 11, 12. But it was desirable they should show
fresh diligence to the full assurance of hope.
Verses 13-20. is warning being given, the Holy
Ghost presents to their view the glorious certainties which
God has given for the hope of His own-hope founded on
God’s promise and oath, and secured in Jesus within the
Notes on the Epistle to the Hebrews
27
veil, whither He has entered as our forerunner. is is how
the grace of God acts towards the saints; it sustains their
faith and their courage by directing their gaze to the things
which are before. If godliness declines, there is a temptation
to go back to works, to return to Judaism, which can give
no help, but which on the contrary is a plague in the heart,-
yes, in the very heart. But Christ seen in His fullness and
glory gives fresh energy to faith.
CHAPTER 7.
We now return to the subject of the priesthood. Christ
having been declared a Priest after the order of Melchisedec,
His introduction into this new oce is now considered
in its relation to the principles of that priesthood, and in
respect to the change that results in the priesthood.
But rst there are some general remarks.
Verses 1-3. Priesthood and royalty were combined
in Melchisedec. He was priest of the Most High God,
possessor of heaven and earth. is name Most High God
is that which God takes in the millennium, and the royal
priesthood is also that which Jesus will exercise in the
times of the restitution of all things; but it is not under
this aspect that the priesthood is unfolded in the Hebrews.
With regard to the type of Melchisedec it is shown that
Jesus was appointed High Priest after that order; but
where the present exercise of the oce entrusted to our
Lord is spoken of, the Holy Ghost takes the type from the
priesthood of Aaron.
“ Without father, without mother, without descent.”
Melchisedec, though a typical man, is nevertheless a real
personage whom sacred history brings on the scene in
circumstances calculated to set forth the great principles
of the glorious priesthood of our Lord, who is shown
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
28
exercising a priesthood as endless as His days. Scripture
does not speak of his birth, death or pedigree, thus making
an exception, for usually in the Old Testament, when
persons having a prominent place in the ways of God are
spoken of, we get their genealogy, etc.
Verses 4-10. is king, priest of the Most High God,
is a greater man than Levi, the root of the priestly family
established under the law; for when he met Abraham, the
father of Levi, he received tithes from the patriarch and
blessed him: a rst proof of the superiority of Christ as
priest after the order of Melchisedec over Aaron, priest of
the lineage of Levi.
Verses 11-19. e bringing in of Jesus as priest after the
order of Melchisedec involves the substitution of a better
priesthood than that of Aaron.
Verse 11. It is evident that this old priesthood was not
perfect, since God, after having instituted it, speaks of
another.
Verses 12-17. e order being changed, the new
priesthood is necessarily founded on new principles.
Christ, consequently, is not subject to the Levitical
ordinance by which the priests entered into oce in virtue
of their hereditary right as sons of Aaron, and that only for
a limited number of years.
After the similitude of Melchisedec He is in the
priesthood, without father, without mother, without
descent, having neither beginning of days nor end of life.
He possesses an intransmissible oce and holds it in the
power of an endless life.
Verses 18, 19. By reason of the connection between the
priesthood and the law, if the rst is changed, the second
must be aected by it. “ For there is verily a disannulling
Notes on the Epistle to the Hebrews
29
of the commandment going before, for the weakness
and unprotableness thereof [for the law made nothing
perfect], and the bringing in of a new hope by the which
we draw nigh to God.” A perfection never to be obtained
by the law is now enjoyed through the excellency of the
new priesthood; besides the privilege of drawing nigh to
God-a blessing never even suggested by the law.
“ A better hope,” that is, the hope of heavenly things
and the favor of receiving them, not by righteousness of
man but by grace. See chapter 6: 19, 20. Our hope adds,
to the privilege of inheriting heavenly things, that of
being brought nigh to God. ere was nothing of this
kind under the Levitical economy; all was connected
with the possession of Canaan and the government of
Jehovah. Far from admitting man into His presence, God
remained hidden in the sanctuary. But the excellency of
the priesthood of Christ further appears by many more
privileges.
Verses 20-22. Christ is honored by being made a priest
by the word of the oath of God, and by being declared by
His word to be a surety of a better covenant.
5
Keep in view
the parenthesis and read: “ And inasmuch as not without
an oath, … by so much was Jesus made a surety of a better
covenant.”
is covenant derives its dignity from the oath of God.
It is as sure and steadfast as the oath of God is weighty.
Verses 23-25. e perpetuity of Christ’s priesthood
keeps our interests permanently in the same hands, for we
have not to fear that our Priest should fail and leave the
work of our complete salvation unnished.
5 A testament (or covenant) is an ordering, an appointment of
God for man, by which man maintains intercourse with God.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
30
“ He is able to save them to the uttermost,” to save us
in the diculties we meet with in the wilderness. He is
able to make good to us from day to day the value of that
eternal redemption accomplished once for all. e priestly
service is to save us in passing through the wilderness.
Verses 26-28. e position of Christ as High Priest made
higher than the heavens, His blessed and holy Person, His
nished work, are all in harmony with the grace which has
brought us to God. But more, the care He bestows upon
us here below maintains us practically in that position.
Instead of leaving us in a stiing atmosphere He raises us
(that is, the new man) to the level of our heavenly hopes.
“ For such a High Priest became us.” Because our
calling gives us a place far above the heavens, it becomes us
that our High Priest should have His place there also. In
chapter 2 we have already noticed that it became God that
Christ should pass through suerings; and in this chapter
it becomes us that He should be lifted up higher than the
heavens. How much this exalts our heavenly calling!
“ Such a High Priest who is holy, harmless, undeled.”
Appearing in the presence of God for us, it is necessary that
all the qualities answering to the divine majesty should be
found in His Person. Before God Jesus is a High Priest,
holy, harmless, undeled; towards us He is a merciful High
Priest, having compassion on the weak.
“ Separate from sinners and made higher than the
heavens, who needeth not daily as those high priests to
oer up sacrices, rst for his own sins and then for the
people’s, for this he did once when he oered up himself.”
In the glorious place which our Priest occupies, He is
entirely separate from sin, and He occupies this place
after having accomplished on earth a perfect redemption,
Notes on the Epistle to the Hebrews
31
having abolished sin and overcome Satan and death. From
the heights of His glory He helps His distressed saints on
the earth, but He Himself is never in distress.
It is important for us to discern this position of Christ
and to see that the priesthood has for its basis the complete
victory over everything with which we struggle here below.
If priesthood is a mediation rendered necessary by the
glory of the God who holds intercourse with His own
down here, it is also the means whereby God unfolds
towards them His tenderness and all the riches of His
grace. It is the channel through which blessing is poured
upon us from above. Here arises the question: How far
is my inrmity the subject of priestly service? It is well
to know at once that Jesus never intercedes for the esh.
His care has its object, the maintenance of the new man in
the height of the standing He is in Himself before God;
and He leads the new man in the path of submission and
dependence in which He walked Himself when down here.
He is the head of the new man in us as being essentially in
Himself the new man.
e necessity of priesthood is owing to our weakness,
to the esh being still in us. Accordingly priestly service
dispenses to us mercy and grace: mercy which bears with
us, and grace to help us. If it is a question of weakness or
inrmity, Jesus comforts us, but never does He pity the
esh. It is written, “ Ye are dead.”
Now, outside of this state of death for the esh, there
can be no occasion for intercession. Are we out of the path,
walking after the esh? Christ will then require that the
two-edged sword, which discerns the state of the soul,
should pierce us and mortify in us those roots of carnality
within. is discipline will have its eects, and then it will
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
32
be followed by the intercession of Jesus in favor of the new
man; and God answering by the Holy Ghost will act in
power to give the new man victory over the esh.
CHAPTER 8.
Having seen in the preceding chapter the substitution
of the priesthood of Christ for that of Aaron, we get in this
chapter the position of the new priesthood and the change
in the covenants which it involves.
Verses 1-5. e Priest of the new priesthood does not
exercise His oce on earth. He is in heaven at the right
hand of Majesty, a minister of the sanctuary and the true
tabernacle which the Lord pitched and not man. Here
the Holy Ghost points out to us that the administration
of heavenly things by the hands of Jesus is the principal
subject of the teachings of this epistle.
Verse 4. For if He were on earth He should not be a
Priest, seeing that there are priests that oer gifts according
to the law. erefore, at the very time when the heavenly
priesthood was being unfolded to the Hebrews, there
existed on earth another priesthood, which though no
longer recognized, was yet in operation. is was a time of
transition between the two dispensations. We gather from
this that the Epistle to the Hebrews was written before
the fall of Jerusalem. For what object? First, to show the
Hebrews their heavenly privileges; but also to bid them
go forth without the camp. When the link of Christians
with the world is morally broken, nal separation is easier,
whether the path is trod quietly in obedience to the word
“ come out,” or if it is a question of acting when events
compel us to do so.
Verses 6-13. e priesthood of Christ brings in also a
new covenant more excellent than the rst, and grounded
Notes on the Epistle to the Hebrews
33
upon better promises. When God gave the rst covenant,
He also gave a priesthood which was the key-stone of the
whole economy. is being changed, there is consequently
a change of covenant; the rst falls with its obsolete
priesthood, and the second takes its place.
Verses 8-12. God had declared by His prophets that the
day would come when He should bring in a new covenant
dierent from the rst.
Verse 13. However, touching the old covenant, the
Hebrews are treated with consideration in this epistle; for
the only conclusion expressed is that the promise of a new
covenant makes the rst one old and ready to vanish away.
Yet the cross had actually abolished it, the blood of Jesus
being the blood of the new covenant.
Chapter 9.
e covenant being changed by the bringing in of the
priesthood of Christ, the whole system undergoes the
change; the sanctuary, oerings, worship, the state of the
worshippers- everything is altered. Here the question
arises: How near can we approach to God through the
new priesthood? e answer is: We draw nigh even to God
Himself. is privilege is founded on the perfect value of
the blood of Christ; which value is unfolded in these two
chapters.
In chapter 9 the special subject is atonement; the blood
shed and carried into the sanctuary. In chapter to it is the
application of the blood to the individual, conscience being
perfected through sprinkling of the blood.
Verses 1-10. Under the rst covenant there was an
ordinance of service with regard to the worship which
Jehovah received from His people. A tabernacle had been
made in which God concealed His glory; and sacrices
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
34
were oered, the blood of which was carried into this
tabernacle by the high priest.
We must notice that it is the tabernacle pitched by
Moses in the wilderness which is spoken of here. ere
is no mention made of the temple built by Solomon. e
temple was not the shadow of heavenly things; but a gure
of the government of God during the millennium. When
the ark of the covenant was placed in it, it contained neither
the pot of manna nor Aaron’s rod, which are both symbols
of the resources displayed by grace in the wilderness. But
the tabernacle, with its furniture and service, set forth the
provision of the grace of God to help us during our journey
here below. In fact this tabernacle belongs to a higher order
of things; for it was not, like the temple, the expression of
a terrestrial rest; it exhibited the grace of God going with
His people till their introduction into the heavenly rest.
Verse 2. e table of showbread and the seven-branched
candlestick in the sanctuary set forth the manifestation of
God in man. God revealed in Christ the anointed man
and by the Spirit, according to the riches of a grace which
opens its treasures to man.
Verses 3-5. e arrangement of the holiest of all set
forth the supreme God in the immediate manifestation of
His divine Person: God manifested in testimony to man,
as well as in government and judgment in the midst of His
people; but remaining in darkness and keeping man at a
distance.
Verses 6-8. e priests went daily into the holy place,
accomplishing the usual service; the high priest only went
into the holiest of all. He carried blood in, that God should
not come out in judgment.
Notes on the Epistle to the Hebrews
35
e Levitical service was for the children of Israel the
means of approaching God. In the state they were in they
never could have approached God in the light; therefore
it was necessary that there should be this order of things
between them and God. Evidently in an earthly system
of religion, and under a regimen in which God reveals
Himself to man in judgment and providence, God must
remain veiled: only the grace which is in Jesus is that which
ts man to approach to God without a veil.
Verse 9. “ Sacrices that could not make him that did the
service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience.” It cannot
be said that, under this order of things, the conscience of
the Israelite remained deaf to the communications of God;
but by the sole eect of sacrices, it was never in a state
to bear the presence of God. eir conscience was formed
more by personal communications with Jehovah. David, for
instance, in his wandering life had found God; and he was
nearer to Him in the wilderness than the Israelites were
when approaching the altar with the tabernacle and the
ordinances, between themselves and God. is advantage
was also limited: certain springs of conscience remained
inactive. In that state they could not have sustained
communion with God in that full light which penetrates
man and searches into the motions of his soul. Never would
a Jew have been heard speaking of the esh, saying that it
is opposed to the Spirit. In summing up what we learn in
these verses of the priesthood under the rst covenant, we
nd that there was a tabernacle in which God was hidden
in obscurity, and sacrices which were not able to perfect
the conscience of the worshippers.
Verses 11, 12. But the contrast of the new priesthood
presents a much more excellent order of things, “ Christ
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
36
being come an High Priest of good things to come by
a greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with
hands … but by his own blood he entered in once into the
holy place, having obtained eternal redemption.” O! how
far Christ surpasses that which was greatest under the
Levitical economy. Heaven is the sanctuary into which He
has entered; and the blood which He has carried in is His
own, the blood which has obtained an eternal redemption.
We notice that the truths declared in these verses present
the value of the blood of Christ according to the ecacy
of the day of atonement. e unfoldings which follow are,
generally speaking, given from the same point of view.
6
“ By his own blood he entered in once, having obtained
eternal redemption for us.” e sacrice is shown here as
forming part of the glory of Christ; the humiliation of the
cross, and suering for sin, do not appear here. But Christ
having obtained eternal redemption by His blood entered
into heaven carrying the value of that blood into the
presence of God. Moreover the relation of the blood to the
state of man, its application to the sinner, is not unfolded
here.
It is primarily for God that this sacrice took place; to
Him was the blood oered; and before Him, in redemption,
6 Chapter 9 of Hebrews takes us back to Lev. 16 and, though
not a complete exposition of its contents, presents the leading
features. On the great day of atonement the service of the
priesthood consisted in this: the sacricing of the goat oered
to Jehovah and whose blood was sprinkled upon the mercy-
seat; the sprinkling of blood on the tabernacle; and the sending
o of the scapegoat to the wilderness, bearing away the sins
of the people. We nd these three actions in this chapter
now before us: the blood put upon the mercy-seat (v. 12); the
sprinkling on the tabernacle (v. 23); and the scapegoat bearing
sins (v. 28).
Notes on the Epistle to the Hebrews
37
as in all His works, things are set in their proper place
before reaching down to man.
Verses 13, 14. If the blood of Christ belongs to God,
it is nevertheless on man’s account it was shed. Christ, the
anointed Man, oered Himself without spot, and His blood
purged the conscience of the believers. But what perfection
is in this work of salvation! ere is no room left for man
to take a part in the divine operations; a redemption which
saves him is accomplished, but this work is entirely of God.
Christ oered Himself by the eternal Spirit. e work of
the cross is perfect and absolute; wrought wholly between
Christ and God, to the exclusion of all outside. Christ in
His death has been lifted up from the earth. “ How much
more shall the blood of Christ … purge your conscience? “
e purication of the conscience by the blood is simply
maintained here. e eect of the blood of Christ unfolded
in its extensiveness will be the subject-matter of chapter
10.
Verse 15. e blood which Jesus has shed gives Him a
title to be the Mediator of the new covenant. is blood
could not belong to the rst one under which purication
only applied to delements of the esh; but it belongs to the
second: it is the foundation of this covenant under which
sin is no more before God. “ at by means of death for the
redemption of the transgressions that were under the rst
covenant.” is rst covenant brought in consequences for
which it was not provided: for law makes sin to abound
and only acts towards transgressors by punishing them
with death. But here is another covenant founded on the
value of the blood of Christ and this blood answers for the
transgression committed under the rst.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
38
It is a retro-active eect applying itself to transgressions
committed beforehand, as it applies now to the state of the
called. “ ey which are called might receive the promise
of an eternal inheritance.” Everything in this present
dispensation is done by calling. Calling opens the door of
the new covenant to those who found themselves under the
grave consequences of the rst, even as also to those who
did not belong to it at all. Nevertheless it is with reference
to the rst of these classes that these truths are unfolded.
Mark how the expressions “ entered in once,” “ an
eternal redemption,” “ through the eternal Spirit oered,” “
an eternal inheritance “ contrasted the heavenly priesthood,
and the new covenant with the earthly privileges of
the Jews and their conditions under the rst. Yet these
expressions are still Jewish, they describe very little of
heaven; the privileges of saints united to Christ on high
are not touched upon.
Verses 16, 17. As the death Or Jesus is the redemption
of transgressions committed under the rst covenant, it
is also the surety of the inheritance promised under the
second. e word inheritance of verse 15 seems to bring in
the idea of “ testament “ for verses 16, 17. ese two verses
may be read as a parenthesis. Translating by “ testament
“ the Greek word, the expression “ there must also of
necessity be the death of the testator “ is made to signify
there must be the death of the testator to make sure the
provisions of it; for as long as he lives he can alter them.
Elsewhere in the epistle we always translate the Greek
word by “ covenant.”
Verses 18-22. e second covenant grounded on the
value of the blood of Christ is not on this basis without
having a type answering to it in the rst. is one, of whom
Notes on the Epistle to the Hebrews
39
Moses was the mediator, was inaugurated by blood; it had
also, by the sprinkling of the blood, means of purication
connected with worship.
Verse 22. “ And without shedding of blood there is no
remission.” ere are purications made by water; also the
purication by sprinkling of blood made once; but for the
remission of sins the shedding of blood was necessary:
blood must ow, some one must die. It is important to
notice this; for it often happens that a soul without peace
sighs for fresh sprinklings. at soul might as well ask God
to renew the sacrice, for without shedding there can be
no sprinkling. It is on the value of the shed blood that the
peace of the soul rests. Now the shedding of the blood of
Christ has taken place, and it can only take place once. So
is it also as to the sprinkling granted to the believers.
Verses 23, 24. e blood of Christ puries the heavenly
places; even as the blood of bulls and of goats did purge the
tabernacle. e reason of this rite for the tabernacle in the
wilderness is given in these terms, Lev. 16, “ the tabernacle
of the congregation that remaineth among them in the
midst of their uncleanness,” v. 16. By this we understand
the purication of the heavenly places. God has established
His dwelling-place amidst His people. We are in contact
with His tabernacle. Our transgressions and our sins are
named there. What a thing for sin to be named in heaven!
Perhaps there is more general reason for the purication
of the heavenly places: the delement of creation by the
entrance of sin into the world. Creation seen as a whole is
unclean by reason of the presence of sin.
Verse 24. e entering of Christ into the heavenlies,
also His appearing in the presence of God, correspond to a
privilege innitely blessed to our souls. Not only is Christ
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
40
seated at the right hand of the Majesty on high, but in this
place of perfection He “ appears in the presence of God for
us “ and represents us there.
Verses 25-28. e end of the chapter is specially given
up to showing that Christ could suer but once.
Verse 26. For then must He often have suered since the
foundation of the world: the oering could not take place
without Jesus suering. is connection of the oering
with suering is remarkable; the Holy Ghost does not
separate them. Some speak of “ un-bloody sacrices,” but
sacrice only takes place through the suerings of death.
If then the sacrice has not been eected, it never will: for
Christ cannot suer any more.
“ But now once in the end of the world hath he appeared
to put away sin by the sacrice of himself.” Until Christ, the
question of sin had not been settled, but every trial of man
under responsibility was being made; in the case of man
without law or man under a law, sin had come to maturity.
Besides, there was no more occasion for the existence of an
age with man in the same way as before, under the same
responsibility: the ages were accomplished; Christ appears;
He closes the preceding period by abolishing sin, and opens
new ages for the glory. erefore He can now call souls to
enter into this heavenly glory. During the call the “ present
evil age “ continues for this world, but the called partake
already of the blessing of the ages to come. He appeared
(the Greek verb is in the perfect tense); the fact has passed
and still subsists.
Verses 27, 28. e oering of Christ made once answers
to the condition of man as son of Adam. e fate of sinful
man is once to die, and after this the judgment. But Christ
oering Himself once hath put away sin and removed the
Notes on the Epistle to the Hebrews
41
judgment for His own. He will be seen a second time by
those who wait for Him, it will be unto salvation.
“ Unto salvation.” is expression is in contrast with the
judgment to come for man, after death. He has for his end
two terrible passes: death and judgment. On the contrary,
the Christian possesses two boundless privileges: he
partakes of a Christ who died for his sins; and he waits the
coming of this Christ in glory unto salvation. Jesus having
abolished sin on the cross, the only thing that remains to
accomplish after His death is His return to bring His own
into the glory.
CHAPTER 10.
Having shown in chapter 9 the value of the blood carried
into the sanctuary, the Holy Ghost in chapter to considers
the application of the blood to the conscience of the saints
and the price of the sacrice for their introduction to God.
Verses 1-4. e sacrices oered under the law could
not give a perfect conscience; “ for the blood of bulls and
goats cannot take away sin “; and those oerings repeated
year after year, far from taking them away, were, on the
contrary, their commemoration. e people were always
conscious of sins.
Verses 5-7. In contrast with the sacrices in which God
took no pleasure, Jesus Christ presented Himself to God to
do His will, and this will required a sacrice which could
take away sin. It is beautiful to see Jesus, when coming into
the world, presenting Himself to obey, and speaking to His
Father, saying, “ Lo, I come to do thy will, O God! “
“ In the volume of the book it is written of me.” Books
at that time were rolls of parchment with a label on the
outside to indicate the contents; it helped to nd the roll
when it was on the shelf with others. Well, the spiritual
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
42
label of the sacred roll, the summary of the scriptures,
is that Jesus Christ would come to do the will of God.
e oering of the body of Jesus Christ answers to all
the sacrices oered under the law. “ Sacrice [peace
oering], and oering [meat oering], and burnt oerings,
and oering for sin.” e dierent sacrices are gathered
together here to show under all aspects the ecacy of the
one sacrice by which there is not only purication of
conscience, but liberty and privilege to approach to God.
Verses 8-10. Two principal eects result from the will of
God being accomplished in the oering of Christ Himself.
First, the work of the obedience of Christ takes the place
of the Jewish system. Secondly, a new people, sanctied by
the oering of the body of Jesus Christ, is brought forward
in connection with the new order of things.
Verse 10. ere is here a principle of the highest
importance: “ We are sanctied by the will of God,” and
this will Jesus Christ alone has accomplished. is leaves
no room for the will of man: the work by which we are
sanctied is absolutely, wholly, of God.
Verses 11-14 are eects more particularly for the
conscience. e oering which separates a people also
renders the sanctied ones perfect; it places them before
God with a perfect conscience. e proof given to us is that
Jesus Christ having oered one sacrice forever sat down
at the right hand of God, until the moment He will rise
against His enemies. It is not necessary for Him to come
out of the sanctuary to oer fresh sacrices.
Verse 12. “ Forever sat down,” read, “ sat down in
continuity “ (eis to dienekes).
7
7 See Notes in the New Translation of the Bible, Heb. 5:6.
Notes on the Epistle to the Hebrews
43
Verse 14. Perfected as to the conscience; it is the subject
presented in the beginning of the chapter. In verses 1 and
2, we read that the sacrices oered repeatedly could not “
make perfect,” also that the fathers had always “ conscience
of sins,” and in chapter 9 we also saw that gifts and sacrices
of that period could “ not make perfect as pertaining to the
conscience,” but in this verse of chapter 10 we read, By one
oering He hath perfected forever them that are sanctied.
Our position before God is nal; “ perfected in continuity,”
is the same word as in verse 12. As truly as Christ’s session
at the right hand of God does not change for an instant;
so truly does our position through grace remain unaltered.
Jesus will rise from His throne once, and it will be to
come against His enemies; but the rst thing He will do on
rising will be to take us to Himself. ere we shall no more
require a priest to appear for us in the presence of God, nor
the Epistle to the Hebrews to show us our privileges and
to encourage us.
Verses 15-18. e testimony of the Holy Ghost
conrming the position in which the sanctied are
through the oering of Jesus Christ. It is not a question
here of the work of the Holy Ghost in the believer, but
of the testimony which He gives to the work of Christ
accomplished down here. ere are three things to be
noticed with regard to grace in what precedes: the will of
God resolving on the work to be done for us; the sacrice
of Christ accomplishing this divine will; and the testimony
of the Holy Ghost given to this will of God accomplished
by Christ.
Verse 17. “ And their sins and iniquities will I remember
no more.” According to these words it was necessary that
the question of sin should be solved, for God does not say,
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
44
“ I will not remember,” but, “ I will remember no more.” He
saw our sins and remembered them, since He determined
upon the death of Christ to abolish them. And now that
they are abolished He remembers them neither today,
tomorrow, nor forever.
Verses 19-22 are application. e way into the holiest
being open to us by the blood of Christ, let us realize our
privilege of drawing near into the presence of God; but
let us approach in the condition in which the sacrice has
placed us.
Verse 22. “ Having our hearts sprinkled from an evil
conscience.” e sprinkling of blood is an introductory
privilege accomplished once for all. “ And our bodies washed
with pure water “ is also an introductory privilege, but which
extends also to daily communion, making allusion to the
washing of the priests; Lev. 8; Ex. 30. On the subject of the
perfect sacrice, we nd many unfoldings to exhibit the
value of the blood of Christ, and our acceptance through
it, but we have relatively little as to the daily exercise of the
grace which is based upon this oering. Why? It is in order
to keep our thoughts and communion up to the height
of our privileges, and to remove from us any occasion of
delighting in our wretchedness. If we suer in our souls,
let us turn to that perfect grace, let us go to God directly
through Jesus Christ.
Verses 23-31 are warnings. “ Let us hold fast the
profession of our faith; … let us consider one another,
to provoke unto love and good works; not forsaking the
assembling of ourselves; … but exhorting one another.” We
must be bold enough to profess with all the saints the hope
which God has put in us.
Notes on the Epistle to the Hebrews
45
In verses 26-31 the author of the Epistle presents the
other side of the truth. e sword which he uses is indeed a
two-edged sword. What he says signies, you are perfected
through so perfect a sacrice that there is only one such.
If you despise it, there is no other to which you may turn.
e Jews, under the law, were always able to return by new
sacrices; under the gospel this possibility does not exist.
Verses 32-39. Besides the perfection of the grace in which
God had placed them, and also the warning they received
concerning the irremediable state of those who abandon
Christ, the Hebrews had other motives for persevering in
the faith. ey had walked in that path amidst diculties,
and the Lord had given them the victory. A few more steps
in the same path, and the Lord will have come. We must
not draw back when so near the end of the journey. e just
shall live by faith.
Chapter 11.
Following on the exhortations and encouragements
which close chapter to, we nd in chapter 11 a review of
the illustrious lives of the Old Testament, with the object
of putting before the eyes of the Hebrews all the resources
of faith. e subject is thus brought forward: “ We are not
of them who drawback unto perdition, but of them that
believe to the saving of the soul; chap. 10: 39. Now this is
what faith is.
Verse 1. Faith produces two principal eects in the
believer: rst, it gives to the soul a full certainty as to
the object it lays hold of; secondly, it puts the soul in the
enjoyment of the object.
Verses 3-7. To know creation is the work of God, to
trust in the sacrice, to walk with God on the earth, and
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
46
be a witness for Him. Such are the great principles of faith.
is comprises the whole Christian system.
Verses 8-16. e child of faith is heir of the promises of
God. ese promises are for the future, he possesses them
only in hope; but God takes care of him and by marvelous
ways leads him through this world towards the goal where
they will be accomplished.
Verses 8-10. At present the heir possesses nothing, save
the earnest of the Spirit. Abraham, though heir of Canaan,
dwelt there as a stranger; but he set his estimation of the
promises high enough, so as to meet with Him who built
the city.
Verses 11, 12. e power of faith acts in the things
which are necessary for the accomplishment of what is
promised. We must wait by faith for the blessing of the
church in another world, and realize now by the same faith
the things which work together to the accomplishing of
this hope, for instance, the work of ministry.
Verse 13. All these died in faith; in an attitude of faith
waiting for the promises. is is how the Hebrews should
die if death overtook them before the accomplishment of
their hope.
Verse 16. Because these men of faith formed a heavenly
people, God was not ashamed to connect their name
with His. e same thing occurs for the saints of this
dispensation; therefore this is said to the Hebrews.
Verses 17-19. Meanwhile faith is tried, Abraham had to
sacrice the one on whose head the promises had been put,
so as to hold them from God only. ere is much power in
this example set before the Hebrews, for they also were to
follow Abraham; they were to leave the Jewish Christ to
receive a risen and heavenly Christ.
Notes on the Epistle to the Hebrews
47
Verse 19. In the trial one always makes new discoveries
as to the resources which are in God. e measure of grace
which sustains us in ordinary times is not sucient in
the day of trial; but then the glorious God unfolds new
riches of His grace, to make a way out for His child. It is
when death was ready to strike Isaac that Abraham tasted
the grace of God who raises the dead. His faith was not
confounded.
Verse 20. Very little is said of Isaac himself. is agrees
with the place given him as type of Christ in the resurrection
state, where He makes sure the promises and receives the
church. Jacob, seen as a typical person, represents more
Israel.
Verse 21. e blessing given to the sons of Joseph
conferred upon them a double portion; Gen. 48. In fact,
that portion is the birthright (Deut. 21:17), the portion of
Christ. erefore there is worship on Jacob’s part, Christ
being discerned in this prophecy.
Verse 22. Lastly one simple principle of faith is shown
us in the life of Joseph: his faith looked to the future. e
various examples taken from the life of the patriarchs,
present to us faith in connection with the promises of God.
e life of Moses, related in what follows, presents faith, in
connection with the system appertaining to these promises.
Verses 23-29. e testimony God gives of the
faithfulness of Moses in Egypt is, that he illustrated the
faith which stands true in the presence of evil, and rm
before diculties. We learn by this example that providence
is not the rule of conduct for faith: for if ever providence
was clearly seen, it was indeed by Moses being placed in
Pharaoh’s court. Was he to remain there?
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
48
Verses 32-40. e list of the men of faith under the Old
Testament is not yet exhausted; but the example of those
who served the Lord after the establishment of the people
in the promised land would be less appropriate to the
need of the Hebrews, so the author of the epistle connes
himself to presenting them in a summary way, and citing
only the names of some. ey also were commendable for
their faith, and have not as yet received the promise. ere
are better things for us, and though they do not appear to
inherit all of them, they have nevertheless a part in them;
they wait to receive them with us.
Chapters 12 and 13 are exhortations and encouragements
given to the Hebrews. Wishes made in their favor.
CHAPTER 12.
Verses 1, 2. A cloud of witnesses bear witness to the
success of faith; and it is for us an encouragement to run
the race. But, far above all these witnesses there is One
who has shown faith in its perfection, it is Jesus; and the
word directs our eyes towards Him. “e race that is set
before us.” Allusion is made to the games of the Greeks;
these games were contests in which there were dierent
exercises, such as wrestlings, racings, etc. Responsibility
attaches to the race of the Christian, and the Lord will deal
in judgment with our race. “ Jesus the author and nisher
of faith.” In all that touches faith, Jesus has had the pre-
eminence, having passed through all diculties and having
overcome them all.
Verses 3, 4. If we have to bear with the contradiction
of men, it is no reason for fainting. Christ has met and
vanquished this contradiction; in Him we shall also be
conquerors. “ Resisted unto blood.” In persecutions; Luke
12.
Notes on the Epistle to the Hebrews
49
Verse 5. But persecution may assume the character of
discipline from the Lord. If so, there are two things to
heed: not to despise it, for it is chastening; not to faint, for
it is sent in grace.
Verses 6, 11. Satan is the instrument of the troubles we
suer, be it under persecution or under the discipline of
God; but it is from God Himself we receive the strokes.
Job received the blows God had intended for him, by the
instrumentality of the enemy. Jesus bore the power and
wickedness of Satan in the act of drinking the cup of His
own death, and yet He took this cup from His Father’s
hand. We nd the same connection of facts in Psa. 118:10,
13, 18.
Verses 17, 18. Several warnings are given to the Hebrews
in verses 12-16. Here are now two motives given to support
them: “ For you know how that afterward when he would
have inherited the blessing, he [Esau] was rejected … .For
ye are not come to the mount that might be touched.” You
are waiting for a ne inheritance: would you make light of
it as did Esau? And consider also that it is not the case with
you as with those who were at Sinai; you are come unto
mount Sion, you have to do with grace which is followed
only by judgment.
Verses 22-24. e enumeration of the families which
compose this glorious company gives to us the whole
history of the last days. e order to be traced seems to me
to be this: the enumeration begins at the rst step of the
ladder to go up to its highest step, even to God, and comes
down again to the millennium. ere are eight particular
subjects. e conjunction “ and “ which unites them, being
repeated each time, serves to distinguish them.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
50
“ Unto mount Sion,” the seat of royal grace. When all
was lost and the name Ichabod [the glory is departed] was
written on Israel, God intervened for His people. He gave
prophets to bring back this erring people; but especially
David, the king, through grace. It is by his service the Lord
established His ark in rest in Sion. ere was through grace
the mount of deliverance for Israel after they had failed in
everything. is grace abides for the future: Christ shall
reign in Sion. “ And unto the city of the living God, the
heavenly Jerusalem.” e church in its heavenly position is
seen in contrast with Sion on the earth.
“ And to an innumerable company of angels, the general
assembly.” It is the universal congregation of the heavens,
seen as a whole. “ And to the church of the rstborn which
are written in heaven “ is the church in particular. “ And to
God the judge of all.” It is God in His character of Judge,
for the bringing in of the millennium. e church being
mentioned, we reach to God the center of everything.
“ And to the spirits of just men made perfect “: the
saints of various dispensations before the church. Having
ascended up to God, we nd the saints of the Old
Testament. ey are “ made perfect,” they have run the
race, but have not yet received the crown. It is with them as
with those who, among the Greeks, had won the prize in
the stadium; the reward was not given immediately. ey
had to wait for a special festival on that occasion.
“ And to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant.” Jesus
pressed to accomplish the promises and to bless Israel.
“ And to the blood of sprinkling “ is the blood of the new
covenant. Although it has an application at this present
time, this blood belongs especially to the millennium.
Notes on the Epistle to the Hebrews
51
Verses 25-27 are a very remarkable testimony to the
authority of Christ. He who speaks from heaven now is
the One who shook the earth in the day of Sinai, and who
will soon shake the heavens and the earth.
CHAPTER 13.
Verses 20, 21. God is He “ that brought again from the
dead that great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood
of the everlasting covenant.” e blood shed by Jesus gave
Him the right to rise from death with the same ecacy for
others.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
52
63036
All of One: Hebrews 2
We never know our place rightly till we know Christ’s
place. What we nd in this chapter is, that we are completely
associated and identied with Him. “ For both he that
sanctieth, and they who are sanctied, are all of one: for
which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren.” en
God’s way is to settle our relationship with God Himself
rst, and then to pass us through the wilderness, till the
time comes for the full accomplishment of His purpose in
glory. If we do not connect our place with Christ, we do
not get the key to it. He passed through the wilderness,
dying for us too, and He is now crowned with glory and
honor. is chapter puts Him in this place.
e wilderness is no part of God’s purpose for us at all;
it is a part of His ways, not His purpose. Christ could take
the thief straight to paradise without any wilderness at all,
so absolute was that work of His in its ecacy. Bringing us
to God and into the wilderness is the same thing. Christ’s
work is complete, and the eect of redemption is to bring
us into the wilderness. e Israelites began the wilderness,
properly speaking, after Sinai. As soon as they had passed
through the Red Sea, they could say, “ ou in thy mercy
hast led forth the people thou hast redeemed: thou hast
guided them by thy strength unto thy holy habitation,” Ex.
15:13. At Sinai Jehovah said, “ Ye have seen … how I bare
you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself,” Ex.
19:4. ey were brought to the wilderness and to God.
Ex. 15 goes on to show God’s purpose: “ ou shalt
bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of thine
All of One: Hebrews 2
53
inheritance, in the place, O Jehovah, which thou hast made
for thee to dwell in, in the sanctuary, O Jehovah, which thy
hands have established,” Ex. 15:17. at Israel had not got,
and we have not got it, but Christ has entered in, and that
is the dierence.
If you look at Ex. 3, you will see that the wilderness
formed no part of God’s purpose: “ And I am come down
to deliver them, and to bring them up out of that land, unto
a good land and a large, unto a land owing with milk and
honey.” In Ex. 6 you nd the same, and in Ex. 15, where
faith celebrates redemption, you have the same thing.
“ ou hast guided them by thy strength unto thy holy
habitation.” is leaps right over the wilderness. He did
bring them through the wilderness, but it was no part of
His purpose for them. Redemption was accomplished
when they were brought through the Red Sea. In that way
the Red Sea and the Jordan coalesce: in both there was the
passing on dry ground through the water that formed the
barrier, the real dierence of meaning being, that in the
Red Sea we get Christ’s death and resurrection-not merely
blood-shedding, we had that in Egypt-and in the Jordan,
our death with Christ.
e blood at the passover kept God out, but the
Israelites were in Egypt all the while. In Christ’s death and
resurrection there was the bringing us out of the state we
were in into a new one; in Christ risen we have a totally
new position. Christ coming and taking our place died to
that, not merely bearing our sins-though that is true too-
but He was made sin for us; and now He is risen up into a
new place as Man, a place that is the eect of redemption,
and He is gone into glory too. is brings us into this
totally new place, which forms part of the counsels of God.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
54
e rst man was the responsible man; the second
Man was the man of God’s counsels. At the beginning
all depended on Adam, and he totally failed: then Christ
becomes Man, according to the counsels of God, and in
His own Person He takes manhood into the place of God’s
counsels about man. e wilderness came in by the bye,
very protable, but only by the bye.
I have got God perfectly gloried in a Man-much more
than man, for He is “ God over all, blessed forever “-but
still in a man. “ For since by man came death, by man
came also the resurrection of the dead,” 1Cor. 15:21. He
comes into this scene of ruin, manifests God in it, and then
manifests man to God. God raises Him from death, and
puts Him into His own glory as Man. In virtue of the work
which bas gloried God, man is at the right hand of God.
“ Who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery
to be equal with God; but made himself of no reputation,
and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in
the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man,
he humbled himself [the second step down], and became
obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore
God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name
which is above every name,” Phil. 2:6-9. Because of that
He is in glory. As the eternal Son He was always in glory,
and He could speak of Himself as “ the Son of man who is
in heaven.” In John 13 you nd it there. “ Now is the Son
of man gloried, and God is gloried in him. If God be
gloried in him, God shall also glorify him in himself, and
shall straightway glorify him,” John 13:32. He cannot wait
for the kingdom and glory that are coming, but personally
He glories Him at His own right hand.
All of One: Hebrews 2
55
en, redemption having been accomplished, the people
are brought out through redemption. We get in Jordan, not
Christ dying for us, as at the Red Sea, but our dying with
Christ; consequently there is not the smiting of the water,
as at the Red Sea; _there is no judgment, but the ark stood
in the midst of Jordan till all the people passed over.
Canaan was a rest in the purpose of God, but instead
of that the Israelites found it a place of ghting; Joshua
met there the man with a drawn sword in his hand. What
characterizes heaven now is ghting.
erefore there, and not till there, we get circumcision:
the manna ceased, and they ate the old corn of the land.
“ For we wrestle not against esh and blood, but against
principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the
darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high
places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God,
that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having
done all to stand,” Eph. 6:12, 13.
We get the two things: the accomplishment of
redemption brings us into the wilderness, and the purpose
of God brings us into heavenly places. Faith realizes these,
redemption perfectly accomplished, and Christ sitting at
the right hand of God because it is accomplished. He is
not on His own throne at all; “ Sit thou at my right hand
until I make thine enemies thy footstool,” Psa. 110:1.
en the Holy Ghost comes down, and connects us
with Him in that place. e believer, therefore, if he knows
his place, says, “ ou hast guided them by thy strength
unto thy holy habitation.” at is all settled, but we are not
there, except in spirit; we are in the wilderness all the way.
“ For the law having a shadow of good things to
come … can never with those sacrices which they oered
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
56
year by year continually make the comers thereunto
perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be oered?
because that the worshippers once purged should have
had no more conscience of sins,” Heb. 10:1, 2. “ And every
priest standeth daily ministering and oering oftentimes
the same sacrices, which can never take away sins.”
ey were always at it, clearing people of sins; every sin
committed required a fresh sacrice. is is in contrast to
Christianity, though people do not see it; for inasmuch as
Christ is sitting down, the believer, not like the Jews, has
no “ more conscience of sins.” en, as Christ is sitting
there because He has nished the work, our conscience is
perfect, not we: it is “ once “ and for all. If failure comes in,
“ we have an advocate with the Father “; but the Christian
who knows Christ’s place has “ no more conscience of
sins.” “ For by one oering he hath perfected forever them
that are sanctied,” Heb. 10:14. “Forever “ here is a specic
word, meaning continuous, not eternal, though, of course,
it is eternal. e point here is, that as Christ is always,
continuously, sitting there, my conscience is continuously
perfect, because it is the Person who bore my sins that is
sitting there. e Christian is not in his right place till he is
there-he may be on the way. “ No more conscience of sins
“-that is what I get in scripture. “ Blessed is the man unto
whom Jehovah imputeth not iniquity,” Psa. 32:2. He has
not got the blessedness, if he thinks it possible that sin can
be imputed to him. Such is the basis- that, and the Holy
Ghost coming down from heaven-of our whole Christian
place. “ Without shedding of blood is no remission,” Heb.
9:22. It does not say, “ without sprinkling of blood “ (though
the blood is sprinkled); but if anything is to be done for
sin now, you must get the blood shed. “ For then must he
All of One: Hebrews 2
57
often have suered since the foundation of the world: but
now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put
away sin by the sacrice of himself,” Heb. 9:26. If we are
believers, we are under the eect of the work of Christ that
never changes. We shall know more of its blessedness and
value, but there is no renewing of this work of Christ in
any sort.
is is only the entrance into the wilderness. He does
not bring us into the desert till we are out of Egypt; until
Christ has met God for us, we are not brought into the
desert at all. We have trials and exercises there, but it is
redemption that brings us into it; our path ows from that.
In telling of redemption in Egypt, there is not a word about
the wilderness; but when the Israelites have gone through
it, then, in Deut. 8, the wilderness is reviewed. He talks of
the forty years there. “ And thou shalt remember all the
way which Jehovah thy God led thee these forty years in
the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know
what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his
commandments or no,” Deut. 8:2. ere we nd all these
ways of God proving the heart, yet He was watching their
clothes and their feet all the time. He adds another thing-”
to do thee good at thy latter end.” Redemption was at the
beginning, Canaan at the latter end; the wilderness comes
between the two. rough the wilderness we have God with
us, and for us, not imputing anything to us, but exercising
our hearts. ese are the ways of God, the government of
God, and so on.
He begins by leading a redeemed people to God. e
force of Rom. 8:9 is, that we are in a new place: “ Ye are
not in the esh, but in the Spirit.” e esh is not your
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
58
standing or place before God at all: before God you are not
a child of Adam, but a redeemed child of God.
Heb. 2 puts the world to come in connection with
Christ. “ For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection
the world to come, whereof we speak.” We speak of a world
where Christ shall reign; that is God’s purpose, and it is
not come at all. “ What is man that thou art mindful of
him, or the son of man that thou visitest him? “ Job says the
same thing; he wonders why God takes such trouble about
him. “ What is man that thou shouldest magnify him, and
that thou shouldest set thine heart upon him? and that
thou shouldest visit him every morning, and try him every
moment? How long wilt thou not depart from me, and
let me alone till I swallow down my spittle? “ Job 7:17-19.
Here is the answer: “ ou madest him a little lower than
the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honor, and
didst set him over the works of thine hands. But now we
see not yet all things put under him, but we see Jesus, who
was made a little lower than the angels, for the suering of
death crowned with glory and honor.” Christ, who is the
Man of God’s counsels to be over all things, is now sitting
at the right hand of God, “ expecting till his enemies be
made his footstool.” He has accomplished redemption, and
gone to the right hand of God as Man, and He is sitting
there till the time comes when He shall take His great
power, and reign. All things are not put under Him yet, but
He is crowned with glory and honor.
In Psa. 2 you nd Christ spoken of as come to this
world, and rejected, and then it goes on to say, “ He that
sitteth in the heavens shall laugh, Jehovah shall have them
in derision. Yet have I set my King upon my holy hill of
Zion.” In that character as King in Zion, and Son of God,
All of One: Hebrews 2
59
as born into this world, He was utterly rejected; yet God
will set Him on His holy hill in Zion. Psa. 8 tells us what
He will be when He is rejected.
To show how in scripture all hangs together, when
Nathanael owns Him as Son of God and King of Israel
according to Psa. 2, the Lord answers, “ Verily, verily, I say
unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels
of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man,”
John 1:51. Psa. 8 comes in, and we see the highest creatures
subject to the Son of man. He was Son of God and King
of Zion (Son of God, even as born into this world). It was
all right for Nathanael to own Him as such, but that is not
going to be now; so He speaks of Himself as Son of man.
In Psa. 8 you get the purpose of God; the Son of man is to
be set over all the works of His hands. We do not see the
works set under Him yet, but we see Him crowned with
glory and honor; half the psalm has been fullled, but not
the other half. He is waiting, and we wait; meanwhile we
have the wilderness, where we have to learn ourselves and
God, because we are redeemed.
erefore, to show the perfect completeness of Christ’s
work, He could take the thief straight to paradise. e thief
was looking to share in the glory when Christ came: “ Lord,
remember me when thou comest in thy kingdom,” Luke
23:42. ‘ Oh,’ says the Lord, you shall not wait for that.’
“ Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with
me in paradise.” Luke 23:43. It is more blessed to wait up
there, than to wait down here: “ To depart, and to be with
Christ, which is far better,” Phil. 1:23. e apostle says, I do
not know which to choose, but if I am beheaded, I can do
no more work for Christ: it is better for you that I should
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
60
remain-so I shall remain. He decided his own course; it
was Christ who settled those things, not Nero.
As regards acceptance, it is a settled thing. Giving “
thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be
partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light,” Col.
1:12. Even in Colossians you get them passed through the
desert. “ You are reconciled, but you must hold fast to the
end.” Whenever a saint is looked at as going through the
wilderness, you get “ ifs,” only with a promise that He will
keep us, but we have to be kept. Why is it said that no man
is able to pluck the sheep out of Christ’s hand? Because,
if He were not there, they would be plucked. “ e wolf
catcheth them “; this is the same word. e wolf may come,
and scatter the sheep-that he has done; “ but,” says Christ,
“ not out of my hand.”
Now see where in the chapter before us we come in. “
For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom
are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make
the captain of their salvation perfect through suerings.
For both he that sanctieth, and they who are sanctied,
are all of one.” ere is never such a thing in scripture as
the thought of Christ being united to men by incarnation.
“ He that sanctieth, and they who are sanctied, are all of
one.” Here we have that blessed truth which is at the root
of all these thoughts and purposes of God, but you never
get this without His personal pre-eminence; you will never
nd His personal glory compromised. As another has said,
‘ He never speaks to His disciples of our Father ‘; but He
has brought us into His place as Man. “ All of one,” all one
set, kind, and state- an abstract expression. Adam was the
head of the mischief; he and his descendants were all of
one: now “ He that
All of One: Hebrews 2
61
sanctieth, and they who are sanctied, are all of one,
for
which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren.”
In wonderful grace He takes us into union with Himself-”
My brethren.” ere we come in, and we come into the
desert. Christ has gone through the desert before us, that
He might understand what we have to go through.
ere are four reasons why He became man:
1. Because of what becomes God;
2. What was necessary as to Satan;
3. en as to our sins; and
4. As to His sympathy with us.
e glory of God required it; therefore, if Christ took up
our cause, then God had to treat Him accordingly. If God
had cut o Adam and Eve, it would have been righteous,
but there would have been no love in it: if He had passed
over all, there would have been no righteousness. In the
cross God’s majesty was made good as nowhere else.
Christ there perfectly glories God as to His majesty, His
righteousness against sin, His love, and His truth: all that
is in God was perfectly gloried in the cross; therefore
the Man that did it is in glory. at is the righteousness
of God. He has set Christ at His right hand: the Person
that glories God goes, as the only adequate measure of
His work, into glory. “ For it became him for whom are all
things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons
unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect
through suerings.” e consequence is (that being the
grand basis of all), “ For both he that sanctieth, and they
who are sanctied, are all of one; for which cause he is not
ashamed to call them brethren.”
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
62
en I get Satan in view (we had God in view before):
“ at through death he might destroy him that had the
power of death, that is, the devil.” It was through death
that Satan exercised all his power; He committed Himself
wholly to that, and in the resurrection of Christ all Satan’s
power was over- that is, it is Christ’s work that annuls it.
e next reason was for our sins: “ To make reconciliation
(or, atone) for the sins of the people.” We have got God
gloried, Satan destroyed in his power over us, sins-those
of all believers I mean-gone. All that is not wilderness
work, it is accomplished work. God is gloried; Satan’s
power destroyed: our sins all borne: that is all done-if it is
not, it never can be.
en comes the wilderness. erefore He has not only
made “ reconciliation “ or propitiation “ for the sins of the
people,” but He has “ suered, being tempted,” that He
may be “ able to succor them that are tempted.” is is the
fourth reason why He became man. He has gone through
every trial, everything that could hinder or be opposed to
Him; He has gone through ten thousand times more than
we can do. “ He is able to succor them that are tempted “;
He has experimental knowledge.
ere are two kinds of temptation. Look at James 1:2:
“ My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers
temptations “; this means trials in fact. Lower down, at verse
14, you will nd quite another kind of thing: “ But every
man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust, and
enticed.” is is what is in my own heart. If we confound
the two kinds of temptation, we either put Christ into this
evil condition, which would be horrible blasphemy, or we
take away the bad kind of temptation from ourselves. at
is the reason it is said, “ but was in all points tempted like as
All of One: Hebrews 2
63
we are, except sin,” Heb. 4:13. We are tempted by all trials
from without, and by sin within. He was tempted by all, sin
excepted. I get by redemption into this totally new place,
but I am waiting for the redemption of the body. I am in
spirit in heavenly places with Christ; my body is not there
yet, it belongs to the old creation; I belong to the new.
In Numbers we get, consequently, the red heifer, the
provision for the wilderness, which is not among the
sacrices in Leviticus. If you touch death, you want your
feet washed. e ashes of the heifer came in for restoring
communion, when they had lost it in going through the
wilderness. We have an immensity to learn about ourselves,
and about God too: we have been left down here, being
redeemed, to know ourselves and God, in His own faithful
blessed ways with us.
In Joshua, circumcision comes in (when there was
circumcision before, they simply followed their fathers);
as merely redeemed in the wilderness, they were not
circumcised. It is a dierent thing to say, “ I am safe, and
my sins are gone,” from saying, “ I am dead to the world.” It
is only as sitting in heavenly places that I do not belong to
the world at all. In Ephesians only we have God’s purpose
completely; and there, consequently, we have Christ raised
from the dead, and seated in heavenly places; while we are
with Him there, and there only, we have conict properly.
We get the three things” Ye are dead,” “ Set your aections
on things above, not on things on the earth,” Col. 3. We
have not got there yet. In Rom. 6 faith is told to reckon self
as dead, and in 2Cor. 4 we get the carrying it out in practice:
“Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord
Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest
in our body. For we which live are always delivered unto
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
64
death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be
made manifest in our mortal esh. So then death worketh
in us, but life in you,” 2Cor. 4:10-12. ey were so bona
de realizing this death, that nothing but the life of Christ
comes out in them.
“ We which live are always delivered unto death for
Jesus’ sake,” Paul could say: he was really carrying it out.
When God puts him right in the face of death (2Cor. 1:8),
he could say, “ You are killing a dead man.” “ But we had the
sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in
ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead.”
I do not know that I could quite say that in Hebrews we
are walking down here, while Christ is up there. Hebrews
gives us the desert rather than the Jordan. Deliverance
has nothing to do with sins, but with sin working in the
believer. en I get, not forgiveness or justication, but
deliverance from sin. “ For when we were in the esh,
the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in
our members to bring forth fruit unto death,” Rom. 7:5. “
But ye are not in the esh, but in the Spirit,” Rom. 8:9. “
Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty “ (2Cor.
3:17)-liberty with God, and liberty from the power of sin.
e way you get it is in having died with Christ. When I
rejoice in forgiveness through the work of Christ, then I
am sealed with the Spirit; and this makes me know I have
died with Christ, and am risen with Him. We get there,
in Rom. 4:25, “ who was delivered for our oenses, and
raised again for our justication “; and in Rom. 8:1, “ ere
is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in
Christ Jesus “; this is a new place. Could you charge Christ,
who is on high, with sin? You cannot separate “ the law of
the Spirit of life “ from the Spirit in Rom. 8 “ For what the
All of One: Hebrews 2
65
law could not do, in that it was weak through the esh,
God, sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful esh,
and for sin, condemned sin in the esh,” Rom. 8:3. Where
was the condemnation? In the cross. He did condemn sin
in the esh; when Christ was there for sin. is goes with it,
that, when it was condemned, it died there; that is all right-
then I am dead. Death and condemnation came together;
Christ took the condemnation, and I got the death. “ For I
through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto
God,” Gal. 2:19. I have got now not only that Christ lives
in me, but that I have a title to reckon myself dead because
I died with Him. ere is a great dierence to note between
guilt and nature. at state of which I have spoken is the
consequence of the Spirit of God dwelling in us, not of
our being converted merely. “ If Christ be in you, the body
is dead because of sin,” Rom. 8:10. If I let the body live in
that moral sense, it is all sin. Suppose a person was lying
dead on the oor, could you charge him with evil lusts and
a wicked will? He is dead. We are dead by faith, though not
in fact, and we have a new life in Christ. “ Ye are not in the
esh, but in the Spirit.”
“ No more conscience of sins “ would be true if the
believer were falling into sin; which makes it ten thousand
times worse. None but a purged conscience can ever be a
bad conscience.
e priesthood of Christ in Hebrews is never for sins,
except where He oered Himself on the cross. It does
people a great deal of mischief to think of Christ as a
Priest for sins. I get in John another thing: “ If any man
sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the
righteous,” 1John 3:1. If there is even an idle thought, you
have lost communion with the Father and the Son; but
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
66
then you have Christ as the Advocate on high. “ And he is
the propitiation for our sins,”
John 2:2. He acts as Advocate, and the soul is restored
as to its state; the conscience is purged, and we are brought
into the light, as God is in the light. As long as there is
a question of guilt, I cannot go to God; I cannot have
boldness; therefore I do not get into the place where
holiness is unfolded, and where there is the Advocate. “
e blood of Jesus. Christ his Son cleanseth us from all
sin,” 1John 1:7. is is an abstract statement; John always
gives us abstract truth. “ We know that whosoever is born
of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth
himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not “ (1John
5:10)-he has nothing for the new nature.
We are in the light as God is in the light: if I cannot
stand before God, where the light is, I must be o. What is
the consequence of being in the light? Fellowship one with
another. Divine things are totally distinct from human
things. We must have mine and yours down here; if I give
you this book, I have it no longer; but if I enjoy fellowship
with God, do I lose by bringing you into it? ere common
joy and common blessing characterize the Christian state;
and you are always perfect because you are there in virtue
of the blood that cleanses from all sin.
We have these three things: 1. We are in the light, as
God is in the light. 2. We have fellowship with the Father
and the Son, and with one another. 3. “ e blood of Jesus
Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” is is an abstract
statement, as if I should say, “ Quinine cures the ague.”
Propitiation in John is in no sense a present thing: it is
all nished. e blood was on the mercy-seat for a year;
now it is with us for eternity: that is what I get in Hebrews.
All of One: Hebrews 2
67
Rom. 7 is not Christian state at all; it is no proper
conict, for I am there a captive to the law of sin and death.
In Rom. 7 you never nd a man doing right; neither Christ
nor the Holy Ghost is mentioned until you reach the end: “
I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” e moment
I am in chapter 8, it is all about Christ: conict begins then
in one.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
68
63038
What Is Man? Hebrews 2:5-
18
A wonderful inquiry this is, which is quoted from Psa.
8 “ What is man that thou art mindful of him? “ It is an
inquiry founded upon his nothingness in himself, but
bringing out, in God’s answer to it, all His own counsels
in Christ. “ What is man that thou art mindful of him? “
Such is his littleness; yet, when it comes to be answered
not according to what man is but in the counsels of God,
we nd him to be the one in whom all the wisdom of God
is displayed. Nor is it the display of power merely-creation
shows that-but all those qualities in God where His nature
comes out, which are more than attributes. Power can say
a word, and the thing is done: very wonderful, of course;
but there is a great deal more than this. Man is the one in
whom angels have to learn what God is in His ways and
counsels, for the simple reason that the Word of God was
in those counsels to become a man-that He who created
angels does not take up angels, but takes up man.
us necessarily all the ways and qualities of God (I
use these words as distinct from mere attributes, such as of
power, and the like), His holiness, love, and righteousness,
all these come out in man; because they were associated
with the Lord Jesus Christ. It is this that gives man such
a wonderful position. And then it is not like the angels-
glorious creatures, but preserved by the power of God
unfallen, while that shows His ways in this respect, His
power to do so, if He please. But men are taken up when
What Is Man? Hebrews 2:5-18
69
they are sinners to display the glory of God in them; and
this is another matter. ings that are in the highest (a
revelation of the character of God) do not come out in
angels. No doubt angels in a certain way want mercy; no
creature can even stand without being sustained. is is
quite true, as I am sure we all know; but they do not want
redemption, and as regards grace, mercy, love, all these come
out in man. As Paul says, “ We are a spectacle to the world,
to angels, and to men.” In carrying all this out, we have
the special testimony of the responsibility of man as an
unfallen creature, one who was made in the image of God,
which is never said of angels; but in that, when he did fall,
we nd grace and power coming in and connecting him
with the Creator Himself, so that Christ is not ashamed to
call them brethren.
is is what is brought out so wonderfully by the
question” What is man “ It was a testimony to man’s
lowliness, taking him in himself, crushed; but the moment
we have the thoughts of God (v. 7-9), this puts us in a
wonderful place. Angels excel us in glory and strength; but
they are not said to be in the image of God, and there
never was any being set up to be the center of an immense
system that was to turn round himself, till man was (Adam,
of course, I mean); but this is fallen now, and every one
is seeking to be a center for himself. e whole system
therefore is under the bondage of corruption now. But in
the Lord Jesus man will be the center of everything that
God created. He has put under the Lord all the works of
His hands; yet when He said “ all things,” it is manifest that
He is excepted who put all things under Him: God alone
is the one exception. e statement of the exception proves
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
70
that all else is put under Him. But man in the Person of
Christ is Lord of all.
us the lordship of Christ over everything is not only
dominion, but this in a Redeemer, in One who keeps it
safe, One who descended rst into the lower parts of the
earth, to death, but who descended that He might ascend
up far above all heavens and ll all things. But He lls all
things in the power of the redemption He brought out.
God will gather together in one all things which are in
heaven and which are on earth in Him, even in Christ.
ey were created by Him and for Him, but while presently
He becomes Head, He does not take them until He can
take them as Man. And then too what is brought in is that
we are heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ; as He
says again in John 17, “ e glory which thou gavest me I
have given them, that they may be one even as we are one.”
ese are to come in, though, of course, He is the rstborn
amongst many brethren. He brings us in every respect into
the relationship in which He stands Himself as Man. Son
Himself, He makes us sons, and He takes His place in
resurrection that it may be made ours: for He tells us, “ I go
to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”
en there is another thing to weigh that is so
wonderful- it is all by redemption. How could He take
sinners and put them in such a place with Himself? Not
as sinners; and so He comes down where the sinners are,
and puts Himself (sinless, of course) in their place: and in
this I learn where I am. “ If one died for all, then were all
dead.” God “ made him to be sin for us.” He came down
to the place of death and judgment, passing through all
the toil and diculty of this world as we do, but perfect
in it all, that He might take our hearts up where He is,
What Is Man? Hebrews 2:5-18
71
giving a title by redemption and a condition by grace in
which we could be associated with Him as the rstborn
among many brethren. It is not merely the fact that I am
saved, which is true; but He has associated Himself with
us down here, in order that He might take up our hearts
there by the love He has brought down into them- up into
the very place where He is gone, making all the Father’s
love known to us; for the word is “ ou hast loved them
as thou hast loved me.” It is not only that I have a place in
glory in consequence; but Christ is come for the purpose of
associating us with Himself in heart and spirit and mind,
so that He should not be ashamed to call us brethren. He
might well be ashamed if He took us as we are.
We see the various characters of the way God brought
Him through, and He could say Himself, “ Now is the Son
of man gloried, and God is gloried in him.” He was in
Himself a sweet savor to God, beyond the putting away
of our sins. In this chapter are given the various grounds
upon which He had to go through this place of sorrow
in order that we might have this blessing with Him. “ It
became him in bringing many sons unto glory to make the
captain of their salvation perfect through suerings.” e
truth upon which it is all founded is this-the great original
truth-that He was rejoicing in the habitable parts of God’s
earth; that is, Christ Himself was wisdom in Prov. 8, and
“ his delights were with the sons of men.” us Christ is
the wisdom of God, and He was God’s delight from all
eternity. “ I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before
him.” ere I get the link formed with the eternal objects
of the Father’s delight. Where did His delight go out?
Into the habitable parts of the earth before even they were
made. “ I was by him as one brought up with him “; but if
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
72
we look where His heart went out, it was into the habitable
parts of the earth and with the sons of men.
Also in due time He became a man: that is the source
and foundation of it all to us. He took up the seed of
Abraham, who are the heirs of faith. en comes the
purpose and plan, His gathering together in one all things
which are in heaven and earth put under His hand as Man.
e ground given in Heb. 1 is that He is Son; in Col. 1 it
is that He created them; and in Psa. 8, Eph. 1, as well as
Col. 1, it is that all things are put under Him according to
God’s counsels and plan. As Son, as Creator, and according
to God’s counsels, He takes all. “ To the angels hath he not
put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak “;
but “ thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet.” “
But now we see not yet all things put under him.”
Such is the purpose and intention of God. ere comes
in the additional notice that “ we see not yet all things put
under him.” ere is only half of the Psalm fullled. He
is crowned with glory and honor; but we see not yet the
things put under His feet, for He is waiting for His joint-
heirs. e time now is the gathering by the gospel the joint-
heirs, that He may take His power and reign. As Paul says,
“ I would to God ye did reign, that we also might reign
with you.” ere was another set of promises belonging to
this earth, and this we get in Psa. 2, where God sets His
king in Zion, and says, “ Ask of me, and I will give thee
the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts
of the earth for thy possession.” is will be “ the world to
come “; but it is not the higher position of Him who is to
have the world to come; and therefore in that connection
we read of Christ’s rejection, “ Why do the heathen rage,
and the people imagine a vain thing? e kings of the earth
What Is Man? Hebrews 2:5-18
73
set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together against
Jehovah and against his anointed “-the very passage Peter
quotes in Acts 4.
But, being rejected, Christ takes another place-on the
Father’s throne, where He now is: He is not on His own
throne yet, but as He says, “ to him that overcometh will I
give to sit with me upon my throne, even as I also overcame
and am set down with my Father upon his throne.” He sits
as Man at the right hand of God, not having taken His own
throne; and this He does not take until the joint-heirs are
ready: Psa. 8 comes in (v. 6-9). Nathanael owned Him as
Son of God and king of Israel; but to him our Lord replied:
“ ou shalt see greater things than these. Henceforth [so
it should be] ye shall see heaven opened and the angels of
God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.” It
is a small thing, My title in Israel; but you shall see Psa. 8
fullled. He was rejected as the king of Zion, but He was
cast out of the world that God’s righteousness might be
accomplished; and He was answered according to the value
and virtue of what He had done in God’s setting Him at
His own right hand; and so it is said, “ Sit at my right hand
until I make thine enemies thy footstool.” is has not yet
come; and therefore we must suer with Him, because His
enemies are not made His footstool. e world is round us,
and Satan is not bound, and everything has been spoiled
that God set up good; and so it will be until Satan is
bound. So that plainly Christ is sitting at the right hand
of God, not having taken His own throne, but with title
over everything, not only as Creator but in redemption,
having rst descended into the lower parts of the earth; I
say, with title over all things, but having taken none, with
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
74
His enemies still in power and to rise up more dreadful
than ever; and then all will be put down.
Now here it is that people are so deceiving themselves-
Christians too. ey are trying to improve man and
improve the world. Why, He was in the world and could
not improve it; but Christians are going to try! is is
the folly of even real Christians: when Christ has been
rejected by the world, they would make it all right! But it
is only the time for gathering those who are to be Christ’s
companions. Of course light does improve the world in
one sense: men are ashamed to do in the light what they
would do in the dark. But this is all. ey are themselves
the same, not better.
Now we nd this blessed One, of whom Adam was
a gure, going to be center of all things, though not yet.
We nd Him made a little lower than the angels, for the
suering of death crowned with glory and honor. en
we nd the next point-the way in which He was bringing
others into full association of heart with Himself. All the
glory was His; but He does not go and take His place at
the right hand of God as Man until He has accomplished
redemption, tasted death, gone down to the lowest place and
condition to which man can go. I speak now of suerings
rather than atonement, though this is in the chapter. But
He tastes death. He goes down to that in which the curse
was expressed on the rst man, and a great deal more, as we
shall see. But it is here the great and blessed testimony to
the way in which He took man up to glory. He came into
the world and left it to go to the Father, but not by the aid
of twelve legions of angels; but He as man goes through
where we are, on His way as man to glory. I speak of the
road He took. He tasted death. e great general fact is
What Is Man? Hebrews 2:5-18
75
that He who created everything, and who is now sitting
at the right hand of God, did not take that place until He
had gone down to the lowest place, down to death: and
this without speaking of atonement. Two things are there:
the fact of the death and the life spent where hatred and
death reigned. He came to destroy Satan’s power; He came
to glorify God; He came to be able to sympathize with
every trial and diculty and sorrow of my heart while
trying to walk rightly. ere are therefore objects: the
glory of God, the propitiation for sin, the overcoming the
power of Satan, and the entering into all our sorrows. is
is what He does as Priest. He is touched with the feeling
of our inrmities. We see Him, “ Who was made a little
lower than the angels for the suering of death, crowned
with glory and honor.” “ It became him [that is, God] in
bringing many sons unto glory to make the captain of
their salvation perfect through suering.” He was perfect
Himself. He came from God, and went to God, and still
was the Son of man who is in heaven; but He had come to
obey, to serve us, and bring us there also; and if this were
the case, He must take the consequences. e moment our
blessed Lord had undertaken our cause, it became God to
deal with Him according to the place He had taken.
e majesty and righteousness of God must be
maintained, and none could have vindicated them but
Christ: there never could have been security for God’s
glory otherwise. It became Him to make the captain of
their salvation perfect through suerings-” perfect,” that is,
in the full result of glory-to bring Him into the state of a
gloried Man if He would bring sons to glory. In Himself
He was the perfect One; He always is in the bosom of the
Father; and all that He did was the Father’s delight; so
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
76
that, if I may reverentially use the expression, the Father
could not be silent, but opens the heavens and says, “ is
is my beloved Son.” But in the Epistle to the Hebrews, it
is a question of the majesty of God, and we do not nd “
Father.”
Hence, if Christ takes up these sinners, He must take
the consequences of taking them up. God’s glory must be
maintained. If He was to clear us from our sins, He must
deal with God about them and be made sin-He must die. It
was His own blessed grace to do it, but through the eternal
Spirit He oered Himself without spot to God. It is not
spoken of here as clearing us, but as called for by God’s
glory; and the more we look at the cross, the more we shall
see God could not be gloried any other way. If He had cut
o -all men as sinners, there would have been no love in
it; but the moment Christ gives Himself up for the glory
of God, there is perfect dealing with sin in righteousness
and perfect dealing with the sinner in love-innite love in
the sacrice for sin, and innite righteousness. Of course,
all this is in God’s nature; only it is here displayed, so
that there is nothing like the cross. Nobody in what he is
himself could be there in the glory with Christ. erein is
expressed all that God is, every character of His, and Christ
giving Himself up in perfect love to His Father, in love to
us, and in obedience to God. He was a man of sorrows
and acquainted with grief, but He is made perfect through
suerings; He goes through the eect and consequence of
having taken up our case, so that He could say, “ Now is
the Son of man gloried and God is gloried in him.” He
has that place, is a gloried Man now, and will be displayed
in glory when He comes again. God would straightway
glorify Him. Only faith sees this. e world will be judged
What Is Man? Hebrews 2:5-18
77
when He comes again; but faith sees it now and sees it
at once, not when displayed in judgment. As He gloried
God perfectly on the cross, so He is gone as Man into the
glory of God. It became God to deal with Him thus. And
what a thought it gives to the depth of the place Christ was
in, that in the depth of the place among sinners He was
making good the glory of God! It was amongst sinners, yet
He was the sinless One.
e rst ground laid here is that “ it became him, for
whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing
many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation
perfect through suerings. For both he that sanctieth and
they who are sanctied are all of one: for which cause he
is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, I will declare
thy name unto my brethren; in the midst of the church
will I sing praises unto thee. And again, I will put my trust
in him. And again, Behold I and the children which God
hath given me,” Heb. 2:10-13. Now we nd the association
of His people with Himself-He that sanctieth and they
that are sanctied. It is not simply the fact of incarnation,
but this in resurrection. ey are “all of one” after His
death; for He was heard from the horns of the unicorn. He
declares His name after He has accomplished redemption.
He had said, “ Behold my mother and my brethren “ in a
vague way: but now He calls them His brethren and not
before. “ I ascend to • my Father and your Father, and to
my God and your God.” is name is expressly declared
after redemption was accomplished. ese then are His
brethren, made “ all of one “ with Him. Here we have it in
a poor earthen vessel; but it is so. ose who are His own
are all of one before God, they are Christ’s brethren, and
they are entirely and forever associated with Himself, they
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
78
the redeemed, and He the redeemer; we the recipients, and
He the exerciser of the grace, it is quite true; but this is
what is done.
We are “ all of one.” e more it is looked at, the more
striking it will be seen to be. All through the life of Christ
He does not once say, “ My God.” He lived in the perfect
relationship He was in, and says, “ My Father “; but on the
cross, when He was drinking the cup of wrath, He says, “ My
God.” is was His perfectness; it was not the expression of
relationship: but it was the expression of innite suering,
and of innite claim. But when this was accomplished, so
that we could be brought in, He uses both names; and on
those names of God our whole blessing rests. If we look at
God as He is, we can delight in that name; for we are made
partakers of His holiness. We are made the righteousness
of God in Christ; of course, we are so suited to God; while
we have also the blessed relationship of sons, and say, each
of us, He is my Father too. And so we read in Eph. 1:3, “
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ “ has blessed
us. Of course Christ is a Man, and so God is His God;
and because He is His Son, God is His Father. Grace has
brought us perfectly to God, and this is the blessedness
which is wrought for us. en the whole place is perfectly
settled.
I do not say we may not have trembling faith in our
hearts; but the place is settled-” my God and your God.”
We have not the full results of it all yet, but the grace which
gives. us the full consciousness of it. In three ways we have
it. If I take John 1 say, Christ is in me, and I in Him; if
I take Paul, I say I am a member of Christ’s body; but if
I take the question of coming to God, which the Epistle
to the Hebrews treats of, I can go into the holiest. I do
What Is Man? Hebrews 2:5-18
79
not call this priesthood; but it is the place where we go
through redemption. And it is important to understand
this, because it is often used as if priesthood was to bring
us there, and therefore persons go to the priest. Surely He
will hear them in His mercy, though they are wrong. But it
is not right: we are there, accepted in the Beloved. By one
oering He has perfected forever them that are sanctied.
But is this all? It is not all the truth. Did not Christ live
on earth? Was He not perfect on earth? Are you living on
earth? Are you perfect on earth? at is another story. It is
not all the truth to say, “ I am in Christ before God “; it is
the foundation of all, but it is not all the truth of what is
passing in your hearts. Have you not diculties? Do you
not nd you give way sometimes through want of faith?
is is not suited to heaven: the more you consciously
belong to heaven, the more unsuited you feel it to be. And
God deals with this. It is a tremendous mistake to think
that, because I have a place in heaven with Christ, God is
not concerned in my path down here. In this respect I am
present in the body and absent from the Lord; and God
deals with us in this condition. He brings practical death
on all that is in us (on the esh I mean), and not only where
there is failure (this is met rather in 1John 2). And in all
the weakness here, I have the blessed sympathy of Christ
with my heart in all I am passing through, where I need
help, and He obtains help for me. I am before a throne of
grace, and there is righteousness truly-grace reigns through
righteousness. But what is the condence I have? “ If we
ask anything according to his will, he heareth us; and if
we know that he heareth us, we know that we have the
petitions we desired of him.” I am talking to God, and
getting answers from God.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
80
is is not perfection. Certainly if there were not
perfection, I could not go on; but now, mark, it continues, “
seeing we have a great high priest “ (Heb. 4: 14-17); and so
I go boldly and nd grace. I have standing there a witness
of righteousness and propitiation. He is there; and this
because He is both these. en in 1John 2, “ If any man
sin, we have,” etc. He is my righteousness, and all this is
settled: if not, I should have the sin imputed to me. But I
stand in Him as my righteousness before God; and He is
there according to the value of His propitiation; and if I
fail, He there has taken up my cause. Grace comes to deal
with my heart and spirit and restore me, my righteousness
never being touched. It is because my righteousness can
never be touched at all, that I go on. is is not my highest
place, but to be members of His body, of His esh and
of His bones-in one word, to be in Christ; but it is the
highest character of His grace now to help us when we
are in weakness and inrmity. If God has commended His
love towards us, it is when we were sinners, but I learn it all
in joy in God. He loved me when there was nothing in me
to love; and the grand testimony of absolutely divine love
is that God loved sinners. So the grace of Christ to me is
not my highest place; but it is the highest place of Christ.
It makes me little and Christ great. To be put into Christ
makes me great; to nd Christ going the same path as
myself that He may understand every feeling I have makes
His grace great. And this is most precious.
e next point is-” I will put my trust in him.” He
passed through the whole scene, it was part of His
perfection, dependent on His Father; when going to
appoint the twelve, He prayed all night, and so on. en
we see Christ treading this path of opposition and insult;
What Is Man? Hebrews 2:5-18
81
and we know that we have not one who cannot be touched
with the feelings of our inrmities. But in my inrmity, as
Paul says, I can glory that Christ’s power may rest on me.
You know what the Lord does there-He sends a thorn in
the esh, a messenger of Satan to buet him: but He says
“ my grace is sucient for thee.” He answers, deals with
him, understands him; and this is all he wants. It was the
humble weak place of the believer, but the constant and
touching exercise of Christ’s grace towards him.
Another reason why Christ took this low place (not
part of priesthood exactly, though the priest took it) was
to annul the power of Satan-in order to be able to die and
destroy Satan, that is, his power. First, it became God to
lead Christ through this path in regard to His own glory;
then Christ was there putting His trust in Him while
going through it. en He destroys Satan’s power. And
next we come to the more proper and immediate exercise
of priesthood, and He says, “ For verily he took not on him
the nature of angels,” etc. (v. 16-18).
First, the children were partakers of esh and blood in
trial and diculty (it does not say sin, though they might
sin). He calls them His brethren, and sings in the midst of
the church. ink what it is!-not, you may sing now, for
I have accomplished redemption, though this is true; but
I will sing! Christ leads our praises; He has associated us
with Himself now that He takes up all our thoughts and
feelings. It is praise for redemption, but it is every thought
and feeling I can express to God. For He is a Man; He
knows what it is, as none of us ever will know, to bear God’s
wrath. It is over; it is gone for Him on the cross; and it is
gone for us by His having taken it. When risen, He declares
the Father’s name to His brethren, and leads their praises.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
82
It is from below the praises go up, founded on redemption
and atonement; but the expression of every thought and
feeling that can be in my heart, as an exercised man down
here, goes up in praise. Christ has gone through all this,
enters into it all, and sings in the midst of the church-a
gurative expression, but true. at is, He is the Person
who leads every feeling and thought of exercised persons,
because He has gone through it all.
And when it comes to the accomplishment of the way,
it is the same thing, “ in that he himself hath suered
being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted.”
He understands it. It is not a question of perfectness or
acceptance before God, but the heart of the Lord entering
into every trial and diculty I have. As He might ask, “ Do
you think I was not tempted and have not gone through
sorrow? “ He could say, “ Now is my soul troubled: and what
shall I say? “ ere was the constant passing through this
world with all that is in it. And there He is understanding
every thought of the exercises through which we pass
as belonging to God. He belonged to God, and as such
was made perfect through suerings; and if we belong to
God according to His acceptance, we must pass through
suerings. It is in this respect He can help us. He succors
them that are tempted. ere is the link of our weakness
and dependence and exercises and trials we go through
here. ey have an echo in Christ’s heart and are a link
between our hearts and His.
It is not a question of righteousness, but belongs to
the righteous. at is the dierence. It is not the question
of sin, but it is having our whole heart, as a man’s down
here, brought into the tune and tone of Christ’s feelings,
who went through it here that He might call our hearts
What Is Man? Hebrews 2:5-18
83
into the current of His own. He is a merciful and faithful
High Priest. It was a strictly priestly act: the high priest
did it. It was not the going between the people and God
at all. He was victim as well as High Priest. But Christ
did not exercise His priesthood on earth, for if He were
on earth He could not be a priest; but the people must
have a ground on which they could stand in such a place.
Christ made propitiation before beginning His ordinary
exercises of Priest. He stood as representative of the people.
Christ was both. ere is this blessed truth in it. ere is
the perfectness of the work, but the full confession of the
sin. Christ was owning all my sins upon the cross. He was
the victim and scapegoat that bears them; but as the high
priest He confesses them. And so He charges Himself
with them all, the basis of all the rest. “ He is able also to
save to the uttermost them that come unto God by him
“-not only scapegoat, but this thought too (and that even
of Christ as man), that He it is that confesses all my sins.
He is scapegoat as well as high priest.
en I learn that He suered, being tempted. at is
not atonement; it was part of His trial, and it enabled Him
to succor them that are tempted. It is not atonement but
succoring. And, I repeat, though God does not make an
oender for a word if the heart is right, it is not that we
go to Christ, but Christ goes to God for us, and we go to
God by Him. e Spirit of God groans in us. e word
“Advocate “ is the same as Comforter. e Holy Ghost
carries on in divine sympathies, as dwelling in us, and
takes up all our sorrows; while Christ takes them up for
me in the presence of God, and the eect of this is that
the blessing comes down on my soul by the Holy Ghost.
In this connection it is said, “ He is able to save to the
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
84
uttermost “-unto the end. He is talking of all this, of our
going through the wilderness. It is not union that we nd
spoken of here in the wilderness, but exercises and trials.
Christ enters into all these, and there is grace to help in
time of need. His death has perfected us for God; His life
carries us on with God until we reach Him. He ever lives
for this; and in this we have a blessed consciousness of our
weakness, and quite right too; so that with the weakness
we look to One and lean on One who can be touched with
the feeling of our inrmities.
Do you believe that this is Christ’s heart now? I do
not believe it has its place until we have righteousness,
for it is a mistake to think that we go by the priest to get
righteousness. Christ is there, and, believing in Him, we
are made the righteousness of God in Him. But this leaves
us free, in perfect acceptance with God in Christ, to learn
all that He is by the way. God is thinking of us too in
His own heart; and we have a Man sitting at His right
hand touched with the feeling of our inrmities, One who
takes every sorrow, weakness, and diculty, as the occasion
of ministering grace bringing us into the presence of His
faithful love. It is not mere righteousness; it is a Christ I
can trust. And I admit, and press it too, that it is not our
highest place; but it is blessed, precious, perfect grace that
we learn. My weakness makes me insist on what the grace
and tenderness of Christ are. By Him I am perfect before
God; but while I am absent from Him, I never lose the
exercise of His heart for me before God to secure for me
grace and strength. is carries our souls on with Him. I
would have you feel that it is a low place, but it is true. It is
your weakness and your inrmity, and it may be a thorn in
the esh; but it is to put you in the place where the grace
What Is Man? Hebrews 2:5-18
85
of Christ can meet you, and His strength be made perfect
in your weakness. It is a great thing to learn the constant
exercise of grace, as it is our highest duty to show the life
of Christ; but it is the daily exercise of Christ’s grace that
obtains for us grace to help in time of need. e time of
need is the time of grace. e Lord give us to know it in
power!
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
86
63039
Perfection: Hebrews 6
Nothing seemed to be a greater burden on the heart
of Paul than to keep the saints up to their privileges. e
Hebrews saw that Christ had died for them, though this
had not the power over them which it ought to have had;
but they were risen with Him also. ey were in Christ in
heavenly places within the veil, and the question was, were
they realizing that?
ere is great force in the expression he uses in chapter
5: 12, “ ye are become, such as have need of milk, and not of
strong meat.” “ Are become “ marks the process by which
they had reached the state they were in.
Freshness of aection, and quickness of understanding
go together. ere is less spring, less apprehension, less
clearness when our hearts are not happy. On the other
hand, my judgment is clear when my aections are warm.
Motives that acted before cease to be motives when my
aections are warm. Freshness of aection being lost, the
Hebrews were “ dull of hearing “; and so were “ become
such as had need of milk, and not of strong meat.” And
then the apostle explains that those who use “ milk “ are
unskillful in the word of righteousness and are babes;
while “ strong meat “ belongs to those, not who have made
great progress, but who are of full age-men in the truth in
opposition to being children or babes-and who have “ their
senses exercised to discern both good and evil.”
But how can I separate the “ knowledge of good and
evil “ from the knowledge of Christ? If I were to try to
separate between them of myself, shutting Christ out, how
Perfection: Hebrews 6
87
could I? He is my standard of good; and it is what I nd in
Him that gives me power to judge what is evil. How can I
walk as He walked without Him? “ erefore leaving the
principles of the doctrine of Christ [or, the word of the
beginning of Christ], let us go on to perfection.”
Instead of wasting your time with what has passed away,
go on to the full revelation of Christ. Be at home there, and
understanding what the will of the Lord is. For how can
I walk as He walked without Him? I know not how to
attempt it. e secret of everything is found in that truth, “
Ye are complete in him.” As Christ Himself also has said, “
At that day ye shall know that I am in the Father, and ye in
me.” But what is that? and where is Christ now? In heaven.
en I am there too, and my aections should be there
also. My hope is to be thoroughly identied with Him. For
the portion I have is what He has-life, glory, all that He has
risen to-and all my associations are with Himself. ere is
the dierence between “ the principles of the doctrine of
Christ “ and the full perfection. Of Christ Himself it is said
(chap. 5: 9), “ Being made perfect, he became the author of
eternal salvation to all them that obey him.”
Now He was not made perfect down here, but in being
gloried in heaven. He went through the experience down
here; as it is said, “ He learned obedience by the things
which he suered,” and then went into heaven to be Priest,
because our blessings and associations and hopes are all up
there. He is “ made perfect “ as our High Priest in heaven
and not down here. He had not reached that point in the
counsels of God in glory, when He was down here. Now
He is there He has associated me with Himself in that
place. I can see that Christ has been through this world so
as to be able to sympathize with me in all my sorrows and
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
88
all my trials; and He has also borne my sins in His own
body on the tree. But where is He now? He is in heaven;
and I am there too in spirit, and He will soon bring me
there in fact. Where He is, is His being “ made perfect.”
e work is done, and now He is showing me the eect of
its being done; and is teaching me the walk that belongs
to the redemption He has wrought out. He has taken my
heart and associated me with Himself, and He says that is
the perfection I am to go on to.
Where did Paul see Christ? Not on earth; for long after
He had left the earth Paul was a persecutor; but he saw
Him, as we all know, in heavenly glory. His only knowledge
of Christ at all was of a Christ in heaven. His course on
earth he might learn; but the revelation of Christ that
brought his soul into the presence of God in the power of
an accomplished redemption, was the revelation of Christ
in heaven and in glory. Hence he says, “ ough we have
known Christ after the esh, yet now henceforth know we
him no more.” e Christ he wanted to “ win “ (as he says
in Phil. 3) was a gloried Christ. It may cost me my life,
but never mind. at is my object; after that I am reaching.
I am alive from the dead, because Christ is; and I want to
lay hold of that for which Christ has laid hold of me. I am
not in the esh, but in Christ. I have the consciousness
that this work of Christ has put me in a new place (not
yet gloried in body, but) in a new place as to my life and
associations and home; and this is the perfection we are to
go on to.
It was this that ruled the apostle’s aections, as he says,
“ that I may win Christ.” is was his object, to “ bear the
image of the heavenly.” His mind was full of it. e Holy
Ghost has come down to bring all these things to our
Perfection: Hebrews 6
89
remembrance. Believers are united to Christ in glory. It is
never said that Christ is united to man; but believers are
united to Christ. en the apostle was living by the power
of the Holy Ghost; so that one may conceive what a trial
it was to him to see these people going back to the rst
principles. ey were all true, but if people stop there they
stop short of a gloried Christ. To the Galatians he says, “
who hath bewitched you? “ speaking of himself he says, “ I
know a man in Christ.” “ A man in Christ “ is a man risen
out of all that connects itself with the law and ordinances,
as well as with sin and death, and all that is sorrowful or
attractive in this present evil world. His spirit is broken to
nd the saints resting with things on earth about Christ.
e Holy Ghost was come from heaven to make them
partakers of a heavenly calling; to associate them in heart
and mind with Christ, and to show them things which
would not only keep them from “ the evil which is in the
world,” but from the world itself.
e Hebrews had a temple standing when Paul wrote,
where Christ Himself had been. Why, then, should they
have left it, if Christ had not judged the esh, and shown
that “ they that are in the esh cannot please God “? “
e middle wall “ had been put up by God Himself; how
should they dare to break it down, if God had not done it?
If God had not said that He would not have to do with
esh any more, how could they dare to leave the camp,
and go outside? Christ gloried is the end of all the rst
principles, and we have to go through the world as strangers
and pilgrims. e only thing God ever owned in religion
was Jewish, which had to do with the esh-with men here
in the world-but that is gone by the cross. All is crucied;
“ the handwriting of ordinances “ has been blotted out-”
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
90
nailed to the cross “and thus taken out of the way; and in
a gloried Christ we see the end of all that is abolished.
Henceforth our life, our home, our associations, are all in
Christ.
But the doctrine of the beginning of Christ was not
that.
What do we nd as long as Christ was upon earth?
Why, the testimony of the law and the prophets, which
taught righteousness and called the nation to repentance
and faith. Christ Himself also speaks of a judgment to
come, which they believed. e Pharisees believed in a
resurrection of the dead. Baptisms or washings, and the
laying on of hands, they had them. ey constituted the
elements of a worldly religion, and were sanctioned by
God until the cross. e Messiah coming on earth is the “
doctrine of the beginning of Christ “; but now I leave that
and go on to perfection. I do not deny these things, but I go
on to the fuller revelation of Christ. ese rst principles
are all true, but then I have other and far better things.
Saul might have been the brightest saint living under the
old order of things, but not knowing Christ. But supposing
a person got into the heavenly things and was “ enlightened
“ and had “ tasted the heavenly gift, and was made partakers
of the Holy Ghost, and had tasted the good word of God,
and the powers of the world to come,” and then gave it up-
what could he do then? What else was there to present to
such an one? ere might have been a going on from faith
in an humbled Christ to a gloried Christ, but there is
nothing beyond. For it should be observed there is nothing
of life signied here. e expressions do not go beyond the
indication of truth that might be received by the natural
mind, and the demonstrative power of the Holy Ghost,
Perfection: Hebrews 6
91
which persons might partake of, as scripture shows, without
being participators in eternal life.
ere may be light in a sense without the smallest trace
of life, of which Balaam is an example. Of the stony ground
hearers also it is said concerning the word that “ anon with
joy they received it “-they “ tasted the good word of God.”
Moreover, Judas could cast out devils as well as the rest: he
was a partaker of these “ miracles of the coming age.” And
Christ had said (Matt. 7:22), “ Many will say to me in that
day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and
in thy name cast out devils? and in thy name have done
many wonderful works? “ Still they are disowned of Christ
as “workers of iniquity.”
But there is this farther in the case supposed: “ ey
had crucied the Son of God afresh,” by turning back
again from these heavenly things, and therefore could not
be renewed to repentance. e nation had indeed crucied
Christ, but they did not know what they were doing. is
could not be said of those of whom the apostle is speaking.
is was not ignorance, but will.
ere is a great dierence in what is expressed by “ anon
with joy they received it,” and the word plowing up the
soul, giving the sense of sin and bringing into subjection
to God’s redemption. e result of life is seen in fruit, not
in power. In the parable of the sower the seed received
into good ground “ brought forth fruit.” In the other cases
there was no “ fruit brought to perfection.” If there is any
fruit, the tree is not dead. Hence the apostle says, “ We are
persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany
salvation.” ese were not power merely nor joy; for these
might exist and there be no life. Judas could cast out devils
as well as the rest; but Jesus, said, “ Rejoice not that the
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
92
spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice because your
names are written in heaven.” e connection of your heart
with Christ-the consciousness of God having written your
name in heaven is the blessed thing. e fruit which the
apostle takes notice of in verse 10 is love to the brethren.
is was there, and showed itself in the active ministering
to the saints, out of love to the Lord’s name; while full
assurance of hope to the end was to be desired. ere might
be working of miracles without knowing or being known
of God; but fruit-bearing in grace is the token of being
branches of the true vine.
In the example of Abraham, the apostle presents
an encouragement to their faith, which needed to be
strengthened. Abraham had the promise of God, and he
believed it; he had His oath, and he trusted it: but we
have more. It is not to us that God presents a promise
of future blessings, and adds an oath to assure us of their
accomplishment; but He has performed all that He calls
us to believe. We have a redemption now in the presence
of God. Christ, having wrought the work, is sitting down
in the presence of God, and in spirit has brought us there.
But we have more than that; for, in hope, we are partakers
of all the glory which belongs to that redemption. We have
life, redemption, the Holy Ghost as the seal, and more.
e forerunner is gone in, and the Holy Ghost gives us
the consciousness of our union with Him, and not merely
that our sins are put away through the blood-shedding of
Christ. We have the Spirit in virtue of Christ’s redemption,
and He is come to tell us that we are in that Christ, who
wrought the redemption, and is now in the power of an
endless life within the veil.
Perfection: Hebrews 6
93
But what is the practical consequence of all this? Why,
if the glory He has is mine, and I am going on after Him,
then all the world is but dross and dung in my esteem. is
will be faith’s estimate of everything in the world, when
Christ is lling the heart’s aections, and when the soul is
pressing on after Him, in the certain hope of being forever
with Him. One moment’s real apprehension of Christ in
the glory is sucient to dim the brightness and glitter of
every earthly thing; but the soul must be occupied alone
with Christ for this.
If our aections and desires are lingering on earth, or
stopping short of a gloried Christ in heaven, as the one
in whom our life is hid, and to whom we are presently to
be conformed in glory, and that in the glory where He is,
we shall nd soon that earthly things are something more
than dross and dung. Leave a stone on the ground for a
time and you will nd that it will gradually sink into it.
And our hearts, if they are not practically in heaven with
Christ, will soon become attached to earthly things.
ere is a constant tendency in earthly things to press
down the aections. Duties are more apt to lead away the
soul from God than open sin. Many a Christian has been
ensnared by duties, whose heart would have shrunk from
open sin. But we have only one duty in all the varying
circumstances of life-to serve Christ. And we should
remember that if things on earth are dark and the heart
is tested in journeying through the world, all on the side
of God is bright. “ erefore leaving the principles of the
doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection.”
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
94
63040
Christ’s Work and Its
Consequences: Hebrews
9-10
Hebrews 9 and 10
e thought that runs through all this part of the
scriptures, beloved friends, is this: our entering into the
holiest, the true holiest, of course. e Spirit now referring
to the tabernacle, was writing to the Hebrews, who were
accustomed to it. e Christian is given boldness to enter
into God’s own presence, the holiest now, with a purged
conscience. Here he unfolds what that is, to which we will
turn with God’s help. God has brought me in there by
dealing both with sin, and with sins, so dealing with them
as to put them away according to the exigency of what His
holy nature is. God has stepped in and done that once for
all: it consequently is an eternal redemption. ere is that
which is necessarily connected with this, and that is not
only that the sins are purged, or else I could not come into
the holiest.
at is brought out in the next chapter in a singularly
gracious way, that we may understand the divine source
of this salvation and have a divine knowledge of it, divine
certainty. If God had spoken, it is not I think, or I hope, but,
I have set to my seal that God is true. e work is divine,
the knowledge of it is divinely certain, and we are brought
into the divine presence; this ows from God taking up the
question of sin and sins. e conscience takes it up when
the Spirit of God works in the soul, and our reasoning
Christ’s Work and Its Consequences: Hebrews 9-10
95
upon the possibility of being with God is always upon this
footing, and must be so. is is the eect of reasoning from
what we are to God. If I am a sinner, well, I say, how can
He receive me? If I were righteous, He might receive me.
We always reason from ourselves and our state to God;
the Holy Ghost never does. He reasons from our state to
condemnation; but in reasoning as to salvation, He always
reasons from what God is and has done to this eect upon
us, and never from what we are to God. I speak of salvation
in speaking of the reasoning.
I am saying this because, beloved friends, you will nd it
a constant tendency of your hearts to reason from what we
are to what God will be for us. It will be fancied “ humility,”
just like the prodigal son when he had not met his father,
he was reasoning from what he was. When he had tasted
God’s goodness in a measure, reasoning from what he was,
with some little glimpse of what God was in goodness, to
what he would be when God met him in judgment. When
the conscience is awake, I say, how can God meet me with
all those sins? Quite true, that is judgment. Judgment is
according to works; but as to that, the sinner is brought to
own that he is lost. God is of purer eyes than to behold sin,
and man nds that he is a sinner. What the gospel comes
and reveals to us is God’s intervention for those that are
such, so that we reason from what God has done to what
He will do. For instance “ He that spared not his own Son,
but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him
also freely give us all things? “ e Spirit of God reasons
from what God has done to how He will act. “ For if, when
we were enemies, we were reconciled, we shall be saved
by his life.” He reasons down from what God is and has
done to what we are to God. Now, the Spirit of God leads
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
96
so; but we continue that same thing until we have learned
that the simple result of what we are with God must be
condemnation. en we give it up, it is no good going on
then: the case is settled. e gospel, when we are sinners,
lost sinners, comes to reveal to us what God has done. e
language and experience here take that very point, that it
would have been judgment, if God had not interfered in
grace.
You see, beloved friends, that as a sinner, I am really
brought to the sense that I am lost, and I am cast upon
what God has done for me. e real question is as to the
ecacy of that work. at is what He has been unfolding,
and insists upon. It is that I will look upon a little, for it
changes my whole condition with God. I have God as a
Savior, not as a judge; as to my state of relationship with
Him, He is always that for me. And He is that, because I
was lost. e work of Christ has purged my conscience and
put away my sins. I arm that the rather, beloved friends,
because there is the constant tendency to mix up the two,
because we are apt to mix up the state of our souls with the
sense of the completeness of the work God has wrought
for us in Christ. I would not hinder exercise of conscience,
but there are conclusions drawn from the state we are in,
to question the completeness and the ecacy of that work.
at is the mischief. We cannot press the devotedness and
full following of the Christian too much; but if I mix up
what I have felt with what God tells me of the ecacy of
the work of Christ, I am mixing water with good wine, and
both are spoiled. We never get right till we have got the
thorough eect in our souls of our sins, and our sinfulness
too. “ I nd that in me, that is, in my esh, dwelleth no
good thing.”
Christ’s Work and Its Consequences: Hebrews 9-10
97
Well, when I learn that they that are in the esh cannot
please God, that the esh has lusts and the law condemns
them-the esh has a will, and the law forbids its desires;
I nd that I am lost. Man nds that there always is a will
of his own and lusts. e Christian condemns them, and
judges them; still that which is born of the esh is esh.
I may reckon it dead, and hold it dead, but that is what it
is. If I am looking at myself as a child of Adam standing
before God, I have lusts and a will that is evil. Well, is
He going to justify evil? No. What God does, beloved
friends, is to bring in Christ. If the man is a sinner, He
judges his sins; but the work is often deeper when the man
is a fair honest character, as Paul was. Why, the man could
not eat for three days! As to conscience, he thought he
ought to destroy Jesus of Nazareth, religiously misguided
as he was-all his religious leaders sent him forth to do it,
and he had been trying to make out a righteousness by it;
and supposing that he could- those things that were his
righteousness just brought him into open enmity against
God. He was consciously trying to destroy Christ! God
has taken care that, when man fell and was turned out of
Eden, he should carry out a conscience with him. A thief,
or a murderer, or a fornicator, whatever it might be, he
knows it is wrong, not only that God does not allow it. I
nd the struggling of these lusts; the moment I nd this
in the spirituality of the law, I see I have a bad nature; the
tree is bad. Well, then, the man is brought to complete
condemnation, not a pleasant thing at all. He comes to see
that he cannot please God. Why the heart of man rebels
against it in an awful way-thinks it a cruel thing to say that
he cannot please God. erefore God does bring me (a
person like Paul perhaps, in three days; where sin has been
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
98
in a grosser shape, the conviction may not be so deep) to
the consciousness not merely of what I have done, but of
what I am. I nd not merely that the fruit is bad, but that
the tree is bad. Why have we committed sin? Because we
liked it. A man is morally what he likes; a man who loves
money is a covetous man; if he likes amusements, he is a
man of pleasure. We like sin; that is what we are. Christ
changes this.
I say so, because we must be brought clearly out of this
mixing up of what we are with what God has been for us
in grace, this looking at God as one that judges instead of
one that saves; and saying: “ Well, if I am all this, how am I
to get salvation? “ ere must be this change eected. Put
a man of the world in heaven, and he would get out of it if
he could; there would be nothing he would like there; there
would be none of the pleasures he cares for; there would
be no money there, and the things that are there he would
not like. Well, that is an awful thing to nd out. It is not
merely a question as to the imputing of my sins. Everybody
in his senses would say: “ Of course, I should like to go to
heaven.” Well, if it is a thing you really wish, of course you
would like to have it as soon as you can. When would you
like to have it? Today? To-morrow? When you cannot help
it! I say this, beloved friends, to discover not what sins are,
but what the esh is. ere is no good thing in it at all.
I repeat it, beloved friends, there is often a deeper work
goes on which judges the movements and principles of the
heart, in one who is naturally an upright man, than there is
where there is merely judgment passed on outward sins. I
should be in despair about myself if I learned my condition
before God, and did not see the work of Christ for me; yet
not quite in despair. Wherever God works in the conscience,
Christ’s Work and Its Consequences: Hebrews 9-10
99
there is always more or less of the sense of love in it. ere
is a conict goes on, but always a sense of the love of God
maintained. e man is in conict between the sense of
God’s goodness in the heart, and the consciousness of the
holiness of God’s nature. It is a blessed truth that, wherever
there is a work of God in the soul, there is always a clinging
to the sense of His goodness, let the work of conscience be
ever so deep. In the beautiful narrative in Matthew of the
Syrophenician woman, she says: “ I know I am a dog, but
I know there is goodness enough in God to give even to a
dog.” He cannot say there is not. ere is one overleaping
the barriers of dispensation in the sense of the goodness of
God.
Well, having just said that, see what the work of Christ
eects, beloved friends. God turns to that which meets this
lost condition. It is the grace of God that brings salvation.
Now there are two parts in that; there is a quickening
power in the Spirit of God, that I have already supposed.
e Spirit of God works, the soul gets to see something
of the love of God, but quickening does not clear the
conscience. Quickening does not make me say, “ I can go
into the holiest,” but “ I cannot.” Now, beloved friends, you
may have a great deal of gracious dealing, a great deal of
the revelation of God’s ways; but until the cross of the Lord
Jesus Christ there was the veil, behind which God was, and
nobody could pass it. e testimony was there, “ I cannot
let you into the holiest; you are not t for the holiest.” “ e
way into the holiest was not yet made manifest.”
8
e Holy
8 is is a solemn truth. It is not that there were not good
people hoping for Messiah; they feared God and walked in the
commandments and ordinances of Jehovah. But law was there
requiring what he ought to be. ere was the veil saying, You
cannot come into My presence.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
100
Ghost meant by saying so that the work was not yet done.
When Christ died, the veil • was rent from the top to the
bottom, God saying, “ Now you can draw near.” When the
veil was there, even with the typical sacrice, you could not
go in, not even the priests.
Now in the consciousness of what God is, “ we have
boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus.” I
have now the very opposite thing as to the new nature and
its desires, as to my condition and relationship with God:
that as it was then signied I could not go in, now it is
signied I can. Now he shows how this has been brought
about, beloved friends. ere is more than one thing
needful for this access to God. I must get my sins purged.
Sin cannot come into the holiest. And further, I must have
my conscience purged, or else I shall not venture in. If a
man has debts, he does not like to meet his creditors; but if
his debts are paid, and he does not know it, he does not like
to meet them either. We must know that the conscience is
cleared if we could go right up to God. If God is dealing
with us (perhaps I should rather say, for us) He brings us
into His own presence with our conscience cleared.
Now note what a remarkable expression we have here
in contrast with those Jewish things. “ For Christ being
come, an high priest of good things to come, by a greater
and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is
to say, not of this building, neither by the blood of goats
and calves, but by his own blood, he entered in once into
the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption. For if
the blood of bulls and of goats-and the ashes of an heifer
sprinkling the unclean sanctieth to the purifying of the
esh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who
through the eternal Spirit oered himself without spot
Christ’s Work and Its Consequences: Hebrews 9-10
101
to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve
the living God? … For Christ is not entered into the holy
places made with hands, which are the gures of the true,
but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of
God for us. Nor yet that he should oer himself often, as
the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with
the blood of others, for then must he often have suered
since the foundation of the world; but now once in the
end of the world has he appeared to put away sin by the
sacrice of himself.” We are not come to the end of the
world yet- the full force is “ the consummation of the ages.”
at is, the consummation of the whole thing that man
had been tried and exercised by, to bring out what I have
been speaking of, “ that the natural mind is enmity against
God.”
It was not only that man had sinned, that he had broken
the law, and been proved guilty before God; but when the
Savior came in grace, man refused Him. God came into
the world-” God was in Christ reconciling the world unto
himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them.”. at
is the sense, that full trial had gone on without law, under
law, and in the trial of His love they had rejected Him in
love. at is what the cross was. “ ey hated me without a
cause.” Christianity starts from this: that God had been in
the world in love, and that man had turned Him out. It is
not merely that God has turned man out. is was the case
in Eden. But when He came into this world of sin, man
said, ‘ We will not have Him, even if it is in love! ‘ e Lord
Jesus Christ said, “ If I had not done among them the works
which none other did, they had not had sin; but now have
they both seen and hated both me and my Father.” If I am
a Christian, it is that Christ has been rejected. What was
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
102
Christ? “ Holy, harmless, undeled, separate from sinners.”
It is blessed to see it. Perfectly holy in all His ways, He
could not be deled, and therefore He was able to bear our
griefs and carry our sorrows. Nature cannot stand here; let
it be honest enough. It must be all grace, nothing else will
do. is light detects a Pharisee. e scribes and Pharisees
brought to Him a woman taken in adultery-in the very act.
If He says, “ Stone her,” He is no Savior. If He said, “ You
must not,” He has broken the law. “ You must either give up
grace, or you must give up the law,” they urge.
` Stop,’ says the Savior, ‘ I am going to apply the law
to all of you.’ “ So when they continued asking him, he
lifted up himself and said to them: He that is without sin
among you, let him rst cast a stone at her. And again he
stooped down and wrote on the ground. And they which
heard it being convicted by conscience, went out one by
one, beginning at the eldest unto the last, and Jesus was left
alone, and the woman standing in the midst.” e eldest
had most character to lose, and he went out rst. It does not
make a bit of dierence, whether a man has ten sins or ve
hundred. A wretched sinner she was-nobody excuses her.
God says: It will not do to bring up this one, and leave you
hardened ones behind. God takes them all into the light.
Who will stand that? No one in Leamington, or anywhere
else! Now come, He says, I can show grace, I am not come
to judge, I am come to save. e sin was completely proven,
and in that moral sense it was the end of the world. Leave
man to himself? Why, God had to bring the ood in, he
was so bad. As to Israel, attaching the name of Jehovah to
their sins, they only made the name of Jehovah blasphemed
amongst the heathen. Love they rejected, and this is the end
of man’s history, and the beginning of God’s declaring for
Christ’s Work and Its Consequences: Hebrews 9-10
103
Himself-Now we have the end of what you are, what I am
must come out. You have brought out enmity against God,
and I am going to show you that I love you. e individual
sinner is brought to conscience about himself. We have to
begin the history of God’s way as a Savior; when my own
conscience comes to own this, not only that I have broken
the law, but that I am a lost sinner: Well, God says, Now
you know yourself. I come that you may know Me, and
I say you are a lost sinner, and Christ has come into the
world to put away sin by the sacrice of Himself. e cross
was the turning point to God. He bore on it our sins, and
the hatred that crucied Him was all we had to do with it.
e thing that saves me is His own. What part have we in
it? None else besides our sins, and the hatred that crucied
Him God’s part was giving His only-begotten Son. I have
God’s blessed part in it to save me; whereas the work of
the Spirit of God in quickening his conscience makes the
sinner see and hate the sin. We have now to see what God
can do for man; not from reasoning as to what he is for
God, but by believing what God is to him.
When the prodigal son had the best robe on, he could
not say: “ Make me as one of thy hired servants.” His father
was treating him as a child. He was come into the new
condition. It was not merely the desires he had, it was not
merely the repentance, but it was what the father had done
for him, so as to bring him into his own presence. ere
was I, a sinner, loving any trie rather than Him. He who
has so loved me as to give His own Son for me! “ God so
loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have
everlasting life.” ere I get in my heart and mind not
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
104
simply a general vague sense that God is love, but I learn
that in that love He has done a work for me.
We have this blessed comfort: you will see it as it is said
here, “ Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures.”
He has so loved me as to give His own Son for me! Well,
I believe, Christ died for my sins. Had He to die often?
“ Oh, no! “ says the apostle, “ that could not be.” It was
not like one of these Jewish sacrices, in which there was
a remembrance again made of sins every year. Mark how
strongly it is put: “ For then must he often have suered
since the foundation of the world.” He had really to drink
the cup. He sweat great drops of blood when thinking of it
in the garden of Gethsemane. He suered. Well, if it is not
done perfectly, done once for all, Christ must have suered
often. is cannot be. He cannot come down again, become
a man, and die over again. If He has borne my sins in His
own body on the tree, He has done once and forever the
thing that puts them all away. If that putting away all my
sins is not done, it never can be. Individual after individual
is brought to acknowledge it, but if the work is not nished
and done, it can never be done.
erefore Christ says, in John 17: “ I have nished the
work which thou gavest me to do.” He said, “ It is nished;
and bowed the head, and gave up the ghost.” ose priests
were “ standing often, oering up the same sacrices which
could never take away sin.” Sin came up, they had to do it
again: it was a perpetual remembrance of sins made again
every year. A year goes round, the sacrice must be repeated.
Sins were there. It was a continual memorial. “ But this man
after he had oered one sacrice for sins, forever sat down
on the right hand of God. From henceforth expecting,
till his enemies be made his footstool.” He forever “sat
Christ’s Work and Its Consequences: Hebrews 9-10
105
down.” It was after standing. e work was completely and
fully done, once and forever, and He sits down, the work
accomplished once for all, completely, according to the
glory of God.
Woe to him who neglects this great salvation! It is a
nished work. You cannot have a stronger expression of
it than this, that the worshippers “ once purged, should
have no more conscience of sins.” e Lord Jesus Christ
has oered himself by the eternal Spirit, without spot to
God.” He drank that bitter cup for me, and the next point
He brings out is this, that having done that: “ He appears
now in the presence of God for me.” Who, “ being the
brightness of his glory, and the express image of his Person,
when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the
right hand of the majesty on high “; and when I go to God
I nd Him sitting there, the perpetual witness that He has
cleared my sins away, and that He is in the presence of
God for me. I nd Him who has done it, sitting there. “
Else he must have suered often, since the foundation of
the world.” e sins could not be put away if He had not
nished the work. He has. If not, it never could be done. It
is settled peace when my soul receives the testimony of the
Holy Ghost to this. “ For by one oering he has perfected
forever them that are sanctied.” “ He entered in once into
the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption.” “ He is
the mediator of the new covenant, that, by means of death
for the redemption of the transgressions that were under
the rst covenant, they which are called might receive the
promise of eternal inheritance.”
en you see, beloved friends, supposing through grace
I say, “ Well, I am a poor sinner, I hate those sins, the root
and principle in me; how can I be in the presence of God? “
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
106
I nd Christ there, who has put away those sins; I nd this
blessed truth of a risen Savior in the glory. I follow Him up
to the cross, I see Him there under my sins, I see Him now
at God’s right hand in the glory! O! I say, He has not got
my sins there! If I see Him in the glory, I say, “ Well, my
sins are gone.” at is the practical word. “ When he had
by himself purged our sins, he sat down on the right hand
of the majesty on high.” I see Him in the glory who bore
my sins, and I know they are all gone. Well, my conscience
is purged, when, in the simplicity of faith I see that God
Himself has put away my sins, that the Lord Jesus Christ
has drunk the cup for me, that He Himself bore my sins
in His own body on the tree. I know they are gone. e
worshippers once purged have no more conscience of sins.
When I look up to God and see Christ in glory, is there a
question of imputation of my sins to trouble me?
Mark, beloved friends, I do not speak of “ past, present,
and future “ sins, I cannot say “ future.” I never ought to
think of committing a sin again. I do not put my state at
this moment before God into question. I see souls saying, “
Oh, I know my sins up to conversion are gone! “ Did Christ
bear your sins up to conversion? What is the meaning of
that? It is confounding the sense of it brought home to my
soul, with the ecacy of the work by which He appears in
the presence of God for me.
How comes it all about? It is by God’s blessed will, He
willed my salvation. He has given me the Savior. ere are
three things connected with the work of which I speak.
ere must be some one having the kindness to do it. It
must be done. And I must know that it is done. Of these
three things in Hebrews, the rst is that it is by the will of
God: we see the blessed Son “ was made lower than the
Christ’s Work and Its Consequences: Hebrews 9-10
107
angels for the suering of death, that he, by the grace of
God, should taste death for every man.” “ en, said I, Lo,
I come, in the volume of the book it is written of me, to
do thy will, O God.” “ By the which will we are sanctied,
through the oering of the body of Jesus Christ once for
all.” He was crucied. It is done. It is not only that there
was the goodwill of love, to be willing to do it, but it is done.
I get the divine good will of God in it. It is a divine work,
done and nished, so that Christ, who bore our sins, “ has
sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high.” Now,
I want to know it. e Holy Ghost tells me of the eternal
ecacy of the work. I have got the blessed will of God that
gave Christ. I have now the work nished, and I have also
the divine testimony to it by the Holy Ghost. I have got
the three things, the love that was willing to have it done,
I have got the work nished in that which was done once
for all upon the cross, and I have got the testimony of God
Himself that He no more will bear my sins in mind. My
sins are purged by the work of Christ, and my conscience
is purged by the testimony of the Holy Ghost.
Mark the eect that owed from it. e veil was rent
from the top to the bottom. e work has put away my sins
that shut me out, and it has opened the door to let me in.
I go right into the presence of God Himself in the holiest,
and I go in white as snow. e very thing that let me into
the presence of that holiest of all was the very thing that
put all my sins away.
Now, beloved friends, a step more for those who have
got that conscious access to God. e apostle goes a little
farther. We nd our nature an evil tree; we have got the sins
put away. “ Christ appeared once in the end of the world
to put away sin by the sacrice of himself.” at is, that the
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
108
work of the blessed Lord, besides the bearing of the sins, is
so perfect, perfect in everything, that He was made sin for
us; and that there sin was dealt with absolutely. “ Behold
the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world.”
It is not only that my sins have been borne, but that God
Himself has been perfectly gloried in Christ who died.
“ Now,” he says, “ the Son of man is gloried, and God is
gloried in him.” at is, He stands there as made sin, not
only as bearing my sins, but as the Holy One; the Lamb
of God that taketh away the sin of the world. Not only
as the obedient One; God has been perfectly gloried in
Him. I have no doubt the full result does not come out till
that day when there will be the new heaven and the new
earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. “ e Lamb of God
taketh away the sin of the world “-that being so, the whole
question has been settled with God, so that nally we shall
have the new heaven and the new earth.
In everything God has to do now, He has to do with
sin; supposing He judges, it is against sin; supposing He
shows mercy, it is because sin has come in. He has to deal
with it in everything, either in mercy or in judgment. e
time will come when there will be no sin, and that founded
on the cross of Christ; founded upon the ecacy of His
nished work, wherein He perfectly gloried God. e
eect is that there will be a new heaven and a new earth
wherein dwelleth righteousness. e work has put away sin,
I know now, and I get by faith this blessed result. I know it
in myself; I have Christ as my life. e practical result is to
reckon myself dead. He has borne my sins upon the cross.
He has died and gloried God perfectly. He has risen up
in a totally new state. e old Adam state is done with. For
everyone that believes on Him He is the beginning, the
Christ’s Work and Its Consequences: Hebrews 9-10
109
Head of that new creation of God; and I nd, myself, that
my part is with Him, and not with the old sinful world.
As to my body, I am in the old creation still. I stand before
God in the eect of His work.
Christ stood before God taking the eect of my work;
I am before God taking the eect of His work. at is
where the believer has overcome death. Death is all gain
to me- I shall only go to the Lord-there is complete and
absolute deliverance; I have been taken out before God,
and as to my standing before God out of the position I
was in, and put into another, not only under shelter, and
not only like Israel at the Red Sea, but taken out to go into
a new position before God. is is expressed in Romans: “
For if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God
by the death of his Son, much more being reconciled, we
shall be saved by his life.” By the presence and power of the
Spirit of God, He can dwell in me because I am cleansed
by the blood. I am united with Christ; He can dwell in me
because I am united with Christ; and if dwelling in me,
I am united to Christ. “ In that day ye shall know that I
am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.” ere I get
practice too. I cannot be in Christ, without Christ being in
me. Well, let me see Him in you; God and the saints and
the world too, have the right to expect to see Him in me.
If I am accepted in the Beloved, Christ is in me, and as the
apostle says, it is “ always bearing about in the body the
dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be
manifest in our body.” erefore he says to the Christians: “
Ye are the epistle of Christ “; Christ is to be read in you; He
is graven upon your hearts by the Spirit of the living God.
As to my standing as a Christian, Christ is before God for
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
110
me, and my place is settled; I am to bear Christ about in
the world, and there is my responsibility.
You will see, beloved friends, how the apostle puts it
plainly here. “ He appeared once in the end of the world,
to put away sin by the sacrice of himself.” When my heart
is before God, I can say: Well, not only Christ has put
away sins; I stand before God in the result of what He has
done! I do not call myself a child of Adam; I am a child
of God. He has put away sin, and our place is in Christ.
Mark then the contrasted fact that follows therewith. “
And as it is appointed unto men once to die, and after this
the judgment, so Christ was once oered to bear the sins
of many, and to them that look for him shall he appear
the second time, without sin, unto salvation.” ere is the
entire eect of sin, I mean according to God’s order. If
God enters into judgment with sinners, all are condemned.
“ Enter not into judgment with thy servant, for in thy sight
shall no man living be justied.”
Well, as Christ was once oered to bear the sins of many,
so to them that look for Him shall He appear the second
time. What to? To salvation. Now I get the place of the
Christian, and I feel happy. I begin at Christ’s rst coming,
and I say, Oh, He has put my sins away, He has made an
end of sin once for all, and I am before God in Him, and I
have got the Holy Ghost as the blessed consciousness of it.
“ At that day, ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye
in me and I in you.” Death is gain to me, if I get that; and as
to judgment, the Person who is my judge is the Person who
has put away all my sins forever. He cannot charge the sins
upon me that He has put away Himself. God has taken
care for your peace in that way, that the Person who is to
be the judge, was rst the Savior. No fear at all: God has
Christ’s Work and Its Consequences: Hebrews 9-10
111
dealt with our sins. He sends out the tidings of it. All the
world has the testimony by the Spirit to it now, testimony
received by faith. God has dealt with them already, put
away instead of leaving them to the time when He comes
to deal with them in judgment. Has He not come the rst
time? To be sure. Is He not coming again? “ To them that
look for him, shall he appear the second time, without sin
unto salvation.” “ Without sin,” having nothing more to say
to it. When He comes the second time, He comes having
nothing to say about sin. Why? He came to put it away
the rst time by the sacrice of Himself. “ Unto salvation.”
at is to bring them into the glory, “ that where I am,
there they may be also.”
Such is the place and the blessedness we have. Do I
fear the Lord’s coming? e very opposite. Do you think
He was coming to receive men there, in their sinful state?
He came to put it away. He makes us feel the sins, makes
us hate. sin, but God has dealt with our sins in Christ, and
to bring them up again, would be to deny the ecacy of
Christ’s work. If a man neglects this great salvation, he is
doubly guilty. “ How shall we escape if we neglect this great
salvation? “ Well, what is this great salvation? He has borne
away my sins by the sacrice of Himself. I believe He has
done it. He had to do with sin before. He has nothing to
do with sin the second time. His whole business was with
sin in a certain sense before.
It was just the thing He had to do with, but really to
put it away by the sacrice of Himself; because He put
it away the rst time, He has nothing to do with it when
He appears the second time. e more you look into
Scripture, the more you will see how clear it is. How does
the resurrection of the saints take place? We shall be raised
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
112
in glory. We go in glory before the judgment-seat. How
can you have a man in glory, and raise a question about
judgment there? God will have you to be conformed to
the image of His Son. ere has Paul been these eighteen
hundred years with Christ. Are you going to take him out
for judgment? ere is the perfect work accomplished, and
hereby also Christ in you the hope of glory.
Your responsibility is not mixed up with your acceptance,
but with your glorifying God. Quickened and born of
God, you are responsible to act accordingly. If you were my
children, I should expect you to behave as my children: you
must rst be children. All our responsibilities, whatever
they be, ow from the places we are in. Duty ows from
the place we are in. When you are a child of God, your duty
to act as one begins. It will not stop of course in heaven.
It is the consequence of the place I am brought into. And
now I have it in a poor earthen vessel, but being scaled by
the Holy Ghost, I can therefore look with delight and joy
for Christ’s coming. His time is best. “ God is not slack
concerning his promise as some men count slackness, but
is long-suering to usward, not willing that any should
perish, but that all should come to repentance.” e saint
can rejoice in the trial of his faith, but in it all the Christian
is looking for the coming of Christ. See how a mother
watches for her child because she loves him.
e Christian believes that the blessed Son of God
became a man on purpose to be able to die and suer for
him. He has been judged for him, has put away his sins,
and I say, O that I could see Him as He is! and more, when
I do see Him, I shall be like Him. God’s purpose is not
merely to save you by Christ, but to bless you with Christ!
We are predestinated to be conformed to the image of His
Christ’s Work and Its Consequences: Hebrews 9-10
113
Son. “ As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy;
and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall
also bear the image of the heavenly.” How can we think
of such a thing? And if I know it is grace (as is expressed
in Ephesians, that in “ the ages to come, he might show
the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us
through Christ Jesus “), I see that He must do something
wonderful. If I am reasoning from what I am, it would be
impossible. But if I am reasoning from God’s work, if He
has given His own blessed Son to be a curse for me, I can
expect anything. And I expect to be like Christ. Why? He
has told me so. “ When he shall appear, we shall be like
him, for we shall see him as he is.”
And see how God has taken care to show me what sin
is. But see how He has taken care, if through grace your
hearts hate sin, to show you how He has made an end of
it, and “ brought in eternal righteousness.” You are guilty?
Very well, you are justied by blood. Deled? Cleansed
from all sin by the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son. You
have oended God? You are perfectly forgiven. “ In whom
we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of
sins according to the riches of his grace.” Well now, says
God, you must try My love. You cannot have thoroughly
happy and blessed aections with God till your conscience
is purged. Let your father be the kindest in the place, and
the child know it, if he has been naughty he will skulk
away. He gets a good conscience, and will run into his
arms. When the conscience is purged, who did it? Why,
God did it. He has made me His child, given me the very
same name. Christ has called me His son, and therefore
the world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
114
Oh, beloved friends, have you got the consciousness
that God has interfered on your behalf; that God has
not spared His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all;
that Christ has come to put away sin by the sacrice of
Himself? Have you the consciousness of that? Hating the
sin of course. But have you known and believed the love
God has toward you, and the ecacy of the work that love
has done? I understand your not having hold of it. For
many a year I had not hold of it myself; but if Christ has
not put away your sins He never can! If He has suered
once for all, He put away sin by the sacrice of Himself;
and He is seated at the right hand of God until He comes
to bring us unto glory.
Beloved friends, if Christ were to come to-night, and I
do not know when He may, at even, or at the cock-crowing,
or in the morning-He is like a man that has his hand on
the door to open it at any moment. If He were to come to-
night, where are you? Would you say, Oh, that is the Lord
that gave Himself for me, come to take me to Himself? Or
is there some fear in your heart about Him? Well, if there
is, you have not got hold of the perfectness of His work in
putting away sins. Would you like to be with Jesus? Can
your heart say, Well, I am a poor helpless thing, but if He
hung on the cross for me, I am certain of His love. I cannot
doubt the perfectness of His love. rough grace, I say, your
bodies are the temples of the Holy Ghost. Do not you do
anything to grieve Him. Whatever you do, do it heartily as
to the Lord. Do it in the Spirit. It does not matter what it
is: a child wanting to please his father would want to please
his father in the tries. A holy life comes with practice. It
is perfect peace, perfect joy; joy because I am waiting for
Jesus to receive me to Himself; and a perfect measure of
Christ’s Work and Its Consequences: Hebrews 9-10
115
practice, because I see that I am to be conformed to Him
now, if I am to be like Him when I see Him as He is. e
Lord give you to be able to say, “ Come, Lord Jesus.” To you
who believe, He is precious.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
116
63041
Christ’s Coming, Faith’s
Crowning: Hebrews 9:27-
28
Hebrews 9:27, 28
e apostle after speaking of Christ’s rst coming, and
the work accomplished by Him, as the sacrice for sin
and of His having entered in once by His own blood into
the holy place (heaven itself), “ having obtained eternal
redemption,” sums up the whole doctrine in the closing
verses of this chapter, and there contrasts, in a denite way,
the portion of the rst Adam and those who belong to the
rst Adam, with the place and expectations of the believer.
“ As it is appointed unto men once to die, but after that the
judgment [that is what we have to say as to men, that there
their history is ended], so Christ was once oered to bear
the sins of many [for the believer death and judgment have
been already met-Christ having died for him and borne his
sins]; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the
second time without in unto salvation.”
A word in explanation of a portion of this passage. e
Lord Jesus, as regards Himself, appeared the rst time, as
truly “ without sin,” as He will the second. But then He
appeared the rst time, though without sin, yet about it (v.
26); He came to bear it. e second time He has nothing
more to do with sin; it will be unto salvation,” as He says, “
I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where
I am, there ye may be also,” John 14. His second coming is
to fulll in the result all the designs of His rst coming for
Christ’s Coming, Faith’s Crowning: Hebrews 9:27-28
117
those who believe. is makes it their hope-” that blessed
hope,” Titus 2:13.
is event has nothing whatever to do with death (with
which it has often been confounded): so far from it, that,
when the Lord Jesus Christ appears, if a believer be alive,
he will never see death. See 1Cor. 15:51, 52; 1ess. 4:15,
17. So little has it to do with death, that the apostle declares
expressly, “ we shall not all sleep.” Here it is contrasted with
death.
Another thing note. It is said, “ unto them that look
for him shall he appear.” It is not a question about Christ’s
appearing to us at death; we “ depart to be with Christ.”
So Col. 3:4, “ When Christ, who is our life, shall appear,
then shall ye also appear with him in glory “; not only He
appears, but we appear with Him. Again, 1John 3:2,
“ We know that when he shall appear, we shall be like
him,” etc.; at His coming we are to be conformed to the
image of God’s Son in glory; Rom. 8:29.
See too Phil. 3:20, 21, “ Our conversation is in heaven;
from whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus
Christ; who shall change our vile body, that it may be
fashioned like unto his glorious body.” Many other
scriptures might be quoted, but these will suce to show
that His coming has nothing to do with death. It is the
power of the living Savior taking us out of the reach of
death.
If the Spirit of God works in our hearts with power,
this gives us present fellowship with Jesus gloried at the
right hand of God. e heart of the saint is xed on Christ
Himself. is is what sancties: “ We all with open face,”
etc. What then is our hope, connected with this? Our hope
is to be conformed to the image of God’s Son in glory. “
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
118
As we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also
bear the image of the heavenly,” 1Cor. 15:49. Such is the
desire, the object of hope in the soul. Now we are bearing
the image of the earthy, but we hope to be made like Christ
on high. “ We know that when he shall appear, we shall be
like him.” It is not that there is not a moral change wrought
now, but the eect of this is to produce the desire to be
conformed to the image of God’s Son in glory.
is being so, God could not have given us a more
glorious hope or one more practically powerful in
disentangling from the world. But when is it we are to be
conformed to His image? At death? Clearly not, for then
the bodies of the saints are in the grave, and our hope is
to have them fashioned like unto Christ’s glorious body.
Scripture speaks of men being gloried, but nowhere of
gloried souls. It is “ far better “ to depart and to be with
Christ; Phil. 1:23. I would not weaken that. “ We that
are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened,” says the
apostle (2Cor. 5), “ not for that we would be unclothed,
but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of
life. [at is what I want, to have this mortal body changed
without seeing death.] Now that he hath wrought us for
the self-same thing is God, who also hath given us the
earnest of the Spirit; therefore we are always condent,”
etc. e condence I have is not interrupted at death; the
life in my soul will not be aected. If I depart, it will be to
be present with the Lord, and I am “ willing rather to be
absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.”
But I want “ mortality to be swallowed up of life “; I want
this to be accomplished in myself, I am to be conformed
to what I have seen of His image by the power of the Holy
Ghost, and I want to be “ like him.”
Christ’s Coming, Faith’s Crowning: Hebrews 9:27-28
119
ere are but four passages in the New Testament which
speak of the joy of the disembodied spirit: Luke 23:42, 43,
where the dying thief says to the Lord, “ Lord, remember
me when thou comest into thy kingdom,” and the Lord
replies, “ Verily I say unto thee, to-day shalt thou be with
me in paradise,” Acts 7:59, where Stephen says, “ Lord
Jesus receive my spirit “; then 2Cor. 5:8, and Phil. 1:23.
We see in these passages that the soul, on departing from
this world, freed from sorrow, placed out of the reach of
sin, enjoys the Lord apart from it; but this is not the object
of our hope-our hope is to be conformed to the image of
God’s Son in glory. We are to be “ like him.” “ Beloved, now
are we the children of God, and it doth not yet appear what
we shall be, but we know, that when he shall appear, we
shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every
man that has this hope in him purieth himself, even as he
is pure.” ere is the practical eect of this expectation. It
is never said (blessed as that is), ‘ he that hath the hope of
going to heaven purieth,’ etc. What am I expecting? To be
like Christ. What is the eect of this? I am trying to be as
like Him as I can now. is is the present practical eect of
the certainty of being like Christ, when He appears.
But it is a hope which I have in common with all saints,
not merely my individual hope. It is the church’s hope.
And therefore, as regards the Lord’s supper, it is said, “
As often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do
show the Lord’s death [not, till death, but] till he come,”
I Cor. 11: 26. ere is the basis of our common hope-the
death of Christ, and we go on showing this till He comes
again to receive us unto Himself. If I think of death, of my
departing to be with Christ, it is myself that I am thinking
about; I shall be happy, but not the whole church gloried.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
120
When Christ comes, every saint will be there, and Christ
shall then see of the travail of His soul and be satised. e
bride shall have the Bridegroom, and the Bridegroom shall
have the bride. It is not merely that I shall be happy. e
Spirit of God carries me out of myself, in thinking about it,
to the whole body of Christ. Christ shall have that church
which He loved, and for which He gave Himself (Eph. 5),
with Him in the glory.
See another thing. It xes the heart on Christ Himself.
I am looking for a Person whom I love. He, who has loved
me, died for me, is coming again to receive me to Himself,
and I am looking for Him. e angels said, “ is same
Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so
come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven,”
Acts 1. e Person whom they loved they had lost; they
stood looking steadfastly towards heaven, longing after
Him, and the rst thought God brings upon the heart is,
He will come back in like manner. ey were to expect His
return. It was a grand truth to be kept as a present thing
before the soul. I see it all through the epistles, mixed up
with every present feeling, whether of joy or of sorrow.
For example, turn to I Corinthians 1: 7. ey were all
there together “ waiting [it was an individual thing, it was
a common hope] for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ;
not all waiting to die, but “ waiting for the revelation,” etc.
And mark another thing. Many have supposed that
we are to be waiting for another outpouring of the Holy
Ghost. A very characteristic and essential feature of the
church of God is the fact that the Holy Ghost dwells in it.
is is not our hope, but what we have already. e Holy
Ghost came down on the day of Pentecost, that “ other
Comforter “ to “ abide with us forever,” John 14. “ I thank
Christ’s Coming, Faith’s Crowning: Hebrews 9:27-28
121
my God,” says the apostle, “ always on your behalf, for the
grace of God which is given you,” etc.
If we turn to the rst Epistle to the essalonians, we
nd everything there having reference to the coming of
Christ. It is mixed up with all the constant daily thoughts,
hopes, aections, motives (with every element in the daily
life), of the saints. As to their conversion itself (chap. 1),
the power of the word had made them so like what Paul
preached, that their neighbors could not help seeing it. e
very world was speaking about them (perhaps saying, “
How foolish,” yet still bearing witness). And what did they
say? at they had “ turned to God from idols “ and were
“ waiting for his Son from heaven.” at is, that they had
left their idols, the stocks and stones they had formerly
worshipped, and were waiting for God’s Son to come down
from heaven.
And the apostle Paul sanctions it. It was so little their
death they were expecting, that he says (chap. 4), “ We
which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord,”
etc. Let us be only, as an habitual thing, waiting for God’s
Son from heaven, it would cut short the links that bind
us to the world, and knit us in heart to Him and to one
another.
Look at Christian aections in the apostle; chap. 2.
What a picture of careful tending of the ock! And he
concludes, “ For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of
rejoicing? are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus
Christ at his coming? for ye are our glory and joy.” at is
the time (he says), when I shall get all the joy of Christian
aections.
Again (chap. 3), it is associated with holiness in the
saints” to the end he may stablish your hearts unblamable
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
122
in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of
our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.” Again (chap. 4),
what comfort at the death of brethren! where it is still more
remarkable. ey were uneasy at seeing Christians die (so
present a thing was the hope of the return of Christ) and it
was therefore a mutual comfort at the death-bed of a saint
to be enabled to remind one another of a mutual meeting.
“ I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning
them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others
which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and
rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God
bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the
Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming
of the Lord shall not prevent [go before] them which are
asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven
with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the
trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise rst; then
we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together
with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and
so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort
one another with these words.” e apostolic consolation
to saints mourning the death of brethren was not, “ Be
content, they are gone to heaven,” then it would have been
“ You will go to them “; but so did the coming of the Lord
ll the soul, as a present thing, that he gives this comfort, as
it were, at the dying-bed of a Christian, “ Be content, God
will bring him back, when Jesus comes.” It need not be said
that it is not death, for it is comfort against death.
In the second epistle we get it linked with comfort
in trial and persecution. ey were in terrible trouble
(though exceedingly patient under all; their faith growing
exceedingly, and their love one towards another abounding).
Christ’s Coming, Faith’s Crowning: Hebrews 9:27-28
123
What comfort does Paul give them? “ You will go to heaven
soon? “ No! there will be respite, when Jesus comes. Again,
it has no connection with death.
ese passages have been quoted, and it may be added,
that all through the epistles we nd the same thing, in order
to show that this grand truth (not death) is kept as a present
thing before the soul, mixed up with the whole course of
feelings amongst them in their everyday condition. us
it enters into the whole framework of Christian service.
It is quite evident if this be left out there must be a gap,
a spiritual gap. And this becomes even still more evident
when we consider (as properly characteristic of the saint)
such passages as, “ Unto them that look for him,” “ Unto all
them that love his appearing.”
At the close of Matt. 24 the Lord mentions the sign and
characteristic of the “ evil servant,” and what I nd there is
that, the evil servant says in his heart, “ My Lord delayeth
his coming, and then begins to smite his fellowservants,
and to eat and drink with the drunken.” Were we going
to trace to its source the evil, ruined state of the church
(considered in its relations and responsibilities here below),
we should nd that the putting o of the Lord’s coming
brought in all kinds of evil.
See in connection the beginning of Matt. 25 “ en shall
the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which
took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom
[death is not the bridegroom],” etc. “ While the bridegroom
tarried,” it is said they all slumbered and slept. e whole
were asleep-the wise as well as the foolish, and both awoke
together. While the wisdom of the rst was in having oil in
their lamps (the Spirit in the heart), when the others had
not, there was forgetfulness of their hope, and consequent
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
124
slothfulness. ey had gone to sleep. What brought them
out of this condition? What roused them? “ At midnight
there was a cry made, Behold the bridegroom cometh,” etc.
at was what was to rouse the slumbering church. Time
sucient is given to prove if there is oil in the lamp, but
not to procure it.
Passages might be multiplied from the Gospels, as from
the Epistles, one more however will suce; Luke 19:12-
27: “ And as they heard these things, he added and spake
a parable, because he was nigh to Jerusalem, and because
they thought that the kingdom of God should immediately
appear. He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a
far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return.
And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten
pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come,” etc.
We cannot mistake, if we really attach importance to
the word of God, the vital importance of all this.
e resurrection of the saints (the “ rst resurrection “)
takes place at Christ’s coming; as it is said, “ Every man in
his own order: Christ the rst-fruits; afterward they that
are Christ’s at his coming.” is resurrection is altogether
another thing from the resurrection of the wicked. ere
will be a resurrection, both of the just, and of the unjust,
but on dierent principles. e former have life in Christ,
which life has nothing in common with the world around.
Moreover, they have the Spirit of God dwelling in them.
“ If the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead
dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall
also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth
in you,” Rom. 8:11. “ e body is … for the Lord and the
Lord for the body; and God hath both raised up the Lord,
and will also raise up us by his own power,” 1Cor. 6:13, 14.
Christ’s Coming, Faith’s Crowning: Hebrews 9:27-28
125
e body is the Lord’s as well as the soul. As to the wicked,
Christ raises them up for judgment, but not at the same
time. Christ will accomplish, for the bodies of the saints,
what He has already accomplished for the soul; the wicked
will be called up for judgment, and forced to honor Christ
in spite of themselves; John 5.. In Luke 20:35, 36, there is
a remarkable distinction. As regards all my sins, He put
them away at His rst coming. I am going to appear before
Him who has already died for me.
But then there is another aspect of the coming of Christ,
and a most important one as regards the present interests
and operations of the church; namely, the way in which
God is going to accomplish, through it, His purposes
towards the world.
I quite understand a person saying, “ I do not see this
“; but I do not understand the saint saying, “ I do not see
the importance of it.” Christ is soon coming again, and He
is coming to judge the world. Now is not that important?
A man may not believe it, but it is folly to say that it is
unimportant. e world is going on in a rapid progress of
evil, concerning which Scripture gives abundant testimony,
and the preaching of the gospel is not that which is to
convert the world which is all ripening for judgment. And
here it would be well to guard against a false thought,
namely, that to insist upon this would hinder the preaching
of the gospel. Quite the contrary. It would urge to it with
more power and energy, with more of the activity of love
to go and say to poor sinners, “ Save yourselves from
this untoward generation.” Did the sure knowledge of
judgment coming hinder Noah? It is admitted on all hands
that the knowledge of the glory of the Lord will one day
ll the earth, as the waters cover the sea. But the question
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
126
is, how is this to be brought about? In Scripture this event
is attributed to the glory of Christ. Nobody can be saved
unless born again, unless washed in the blood of Jesus, but
they may believe through seeing Him, like omas.
If we turn to Isa. 26:9-11, we there nd it said, “
When thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of
the world will learn righteousness. Let favor be shown to
the wicked [the character of the gospel], yet will he not
learn righteousness: in the land of uprightness will he
deal unjustly, and will not behold the majesty of Jehovah.
[Grace does not produce that eect.] Jehovah, when thy
hand is lifted up (just ready, as it were, to strike), they will
not see: but they shall see,” etc.
Hab. 2 speaks of the universality of blessing: “ Behold,
is it not of Jehovah of hosts that the people shall labor in
the very re, and the people shall weary themselves for very
vanity? “ Is that the success of the gospel? yet it makes the
prophet say, “ for the earth shall be lled,” etc.
So Isa. 11, and here again it is connected with His
glory. In Isa. 25:6-8 we read, “ And in this mountain shall
Jehovah of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things,
etc … and he will destroy in this mountain the face of the
covering cast over all people, and the veil that is spread
over all nations. He will swallow up death in victory,” etc.
Doubtless, it is the desire of our hearts that this terrible
veil might be taken o, and we get (1Cor. 15:54) a positive
revelation as to the time at which it shall be so taken o.
“ en shall be brought to pass the saying that is written,
Death is swallowed up in victory.” We must be subject to
the word of God as to when, and how.
We ought (as regards responsibility) to have lled the
earth with the knowledge of Jehovah; but we have not! And
Christ’s Coming, Faith’s Crowning: Hebrews 9:27-28
127
what have we done? We have let the enemy into the church
of God. See the parable of the wheat and tares, Matt. 13 “
While men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among
the wheat, and went his way.” rough the carelessness of
men Satan could come and spoil the results of Christ’s
sowing. Could this be repaired? are we to undo it? No! we
cannot undo it. e mischief is done, and there they must
stay until the harvest (v. 28-30). It will be rectied by a
dispensation of judgment-a harvest, not a re-sowing of the
eld. We ought to have lled the earth with the knowledge
of the Lord, but we have failed; and here we get a truly
sorrowful revelation (blessed be God! He can come and set
all to rights); the mischief done, where good was done, is
irreparable.
God, in the accomplishment of His purposes, is
gathering out, through the gospel, the co-heirs of Christ;
but there is a sorrowful side of the picture. It is blessed
to preach the gospel to sinners; but it is protable for us,
as saints, to own where we have failed. “ In the last days,”
says Paul to Timothy, “ perilous times shall come “; and
again, “ Evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse,
deceiving and being deceived.”
If we take two other passages, we nd the same testimony
as regards the carelessness of man in responsibility, and
the continuance of evil (so introduced), up to the time of
Christ’s coming, leaving no room for intervening blessing.
First, 2ess. 2:7, 8: “ e mystery of iniquity doth
already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be
taken out of the way. And then shall that wicked be revealed,
whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth,
and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming.” e
principle of evil is already working in the church-it has
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
128
begun, and it will go on working till Christ comes: there is
now a hinderer; but when this is taken away, the man of sin
will be manifested; and then it will be put an end to by the
coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
e same truth is revealed in the Epistle of Jude. When
Jude gave all diligence to write about the common salvation,
he found it needful to exhort believers earnestly to contend
for the faith once delivered to the saints; “ for,” says he, “
there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before
of old ordained to this condemnation; their character is
described in detail, v. 4-13. And Enoch also, the seventh
from Adam, prophesied of these saying, “ Behold the Lord
cometh with ten thousand of his saints,” etc. He identies
these very men with those whom the Lord is about to
destroy.
Let us now turn to God’s dealings with the nations.
When “ Lo-Ammi “ was written upon Israel, God gave
power into the hands of the Gentiles; Dan. 2. How is it that
the kingdoms of this world are to become the kingdoms of
our God and of His Christ? Is it by the preaching of the
gospel-a clear duty, whether the earth be lled by that, or
whether judgment is to come rst? e word says, “ ou
sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which
smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay
and brake them in pieces. en was the iron, the clay, the
brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together,
and became like the cha of the summer threshing-
oors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was
found for them [there was the most complete and utter
destruction of the whole system of the image]; and the
stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and
lled the whole earth,” v. 34, 35. ere again I get a positive
Christ’s Coming, Faith’s Crowning: Hebrews 9:27-28
129
revelation that the universal prevalence of Christianity will
be preceded by the execution of the judgments of God.
e little stone cut out without hands does not become a
mountain, etc., until it has executed judgment upon, broken
in pieces, and destroyed the image. And, note, the act of
smiting the image and then lling the whole earth is not
the setting up of Christ’s kingdom at the day of Pentecost.
It is not an inuence that changes the gold, the silver, etc.,
into the character of the stone; but the sudden execution of
judgment upon the image-a blow, which breaks in pieces,
and leaves not a trace of the existence of the image, so that
we read, “ no place was found for them.”
If I turn to Revelation 19: 11-22, and compare it with Isa.
63:1-6, I get a striking testimony respecting the judgments
of the nations. “ Who is this that cometh from Edom,
with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in
his apparel, traveling in the greatness of his strength? I,
that speak in righteousness, mighty to save. Wherefore
art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him
that treadeth in the wine-fat? I have trodden the wine-
press alone, and of the people there was none with me [it
is not here “ He that was trodden in the wine-press,” but “
He treadeth the wine-press of the erceness and wrath of
Almighty God,” Rev. 19:15]; for I will tread them in mine
anger, and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall
be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my
raiment [not whiten theirs]. For the day of vengeance is
in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come.” Rev.
14:17-20. e clusters of the vine of the earth are gathered,
and cast into the great wine-press of the wrath of God.
One passage more, Zeph. 3:8: “ erefore wait ye
upon me, saith Jehovah, until the day that I rise up to the
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
130
prey; for my determination is to gather the nations, that
I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine
indignation, even all my erce anger: for all the earth shall
be devoured with the re of my jealousy.” Verse 9 brings
out subsequent blessing. is needs no comment.
Whatever part of scripture I turn to, bearing upon these
things, I nd the same uniform testimony.
ere is another part of the subject, for which there is
not space now beyond a brief notice: namely, its connection
with the destinies of the Jewish people, “ as concerning
the gospel, enemies for your sakes, but, as touching the
election, beloved for the fathers’ sakes “ (Rom. 11:28); “
of whom, as concerning the esh, Christ came,” Rom.
9:4, 5. We say, with the apostle, “ Hath God cast away his
people? God forbid.” Israel, as a nation, will be saved, and
planted in the land. “ ere shall come out of Zion the
deliverer,” etc. “ e gifts and callings of God are without
repentance.” e promises have never been accomplished.
God gave certain promises to Abraham, unconditionally.
Israel got into the land conditionally under Joshua, failed,
and were turned out of the land. e promises are taken
up under the new covenant, and connected with Messiah.
eir return from Babylon was nothing in that sense; Neh.
9:36. And Messiah was not there. When He came the rst
time, they rejected Him. But even this, while it lled up
the measure of their guilt, did not touch the promises given
without condition.
If this be so, it must be under a new dispensation. It is
another state and condition of things altogether.
“ In the dispensation of the fullness of times,” God will
“ gather together in one all things in Christ, both which
are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him,” Eph.
Christ’s Coming, Faith’s Crowning: Hebrews 9:27-28
131
1:10, 11. When Christ, who is “ heir of all things,” takes the
inheritance, we, as joint-heirs with Him, shall be brought
into the same glory.
In conclusion, as it regards Christ’s coming to judgment:
I nd there a very solemn testimony against being identied
with the world in its interests, its pursuits, expectations, etc.
e world-aye, and the church (in the general vague sense
of the word) too-is ripening for judgment. “ In such an
hour as ye think not, the Son of man cometh.” How can I
be found identifying the interests and objects of the world
with my interests and objects as a saint? making myself
a nest in the place where Christ has been crucied, and
where He is coming to judge?
But here is another thing. If I look up, “ Glory is coming!
there is the Bridegroom! I am going to see him as he is, to
be with him in the glory, to be like him.” “ Every man that
hath this hope in him puries himself even as he is pure.”
e Lord give you to search the word, and see if these
things be so. May you receive them, not merely as matters
of knowledge, but of faith and of hope. is plants a
thousand joys.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
132
63042
Faith: Hebrews 11
We nd in this chapter not exactly a denition of faith,
but the eects of its power, brought before us; and this is
to make things so present as that they should be real to the
soul. e things looked out for are as substantial to the soul
as if possessed, and this which are not seen are as vividly
before us as if they were seen. is is what characterizes a
believer. He is a person who has such an evidence of things
not seen as to govern his thoughts and aections, as his
motive. e world in which he lives is seen and felt by faith.
is is calculated to bring home that question in a man’s
soul which God Himself answers. Is there any substance in
my soul? are things unseen as real to me as if I saw them?
Faith is opposed to law; for “ the law is not of faith.” Law
brings out the rebellion of the will. e carnal mind is
opposed to God’s law and, therefore, there is disobedience
wherever there are self-will and law. If I have no law, I
may do my own will; but if there is a law, it is the will of
someone else I must do.
ere is another character of sin brought out here.
It is not rebellion against a law, as in Adam. ere was
the absence of faith in Cain: while it is said of Abel, “ by
faith he oered unto God a more excellent sacrice than
Cain.” What substance have you of things hoped for? is
question does not disturb one who has real faith. I do not
ask if you live up to these things-that is another question;
but have you faith? e Jews had killed the Holy One and
the Just, but they believed that He was the Holy and the
Just One, for if they had not, they would have said, when
Faith: Hebrews 11
133
they were charged with having killed Him, Oh, He was not
the Holy and the Just One at all; but their very confession
of “ What shall we do? “ proves that they did not deny
His being so, and it made them fear. ey were not what
they should be, but they were pricked to the heart; and the
eect of it is they cry out, “ What shall we do to be saved? “
e conscience may be frightened about sin, but that is
not faith. ere is no power in natural conscience to acquire
life, but there is fear of punishment-” a certain fearful
looking for of judgment “; but this is not faith. ere is
nothing “ hoped for.” Have you such a sense of the reality
of future things on your heart? Is it a reality in your souls,
so that it controls your thoughts and feelings and habits? If
not, you have not faith. In the end of John 2 we see a class
of persons on whom there was no insincerity charged, but
there was no faith in them. ey saw the miracles and they
marveled; but Christ did not commit Himself to them.
All through this chapter (Heb. 11) faith is spoken of in
a practical way. “ By it the elders obtained a good report “;
and in all the instances mentioned, it was such a real and
practical thing that it characterized the man.
If your soul is distressed with the thought that you have
not the outgoing of soul answering to what Christ is to you,
it is a proof that you have faith. Christ has such a substance
in your heart. ere is something wrong, something not
given up-some levity, carelessness, vanity, etc.; but still you
have got some substance. ere is a connection between
these four rst examples of faith. e rst shows us its
exercise about the sacrice, on which Abel rests. e
second is, the walk with God consequent upon this. e
third is, the knowledge of the future which actuates. e
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
134
fourth opens the special subject of walking as pilgrims and
strangers; but all following each other in order.
e moment a soul is brought home to God, it changes
everything to him. “ e fashion of this world passeth away.”
He sees God through it all, instead of seeing it as He did
before, only as man’s world with none but man through it
all. You cannot bring God into a world which has rejected
and slighted Christ, without altering everything to the
heart and judgment. You are not in paradise now, and you
know and feel that you are not. ere is not a circumstance
in the world, but in it we see the results of our having
broken with God, and God having broken with us. e
very fact of our dress reminds us of it; it is the consequence
of sin.
Cain went out from the presence of God, and what
does he then? He builds a city: and what next? You
cannot have a city without having something to amuse.
en comes Tubal-Cain with the arts and sciences, and
Jubal with pleasant sounds-” he was the father of all such
as handle the harp and organ.” ere was no harm in the
music, etc., itself; but why did they want it? What was the
source of it? What use did they make of it? It was to make
them content in being away from God. Is not this “ harm “
enough? Adam, after he sinned and heard God’s voice, hid
himself among the trees in the garden: there was no harm
in the trees, but there was harm in his hiding himself. ere
is harm in man’s trying to make himself comfortable away
from God. e prodigal went and joined himself to the
citizens of the far country: but when he was in want, no
man gave to him. ere is none to give him where the devil
reigns. Man never can satisfy himself in that country. Bring
God in; and what is the result? It gives the consciousness of
Faith: Hebrews 11
135
the truth. It makes him feel and say, “ I am perishing with
hunger.” is is the rst eect of faith coming in. Mark, too,
the next consequence. How thoroughly he would hate all
those things which governed and attracted his heart before!
ere is nothing a soul will detest so much as the very
things he loved most before. When a soul comes to God,
he nds out what it is to have left God-that he might do
according to a will that is utterly corrupt-his own will. is
is the eect of such a discovery. He thinks of the contrast
and of his father’s house: “ How many hired servants of
my father’s,” etc. e sense of the contrast comes in when
God is made known. en comes the sense of sin-I am this
wicked person. ere is not only wickedness, but it is I that
am this wicked thing; and then the discovery of ourselves,
just as we are, would be more than we could bear; we need
the revelation of God’s grace. We could not bear to see all
otherwise. ere was One and only One who could. e
conviction of sin comes into the soul in the sight of the
blessedness of Him who is without sin.
Let us look a little at these religious characters brought
before us. Cain and Abel were both alike as to outward
character and circumstance. ey were both under the
sentence of banishment from the presence of God. ey
both had employment, and both seemed to have been
outwardly decent characters. ey both came to worship,
too, and Cain brought that which cost him most, that
for which he had worked. God had sent him forth to till
the ground, and he tilled it; that was all right, and it was
right for him to bring an oering. e dierence between
them was not in all that. In outward character, too, Cain
was just like Abel; nothing came out amiss until he killed
his brother. What was the mistake in Cain? ere was no
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
136
sense upon his heart that he was driven out of paradise
because he deserved it: he might not have known that he
was driven out even, for he thought he had nothing to do
but to go to God, as if he was all right with Him. is is
just what men are doing now. ey are driven from God’s
presence and favor, going on with their occupations, tilling
the ground and the like, and, when the time comes round,
thinking to come and worship! What would a father feel
about his child who had been disobedient to him one day,
and coming the next, just as if nothing had happened,
expecting to be received as though all was right between
him and his father? is is just what men are doing with
God. But, dear friends, you are out of paradise, and can
you think to come and worship God as if nothing had
happened? Are you expecting to get into heaven just the
same as (not one whit better than) Adam was when he got
out of paradise? If you got into heaven, you would spoil it;
but the truth is, you are making your own heaven down
here.
Abel was not a bit better than Cain as to his position
and nature; but there is one great dierence-he owns it all,
and obtained testimony that he was righteous. “ By faith he
oered to God a more excellent sacrice,” etc. It might have
been said he was not so right as Cain in a natural sense, as
to his calling, for God had not set men to keep sheep, and
he had to till the ground; but he brought a sacrice from
the ock, a bloody sacrice. He had a sense of being out of
paradise; but, more than that, he had a sense of being an
outcast for sin. He felt he was a sinner. He had a sense of
having broken with God and God with him, and he knew
Him to be of purer eyes than to behold iniquity. He owned
that God had not done wrong in turning man out, and that
Faith: Hebrews 11
137
it would be wrong to let him in. He owned that death hung
over him as his proper desert.
It is God’s sentence upon me, and my ruin is my desert.
ese things had such a reality to his soul that he would
have known it would have been presumption for him to
go to God as though nothing had happened. en he had
something more still; for he had learned, through the grace
of God, that there was something needed between him
and God, and that this something was there. Sacrice was
the only way. See the other side of this blessed truth. Not
only could he not go without a sacrice, but, beyond this,
it was there: and we know who this is-the Son of God.
God says, I cannot look at sin; but there is one thing I can
look at-an oering about sin, and that is my Son as a sin-
oering. Faith apprehends this, and there was no thought
of coming in any other way. “ ere will I meet with thee,”
God said to Moses. And what did he put at the door of the
tabernacle? e altar of burnt-oering, the sacrice for sin
God had there; and faith rests on this as the only possible
way of approach.
ere was no climbing up some other way. ere is
but this one door by which to enter, and it is through that
sacrice, by which the holiness of God is fully maintained,
as well as His love manifested, in the highest way. I want
to see my sin put away in His sight, just as I see it brought
out rst in His sight; and here is the perfect sin-oering,
and there is no place where this wonderful question of
good and evil has been judged as at the cross of Christ. e
sacrice is fully accepted. He has borne all the wrath and
put it away. Hear Him saying, “ My God, my God, why
hast thou forsaken me? “ ere was perfect obedience and
perfect love. He was a perfect sin-oering; and there He
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
138
is now at the right hand of the Father. “ Now is the Son of
man gloried, and God is gloried in him.” His oering
for sin has forever settled the question of sin. He has made
peace about my sin and for my sin; and has He done it
in part? Would that be like God? No; it was complete. “
When he had by himself purged our sins, he sat down on
the right hand of the majesty on high.” When I see that, I
cannot go to God as Cain, just as I am; and yet I must go
to Him if I am to have happiness or blessing. But I also see
that God has provided Himself with a burnt-oering. It is
taken out of our hands, as it were; it is God’s own perfect
work; it is His settling of sin, and I can rest in the result
of what He has oered. is is faith. Now we go to God
by Him. is is, as it were, oering Christ. God gives me
the resting-place; and the convinced sinner cannot come
to Christ without nding all his sins put away forever. e
sacrice of the burnt-oering is there, and the moment I
am there I come with the sacrice, and can be happy in His
presence, though with a perfect knowledge of His holiness.
“ Abel obtained witness that he was righteous “: not
merely that the sacrice was perfect, but he had the
witness that he was righteous. It was not only true that he
was righteous, but that he also had the witness of it, and
this gave him peace. e gospel is God’s witness to His
acceptance of Christ. See how this is “ God testifying of his
gifts.” If you bring that Lamb, I accept you according to all
the value of that Lamb.
e next eect of faith we see in Enoch, walking with
God when brought to Him, and it is with a God who has
found a propitiation in the blood of Christ. “ Am I accepted
in the Beloved? “ I have no hope but in Christ; but He is
my hope. “ ough your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as
Faith: Hebrews 11
139
white as snow,” etc. God’s holiness is the measure by which
He has put away sin, and there is not a spot upon him that
believes in Christ. en I can walk with God. It is not only
peace, but walking with Him till I am in heaven with Him.
How can I have all this? Christ is my title. I may expect
all that God can give as the fruit of the travail of Christ’s
soul. I know God and am known of Him; and walking in
the comfort and peace of His grace and truth in Christ, I
trust Him.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
140
63016
Burning and Eating the
Sacrices: Hebrews 13:7-
19
Hebrews 13:7-19
ere was a twofold character in the oering which has
its counterpart for us in Christ: and the want of rm grasp
of this, to distinguish and yet maintain them together, lies
at the root of much want of enjoyment and of feebleness
in the children of God. e rst and most fundamental
point was that in the oerings there was that which was
consumed. Being identied with the sin of man, it was
consumed under the wrath and indignation of God or it
went up as a savor of rest, as that which was sweet and
acceptable to God, as for instance in the burnt-oering.
In the sin-oering there was God’s judgment of sin, and
therefore the greater part was burnt outside the camp. But,
besides this, there was another character that entered into
the sacrices. In very many cases men partook of them.
In the meat-oering and peace-oering such was the fact:
and even in the oering for sin the priest had a portion.
And I believe that this is what is referred to here. ese
Jewish Christians were in great danger of forgetting their
privileges. ey had abandoned everything that they had
once revered as the religion given them by God: they were
no longer gazing on things that shadowed His glory. e
grandeur, the magnicence, the glory, of the Levitical
institutions-all was left behind. God was not now as of old,
thundering from heaven. He had wrought with innitely
Burning and Eating the Sacrices: Hebrews 13:7-19
141
greater moral glory. He had sent His Son from heaven:
pardon and peace had been brought, and joy and liberty
in the Holy Ghost; but all this was unseen. It is, however,
one thing to enter into the comfort of the truth when all is
bright and fresh, and another thing to hold it fast in time
of reproach, shame, derision and the falling away of some.
When the rst joy is somewhat lessened, the heart naturally
returns to what it had once rested on. And there is always
this danger for us- when evil is felt, the blessing not being
so present to the soul. Who among us that has long known
Christ-known His ways- has not felt this snare?
And what is the divine remedy? It is just that which the
Holy Ghost here uses-” Jesus Christ, the same yesterday,
and to-day, and forever.” We must not sever this verse from
the succeeding one: “ Be not carried about with divers
and strange doctrines,” etc. e Holy Ghost would guard
these Jewish believers against that which, compared with
our own proper Christian blessings, is mere trash, earthly
priesthood, holy places, oerings, tithes, etc. ese things,
after all, were but novelties compared with the old thing,
which is Jesus.
Looked at historically, Christianity might seem a new
thing. He had been but recently manifested; but who was
He? and whence had He come? He was “ the rst-born of
every creature “-yea, the Creator! “ All things were created
by him and for him; and he is before all things, and by him
all things consist.” He was the One whom God intended
to manifest from all eternity. And here we see Him in His
complete Person-” Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and
to-day, and forever.” rough Him God could bless. With
Him He would have us occupied.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
142
We are told a little before to remember them that had
the rule over us-to follow their faith, even if themselves
were gone. But these all pass out of the scene, while “ Jesus
Christ is the same yesterday, and to-day, and forever.”
is is the only thing that abides unchangeably, and
establishes too. “ Meats have not proted those who have
been occupied therein.” Many might have abstained-it was
God’s bidding that they should; but if occupied with the
thing, it was not for their prot. Christ was the substance:
all else was shadow. erefore He goes on to say, “ We have
an altar whereof they have no right to eat which serve
the tabernacle.” If others have the husk, we are feeding
on the kernel. (e “ tabernacle “ was used to express the
Jewish system.) Everything had passed away in Christ. In
Philippians the apostle could speak contemptuously of
circumcision in contrast with having Christ, even though
it was of God. To be occupied with it, now that Christ was
come, was to be outside, to be of “ the circumcision.”
“ To eat.” It was not merely the oering, nor the burning
of the oering, but the partaking of it. We have got Christ
Himself, and our sins put away-sin, root and branch, dealt
with by God. ere is not now one question unsettled
for us who believe. Has He one question unsettled with
Christ? and if not with Christ, He has not with us, for He
died and rose for us, and we are one with Him. As in the
Jewish system, God and the oerer had their portions in
the sacrices, so now we may say that God has His own
portion in the same Christ on whom we feed. e entrance
into this exceedingly blessed thought is one of the things
which the children of God greatly fail in-that we are seated
by God Himself at the same table where He has His own
joy and portion. Of course there is that in which we cannot
Burning and Eating the Sacrices: Hebrews 13:7-19
143
share. In the burnt-oering all went up to God. e sweet
fragrance of all that Christ was goes up to Him. We must
remember that God has His innite joy in Christ; and not
only for what He is in Himself, but for that which He
has done for my sins. When we think of this, all of self is
absorbed, and must sink before it. e old nature we have
still; but it is in us to be crushed. We have to treat it all, its
likings and dislikings, as a hateful thing. But the new life
needs sustaining. It grows by feeding. As in natural life, the
mere possession of riches will not sustain life, but it has
to be nourished; so in spiritual life, it is not only true that
Christ is my life in the presence of God, but I must make
Christ my own for my food-eating of Him day by day;
John 6. He is in very deed given to us, to be turned by faith
into nourishment for us. And the sweet thing is that
we are entitled thus to think of Christ, given by God to be
this food for us. It is not only that Christ is God’s, but He
is ours too: our fellowship is with the Father and with His
Son Jesus Christ.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
144
63017
Obedience the Saint’s
Liberty: Hebrews 13:17-
25
Hebrews 13:17-25
e spirit of obedience is the great secret of all
godliness. e spring of all evil from the beginning has
been independence of will. Obedience is the only rightful
state of the creature, or God would cease to be supreme-
would cease to be God. Where there is independence, there
is always sin. is rule, if remembered, would wonderfully
help us in guiding our conduct.
ere is no case whatever in which we ought to do
our own will; for then we have not the capacity either of
judging rightly about our conduct or of bringing it before
God. I may be called upon to act independently of the
highest authority in the world, but it ought never to be on
the principle that I am doing my own will, which is the
principle of eternal death.
e liberty of the saint is not license to do his own will.
9
If anything could have taken away the liberty of the Lord
Jesus, it would have been the hindering Him in being always
obedient to the will of God. All that moves in the sphere of
man’s will is sin. Christianity pronounces the assertion of
its exercise to be the principle of sin. We are sanctied unto
9 An entire self-renunciation (and this goes very far when we
know the subtlety of the heart) is the only means of walking
with the full blessing that belongs to our happy position of
service to God, our brethren, and mankind.
Obedience the Saint’s Liberty: Hebrews 13:17-25
145
obedience (1Peter 1:2): the essence of sanctication is the
having no will of our own. If I were as wise (so to speak) as
Lucifer, and it administered to my own will, all my wisdom
would come to be folly. True slavery is the being enslaved
by our own will; and true liberty consists in our having our
wills entirely set aside. When we are doing our own wills,
self is our center.
e Lord Jesus “ took upon himself the form of a
servant,” and, “ being found in fashion as a man, he humbled
himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death
of the cross,” Phil. 2:6-8. When man became a sinner, he
ceased to be a servant, though he is, in sin and rebellion,
the slave of a mightier rebel than himself. When we are
sanctied, we are brought into the place of servants, as well
as that of sons. e spirit of son-ship just manifested itself
in Jesus, in coming to do the Father’s will. Satan sought to
make His son-ship at variance with unqualied obedience
to God; but the Lord Jesus would never do anything, from
the beginning to the end of His life, but the Father’s will.
In this chapter the spirit of obedience is enforced
towards those who rule in the church-” obey them that
have the rule over you, and submit yourselves,” v. 17. It is
for our prot in everything, to seek after this spirit. “ ey
watch for your souls,” says the apostle, “ as they that must
give account.” ose whom the Lord puts into service He
makes responsible to Himself. is is the real secret of all
true service. It should be obedience, whether in those who
rule, or those who obey. ey are servants, and this is their
responsibility. Woe unto them if they do not guide, direct,
rebuke, etc.; if they do not do it, “ the Lord “ will require
it of them. On the other hand, those counseled become
directly responsible to “ the Lord “ for obedience.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
146
e great guardian principle of all conduct in the church
of God is personal responsibility to “ the Lord.”
No guidance of another can ever come in between an
individual’s conscience and God. In popery this individual
responsibility to God is taken away. ose who are spoken
of in this chapter, as having the rule in the church, had
to “ give account “ of their own conduct, and not of souls
which were committed to them. ere is no such thing
as giving account of other people’s souls; “ every one of
us must give an account of himself to God,” Rom. 14.
Individual responsibility always secures the maintenance
of God’s authority. If those who watched for their souls
had been faithful in their service, they would not have to
give account “ with grief,” so far as they were concerned;
but still it might be very “ unprotable “ for the others, if
they acted disobediently.
Wherever the principle of obedience is not in our hearts,
all is wrong; there is nothing but sin. e principle which
actuates us in our conduct should never be, “ I must do
what I think right “; but, “ I ought to obey God,” Acts 5:29.
e apostle then says, “ Pray for us: for we trust we have
a good conscience, in all things willing to live honestly,” v.
18. It is always the snare of those who are occupied with the
things of God continually, not to have a “ good conscience.”
No person is so liable to a fall, as one who is continually
administering the truth of God, if he be not careful to
maintain a “ good conscience.” e continually talking
about truth, and the being occupied about other people,
has a tendency to harden the conscience. e apostle does
not say, “ Pray for us, for we are laboring hard,” and the
like; but that which gives him condence in asking their
prayers is, that he has a “ good conscience.” We see the same
Obedience the Saint’s Liberty: Hebrews 13:17-25
147
principle spoken of in 1Tim. 1:19; “ holding faith, and a
good conscience, which some having put away, concerning
faith have made shipwreck.” Where there is not diligence
in seeking to maintain a “ good conscience,” Satan comes in
and destroys condence between the soul and God, or we
get into false condence. Where there is the sense of the
presence of God, there is the spirit of lowly obedience. e
moment that a person is very active in service, or has much
knowledge and is put forward in any way in the church,
there is the danger of not having a good conscience.
It is blessed to see the way in which, in verses 20, 21,
the apostle returns, after all his exercise and trial of spirit,
to the thought of God’s being “ the God of peace.” He was
taken from them, and was in bondage and trial himself; he
enters, moreover, into all the troubles of these saints, and is
extremely anxious, evidently, about them; and yet he is able
to turn quietly to God, as “ the God of peace.”
We are called unto peace. Paul closes his second epistle
to the essalonians with, “ Now the Lord Of peace himself
give you peace always by all means.” ere is nothing that
the soul of the believer is more brought to feel than that he
has “ need of patience “ (Heb. 10:36); but if he is hindered
by anything from nding God to be “ the God of peace,” if
sorrow and trial hinder this, there is the will of the esh at
work. ere cannot be the quiet doing of God’s will, if the
mind be troubled and uttered about a thousand things.
It is completely our privilege to walk and to be settled, in
peace; to have no uneasiness with God, but to be quietly
seeking His will. It is impossible to have holy clearness of
mind, unless God be known as “ the God of peace.” When
everything was removed out of God’s sight but Christ,
God was “ the God of peace.” Suppose then, that I nd
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
148
out that I am an utterly worthless sinner, but see the Lord
Jesus standing in the presence of God, I have perfect peace.
is sense of peace becomes quite distracted when we are
looking at the ten thousand diculties by the way; for,
when the charge and care of anything rests on our minds,
God ceases, practically, to be “ the God of peace.”
ere are three steps:
1. e knowledge that God has “ made peace through the
blood of his cross,” Col. 1:20. is gives us “ peace
with God,” Rom. 5:1.
2. As it regards all our cares and troubles, the promise is,
that, if we cast them on God, “ the peace of God,
which passeth all understanding, shall keep our
hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” See Phil.
4:6, 7. God burdens Himself about everything for us,
yet He is never disturbed or troubled; and it is said,
that His peace shall “ keep our hearts and minds.”
If Jesus walked on the troubled sea, He was just as
much at peace as ever; He was far above the waves
and billows.
3. ere is a further step, namely, He who is “ the God of
peace “ being with us, and working in us to will and
to do of His own good pleasure. See verses 20, 21.
e holy power of God is here described as keeping
the soul in those things which are well pleasing to
Him, through Jesus Christ.
ere was war-war with Satan, and in our own
consciences, but it met its crisis on the cross of the Lord.
Jesus. e moment that He was raised from the dead, God
was made known fully as “ the God of peace.” He could not
leave His Son in the grave; the whole power of the enemy
was exercised to its fullest extent; and God brought into
Obedience the Saint’s Liberty: Hebrews 13:17-25
149
the place of peace the Lord Jesus, and us also who believe
on Him, and became nothing less than “ the God of peace.”
He is “ the God of peace,” both as regards our sins, and
as regards our circumstances. But it is only in His presence
that there is settled peace. e moment we get into human
thoughts and reasonings about circumstances, we get
troubled. Not only has peace been made for us by the
atonement, but it rests upon the power of Him who raised
up Jesus again from the dead; and therefore we know Him
as “ the God of peace.”
e blessing of the saint does not depend upon the
old covenant to which man was a party, and which
might therefore fail; but upon God who, through all the
trouble and sin and the power of Satan, “ brought again
from the dead our Lord Jesus,” and thus secured “ eternal
redemption,” Heb. 9:12. All that God Himself had
pronounced as to judgment against sin, and all the wicked
power of Satan, rested on Jesus on the cross; and God
Himself has raised Him from the dead. Here then we have
full comfort and condence of soul. “ Nothing can separate
us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord,”
argues faith (see Rom. 8:31-39), for, when all our sins had
been laid upon Jesus, God stepped in, in mighty power,
and “ brought again from the dead that Great Shepherd of
the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant.”
e blood was as much the proof and witness of the love
of God to the sinner as it was of the justice and majesty
of God against sin. is covenant is founded on the truth
and holiness of the eternal God having been fully met and
answered in the cross of the Lord Jesus. His precious blood
has met every claim of God. If God be not “ the God of
peace,” He must be asserting the insuciency of the blood
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
150
of His dear Son. And this we know is impossible. God
rests in it as a sweet savor.
en, as to the eect of all this on the life of the saint,
the knowledge of it produces fellowship with God and
delight in doing His will. He “ works in us,” as it is said
here, “ that which is well pleasing in his sight, through
Jesus Christ.”
e only thing that ought to make any hesitation in the
saint’s mind about departing to be with Christ is the doing
God’s will here. We may suppose such an one thinking of
the joy of being with Christ, and then being arrested by
the desire of doing God’s will here. See Phil. 1:20-25. at
assumes condence in God, as “ the God of peace,” and
condence in His sustaining power whilst here. If the soul
is laboring in the turmoil of its own mind, it cannot have
the blessing of knowing God as “ the God of peace.”
e esh is so easily aroused that there is often the need
of the word of exhortation-” I beseech you, brethren, suer
the word of exhortation,” v. 22. e spirit of obedience is
the only spirit of holiness.
e Lord give us grace to walk in His ways.
Brief Exposition of James
151
63018
Brief Exposition of James
e Epistle of James is not one in which the doctrines
of grace are developed, although sovereign grace is clearly
recognized; chap. 1: 18. ese doctrines are presented to
us under the form of the work of God in us, not under
that of redemption through the precious blood of Christ,
which is His work for us. It is a practical epistle-the holy
girdle for our loins, in order that the external practical
life should correspond with the inner divine life of the
Christian, and that the will of God should be for us a law
of liberty. Redemption is not spoken of in this epistle,
neither is faith, as the means of participation in the fruit of
this accomplished redemption. But since many had already
made profession of the name of Christ, the writer desires
that the reality of this profession should be manifested by
works, the sole witness to others that true faith is working
in the heart; for faith works by love; Gal. 5:6. James sets
forth the true character of this new creation, and the way
in which it is manifested in practical life, so that others are
able to see it.
James remained at Jerusalem to tend the ock which
was found there-more especially the Jewish portion of
the church. We nd him in the history of the gospel, but
always as presiding over the Jewish ock, and that before it
had become distinct from the Jewish nation. In the Epistle
to the Hebrews the Spirit of God exhorts them to go forth
without the camp, that is to say, to separate themselves
from the unbelieving Jews; Heb. 13. Up to that time they
had remained together, and Christians oered sacrices
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
152
according to the law. ere were also many priests who
were obedient to the faith (Acts 6:7)-a thing incredible to
us, but the fact is clearly proved by the word. Moreover
they were still all zealous for the law.
Let us trace the history of James as we nd it in the
Acts. But rst we get him specially mentioned in Gal. 1:19,
as having been seen by Paul, who, at that time, with the
exception of Peter, had not seen the other apostles. en
we nd him in Acts 15, presiding if we can so say, in the
assembly of the apostles and elders, for deciding whether
the Gentiles ought to be subjected to the law of Moses.
His decision is nal, though Peter and Paul as well as the
other apostles were present, with the exception of James,
the brother of John whom Herod had slain.
e decrees ordained by the apostles and elders were a
testimony from the Jewish church. God had not allowed
Paul and Barnabas to decide the question at Antioch: such
a decision would not have ended the controversy; it would
have made two assemblies. But the moment the Jewish
Christians and the assembly at Jerusalem allowed liberty
to the Gentiles, none could oppose themselves to their
deliverance from the law. It was not a point determined by
the apostles in virtue of their apostolic authority, although
that authority conrmed the decree. ey disputed much
in the assembly. e decision is afterward sent in the name
of the apostles, the elders, and the whole church. Judaism
had allowed to the Gentiles liberty from the Jewish yoke.
Here again we nd James. He ended the discussion by
saying, “ Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not
them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God.”
It is not certain that he was an apostle. Probably he was
not. He was at the head of the Jewish church at Jerusalem.
Brief Exposition of James
153
For this reason the angel of the Lord, when he had brought
Peter out of prison, restoring him to liberty, says, “ Go and
show these things to James and to the brethren,” Acts 12:17.
Again, at Antioch, “ before that certain came from James,
Peter ate with the Gentiles, but after they were come, he
withdrew and separated himself,” Gal. 2:12. We see how
James is linked in the minds of the Christians, including
Peter, although an apostle, with the Jewish feeling that still
held sway in the hearts of the Jewish Christians, especially
at Jerusalem.
Again, when Paul went up to Jerusalem for the last
time, “ he went in,” it is said, “ with us to James, and all
the elders were present,” Acts 21:18. James was evidently
at the head of the assembly at Jerusalem, and expressed in
his own person the strength of that principle of Judaism,
which still reigned in the church at Jerusalem, God bearing
with it in His patience. ey believed in Jesus, they broke
bread at home, but they were all zealous for the law. ey
oered sacrices in the temple, and even persuaded Paul
to do the same (Acts 21), and they were in no respect
separated from the nation. All this is forbidden in the
Epistle to the Hebrews, but it was practiced up to the last
days of Judaism.
is principle reappears in the Epistle of James-a true
presentation of the state of the Jewish Christians, James
himself being in his own person its representative and
embodiment. As long as God bore with the system, the
Spirit of God could work in it. We learn from profane history
that James was killed by the Jews amongst whom he bore
the name of “ the just “; and Josephus, the Jewish historian,
tells us, that for this crime Jerusalem was destroyed. After
the destruction of Jerusalem the system disappeared. We
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
154
can well believe that the true Christians acted upon the
testimony given in the Epistle to the Hebrews. However
that may be, there remained only one or perhaps two small
heretical sects, who held formally to Judaism, and they also
soon vanished. ey were called the Nazarenes and the
Ebionites. But we need not occupy ourselves with these
things.
e position of James, and the state of the assembly
at Jerusalem (that is to say, of the Christians who were
externally linked with the unbelieving Jews, although they
might break bread and worship apart), makes it easier
to understand this epistle. It is no question of its divine
inspiration, but of its character. God in His goodness has
given us all the forms with which Christianity has been
clothed, and among others this rst Jewish form, when
the Christians had not yet separated themselves from the
nation.
We do not, therefore, here nd the mysteries of the
counsels of God, as in Paul; nor redemption as set forth
in his writings, and in those of Peter; nor the divine life
of the Son of God, in Him and then in us, as we nd
it described in the writings of the apostle John; but his
subject is the practical life of the poor of the ock, who still
frequented the synagogue, and denunciations against the
rich unbelievers who oppressed the poor, and blasphemed
the name of the Lord.
CHAPTER 1.
e epistle is addressed to the twelve tribes. e nation
is not yet looked upon as nally rejected of God.
James writes to the dispersion, that is to say, to the
Israelites dispersed everywhere in the midst of the Gentiles.
Faith recognized the entire nation, as did Elijah in 1Kings
Brief Exposition of James
155
18:31, and as did Paul in Acts 26:7. Faith recognized it,
until the judgment of God was accomplished. In order
to understand the counsels, the purposes of God, His
assembly, the glory of Christ, and our place now in Christ,
and hereafter with Him, we must read the writings of Paul.
e patience of God with His ancient people is here
shown, although James warns them that the Judge is before
the door. He carefully distinguishes the believers (chap. 2:1),
though not yet separated from the people. eir privileges
are not found in this epistle; they could not enjoy them in
company with the unbelieving Jews; but he could point out
to them- though in the midst of such-the dierence of the
Christian life, and it is of this James speaks.
He does not style himself an apostle; yet he was in a
practical manner-not as an ordained elder, but from his
personal inuence, at the head of those Christians who
were not separated from Judaism. He always thinks of
Christians, and of the walk which became them in the
midst of the nation. Peter, who wrote to a part of the
Jewish dispersion, does not speak of the Jews, but calls the
believers the nation, and addresses them as in the midst of
the Gentiles (1Peter 2:10-12); but by James the Christian
walk is described in terms which seldom go beyond what
ought to have been found in a man of faith under the old
covenant.
We see that he has Christians in his mind, but Christians
who are on the lowest step of the ladder which reaches
towards heaven. Yet, since in point of fact, we are upon the
earth, this epistle is most useful, as pointing out the walk
and the spirit which become us, however great our heavenly
privileges may be. Although the light of our hearts is there
above, a lantern for our feet is not to be despised, and it
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
156
is all the more valuable, because we are in the midst of a
Christian profession- of people who say they are believers.
e epistle puts the truth of this profession to the proof.
Whatever may have been the connection of the believers
with the people, the writer of our epistle supposes faith in
those to whom it is addressed-a faith which perhaps might
have been practically found in a Jew before he believed
in Jesus-therefore, with the addition of this belief, a true
faith which had been produced by the word of God in the
heart. As Paul himself, coming down from the height of
the revelations granted him by God, recognizes the faith of
Lois and Eunice, and likens the faith of Timothy to that
of these women.
Let us now examine the epistle itself. At its very
commencement, temptations, the discipline of God in
favor of the believer, are the test of faith; chap. 1: 2-12.
As to their position, they were associated with the
people; the state of things which the writer has before his
mind is a profession of the faith and knowledge of the
Lord Jesus Christ. We shall see that he addresses others
with whom they were found linked, and warns believers
against the spirit in which such walked.
e Jewish Christians were tried and persecuted. Peter
also speaks of this in his epistle, encouraging them to suer
with patience. James exhorts them, as Paul also had done in
Rom. 5, to esteem persecution as all joy, and for the same
reason that Paul had given. e trial of faith works patience;
the will of man is broken; he has to wait for the operation
of God; he feels his dependence on God, and that he lives
in a scene where God alone can produce the result desired,
overcoming and arresting the power of Satan. Often we
may wish when occupied with good, that the work should
Brief Exposition of James
157
be hastened, that diculties should disappear, and that we
should be freed from persecution; but the will of God-not
ours-is good and wise: the works that are done upon the
earth, He does them Himself. Patience is the perfect fruit
of obedience.
See what is said in Col. 1:11: “ Strengthened with all
might, according to the power of his glory “-what mighty
deeds should not such strength produce!-” unto all patience
and longsuering, with joyfulness.” All might, according
to the power of His glory, is needed to enable us to bear
everything without murmuring, and even with joy, since
all comes from the hand of God. It is His will, not our
own, which sustains the heart. When Paul, in 2Cor. 12:12,
gives us the signs of an apostle, the rst is patience with all
longsuering. Paul also gives us the key to this apparent
contradiction: “ We rejoice in hope of the glory of God; and
not only so, but we glory in tribulations also, knowing that
tribulation worketh patience, and patience experience, and
experience hope, and hope maketh not ashamed, because
the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy
Ghost, which is given unto us,” Rom. 5:3-5.
When the love of God is known, and the will broken,
there is condence in God. We know that all comes from
Him, and that He makes all work together for our greatest
blessing.
us the trying of our faith works patience. But
patience must have her perfect work: otherwise the will
revives, also condence in self, instead of having it in God.
We act without God, and apart from His will, we do not
wait upon Him, or in any case impatience and the esh
show themselves in us. Job was subject for a long time, but
patience did not have her perfect work. Saul waited long
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
158
for Samuel, but he could not wait quietly till Samuel came,
and he lost the kingdom. He did not wait for the Lord,
conscious that he could do nothing of his own will, and
apart from God: patience had not her perfect work.
Now aiction, the dealing of God which acts for us
externally, and inwardly too, by His grace, puts patience to
the proof; and when this work is accomplished and we are
wholly subject to God, desiring nothing apart from His
will, we are perfect and entire, lacking nothing. Not that we
have nothing to learn as to acquaintance with His will; we
nd the contrary in verse 5, which follows; but the state of
soul is perfect, as to the will, as to our relations with God;
and He can reveal His will to us, for it is the only thing we
desire. See 1Peter 1:6, 7.
Patience had her perfect work in the Lord. He felt
deeply the aiction He passed through in this world, and
felt it more than we do.
He could weep over Jerusalem, and at the sight of the
power of death over the hearts of men. e refusal of His
love was a perpetual source of grief to Him. He upbraided
the cities in which most of His mighty works were done,
but He is perfect in His patience, and in that hour He said,
“ I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that
thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and
revealed them unto babes,” Matt. 1 He gives thanks at the
same moment that He upbraids. We see the same thing
in John 12. In both cases His soul, being perfectly subject
to His Father’s will, expands with joy at the prospect of all
that which is the result of submission.
Christ could never lack divine wisdom. But with us it
is very possible that wisdom may be lacking, even when
will is subject, and we truly desire to do the will of God.
Brief Exposition of James
159
erefore the promise follows, “ If any of you lack wisdom,
let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and
upbraideth not.” Absence of will, obedience, and the spirit
of conding dependence which waits on God, characterize
the new life. We pass through tribulation in the world; but
this life develops itself in these qualities. But it is necessary
this condence should be in exercise; otherwise we can
receive nothing. It does not honor God to distrust Him.
Such a man is double-minded, like a wave of the sea driven
by the wind. He is unstable, because his heart is not in
communion with God; he does not live in a way to know
Him; such an one is, of course, unstable. If a believer keeps
in the presence of God, near Him, he knows Him, and will
understand His will; he will not have a will of his own,
and will not wish to have one; not only on the ground
of obedience, but because he has more condence in the
thoughts of God concerning him than he has in his own
will.
Faith in the goodness of God gives courage to seek
and to do His will. We have in Christ Himself a perfect
and beautiful example of these principles of the divine
life. Tempted by Satan, He has no will of His own; it does
not stir; but He shows that man lives by every word that
proceeds from the mouth of God. It is absolute and perfect
obedience. e will of God is not only the rule but the sole
motive for action. When the tempter desires Him to throw
Himself down from the temple, to see whether God will be
true to His promises, Jesus will in no way be tempted; He
cannot question His faithfulness. He waits quietly for the
power of God, whenever the occasion may present itself
for manifesting it, in the path of His will.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
160
Such faith and condence are indeed a sign that the
soul is near to God, living in intimacy and fellowship with
Him. Such an one will be assured that God hears him. is
is what forms the soul in the diculties and trials of this
present life, so that it can be said, “ Blessed is the man that
endureth temptation.”
Verses 9-11 are parenthetical. e new man belongs to
the new creation; he is its rst-fruits, but he nevertheless
nds himself down here in a world, the glory of which
passes away as the ower of the grass. us the brother
of low degree is exalted to have fellowship with Christ,
and to share His glory. However humble he may be, he
becomes, even in this world, the companion of all the
brethren. “ God hath chosen the poor of this world, rich in
faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to
them that love him.” e rich own them as brethren, and
they meet together at the Lord’s table, as possessors of the
same privileges. On the other hand the rich man, if he is
faithful, cannot walk in worldly grandeur, in the pride and
vanity of a world which has rejected the Lord. He makes
himself-God has made him-the brother of the poor man
who loves the Lord. ey enjoy the communion of the
Spirit together, and share the most precious and intimate
things of life. ey rejoice together; the poor man in his
exaltation-Christ is not ashamed to call such `brethren’-
and the rich man glories in that title much more than in all
those that belong to him in the world. at title is despised
in the world, and counted for nothing; but he knows that
the glory of this world passes away as the ower of the
grass, and he rejoices in being the companion of those
whom the Lord of glory owns as His. e world will pass
away, and the spirit of the world is already passed from the
Brief Exposition of James
161
heart of the spiritual Christian. He who takes the lowest
place shall be great in the kingdom of God.
All this is very far removed from the spirit of envy and
jealousy, which would like to pull down all that is above
it. It is not selshness, but the Spirit of love, which comes
down to walk with the lowly, who are not little in the sight
of God; like Christ, who indeed had the right to reign, and
to be rst, but who came down, in order to be with us, and
made Himself a servant in the midst of His disciples. For
us the glory of this world is only vanity and deceit. Love
likes to serve, selshness to be served.
e apostle returns to the character of the new man,
for whom life down here is a test. He is blessed when he
passes through temptations, and bears them with patience.
is is the normal state of the Christian; 1Peter 4:12. e
desert is his pathway, his calling is patience here and glory
hereafter. Tested here, through grace he abides faithful and
unmoved in temptation and trial, and afterward he shall
inherit the crown of life, which God has promised to those
who love Him. e life that has no trials is no life, but he
who is tried is blessed. e life is not down here, though
it is indeed passing through the wilderness. We are on the
journey, not in the rest; it is not yet the life in the rest and
glory of Christ.
In order to develop this life, the aections must be set
upon the promised crown and blessings. When we have the
life of Christ, we need to be exercised in order that the heart
may detach itself from things around, which constantly
invite the attention of the esh, and that the will may not
yield. Resisting the allurements of vanity, the heart should
habitually keep itself by grace in the way of holiness, and
in the enjoyment of heavenly things in communion with
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
162
God. Now trials borne with patience help greatly to this
result. A heart weaned from vanity is an immense gain to
the soul. If the world is dry and arid for the heart, it more
readily turns to the fountain of living waters.
ere is, however, a second meaning to the word “
temptation.” ough it often signies trial from outward
circumstances, it is also employed for another sort of trial-
that which comes from within, the temptation from lust,
which is entirely dierent. God can try us externally, in
order to bless us, and He does so. He tried Abraham, but
He cannot in any way tempt by lust. When it is a question,
not of putting obedience and patience to the test, but of
sin, the condition of the soul is dealt with, for its correction
and advancement. But as regards the calling forth of lust, it
cannot be said that God tempts. “ God cannot be tempted
with evil, neither tempteth he any man, but every man
is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own Mist, and
enticed.”
Christ Himself was tested of God throughout His whole
life, and nothing but a sweet savor came forth. Always
perfect in obedience, having come to do His Father’s will,
He yet learned obedience in this world of sin and enmity
against God. Satan desired to rouse self-will in Him, but
in vain. He was indeed led of the Spirit to be tempted of
the devil, but that He might overcome him for us, who,
through sin, are subject to his power.
No lust was found in Him; but He was capable of being
hungry, and He suered hunger. He had been declared by
the Father’s voice to be the Son of God, and Satan desired
that He should leave the place of servant, which He had
taken in becoming man, and do His own will: therefore he
suggests to Him to make bread of the stones. Here we have
Brief Exposition of James
163
a temptation of the enemy; but the Lord abides in His
perfection; He would live by the word which proceeded
from the mouth of God. God put Him to the proof through
suering, but no lust was found in Him; and when Satan
would make use of hunger-which is a human need apart
from sin, and was found in Christ as a man-He remained
in perfect obedience, and had no other motive for action
than His Father’s will.
With us there are temptations springing from the inner
man, from lust, altogether dierent from the trials coming
from without, which test the state of the heart, detecting
self-will, if we are not perfectly subject to the will of God,
or if we are actuated by other motives besides His will.
Now James is always practical. He does not search out
the root of everything in the heart, as Paul does • he takes
lust as the source which produces actual sin. Paul shows
that the sinful nature is the source of lust-an important
distinction, which also illustrates the dierence between
the two writers, or the object of the Holy Ghost in the
Epistle of James, namely, the outward practical life, as the
evidence of the character of that life, which owes its origin
to the word of God, that had wrought through faith. With
James, lust-the rst movement of the sinful nature which
discloses its real character-having conceived, brings forth
sin, and sin being nished, brings forth death. It is the
history of the workings of the evil nature. James is occupied
with its eects, Paul with its source, in order that we may
know ourselves; Rom. 8:8.
en in opposition to lust, and showing the action of
God, which is not to tempt, but, on the contrary, to produce
good, James tells us that “ every good and perfect gift is
from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights,
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
164
with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that
we should be a kind of rst-fruits of his creatures,” v. 17,
18. As I have said, he owns grace as the sole and divine
source of the good that is in us, as born of God, and that
through faith, since it is by the word of truth. By it we are
born again; it is a new life, and that by the will of God. We
belong to the new creation; we are its rst-fruits. Immense
blessing! which belongs not only to a new position, though
it is that, but also to a new nature which makes us capable
of enjoying God. James does not speak of righteousness
through grace, but of an entirely new nature, which comes
from God.
us, self-will being broken, and self-condence
destroyed, he exhorts us, as those who receive all from
grace, to be willing to hear rather than to speak, to be slow
to wrath, which is but the impatience of the old man, for
the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.
He who is taught of God is subject to Him. He lays aside
all lthiness and superuity of naughtiness, and receives
with meekness the ingrafted word.
is is an important passage, for it presents the
condition of the man of God, and that which acts upon
him. e will of the esh does not act in him, nor does self-
will; he hearkens to what God says, he receives His work
with meekness, and is subject to it. en God engrafts the
word in his heart. It is not knowledge merely, but the truth
of God, His word which is able to save the soul. It is both
the seed of the divine life, and that which forms it.
e sanctifying word is ingrafted in him; the graft is
introduced there by God, the new man which brings
forth the desired fruit. But this life must be expressed in
Brief Exposition of James
165
practice. A man must be a doer of the word, not a hearer
only; otherwise, there is no longer reality, but he is like a
man beholding his natural face in a glass; he goes away and
all disappears, all is forgotten. “ But he that looketh into
the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein-he being
not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the word-this man is
blessed in his deed.”
We nd here an important expression-” e law of
liberty.” If I tell my child to remain in the house when he
wishes to go out, he may obey; but it is not a law of liberty
to him; he restrains his will. But if I afterward say, Now go
where you wish to go; he obeys, and it is a law of liberty,
because his will and the command are the same; they run
together.
e will of God was for Jesus a law of liberty. He came
to do His Father’s will, He desired nothing else. Blessed
state! It was perfection in Him, a blessed example for us.
e law is a law of liberty when the will, the heart of man,
coincides perfectly in desire with the law imposed upon
him- imposed in our case by God-the law written in the
heart. It is thus with the new man as with the heart of
Christ. He loves obedience, and loves the will of God
because it is His will, and as having a nature which answers
to what His will expresses, since we partake of the divine
nature; in fact it loves that which God wills.
Verses 26, 27. But there is an index to what is found
in the heart, which, more than any other, betrays what is
within. is index is the tongue. He who knows how to
govern his tongue is a perfect man, and able to bridle the
whole body. e appearance of religion is vain if the tongue
be not bridled; such a man deceives his own heart.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
166
True religion is shown by love in the heart, and by
purity- keeping himself unspotted from the world. It
thinks of others, for those who are in distress, in need of
protection, and the help and support of love, as widows and
orphans. e truly religious heart, full of the love of God,
and moved by Him, thinks, as God does, upon sorrow,
weakness, and need. It is the true Christian character.
e second mark of Christian life, given by James, is to
be unspotted from the world. e world is corrupt, it lies in
sin, it has rejected the Savior-God come in grace. It is not
only that man has been cast out of Eden because he was
a sinner-which is true, and suces for his condemnation-
but there is more. God has done much to reclaim him. He
gave the promises to Abraham, He called Israel to be His
people, He sent the prophets, and, last of all, His only Son.
God Himself came in grace; but man, as far as he could
do it, cast out the God who was in the world in grace.
erefore the Lord said, “ Now is the judgment of this
world.” e last thing God could do was to send His Son,
and He has done it. “ I have yet,” He said, “ one Son, my
well-beloved; may be they will reverence him when they
see him. And they took him, and killed him, and cast him
out of the vineyard.”
e world is a world which has already rejected the Son
of God, and where does it nd its joy? In God or in Christ?
No; in the pleasures of the esh, in grandeur, in riches; it
seeks to make itself happy without God, that it may not feel
its want of Him. It would not need thus to seek happiness
in pleasures, if it were happy. Formed by God with a breath
of life for Himself, man cannot be satised with anything
less than God. Read the history of Cain. Cain went out
from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of
Brief Exposition of James
167
Nod.
10
en he built a city, and called it after the name of
his son, Enoch. Afterward, Jabal was the father of such as
have cattle (the riches of that day), and his brother’s name
was Jubal, the father of all such as handle the harp and
organ. And Zillah bare Tubal-Cain, an instructor of every
articer in brass and iron.
We have here the world and its civilization complete;
not having God, they must make the world pleasant and
beautiful. It will be said: But what is the harm of harps and
organs?
None, surely; the harm is in the heart of man, who
uses these things to make himself happy without God,
forgetting Him, ying from Him, seeking to content
himself in a world of sin, and to drown the misery of this
condition of alienation from God, by hiding himself in
the corruption that reigns there. e elegance which man
aects makes him, only too often, slip insensibly into this
corruption, which he seeks to conceal with mirth.
But the new man born of God, partaking of the divine
nature, cannot nd its delight in the world; it shuns that
which would separate it from God. Where the esh nds
its happiness and its pleasures, the spiritual life nds
none. James speaks of actual corruption; but he does not
speak as though one part of the world were corrupt and
another pure; on the contrary, it is deled and corrupt in its
principles, and in every way. He who is conformed to it is
corrupt in his walk. e friendship of the world is enmity
against God. Whoever will be the friend of the world is
the enemy of God. We must keep ourselves pure from the
10 Nod is the same word as vagabond (Gen. 4:14). He built a city,
where God had made him a vagabond, and this is what man
has done.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
168
world itself. We have, indeed, to pass through it, and to be
in passing through it the epistle of Christ, undeled by the
world which surrounds us, as Christ was undeled, in the
midst of a world that would not receive Him.
CHAPTER 2.
In chapter 2 believers are clearly distinguished; they are
not to have the faith of the Lord of glory with respect of
persons. To despise the poor was contrary to the law, which
regarded all Israelites as objects of the favor of God, and
considered the people as one before Him, each one being
a member of the same family. It is also entirely contrary
to the spirit of Christianity, which looks for humility,
and calls the poor happy, which gives us to seek greatness
in heavenly glory, showing that the cross here answers
to the glory above. Faith has seen that Lord of glory in
humiliation, not having where to lay His head.
Moreover, the rich had, generally speaking, remained
the_ adversaries of Christianity; they blasphemed that
good name by which Christians were called; they drew
them before the judgment-seats. God has chosen the poor
of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which
He has promised to them that love Him. Paul also gives
the same testimony.
Not many wise, not many mighty, not many noble, are
called; 1Cor. 1:26.
ese things-riches, family, power-are claims which
bind the soul to this world. Grace can indeed break these
chains, but it does not often happen. “ It is easier for a
camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich
man to enter into the kingdom of heaven.” ese chains are
too strong; but with God all things are possible.
Brief Exposition of James
169
James contrasts the glory of the Lord, with the false
glory of man in this world; for the fashion of this world
passes away. He insists much on this point, as does Peter
likewise. If they made a dierence in the assembly between
the poor and the rich, they became judges of evil thoughts.
Blessed be God, we can live together for heaven and in
heavenly things, at least in the church, where true dierence
consists, not according to the vanity of this world, but in
degrees of spirituality.
Remark here, that the assembly is called the synagogue,
showing how the mind of James ran in Jewish habits of
thought.
Now the fact that a dierence was made between the
rich and the poor, by which they were convinced of the law
as transgressors, leads James to speak of the law. He speaks
of three laws: the law of liberty, of which we have spoken;
the royal law; and the law in its usual sense. e royal law
is, “ ou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” He who does
it does well. en he adds a very important principle- that,
if we have kept the whole law, and yet have failed in one
point, we are guilty of all. e reason of this is simple. When
lust has actuated us, we have transgressed the law, and have
despised the authority of Him who established it. It is not
supposed that a man has broken all the commandments
in detail, but He who gave the one gave all, and where the
esh and the will in concert with it has been in activity, we
have followed our own will, and despised the will of God.
His will has been violated.
Christianity requires that we should speak and act, as
those who have been set free from the power of sin, to do
the will of God in all things, His will being ours. He has
delivered us from bondage; we are truly free to walk in the
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
170
footsteps of Jesus. Precious and holy liberty! It is the liberty
of a nature that nds its pleasure and joy in the will of God
and in obedience. Now the Christian is always free to do
the will of God; he may, indeed, get away from God, and
through carelessness and unfaithfulness, lose strength and
zeal; but still, all he says and does will be judged according
to this law of liberty. Important truth! He grows in the
knowledge of the will of God, and he is free under grace
to practice what he knows. e needed strength is found
in Christ.
To this thought of judgment James adds the necessity
of walking according to grace. “ He shall have judgment
without mercy who hath showed no mercy.” e Lord
had already established this principle, that sins should be
forgiven to him who forgives. If the spirit of grace is not
in the heart, we cannot be sharers in that grace which God
has manifested towards man. According to the government
of God, he who does not act with mercy in the details of
this life may taste the severe chastisement of God; for God
nds His delight in goodness and in love.
Now he insists upon works-an important part of this
epistle-not that in itself it is more important than other
parts, but it becomes so on account of the many reasonings
of men.
e principle that love has to be shown, not in words
but in deeds, introduces the question of works. e spirit
of James is practical; he is occupied with the evil produced
by a profession of Christianity without a practical life in
accordance with this profession; and the two principles-
that love should be real, and that faith should manifest itself
by the works it produces-are mingled in his observations. “
If one of you say, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and lled,
Brief Exposition of James
171
notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are
needful to the body, what doth it prot? “ Certainly, this is
not true Christian faith. Faith is a powerful principle, the
result of the operation of the Holy Spirit in the heart, a
spring which moves all the wheels of the heart, a principle
which raises it above selshness and all the base motives
of the world, attaching its aections to Christ. Christ
becomes our true motive; living in us, He is the source
whence our actions ow, so that we walk as He walked. We
are far behind Him indeed, but the principle of our life is
the same; it is He Himself who lives in us.
It is evident then that true faith works by love, and
produces good deeds: it cannot be otherwise. But we have
still another principle in this passage, which is expressed in
the words, “ show me.” It is clear that faith is a principle
hidden in the heart, it cannot be seen; even as the root
which causes the plant to grow and bring forth fruit is not
seen, though it draws nourishment from the soil, as faith
draws from Christ. As without the root the plant cannot
bring forth fruit, so without faith good works cannot be
produced. Some things outwardly good may be done
without having any value. Much may be given, much may
be done, without true love, without faith; but a life of love
which follows Christ, and does His will, because it is His
will, not seeking anything else, cannot be without faith.
Now the one who claims to possess faith owns that it alone
is good, or can produce what is good.
James therefore says: “Show me thy faith without
works.” But this is impossible. It is plain that it is a hidden
principle in the heart, a simple profession without any
reality: yet we need not always connect this with hypocrisy,
because education, the inuences which surround us, and
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
172
external evidence, may produce as a habit of mind belief
in Christianity, and its fundamental doctrines. But in such
faith there is no link with Christ, no source of eternal life.
A man may not be openly unbelieving, he honors the name
of Christ, but such faith produces nothing in the heart:
Christ cannot trust it. See John 2:23-25.
When true faith, the eect of grace by the action of the
Holy Spirit, is produced in the heart, there is felt at once a
personal need of Christ, of possessing Him for oneself, of
hearing His voice. We nd this in the case of Nicodemus.
He goes in search of Christ; and, mark well, he quickly
feels that the world is against him, and so he goes by night.
Now, as true faith cannot be seen, he who claims to
possess it, has nothing to reply to him who says, “ Show me
thy faith.” But he who has genuine works of love cannot
have them without faith, which is the divine motive power
of Christian life in the heart, working patience, purity, love,
and separation from the world, whilst walking through it.
We cannot move without a spring. e faith which truly
looks to Christ, and nds all in Him, manifests itself in this
life, which is the life of faith.
It is a question of showing faith, and to whom? To
God? No surely. It is “ show me,” that is, man who cannot
see the heart as God sees it. e whole reasoning of James,
all its force and meaning, is in this word, “ Show me.” He
does not speak to us of peace of conscience, being justied
by faith because the Lord, the beloved and precious Savior,
has borne our sins, being given for our oenses. Faith
believes in the ecacy of the work of Christ, it knows that
God has received it, has accepted it as a perfect satisfaction
for the sins of believers, a work which will never lose its
value in the sight of God, there where Christ is gone in,
Brief Exposition of James
173
not without blood, that is to say, His own blood, where He
always appears in the presence of God for us, set down at
His right hand, because the whole work as regards our sins
was nished upon the cross, according to the glory of God.
Here, on the contrary, James speaks of vain and empty
faith, of the profession of the name of Christ, of Calling
oneself a Christian, without having Christ in the heart:
true faith shows itself by works, by fruit. It is seen from
the fruit that the tree lives, that the root which draws its
nourishment from Christ is there. e justication of the
profession is made before men, to whom it must be shown,
by means of the fruits which are produced. When we closely
examine the examples here given, we shall see plainly, that
it is a question of the proofs of faith, not of good works
in the ordinary sense of the term. Here faith is shown by
works in the same persons as those instanced by the apostle
Paul: by the act of Abraham, who was ready to sacrice his
only and beloved son, when God required it of him; and
by that of Rahab, who hid the spies and sent them away in
peace, a witness of her faith. ere can be nothing stronger
than these instances. Not only was Isaac an only son, but
in him all the promises of God were established, so that
absolute condence in God was called for. See Heb. 11:17-
19. Humanly, there is nothing good in slaying a son. In like
manner Rahab was a traitress, unfaithful to her country, if
we think of her act as a natural one. But she linked herself
with the people of God, when His enemies were in full
power, and when His people had not as yet gained a single
victory, or so much as passed the Jordan.
Such is faith, which condes in God at whatever cost,
and links itself with His people, when all is against them.
Abraham’s faith was simply faith in God and His word; but
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
174
it was manifested absolutely, and without hesitation, when
he oered up his beloved son, in whom all the promises
were established. e faith of Rahab was also a simple faith
in God, but it was displayed when she linked herself to
the cause of God, when all the power was apparently on
the other side: for God does not make Himself visible.
In fact to call oneself a believer and to produce nothing,
is not really faith. Faith realizes its object, and the object
produces its eect as a motive in the heart.
He who receives the word, is born again of incorruptible
seed, is a partaker of the divine nature, and obedience,
purity and love are reproduced. We have, it is true, still to
overcome temptations and diculties; we are not what we
wish to be, nor even what we might be: still, more or less,
the life does produce its fruits. And though the heart may
through carelessness be sometimes unfaithful in the path,
faith, nevertheless, always produces its own proper fruits.
e Christian well knows, that the faith which produces
nothing, is not true faith. Faith realizes the presence and
the love of God known in the new nature-it enjoys both,
and reects, though feebly, the character of Him in whom
it inwardly delights. We are children of God by faith in
Christ Jesus.
It is from faith, though it be human faith, and not that of
the inner divine life, that everything is done, that does not
nd its motive in the purely animal instincts of our nature.
Why does the husbandman sow his seed? Because he
believes it will produce a harvest: it is thus as to everything
except eating and drinking. In order to have divine faith,
it is needful that the things of God should be revealed to
the soul; this is the work of the Spirit of God. Faith in
God is that which is acceptable to God: but such faith, we
Brief Exposition of James
175
being quickened of God through His word, brings forth
the fruits of divine life.
By means of this faith, we have fellowship with God,
with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ our Lord;
and He is not ashamed to call us His friends (John 15:15);
as Abraham was called the friend of God. In business with
the world, we say what has to be said of the matter in hand,
as courteously as we can; but this said, there is an end of
it. With a friend, we open our minds, we speak of things
that have no connection with business, of all that is in our
hearts. God was not talking with Abraham of the promises
made to himself, when he was called the friend of God; but
He was telling him all His intentions as to the judgment
of Sodom and Gomorrah. “ e secret of the Lord is with
them that fear him.” It is beautiful to see the intimacy of
communion with God, when the walk is in faithfulness
before Him. See Gen. 18:17-20.
e believer who was in Sodom was saved, though with
the loss of everything; and he lived in disquietude and
trouble, fearing the mountain where Abraham was (for the
place of faith is always terrible to unbelief), fearing Zoar
after he had seen the terrible overthrow of the other cities,
and nally eeing to the mountain of which he had been
previously afraid, and living there in misery and shame.
We have in Abraham the picture of a believer who lives
by faith; in Lot, that of a believer who takes the world,
beautiful to the outward eye, for his dwelling-place: he
inherits judgment, though he was saved; whilst as for
Abraham, after that Lot was separated from him, God told
him to lift up his eyes and behold all the land of promise, to
realize its extent and to know that all was his.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
176
Faith gives fellowship with the Father, and with His
Son Jesus Christ; the participation and realization of
all that belongs to us. It is not to be wondered at, if this
faith produces fruit according to God. God grant that we
may live so close to Himself, that unseen things may act
upon our hearts, and that we may go on in patience and
with joy until the Lord come, who will introduce us there
where we shall need faith no longer, but shall be in the
full enjoyment of that which faith had believed, when the
things themselves were not seen.
CHAPTER 3.
James would have humility in speaking, and that we
should not be many teachers. When we do not know
ourselves, it is far easier to teach others than to govern self.
Now the tongue is the most direct index of what is in the
heart. We all fail in many things and if we assume to teach
others, our oenses are the more serious, and all the more
deserve condemnation. Humility in the heart makes a man
slow to speak: he waits rather to be taught, and for others
to express their thoughts; he is more ready to learn than to
teach.
With this exhortation, James begins an important
dissertation on the dangers of the tongue. No one can tame
it, it is in fact as I have said, the most immediate index to
the heart. “ Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth
speaketh.” Many people do more with the tongue by hard
speeches, than they would do with the hand. Besides, light
and empty words are often spoken.
James always desires that the will should be bridled, that
we should not be self-condent, and that the lightness of
the esh should be held in check by the fear of God. And
rst, he would not have the Christian lightly put himself
Brief Exposition of James
177
forward to teach, nor that there should be many teachers,
knowing they would receive the greater condemnation.
Love prompts to build up the brethren, and the Spirit leads
the lowly in the exercise of their gifts. But it may be that a
Christian likes to make himself heard, that he is not lowly,
that he speaks because he has condence in himself. Now
this is not brotherly love, but rather love of self.
Moreover, we all fail in many things, and if we teach
others, or at least assume to do so, we are clearly more
responsible and our faults become more serious. How teach
others, when we know not how to walk in faithfulness
ourselves? is is not the fear of God. If the conscience
is not good before Him, we cannot possibly set forth His
grace and truth in His power, for we are not in His presence
and He is not with us. e rst eect of His presence
would be to arouse the conscience. He who teaches ought
to maintain true and deep humility, and to watch that he
may not stumble in his path.
Such a spirit of humility is not lack of condence in
God; it is on the contrary linked with this condence. e
humble one will not say to the Lord: I know thee that thou
art a hard man. But he has no condence in self, he speaks
only when it is the will of God; then he speaks in the power
of His Spirit. He is slow to speak, he waits for God, that he
may do it with Him.
Some other important truths are connected with these
words. And rst, we all oend in many things. He who calls
himself perfect deceives himself. is does not necessarily
mean that we commit any scandalous oenses, but we do
and say what is wrong in the sight of God. Our speech is
not always with grace, seasoned with salt: failure is found
in it. We cannot excuse ourselves, for the Lord has said, “
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
178
My grace is sucient for thee, my strength is made perfect
in weakness,” nevertheless we fail, sad as it is, and we are
compelled to own it, if we are walking with God; grace will
make us feel and own it, and we shall walk more closely
with Him, with more watchfulness and lowliness, and in
greater realized dependence upon Him.
But we nd yet another truth in these words. e
exhortation would not have been needful, had not the
liberty to speak, when God willed it, belonged to all the
brethren according to their gift, and according to the
direction of the word, since such directions are found in
it. If one person had been appointed to speak, such an
exhortation would have been quite useless.
us there is a moral exhortation to humility, quietness,
distrust of self, and the fear of God; for the danger of
oending and our responsibility are spoken of. e passage
also excludes any thought of ministry by one person only
in the assembly. It is not here questioned that a single
individual may exercise a ministry which God has conded
to him-on the contrary, such a ministry is permitted to
any to whom the Lord has imparted the needful gift-only
under the direction of the word. e activity of the esh
is rebuked, and the liberty of the Holy Ghost is set forth.
e Lord makes use of each one as seems good to Him;
whether by those permanent gifts of teacher, pastor, and
evangelist, which are to continue with us to the end, or by
the ministry of each member in the place where God has
set it.
Now what is said as to oending, leads to a continuation
of the discourse concerning the tongue; that most direct
index to the heart, which is so easily set in motion, and
which follows every impulse of the heart. All things, even
Brief Exposition of James
179
wild beasts and serpents, have been tamed; but the tongue
can no man tame, it is full of deadly poison. is is very
strong, but alas! it is very true: nevertheless, let us remember
that if the esh is practically held for dead, and we are
living by the Spirit, the tongue will become the expression
of His impulses, or there will be silence, because grace has
nothing to say.
Many according to the esh would avoid giving a blow,
who cannot restrain a passionate or hard word against
a neighbor. But if no man can restrain the tongue, the
grace of Christ can do it, for the inner man on one side
is under the yoke of the Lord, and is meek and lowly in
heart: Christ lls the heart, and thus precisely because the
tongue follows the impulses of the heart, the speech will
express this meekness and lowliness. For this, it is needful
that Christ alone should dwell there, and the esh be so
held in check, that when temptation comes it may not stir.
It is dicult not to fail, but it is very useful to see that the
tongue shows what is working within, just as the hands of
a clock show the hidden workings of its wheels.
Such is the beautiful portrait of divine wisdom. It is well
to note how James always desires that self-will should be
silent, in order that we may be capable of doing the will of
God, and, as partakers of the divine nature, of manifesting
His character-the character of Christ, God manifest in
esh. He came not to do His own will, but the will of
Him that sent Him. He ever submitted Himself even to
wrongs and injustice, doing good and walking in calmness
and love. To do well, to suer, and take it patiently, this
(says Peter) is acceptable to God. Love is free when self is
dead. We walk in peace, we make peace, and the fruits of
righteousness in peace are sown for them that make peace.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
180
(It is thus I understand these few words.) “ Blessed are the
peace-makers; for they shall be called the children of God.”
It is a reproduction, in the walk of a man, of the peace and
love of God as it was manifested in Christ down here.
CHAPTER 4.
Having commended the spirit of peace in the
Christian’s ways, James now asks, “ From whence come
wars and ghtings among you.” But here we must inquire
what is meant by “ among you.” It is not necessarily among
Christians. Meekness of wisdom, wisdom that is gentle
and easy to be entreated, became them. But, as we have
seen, they found themselves still in the midst of the twelve
tribes, who are, I doubt not, included in this “ among you.”
And the Christians might nd themselves implicated
in these disputes, so that the exhortation is addressed to
them also. ese ghtings came from their pleasures; the
will was unbroken, lust distracted their hearts; they desired
to have what they did not possess; conscience was silent,
overpowered by lust, and the desires (unchecked by the
will) gave the rein to the passions: “ Ye kill, and desire to
have, and cannot obtain; ye ght and war, and yet ye have
not.”
Dependence on God was forgotten; will acted for
itself; they did not ask of God, or if they asked, it was but
with the desire to make God Himself the servant of their
pleasures. God does not respond to such prayers. Sad state
of man! God was forgotten, and still worse, the heart was
the slave of pleasure, and under the yoke of its passions,
far from peace and quietness: war within, and open sin
without, afar from God in the world-this passing scene
in which such desires nd their sphere-or, at least, if God
was known, He was forgotten by their rebellious hearts.
Brief Exposition of James
181
erefore the friendship of the world is enmity with God.
Such a Christian, conformed to the world, forgets that he
is purged from his old sins. He walks in forgetfulness of
God, in the path of the unbeliever, and conscience retreats
driven back by lust. When he asks of God he does not
receive, because he asks, as a worldling might, to spend it
on his pleasures.
We need not suppose that all those whom James calls “
adulterers and adulteresses “ were actually such. Many were
really such sinners in the world; and others, even though
Christians, walked in the same spirit of unfaithfulness to
God, and gave the rein to their pleasures, walking with the
world. is, surely, is not the path of the Christian; but when
he abandons the ways of God and nds himself mixed up
with the world, he is often ashamed of his Christianity,
he dares not confess the Savior’s name. en conscience
becomes hardened, and thus he becomes like the world or
worse, having overleaped every barrier. Satan rejoices then
to see the name of Christ dishonored by those who bear it.
Now a principle of great importance is found in this
passage, “ e friendship of the world is enmity with God;
whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the
enemy of God.” Powerful testimony! which judges the
walk and searches the heart. e world’s true character has
now been manifested, because it has rejected and crucied
the Son of God. Man has been already tried without law,
and under law, but after he had shown himself to be wholly
evil without law, and had broken the law when he had
received it, then God Himself came in grace; He became
man in order to bring the love of God home to the heart
of man, having taken human nature. It was the nal test
of man’s heart. He came not to impute sin to them, but to
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
182
reconcile the world to Himself. But the world would not
receive Him; and it has shown that it is under the power
of Satan and of darkness. It has seen and hated both Him
and His Father.
e world is ever the same world: Satan is its prince;
and all that is in it, the lust of the esh, the lust of the eye,
and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but of the world.
e heart of man, the esh, has since the fall been always
enmity against God. It is often thought and said that, since
the death of Christ, Satan is no longer the prince of this
world; but it was precisely then that he declared himself as
its prince, leading on all men, whether Jews or Gentiles, to
crucify the Savior. And although men now bear the name
of Christ, the opposition of the world to His authority
remains the same.
Only observe and see if the name of Christ is not
dishonored. Man may indeed be taught to honor it, but it is
none the less true that where he nds his enjoyment, where
his will is free, he shuts out Christ, lest He should come in
and spoil his pleasures. If left alone, he does not think of
Him; he does not like to be spoken to of the Savior, he sees
no beauty in Him that he should desire Him. Man likes to
do his own will, and he does not want the Lord to come
and oppose it; he prefers vanity and pleasures.
We have the true history of the world and its practical
principles in Cain. He had slain his brother, and was
cast out of the presence of God, despairing of grace and
refusing to humble himself. By the judgment of God, he
was made a vagabond on the earth; but such a condition
did not suit him. He settled down where God had made
him a vagabond, and he called the city after the name of
his son to perpetuate the greatness of his family.
Brief Exposition of James
183
at this city should be deprived of all the delights of
life would have been unbearable; therefore he multiplied
riches for his son. en another member of the family
invented instruments of music; another was the instructor
of articers in brass and iron. e world being cast out from
God sought to make its position pleasant without God, to
content itself at a distance from Him. By the coming of
Christ the state of man’s heart was manifested, not only
as seeking the pleasures of the esh, but as being enmity
against God. However great His goodness, it would not be
disturbed in the enjoyment of the pleasures of the world,
nor submit itself to the authority of another; it would have
the world, for itself, ghting to obtain it, and snatching it
from the hands of those who possessed it. Now it is evident
that the friendship of this world is enmity with God. As far
as in them lay, they cast God out of the world, and drove
Him away. Man desires to be great in this world; we know
that the world has crucied the Son of God, that it saw no
beauty in the One in whom God nds all His delight.
e scripture says, “ Does the Spirit which has taken
his abode in us desire enviously? On the contrary-and
herein is found the means of overcoming it-” God giveth
more grace, he resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the
humble.” is is the true secret of strength and victory, and
likewise of peace of heart, in the midst of the diculties
and contrarieties of the world.
James again insists on humility; that man’s will should
be broken, and that he should be subject to God. For
obedience, and having no will of one’s own, is true humility;
and to this the goodness and grace of God invites man.
Condence in God leads the soul to submit itself to Him.
is is both a duty and a necessity, but it is done heartily
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
184
where condence exists. It is the truth of our relationship
with God, and the soul is happy. We do not need to have a
will for ourselves; if God who loves us has a will for us in all
things, we ought to commit ourselves to Him. What grace
that the omnipotent God should be always thinking of us
in all the details of our lives!
e devil is an enemy; he tries to deceive us, he lays
snares, he seeks to act upon us by means of our lusts. He
may also indeed raise persecution to arrest us in the path of
faith, but in ordinary life he deceives us by the things that
suit the esh.
If we are persecuted, it is our glory. “ To you,” says the
apostle, “it is given … not only to believe on him, but also to
suer for his sake.” But this danger from the will of Satan
is constant; it is continually around us. e important thing
is that, living after the new man and in communion with
God, we should be able to discern the deceit of Satan,
which is never obedience to the will of God. Very possible
the evil may not be apparent. When Satan suggested to the
Lord that He should make bread of the stones and eat, it
was not apparent evil. To eat when hungry does not seem a
wicked thing; but it would not have been obedience. Satan
could do nothing. To eat simply because one is hungry is
an animal action, which does not refer to God. We ought
to do everything, even eating, in the name of Christ, giving
thanks to God. Everything is sanctied to us if we realize
the presence of God.
Satan then cannot hide himself, if in obedience we
resist; he ees, conscious that he has met the One who
overcame him-Christ in us. e word of God suces to
make us walk in a path, in which Satan has no power,
where he is compelled to leave us, in which also we detect
Brief Exposition of James
185
his deceit, and discern that he is the enemy. e Savior
walked thus; He quoted the word of God, and the devil
was silenced, and sought to deceive Him by other means;
he did not openly show himself, but the perfect obedience
of Jesus made his snares powerless. When Satan showed
himself to be such, oering Him the glory of the world,
Jesus commands him to depart, and he goes. e Lord’s
path is ours, His strength is ours, and if we walk with
Him in obedience, His wisdom will be ours: only He has
already overcome the tempter. e diculty is, so to walk
in communion with Him, as to discern the deception. We
must have the whole armor of God.
In short, if the presence of God is realized in the heart, if
the Spirit of God rules there, and the sense of dependence
is active in the soul, we shall feel that what the enemy
presents to us is not of God, and the will of the new man
will not desire it. Satan once detected, the new man resists
him, and he has no strength. Jesus has overcome him for
us. We learn here that, if we resist him, he will ee; he nds
that he has met the Spirit of Christ in us, and he ees.
e evil is, that we do not always resist him; we accept his
enticements, because the will of God is not everything to
us: in many things we still like to please ourselves. If grace
is known, obedience and dependence guard us from the
wiles of the devil. He has no power against the resistance
of faith; he is manifested as Satan, the adversary, as he was
when Jesus suered Himself to be tempted for us, and
Satan ed before His resistance. He knows it is the same
One whom he meets in us.
is is not the place to speak of the armor of God, yet
a few words as to it may be useful. With the exception of
the sword, all refers to the state of the soul. e eect of
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
186
the truth to keep the soul in order, its aections regulated,
and conscience having its due power according to the will
of God; the breastplate of practical righteousness, so that
conscience is good: in the path, the feet must be shod with
the preparation of the gospel of peace-that is, the behavior
bearing the stamp of that peace which we enjoy in Christ;
then, condence in God, which these things produce, and
which prevents the suggestions of the wicked one from
reaching us. “ If God be for us, who can be against us? “
We shall not be wounded by the ery darts of the enemy;
doubts and evil thoughts about God will nd no entrance
into the heart; then the certainty of salvation, which enables
us to lift up the head in battle with the enemy. en we can
take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, and
use it in the conict; shielded by the armor of God from
the enemy’s assaults, we can be active in employing the
word in the service of the Lord, though ever dependent
upon His help. is dependence expresses itself in prayers
and supplications. Let us then resist the devil, and he will
ee from us.
Verse 8. Let us “ draw near to God, and he will draw near
to us.” In this is shown the active dependence of the heart.
anks be to God, we can draw near to Him! His throne
is for us a throne of grace: we may come into His presence
without fear, because of His love, and enter into the holiest
by the precious blood of Christ. When near Him, we learn
holiness, we discern His will, the eye sees clearly in this
pure atmosphere; the heart is subject; the secret of the
Lord is with them that fear Him. ey walk with God, but
as taught of God, and the whole body is full of light. en
He is with us, He draws near to us, He inspires us with
condence. “ If God be for us, who can be against us? “ says
Brief Exposition of James
187
the apostle. It is not only that the strength of God is with
us, but His presence produces liberty and condence in our
hearts, for we feel that we have the knowledge of His will,
since He is with us. e sense of His presence gives joy,
calmness, and courage, in presence of the enemy, and in
the diculties of the way we rest in Him. “ ou wilt hide
them in the secret of thy presence from the pride of man;
thou wilt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife
of tongues.” e presence of God, a true and real thing for
the heart, keeps the conscience awake, and the heart lled
with quiet condence. Draw near unto Him.
But to do this, the hands must be cleansed, and the
heart puried, that in nothing we may be double-minded.
God is light, He will have purity and integrity in the inner
man. Full of goodness and condescension, He is swift to
help the weak, but He closes His ears to all who are double
in heart. He looks for a pure walk and a sincere heart in
those who seek to draw near Him. It cannot be otherwise;
He holds Himself aloof from those whose hearts are not
open in His presence; He sees everything, but for Him to
hearken, the heart must be sincere.
James also touches upon the foolish joy of this world,
which leads to eternal ruin, and he calls on those who have
ears to hear, to be aicted, to mourn, and weep, and to
change their laughter into mourning. e heart that has
intelligence, that thinks of others, and is stirred by love-the
Christian, who partakes of the Spirit and thus of the mind
of Christ, will have a sense of the moral and actual misery
that is around hint. He will have joy in Christ, but sorrow
as to the condition of men of the world.
Sin has made the world unhappy and miserable; it is
itself the greatest of all miseries and one sees on all sides
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
188
the ills it has brought in. Nevertheless the heart will feel
the love of God in the midst of all; it will rejoice in eternal
salvation, and in His goodness which has obtained it. It
will also rejoice in the daily mercies of God; but this will
not be the foolish joy of the world, which seeks to hide
its emptiness, and with laughter to stie the sense of its
misery. Now in solitude, emptiness, and often pain, makes
itself felt, which in the company of others is forgotten in
laughter. Men do not like to burden others; they must
make them believe they are happy. e world cannot be
real with itself; yet sorrow and aiction are but too real.
e Lord could weep but not laugh; Christian love and
feeling follow His example; they follow it heartily, and
from a like feeling. James desires that worldly joy should
give place to Christian feelings, sentiments of love, and
wisdom. Moreover, in chapter 5, we see that judgment is
soon to put an end to the false joy of the world. Here the
exhortation is moral; there it refers to the cutting short of
this joy by the hand of the Lord.
en he exhorts them to humble themselves in the
sight of the Lord and He would lift them up. It is what
Christ did (Phil. 2), and He has said, “ He that humbleth
himself shall be exalted.” God resists the proud, but gives
grace to the humble. Humility becomes man; it becomes
his littleness before God, in the sense of the greatness of
His grace, and of all that man is in himself. e great glory
which the believer waits for is also the occasion of humility
to him when he considers his unworthiness: he knows that
he can understand and do nothing in divine things without
God.
But James, having in his thoughts the pride and
haughtiness of the spirit of the world, which is also in the
Brief Exposition of James
189
Christian, desires not only humility, but the humbling of
self. If one is humble, there is no need to humble oneself;
but in reality the spirit of man rises up again so easily,
that we do need to humble ourselves, and to realize the
presence of God. In His presence we are always humble;
we have the sense of our own littleness; we think of Him,
not of ourselves. To exalt the proud would only be to
encourage that pride which becomes neither sinful man
nor pious man; moreover, piety and pride cannot exist
together. But God delights in exalting the humble, and
such an exaltation, coming as it does from God, is a source
of gratitude and joy, not of pride. e heart is with God in
the sense of His goodness.
Remark, that the humbling oneself is in the sight of the
Lord, not of men-a real inward work which destroys self
esteem; realizing the presence and the greatness of God,
it gives Him His true place in the heart, and gives us ours
also. en all is real, and then alone we can act for God
according to truth. Verses 9, 10 are the eect of the realized
presence of God in a world of sin and misery, on a heart
which is there, and which feels both the one and the other.
“ Speak not evil,” says our epistle, “ one of another “; a
formal precept, which ought to restrain many tongues if
they were obedient, and which would put an end to much
evil. Love would not do it; but as we have seen, the tongue
is a fatal evil, full of deadly poison, and it kindles a great
matter.
But there is more. He who speaks evil of his brother,
and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law, and judges
the law. For the law, on the part of God, presents our
brother to us as an object of love and aection, not to be
persecuted, ill-treated, and disparaged in the eyes of others.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
190
By so doing, we forget the place in which the law has set
our brother, and our duty according to the law, and our
position as brethren. If we set ourselves as judges and law-
givers over the law, we transgress it, we do not obey it, nor
follow its precepts; but we assume to be above it. ere is
one Lawgiver and Judge who is able to save and to destroy.
Who are we that we should judge one another?
e word again condemns false condence as to the
intentions of our own hearts. e heart of man afar from
God thinks to direct his own steps, and decides what he
will do, without thinking of the will of God, or even of
God at all. Possibly the thing intended may not be evil, it
may not wound conscience, nor make it uneasy; but God
is entirely forgotten; the man acts without God, as though
the earth had been left to man, and God had withdrawn,
and as though His will counted for nothing. Such a man,
as far as regards religion, in the practical things of everyday
life, lives in atheism. God is not in his thoughts; money
and worldly ambition govern his heart, though he may not
be exactly living in sinful pleasures. He has no sense that
he belongs to God-bought, if he be a Christian, with the
precious blood of Christ. He lays out his plans according
to his own will, his own wisdom, and his worldly interests.
God has no place in them, he is without God in the world,
he seeks earthly things, and truly it is not in them that God
is to be found. It is according to the will of God that we
should labor to obtain what is necessary, and His blessing
can be sought because it is His will. But this is not the
question here. James speaks of one who would dispose
of his time, and go and seek gain for himself without
thinking of God, or looking to Him for guidance and the
manifestation of His will. He does not know what the
Brief Exposition of James
191
morrow will bring forth; he does not know whether his life
will be prolonged until the next day; it is as a vapor which
vanishes away. Such is life down here. It becomes us to say,
“ If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this or that.”
James always and everywhere opposes the pretensions
of man’s will; he would have the will broken, that man
may take his true place, and be in his true condition of
obedience and subjection. God must have his place and
man must be dependent and obedient. All the activity and
all the pretensions of man’s will are evil.
Another important principle is found at the end of this
chapter. Man’s own will is always evil. Where there is the
knowledge of good, the heart, or at least the state of man
is evil, if he does it not. Grace and love are lacking. To
seek self-interest, to do one’s own will, to satisfy one’s own
desires, characterizes the natural man. To do good, to seek
the good of others, and to serve them, is the fruit of love.
Now, if, when there is the knowledge of what is good, and
the opportunity of doing it occurs, man does it not, it is a
sign that the heart is evil; love for others, and the desire
to do good is lacking. Not to do good is sin; it shows the
absence of grace and the activity of the natural will.
CHAPTER 5.
e portion of believers is not in this world. Christ has
won them for Himself, that they should be in His likeness
in glory, co-heirs with Him; for His love would have them
enjoy all that He Himself enjoys. His love is perfect. But if
so, they must suer with Him. If it is given to us to suer
for Him, it is a great privilege, but it is not the portion of
all. Nevertheless all who will live godly in Christ Jesus shall
suer persecution; 2Tim. 3:12.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
192
But it is impossible to escape suering with Him; if we
have the Spirit of Christ, we feel as Christ felt. Holiness
suers at the sight of the sin which is around, and in seeing
the condition of the church of God and of His people;
besides which there is sorrow on all sides, and the need
of souls who will not have Christ or salvation. Each one
ought to take up his cross, and besides this, God permits
us to suer, because in so doing, we learn patience, and
that our inheritance is not below. Experience, which is the
realization of practical truth, is conrmed in the heart, and
hope becomes much clearer and stronger. is, it is true,
supposes that the love of God is shed abroad in the heart
by the Holy Ghost; and if this is not the case, God allows
suering, and also sends it, to renew the heart. He chastens
whom He loves.
James addresses the rich, who have possessions in this
world, and who do not consider the poor, whilst “ blessed
is the man that considereth the poor,” Psa. 41:1. He who
despises the poor because of his poverty despises the Lord
Himself. “ As for me,” says the Lord, in the psalm preceding
the one from which I have quoted, “ I am poor and needy,”
Psa. 40:17. e Lord had pronounced His blessing upon
the poor; to such the gospel was preached; it was a sign
announcing the Messiah. We all know that a poor man
may be just as wicked as any other; but riches are a positive
danger for us, because they nourish pride, and tend to
dispose the heart to keep aloof from the poor, with whom
the Lord associated Himself in this world. “ He who was
rich for our sakes became poor, that we through his poverty
might be rich.”
But here the rich had been foremost in evil. ey
oppressed the poor, they kept back from them the wages
Brief Exposition of James
193
for which they had labored. James places us in view of the
last days. e cry of the poor had entered into the ears of
the Lord of hosts. He exhorts the rich to weep and howl for
the miseries that should come upon them. ey had lived
in pleasure on the earth and been wanton. But not only
this: when we live in pleasure, we do not like anyone to
come and disturb our happiness-they had condemned and
killed the Just, who had not resisted. ey wished to secure
the enjoyment of the world in a false tranquility, which
thinks neither of God, nor of judgment, nor of death.
If conscience was aroused, they were disturbed, and
they hardened themselves as far as possible, that it might
not be aroused.
God does not for the present alter the course of this
world. If He did so, He must execute judgment, instead
of working in love for the ungodly and sinners. He is
not willing to smite them, nevertheless He is not slack
concerning His promise, but is longsuering to us-ward,
not willing that any should perish. e Christian then must
take courage, must be patient and submissive to outward
evil, until the coming of the Lord; even as Christ Himself,
who did well, and suered, and waited patiently; thus the
Christian should walk in His steps. Our portion is not in
this world. If we suer for well-doing, this is acceptable to
God, and still more so, if it is for Christ Himself that we
suer.
e life of the Savior was all suering and patience;
but now He is gloried with God the Father. Soon He
will come a second time into the world, in the glory of
the Father, and in His own glory, and in the glory of the
angels; and then He will be gloried in His saints, and will
be admired in all them that believe.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
194
In that glorious day, when the poorest of His own-
Christians, oppressed by the enemies of the truth-will be
like the Lord Himself in glory, we shall make our boast in
having been permitted to suer for Him, and in having
maintained patience and silence through the unjustly
imposed suerings of the Christian life. en, “ blessed
are they who are found watching; he will gird himself, and
will make them sit down to meat, and will come forth and
serve them.” What joy! What grace! It will be the glory
of the Savior Himself to give us to enjoy the blessings of
heaven in the Father’s house, ministering all with His own
hands. It is well worthwhile to suer for Him a little, and
for a little while, and then to possess heavenly blessing,
communicated by the hand and the heart of Jesus Himself.
We shall reign with Him, and enjoy the fruit of the work
which we have been permitted to do for Him; if it is only
a cup of water given in the name of Jesus, it shall not lose
its reward. But far better still will it be to sit down in peace,
enjoying those eternal blessings in the Father’s house, which
Christ will abundantly minister to us-precious testimony
of His approval and of His love. See Luke 12:35-44.
Remark here how the coming of Christ was a present
hope. e oppressed one was to have patience until that
coming. “ Be patient,” says James, “ until the coming of the
Lord.” Some one may say, then they were deceived. By no
means. We may indeed die before the Lord’s coming, and
in fact, we know that these saints did die. But they will
reap all the fruits of their patience, when the Lord comes.
And till that moment they are with the Lord-absent from
the body, present with the Lord-and they will come with
Him, and will then enjoy all the fruit of those suerings,
Brief Exposition of James
195
in which they had been patient, for the love of His name,
seeking to glorify it down here.
But this exhortation clearly shows how this hope was
a present thing, which was interwoven with the entire
thread of Christian life. It was not a theory in the head,
a point of acquired knowledge, or a dogma of belief only.
ey expected the Lord in person. What consolation for
the poor and the oppressed! What a check upon the rich
to be constantly expecting the Lord! To know that He will
soon come, that troubles will cease, and that we shall be
with Him who has loved us! Nothing produces separation
from the world like waiting for the Lord-I do not say the
doctrine of His coming, but true waiting for Him. His
coming will separate us from it forever; the heart waits
until He come.
e Lord’s supper expresses the Christian state-the
Lord’s death at His rst coming, which we celebrate with
thanksgiving, remembering Him who has loved us, and
feeding on His love until He comes to take us to be with
Him. It is the formal expression of the practical state of
the Christian as a Christian-of Christianity itself. Let us
add, that it is by the Holy Spirit alone that we are able to
express this in truth.
But remark yet another thing in this exhortation. “ Be
patient, brethren.” We are always waiting for the Lord, if
we really understand our position; but whatever may be our
desires, we cannot command the Lord to come, nor know
when He will come. And blessed be His name! the Lord
is patient; as long as there is yet one soul to be called by
the gospel, He will not come. His whole body, His bride,
must be formed; every member must be present, converted
and sealed by the Holy Spirit. en He will come and take
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
196
us. Christ Himself is seated on the Father’s throne, not on
His own throne. He also is waiting for that moment, with
more desire surely than we are; and therefore the patience
of Christ is spoken of: this is the true meaning of Rev. 1:9.
us also in Rev. 3:10, “ because thou hast kept the word of
my patience “; also in 2ess. 3:5, “ the patience of Christ.”
We are taught also in Hebrews 10: 12, 13, that Christ
is seated at the right hand of God, waiting till His enemies
shall be made His footstool. We may well wait if Christ is
waiting; but we wait in suering and conict. He is waiting
to reign, and then He will cause full blessing to ow forth
for His own, whether in heaven or on earth, and will banish
evil from both.
us we need patience, that neither self-will nor
weariness of the conict should take possession of our
souls; but in the condence that the time God wills is best
(for it is that which divine wisdom and His love for us
have ordained) let us x our aections on the Lord and
on things above, because we wait for Him with desire of
heart, with broken will, and unwavering faith, leaving His
return to the decision of God. In fact we cannot retard it,
but the heart has entire condence in His love, assured that
the Lord waits for us with greater love than we for Him,
calm in condence, patient in the wilderness journey. How
sweet to wait for Christ-for the fullness of joy with Him!
anks be to God, He says, “ it is at hand.”
Moreover, James draws two practical consequences
from this expectation of the Lord. First, then we ought
not to resist evil; the Just One did not resist. We must wait
with patience, as the husbandman waits for the precious
fruits of the earth, until he have received the early and the
latter rain, the means which God uses to bring the fruit
Brief Exposition of James
197
of harvest to perfection. e Christian should stablish
his heart by this expectation, while passing through the
troubles of this life, and the persecutions of the world,
which is ever the adversary of the Lord.
Next, he warns the disciples against walking in a
complaining and quarrelsome spirit, one toward another.
If we are waiting for the Lord, the spirit is calm and
contented, it does not get irritated with its persecutors;
moreover, we bear with patience the ills of the desert, and
resist evil as Christ resisted, suering, and bearing wrongs
and committing Himself to God. We are contented and
quiet, with a happy and kindly spirit, for kindness ows
easily from a happy heart. e Lord’s coming will put
everything right, and our happiness is found elsewhere.
is is what Paul says in Phil. 4:5 “ Let your moderation be
known unto all men. e Lord is at hand.” Let us repeat it.
How real, how mighty and practical, was this expectation
of the Lord! What power it had over the heart! “ e Judge
standeth before the door.”
en he gives examples. e prophets were examples
of suering aiction, and of patience, and they counted
them happy in their suerings. And they have not been
alone; others also have endured, and have been counted
happy. For example, if we see one suering unjustly for
the name of Jesus, and he is patient and meek, his heart
called out on behalf of his persecutors, rather than irritated
against them, then we recognize the power of faith, and of
condence in the love and faithfulness of the Lord; he is
calm and full of joy, and we say, See how grace makes that
man happy! And we too are happy when we suer; at least,
we ought to be so. But it is one thing to admire others
who are sustained by the Spirit of Christ, and another to
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
198
glory in tribulations, when we are in them ourselves. We
need a broken will, condence in God, communion with
Him who has suered for us, in order to be able to glory
in suerings.
Job is another example; but he is introduced here, to
show the end of the Lord, that He is very pitiful, and of
tender mercy. Yet the example is most instructive. Job was
a perfect and upright man, who feared God and eschewed
evil; but he had begun to take pleasure in himself; he did
good, but he was occupied with his goodness; it was hidden
self-righteousness, but it marred his piety. God withdraws
not His eyes from the righteous. He saw Job’s danger, and
drew Satan’s attention to him. It was God who began all.
Satan, the accuser of the saints, insists that Job should
be sifted, and God permits him to tempt Job, to do as he
would with him, but sets a limit to his malice. Satan did all
that he was allowed to do, and Job remained subject, and
did not sin with his lips. Satan persists in his accusations,
insinuating that, if the trial were increased, Job would
curse God. God gave all into his hand except Job’s life. Job
remained faithful; he did not sin; he had received good at
the Lord’s hand, and should he not receive evil? His wife
also tempted him in vain.
rough grace Job’s patience triumphed over Satan,
who was unable to shake him. rough the grace of God,
the eorts of the enemy were overcome: “ We have heard
of the patience of Job.” But the work of God for Job’s
blessing was not yet accomplished. He had by His grace
sustained Job’s heart against the enemy, and Job had shown
his faithfulness. Satan, as the instrument of God’s ways,
had done much through the sorrow he had brought upon
Job; but Job’s heart was not yet reached; he did not know
Brief Exposition of James
199
himself; on the contrary, although the preparation had
been wrought by means of Satan, Job was, by the grace of
God, practically justied from his accusations, and if the
matter had ended there, his state would have been worse
than before-at least he would have been in greater danger
than ever; he could have said, I was meek and upright in
prosperity, and now patient in adversity. God must do His
work, in order that Job might know his own heart.
Job’s friends come to see him. ey remain seated,
amazed at the condition in which they nd him. Alas! pride
is often roused in the presence of man, and wounded pride
irritates the heart; rmness gives way in the presence of
sympathy. However that may be, the presence of his friends
lays bare the depth of Job’s heart. He curses the day of his
birth. Now his heart is laid bare, not only to God, which it
always must be, but-which is so deeply painful-to himself.
Where is now his gracious meekness? He contends with
God; he says he is more righteous than God. Nevertheless
it is beautiful to see that at the bottom of his heart he had
just thoughts of God. If I could meet Him, he says to his
friends, He would not be like you, He would put words into
my mouth. His friends alleged this world to be a perfect
display of God’s government, and that consequently Job
must be a hypocrite; for he had made a profession of piety.
Job resists this unjust decision, and insists that, although
the hand of God was occasionally manifested, yet evil
often ran its course in the world, God taking no notice
of it, for the wicked often prospered. But Job allowed the
bitterness of his heart to come out. Elihu reproves him for
making himself more righteous than God, chewing that
there is indeed a government of God over His own. He
withdraws not His eyes from the righteous; He chastens
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
200
because He loves them. en God manifests Himself, and
shows Job the folly of contending with Him; upon which
Job owns his vileness and his nothingness, and instead of
saying, “ When the eye saw me, it blessed me,” he says, “
Mine eye seeth thee, therefore I abhor myself, and repent
in dust and ashes.” He knows himself in the presence of
God. After that God was able to bless him, and He did so
more than at the rst. is was “ the end of the Lord.” Job
had been patient under the greatest aictions and trials;
God searched his heart, and then abundantly blessed him.
In verse 12 James continues the subject which forms
the burden of his teaching. He will not have the will to act,
nor the esh to appear, but the activity of nature restrained,
and the heart learning not to give way to those impulses of
impatience to which it is so prone.
When a man swears, he allows this impatience of the
heart to act; he forgets the glory and majesty of God,
irreverently introducing His name with unbridled esh
to conrm an assertion, or to give force to a vow, or in
His place he puts some creature whom he invests with the
authority and power that belongs to God alone. e root of
all is the un-subdued will and unbridled passions of man’s
heart. Only, with an intuitive sense of his impotency to
ensure the fulllment of his desires, he irreverently brings
God in, or, as a heathen of old was wont to do, he introduces
some creature practically deied for the occasion. It is not
lust, but the unbridled impetuosity of the esh (see Col.
3:8), the irreverence, presumption, and independence of
the man carried to its utmost extent.
erefore James says, “ Above all things.” He would
have us, in calmness and quietness, arm what we have
to say with a yes or a no, in the fear of God. It is of all
Brief Exposition of James
201
importance, that we should hold in check the movements
of nature. We should do it if we saw God before us; we
should certainly do it in the presence of a man whom we
wished to please. Now God is always present; therefore, to
fail in this calmness and moderation is a proof that we have
forgotten the presence of God.
Verse 13. James frees the mind from worldly habits.
Men seek to deceive themselves by avoiding thought;
they would foolishly forget the cares and troubles, from
which they cannot escape, and amid which, thanks be to
God, He gives a refuge to the heart in His love, and in the
sense of His care for us. He would not have us insensible
to the troubles of this life. God, who never withdraws His
eyes from the righteous, sends them for our good. Even a
sparrow does not fall to the ground without our Father-not
only without the will of God, but not without that God
who loves us as a tender Father, who may indeed chasten
us, but who thinks upon us while chastening, in order to
sanctify us, and to draw our hearts nearer to Himself.
By drawing near to God in aiction, the will is subdued,
and the heart consoled and encouraged. God Himself is
revealed to the soul, and works by His grace; and in the
sense of His presence we say, “ It is good for me that I have
been aicted.” And not only are we near to God, but we
also open our hearts to Him. He would have us do so, for
He is full of grace. He desires our condence, not only that
we may be subject to His will, but that we may present our
cares to Him.
“ Be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and
supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made
known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all
understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
202
Christ Jesus,” Phil. 4:6, 7. Paul is speaking here of cares, but
comfort and rest are equally found there in aiction. “ Who
comforteth us,” says the apostle, “ in all our aictions,” and
he appeals to God as “ the Father of mercies and the God
of all consolation.” At Philippi they were lled with peace,
through the consolation poured into their hearts. is may
also be through circumstances; for Paul says, “ God, who
comforteth those that are cast down, comforted us by the
coming of Titus,” 2Cor. 7:6. He had been utterly cast
down, because he had not met Titus, who had been sent
to the Corinthians when they were walking very badly. He
had abandoned the open door for the gospel at Troas, and
his heart had even gone the length of regretting that he
had written his rst inspired epistle. His faith had sunk
below the level of the power of God, which had impelled
him to write it. Arrived in Macedonia, still on his way to
meet Titus, though testifying to Christ as he went, his
esh had no rest; he says, “ We were troubled on every side;
without were ghtings, within were fears.” God allowed
the apostle to feel his weakness; but it is worth while to
be aicted, if God Himself becomes our comforter. Titus
arrives bringing good tidings to the eect of his rst
epistle, and the apostle is full of joy. God often takes away
the aiction itself and lls the soul with gladness, pouring
His consolations into the heart which thus becomes more
matured for communion with Himself and for heaven. In
every case of aiction prayer is our resource; we own our
dependence and we conde in His goodness. e heart
draws near to Him, it tells out to Him its need and its
sorrow, laying it down on the throne and the heart of God,
who answers either by circumstances which make us happy,
or by pouring in His consolation-an answer which is still
Brief Exposition of James
203
more blessed than outward happiness-but ever by that
which is best for us, acting according to His perfect love.
e pious heart, under the inuence of grace, refers also
to God in its joy. If the heart dwells only on the cause of
its joy, this becomes a danger for it. But if God is a refuge
in distress, so is He the portion of the soul in joy. When I
have a subject of happiness, I tell my intimate friend, that
he may rejoice with me, and this doubles my own joy. But
in this passage there is something more; for the heart feels
that God is the source of the blessing and the cause of the
joy. Even when there is no special reason for rejoicing, the
heart is happy, and the pious soul, living in communion with
God, desires to have God with it in its joy. Moreover, if the
soul gives itself up to joy, it becomes empty and light; the
heart gets estranged from God, and folly takes possession
of it. In trouble dependence upon God is realized, but in
joy there is a danger of forgetting it, and joy often ends in
a fall; at any rate, the esh is then in activity, and God is
forgotten. is exhortation of James, to mingle joy with
piety, is therefore most important for the Christian.
If the thought of God is there, it expresses itself in psalms
and thanksgivings to Him. God is present to us in our joy,
and faith, communion, and spiritual power are increased
by the sense of His goodness. us we apply ourselves to
the toils of life, encouraged and strengthened through the
sorrows of the wilderness, by a deeper conviction that God
is for us.
Verse 14. e thought of aiction and joy leads James
to another condition of the Christian, namely, sickness,
which is often, though not always, the eect of the Lord’s
chastening. Sickness, as well as death, came in by sin; and we
nd it now throughout the whole course of man’s history.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
204
But a sparrow falls not to the ground without God our
Father, as the Lord says, and although these ills now belong
to the natural condition of man, yet God uses them for the
correction of His children. “ He withdraweth not his eyes
from the righteous,” Job 36:7. In either case, whether as
ills natural to humanity, or the direct chastisement of God,
God now makes use of sickness, when the heart, instead of
considering all that happens to it with indierence, draws
near to God, who thinks upon the suerings of His own,
and has respect to the submission and to the cry of those
whom He chastens.
e prayer of faith heals the sick, and if the sickness is
the consequence of sin, the sin which occasioned it shall
be forgiven; the suerer has owned the hand of God in his
sickness, and God answers to the faith of him who prays.
ere are two kinds of forgiveness in the ways of God.
Eternal justication-according to Rom. 4 and Hebrews to
-is the blessed portion of those who believe in the ecacy
of the blood of Christ; that is to say, their sins are imputed
to them no more. “ Whom he called, them he also justied;
and whom he justied, them he also gloried.” God took up
the question of their sins at the cross, and He has made an
end of them forever; He will never remember them again.
But there is also the government of God-the government
of a Father, but of a holy Father who loves His children too
well to allow them to walk badly.
When in the book of Job Elihu says that God withdraws
not His eyes from the righteous, and shows the blessing
which naturally ows from His favor, the eect of His
goodness, he immediately goes on to speak of chastening-
an explanation clearly of Job’s case.
Brief Exposition of James
205
e Spirit of God here again supposes the possibility of
such a case, speaking of my faults. But it is not always so. In
Job 33 it is said that God speaks and seals their instruction,
that He may withdraw man from his purpose, and hide
pride from man. He prevents the evil, as in Paul’s case;
2Cor. 12. He humbles man to prepare him for blessing. In
every case He makes all things work together for good to
those who love Him; Rom. 8:28.
Now, if the will be not broken, we complain, and murmur,
and lift ourselves up against God; but if the heart refers
to Him, owning His hand, whether in suering which is
the natural heritage of sinful man (though it can never
be apart from the hand and will of God), or in positive
chastisement, or again, though it may not know why the
suering is sent, it turns to God, owns that its condition is
the result of His will, and seeks the remedy in His grace, as
subject to and dependent on His power and His will. Now
the faith of true Christians alone can call down from above
the answer and the blessing.
James no longer speaks of the synagogue, but of the
assembly. ere must be true faith, in order for blessing:
now God has set blessing in the assembly of true believers;
in His government and discipline it is found there for
faith. When sin is openly manifested in such a way, that
it can be said of one called a brother that he is a wicked
person, it is the duty of the assembly to put him away from
among themselves. e sins are bound upon the one who
is thus put away. But if he humbles himself, and from the
bottom of his heart owns his sin, then the assembly ought
to restore him (2Cor. 2); in this administrative sense, the
sinner is pardoned, the bonds are loosed.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
206
And this is valid for two or three who are gathered to
the name of Christ in the unity and in the power of the
Holy Ghost (Matt. 18); for it is by the Spirit alone that
this can be done in reality. It must be done also by the
assembly as such, not only because the promise belongs to
it, but also that it may clear itself. It is to the assembly that
the exhortation of 2Cor. 2:7, 8, is addressed. e sanction
of this solemn act is in the presence of Jesus according to
His promise.
In this passage in our epistle, it is not a question of sins
which draw upon the individual the judicial action of the
assembly, but of the ways of God Himself, in the ordinary
circumstances of life, and more especially as regards
the chastening of God. Now the individual seeks the
intervention of God, according to His grace, not viewing
what has befallen him as an accident, but owning the hand
of the Lord. e assembly is the place where He has set His
name, and His blessing, and the general administration of
His grace. Christ is there; and when the assembly was in
order, the elders, those who watched over it, were sought by
the sick person, in order that he might enjoy the grace and
the blessing of God.
Nevertheless it was personal faith, which by prayer
drew down the special blessing of heaven-” the prayer
of faith,” as it is said. e elders were but a sign of the
special intervention of God, as we see in Mark 6:13. ere
it was a miracle performed by those who were specially
sent by Christ to do them, with power given for that
purpose. Here it is the blessing of God in the bosom of
the assembly, administered through its elders, if faith was
there. e original order now exists no longer; but Christ
does not forget His assembly. e promise of two or three
Brief Exposition of James
207
gathered to His name, according to the unity of His Spirit,
remains always sure; and if there is faith in those who
watch over them, the answer of God will be found in a
like way. ough we cannot expect that the blessing should
ow in its natural current, when the channels are broken
and spoiled, the case remains the same, and His power is
unchangeable. It is precious to know it! When the Lord
rebukes the disciples for their unbelief, He says at the same
moment, “ bring him to me “: and the child was healed;
Mark 9:19.
erefore James recalls the example of Elijah, who was
a man of like passions with ourselves; yet in answer to his
prayer it rained not for three years and six months. e
external order of the assembly is lost, but the power, love,
and faithfulness of the Lord are unchanged. He may let us
feel that, through the sin of the assembly, we are not as we
were at the beginning: nevertheless, where God gives faith,
the answer on His part will never fail. at is not godliness,
which does not feel the loss that has come upon us since
the time of the apostles, through the unfaithfulness of the
assembly; neither is it godliness to doubt the power of
Christ, if God gives faith to make use of it.
When it is said, “ if he have committed sins, they shall be
forgiven him,” it means, that when such a brother has come
to himself, owning the hand of God, if sins have drawn
upon him the chastisement of God, and have hindered the
healing of the sickness, they shall be forgiven as regards
the discipline of God in His government. is discipline
had manifested itself in the chastening, that is to say, in the
sickness: if this is removed, the discipline is ended, the sins
are remitted.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
208
But here we nd another and more general instruction,
which, however, also depends upon the state of the
assembly. We have seen that, when all was in order, the
sick person was to send for the elders; and this can still be
done by calling for those who practically are elders. Only
it is needful that faith wrought of God, and those acting
on His part, should be there. But, whatever may be the
state of ruin in which the assembly of God is found, we
can always confess our faults one to another, and pray for
one another, that we may be healed. is does not require
the existence of ocial order, but it supposes humility, and
brotherly condence, and love.
We cannot indeed confess our faults without condence
in a brother’s love. We may choose a wise and discreet brother
(instead of opening our hearts to indiscreet persons), but
this choice alters nothing as to the guilty person’s state of
soul. Not hiding the evil, but opening his heart, he frees his
troubled conscience; perhaps also his body.
Truth is wrought in the heart; the guilty one does not
seek a good reputation-which after all, can only be a false
one-but an upright conscience, upright before God. God
takes pleasure in setting the conscience at liberty; He also
frees the body from the sickness if necessary; then the heart
grows happy in the sense of His favor. A pure and upright
conscience is a source of joy in God’s presence.
It is most important to remember that there is a
government of God with respect to His children. It is no
question whether they are justied and forgiven; for this
government supposes that they are righteous in His right,
as to salvation; Job 36. But then the Lord ever keeps His
eye upon them, blesses them, and makes them conscious of
His favor when they are walking aright in the enjoyment
Brief Exposition of James
209
of God. But if we do not walk aright, we are warned, and
if we do not take heed to the voice of God, He chastens in
order to arouse the soul that is falling asleep and has begun
to forget God. And His goodness, His wondrous patience,
His love for us, are never weary!
Verse 19. Finally, James adds an exhortation to
encourage our hearts to seek the blessing of others. He
who brings back a sinner from the error of his ways is not
only the means of saving that soul, whether it be a sinner
walking in his sins, or a Christian walking badly, but also of
hiding a multitude of sins. at the soul of an unconverted
man should be saved is simple; in the case of a Christian
pursuing an evil way, he is at least arrested in the road
which leads to perdition. But this second point calls for a
little more explanation, and it is not without importance.
Sin is hateful in the sight of God; He sees everything.
When we think of the state of the world, we understand
how wonderful is His patience. Now the conversion of a
sinner removes all his sins from before the eyes of God.
As though they were cast into the depths of the sea, He
sees them no more; as it is written. ey are immediately
canceled. It is in this sense that “ love covereth a multitude
of sins.” ey are no longer there as an object hateful to
God. If we do not forgive the sins of a brother, the enmity
remains before God as a wound in the body of believers,
something that is not healed. When forgiven, love is the
object that presents itself before God-a thing pleasing to
His heart. us when the sinner is converted — brought
back, the love of God nds its pleasure in this, and the
oending object is removed from His sight.
In the Epistle of James we nd but little doctrine; it
is rather the girdle of righteousness, the manifestation of
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
210
faith in works, in the Christian character. Submission under
the hand of God, and patience under His government, are
developed in a way most useful to the Christian.
Notes on the Epistle of James
211
63019
Notes on the Epistle of James
James addresses his epistle to the twelve tribes of Israel;
but whilst owning the people that are beloved for the
fathers’ sake, he takes the ground of faith. “ James, a servant
of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes.”
At the time this Epistle was written, the gospel, which
was rst preached in Judea, had produced great results
amongst the Jews; many churches had been formed,
multitudes of Jews had believed (Acts 21:20), and a great
company of the priests were obedient to the faith; Acts 6:7.
In those early days the believing Jews still held to the old
order of things, they were zealous of the law and some even
oered sacrices. Jerusalem itself was in a peculiar position;
through the bringing in of Christianity and on account of
the faith entrusted to the holy city at this the starting-time
of the gospel, she was under fresh responsibility. But this
privilege was lightly esteemed of her children, and was
about to pass from her hands into those of the Gentiles.
In the midst of these circumstances James, though having
chiey the believers in view, nevertheless writes his Epistle
to the twelve tribes, the whole of Israel, giving a last
warning before God severed the church from the Jewish
system. James does not deal with Israel as Paul, who, when
in conict with the synagogue, would separate the disciples
from it and at a distance continue the work of the gospel in
favor of the Gentiles.
ere is even a noticeable dierence between the two
apostles of the circumcision, namely, Peter and James, in
the way in which they look upon Israel in their Epistles.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
212
Peter is occupied chiey with the faithful remnant and
views it in those who, among the Jews, had received the
faith; he sees Israel only in this remnant, whilst James takes
in the whole of the nation. Doubtless the faithful remnant
therein comprised is the only living portion wherein the
great truths of faith and life are realized, still James writes
to the whole people. He looks upon the nation as under
the favor of the promises of God, then being presented in
the gospel.
As to doctrine, the Epistle of James sets forth as much as
any other the great truths of the gospel of God,; but it goes
no farther than the rst elements; we do not get unfolding
of truth as in Paul. Nevertheless it does not follow that the
things written in James are of less absolute authority. For
instance, what more positive than this statement-” Of his
own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should
be a kind of rstfruits of his creature? “
When reading these elements of the gospel, we are
surprised at not nding therein all that the Spirit of
adoption has revealed to us; but let us acknowledge that
such unfoldings do not come within the scope of the
Epistle, and moreover that the condition of those to whom
it was written did not admit of such. If this Epistle does
not show all the riches of the revelation of the gospel, yet is
it none the less useful as a girdle of righteousness, as a voice
of warning which keeps the conscience awake. It requires
that the faith and life of the Christian should be visible
to the eyes of men by these eects. e Epistle of James
is simple enough when we understand the circumstances
of Christians in the midst of the Jews in those days when
Christianity was not yet dened in all its points.
Notes on the Epistle of James
213
e level it maintains is that which may have been the
moral state of the faithful in all ages; namely, God known
by them according to His eternal truth, either outside
or above the particular characteristics which the various
revelations of Himself impressed upon them. Dispensations
have diered, they have brought out in succession various
characteristics of God; but God in Himself does not alter.
Chapter 1.
Verses 2-15. From the outset James lowers man, he
puts him in a place of dependence upon God, he sees him
submitted to the trial of faith. But trial works its results; it
bears the fruit of patience; it leads to the prayer of faith; it
causes us to value a low degree, and lastly, makes us worthy
of the crown of life which the Lord hath promised to them
that love Him.
Verse 4. “ But let patience have her perfect work.”
Patience sustains and enables us to wait according to
God for the issue of the trial, without availing ourselves
of speedy deliverance out of it, suggested by the esh. For
instance, Saul was not able to wait patiently.
Verse 5. “ Let him ask of God.” When trial comes the
rst resource of the Christian, as also the rst motion of
the new man, is prayer. God always hears the prayer of His
saints.
us strengthened from above, the Christian is enabled
to go through the trial in the spirit of obedience. In
Gethsemane Christ prayed before being in the trial; then
in obedience He took the cup from the Father’s hand.
If we neglect prayer and the diculties come upon us
unawares, we enter into temptation and we fall. Peter slept
when he should have prayed, drew the sword when he
should have submitted, denied Jesus when he should have
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
214
confessed Him. God “ upbraideth not.” God gives without
reproaching our state.
Verse 6. “ Let him ask in faith.” God desires that we
should cause our prayers to ascend in a spirit of condence
in His goodness.
Verses 9-11. A low degree is that in which alone God is
willing to meet us in this world.
Verses 12-15. Trial (or temptation) may come to us
from two sources: from God, when heart and faith are
tested” God tempted Abraham “; from the adversary when
it reaches us through lust, and esh is allured. How much
better is it to have to do with God in the trial than with
Satan!
Whoever knows himself will pray, “ Lead us not into
temptation.” May the grace of God so work in us that we
may not need to be sifted by Satan in order to be stripped
of our pretensions. When Jesus prayed for Peter, whom He
knew to be self-condent, He did not ask that His disciple
might be spared the sifting of the enemy, but only that his
faith should not fail him.
Verse 15. “ When lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth
sin.” Paul speaks in the inverse order in his Epistle to the
Romans; chap. 7: 8. “ Sin wrought in me all manner of
lust.” e dierence between these two statements is this:
Paul connes himself to spiritual principles; whilst James
desires to show their eects. One completes the other;
sin, in the nature of man produces lust (Rom. 7), and lust
produces sin in the conduct; James 1.
Verses 16-18. e Epistle of James acknowledges
regeneration by the power of the grace of God, even as
it owns also faith in Jesus (chap. 2: 1)-two fundamental
Notes on the Epistle of James
215
truths of the gospel. “ Begat he us with the word of truth,”
1Peter 1:23-25; John 3.
“ at we should be a kind of rstfruits of his creatures.”
God will reconcile all things to Himself; His creation and
His elect. We, the begotten of the Father, are the rstfruits
of that reconciled creation. In a certain sense, Adam after
his sin may be said to have been the rstfruits of fallen
creation.
Verses 19-27. Patience and obedience are two practical
graces, two of those perfect gifts which the Father gives
and which He delights to see developed in us. e new
life is always dependent: too much or too little energy is
worthless. As soon as self-will manifests itself, as soon as
the man wills, there is sin.
Verse 21. “ e engrafted word.” As a graft becomes an
integral part of the subject into which it is engrafted, so the
word becomes a part of the Christian. is is not the case
with a law which remains a command outside of us. -Let
the word produce its eect in us, still its authority over us
remains, an authority which is of God. e word builds up,
enjoins, or condemns, as the case may be.
Verse 25. “ e perfect law of liberty.” In James, the divine
nature in us is always seen to be in perfect conformity to
the law of God. at nature loves what God enjoins. When
it so happens that the person to whom a command is made
desires to do the thing commanded, he is pleasing himself
whilst obeying the command. Such is the law of liberty.
We see it exemplied in Christ; in order to attempt the
hindrance of His liberty, it would have been necessary to
impede His obedience. So it is with the divine nature in
the Christian, it is always free, that is to say, ready to do the
will of God. e conict of the Christian does not destroy
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
216
this truth, the principle in such case being “ I can do all
things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”
ree laws are mentioned in James:
Firstly, the law of Moses in chapter 2: 10,11.
Secondly, the royal law, which is love to one’s neighbor
in chapter 2:8.
irdly, the perfect law of liberty, in chapter x: 25; chap.
2: 12. e two last resemble each other.
Verse 26. “ And bridleth not his tongue.” e tongue is
that which divulges most promptly the state of the soul.
When abiding in the presence of God we have not an evil,
or over-abundant, speech. “ e Lord is in his holy temple,
let all the earth keep silence before him,” Hab. 2:20.
Verse 27. “ Pure religion and undeled before God
and the Father.” When abiding in subjection to God,
life manifests itself, selshness disappears, and we keep
ourselves unspotted from the world.
Chapter 2.
Verses 1-13. It is quite useless to pretend to acquaintance
with the Messiah (our Lord Jesus Christ in glory), when
the conduct does not answer to the profession. Here, as in
the course of the whole Epistle, James inveighs against the
spirit of the world. Human grandeur, the attractions of the
rich, respect of persons and despisal of the poor, all such
things agree not with faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, for “
God hath chosen the poor of this world, rich in faith, and
heirs of the kingdom.” Yet James does not level all ranks;
what he requires is that there should be no preference given
to the rich. On account of his position, the latter may have
more needs; but it is needful to distinguish when such are
genuine, or when arising from the tendency to pretend to
riches, to appear grand, etc.
Notes on the Epistle of James
217
Verse 12. Judged by the law of liberty, that is to say,
according to this nature imparted to us. at nature is
holy: we ought therefore, according to this nature, to speak
and act holily and so judge ourselves. Woe to him who to
excuse evil would say, “ I do that which I would not,” for
although esh is in us, we are not debtors to it.
Verse 13. “ Mercy rejoiceth against judgment “-the same
expression as in Ex. 8:9, “ Glory over me.”
Verses 14-26. Faith is shown by its fruits. James
demands proof of professed faith and the answer if there
is faith should be, “ Behold the fruits.” at word “show
me “ is the key to the subject. You say, I am a Christian:
very well, but I cannot see the faith which is in your heart;
show it me by your works. e works required by James
as evidence of faith are not such as are generally termed “
good works.” He calls for works of faith, works similar to
those of Abraham and Rahab. Such actions as putting one’s
son to death, leaving one’s country, are not generally called
good works, but they are works of faith. When Abraham
was commanded to sacrice his only-begotten son, he still
believed he should have the numerous seed promised him
by God. Rahab believed the Canaanites were cursed and
that God had given their land to Israel, and she cast in her
lot with the destiny of the people of God. ese works,
which manifest faith, are acts in which esh can have no
part.
CHAPTER 3.
Verses 1-12. James reaches the pride of man in another
way, and combats against it: the endeavor to shine by ne
speeches, to speak without restraint, does not agree with
the respect due to our God and Father. If it is evil not to
bridle the tongue in daily life, it is also evil to be itching
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
218
to speak before an assembly. Be not many teachers. If any
man oend not in word, the same is a perfect man, for the
tongue is the instrument in man which is most ready to
serve good or evil, it reveals the state of the soul. “ Out of
the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.”
Verses 13-18. A wise man endued with knowledge
will display himself, not by words, but by good conduct
with meekness and wisdom, he will show himself modest
without hypocrisy, sowing the fruit of righteousness in
peace.
Verses 14-16. ere is a wisdom which is not from God,
but which is seated in the human intelligence; it is earthly,
sensual, devilish, and it is false to the gospel, because it
professes to appertain to it.
Verses 17, 18. But the wisdom which is from God is
rst pure, then peaceable. It is the eect of the word when
received; it makes us pure and peaceable.
e fruit of righteousness is sown in peace. Christ
obeyed the will of God spontaneously without experiencing
any inward resistance. Not that He was insensible to the
suering resulting from His faithfulness, for He felt it;
still the motion of his soul was obedience only. So with us,
although we have sorrow in persecution, or in the various
troubles that come upon us, yet we should fulll the will of
God without internal conicts; and this would be so, were
our hearts more weaned from the rudiments of this world.
CHAPTER 4.
Verses 1-10 speak against lust. e apostle has just said
that the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace, but lust is
the enemy of all peace. It works perturbation in the saints
and in their intercourse with God; they pray, but God does
not hear them.
Notes on the Epistle of James
219
Verse 4. ere is no agreement between the love of the
world and the love of God, one destroys the other.
Verse 6. God it is who gives, but He gives to whom He
chooses, namely, to the humble.
Verses 7-10. Do you desire to avoid the danger and
the evil consequences of lust? Humble yourselves, submit
to God, resist the devil, draw near to God, purify your
conduct, feel your state. ese things wound the pride of
the esh,, but are able to keep us in a true state in the
presence of the Lord who Himself will lift us up, and then
it will be without danger.
Verses 13-17. We are again reminded of dependence
and submission to God. It is not for us to choose our ways.
To do so would be forgetting the authority of the Lord,
obeying our lusts and acting in a boastful spirit.
CHAPTER 5.
Verses 1-6 are another censure upon the rich. James calls
to mind the oppression of the great, and it is remarkable to
see that he identies those who seek after riches with those
who condemned and killed the Just One.
Verses 7-9. “ e Lord is coming.” Waiting for Him
keeps the heart from the love of riches. We must wait in
patience, and live in peace.
Verses 10-20 give various consolations and changes.
ose that have suered by the will of God are now blessed.
If we suer, we must follow their example, namely, suer
patiently.
Verses 14, 15. God in government sometimes aicts by
sickness, we must then judge ourselves; but He hears the
prayers of the saints, forgives and heals.
Verses 16-18. e prayer of a righteous man availeth
much. Elias is a proof of this.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
220
Verses 19, 20. e love of souls is very precious; to turn a
sinner from the error of his way is to save a soul from death,
to cover a multitude of sins and to be doing as God does.
Reading on 1Peter 1 and 2
221
63020
Reading on 1Peter 1 and 2
Peter is only laying the foundation here; you do not
get anything of the proper subject of his Epistle until “
Dearly beloved, I beseech you,” in chapter 2. In each
Epistle he lays the foundation of redemption. ey give the
government of God that the Jews were put under. “ He that
will love life and see good days,” that is not redemption for
heavenly glory. Or, again, “ e eyes of Jehovah are over the
righteous, and his ears are open to their prayers.” As far as I
have seen, the rst Epistle is government in favor of saints,
telling them they will suer, and so on; and the second is
government in respect of the wicked. In this chapter he
tells rst of redemption, and then how judgment begins at
the house of God. And it is very instructive as to the order
of the revelations and dealings of God. It is addressed to
the scattered Jews through Pontus, etc.: “ sojourners of the
dispersion “ it really is. “ Will he go unto the dispersed
among the Gentiles? “ is the same. ey are Christians,
converted Jews, though scattered, before the destruction
of Jerusalem. Peter was put to death before Jerusalem was
destroyed, according to common chronology. You never
nd anything about the church as a body in Peter, but
as a house. Paul alone speaks of it as the body of Christ;
this was his special ministry. Peter does address them in
their new standing, but it is individually in accomplished
redemption, not as in the one body united to Christ.
At the end “ the church that is at Babylon,” I doubt.
“ Elected “ is in the feminine, and no word is given for “
church “ at all; many have thought it refers to Peter’s wife-a
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
222
sister. Only Paul touches the subject of the body of Christ,
and so he alone speaks of the rapture. ere is in John’s
Gospel, “ I will come again, and receive you unto myself,”
but nothing more. As to the house it is in chapter 2. ey
were converted or Christian Jews, elect according to the
foreknowledge of God the Father; it was any quickened
soul among the dispersion. Peter was specially the minister
of the circumcision.
James writes on a larger scale. He says “ the twelve tribes,”
and he talks about anyone coming into their “ synagogue “;
it is like a national body, but he singles out those who are
believers. And he says “ twelve,” though ten are in captivity;
this is faith. Like Paul, “ Unto which promise our twelve
tribes, instantly serving God day and night, hope to come
“; and like the twelve stones of Elijah at Carmel. He could
say “ instantly,” as it was so, though they were doing it very
ignorantly and badly; just as Paul himself had been doing
when he was Saul. All really honest Jews were doing so.
ey might have done it in a bigoted way; still they were
serving. Just as you may have a church so-called kept open
night and day, it is kept open whatever may be there beside
the truth itself.
e cross really ended Judaism, though it continued
after. You see “ how many thousands of the Jews there are
that believe, and they are all zealous of the law,” oering
sacrices, etc.: and you get Paul going on to do as much.
What is striking enough is, that in James you never have
a word about redemption grace you get, “ of his own will
begat he us by the word of truth.” It ts in pretty close to
the conscience, if you will only let it. It does not allow will
in man at all, but patience. Its general character is practical
righteousness, the total destruction of self-will in the
Reading on 1Peter 1 and 2
223
Christian, and the renouncing of the world. He takes them
where they avowedly are, and says, “ My brethren, count
it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations,” and so on.
He takes the cross for granted; but you get the grace that
quickens us. And it is all the putting down of the working
of evil in every shape. In James you get positive grace, but
there is the judgment of all a man’s heart.
Peter goes farther than that; he takes up the sanctication
of the Spirit unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of
Jesus Christ. “ Jesus Christ “ applies to both those. Is it the
obedience of Jesus Christ instead of the law? No; I take it,
the obedience of Jesus Christ is not merely that there is a
rule given, but rather His own. “ Lo, I come to do thy will,
O God.” ere is a whole life which has no spring of action
except the will of God; and if there was no will of God, He
did nothing. At the beginning the Lord says, as it were, to
Satan, “ I am come to live by the word of God.” He could
have turned the stones into bread, of course, but He had no
will of God for it, and so He did nothing.
ere are two characters of it-obedience such as Christ’s,
and conding dependence (or dependent condence, if you
like). “ rough sanctication of the Spirit “ means that the
Holy Ghost has wrought in us to put us apart for these two
things. You are elect to both, but the way by which you are
brought into them is by “ sanctication of the Spirit.” us
the Holy Ghost has come and taken man out of the esh
altogether, and put him into this place. And then these
two things are, if you please, His life and His death. It is a
dierent kind of obedience from that of an obedient child
now; my child wants to run out, and I say, “ Sit down, and
do your lesson.” Well, he does so, and that is very pleasant
and right. But Christ never obeyed thus, He never wanted
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
224
to be stopped; He says “ I came not to do mine own will,
but the will of him that sent me.” In 2essalonians-2 you
get “ sanctication of the Spirit and belief of the truth “
together-the same thing pretty much.
You must begin practical sanctication by setting me
apart rst. e Holy Ghost comes, and sets us apart to
God, separated out of the esh to obedience. It is not so
much the fact of the new life, as it is that the word has
wrought in me; “ being born of the word of God that liveth
and abideth forever.” In Hebrews sanctied by the blood
of the covenant is another aspect of sanctication. Here
the Spirit is the one who brings it into actual operation.
In “ by the which will we have been sanctied,” you get
that which sets us apart judicially; but the direct action
of God at all times is by the Holy Ghost. So we are born
of the Spirit; there is a new life communicated, the Holy
Ghost giving me a renewed mind, bringing that into me,
whereby my thoughts and feelings are all changed. It is
God’s purpose to set me apart by the Spirit. God’s purpose
is in His own mind, and God gave His Son that we may
be, in a redemption way, set apart to Him. But we all the
while are still sinners. en comes the Holy Ghost, who
operates in us, and sets us actually apart. Sanctication of
the Spirit is actual operation. All the working of God is by
the Spirit. We are born of the Spirit, born of the Father in
one sense, and the Son quickens whom He will. And the
Holy Ghost still operates, for He takes the word, and He
makes the children grow.
Sprinkling is the application of blood, in opposition to
what we had under law. ere was a certain sanctication
of Israel to God, but not by the Holy Ghost, and they had
the blood of sprinkling in a way; but it is Christ’s blood
Reading on 1Peter 1 and 2
225
that we are sanctied to, and not that of bulls and goats.
Obedience comes rst, because you get the actual thing
that I am sanctied to-the obedience of Christ. But if I am
to be before God, it must be by His blood; the one is for
cleansing, and the other is His life. It is general, but more
the person that is in view, because the blood has been put
upon the mercy-seat, and this made God approachable.
It was Jehovah’s lot, and without that we could not have
had the sprinkling. John uses the fuller word, and says “
washed.” If God had not been gloried as to the question
of sin, which is specically Jehovah’s lot, you could not
have had this; the two goats make one Christ. It is the
general idea here of sprinkled blood; sometimes it was on
the person, sometimes on the altar to God, but then the
person got the benet of it. When it was sprinkled on all
the people, it was to hold them though under the penalty
of death. It is the legal character of it there, but this is not
for us. It is not the new covenant here, but just what it
says: I am set apart to obey, and to all the value of Christ’s
blood. It is a great thing not to bring into a verse what is
not in it. You get other verses and other truths, and clearer
light by putting them together, but it is an amazing help
to keep clearly what a verse gives. ere is nothing about
the covenant here, but a set of people, elect, chosen, and
set apart to obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus
Christ. “ Sanctied by blood,” in Hebrews, applies strictly
to Jews, though we come under it in the fatness of the
olive-tree.
A person could not walk practically in the path of
obedience without the sprinkling of the blood; we should
not be set apart to God at all without it. It is in contrast
with Judaism, where, as a matter of fact, they were brought
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
226
through the Red sea, and so separated from Egypt. Here it
is the Holy Ghost that does it, and it is a real thing in the
soul. In Hebrews you do not get the sanctication of the
Spirit at all, though you get holiness; they are sanctied
by blood, and are warned not to fall away. Where there
was faith, they, of course, had the actual value of it all; and
where it is individual, it says, “ perfected forever.” It is a
great thing to take our verse up absolutely and simply. Here
am I set apart to have no will at all, only God’s; obedience
is not having a will of my own, and that is the law of liberty.
Just as if I told my child again to go o and play in the
street, he would go o, and be obedient in doing so, but it
would be what he liked to do. Here, He says, I am bringing
you out of a sinful world, where the carnal mind is enmity
against God, and I set you apart to do my will in the world,
and nothing else. And then comes the second blessed
thing, all the value of Christ’s blood.
“ Blessed be the God and Father,”-you often get that,
Christ as Son, and as Man, “ my Father and your Father,
my God and your God “-” of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Lord
is another title: “ God hath made that same Jesus whom
ye have crucied both Lord and Christ.” “ Hath begotten
us again unto a lively hope.” We had got into this state of
death and sin, and Christ came there, and took us out of it,
so that I have a living hope, and there I get the key of all
this government. “ Reserved in heaven for you who are kept
by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to
be revealed in the last time.” I am not to be catching up
theories, but have a positive thing from God, kept there for
me, and I am kept while down here by the power of God
through faith. God’s power keeps me, but it is keeping me
by faith, unto a salvation ready to be revealed. e salvation
Reading on 1Peter 1 and 2
227
here is the full description of the status of a Christian,
and he is kept by the power of God. Peter is showing the
way of the government of God; there is nothing about
advancement in this world.
Hebrews is very much upon “ Peter “ ground, chapter
12: 22-24 describing all the millennial blessedness from
top to bottom, but you do not get “ union.” “ Fellows “ is
not union. If he speaks of the Father and of Christ, then
he can speak of rst-born among many brethren, but it is
individual still. John, too, is always individual, and yet he
carries us quite as high, dwelling in God, and God in me,
but this is not union with Christ. When I get union with
Christ, it is God raising Him from the dead as a man, and
putting Him at His right hand, and He takes and puts me
into Him there. Christ as Head (Eph. 1) is looked at as a
Man whom God has raised. Peter answers to wilderness
experience in measure, but “ ready to be revealed “ is a
dierent thing. Paul’s revelation in Colossians is more like
Peter, and so you get only, “ we shall appear with him in
glory,” but not the rapture; “ called in one body “ you have,
and “ not holding the head,” but even that is not developed
at all. Peter here is the contrast with having Canaan and
all that on earth. Here the inheritance is in heaven; the
dierence in Ephesians is, that there I am seen sitting
in heaven in Christ, that is, in Christ in glory. He says, “
inheritance incorruptible, undeled,” and so on. e one
thing you do not get here is the union with Christ by the
Holy Ghost.
Would you say that you have eternal life in Peter? It is
not developed in Peter. You never get a hint about God’s
love in Peter, though you get the things that ow from it. It
is, God has wrought this, and has given that, and He keeps
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
228
us safe, and so on; but you never have what you nd in Paul
and John, “ God so loved the world.” It is a governed world,
people in view for whom redemption has been wrought,
the perfect standing of a Christian with an inheritance in
heaven, and the Holy Ghost come down from heaven. You
get the fact of redemption and actual standing, but you
never nd Peter saying, “ Ye are dead “; he does say, “ He
that hath suered in the esh.” Paul says, “ dead to sin,” and
goes to the root. Peter says, “ dead to sins,” which is another
thing, being practice, and not root.
e moment I am, in Christ, I am in a totally new place,
where man looked at as born of Adam is done with. But
Peter gives you the whole statement of my relationship to
God, as redeemed, and quickened, and walking down here,
but with a hope up there. And then government comes
in-I am kept by God’s power through faith. e rapture
is not mentioned, for it is not an act of government, but
of sovereign grace. But 2Peter 1:19 is a most interesting
passage, for you have this dark world-Satan’s darkness-and
this light of God, which shows how all here is going on
rapidly to judgment.
In the Epistle to the Ephesians is the most extreme
contrast that can be conceived: “ Be ye followers of God as
dear children, and walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us,
and hath given himself for us, an oering and a sacrice to
God for a sweet-smelling savor “-” but fornication, and all
uncleanness.” Paul goes down from my being an imitator
of God Himself down to all that is vile in a man. Verses 6,
7 are government again, but it is as to men who are walking
down here, yet redeemed and having this inheritance above.
In verse 7 the fruits of all these dealings in government will
Reading on 1Peter 1 and 2
229
come out. It is not that you nd a poor sinner, who is taken
up and put up in glory with Christ, that is not Peter.
What is the salvation of soul? It is in contrast with
the deliverance that Israel had, I think. Soul-salvation
is contrasted with temporal deliverance. en comes an
orderly statement in verses to, H. e prophets which were
before speak both of the suerings of Christ, and of glories
which were to follow; but we now stand in between the
suerings nished and the glories not yet come.
e prophets were telling of both; neither had yet come,
and they searched to see what manner of time the Spirit of
Christ which was in them did signify, and it was revealed
to them, when they studied their own testimonies, that
they ministered not to themselves, but to us. is is very
striking; for, so far from its being the expectations of their
own minds that they were telling, they had to study their
prophecies to understand them if possible. But now the
Holy Ghost come down reports these things to us, things
which are to be brought unto us, but are reported now.
It does not state that we have got them, but the glory
is reported, and by the Holy Ghost sent down. e
Holy Ghost was not until Pentecost, but the thing that
distinguishes Christianity is the Holy Ghost down here;
just as of old Christ, looked at as coming down here, was
not yet. All this does not go on into Paul’s statement, nor
into John’s. Peter’s is complete and perfect in itself.
I have soul-salvation and eternal life, and Christianity
makes me wait for glory. It is a report now. I am changed,
but I have not a single thing but life and the Holy Ghost.
Of the things that belong to me as being alive, I have
nothing but the earnest of the inheritance. You have the
new nature? Yes, this is eternal life, and yet, in the full
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
230
purpose of God, the end is everlasting life. God has saved
us and called us with a holy calling, He has called me
to His kingdom and glory, but I am not there yet. I am
waiting for that. e grace of God has appeared, teaching
me to wait for the glory; it is all revealed, and I have the life
that enjoys it as a revelation, but I have not come into the
estate yet. When the revelation comes by the Holy Ghost
sent down front heaven, other things are brought in. As
the Lord says to Nicodemus, “ If I have told you earthly
things and ye believe not, how shall ye believe if I tell you
heavenly things? “ It was necessary, even for the Jews, to
be born again for their earthly things. In John’s “last time”
you get Antichrist, the day of the Lord; and yet the days
immediately preceding are the last time. Messiah is come,
and yet He is not come: Elias is come, and he is not come,
and you never see clearly in this kind of statement until
you see that. Messiah shall be cut o and have nothing,
He has none of the things that belong to Him yet. But
the moment the Son was there, the Father’s name was
revealed, though they did not understand it. And when the
Holy Ghost came down, you get the Spirit of adoption,
and Christ’s place where we are heirs; all that was not in
the Jewish promises, any more than the church was. e
whole state in Peter is dierent, without going to Paul,
because the veil is rent.
Present relationship with God is made perfectly clear by
redemption and the new nature, and the Holy Ghost too,
and this is an immense thing. We read in this very chapter,
“ Who by him do believe in God that raised him from the
dead, and gave him glory.” Do you mean to say that God
gave His Son for you? en there is perfect love in the
sight of God. I believe in God by Christ, and I say, God
Reading on 1Peter 1 and 2
231
out of the depth of His own heart would have me with
Him. He showed it by rending the veil from top to bottom.
Certain privileges were not thereby revealed, but my soul’s
relationship with God, as brought to Him, is revealed. “
Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and
hope to the end,” v. 13-17. So I am calling upon the Father
as a child during the time of my sojourning here, and such
is my place of relationship with God during that time. is
is practically where we are. “ In fear “ is a very good thing; “
Blessed is he that feareth always.” “ Dost not thou fear God,
seeing thou art in the same condemnation? “ “ e fear of
the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” It has nothing to do
here with nal judgment, of course-Peter does not think
of that with fear. But if you are calling on the Father, and
His name has been revealed, and the Holy Ghost has come
down from heaven, and the Father is keeping His children,
still it is as a holy Father-so mind what you are about.
Judging according to every man’s work is a present
thing; otherwise, “ the Father judgeth no man.” en he
goes to the foundation of it: “ Forasmuch as ye know ye
were redeemed.” Silver and gold are the general character:
the innite price with which we have been redeemed is
contrasted with poor corruptible things-silver and gold.
e Jews understood it very well.
You get in Jude the corruption of the church brought in
by false brethren, and in John you get them going out in
apostasy.
e two characters of the last days are, turning the grace
of God into lasciviousness, and apostasy or giving it up.
ese are all going on to this day; they crept in then. ough
the last days be spoken of and perilous times, yet the Lord
let it come out in germ at that time, that we should have
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
232
the word of God about all. Enoch prophesied about them.
e moment Christ was rejected, all was closed, except the
present time of mercy. As Christians we do not belong to
this world at all.
“ Who by him do believe in God.” e statement is
general, and the eect is that their faith and hope are in
God. I know God through His means; this gives a distinct
aspect of God altogether. It is trust in God in everything,
for I know that God has come into my case. I know the
love of God in giving Christ, and I know that all my sins
are gone, and God Himself is God my Savior. He is not in
the character of Judge there; nor is it faith in Christ before
God, but in God Himself who raised Christ from the dead,
so that it takes in everything between me and God, and
alters His whole character from Judge. I may believe God
as a righteous Judge, and so He is; but this will not save me,
though there must be that for salvation. Abraham believed
God, that is, believed what God said, and you get various
forms of that. ere is the Jewish expression, “ hope “; but
hope is used as condence, as “ in him shall the Gentiles
trust,” that is, hope. “ Hope thou in God.” Hope is used as
counting on a person; but He will give us glory too; here
it is the general thought- we reckon on Him. Believing
on Him, and in Him, are dierent. “ I believe in God “
is a dierent thing. is is the object and the condence:
God is the object of the faith. It is the Red Sea. God raised
Christ from the dead. ere is no knowing God any other
way, except as Creator. I do not know God really, save as
I know Him in Christ. “ is is life eternal, to know thee,
the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent,”
is knowing God the Father, not merely God. e other
names of God do not give eternal life, but the Father sent
Reading on 1Peter 1 and 2
233
the Son that we might live through Him, and He gives
eternal life. en comes another thing-rst, the revelation
in Christ, and then, obeying the truth through the Spirit.
is is what sancties the soul.
“ Unto unfeigned love of the brethren.” It is wonderful
how purifying the heart, and love, go together. You may
get hold of truth, but it is always imperfect, badly put
together, and that kind of thing, in man’s hand; but here it
is obedience to the truth through the Spirit-another thing.
You see selshness is at the bottom of all sin; the opposite
of selshness is love, and we are puried from selshness
by this love. It is love of the brethren, and love which brings
in holiness. You get the two things so in 1ess. 3:12: “ e
Lord make you to increase and abound in love one towards
another, and towards all men, even as we do towards you,
to the end he may stablished your hearts unblameable in
holiness before God.” Love and holiness-it is a wonderful
power which has come out in Christianity. Paul adds, in
essalonians, “ at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ
with all his saints.” It is not, establish your hearts here, but
he is looking at it in all its fullness when Christ comes. It
is the power of the hope too, “ He that hath this hope in
him, purieth himself even as he is pure.” And therefore it
is in John 17, “ Sanctify them through thy truth, thy word
is truth; and for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they
also might be sanctied through the truth.” It all takes us
up into the other world. “ As we do towards you “ is the
pattern of it, but it is towards one another, and towards all.
Observe, you never nd that Christ loved the world, nor
that God loved the church, because that is the relationship
of Christ and the church, His body and His bride.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
234
When you get “ love as brethren,” it is again relationship,
love unfeigned. It is the opposite of feigned; it is not
“ putting it on,” as you say, but real. It is the converse
here of what it is in essalonians. It is the bringing in
of divine life, and the Holy Ghost was there, and He is
the spring that is in my heart. So it is not talking about
inconsistencies, but what is love, and what is God’s nature.
It is a wonderful thing for us to look at in all our path-
Christ, and then in that sense we could not know any man
after the esh. Purity and love is what God is looking for
here. Self is dead, and consideration for others is what
reigns in the heart according to God. And the recognition
of God’s presence is the great secret of that. I was struck
some time back with this, that when the apostle describes
what love is, it is all subjective. In 1Cor. 13 you do not get
one atom of activity in it; it bears, endures, hopes, and so
on, and that is all. Love is not always subjective, but it is
so in 1Cor. 13. Disappointing! You go and live it out, and
see if other people will be disappointed. Activity, of course,
is all right too. God gives to us in the blessedness of His
nature, He makes us enjoy Himself, and, besides that, He
gives us a share in the activity of His love. “ See that ye love
one another with a pure heart fervently.” ese instructions
are drawn from the very depths of God’s nature, and you
get God and grace instead of self. Suppose a man is giving
way to bad feelings, the wrath of man does not work the
righteousness of God. I ask myself how should I feel if I
met that man at the door of heaven, going in-supposing I
had met a heretic, or anything else. Would it not be nice
to meet people here as you will meet them there? Only
when you have to meet opponents, take care that it does
not connect itself with anything of feeling as regards the
Reading on 1Peter 1 and 2
235
individual. Look at Christ in Gethsemane in an agony. He
asked His disciples to stay, and He• went farther, and when
He comes to them again, He nds them sleeping, but He
only says, “ What, could ye not watch with me one hour? “
and He goes back again into His agony; and this was His
way to them when He was thinking of meeting God in
judgment!
Verse 22 is love “ fervently.” “ Seeing ye have puried,”
etc., is the principle; now let us have the practice in all its
extent. He is looking for fervent love in a pure heart, seeing
that they have been brought into this relationship. God is
light, and He is love, and He has come down in light and
love, and He wants this divine nature which has root in
us to come out. “ Increase and abound “ is to be brought
about by keeping nearer to God. I have often thought
that it requires great grace to see a little grace. If you go
out in love, it will nd some response. At one place they
complained that all was so dreadfully cold, and I could only
say, Why do you not go out in love, and warm the rest?
“ Born again.” is is divine life, for this connection of
purity and love is by the Holy Ghost. John 3 is the same
truth, but more specic. John says “ born anew “; he insists
on its being altogether new, and so it is more emphatic.
Here it is connected with the word; in John with the Spirit.
In John, too, you get the positive communication of the
new life, in Peter you get the practical eect and working,
not the source. It is similar in 1Peter 4:1: “ He that hath
suered in the esh hath ceased from sin,” but in Paul I get
“ He that is dead “; it is the same truth, only the one is the
principle, and the other is the outward practical carrying
of it out. Again the Jews must be born again. We are born
of the Spirit, and get a new life, but it brings in divine
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
236
thoughts, so that I am cleansed. e sin in them, then,
remains, as in Ezek. 36, and so it does in us now.
It is a great thing that the word lives, it comes from
God, and is really in the power of the Holy Ghost, but
then it brings in the things it tells about. In John 8:25 the
Lord tells them what He was-in principle (or altogether)
what I also say; in our version it is, “ even the same that
I said unto you from the beginning.” His word expressed
Himself. And the word not only lives, but it judges what is
in us too, because it is true.
Sanctied, Purged, and Kept: 1Peter 1:1-9
237
63021
Sanctied, Purged, and Kept:
1Peter 1:1-9
Sanctication of the Spirit is spoken of before the “
blood of sprinkling.” Israel in Egypt were taken and set
apart (which is the same as sanctication) for God while
they were in Egypt. is sanctication is spoken of in
Jude’s Epistle as the Father’s work-” sanctied
11
by God the
Father.” In Hebrews Jesus is spoken of as sanctifying-” at
he might sanctify the people with his own blood.” Here,
in Peter, it is spoken of as the Spirit’s work. e setting
apart to God is a dierent thing from having forgiveness,
and it is the accomplishing of God’s purposes, though not
the purposes themselves. e prodigal in Luke 15 turned
back in the far country, and then he was set apart for God.
ere was a total and utter change, but not all the eect
yet. When he began to return, his face was turned towards
his father; while, when he went away his back was towards
him. So the soul set apart by God is livingly turned to
God in power; it may be, as the prodigal, in rags and want;
but there is the turning of heart, and, like Paul who was
converted on his way to Damascus, there is a new creation.
e will is broken. ere will be conict afterward as the
result, but the whole man is changed. It is not that there
are not diculties to be overcome, but the object before
the mind is dierent.
e soul is thus said to be “ sanctied unto obedience.”
It is not a question of being better or worse, but it is turning
11 e critical reading in Jude 1, is “ beloved in God the Father.”-
ED.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
238
to God; and if it is sanctication to obedience, it is also to
the “ blood of sprinkling.” Now I have to learn the value
of that blood. He has brought me under the sprinkling of
blood, as Israel was by coming out of Egypt; and what was
the sprinkling of blood then? It was the seal, while liable
to the sentence of death, of the covenant which they were
to obey; Ex. 24:6, 7, 8. If they obeyed, they stood, but if
not, the penalty of death was their portion. Is it so with
us? No. We have disobeyed, but He (Jesus) has suered
for us, and we are sealed under the covenant brought in by
Him for the disobedient. We are brought under the blood
of sprinkling, whatever its ecacy is. Nothing has power
against this title. Does my guilt rise up? or Satan come
against me? All is gone, because of the value of His blood.
I have, as the rst thing, redemption through His blood,
perfect deliverance from all that was for my condemnation.
I am, in my whole condition as a sinner, redeemed out of
it forever. e covenants, we know, were sealed with blood.
Abraham and Jeremiah killed a calf, and the blood was a
witness to the covenant. is covenant diers from former
ones, inasmuch as it is not binding as to guilt if we fall; on
the contrary, it discharges us from guilt by the blood that
was shed for it.
Another kind of purging is that of cleansing from
delement, so that by the blood we are not only acquitted
of guilt, but made absolutely clean. “ e blood of Jesus
Christ cleanseth us from all sin.” Another eect is, that it
brings us into wonderful nearness of thought with God.
e blood has been already spilled. Christ has done it and
I see in it that He has taken the deepest interest in my soul,
and given Himself that I might be delivered. Was He all
alone in it? As regards man, He was; but God the Father
Sanctied, Purged, and Kept: 1Peter 1:1-9
239
had to do with it. He spared not His own Son, and I am
reconciled to God by His death. at is more than being
merely turned, in will, to God. Where is my assurance of its
ecacy? God Himself having done it, who “ hath begotten
us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead,” we have, then, a dying Savior, but a
living hope. We have life in Him, power in Him, through
the Holy Ghost. e Second Adam, the Quickener, is He
who went into death for our sins, but who came out of
death, and is risen in the power of an endless life. is life
then makes us pilgrims and strangers down here, and there
is not a single object here for the Christian but to please
God. With Jesus it was ever His delight to do His Father’s
will. “ My meat is to do the will of him that sent me,” etc.
is puts the heart to the test. Do you say what harm is
there in this or that? Your esh is after it, and that is the
harm! Are you to live after the esh? If the old man is
working in you, that is the harm. We are “ begotten unto
a living hope,” etc., “ to an inheritance incorruptible, and
undeled, and that fadeth not away “-just the contrast
of everything here. If the divine nature is in us, it has
divine tastes suited to that to which it belongs. My heart’s
aections have found a home, where God has found His
rest, in Christ.
Besides, it is “ reserved in heaven.” No moth or rust
can corrupt th re, neither thief break through to steal. It is
preserved by God, and “ I know in whom I have believed,
and that he is able to keep that which I have,” etc. It is safe.
Another thing is, we must wait for it; but we know it is well
kept, if God keeps it. “ Reserved … for you who are kept.”
e inheritance is kept for you in heaven, and you are kept
on earth waiting for it. He will keep you for the inheritance
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
240
and the inheritance for you. It is then not a question of my
perseverance, but of God’s faithfulness. Do any say, Oh! I
shall never hold on to the end? But God has said, “ ey
shall never perish.” Ah! but it may be said, there is all the
power of Satan! Again, “ None shall pluck them out of my
Father’s hand.” “ I and my Father are one.” ere is one
common counsel between them. “ Kept by the power of
God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed.”
ere is not something to be done, something not yet
accomplished. No! it is done, and that is what could not be
said when Christ was upon earth. But now He has passed
through death, risen out of it, ascended to the right hand
of God, where He is waiting until “ his enemies be made
his footstool.” It is ready to be revealed, and is only delayed
while souls are being brought in for the completion of
His body. at is matter of joy to wait for; though, in one
sense, we should desire that it were already completed,
that glory may be revealed. But there is rest to the heart in
the consciousness that the salvation is ready, and that we
are kept through faith. ere is blessing in that, through
exercise, because the esh never has faith; and if a single
worldly or careless thought comes in, faith is not in exercise,
and the image of Jesus is dimmed in us. We do not live,
except when and so far as faith is in exercise; for all that
is of the esh perishes. “ He that eateth me, even he shall
live by me.” Another blessed thing for us is, that everything
becomes matter of exercise. We must never do a thing we
have not faith for.
is makes us feel the need of having the aections “
set on heavenly things.” “ Keep yourselves in the love of
God.” “ Wherein ye greatly rejoice,” etc. Are you greatly
rejoicing in this salvation? “ It shall be in you a well of living
Sanctied, Purged, and Kept: 1Peter 1:1-9
241
water “ was the word. ere are none so subject to inertia
as the Christian who is halting between two opinions. If
worldliness, love of ease, self in this or that form come in,
who are so weak and wretched? We cannot nd happiness
in the world and be rejoicing in heavenly things If the soul
is occupied with this great salvation, it will rejoice therein.
ere will be heaviness through manifold temptations, but
the valley of Baca will become a well, the rain lling the
pools.
We now have the “ earnest of the inheritance “; not the
earnest of God’s love, for this is fully our portion now, and
not merely the earnest of it. e “ trial of faith will be found
unto praise,” etc., at the appearing of Jesus Christ. He has
entered within and has His crown; and now at the thought
of that, we can rejoice with “ joy unspeakable and full of
glory.” It is “ unspeakable “ because it is Himself, and “ full
of glory “ because He is in the glory: and lest the re which
tries should cast the least cloud over the hope and the joy,
it is said, “ receiving the end of your faith.” I have received
the salvation of my soul, and that is really the end of my
faith, though I may have to go through trial to purge away
the dross.
Is your face turned upward to God, and not as the beast’s
which goeth downward? or is your back towards God, as
Adam turned when he had sinned and was ashamed?
e Spirit of God in the Epistles of Peter does not
contemplate the Christian as united to Christ in heaven,
but as running the course through the trials of this world
toward heaven. Both things are true, and we need both.
We are running through the wilderness towards it, and at
the same time we can say through the Spirit that we are
one with Christ in heaven. It is in the former of these two
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
242
ways that the Christian is looked at here. e inheritance
is reserved for him, and then we get the application of
the truth and grace of God to the condition we are in.
It is exceedingly precious to know that, no matter what
the trials may be or the diculties, we are to expect that
down here. It is merely a passage through the trials and
diculties (which are useful to us after all), and there is “
an inheritance incorruptible, undeled,” kept safe in heaven
for us; and, as he adds then, we kept for it by the power of
God through faith. at is the position in which he sets the
Christian. We are “ begotten again unto a lively hope by the
resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” It is not exactly
that we are risen with Him, but he looks at Christ as risen
and gone in, and therefore that He has begotten us again to
a lively hope and that hope “ an inheritance incorruptible
and undeled, and that fadeth not away.” ere it is, kept
safe in heaven for us. As Paul said, “ I know whom I have
believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that
which I have committed unto him against that day.” All his
happiness was safe in heaven, and the Lord could keep it
safe for him; and then we get the blessed truth that we are
“ kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.”
We get the character and path of the Christian-
both these things. e blessed faithfulness of the Lord
in keeping it for us and us for it, and at the same time
the character of the Christian as passing onward toward
it, and a little of the trials of the way. We rst see that
here. You will nd it in the striking contrast with the law
and the position that Israel had under it. Indeed this runs
through tl whole-constantly in the New Testament. He
says, “ Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the
Father.” He settles them on this blessed truth-their being
Sanctied, Purged, and Kept: 1Peter 1:1-9
243
elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father.
Not merely a people chosen out as a nation, but it was that
foreknowledge of God the Father through which they had
this place: and then the Spirit of God comes and sancties
or sets them apart. We get then what they are set apart to
practically, as a present thing, and that is, the obedience
of Jesus Christ, and the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus
Christ. ese are just the two essential points of the life
and path of Jesus, one running into the other: and, in this
case, if I may so speak, the one completing the other. For
us the great thought is the obedience of Jesus Christ and
the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ
applies to the obedience as well as to the sprinkling of the
blood, and both are in contrast with the law, whether as
regards what the law required, or as regards the sacrices
of the law-the obedience and sacrice • of Jesus Christ are
in contrast with both.
As regards our obedience it is essential for the true
character of our path as Christians that we should get hold
of what this obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ was. Legal
obedience in us is a dierent thing. We have got a will of
our own; that was not true of Christ. He had a will in one
sense, as a man, but He said, “ Not my will, but thine, be
done.” But we have got a will of our own; it may be checked
and broken down. But if the law is applied to us, it is as
stopping this will, but nding it here, and our notion of
obedience constantly is that. Take a child-there is a will of
its own: but when the parents’ will comes in and the child
yields instantly without a struggle, and either does what it
is bid or ceases to do what it is forbidden, you say this is an
obedient child, and it is delightful to see such an obedient
spirit. But Christ never obeyed in that way. He never had
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
244
a will to do things of His own will in which God had to
stop Him-it was not the character of His obedience. It is
needed with us, and we all know it, if we know anything
of ourselves; but it was not the character of His obedience.
He could not wish for the wrath of God in the judgment of
sin, and He prayed that that cup might pass from Him. But
the obedience of Christ had quite another character from
legal obedience. His Father’s will was His motive for doing
everything: “ Lo, I come, to do thy will, O God.”
at is the true character of the obedience of Jesus
Christ, and of ours as Christians. e other may be needed
for us- the stopping us in our own will; but the true character
of our obedience, and that which characterizes the whole
life of the Christian is this-that the will of God, of our
Father we can say, is with us, as it was with Christ, our
reason, our motive, for doing a thing. When Satan came
and said to Him, “ Command that these stones be made
bread,” He answers, “ Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word of God.” His actual life as carried out in
conduct ows from the word of God which is His motive
for doing it; and if He has not that, He has no motive. You
will nd that it alters the whole tenor and spirit of a man’s
life. We have to be stopped in our own will, that is true,
because we have the old nature in us; but it alters the whole
spirit and tenor of a man’s life. If I have no motive but my
Father’s will, how astonishingly it simplies everything!
If you never thought of doing a thing except because it
was God’s positive will that you should do it, how three-
quarters of your life would at once disappear! is is the
truth practically as to ourselves; yet we clearly see that such
was the obedience of Christ.
Sanctied, Purged, and Kept: 1Peter 1:1-9
245
is, too, is the principle of real piety, because it keeps
us in constant dependence upon God, and in constant
reference to God. It is an amazing comfort for my soul to
think that there is not a single thing all through my life in
which God as my Father has not a positive will about me
to direct me; that there is not a step from the moment I
am born (though while we are unconverted we understand
nothing about it), in which there is not a positive path or
will of God to direct me here. I may forget it and fail, but we
have in that word and will of God what keeps the soul, not
in a constant struggle against one thing and another, but
in the quiet consciousness that divine favor has provided
for everything-that I do not take a step but what divine
favor has provided for. It keeps the soul in the sweet sense
of divine favor and in dependence upon God, so that like
David we can say, “ y right hand upholdeth me.” Moses
does not say, Show me a way through the wilderness, but, “
Show me now thy way.” A man’s ways are what he is: God’s
way shows what He is.
e heart gets separated in its path more and more
intelligently to God, and gets to understand what God is. If
I know that God likes this and likes that along my path, it is
because I know what He is; and besides its being the right
path and causing us thus to grow in intelligent holiness of
life, there is piety in it too. e constant reference of the
heart aectionately to God is real piety, and we have to look
for that. We have it perfectly in our Lord; “ I know,” He
says, “ that thou hearest me always.” ere is the condence
of power and reference to God with conding aection.
If I know that it is His path of goodness, His will that is
the source of everything to me, there is the cultivation of
piety with God, communion is uninterrupted, because the
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
246
Spirit is not grieved. is is the obedience of Jesus Christ,
to which we are set apart.
en there is the other blessed truth. We are set apart
through the Spirit for, and to the value and the sprinkling of,
the blood of Jesus Christ. We know that, when the priests
were consecrated, the blood was put upon their right ear
and upon the hand and foot, as a token that all the mind
and work and walk should be according to the preciousness
of this blood. In God’s sight there is not a single spot upon
us because of the blood that has been shed, and we have
to walk according to the value of that blood before God.
In the case of the leper the blood was to be sprinkled upon
him seven times. He was set apart to God (in type) under
the whole, perfect ecacy of what the work and blood of
Jesus are in God’s sight.
Such was the double character of Jesus, whether
throughout His life or in death. Even in dying His
obedience was His life in that sense. And that is what
characterizes the Christian. is introduces us at once
into the unclouded apprehension of an inheritance
incorruptible, undeled, reserved in heaven for us. He has
begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection
of Jesus Christ from the dead. I see His path down here-
He has gone up there-death has no power over Him. And
now through Him nothing stands in the way between me
and the incorruptible inheritance. Death itself is totally
overcome-so entirely, that if the Lord Jesus were to come
soon enough, we should never die at all. In any case, we
shall be changed and gloried; but I speak now as showing
the way in which the power of death is set aside, so that,
instead of our belonging to death now, death belongs to
us. All things, the apostle says, are yours, “ Whether life
Sanctied, Purged, and Kept: 1Peter 1:1-9
247
or death, or things present or things to come.” Christ
having come in and having gone down to the full depth
of everything for us, He has gone through it all and has
left no trace of it in the resurrection. It is not merely that
the blood has been sprinkled, but He has left no trace of
anything. erefore, though we may die, it is gain if we do.
It is to an inheritance incorruptible.
en we come to a third point in the chapter, that is,
the being kept through the way. ere are diculties, and
trials, and temptations-it is well we should look them
in the face. Everybody is not passing smoothly through
this life, though some may be more so than others. ere
are plenty of diculties and trials, and we have to make
straight paths for our feet. Still, we are “ kept by the power
of God,” but, mark this, it is “ through faith.” We have to
remember that, and this is why the trials come in. We can
count upon the whole power of God, but it is exercised
in sustaining our faith in God, as the Lord says to Peter,
“ I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not.” He does
not take us out of trial; on the contrary, it is said, “ Ye are
in heaviness through manifold temptations.” ere may
be this heaviness through trial; no such thing as doubting
God’s goodness, but the pressure, whether of sorrow or of
that which might tend to make our feet slip, may produce
heaviness of spirit. But after all it is “ only for a season,”
and “ if need be.” Do not make yourselves uneasy: the One
who holds the reins of the need-be is God. He does not
take pleasure in aicting. If there is the need for it, we go
through the trial, but it is only for a moment. It is a process
that is going on, and do you fancy that you do not want it?
e great secret is to have entire condence in the love
of God, in the certainty that He is the doer of all-not
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
248
looking at circumstances or at second causes, but seeing
the hand of the Lord in all, that it is the trial of our faith,
and that it is only on the way. When the day comes when
God has things His own way (He does His own work now,
of course, but when He has things His own way), these
very trials will be found to praise and honor and glory
at the appearing of Jesus Christ. It is a process that He
is carrying on now, it may be even the putting into the
furnace to bring out the preciousness of the faith. It is not
a question of being cleansed, but He does cause us to pass
through all that which He sees needed for discipline. He
uses the things that are in the world. e evil, the sin, the
ill-will of others, all the things that are in the world, He
uses simply as an instrument to break down and exercise
our heart, so that our obedience may be simple, and that
our faith may be found unto praise and honor and glory at
the appearing of Jesus.
We see thus what a strengthening thing is the waiting
for Christ. It is not spoken of here in the highest way, but
it is the same general principle. I am waiting. I do not think
much of an uncomfortable inn if I know that I am only
there for two or three days on the way. I might perhaps
wish it were better, but I do not trouble myself much
about it, because I am not living there. I am not living in
this world, I am dying here; if there is a bit of the old life,
it has to be put to death. My life is hid with Christ in
God. I am waiting• for the appearing of the Lord Jesus
Christ-waiting for God’s Son from heaven, who is going
to take us there, to an inheritance incorruptible, undeled,
that fadeth not away; and all that we pass through here is
merely this exercise of heart, which God sees to be needed
to bring us there where the Lord Himself will have us
Sanctied, Purged, and Kept: 1Peter 1:1-9
249
with Himself and that forever. And there is nothing more
practically important for every-day work and service, than
our waiting for God’s Son from heaven. If you want to
know what this world is, and if you want to get comfort for
your soul, you will be waiting for God’s Son from heaven.
If I am belonging to the world, I cannot have comfort. e
apostle says, “ If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we
are of all men most miserable.” And if we are getting into
ease in it, we shall nd His discipline. But the moment I
am waiting for God’s Son from heaven, my life is but the
dealings of God with me with an object, and that object
that it should be to praise and honor and glory at the
appearing of Jesus Christ.
Let me ask you all to search and see what would be
the eect of Christ’s coming on your souls? Would it be
this? Here I am passing through in heaviness because of
manifold temptations, but He will come and take me out
of it to Himself? Or would it surprise you? Would it nd
you with a number of things which you would have to
leave behind? As to your heart, where is your heart with
respect to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ? Young
or old (there may be more to learn if we are young; but),
would the coming of the Lord Jesus nd you with plenty
of things that you would have to throw overboard? or with
this feeling, Here is an end of all the exercise of heart? He
for whom I have been waiting is coming to take me to
Himself. ere is the dierence between Christians. If my
whole life is founded upon this, that His will is the motive
and spring of it, I shall nd the exercises and the needed
trial; but the coming of the Lord would be simply this to
my soul-He is coming to take me away to Himself.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
250
e Lord give us to be of a true heart, and to remember
that if we are Christians, Christ is our life, and Christ
could not have a portion down here. Joy and peace and
quietness of spirit go with it, and real happiness; only we
must have faith. Abraham found in the mountain a place
where he could intercede with God, while Lot was saying,
“ I cannot escape to the mountain lest some evil take me
and I die.” Unbelief always looks at the place of faith as
the most awful thing possible- all darkness. e Lord give
us to know what it is to live the life which we live “ by the
faith of the Son of God! “
Our Pilgrimage, Priesthood, and Suering: 1Peter 2
251
63022
Our Pilgrimage, Priesthood,
and Suering: 1Peter 2
Peter looks on the Christian as one redeemed and
set out on his pilgrimage on his way to the inheritance.
Having redemption, the forgiveness of sins, knowing. they
are not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold,
but with the precious blood of Christ, they were reminded
that there was an inheritance kept for them, ready to be
revealed, and they set out on the journey as pilgrims and
strangers here. is is very precious, especially when we see
Christ before us in it. None was so thoroughly a pilgrim
and stranger as Christ, and He says of the disciples, “ ey
are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.” His
life becomes our example. is path to glory, following
in His footsteps, is founded on redemption being fully
accomplished. is is very dierent from the truth, brought
out in another place, of our being “ seated in heavenly
places in Christ.” is we have in Ephesians.
In the beginning of chapter 2 there are some things I
desire to notice. Chapter 1: 17 speaks of passing the time
of your sojourning here in fear. is is not heaven; there
is no fear in heaven: but when I talk of sojourning here,
I have cause to fear. e saints know at what a price they
have been redeemed out of the world. en go and act as
those redeemed.
Verse 21. “ Who by him do believe in God.” Many souls
believe in Christ, but hardly know what it is to believe in
God by Him: it is to get a knowledge of what God Himself
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
252
is in Christ. It is not any knowledge of salvation through
interest in Christ’s blood, but to know God’s thoughts in
connection with His Son. ere is not only His goodness,
but great depth in it: for He thought of me before I thought
of Him. He takes every-day interest in me; He is going to
conform me to the image of His Son, the Firstborn among
many brethren. e soul condes in God: “ that your faith
and hope may be in God “ (not in Christ, which is true
too). But I believe in God by means of Christ. I do not
think of Him as a Judge, but as a Savior God. I have come
in spirit to God and would walk with Him: as of Israel,
God says, He brought them on eagles’ wings to Himself.
us we are put into relationship with God, who has
begotten us again in Christ raised up from the dead out of
the whole scene. Flesh is all gone: “ the grass withereth and
the ower thereof fadeth away “ (v. 24)-the people as well
as the nations. Take any-all-esh: it is entirely worthless.
It seems hard to say it is gone when we pass through all
the bustle and vanity of the world; but to faith it is done
with already. New life is received through the incorruptible
seed of the word. We are set in a new place-going through
a world we do not belong to, as pilgrims and strangers.
Christ is our pattern.
In chapter 2 we rst nd what we are as priests in a
double way.
Verse 4. Christ came down from God, and He must
be disallowed of men. Everything seen in Christ was the
perfect reexion of God; and we who are now seen before
God in Christ have therefore all Christ’s perfectness in His
eyes. We are “ living stones,” having the very same nature
and life within • here is the rst thing noticed. We are built
up “ a spiritual house, an holy priesthood to oer up spiritual
Our Pilgrimage, Priesthood, and Suering: 1Peter 2
253
sacrices.” Our function is to be constantly worshipping
God. “ Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me.” We
are before God in the holy place-” a holy priesthood to
oer up spiritual sacrices.” Aaron’s priesthood shows
it in a gure. None but a priest had a right to go before
God at all. We are a consecrated people-yea, a priesthood-
having “ hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our
bodies washed with pure water.” Heb. 10 alludes to this
consecration of the priests, sprinkled with blood. Oering
up “ spiritual sacrices “ is our service (I speak not now of
intercession for others), the consequence of being born of
God and consecrated to Him. We are spiritual and not mere
carnal priests, and have something spiritual to oer up. It
is an immense and very distinct privilege of all Christians,
and this now. God owns no other priests, but all saints are
priests-it extends to every believer in the world. ere is no
true priesthood distinct from this, save that of Christ for
us. e priest is one brought nigh by sacrice, bringing that
which brings nigh.
“ Behold I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect,
precious,” etc. Unto you therefore which believe He is
precious [or, is the preciousness]. is is sometimes looked
at as an experience of feeling; but what is here meant shows
the contrast between a believer and an unbeliever. ough
“ precious “ to the believer, He is a “ stone of stumbling “
to the “ disobedient,” appointed not to disobey, but, being
disobedient, to stumble at the word.
Verse 9 calls “ that ye should show forth the praises
[virtues, excellencies] of him,” etc. is is not oering
sacrices; it is rather the Melchizedec pattern than the
Aaronic. When Christ takes His place as Melchizedec,
He will lead the praises of the people, and it will be the
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
254
manifestation of His excellence and the praise will be made
good by what He is. Here, if all the saints were what they
should be, His praise would be manifested. When we see
Him, we shall be like Him, and His praise will be shown.
ere is the priesthood of worship, as being brought
nigh; there is the showing forth of His worth as a kingly
priesthood: this is the kingly part. In Rev. 4 the twenty-
four elders, referring to the full courses of priests, show
forth His praises in glory. ere is displayed glory in them,
a wonderful testimony to the ecacy of the work of Christ.
ere is the throne of judgment set, and the twenty-four
crowned elders sitting in peace, associated with Him in the
judgment. eir position shows the completeness of the
work that has set us to show forth His praises. en they
prostrate themselves before God, and that is worship. In the
judgments they are associated with Him; when His praise
is sounded, they worship. Worship is the highest display of
what God has done and is, shown out. It goes out to God
and owns what He is. ere is this double blessing come
with a royal priesthood.
Showing forth the praises of Him thus does not mean
preaching the gospel. Peter speaks of what they were as a
royal priesthood, and going in as a holy priesthood. Showing
forth His praises is down here, and does not carry with it so
much the stamp of thanksgiving, gratitude, but it equally
takes in the thought of redemption. We are brought into “
marvelous light “ to show forth that light. While Christ was
in the world, He was the light of the world. Now we have
to show forth His light. We have an interested heart in it-
the interest of those who have been and are the objects of
His love. “ Return to thine own house and show how great
things God hath done for thee.” Called out of darkness into
Our Pilgrimage, Priesthood, and Suering: 1Peter 2
255
His marvelous light, we stand before the world as witnesses
for God. In the rst, the priest belongs to the holy place,
as going in to worship God. In the second, on the other
hand, he is called to show forth His praises to the world.
A priest is consecrated as well as redeemed. So we now
worship, and have to show forth Him who has called us.
We know Him by what He has been to us and done for us.
We “ are not of the world.” Looking at Christ as specially
gone in and as coming out, we follow Him in spirit going
in, and anticipate His coming forth by now showing forth
His praises. He sets the saints to do rst what He will do
Himself perfectly. e church has failed. He set it to show
forth His praise. What has broken down He, however, will
accomplish Himself in power, when He comes forth in
glory. is gives a peculiarly distinct character to our call.
He said, “ I have sent them into the world.” Were they
not in the world? Not in the fullest, truest sense, for they
were by grace taken out of the world. ey were a peculiar
people “ that they should show forth.” Of Israel God said,
“ is people have I formed for myself “a peculiar people
to Himself; they for earth and we for heaven. is gives a
distinct character to the walk, which should speak of Him
who has set them so to live. Why can we do this and that?
Because He has done this and that for us. Our position and
ways should speak for Him.
e “ marvelous light “ goes with sin all put away, and
not a spot left on us. Our whole business in the world (in
going through labor and toil, it may be), the one thing to
do is to show forth the praises of Him who has called us
thus. e blind man thought it wonderful; if they could
not see, yet He had opened his eyes. It gives us a deep
responsibility to be put in such a place. Begotten again
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
256
by Christ’s resurrection, we are not men in the world; as
redeemed persons we are, of course, born again, but to be
a holy priesthood near Him, so as to worship Him, and a
royal priesthood to show forth His praises. ere are also
the joys and privileges of the heart right with God through
Christ and His work.
But what have they to do in the world? “ I have given
them thy word, and the world hateth them.” at is a part
of Christ too. Now we see what it is to be a witness for
Christ-the world hates them.
Verse 20. “ If ye do well and suer for it and take it
patiently, this is acceptable with God.” What would the
world say to this? What! let every one trample on you?
e world trampled on Christ. I am not speaking of this
country or any other in particular, but, in the world all
over, oppression, misery, discontent, are going on. I am
not of the world, though I may mourn over it. To see men
devouring widows’ houses is a terrible thing, especially
under religious pretexts: but we have not to set things to
rights. We have a peculiar place as Christians. We have
immense privileges and consequent position in the world. “
If ye do well, and suer for it, and take it patiently,” etc. is
is Christ reproduced in His members. ese are the praises
of God shown forth by them, not lights in the world. One
may as a Christian go through the world very quietly in a
general way; but if there is the contrary, and one takes from
me my coat, shall I not give him my cloak also? If I have
lost my coat and kept Christ’s character, I see nothing to
regret. e eect of being put into the world as a peculiar
people, begotten again, redeemed, priests holy and royal, is
to present His character in the world; and the measure is
according to our faith. e suerings of Christ went much
Our Pilgrimage, Priesthood, and Suering: 1Peter 2
257
farther than any little we may suer. “ When he was reviled,
he reviled not again; when he suered, he threatened not.”
ese suerings of Christ give another character to all I
may have to go through. When Christ is before me, I have
another object, another motive. e early Christians took
joyfully the spoiling of their goods. Why? Because it was
for Christ’s sake. We have very little of this in England,
more in some other countries. Christ being stamped upon
all characterizes our showing forth what He is. We have a
natural sense of righteousness, quite contrary to the spirit
shown in Christ which we have to follow.
ere are two very distinct kinds of suering that Christ
endured. In redemption Christ suered. See chap. 3: 9. If
you suer, let it not be for sins. Christ has done that for
you. “ He once suered for sins, the just for the unjust.” Do
not talk of suering for sin; that is not what a Christian has
to do. Here is the complete contrast of Christ’s suering
and the Christian’s. Christ suered alone in that, never to
have a follower. He stood alone that there might never be
an atom of wrath for us. From whom did He suer this?
From God. Christ suered for sin from Him. He drank
that dreadful cup at His hands; and the eect of Christ’s
suering for sin from God is that all judgment is passed
from them who believe. ey have no fellowship in the
cup of wrath. eir sins were therein, and that was all
from them. e ark in the midst of Jordan typies this.
When I come to the other character of His suerings, it
was for righteousness’ sake, and for love. Walking through
the world and up to the cross, He suered dreadfully from
man, the contradiction of sinners, etc. ere were “ dogs,”
and “ strong bulls of Bashan “ staring upon Him at the last.
He suered from those around closing in upon Him. Even
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
258
on the cross He had this kind of suering as well as the
others. Men were instruments of Satan to bring all kinds
of suering on Christ.
Suering for righteousness’ sake and for His name’s sake
are dierent. One person may suer for a good conscience,
and another may suer martyrdom for preaching Christ.
is last is for His name’s sake. ese two kinds of suering
are distinguished in the sermon on the Mount, and also
here in chapters 3 and 4; that which is for His name’s sake
is a higher kind than for righteousness’ sake. Christ was
the light, and they hated the light. He was hated for His
goodness and for the activity of His love also. rough
His active life Christ had no suering from God. When
suering from God, “ the hour “ was come. It was at the
close He was under the judgment: and unmingled grace
is the result. On the other hand, His suerings from man
for righteousness will be followed by judgment. “ Let their
table become a snare.” Compare Psa. 69 with Psa. 22 _
Christ is an example to us in His suering from men.
I am partaker of His suerings. He suered from the
unbelief of those around Him. “ He sighed deeply in
his spirit,” mentioned on one occasion, “ because of the
hardness of their heart,” seeing how this wretched world
goes on deceiving itself: we ought to feel it too. He suered
also perfectly with the feeling of a man. “ Reproach hath
broken my heart.” “ ey may tell all my bones.” “ ey look
and stare upon me.” Hanged up as a malefactor before the
world, He felt it all; and the more rened the feeling, the
more acutely His disciple’s unfaithfulness was felt by Him.
It was love to Peter brought him back.
e nature of man does not like to be reviled now for
preaching the gospel or righteous ways. “ Unto you it is
Our Pilgrimage, Priesthood, and Suering: 1Peter 2
259
given,” Phil. 1. We do not ordinarily think of it as a gift
at all, we do not like it. But Christ bore our sins, “ that
we being dead to sin should live unto righteousness,” even
to the laying down our life. ere should be no limit to
suering in the service of love. ere is no suering to get
into the position, but suering because of being in it. is
makes very clear the distinction between responsibility and
grace. Duties ow from a relationship that exists already. If
a man is legal, he expects to get something for his suering.
Grace teaches me that I am always to act as a child, because
I am one. e believer is what he has to praise Him for. “ We
are made the righteousness of God in Christ.” erefore I
can go and speak of it. Because of my lot in the blessing,
I can go and show forth His praises. What a blessing to
carry the consciousness of what God is through this world!
In prayer I have not only to ask for things, but to realize
the presence of Him to whom I speak. e power of prayer
is gone, if I lose the sense of seeing Him by faith. Prayer
is not only asking right things, but having the sense of the
Person there. If I have not that, I lose the sense of His love
and of being heard. We are brought into His “ marvelous
light,” by which we are to test everything we do. Let us
suer for doing well. is is not easy unless Christ and the
power of grace are dwelling in our hearts.
e word of God presents various relations-for instance,
the bride of Christ, and brethren one with another.
Aections and duties too belong to each relationship.
Again, the Christian can be viewed as having to say to
God while walking on the earth. Or the church may be
collectively looked at as the fullness of Christ; we are thus
members of His body; we are identied with Him in
heavenly places (this position being revealed by the Holy
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
260
Ghost sent down from heaven). In Col. 1 the apostle speaks
of his being minister of the church, “ to fulll the word of
God.” e word of God was completed when the church
was brought out. All the truth of God was then revealed. It
was looked at as needing nothing to be added. It had been
given partially before; then all had come out.
ere is the individual position of a child of God,
wanting daily supplies from God, as His child. He loves
His child, caresses His child, chastens His child; and then
His patience and help are exercised over us. But we cannot
lightly speak of His patience towards Christ’s body as such.
In Ephesians we have both aspects of our position, the
individual and the collective, as in the rst and last parts of
chapter 1. Hence we may observe that Christ is not Priest
to His body, for viewed as united to Him, it is perfect.
Ephesians does not speak of this, for when priesthood is the
subject, as in Hebrews, it is not the doctrine of the church
which is brought out. We are regarded individually in
respect of need and weakness. ere is abundant sweetness
in knowing that He takes cognizance of all our wants and
failings. In Hebrews it is said, “ Having boldness to enter
into the holiest.” We are not said to be seated there, as in
Ephesians we are seated in Christ in heavenly places. In
1Peter 1 we are said to be begotten unto a living hope
by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead; it is the
ground of our setting forth on this pilgrimage of which
Peter speaks, “ strangers and pilgrims.” We have to do with
God and we have to do with the Father. God does not give
up His claims as God because He is our Father, but deals
with us as God in those things that relate to His claims as
such. Christ walked in the perfectness of a man with God,
Our Pilgrimage, Priesthood, and Suering: 1Peter 2
261
and as a Son with the Father: through redemption He has
brought us into the same position.
Never as priests have we to do with the Father. e near
place we have as to God is priesthood: we are priests to
God. Christ is not a Priest between us and the Father. We
have an Advocate with the Father. In chapter 2: 5 the holy
priesthood alludes to Aaron; in verse 9 the royal priesthood
refers to Melchizedec.
e high priest went into the holiest alone, the law
“ having a shadow of good things to come, and not the
very image of the things.” ere was an analogy, but
rather contrast than exact similarity. e Lord Jesus, the
great High Priest entered within the veil. But as to Israel,
there is no priest to them until He comes out, as no priest
witnessed to Israel of the acceptance of the sacrice till
Aaron came out on the day of atonement. So with Christ.
He will come out to them: in the meantime, as a nation, they
are maintained, kept, but must wait. For us it is dierent.
He is gone in for believers. He Himself is not come out,
but the Holy Ghost has already, and we know by virtue of
this the sacrice accepted. “ eir sins and iniquities will ‘I
remember no more “ is witnessed by the Holy Ghost; so “
by whose stripes ye are healed.” All the saints of God know
Christ gone in and the Holy Ghost come out.
In Hebrews 10: 12Christ is seen sitting in contrast to
Stephen. He does not sit as it were till Israel has formally
rejected the testimony, when the cry of Stephen reached
His ear. He took His place, sitting down until His enemies
are made His footstool, after their refusal to hear the Holy
Ghost’s testimony. Stephen being received by Christ in
heaven, Israel as Israel must wait outside.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
262
e consequence of Christ’s priesthood is that He
makes us priests. He has entered in once into the holy place.
at relates to Himself, and He makes us children with
the Father and priests to God. He has the pre-eminence
of course. e moment the least thought of a priesthood
comes in between us and God, the truth of Christianity is
gone. ere is only now the priesthood of all believers. We
are priests by virtue of the competency to enter the holiest
of all. ere is as much liberty for us to enter into the holiest
as Christ Himself. To deny the priesthood of all believers is
to say that all saints cannot enter into the holiest by virtue
of that blood. Israel could not go in because of that blood,
and therefore they needed priests: but now the veil is rent
and the way into the holiest is open. His death made all
the dierence as to our right to enter. It is the contrast of
theirs.
In Hebrews 10: 22 the allusion is to the priests who
were washed with water and sprinkled with blood before
they were anointed. Christ has made us all priests to God,
and with that we have the title to oer praise, “ spiritual
sacrices to God.” We go directly to God. In another
character, again, there is the same principle: “ I say not
unto you that I will pray the Father for you, for the Father
himself loveth you,” John 16. Going to God through priests
was Jewish, this is Christian.
We get into a happy condition of soul founded on the
work Christ has done: exercises (not legal) of soul with
God begin, as going within the veil. We are all priests:
then whom are we to go for? We go together-we are a holy
priesthood. In a certain sense, the priest if he sinned was to
have an oering presented for him by another priest-Christ
the Priest. e priest oered burnt-oering and the fat of
Our Pilgrimage, Priesthood, and Suering: 1Peter 2
263
the peace-oerings for a sweet savor, without thought of
sin in these, but representing worship. Zacharias in Luke 1
was burning incense within, while the people were without.
On the great day of atonement the priest, as a guilty person,
confessed the sins of the people. Christ on the cross stood
for His people, as their substitute or representative priest.
After that, when the blood was carried in, the priestly
oce began.
ere is no veil now: we go in, whether presenting
worship, praise, etc. Christ is gone in for us. I have nothing
to do to oer for myself; I have an abiding title to oer
sacrice. What sacrice? Praise, thanksgiving. Why? e
only sacrice t for my place. I can praise God for His own
glory as well as for my own blessing; but I cannot be in the
holiest and mourn. If I am hindered in going in through
failure, I mourn, and there is the working of His Spirit
to restore the communion, but there cannot be worship,
which is oered in the Holy Ghost. ere is no veil that
ever hides God at all now. My feet may have to be washed
before I can go in rightly; John 13. We are not tted for
worship if our feet are unclean. ere is the power of the
Holy Ghost needed for that, and then His work is to tell
us we are unclean- not to set us worshipping when we are
unclean, but to make us wash. Christ, the Advocate with
the Father, the High Priest over the house of God, washes
the feet for the sanctuary. We have not ceased to be priests,
but are untted for priestly work when we have failed; we
are bathed, but we need the feet washed. ere must be
cleansing from all delement, according to the purity of
the place we are brought into. We can intercede for others.
Not only are there burnt oerings, the food of God in the
oering; there is another kind of oering for the saints,
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
264
supposing failure in others. ere is the spirit of intercession
for one another, and not only oering sacrices ourselves.
e blood has been put on the mercy-seat. We stand in
its abiding (not renewed) ecacy. When we fail, it is not its
renewed ecacy that we know. When did that blood lose
its ecacy? Never. He has perfected forever them that are
sanctied. e application of the word, called the “ washing
of water,” by the power of the Holy Ghost to judge us and
to restore us and bring us back, is what we want. is is
shown, in connection with the sacrice of Christ, in the
“ red heifer.” e red heifer had been burnt long before;
and they were to mix water with the ashes, so bringing
the sacrice to remembrance. e heart is brought back to
remember what was done. e blood of Christ never can
be repeated in its application.
us in verse 5 the holy priesthood is within the rent
veil. e next thing (v. 9) is “ a chosen generation, a royal
priesthood “ (Melchizedec). e nation of Israel will be a
kingdom of priests compared with other nations. When
Christ displays His Melchizedec priesthood, He comes
forth as royal priest. He has it now, as we know by faith •
but when He comes out He will be seen as Priest on His
throne. e counsels of God for Christ in connection with
the earth will be fullled. Christ will come out with all the
glory He has taken in heaven and all will be in communion
with the display of His glory. He will reign as a king, and
everything will be cut o that is contrary to His glory; Lev.
9. Meanwhile we have this to do; we are set to show forth
His praises who has brought us into His marvelous light.
We do it together and as individuals. It will make us suer
now.
Our Pilgrimage, Priesthood, and Suering: 1Peter 2
265
Moses and Aaron came out, the re showing acceptance.
It will be perfectly fullled in the world to come. Our
privilege is to go in as worshipping priests in the holy
place, and coming out of it to show forth His praises in the
world. In all this we nd the oce of the great High Priest
to meet us” nd grace to help in time of need “ (Heb. 4),
this “ need “ being the consciousness of our inability to do
anything.
All enjoyed privileges make us humble, because they
bring us into the presence of One so innitely above us.
eoretical knowledge only pus up. All the praise in
our hearts before God should ow from the Spirit, and
this will bring us into the consciousness of being in the
sympathy of those there- God and Christ. Knowing God
as my Father, and going to Him with the knowledge of
His countenance smiling upon me are very dierent: the
one may exist without the other. Conscious acquaintance
with the thoughts of those who are there (God and Christ
in the holiest) is our privilege.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
266
63023
Are You Brought to God?
1Peter 3:10-18
e apostle leads us to expect suering. ere will be
more or less of it; for though called to “ inherit a blessing,” it
is through suering here. is passage shows out the result
of God’s government, but, besides that, it shows that we
are brought to God. is is the great central truth. Christ
“ once suered for sins … that he might bring us to God.”
ere is little doctrine laid down in the epistles of Peter,
but strong and vivid bringing out of fundamental truths.
At the end of 2Peter we have God’s government of all this
present scene; and things that the world is trusting in are
all to be consumed; for indeed “ the world and all that is
therein will be burned up.” ere is not a single shelter here
to be trusted to: all is going to be rolled up as a garment.
Peter does not here dwell upon what was done for believers
by Christ at His rst coming, but on God’s government
closing in the terrible judgment. Are we brought to God?
Verse 10. e moral government of God is not brought
to an issue, and cannot be while grace is going on, but
the principles of it exist. For example, a quiet, peaceful,
upright man would be better o than a turbulent man,
etc. “ What a man sows that will he reap “ even now. It
is not that everything gets its just recompense now-quite
the contrary; but there are certain consequences a man will
suer for his deeds. ere cannot be in this world now the
full nal expression of God’s government, because sin has
come in; and if He were to act in judgment, He would cut
Are You Brought to God? 1Peter 3:10-18
267
it all o; but as a general thing the principle is true-” e
eyes of the Lord are over the righteous … but the face of
the Lord is against them that do evil “; and behind and
within it all there is something more. His own power and
grace are at work in the gathering out of souls to form
His church. In the millennium evil will not be allowed,
the sinner will be cut o. ere is a secret exercise of this
principle now. “ If ye suer for righteousness’ sake, happy
are ye.” ere is the working of sin and evil; but, though the
terror of the wicked is here, “ be not afraid.” e only thing
is to have the single eye and serve with a good conscience;
but if you do, you will nd plenty to oppose you. “ Be not
afraid of their terror, neither be troubled,” “ sanctify the
Lord of hosts himself, and let him be your fear, and let him
be your dread; and he shall be for a sanctuary.” In spite of
the blessedness of a peaceful walk, there may be the whole
power of Satan brought out against you; but you have the
whole power of God: therefore “ be not afraid.”
ere are two characters of suering noticed by the
Lord in the sermon on the Mount, as here by Peter-
suering for righteousness’ sake, and suering for Christ’s
sake. e eect of being a Christian is to have a conscience
exercised to know what is right for him as such: he walks
in God’s presence, and therefore in the light; he has his
will thwarted. us many things in the world, he nds, will
not do for him as walking in the path of righteousness;
the world will not have this scrupulousness; and therefore
trial comes from them for the believer. His hopes and joys
being elsewhere, his treasure and his heart are elsewhere. “
Blessed are they that suer for righteousness’ sake.” en
the Christian must expect to suer for Christ. And “ blessed
are ye when men shall revile you,” etc., for my sake. When
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
268
God becomes the object and motive, he takes suering as a
natural portion. en it comes to be a question of testimony
for God to those who are not with God; that is a dierent
thing from suering for conscience’ sake, or righteousness’
sake.
In chapter 4: 13, 14, it is Christ’s suerings, and Christ’s
glory. e same Spirit that makes me partaker of the
suering, makes me also partaker of the glory. I should be
a witness of His power through the Holy Ghost, a witness
for Christ, and not only keeping a good conscience. As a
witness for Christ, in being a vessel of His testimony, you
share the glory He is in.
Peter does not speak of the church’s place. As in the
church, we are all partakers alike of glory according to the
gift of grace, we are all predestinated to be conformed to
the image of God’s Son. But here it is as individuals, and
the glory is put before them as the reward of suering. An
energy of love ever goes out if the Spirit of Christ is really
there. I cannot see a person perishing, and not feel it. e
spirit of love cannot look upon perishing sinners, and not
care for them. is becomes an occasion of suering.
“ But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts.” God must
have His right place in our hearts in both these things;
giving God in my heart His true character is sanctifying
Him. In whose heart has God this perfect place of power
and love? I do not mean in activity, that is according to gift,
but in the heart. Where is the heart that keeps itself entirely
for God, that is lled with God’s love and holiness? All
that is in the world, pleasure, vanity, etc., robs God of His
glory in us. God is not then sanctied by us, and this is the
secret of our weakness. Could you say to-day-yesterday-
that God has had His right place in your hearts? What is
Are You Brought to God? 1Peter 3:10-18
269
the consequence? It ought to be a bad conscience. Ought I
to forget my forgetfulness? I shall nd it out in weakness, if
I do not nd it in confession. Power for testifying for God
is not there, if I have been talking idleness or vanity. If I
turn to anything for God, as if my whole heart were in it, I
am in danger; I do not sanctify the Lord in my heart. ere
may not be insincerity or hypocrisy in it, but the lack of the
sanctifying the Lord; and when He has not the place in us
that makes us happy and that gives us power (for the joy
of the Lord is strength), there is not the blessing owing
out to others. We want the practical power of the God that
loves us, working in our hearts. What a thing this supposes!
If I do not know God, I cannot sanctify Him. It is as being
brought to Him I can sanctify Him. e thought of getting
to God when I get to heaven, supposes that I have not
come to Him now. All we have been speaking of ows out
of giving God the place He really has. We are to sanctify
the Lord because He is there, trusting in that love shed
abroad in the heart by the Holy Ghost. Why is the conduct
of one man dierent from another man’s? One is without
God, and the other has Him as a present spring of delight
and strength, love, comfort-this is a total, immense, and
innite change. What a thing to be without God as regards
the soul! Immortal beings without God! having faculty,
intelligence, sagacity, but without God! Human aection
is lovely in the creature, but it is not God. e objects of
aection may come in between the creature and God, even
what He has created in us; for blessing may be an occasion
of idolatry.
It is not responsibility here. My leaning on a friend
is not responsibility, my being happy with a friend is
not responsibility. If I drink when I am thirsty, it is not
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
270
responsibility; but God is there, when I drink of the living
water which Christ gives me. He makes these aections to
ow out to Himself, necessarily and divinely. He is working
upon me, communicating to me in the sovereignty of His
grace: therefore it is not responsibility. If God then can
communicate Himself in our hearts, what a well of water
is springing up! I have got trouble, but what is that? I have
got that, yea, Him, to give me joy in the trouble, which
the trouble cannot touch. I have a spring within and a
sanctuary around me. If there is such blessedness in God
being sanctied and enjoyed by us, perhaps some of you
say, I know nothing about it. I do not speak of enjoyment
now; but where a man is a believer, it is not a question of
whether he has the relationship of grace, but whether he
has failed in it. If I am unfaithful in this love, and unhappy
in the consciousness of having done so, it is because I
really have it. e thing he has to enjoy is what is in God
Himself, and that is His own love. If we believe what God
communicates to the soul, by dwelling in us, “ we know
and believe the love that God hath to us.” A person may
say well-I do not know, I cannot speak of the present, but I
hope to get to God. e questioning how a man is to get it
is very solemn and a sure sign that He is not there.
“ at you may be able to give an answer to every man,”
etc. It is not you suering for sins; but if the will of God be
so, it is better to suer for well doing than for evil doing;
but do not suppose you are suering for your sins: Christ
has done that for you. If you suer for righteousness’ sake,
it is all well, but for sins-Christ has done it for you, having
left you nothing to suer for them.
How mighty this inward purpose of God! is one act
brings a man to God. Christ suered all His life long, but
Are You Brought to God? 1Peter 3:10-18
271
from whom? Man. But there at the end, the center of all
this, by the cross, we are brought to God Himself. God is in
a man’s heart or He is not. But the suering for sins Christ
bore was from God Himself. Here we get the purpose
of God, not His government; and notwithstanding such
a death, all the wrath of God, all the power of Satan, all
the consequences of sin brought to bear upon Christ on
the cross (this was suering for sin), He did it in respect
of what man was, and in respect of what God was, and
it was to bring them together. All that was in God was
fully brought out. His love brought out suering, wrath,
etc. All that my heart must be rightly exercised about
met there. I could not go to God without God knowing
what my heart is; and (all the dierence of good and evil
being to Him) can He know the evil and be indierent
to it? Can He say it is no matter? Impossible! It would be
unholiness in Him. Could He see all the levity, ill-humor,
willfulness, indierence in the presence of His cross and
be indierent? What is He to do with it? What is He to
do with you? He must put sin away, and He must deal
with it in the perfectness of His love and holiness. We have
turned God into a Judge by our sins, and I nd myself in
the presence of the God whom I dreaded. He has put away
the sin from my conscience, put His love in my heart, given
me to delight in holiness. He who was just suered for the
unjust; and now, being brought to God, there is nothing in
Him, with whom I have to do, but what I have been made
acquainted with (not His glory yet, of course). I am the
sinner He has been engaged about. He has made Himself
known to me by what He has done. I know God. What a
home I have! Its spring is the love in God’s heart, and it has
brought me back to the source of that love. I am brought
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
272
home to the enjoyment of His love, and am partaker of
His nature.
After this I need not say that there are all the exercises
of heart in consequence, conict with evil, etc.; but I can
testify to sinners “ God so loved the world.” How do you
know this? it may be said. I have tasted it. us we are
fellow-workers with God. We have the immense privilege,
according to the sphere given us, of testifying of the love
that has saved us. But if I have not this love in my heart,
how can I testify of it to others? If I say to one who is
weary, “ Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy
laden, and I will give you rest,” says Christ, you will turn to
me and say, Have you got rest? A person may warn another,
and be exercised himself; but he cannot testify to the truth
of deliverance. Could you go and say, He has received
me? I can say He has received me, and none viler. Now if
you have not got God, you have your sins, your will, your
responsibility-but not God. Why did Christ suer for sins?
It was because you were away from God. Now have you the
consciousness of having been away from God, and are you,
like the prodigal, brought back? If not, it is very solemn. You
have loved vanity, you have loved your pleasures, you have
loved yourself, and have not God; not willfully opposing,
perhaps, but in the ignorance of unbelief, you are without
God-the God of love.
If you have not yet come to God by the cross, may
He give you to see it, that you may walk in the spirit of
blessing, and sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, living a
life of communion with God, and bringing forth the fruit
of communion in ways according to it, till you come to the
full enjoyment of eternal blessing in the Father’s house on
high!
Grace and Government: 2Peter 1
273
63024
Grace and Government:
2Peter 1
We were seeing a little lately the place of the gloried
Man in heaven, and of those associated with Him in living
union, the heavenly position of the saints; but in Peter’s
Epistle that subject is not touched. Saints are looked at as
saved ones, of course; but the subject is the diculties that
accompany their condition, with the hope of being in the
glory.
Peter takes up the saints as strangers and pilgrims
on the earth, God Himself being their governor, yet not
displaying His government as among the Jews. Still He
is watching over them and caring for them. “ Every hair
of their head is numbered.” Nothing is allowed really to
harm them, although they may have to suer; and “ if
for righteousness’ sake, happy are ye.” us it is not only
as saved ones that saints are looked at here, but as under
God as their governor: His ways towards His children are
brought out. Peter does just hint that there is something
beyond, for those set in association with Christ; but the
main thing is divine moral government. In the close of
this Epistle we nd the end of all things glanced at, when
the heavens shall be dissolved and the elements melt with
fervent heat,” the whole scene closed, and the new heavens
and new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness looked for.
But what the Apostle is occupied with is the thought
of God governing His children in the midst of this world’s
system, a system of evil without a proof in it that He is
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
274
the governor. When Jesus came, the thought of many a
heart was, that He would reign in righteousness, knowing
that God would not clear the guilty nor let the wicked go
unpunished. Israel was set up as a present scene of God’s
government; but, instead of peace reigning, Christ was
called to suer.
e only righteous man, the alone One who could
have met the claims of justice, was condemned by injustice
on the one side and by righteousness on the other.
Righteousness and peace had not kissed each other, but
the contrary. It was doing well and suering for it. And
this aspect-the one in which Christ was seen on earth-
is what we see Christians contemplated in here. ey are
looked at, in a double character, as suering. It may be for
righteousness’ or conscience’ sake, or for Christ’s sake in
other ways. Suerings may come upon us through our
ordinary occupations, the daily routine of business, or the
actings of every-day life.
e Christian cannot do as the world does. It is more
consequence to me as a believer to live Christ than all
else besides. e Christian cannot resist evil, nor assert
his rights, nor maintain his place in the world. It is more
important to me to keep clothed in Christ’s character than
to wear any other mantle. e Lord Jesus does allow His
saints to suer. eir portion is in heaven. Suering is
good for them. eir salvation is perfectly accomplished.
ey are united to Christ. Is their suering essential to
salvation? No, salvation is Christ’s work and outside the
acts of the Holy Ghost altogether, who convicts of sin and
bears witness of God’s righteousness. e Holy Ghost
afterward operates on the new nature-the Christ within;
and practically exhibiting Him will bring on suering. “
Grace and Government: 2Peter 1
275
For me to live is Christ.” Not only do I desire to be in the
place where He is, as Zebedee’s children did, but to live out
what He is. All the exercises of my heart, all my desire for
God’s government to be displayed in power, give way to
the longings for the aections of Christ. And now He is in
heaven, my one aim should be to manifest Him.
So we read in 1Peter 2, “is is thankworthy, if a man
for conscience toward God,” etc. It is not the spirit of love
yet. Again in chapter 3: to-14 the great principle is brought
out. In chapter 4: 12-17 we are not to think it strange if we
have reproach and suerings for Christ’s sake, but to be
glad with exceeding joy. Of course, none of us should suer
as evil doers. God will govern His children. Judgment must
begin at the house of God. He will have His house clear.
Indeed, strictly speaking, it is the only place God judges
in; for He has committed all judgment to the Son. If the
righteous are scarcely-that is, with diculty-saved (it was
with diculty, but Christ overcame it), God never gives
up what He is. He is the holy Father, and, when He saves
sinners in sovereign grace, He makes them what He is. He
will maintain His character. I may deserve chastisement
and God may meet me in grace; but He will deliver me
from my sin. He cannot allow evil, neither could Christ.
He ever dealt with men according to their ways and the
truth of their condition, while meeting them constantly in
grace. It is true He could say, I am your perfect salvation,
but it was on the ground of total ruin as the sinner’s part.
e heart of God would give us everything: and the
title to all is-we are in Christ, and He in us. You cannot
say you have done a single thing perfectly, if there remains
any part to be done. Salvation is fully wrought. It would be
imperfect if there was one thing to be added. Christ keeps
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
276
nothing back. He came to reveal the Father, and the Father
He did reveal. “ I have declared unto them thy name.” “
e glory which thou gavest me I have given them.” “ I
in them and thou in me, that they may be made perfect
in one.” Language is exhausted in trying to maintain us
in the place we are called to. We are predestinated to be
conformed to the image of the risen Christ. We are blessed
with all spiritual blessings in Christ. We are sharers with
Him in all His honor and glory, save that which is peculiar
to His Godhead, while He always has the pre-eminence.
God truly loves us. Not a sinner is saved, but therein the
ways and dealings of God are displayed.
In John 15 the Christian is taken up as a branch in the
vine. e word is, “ Abide in me.” It is not, I abide in you
that you may bring forth fruit; but “ If ye abide in me.” He
does always abide in us-that we know. But if I abide in
Christ, I have the present enjoyment of the Father’s love,
and bring forth fruit to the glory of His name. “ Ye are my
friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.” He does not
say He will be our friend-this He ever was; but “ Ye are my
friends.” Now, my dealing with my friend is after an order
entirely dierent from what it is with my servant. I go and
tell out my heart to my friend. Abraham was called “ the
friend of God “; and God says, “ Shall I keep back from
Abraham the thing I am going to do? “ He tells and acts
out His heart before His friend. is was what Christ did.
In everything His end was to tell out the Father to those
He called friends.
All Christians have their sins forgiven them. ere is
no uncertainty about that. e grace of God has brought
salvation. e Father sent the Son. To be saved and to be a
Christian is the same thing. Some will say, I know all men
Grace and Government: 2Peter 1
277
are called Christians; but am I a real Christian? See Acts
13:38, 39. Exercises of heart in that state never get beyond
the desire to know if I am a Christian. I believe, one says,
that God sent His Son to save sinners; but I do not know
that I am saved. What nonsense it is! “ He that believeth on
the Son hath eternal life.” Now all such exercises of heart,
though they may be well enough in their way, will only
prove just this-that I have nothing whatever to stand upon.
If I have conict, it shows there is evil, and evil cannot
stand before the holiness of God.
Where, then, is my hope? “ Christ is made unto
us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctication, and
redemption.” ere is nothing God does not do for me.
e very thing that brings me into His presence without
sin and without fear is that which He has done for me
in Christ. In 1John 2 we have three classes of Christians
addressed. e “ little children “ of verses 12, 13, are quite
distinct. e former (v. 12) embraces all Christians-the
latter only babes, or young, immature saints. All Christians
are forgiven-all needed the blood of Christ. e babes rest
on it as much as the fathers. It is not what they think of
it that is the comfort, but what God’s thoughts are about
it. It is through the blood of Jesus Christ His Son I get to
the Father. And what is the Father? -what is God? He is
perfect love. I see Him at the well of Samaria-taking up
children-weeping at the grave of Lazarus. In Him there
is no evil-no hatred; never rejecting one who comes-never
condemning the self-condemned-” I judge no man.” e
Father was perfectly displayed in the Son. How can I make
known to you what my Father is but by telling you what I
have known Him to be-by living Him before you? is was
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
278
what Christ ever did; and it is what we who have the Spirit
of adoption should be doing.
In John 8:19 we hear Christ say, “ If ye had known me,
ye should have known the Father also.” He came not only
to bring light, but “ the light of life.” If He heals the sick,
or restores sight to the blind, the moment He touches
them, there is light and life shown in grace. If He is the
Good Shepherd, He is the rst out. He goes before the
sheep; John to: 4. He not only shows us God as the light,
but He unfolds the Father. e babes in Christ have these
two things-the new nature and the Spirit of adoption. So
have the young men, and it is only in the energy of this
Spirit they can overcome the world. When the fathers
are addressed, it is “ because ye have known him, who is
from the beginning,” and that is all he has got to say. It is
not their experience he has to speak of, but Christ: He is
the object, and He is the title to all blessing. If my failures
grieve me (and they ought), my comfort is that Christ is
not changed.
Even a revelation does not t us for conict. is we
see in Peter. When he had a revelation from the Father of
the very truth or confession on which Christ was about
to build His church, in the self-same chapter he is treated
as Satan! e esh in Peter was not broken. e object
before him was not Christ; he was not practically occupied
with Him. If I come to Christ, I rest upon the love and
power of One who has overcome. He has been tempted
and knows how to comfort. I may have to suer-He had.
e Captain of our salvation was made perfect through
suerings. Our ways, too, may cause God to deal with us
now (1Peter 1:17), for holiness the holy God must have.
But if we are walking with the Lord, He will only bless.
Grace and Government: 2Peter 1
279
Suering for Christ’s sake, is a position of honor and favor;
Phil. 1:29. God cannot ever brook evil in His house. e
ark and Dagon cannot dwell together. God will vindicate
Himself. If there is an Achan in the camp, it must be
known. No matter how bad things are around. God is still
God. Compare the days of Solomon with those of Elijah.
Was Solomon more to God than Elijah? No. e ark was
once in the land of the Philistines, but God will not give up
what He is, neither will He give up the objects of His love.
If we do evil, His grace may meet us; but His love must
deliver us from evil. If we are walking with Him, either as
an assembly or as individuals, He will only communicate
His love. e Father will discipline His children; if needs
be, He will chasten them; but come what will, Christ is not
changed.
In the chapter before us, the rst thing we see is that
those who have obtained like precious faith have all things
that pertain to life and godliness, and are called to glory
and virtue. It is too often the case, that the conict takes
place when Christ has not power in the soul; then we are
overcome, for all power is in Him. erefore, the need of
giving all diligence; “ add to your faith,” etc. Whilst we
are practically exercising these graces, we shall never fall.
ere will be no room for the esh, but “ there shall be
ministered unto you an abundant entrance.” We shall have
the kingdom of our Lord in power in our souls. e third
thing we have in this chapter, is that Peter had seen the
glory and could say he was an eye-witness of His majesty.
But did this save him in the hour of temptation? No. He
had been sleeping instead of watching, and so lost all power
of escape.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
280
In verse 19 we nd a sure word of prophecy, a lamp
shining in a dark place until daylight dawn. Mark this. e
lamp of prophecy shows the children what is coming on
the world, the judgment of the quick, etc. And surely in
this our day we see these two things (though so contrary
the one to the other), men’s heart failing them for fear, and
yet saying peace and safety. is is an important testimony,
to which we do well to take heed. e loving Father has
told us of a coming kingdom. en will shine the broad
day, which the world shall see; but the dawn is for those
who, through the darkness of the night, are watching. e
day-star here is for the saint’s heart, not for the earth.
In Rev. 2:26, not only is there a promise to the saint of
power over the nations, but “ I will give him the morning
star.” Blessed portion with Christ! Yes, those who have
believed on Him who is not seen shall be with Him where
He is not seen. I will give him the morning star-a portion
with Myself, and in Myself. I will give him Myself above,
before I am manifested to the world. So in Rev. 22:16,
Christ is the bride’s object; and the moment He says, I am
the bright and morning star, she, directed by the Spirit,
says, Come. “ And let him that heareth say, Come. And let
him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take
of the water of life freely.” e bride is not the water of life,
but she has it, and can invite others. It is in Christ for the
poorest sinner.
Partaker of the Divine Nature: 2Peter 1:4
281
63025
Partaker of the Divine
Nature: 2Peter 1:4
Far from bringing into Godhead, which is
incommunicable as supreme, because we are creatures, I do
not even accept a common expression from Romanists and
others-union with God. But the moral elements of what
He is God can communicate in giving us life in Christ.
Nature is properly what makes any creature what it is, as
“angel,” “man,” “cow,” or anything else. 2Peter 1:4 is not the
simplest and clearest passage to explain the point, because
it is properly moral, that is, specially what characterizes the
Christian as such. e reason I think so is, that it speaks
of great and precious promises, which to me mean what
John 3 calls “ born of water,” and “ ye are clean through
the word which I have spoken unto you.” Still it is not
separable from the other point, life-giving. But it speaks of
promises, and escaping corruptions which are in the world.
is truth of being born again, even Romanists, and
also Armenians, and most evangelicals admit and conne
themselves to, that is, an action of the Holy Ghost by the
word by which man is morally puried. Nay, Wesleyans
would say that it may be regained; and even those who do
not go so far still hold it as only a purifying of what is. e
Wesleyans say that man had body, soul, and spirit before
the fall, and after the fall body, soul, and spirit corrupted;
that, when one is born again, the corruption is removed;
and hence that one may be quite perfect as man, if the
corruption be wholly removed. But, without touching on
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
282
perfection now, this is, to say the least, a most defective
view of the matter. e Lord is a life-giving Spirit; and,
operating by the Holy Ghost, “ that which is born of the
Spirit is spirit “-not the Spirit, who is God; but one is by
His divine power quickened, just as that which is born of
the esh is esh. I receive spiritually life from Christ, as I
receive naturally life from Adam. In this sense Christ is
my life. He is eternal life (1John 1), and “ he that hath the
Son of God hath life.” It is not I as of the esh, but Christ
lives in me.
Hence, viewed abstractedly as thus born (for so John
views things), it is said he cannot sin, because he is born
of God. And this life we have in the power of Christ’s
resurrection; and it is acted in by the Holy Ghost given
to us because of Christ’s work. So after His resurrection,
as God breathed into Adam so Christ breathed into His
disciples. rough this it is said, “ the law of the Spirit of life
in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and
death.” A great accessory truth that comes in connected
with this is, that, Christ having died, I am counted (Col.
3) of God dead as to the esh, and am to count myself so
(Rom. 6), and to realize it (2Cor. 4), so that only the life
of Christ should be manifested. is is the point to which
my soul clings on the subject, the real communication of
life in receiving Christ, by the power of the Holy Ghost
acting in it in power, created again in Christ Jesus, though
the esh still be there. But I am not in esh but in Spirit,
and am privileged and bound to hold it dead. Of course,
this does practically cleanse by and according to the word.
One may not be able to explain it physiologically, but it
is quite plain in Scripture; and in Spirit the saint will live
eternally with God. “at which is born of the Spirit is
Partaker of the Divine Nature: 2Peter 1:4
283
spirit “-partakes of the nature of that of which it is born. It
is holy, loves, and, as in Christ as a man, obeys. In a word
it is the reproduction as to its nature of Christ’s life. “ If
Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; the Spirit
is life because of righteousness.” It is as new a thing as a
graft in a wild tree.
As regards using Old Testament facts as gures or
types, our imagination is to be held in check, nor can we
ever insist on such as doctrine. But there is a passage which
may assist the mind on this point, 1Corinthians 10:11,
where the word “ ensamples “ is types or gures. is gives
the principle. en we must only look to the Holy Ghost
and divine guidance to use them soberly and aright.
e shade of dierent meaning in koinonia and metekos
is, I believe, just; but it is a question of adequate observation
of its New Testament use in Greek, and any adequate proof
would make one abandon it. Koinonoi is really partners in
Luke 5, then, metekoi the fact of taking part; but I have no
anxiety to insist on this.
12
Nature is moral in 2Peter 1:4, from the force of what is
said in the passage. In divine things this is everything, as
holiness, love, etc.; but the point to be insisted on is, that
there is more than mere moral eect, though there be this-
that Christ is for us a life-giving Spirit; as born of esh
involves a like nature.
I do not know whether the question has been met as
you wish, for there is no eort to anticipate and answer the
objections easily made by unbelief. But I think, if you take
the passages, the life-giving [quickening], and Christ being
our life will be very plain; and that is what to my mind is
12 See notes on 1Cor. 1:9, in Volume 26, page 203, re “ fellowship
of his Son.”
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
284
so important, though we never know what it really means
till we know it as deliverance in power, the esh being held
as dead, according to Rom. 8:2, 3, having passed out of the
state described in chapter 7 according to the doctrine of
chapter 6 and the beginning of chapter 7.
Notes on 1John
285
63033
Notes on 1John
e leading subject of the First Epistle of John is the
life of God manifested upon earth in the Person of the
Son, and communicated to man by Him-this life being the
basis of intercourse between man and God. e exposition
of this blessed subject is accompanied by numerous
unfoldings occupying a large place in this Epistle; still the
fundamental subject is-” God hath given to us eternal life,
and this life is in his Son.”
e whole doctrine of the Epistle is set forth in chapter
I, and verses I, 2 of chapter 2. ese three consecutive
truths are found there; namely, divine life communicated
to man, and our introduction into communion with the
Father and the Son, in virtue of that life (chap. 1: 1-4); the
nature of the God with whom we are in communion (chap
1: 5-10); and the means ordered by God for maintaining us
in communion. Chap. 2: 1, 2.
In the portion contained between chapter 2: 3, and
chapter 3: 23, John considers the experimental and practical
proof of the reality of the life in us. From chapter 3: 24
to chapter 4: 21 he unfolds the extent of our privilege as
recipients of life, and enjoying communion with God, the
privilege of God dwelling in us, and of us in Him. Lastly,
in chapter 5 he considers the subject in its connection with
the testimony of God and faith.
Various elucidations and observations on the subject of
antichrists and false teachers are scattered throughout the
whole Epistle; warning against the Gnostics, who at that
time were undermining the faith of the saints.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
286
Chapter 1.
Verses 1-4. e fullness of the grace which is in Christ:
the Son has brought us that eternal life which was with the
Father. ere is a complete exposition of this truth in these
few verses, a general statement introductory to the Epistle.
Verse 1. “ at which was from the beginning … which
we have seen with our eyes … and our hands have handled
of the Word of life.” It is the testimony of eye-witnesses,
the apostle’s language suited to the circumstances of the
saints, who were at that time threatened by the heresy of
the Gnostics.
ese latter laid claim to development; they said, e
Gospels have given us the truth in germ, and now we
possess the development of it. Not so, replies the apostle
of God, we possess that which was in the beginning, and
it is great and perfect enough to admit of no development.
e heretics denied also that the Christ had come in esh.
John arms the contrary in saying: we have seen Him and
have handled Him.
Verse 2. is verse is parenthetical. “ e life was
manifested “ in the Person of the Son come in esh. “ God
hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.” e
life manifested in Christ is an object for faith. “ He that
hath the Son hath life, and he that hath the Son hath also
the Father.” is is the objective side on which this truth
is rst presented. But it has also its subjective side: the life,
which has been manifested here below by the Son, abides
in us who have believed. “ He that believeth on the Son of
God hath the witness in himself.”
Let us remark that the life has not in us an independent
and isolated existence. Far from leaving us in such a state,
it introduces us into communion with the Father. But,
Notes on 1John
287
besides, this life is Christ Himself; Christ, who is in heaven,
is also in us. Certainly there are eects of this life which
are conned to our individuality, regeneration for instance,
and other such blessings. But the life itself assumes in us
a dierent existence, and, by its link with the source that
produced it, presents something larger. e source of the
life is Christ; the stream is in us, and the stream is not
severed from the source. If a man said, speaking of his hand,
“ It lives,” it would signify that his hand had an existence
independently of the rest of his body. Doubtless the hand
lives, but it lives by the life which animates the whole being
to which it belongs.
“ We show unto you that eternal life which was with the
Father, and was manifested unto us.” e apostles possessed
this life by direct communication; the saints receive it by
the testimony borne to this life. “ at ye also may have
fellowship with us “ signies that you may participate in
the things which we, who have seen the Lord, enjoy. “ And
truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son
Jesus Christ.” e saints to whom these things are said knew
already communion with the Father. John desired that they
should enjoy their privilege, and therefore he brought it
again before their notice. God has not only given us life,
but it is His will that every kind of intercourse should. exist
between Himself and His children.
“ Our fellowship.” In virtue of the fact that we have
life, we have the same aections, the same sentiments, the
same thoughts as the Father and the Son. Jesus imparted to
His disciples all the communications by which the Father
testied His love to the Son. ese blessed communications
are also our portion, and we enjoy them in direct relation
with the Father and the Son.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
288
Verses 5-10. Here we approach a second general truth.
It being our privilege to enjoy communion with the
Father and the Son, what is the God with whom we are in
communion? For an answer we read this message: “ God
is light.” e God who has brought us into communion
with Himself is the holy God. Such is His nature. Here we
notice that when John speaks of God in connection with
the work of grace, he uses the expression, “ the Father and
the Son “; when he speaks of His nature, he says “ God.”
Verse 5. “ is then is the message.” e apostles, who
looked upon the life in the Son and declared it for the
blessing and joy of the saints, have also heard the message
whereby God reveals that He is light, and they declare that
also. “ God is light.” e life which we have received and by
which we have entered into communion with the Father
and the Son, has emanated from God who is light, and by
this life we are placed in that light.
Verse 6. In this verse and those following, John
conrms by contrasts the truths he has just put forth, and
submits them to a counter-proof. In the grace whereby He
introduces us into His communion, God gives up none of
His attributes, none of His rights. “ God is light,” and if
we walk in darkness there is no communion between us
and Him. To pretend to have fellowship with Him whilst
walking in darkness is to fail of the truth of God, and to lie.
Verse 7. But if we walk in the light, we realize blessed
communion. In order to enjoy it we must walk in the light,
and not merely according to the light. Being in the light we
are with God, and there is no place for sin there and besides
the light reveals sin and judges it. “ We have fellowship
one with another “ signies our mutual communion. “ e
blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanseth us from all sin.”
Notes on 1John
289
By the existence of sin there is a diculty to communion
as a real thing; but the blood of Christ has removed this
diculty, it answers before God for the condition of man.
To be cleansed from all sin is to be conscious of being
without spot before God, in virtue of the blood of Christ.
is spiritual state of the saints only exists through the
gospel. Under law the worshippers retained a conscience
of sins; the ineectual oerings of bulls and of goats could
give them no other standing. But ours is very dierent and
far better. We possess that innite grace which, through
the sprinkling of the blood of Christ, places us with a
purged conscience in the light of the presence of God, with
a capacity for enjoying the fellowship of one another also
God.
Is the child of God sprinkled by blood several times?
No, for the sprinkling of the blood upon the believer
answers to the shedding of blood accomplished once for
all before God, neither is repeated. It is important that
the Christian should hold fast a true sense of the value
of the blood of Christ oered once. Otherwise we sink
into Jewish elements, and for every failure we seek a fresh
sprinkling. Now this is precisely the state which the apostle
contrasts with the conscience perfected by the blood of
Christ; Heb. 10:14. “ e worshippers once purged have
no more conscience of sin,” Heb. 10:2.
Verse 7 sets forth the state of the Christian with
regard to purity, even as verses 2 and 3 do with regard to
communion with God. Set in the light by the cleansing
blood of Christ, and abiding there we are in communion
with the saints; but communion has been rst formed with
the Father and the Son by the life we received in the Son.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
290
Verse 8. “ If we say that we have no sin we deceive
ourselves.” e light requires that we should confess what
we are in our nature. To say that we have no sin is not only
ignoring a truth but also deceiving ourselves. In such a case
the truth is not in us, for if Christ who is the truth dwells
in us, we must know that we carry about a sinful nature.
Verses 9, 10. e light also requires that we should
confess the truth as to our actions. If we deny that we have
sinned, which is equivalent to denying that sin is in the
world, we are not converted, and in that case the word is
not in us. “ He is faithful and just.” He cannot fail to answer
to that attitude of grace which He has taken towards us.
CHAPTER 2.
Verses 1, 2 are the third general truth. In these two
verses John sets forth the means whereby we can remain
in communion with Him who is light. He consequently
presents the advocacy of Jesus. Although in our present state
we are not altogether beyond sin, for it is still in our nature
and, alas! shows itself too often in our conduct, yet grace
provides the means for maintaining us in communion with
God or for restoring us when it is disturbed. It reconciles
our weakness with the perfect position in which we are set
to enjoy fellowship with God. Jesus Christ the righteous
intercedes for us.
Verse 1. “ If any man sin, we have an advocate with
the Father.” e intercession of Christ is looked at more
particularly in this connection, as the result of that grace
which lifts us up when we have fallen, although that
intercession also serves to keep us from falling. Has
sin shown itself in our walk? Far from undergoing the
misfortune of remaining under the eect of our sin, we
experience through the intercession of Jesus that gracious
Notes on 1John
291
help, which sets us again before God, perhaps broken-
hearted, still before God to whom we confess our sin. Our
confession of sin is made to God, not to Jesus in order that
He may intercede. His intercession in our behalf always
goes on; it precedes us in our return to God. erefore John
does not say, If any man repent, we have an advocate; but
he says, “ If any man sin,” for repentance in us in itself the
result of the intercession of Jesus.
e forgiveness of God restores our soul to the enjoyment
of His communion. is eect of the grace of God to us
answers to the sprinkling of water upon deled persons
under the law. We have been sprinkled by blood once, and
it is on that account that the sprinkling of water can avail
to cleanse us. “ An advocate “ is a defender, one who takes
up our cause, and exercises for us the oce of protector.
e care of the Roman patricians for their clients would
give an idea of this oce. By granting us a defender God
has shown that He cannot pass over sin with indierence.
His fellowship and sin cannot go together.
“ With the Father.” John does not say with God,
because he is treating of our communion, and not of the
mediation which maintains us in the presence of God.
is latter subject belongs more especially to the Epistle
to the Hebrews. “ Jesus Christ the righteous.” e basis
of our standing before God is not altered by our fall.
Righteousness abides before God, the righteous One is
there for us. But there is more.
Verse 2. “ He is the propitiation for our sins.” us all
that is necessary, as an answer to God for us sinners, is
found in Jesus. He, who in His own Person is righteousness
itself and who, when here below, made propitiation for
our sins, is in the presence of God; and He intervenes for
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
292
us by an intercession founded upon righteousness and
propitiation, this double basis of our salvation. Otherwise
it would be impossible for God to look upon a creature
who has sinned. e words, “ He is the propitiation for our
sins, and not for ours only, but also for the whole world,”
appear to be spoken to souls who have not yet peace. Are
they addressed to Christians? Yes, it is to Christians that
John writes these things; only in speaking thus he has no
particular state of soul in view.
John gives us in this Epistle an exposé of great principles
which he lays down absolutely, leaving aside all details
of application. Doubtless experience brings in various
modications; still they in no wise aect the original force
of these principles. For instance, I say, Our meeting room is
open to every one, anybody may enter it. But here is a man
who cannot enter because he is lame. Will the exception
to be made in his case alter what I have said? No. So is
it also with divine things. If we only possessed the great
principles of the truth of God in the measure of their
application to man, we should never really possess them
at all. It is indispensable to discern this absolute way of
setting forth the truth of God in order to understand the
Epistle of John. “ Not for ours only.” Ours are the sins of
us, Jews. Such I believe to be the sense of this word “ ours,”
according to a passage in his third Epistle (v. 8), in which
John identies himself with the Jews.
is verse 2 concludes the exposition of the general
truths which constitute the Epistle. In what follows we
shall nd a development of experimental proofs of these
truths, with a view to show what are the evidences of the
reality of divine life in the saints. Two proofs are adduced,
namely, love and righteousness. But before considering
Notes on 1John
293
these, John presents another practical feature, namely,
obedience, which also proceeds from the divine life in us,
and which is necessary to our intercourse with God.
Verses 3, 4. “ And hereby we do know that we know
him, if we keep his commandments.” If purity is required
from man, when it is a question of the nature of the God
he is in communion with, obedience marks our position
in the presence of His sovereign majesty. e submission
of man is due to God because He is sovereign. e grace,
which has brought us back to Him and made us happy,
has, at the same time, set us in a state of dependence upon
Him, which dependence is expressed by obedience. ere
are certain commandments to be kept, and our obedience
to them testies that we know God. Jesus, in whom is seen
the perfect Man, walked in entire dependence upon God.
His life was not only activity in good, but above all things
was characterized by obedience; He was subject to another,
even His Father. God alone does what is good without
obeying.
“ His commandments “ are not the tables of the law,
but the various communications by which the Lord has
shown the perfection of His divine Person. e words, the
precepts, and commandments which emanated from His
mouth, were the expression of the life manifested by Him
here below, and they become the light which now directs
that life in us. e law says, “ is do and thou shalt live.”
On this footing no one has obeyed: but Christ, who was
the life, obeyed. Being in Christ through grace we inherit
this position; we receive from Him a life freely given, which
places us and leads us in the path of obedience. Christ who
obeyed is our life. What He was upon earth directs His life
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
294
in us. His commandments are based upon the life which
He has given us.
Verses 5, 6. “ But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily
is the love of God perfected.”
13
ere is something further
than keeping His commandments, there is also keeping
His word, and the divine communications in the latter case
go beyond the former. Having spoken of the blessing which
accompanies obedience to the Lord’s commandments,
John next shows the extent of the blessing when it is a
question of answering to greater communications. By His
word God leads us into the thoughts of His love. And as in
Jesus, the impulses of the heart were in harmony with the
thoughts of the Father, so also in our case, through the life
which He has given us, we nd ourselves so very near to
God that we know His will and His good pleasure. Blessed
fruits of the divine sap circulate in us. Sweet and glorious
blessing, in which is unfolded for the redeemed of the Lord
the greatness of their joy in the knowledge of God!
“ He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also
so to walk, even as he walked.” It does not say, ought to be
what he was, but “ ought to walk even as he walked.” We
could not be what Jesus was, but He has left us an example
and we follow in His steps.
is verse presents a peculiarity which is also found in
other passages of the Epistle. “ Abideth in him “ means
“ abideth in God,” “ walk even as he walked “ means “ as
Christ walked.” John uses the words, “ he,” “ him,” without
13 Here we notice another example of those absolute principles
which are found in the Epistle of John, “In him verily is the
love of God perfected.” Perhaps there is no one in the state of
soul indicated by the words, “keepeth his word;” nevertheless
the principle remains: “the love of God perfected in us “ is
what corresponds to such a state.
Notes on 1John
295
much attention to the reciprocity of terms. He so sees in
Christ the expression of God Himself, for Christ is God
manifest in the esh, that he can use the same word for
both without confusion.
Abide in him-God. As is the case with visible things
that our impressions are formed by the circumstances in
which we are found, so is it in spiritual matters, as to our
abiding in God. For instance, if we inhabit a damp house,
we soon feel it; but if in an agreeable residence, we feel it
also. We are in God even as the chick is in its egg. ese
pictures but feebly set forth our grand privilege of abiding
in God. Yes; He is our hiding-place, and there we taste the
joys of divine aections.
Verses 7, 8. We have already seen something about
the commandments of Christ; here are some further
unfoldings given in view of seducers. e commandments
which we receive from him is old and new at the same:
old, because it is the “ life which was with the Father,” “
that which was from the beginning “; new, because the
life, which was in Christ, has been communicated to us
in time, “ which thing is true in him and in you.” In this
old and new commandment we have the foundation and
development of all that is good. It is not addressed to us as
from without by a Christ witnessing for God on the earth,
but it is the action of a new life which he has put within
us; it is a commandment hanging upon the union of life,
sentiments, and habits, manifested in Jesus, and common
to the family of God. Yet it is a commandment having for
us all the authority of divine will; we are to be lled with
the will of God. “ e true light now shineth.” e gospel
reveals God; the law and the ordinances, and the whole of
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
296
that system in which God remained concealed, have been
eclipsed by its light.
As we have already noticed, above and beyond all its
other eects, the divine life in man stamps upon him a
character of obedience. But love and righteousness are
the proper activity of that life which is the nature of God
Himself. e life was manifested in Jesus in both those
characters, and they are reproduced in us. e presence or
absence of these features marks the two families, that of
God, and that of the adversary.
14
Verses 9-11. e love of the brethren. is love is the
proof that we possess divine life. It dwells in light. ere is
no agreement between the light and sentiments opposed
to this love.
Verses 12-27. ese verses form a parenthesis in which
John addresses communications to the saints, suited to
the various degrees of the development of life in them. In
this address John sees the saints divided into three classes,
and he designates them as fathers, young men, and little
children.
Verse 12. Before touching upon these three classes, the
apostle puts forth a communication addressed to them all:
“ I write unto you, children, because your sins are forgiven
you for his name’s sake.” Evidently John is writing, on
behalf of God, to persons that are accepted in grace.
14 Far from being an occasion of doubt for the saints, these
characteristic features are, on the contrary, a reason for
condence. John used them, rstly, to reassure the simple, in
whom some had endeavored to instil doubts, secondly, to help
to the discovery of seducers and to convict them of falsehood.
For instance, a man makes a great display of knowledge, but
he lacks the love of the brethren. By this we know that he is in
darkness, and we avoid him.
Notes on 1John
297
Unless man has entered into this condition of grace, God
has no relationship with him. We also gather from this
that the forgiveness of sins is the portion of the Christian,
independently of all progress in spiritual life.
“ CHILDREN “ (teknia) is an endearing term used
by John to the saints; spoken also by our Lord when He
said, “ Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches
to enter into the kingdom of God.” Mark 10:24. is
expression runs through the whole Epistle. But in verses 13
and 18, where the moral classes are referred to, the words
“ little children “ are represented by the word paidia which
occurs only in these two verses. John speaks twice to each
of the three classes.
Verse 13. In the rst instance he briey states what
belongs to each of them. Verses 14-27: Here he enters into
developments.
“ FATHERS.” By this designation John points out that
state of soul in which Christ is everything. Christ is known
as He is, as He was manifested from the beginning, and
in Him a blessed portion is possessed. It is the fruit of
Christian experience. e time comes when the deceptions
of life have vanished, and when the world has nothing
attractive to the eye. e knowledge of Him, who is the
same yesterday, to-day, and forever, lls and possesses the
soul. To such John writes the same thing twice, “ Fathers,
I have written to you, because ye have known him that is
from the beginning,” v. 13, 14. ere is nothing else to say
to those to whom Christ is everything. e conicts that
the young man sustains result in bringing him also into
this state of soul when Christ will be everything to him.
“ YOUNG MEN.” is is the stage in which the spiritual
life puts forth its energy against the world. For them a
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
298
struggle has commenced, and conicts are sustained, but
they will be followed by the soul’s rest in Christ. John says
to them, “ Ye have overcome the wicked one. Ye are strong
and the word of God abideth in you.” e secret of their
strength was in their immediate dependence upon Him
who is strong, and the word was the instrument by which
this strength was exercised. But we see (v. 15-17), it will
not do to lay down the weapons before the battle is over.
e apostle adds, “ Love not the world … all that is in the
world, the lust of the esh, the lust of the eyes, and the
pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And
the world passeth away and the lust thereof; but he that
doeth the will of God abideth forever.” When mentioning
the elements of the world, John says, “ is not of the Father
“; he could have equally said, “ is not of Christ “; but he
says “ of the Father,” in order to go back to the source of all.
Christ is of the Father, the world is not.
“ LITTLE CHILDREN.” It is the earliest state, infancy
of Christian life. At this rst stage of spiritual life the
Father is known, the Spirit of adoption has been received,
and there is consciousness of being a child of God-” One
God, the Father,” 1Cor. 8:6. Such is the rst ray of light
received by faith after reconciliation with God. In verse
13John says to these little children, “ Ye have known the
Father.” But in verses 18-27 he puts them on their guard
against the antichrists.
It would not be judged wise, in our days, to be speaking
of the antichrists to babes in the faith. Later on, one might
think, would be a better time to speak to them of prophecy
and of the antichrists. Certainly, if it were only a question
of theories, and indeed, in that case, better never to speak
of them at all. But the word of God is practical, in prophecy
Notes on 1John
299
as in everything else. It treats of the antichrists as a matter
aecting the walk of the saints. e antichrists have come!
let the saints discern them and avoid them.
Verse 18. “ As ye have heard that antichrist shall come,
even now are there many antichrists: whereby we know that
it is the last time.” e existence of antichrists marks the
last days of Christianity and proves their commencement
in John’s time.
On the subject of the Antichrist, the apostle adds in
verse 22, “ that he denieth that Jesus is the Christ … denieth
the Father and the Son.” ese are two aspects of apostasy
in which we see Antichrist; rst, uniting with Jewish
unbelief, secondly, rejecting Christianity. e word gives
the Antichrist an essentially religious character; the
testimony of the prophets agrees with the New Testament
on this point. It is also important to note this word in verse
23, “ Whosoever denieth the Son hath not the Father,” for
many who reject Christ pretend not to reject the Father.
Verses 20, 21. It is touching to see the way in which
John proceeds in endeavoring to shelter the babes in the
faith from the danger of the seducers. eir weak condition
claimed this aid; but, in rendering it, John’s rst care is to
remind them of what they are through grace: You have
been anointed by the Holy Ghost, you know the truth.
Verse 24. More than this, he reminds them of the rst
truths of the gospel, and urges them to hold to them as to
a sheet-anchor. “ Let that therefore abide in you, which
ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have
heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall
continue in the Son and in the Father.”
Verse 27. And again, whilst teaching them he adds, “
But the anointing which ye have received of him, abideth in
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
300
you, and ye need not that any man teach you.” As a servant
of God, and being also led to it by Christian aection, he
bestows his care on them; still the saints, yea even babes
in the faith, are responsible to keep themselves from evil,
seeing they are sealed of the Holy Ghost, and John desires
not to weaken that responsibility. “ As the same anointing
teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and
even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.”
15
“ Ye shall abide in it “ would be as correct, and indeed
more grammatical; still I believe we should read “ in him.”
Verse 28. John resumes the thread interrupted from
verse 12, and brings us again to the experimental proofs of
divine life in us. It yet remains to speak of righteousness as
a proof of this life, and then to present further unfoldings
upon these proofs combined. Verse 28 serves as a connecting
link. “ And now, children, abide in him, that when he shall
appear we may have condence, and not be ashamed
before him at his coming.” To abide in Christ is to be
continually drawing one’s strength from Him, depending
upon Him, and remaining faithful to him. See John 15.
“ at … we may not be ashamed.” It is we, the apostles.
is interpretation of the passage is justied by a quotation
15 John goes farther in his second Epistle; he there exhorts not to
receive the bearers of false doctrine. He still refers to the same
class of individuals, that is, those who denied Christ come
in esh. He describes them as not abiding in the doctrine of
Christ. is is the evil the saints had to contend with. ere
might be erroneous elements mixed with the faith of some
persons, and whilst being a cause for vigilance and care on the
part of those who are with them, this need not hinder their
walking together. But if anyone sins against “ the doctrine of
Christ,” that is to say, against the doctrine which concerns
Christ Himself, and which is the basis of the faith, he is not to
be received.
Notes on 1John
301
from the second Epistle (v. 8), “ Look to yourselves that
we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that
we receive a full reward.” e apostles labored to maintain
the work they had wrought, and of which they would reap
the fruits in the day of Christ. is thought of the result
of their labors in the glory was familiar to the apostle. Paul
says: “ at I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have
not run in vain, neither labored in vain,” Phil. 2:16.
Verse 29 and chapter 3:1-9 present righteousness. “
Ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born
of him.” John reasons thus, As the fruits of life are there,
necessarily the life must be there also.
CHAPTER 3.
Verses 1, 2. From the words “ born of him “ in the
previous verse, John draws the conclusion that we are
children of God, and enumerates some of our privileges as
such. “ Born of him “; then we are His children! “ Behold
what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon
us that we should be called the sons [children] of God;
therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him
not … it doth not yet appear what we shall be … when he
shall appear, we shall be like him,” etc. “ It knew him not “
signies knew not Christ, although the commencement of
the sentence speaks of the Father. It is the same language
as in Rev. 22:3, “ the throne of God and of the Lamb shall
be in it, and his servants shall serve him, and they shall
see his face.” John says, “ his face,” in the singular, yet he is
speaking of God and of the Lamb.
“ We shall be like him.” Our likeness to Christ then
is the result of a present privilege, that of having life in
Christ, as Paul expresses it when saying, “ Christ, who is
our life.” We shall be like Christ, but such as He is now
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
302
with the Father. In the same way our privilege of seeing
Him will be seeing Him as He is now.
16
Surely we shall
reign with Him, but we shall receive neither the special
glory, nor the attributes proper to the Son of man, for they
belong to Jesus only.
Verses 3-6. Christ Himself is the measure of the
Christian’s sanctication. e hope of seeing Jesus in His
glory makes us desire to be like Him now. “ Every man that
hath this hope in him, purieth himself, even as he is pure.
In him is no sin … whosoever abideth in him sinneth not.”
us our hope is linked with practical righteousness.
Verse 4. “ Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also
the law.” e true version reads: “ Whosoever practiseth sin,
practiseth also lawlessness.” “ Transgresseth also the law,”
and “ committeth iniquity,” render the Greek imperfectly.
If it were said, “ practiseth lawlessness,” it would be nearer
the Greek, which is lawlessness.
Verses 7, 8. Let us notice the dierent manner in which
John speaks of him who practices righteousness and of him
who practices sin. Of the rst he says that he “ is righteous,
even as he [Christ] is righteous.” is indicates the state of
a person owing to the possession of a nature received, and
consequently an abiding state. Of the second, John says: “
Is of the devil,” which signies, he receives his disposition
16 is point raises the question whether we shall see God in
the brightness of His essential glory. e scripture answers: “
dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto, whom
no man hath seen, nor can see.” In another place speaking of
the heavenly Jerusalem, it says, “ e glory of God did lighten
it, and the Lamb is the light [lamp) thereof.” It follows from
this that it is outside the inaccessible light that the God of
glory reveals Himself to man, and that this revelation is made
through Jesus.
Notes on 1John
303
from the wicked one. e enemy may exert an action
upon man, but he cannot impart himself. God alone can
communicate His nature. We are “ partakers of the divine
nature.”
Verse 9. “ Whosoever is born of God doth not practice
sin.” In interpreting this passage some make the words
“ commit sin,” mean “ live in sin,” but this weakens its
bearing. ese words have reference to something absolute,
to the nature of Christ within us. So John does not say, at
which, but “ whosoever is born of God,” thereby meaning
a being and not a thing, and that being does not practice
sin. Doubtless not to practice sin is the characteristic of the
child of God. e Christian does not live in sin, and this
because he has a holy nature which spiritually constitutes
the individual.
Verses10-18. To complete the subject we now get some
developments upon the two great principles combined;
righteousness and love. e two leading features of the child
of God are that he practiseth righteousness and loveth his
brother. By contrast, he that practiseth not righteousness
and loveth not his brother is not of God. “ His brother.”
Has one, who is not born of God, a brother? Here again we
must follow abstractions. e principles remain, although
there may not be all the elements of application.
Verse 12. e opposite of the child of God is seen in
Cain. He slew his brother (evidence of his hatred), and
wherefore? because his own works were evil, and his
brother’s righteous.
Verses 13-15 are application. e brethren-and by this
word John designates all the children of God-are hated
by the world, even as Abel was hated by Cain. On their
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
304
part there is love, and this love is the proof that they have
passed from death to life.
Verse 16. But love is seen in and learned from Christ.
We know love through Him who has been the most
complete proof of the love of God, for moved by this love
Christ gave Himself.
Verses 16-18 are application. e love of Christ in us
should lead us even to lay down our lives for the brethren.
It can also show itself by lesser actions, and can lead us to
make our brethren partakers with us of any of this world’s
goods that we may possess.
Verses 19-23. As obedience introduced the subject of
the proofs that we are partakers of divine life, so now it
concludes this also. In loving the brethren we not only have
evidence that we are of the truth, but we assure our hearts
before God, love being the keeping of the commandment
which we have received to love one another (v. 23). And
more, being obedient to His commandment, whatsoever
we ask, we receive.
Verse 19. “ Assure our hearts before him.” e subject in
hand is evidently a question of liberty with God, and not of
salvation or condemnation.
Verse 20. “ God is greater than our heart “ He knows
us better than we know ourselves. Immediately our heart
allows something that cannot stand before God, our
communion and liberty with Him suer. Now sometimes
we know not where to discover what has unsettled our
intercourse with God. What has done it? After a little
searching we shall discover that our hearts are tolerating
some elements of evil which God sees and will not allow.
Verse 22. “ Whatsoever we ask we receive of him.” is
truth appertains to the absolute principles of the new man,
Notes on 1John
305
for our prayers are not always answered. On one occasion
Paul prayed three times and was not heard. But the prayer
of the new man is always according to Christ who could
say to His Father: “ ou hearest me always.” Verse 22
supposes such a prayer as we address to God when we are
walking in His ways; and not that which bursts from the
heart when we nd ourselves in exceptional circumstances.
We can understand why, in Gethsemane, Jesus requested
that He might not have to drink the cup which involved
the hiding of God’s face.
Verse 23. “ His commandment “ signies both the
commandment of God and the commandment of Christ;
for God it is who has given us the command to believe
on the name of his Son Jesus Christ,” and Christ that to
“ love one another.” is is another instance of the way in
which John speaks without distinguishing between God
and Christ. e exposition of the experimental proofs of
divine life in us are concluded with this verse.
Verse 24. We now enter upon a new subject. Two great
privileges of the saints, expressed by John in these words, “
He that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him and
he in him,” correspond to the obedience which maintains
our hearts in a state of liberty before God.
Here, as in other passages which we have already looked
at, the word he is indenite; it applies to God and to Christ
indiscriminately. Abide in Him may mean, abide in God,
or abide in Christ. Still by the light which chapter 4 sheds
upon the subject, we can see that these words signify rather,
that we abide in God, and God abides in us. is expresses
the immensity of the grace which God has given us in
granting us life and a place in communion with Himself.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
306
To abide in God is, as we remarked in chapter 2, the
privilege of resting on the bosom of God Himself, there
tasting divine aections; a privilege alas! too little enjoyed
by our souls, for we know not how at all times to fall
back upon God in order to escape from the dearth of the
wilderness. We enjoy communion with the Father and the
Son; but we have more, we abide in God.
God abiding in us indicates a dierent blessing from
that of our abiding in God. God abides in us through the
communication of His nature. He is Himself thus the
element of our being. “ He has given us of his Spirit,” chap.
4: 13. We have received the life manifested by the Son in
this world, and the received Spirit is God Himself in us.
is last privilege is now mentioned for the rst time
in this Epistle, and in speaking it, John gives the proof
of its reality in these words: “ And hereby we know that
he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.”
Although he has just mentioned two privileges, he only
adduces the proof of the latter, which is introductory to the
former, and which is the subject he is about to unfold.
CHAPTER 4.
Verses 1-6. Here, before pursuing the subject, John stops
again to point out the seducers. In the preceding chapter (v.
24) he has spoken of the gift of the Spirit of God, but there
are also false spirits, and it is well to put the saints on their
guard against them.
Verse 1. “ Try the spirits.” e thing to be judged
according to this exhortation, is not whether a man is
converted, but whether a man who prophesies is speaking
by the Spirit of God or by a spirit of demons. How are we
to know the false spirits? Here is the touchstone.
Notes on 1John
307
Verses 2, 3. “ Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus
Christ is come in the esh is of God; and every spirit that
confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the esh is not
of God.” By this test we discern the Spirit which is of God,
and that which is not of God. A man who prophesies by
the Spirit of God also confesses Jesus Christ come in the
esh. He not merely confesses that Jesus has come in the
esh, but he confesses Jesus Himself-the Jesus who came
in esh. To confess that Jesus has come in the esh is to
acknowledge a truth; to confess Jesus Christ come in esh
is to acknowledge the Person and lordship of Jesus.
It is not uncommon for the agents of the enemy, when
putting forth false doctrines, to make use of the word of
God, although they despise it. ey quote it when it suits
their purpose,
17
and when it is inconvenient they despise
and neglect it. All error proceeds from the devil, and he
uses every agency to cause it to spread. And yet, although
all error comes from him, it does not suce that a doctrine
be false to decide that he who puts it forth speaks by an
evil spirit. In cases where there has been evidence that a
demon was speaking, besides the excitement of the speaker,
there has been an astonishing promptness of eect, and a
wonderful power of persuasion.
18
Alas! the esh is always
ready to give an ear to Satan, but it resists the teaching
of the Holy Ghost. Besides, when the Holy Ghost works
17 All heretics conceal their doctrines. In our days we have had
proofs of this in the Irvingites and Mormons. It seems almost
incredible that there should be any being on earth who could
accept the absurdities of these latter. What success is to be
attained over man by pandering to his esh, and what a solemn
example of Satan’s power!
18 is was the case among the Irvingites.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
308
in man, He proceeds by appropriating the truth to the
individual; and this result is not obtained very promptly.
As soon as the demon is discerned, there is but one
course- to treat the demon as a demon. If this course
be adopted, he will be found powerless before the name
of Jesus; but if we resort to any other way, if we yield to
human considerations, if we are amiable with the agents of
the enemy, we shall soon nd ourselves in weakness before
Satan: God not being able to be with us in the course we
have chosen.
In the presence of these dangers how precious is the
word of God to faith! It is the word which enlightens us that
we may discern the adversary and error, and which shows
us the path which God has marked out for faithfulness
in such circumstances. Let us cleave to His word, with
an upright heart, walking in lowliness before the Lord;
and nothing can cause us to stumble on our way: God is
faithful, He keeps His own, He will keep the youngest and
the weakest. But without this submission to God and to
His word, whatever beautiful sentiments we may express,
or whatever clever method we may adopt, we shall have to
feel the power of the enemy.
Verse 6. “ We are of God “ (we, the apostles); “ he that
knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth
not us, hereby know we the spirit of truth and the spirit of
error.” e words of the apostles are authoritative. ose
to whom these delegates of the Lord spoke were under
the responsibility of receiving the word, because it came
from an apostle. e refusal to submit would show that the
person was of the world, and following the spirit of error.
Our responsibility is the same, for we possess the epistles
written by the apostles. Having given these words of
Notes on 1John
309
warning and teaching respecting the spirits, John resumes
the subject commenced in chapter 3 24.
Verses 7-12. “ God dwelling in us “ is a privilege which
derives all its value from the love of God in which we share.
Verses 7, 8. “ Let us love one another; for love is of God;
and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth
God … for God is love.” e source of love is in God only,
it is God Himself. But through innite grace this love
nds room in a human heart and renders it capable of
loving. It is no question here of human aections, but of
the love of God, the presence of which in the heart of a
man proves that the man is born of God and knows God.
How immense is the privilege which raises us thus to the
blessing which belongs to the nature of a God of love!
Among the number of blessings which have fallen to
our lot, there are several of a kind dierent from the one
we have just spoken of; for instance, those which ow from
the counsels of God; the portion of the church as united
to Christ, the inheritance promised to the saints, blessings
which are unfolded in Paul’s epistles. But in the Epistle of
John we get an order of privileges more connected with the
Person of God Himself-with His nature, of which by grace
we are partakers.
Verses 9-12. God has manifested His love by sending
His only-begotten Son through whom He has given us life,
found a propitiation for us, and by whom He has revealed
Himself in love. ese verses set forth the Christian
privileges brought by Jesus at His rst coming. Here are
some details.
Verses 9, 10. e love of God which now moves in our
souls was rst shown by acts outside us. It wrought in our
behalf when as yet there was nothing but sin in us. “ In this
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
310
was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God
sent his only-begotten Son into the world that we might
live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God but
that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for
our sins.” us our privilege of feeling our hearts lled with
the love of God ows from the love God had for us when
we were but sinners; and this love has become ours by the
possession of an object outside ourselves. If with respect to
this privilege, we had only the subjective side, that is, the
love in us, it would be pure mysticism; but there is also the
objective side, the love of God for us. us there is no room
for that self-worship which is such a strong characteristic
of religious sentimentalism.
Verses 11, 12, are blessed eects of the presence and
action of the love of God in us. ereby God Himself
dwells in us and His love is perfected in us. To what
glorious truths does this link us! We read in the Gospel of
John, chapter 1: 18, “ No man hath seen God at any time;
the only-begotten Son which is in the bosom of the Father,
he hath declared him.” And in this verse of the Epistle, “
No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another,
God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.” e
same Christ who revealed God in the world dwells in the
saints in whom He also reveals God. Such is the privilege
of those whose life Christ is. “ His love is perfected in
us.” When love is in exercise in the intercourse of saints,
God has His place in this intercourse; He is there, for He
Himself is love. And if God is present producing His love
in others, it is a perfected love.
Verse 13. “ Hereby we know that we dwell in him, and he
in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.” As in chapter
3: 24, so again in this verse we nd the two privileges joined
Notes on 1John
311
together: our dwelling in God, and God dwelling in us. “
Of his spirit.” God has communicated His nature to us, He
dwells in us. e church as a body is also the dwelling-place
of God, on account of the personal presence of the Holy
Ghost in the body. e church, being the dwelling-place of
the Holy Ghost, is highly blessed. is is not the place to
unfold that blessing, pleasant as it would be to do so. Only
for the sake of the subject now under consideration let us
remark that the Holy Ghost manifested His presence in
the church at the beginning by various signs; there were
gifts of healings, of tongues, and other workings which
all contributed to the glory of the presence of God in the
midst of His saints. ese glorious manifestations were not
hindered by the presence of any even if unconverted.
19
But
when we learn from John that God dwells in us and that
we know this privilege because God hath given us of His
Spirit, we have a very dierent blessing before us; one that
is inherent to the divine nature in us, a privilege which is
inseparable from conversion, since it is conversion itself in
its very essence.
We dwell in God and God dwells in us; this is the
order of these privileges in our spiritual experience. Being
conscious by the Spirit that we dwell in God, we thereby
know that God dwells in us. It is the order followed in
verse 13 which we are now considering. But when these
privileges are looked upon in connection with the testimony
of God and with divine operations, they are reversed: God
dwells in us and we in Him. is is the subject set forth in
the two following verses.
Verses 14, 15. “ And we have seen and do testify that
the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.
19 Heb. 6:4, 5.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
312
Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God
dwelleth in him, and he in God.” God gives us to believe
the testimony and at the same time takes up His abode in
us; this is one of the rst of blessings on which others are
built up. us as a simple result of this grace we dwell in
God, we have our refuge in Him, we taste of His peace, His
joy, and His rest.
When John says, “ whosoever shall confess,” he sees life
in its earliest fruits, and he nds in these another proof of
God’s dwelling in us and of our dwelling in Him. What
privileges we possess by faith! We have drawn from that
fullness, from that ocean of life; and, after having received
for ourselves, we become channels of communication to
others.
Verse 16 is a summary of the preceding verses: “ We
have known and believed the love that God hath to us “; it
is privilege of faith. “ He that dwelleth in love, dwelleth in
God, and God in him “; it is experimental blessing.
Verse 17. Read “ Herein is love with us made perfect,
that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because
as he is, so are we in this world.” Having given the proofs
of the love of God for us, and having shown that we have
known and believed His love, John, in this verse, seeks to
show the immense blessing which the love of God sheds
upon us. His love, which was manifested by the gift of the
Son, is perfected in the grace which makes us to be such as
Jesus is. We are “ as he is “ by the fact of having in us the
life of Jesus gloried. e life which shone forth in Jesus
when He came out of the grave (after having exhausted
the judgment of God, abolished sin, and conquered death),
divine life in man has been communicated to us, and it
Notes on 1John
313
places us before God in the same standing as that of Jesus
Himself.
It is not an imputed privilege; the love of God which
constitutes it is a love that is perfected in us. We have
received from God this life against which there is no
judgment, for it is divine, and we have received it through
Him who went under the judgment in our stead. Such is
the love of God perfected in us. e eect of this grace is
to give our souls full condence as to the day of judgment.
Evidently there could not be a place for us in that day more
excellent than that of nding ourselves in the same position
as the judge Himself. Verse 18. Again, what sentiments
become ours in our daily life! No more fear; the love of
God perfected in us has cast it out.
Verses 19-21. John puts the reality of the love of God
in us to a counter-test: “ If a man say, I love God, and
hateth his brother, he is a liar.” e proof that our love is
really of God is in this; that we love the brethren, not on
account of the satisfaction found in so doing, but because
they are of God. We cannot love a person without taking
an interest in his children. But suppose the case of a father
having three sons; I love two of them, this does not testify
that I love their father, for if I did, I should love the three
sons. ese principles which act as counter-proofs are very
useful; we often need their test.
CHAPTER 5.
Verse 1. Brotherly love being established, the question
arises: Who is my brother? We get for an answer, “
Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of
God.” is is a brother, we owe him love.
Verse 2. But brotherly love is also in its turn submitted to
a counter-test: “ By this we know that we love the children
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
314
of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.”
Let us notice that love of the brethren, which was adduced.
as a proof of our love to God in chapter 4: 20, is now the
point to be proved. is is what the schoolmen would term
reasoning in a vicious circle; but life and love are beyond
their sphere. True love is accompanied by obedience. e
love which leads us to love the children of God, for God’s
sake, could not love them and at the same time incite them
to things which displease their Father. Would it be love to
a man to set his children an example of disobedience? It
would be loving neither him nor his children. Disobedience
is never love. Christ, who is perfect love, also showed
perfect obedience.
Verses 4, 5. But here is an obstacle; the world renders
obedience dicult. When we feel its inuence, the
commandments of God seem grievous. But, on the other
hand, love escapes that inuence and remains obedient.
us love is in conict with the world, but faith is there
to help. “ is is the victory which overcometh the world,
even our faith.”
Unspeakable mystery of the knowledge of Jesus! a
crucied One is the Son of God! Faith knows this Savior
rejected by the world, and clings to Him. e name of
Jesus has an all-powerful attraction for faith; and nding a
blessed portion in Jesus it joyfully accepts the place of the
Savior here below. What can the world do against the faith
that sees things thus? It is not astonishing that faith in
Jesus should be in conict with the world; for if a crucied
one be the Son of God, what an overthrow of the order of
things in belonging to this world! But this rejected One
has overcome the world and faith shares in His victory.
Notes on 1John
315
Verses 6-12. Up to this point of the epistle we have had
to consider the great principles of the truth concerning
life. Before ending John here touches upon the question of
the testimony of God to which the communication of this
life to sinners corresponds. We have rst the witnesses: the
Spirit, the water, and the blood.
_Verse 6. “ is is he who came by (dia) water and blood,
even Jesus Christ; not by (en) water only, but by (en) water
and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness.” e
testimony of the water and of the blood is twice expressed
in this verse, but with a dierent Greek preposition each
time. He came by (dia) water and blood; and then He came
in (en) water and blood; that is to say, in the power of the
water and of the blood. e former of these expressions
(dia) indicates the character in which Jesus came here
below; the latter (en), the power displayed by Him
according to that character. Jesus came in a character of
purication and expiation: “ by water and blood.” He has
wrought according to that character, and has accomplished
purication and expiation in water and blood. Although
the water and the blood both express the death of Christ,
they set forth two results of that death. We are cleansed by
the water of death (sanctication), and we are also cleansed
by blood (justication). From this it follows that, the death
of Christ giving its character and value to our sanctication,
we reckon ourselves dead to sin even as Christ died for sin.
I do not know if we pay sucient heed to this purifying
power of the death of Christ, whereby we are freed from
the power of sin now.
“ And it is the Spirit that beareth witness.” e Spirit of
God, present here below, is also a witness of the grace of life
which is in Jesus. But it is in virtue of the death of Christ
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
316
that the Holy Ghost has come down. us purication,
expiation, and the gift of the Holy Ghost, are privileges
which exist for us only in virtue of a dead Christ.
Verses 7, 8 omit a portion of these two verses, and read,
“ For there are three that bear record, the Spirit and the
water and the blood: and these three agree in one.”
20
ree
witnesses, but only one testimony.
Verses 9, 10. “ He that believeth on the Son of God
hath the witness in himself “; for God imparts life to him
who believes. As to the witness, we nd again the two
things which we have noticed throughout the Epistle: the
internal and the external, the subjective and the objective
side, experience and faith. Christ, who is the object of
the testimony in the world, dwells in the saints. We thus
understand how the witness of God is greater than that of
men.
Verses 11, 12. After becoming acquainted with the
witnesses, we learn what their testimony is. It is this: “ God
hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.” Life
was not in the rst Adam; it is in Jesus only, but it comes
to us through death; this the three witnesses-the Spirit, the
water, and the blood-arm.
Verse 13. “ ese things have I written unto you that
believe on the name of the Son of God, that ye may know
20 Several words included in verses 7 and 8 are not to be found
in most MSS, and are not admitted in the best Greek editions
of the New Testament. We follow these editions. ese are the
words to be suppressed: “ in heaven, the Father, the Word, and
the Holy Ghost; and these three are one. And there are three
that bear witness in earth.”
Notes on 1John
317
that ye have eternal life.”
21
I am not writing to you, says
John, to bring you the blessings of the testimony of God, as
though you were not in possession of them, but to remind
you that you have them, in order that you may be forearmed
against the false teachers when they call your privileges in
question.
Verses 14, 15. “ If we ask anything according to his will
he heareth us.” Our souls are sometimes much exercised
before God as to prayer; for God, who in His goodness
grants us all things that are good for us, reserves to Himself
the choice, the means, and the time. However we have the
comfort of knowing that God always hears us. He is not
absent nor too high to listen to our prayers. But more than
this: “ we know that we have the petitions that we desired
of him.” What mercy! God is willing to hear the requests
which such feeble creatures as ourselves send up to Him.
God perhaps does not answer at once. is exercise of
patience is blessed to our souls, and is often more salutary
than an immediate answer. It acts upon our intercourse with
God, it molds it, and teaches us dependence. It is well for us
to know that we should not pray with the idea of dictating
to God. But the faith which has prayed nevertheless feels
sure that God has heard, and this condence consoles and
sustains.
Verses 16, 17. What is this sin unto death? It is sin,
but sin aggravated by particular circumstances. e sin of
Ananias was a lie which the surrounding circumstances
rendered more serious. Every sin may become a sin unto
death.
21 Several editions of the New Testament, upon the authority of
the principal manuscripts, reject the words we have omitted at
the end of this verse; namely, “ And that ye may believe on the
name of the Son of God.”
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
318
Verses 18, 20. ese three verses comprise the great
principles of the Epistle. ey form a sort of conclusion. But
here, as in the body of the Epistle, John expresses himself
in a way calculated to sustain faith in spite of the sowers of
doubts. “ We know,” says he, what? We know what is the
life which we have received from God. We know that the
wicked one is in the world. We know that the Son of God
is come, that He is true and that we are in Him. Yes! on all
these points we know where we are. It is a last shaft which,
in concluding, John levels at the corrupters of the faith.
Verse 19. For the whole world lieth in wickedness,” read “
e whole world lieth in the wicked one.”
Verse 20. Notice the chain of thoughts in this verse. e
Son has come and has given us to know God as “ him that
is true.” We are in Him that is true because we are in His
Son Jesus Christ; and Jesus Christ is God Himself, the true
God. He is also eternal life.
Verse 21. “ Little children, keep yourselves from idols,”
that is, from all that might come in between you and God.
NOTE.
e grace administered through John’s ministry
appertains to the individual blessing of saints. It is the
communication of divine life to man, a blessing which exists
at all times, and which belongs to the saints, whatever may
be the state of God’s people. is apostle is not occupied
with the church, with that which as a whole, forms the
body of Christ. is mystery was entrusted to Paul.
Compared with John, the apostle of the Gentiles is seen
in dierent circumstances. Paul, being a chosen vessel for
that work of sovereign grace, which by the power of the
Holy Ghost, gathers a church here below composed of
Jews and Gentiles, united in one body to Christ in heaven,
Notes on 1John
319
manifested extraordinary energy which was crowned with
success. But the testing time came, Paul was imprisoned,
his ministry was cut short, all forsook him. Disaection
appeared, and later on the unity was broken. e decline,
which commenced then, has continued and increased until
our days.
What will be the end of it? e word holds out no hope
of a return here below to the rst state of blessing. e
tares which have been sown in the eld must remain until
the harvest. But if there is no hope of restoration for the
system, yet the grace of life remains and is not inactive.
is life, the revelation and the resources of which were
the chief object of John’s ministry, still ows on; and it may
be said that it is by means of this life that the Lord has
intervened when all was about to fail in Christianity.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
320
63026
Notes on 1John 1
e great leading truth of all this Epistle is what is
expressed in verse I, that eternal life has come down-a
real positive life. e eternal life that was with the Father
actually entered this world in the Person of Christ. e
old thing-what the rst Adam was-is entirely rejected. It is
true, we have both in us as long as we are in the body. But
there is the second Man, the Lord from heaven, who has
come in, because the rst man was turned out. In blessed
grace He comes down. And we have seen it, he says, and
heard it-the Word of life-that is, in Christ. He was walking
about this world, another kind of life altogether. at is
what he calls “ from the beginning.” It was an entirely new
thing manifested here below. Wherever there is the fullness
of grace brought in, that is, our privileges and relationships,
we get the Father and the Son. Of course it is God, but
God brought out in these relationships; verses 1-4.
e rst thing we have here, in virtue of the life God
has given to us, is the fullness of the privileges of the saints
in Christ. ey have fellowship with the Father and with
His Son Jesus Christ. But in the next place he brings a
second point out, and it is this: If you say you have that
kind of fellowship, and walk in darkness, it is all false,
because darkness cannot have fellowship with light. If you
have perfect grace bringing in divine life-the life that was
manifested in the Person of Christ, and then communicated
to us, he next says, It is light. God does not change the
holiness of His nature; and therefore the pretense to have
fellowship with it, if we are walking in darkness, is all false.
Notes on 1John 1
321
Connected with this he presents the remedy as regards
our state; that is, that Christ cleanses us and makes us t
for the light. And the second thing which comes out in
the next chapter is, that when, in our weakness, we have
fallen into sin, “ we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus
Christ the righteous.” Grace has provided for the evil,
though there can be no communion with God in it.
First, we have the fullness of the blessing, eternal life
in Christ; next its nature and character-God’s light and
purity; and then the means by which it is possible that
such sinners as we can have all this blessing-rst, by the
cleansing, and then by the advocacy of Christ.
“ at which was from the beginning, which we have
heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have
looked upon and our hands have handled of the Word of
life.” Christ is looked at in this world as the beginning of
everything. It is not that the saints before had not received
life from Him above, but the thing itself had never been
manifested.
“ at which was from the beginning, which we have
heard,” etc. It was in a man bodily. It comes by the power
of the word now, but they had seen this eternal life in the
Person of a Man walking about in this world. Just as we
can see natural life in Adam, so we see divine life in Christ.
If we look at the life in us, it is united with failure; but I
can see and know what the perfectness of the life is by
looking at Christ. “ For the life was manifested, and we
have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that
eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested
unto us.” ere we see and know it; and our spirituality
depends upon the degree in which we realize it. ey had
seen it as come in esh, and it is declared unto us; that
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
322
we may have fellowship with them-and their fellowship is
with the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. It is not merely
a person justied before God by the work of Christ, but it
is fellowship with God in virtue of a life which was in Him
before God-a life perfectly conformed to all that God is.
Looking at the new nature given to us in its holiness,
and its love, it is the same thing as that which is in God.
He gives me this life that there may be power. He cannot
reveal things to me, but it can give me fellowship with
God. It is not merely that I am justied before Him, but
I have the same thoughts and feelings: He has them in
Himself, and, we having them from Him, they are the
same. ere is fellowship. ere are common thoughts and
joys and feelings with the Father and the Son, and these
we know and have. He has given us the Spirit that there
may be power, if the Holy Ghost works in us. All that was
perfect in a man’s feelings, according to the divine nature,
Christ has had. If my soul delights in Christ, and sees the
blessedness of what is in Him, do not I know that my Father
delights in Him too? He delights in holiness and love, and
so do we: this is fellowship. You get fellowship with the
Father and the Son. is is the blessedness that I have got.
It is not merely the fact that I am accepted, who was once
a sinner, but that, Christ having become my life, I get the
blessedness of fellowship with the Father and with the
Son. e Father loved the Son-the Son loved the Father-
and I get their divine aections and have fellowship with
them. is is where He brings us; it is perfect blessedness.
Nor is this merely true in heaven. He served His Father
upon earth, giving up His will in everything. e life was
manifested to us here, not in heaven. Of course, the full
blessedness of it will be known in heaven and therefore he
Notes on 1John 1
323
says, “ ese things write we unto you, that your joy may
be full.” We have fellowship with the Father and with His
Son Jesus Christ. ere is nothing beyond that in heaven
itself. erefore it is, “ ese things write we unto you, that
your joy may be full.” at is the blessing He puts us in.
Now he brings in the test, that there may be no self-
deception. “ is then is the message which we have heard
of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him
is no darkness at all.” If He manifested this eternal life, He
manifested God too. “ As long as I am in the world, I am
the light of the world.” With the thought of this life, He
brings in that which tests everything in us too; this is the
other side of it. It runs all through this Epistle. “ In him was
life, and the life was the light of men.” Here it is said, “ God
is light, and in him is no darkness at all.” e light is the
purest thing, and it manifests all else. is was what Christ
was- perfect purity, and as such He manifests everything.
“ If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in
darkness, we lie and do not the truth.” It is impossible in
the nature of things. If there is not the purity of this divine
nature that is light in us, there is no fellowship with God.
If we say that there is, we lie, and do not the truth. ere is
no limit short of God Himself. e thing that is revealed
is God. You cannot give man light, nor nd the light for
yourselves. It was in Himself. Now God has been manifest
in the esh, and therefore you have to “ walk in the light
as he is in the light.” And if we do, “ we have fellowship
one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son
cleanseth us from all sin.”
We have in verse 7 the three parts of our Christian
condition, looked at as men walking down here. First, we
walk in the light as God is in the light, everything judged
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
324
according to Him with whom we have fellowship. Next,
what the world does not know anything of, “ we have
fellowship one with another.” at is, I have the same divine
nature with every Christian-the same Holy Ghost dwells
in me; so that there must be fellowship. I meet a perfect
stranger traveling, and there may be more communion
with him than with one whom I have known all my life,
just because the divine life is there. It is a natural thing to
the new creature: there is fellowship. But, besides these, I
am cleansed-” e blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanseth
us from all sin.” We are in the light as God is in the light;
we have fellowship together; and we are cleansed by the
blood of Jesus Christ.
en he enters a little more into the practical condition
of our own conscience. “ If we say that we have no sin, we
deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” at is, where
truth in the inward part comes out. e new nature in us
judges all the sin that is in us. He does not deny that we
have learned the truth; but if Christ is the truth in me, it
must judge all that is of the old man as sin. If a person has
only learned the truth outwardly, he may gloss over all the
rest. But if the truth is in us, everything comes out. If I say,
I have no sin, looked at as in the esh, I deceive myself, and
the truth is not in me. Yet it is not merely saying that there
is sin in me that is the thing. It is when really the heart and
conscience are touched, so that I own I personally followed
the esh. It is not a doctrine then. “ If we confess our sins,
he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse
us from all unrighteousness.” His bearing towards us is
gracious and forgiving, and He cleanses us completely.
“ If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar,
and his word is not in us.” If we pretend not to have sinned,
Notes on 1John 1
325
we make Him a liar: it is not merely that the truth is not
in us, but I am making God Himself untrue in His word.
To say that I have no sin is to deceive myself; but to say
I have not sinned is to deny God’s truth even outwardly,
because He says all have sinned. I am denying really the
whole truth of God.
But these are the two things that are called for; rst, to
know that the truth is in us; and then to confess our sins.
A man may be dreadfully proud, and not like to confess
it; but when a person has, through divine grace, got the
upper hand, he hates himself instead of excusing his sin,
he confesses it, he has got right with God, and God says, I
will forgive you; it is all done with. We stand before God
in the sense of His favor. But, besides that, we stand before
God with the consciousness of being perfectly clear in His
sight. If I get into the light, with any dirt upon me, I see it
there; if I am in the dark, I see no dierence. If we are in
the light before God, all is seen. But if I am cleansed and
in the light; I only see the more that there is not a spot in
me. e two opening verses of chapter 2 are the means of
maintaining us in the light.
Chapter I takes up these two things: rst, the fullness
of the blessing in fellowship with the Father and Son;
and, secondly, the nature of the fellowship, and then how
a sinner can have it-the individual state of soul as judging
and confessing sins, and truth in the inward parts. I cannot
say I have no sin and yet I say I am clean before God. ere
is where people mistake. ey want a divine nature, which,
instead of pretending to works, judges everything according
to the light. Wherever there is sin on the conscience there
cannot be communion, though there is a blessed means
of grace that does cleanse. “ e blood of Jesus Christ, his
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
326
Son, cleanseth us from all sin.” In chapter 2:1, 2, we have
the remedy for daily delement. ere it is Christ, not to
maintain righteousness, but to restore communion.
CHAPTER 2.
e two rst verses connect themselves as a kind of
supplement to the preceding chapter. He had put before
them this privilege of fellowship with the Father and the
Son, which must be in the light; and there was this perfect
remedy, the blood of Christ, which presents us clean in the
light. Now he says, “ ese things write I unto you, that ye
sin not.” e object of all this was that they should not sin.
“ And if any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father,
Jesus Christ the righteous.” It is not exactly the same thing
as in Hebrews, where we nd a priest with God, because
there the question is of the possibility of our coming to
God. ere it is making good the truth that we can go to
God, and it has that character, throughout. But all through
the Gospel and Epistle of John he speaks of more than
merely going to God as a public worshipper. Here we are
much more intimate with Him. It is a dierent thing that
I can go and worship before God and approach Him, or
that I am in intimate fellowship with Him. We get into
relationship with Him. Whenever he speaks of grace, he
speaks of the Father and Son, and when of light he speaks
of God. In John 8, where they are all convicted of sin, it is
God. “ Before Abraham was, I am.” When he gets to grace,
He speaks of being a good Shepherd, who gives His life for
the sheep, and whose voice the sheep know. He says there
is as much intimacy between you and Me as between Me
and My Father. ere is the perfect revelation of love in an
intimate relationship like that.
Notes on 1John 1
327
Advocacy here is connected with the Father. Where
communion is interrupted, it is restored: we do not cease
to be sons and to be accepted. It is not a question here of
whether as a sinner I can come to God or not, but of the
loss of this intimacy which the least idle word destroys. And
this makes it still further plain that accepted persons are
spoken of here. It is not a question now of God’s accepting.
Not even priesthood has to do with that, still less advocacy
with the Father. It supposes that we are naughty children,
and that the freedom of this intimacy is destroyed, and
Christ takes the place of Advocate to restore it. Grace
works, but there is never any mitigation of sin in itself; it is
no allowance of evil.
e ground is thus laid in this remarkable manner. ere
are two things to consider; our standing in the presence of
God, and, on the other hand, the evil which is inconsistent
with it. Christ has met both. “ We have an Advocate with
the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” is never changes.
e place which we have with God abides there, because
Christ, the righteous One, is there. e perfectly accepted
Person is in the presence of God, and God is honored
about the failure. “ And he is the propitiation for our sins.”
So that the advocacy of Christ with the Father is founded
upon this acceptance, rst of His Person, and then of His
work for us. We are accepted in the Beloved, and this never
changes, because the righteous One always appears in the
presence of God for us. And yet the Lord does not allow
anything contrary to Himself. Sin is not passed over. “ We
have an advocate.” And yet if He is the Advocate for these
persons who have failed, it is because He is the propitiation
for their sins. ere is perfect acceptance. Having met all
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
328
requirements about sin on the cross, we are put in the
presence of God in the acceptance of Christ Himself.
“ He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours
only, but also for the whole world.” is blood-shedding is
put upon the mercy-seat, in virtue of which we can go and
preach the gospel to every creature. It does not mean that
all are reconciled, but that the testimony of God’s mercy
went out not to Jews only, but to every creature in the world.
rough this blood we can stand in His presence; but there
failure comes to be the question for the conscience of the
saint, and then the advocacy of Christ applies.
But now he takes up another subject-the practical
tests before men that we have got this life. In the main
we may say that love to the brethren, and righteousness
or obedience, are the grand tests. is eternal life we have
seen in contrast with sin, sustained by the grace of Christ.
Now we come to the same life shown in its fruits down
here; and they were calling in question whether they had
this life or not. erefore he gives, in order to keep them
in the consciousness and certainty that they had that life,
these traits of it, which some of those of high profession
had not. “ And hereby we do know that we know him, if we
keep his commandments.”
I would just observe here that throughout this Epistle
you will nd God and Christ so entirely united in the
thought of the apostle, that he speaks of one and then of
the other in relation to the same thing. Look at the last
chapter: “ And we know that the Son of God is come, and
hath given us an understanding that we may know him
that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son
Jesus Christ. is is the true God and eternal life.” God
is revealed to us in Christ. It may seem confusion, but it
Notes on 1John 1
329
brings out the glory of the Person of Christ. So here (v.
28), “ And now, little children, abide in him; that when he
shall appear, we may have condence, and not be ashamed
before him at his coming. If ye know that he is righteous,
ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born
of him.” He begins with Christ’s appearing, and the same
sentence ends with God Himself. So here, with regard to
God’s commandments. “ Hereby we do know that we know
him, if we keep his commandments.” ey are Christ’s
commandments, and yet they are God’s too.
Next, we are told that “ He that saith, I know him, and
keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth
is not in him.” A man says he knows God and does not
keep His commandments-the truth is not in him, because
this life is an obedient life, and if Christ is our life, the
principles of Christ’s life are the same in us. If the principle
of obedience is not there, life is not there. But this is not all.
“ Whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God
perfected; hereby know we that we are in him.” is gives a
great deal more than the mere fact that he is a liar, if he says
he knows God and does not keep His commandments.
Another thing to be remarked is this, that all John’s
statements are absolute. He never modies them by
bringing in the diculties or hindrances that we may have
in the body. “ He that is born of God,” he says in chapter 3,
“ does not commit sin.” He is speaking there according to
the very essence of the nature. e divine nature cannot sin.
It is not a question of progress or degree, but “ he cannot
sin because he is born of God.” “ He that is begotten of
God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him
not,” chap. 5. e wicked one touches the Christian often;
but he never can touch the divine life: and John always
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
330
states it in its own proper absoluteness, according to the
truth itself. ere are plenty of other scriptures that show
our inconsistency. But if the esh acts, it is not this new
life, but you get the measure of it in itself. “ Whoso keepeth
his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected,” etc.
at is absolute. If I am only saying an idle word, it is not
keeping His word.
is is an immensely blessed truth. Because if I was
under law and took His word in that way, I should have
nothing to do with life. It tells me to love God, and in
that I fail. But here the revelation I have of God in Christ
is perfect love. e love of God is manifested, and if His
word dwells in our hearts, His word is love and His love is
perfected in us. “ If a man keepeth his word, in him verily
is the love of God perfected.” In him-not only towards him
If the word is kept, that word is the power of Christ in us,
and that is the perfect love of God enjoyed in the heart.
We may fail in keeping it, but the Apostle does not give
these kinds of modications, but the truth in itself; and it
is thoroughly true, and experienced in the measure that the
word of God is kept in the heart. e Holy Ghost is the
power, but we cannot separate this from the word. He is
in us, and we have got that love in our souls-God’s love as
manifested in Christ. Supposing I am disobedient, I get sin
in my heart instead of Christ.
“ Whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of
God perfected; hereby know we that we are in him.” Now
he says we are in Him. We dwell in God. If I say I am in
Him, I have got this strength and shelter in Him. Now you
must walk as He walked. Christ is my life. en I must
walk like Christ. It is not be as He was; but we are not
to walk according to the esh. erefore he does not say,
Notes on 1John 1
331
You ought to be what Christ was; but “ He that saith he
abideth in him ought himself also so to walk even as he
walked.” If you say you abide in Him, you are there always:
you should always walk as He walked. ere is never any
reason for walking after the esh. e esh is in us, but
that is no reason why we should walk after it. I am always
at liberty to walk spiritually. ere is liberty before God as
to the walk. If I have got a eshly nature, a commandment
comes contrary to the will of that nature. I want to go into
town, and I am ordered o into the country. I do not like
it. But supposing I was longing to go into town, and my
father says, You must go into town; why then to do the
commandment is liberty. So now all the commandments of
Christ are according to the nature that I have got already.
Christ is my life, and all Christ’s words are the expression
of that life. And therefore when Christ’s words are given to
me, they only give me the authority to do what my nature
likes to do. All the words of Christ are the expression of
what He was. ey told out His nature and life and being;
and, when we have that nature, they guide and direct us.
erefore it is real and holy liberty. We ought to walk even
as He walked.
“ Brethren I write no new commandment unto you, but
an old commandment, which ye had from the beginning.
e old commandment is the word which ye have heard
from the beginning “; that is, from the beginning of Christ-
His manifestation down here.
“ Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which
thing is true in him and in you,” etc. Because they were
looking for something new. One thing, he says, I boast of
is that it is old, because it is what Christ was when upon
the earth. But if you will have something new, it is Christ
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
332
as your life by the Holy Ghost now. It is “ true in him
and in you,” because the darkness is passing and the light
now shines. It was true in Him when here below, but now
all this truth of the divine nature is as true of you as of
Christ. erefore it is new enough. It is old, because it was
in Christ Himself; but it is new, because it is in you, as well
as in Christ Himself.
So far we have had the rst great principle of the divine
life-obedience-walking in righteousness. Now comes the
other side: loving the brethren. You are in the light, for
God is light. Well then, God is love, and you cannot have
one part of God without the other. If you have the light,
you must have the love. Christ, when He was here, was the
light of the world; but He was love too, and therefore if
you have Him as your nature, you will have both. “ He that
saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness
even until now. He that loveth his brother abideth in the
light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him.” In
its very nature and way there is no occasion of stumbling.
“ But he that hateth his brother is in darkness and walketh
in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because
that darkness hath blinded his eyes.” is is true really in
detail; because, if I am walking in hatred to my brethren,
I am walking in darkness. But the apostle only gives the
principle here. Love is an old thing, because it was in
Christ on earth; but it is a new thing, because it is true in
Him and in you. “ He who commanded the light to shine
out of darkness hath shined in our hearts, to give the light
of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus
Christ.”
We get there what I may call the characteristic tests of
Christ our life. One is light-obedience-for no righteousness
Notes on 1John 1
333
can be, unless it is obedient. Christ says, “ Man shall not
live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out
of the mouth of God.” erefore we get this principle of
obedient dependence which is righteousness. e other
is love. Here then we have, rst, as a supplement to the
previous chapter, the advocacy of Christ; and then, in the
other parts of the Epistle, the tests of this divine life as
manifest in obedience and love to the brethren. In the life
of Christ Himself all was most wonderfully, perfectly, and
blessedly brought out.
is comes in now as breaking in upon the general
course of the Epistle, and giving an account of why he
wrote, and what he felt in writing. And rst we nd him
speaking to all Christians, whom he calls “ My children,”
and then addressing dierent classes of Christians, and
telling why he wrote to them. It is his heart opening itself
out to those to whom he was writing; and then we get
some important practical truths.
In verse 12 the word “ children “ is the same as in verses
I, 28, but dierent from the “ little children “ in verses
13, 18. In the former he is speaking of all Christians, and
calls them his “children”; whereas, in the other verses, he
distinguishes between the young men, fathers, and the
little children [babes] (paidia) or the youngest Christians.
But in verses I, 12, 28, the word teknia includes all saints.
“ I write unto you, children, because your sins are
forgiven you for his name’s sake, verse 12.” at is true of
all Christians. It is their universal condition. He had said
before, “ Hereby we know that we know him, if we keep
his commandments.” is was not to throw any doubt
upon Christians being forgiven, but to stablish them in
the truth, inasmuch as he says, “ I write unto you children,
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
334
because your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake.” is
was a settled thing; they were all forgiven, and he wrote
unto them because they were forgiven. A person that is
not forgiven, the Epistle does not apply to. He takes that
ground in writing to them. He says, “ I write unto you,
children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name’s
sake.” Such was the common condition of all Christians.
But now, when he comes to the dierent classes of
Christians, there is a dierent character and position given
to each of them. “ I write unto you, fathers, because ye
have known him that is from the beginning.” Amongst the
children of verse 12 there may be old Christians and babes.
e fathers had known “ him that is from the beginning.”
We have seen before, this means Christ in the world, His
Person manifested in esh. “ Ye have known him that is
from the beginning.” at is where all experience ends; not
in a knowledge of self merely as being occupied with it,
but in such a knowledge as empties us of self, and gives us
Christ. When a person is a young Christian, he is occupied
with his feelings; it is all fresh and new to him, and it is
right enough. He feels such wonderful joy in being forgiven.
But, as you grow up, you get more and more emptied of self
and occupied with Christ. Christ is this, and Christ that.
In verse 14 he only repeats the same thing when writing
to the fathers. He has a great deal to add when he writes
to the young men, but to the fathers, it is still, “ Ye have
known him that is from the beginning.” We learn our own
foolishness and weakness, and so are cast upon Christ, and
learn more of the depths of His grace, the perfectness of
His Person. All right experience ends in forgetting self and
thinking of Christ.
Notes on 1John 1
335
Next, he comes to the young men: I write unto you,
young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one.”
Having Christ with them, they have got strength in conict
and in service-they have overcome Satan.
en he says, “ I write unto you babes, because ye have
known the Father.” Here again, we get another remarkable
fact as to what he thought about Christians. at is, the
babes in Christ-they that were but little children-had the
Spirit of adoption. He has no idea of the weakest Christian
not knowing that he was a child of God. To know Christ
well, in the riches and excellence of His Person, is to be a
father in Christ. But the youngest Christian knows that
he is a child, and that the Father is his Father. It is like all
Christians being forgiven-it is his place as a Christian. “
We have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear,
but we have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we
cry, Abba Father.” It is not that you will not nd persons
doubting. You will nd many a person who, if you ask
him whether he is a child of God or not, will think it very
humble to doubt about it, but who, in his prayers, cries,
“ Abba Father,” with all his heart. It is between him and
God. Repeating it over again, he has nothing to add to
what he has said to the fathers, because all ends in Christ.
With the young men he goes more into detail because
of the diculties of the way, and he brings out the secret
of strength for them-the word of God, in the midst of this
world, where nothing is owned of God-God’s mind comes
into this world, and that is what we want. ere is no way
in the desert, as it is said in the Old Testament. e word of
God shows God’s way in the midst of a world where there
is none. erefore, when they are in the conict, he says, “
I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong,
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
336
and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome
the wicked one.” at is the word by which Christ Himself
overcame when the wicked one came and oered Him all
the kingdoms of the world, He answered by the word-He
overcame the wicked one.
en he warns them: “ Love not the world, neither the
things that are in the world. If any man love the world,
the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the
world, the lust of the esh, and the lust of the eyes, and the
pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.” ese
things belong to it. All the glory of this world is not of the
Father at all. And the more we look into John, and indeed
all through the New Testament scripture, we may see
these two great systems brought out plainly. He does not
say you do not love Christ. But there is one great system
that belongs to the Father, and another that belongs to the
world. Everything belongs to God as a Creator; but morally
all is departed from Him. It was the devil that made this
world, looked at as a moral world. God made paradise; and
man sinned and got out of it, and then made up this world.
Cain went out from the presence of the Lord and builded a
city, and called it after the name of his son. en God sent
His Son, and they would not have Him, and thus it was a
judged world. God has put it fully to the test-without law,
under law, and then by His Son; and then He says, It is
all judged. But then He has a way of His own, the Father
has, and you cannot have both. If you love the world, the
love of the Father is not in you. You may be tempted by
it, and have to overcome it; but if you love it, the love of
the Father is not in you; because He has got a system of
His own, and you are going to the other system. It is so all
through. In the Gospel we get divine life in the Person of
Notes on 1John 1
337
Christ, and in the Epistle this divine life in the persons of
Christians. In John 8 you will see the same truth. “ Ye are
from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am
not of this world.” ere is no middle path with God. If
they are of this world, they are from beneath; and if they
are not of this world, they are from above. He says, I am not
of this world; I am from above: because He came from the
Father. You are of the world, and therefore from beneath,
because it is Satan’s world. So here-if the love of the world
is in you, the love of the Father cannot be. ere is another
divine system, where the love of the Father is displayed,
and if you belong to that, you have to overcome the world.
It is not of the Father; it does not belong to that system.
en he adds this: “ e world passeth away, and the lust
thereof; but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever.”
Satan’s works cannot last. ey are seductive while they are
there, but they cannot last: “ but he that doeth the will of
God abideth forever.” We have the same thing in Peter’s
Epistle, “ All esh is as grass, and all the glory of man as
the ower of grass. e grass withereth, and the ower
thereof falleth away, but the word of the Lord endureth
forever.” So here. “ He that doeth the will of God abideth
forever “he that follows that word. e word of God brings
all this into us, and that is what we have to follow.
Now he turns to the third class, having given this
warning to the young men. For when a Christian is rst
converted, he would not thank you for the world. But
when he has got on a little, the freshness fades; the world
gradually eats out his freshness. If he is not careful, if his
soul is not full of the things that are not seen, he gradually
slips into the world. If he is full of Christ, he does not
even see the things around. In chapter 5 John speaks of
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
338
overcoming the world. ere is the loss of all power and
spiritual enjoyment, if the spirit of the world comes in:
you cannot think of the things which the world suggests
and the things of the Father at the same time. If the Holy
Ghost is suggesting divine things to me, I have the present
consciousness of belonging to all these things.
He turns, in verse 18, to the little children, and he tells
them, “ It is the last time.” at is a remarkable expression,
because eighteen hundred years have gone on since then,
and it remains equally true that it is the last time; only
the Lord, in His patience, is waiting, and not willing that
any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
But it is the last time, because the power of evil has come
in. When Christ was here, and was rejected, the power
of evil was in the world. en, when God raised up the
church by the presence of the Holy Ghost, while Christ
was on high, so that a man was in heaven, and the Holy
Ghost in the world; there came power of redemption into
the middle of Satan’s world. at was not the last time.
But now antichrists had come in, and he says, “ this is the
last time,” because even this had failed, and nothing will
come after this but judgment. “ Little children, it is the last
time; and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even
now are there many antichrists, whereby we know that it is
the last time. ey went out from us, but they were not of
us; for if they had been of us, they would not doubt have
continued with us; but they went out, that they might be
made manifest that they were not all of us.”
ese babes in Christ had broken with the world;
they had done with its course. But here was a new kind
of evil in the very place of divine power; persons setting
up themselves, and abandoning Christ, and this was more
Notes on 1John 1
339
dangerous. ey had broken with the world, and knew
what it was. But here comes in spiritual wickedness in
heavenly places. He warns the babes against these enemies
of the last times. ank God, we have the warnings now.
e apostle Paul even says, these are the last days, which
is stronger still. But there is entire security where Christ is
looked to. It is remarkable how he looks at the presence of
the Spirit of God in the saints. He may be a babe; but God
will not suer him to be tempted above that he is able to
bear. ere may be the young men, but God gives them
discernment; they know not the voice of strangers. ese
people may come to them with ever so much pretension,
but it is not a voice they know. ey know the voice of
Christ, and they follow Him.
We saw that the babes in Christ knew the Father,
and now we nd further that these very babes have the
divine unction, so that they will be able to judge through
divine knowledge. He is pressing upon them their own
competence, not as others, in themselves, but as taught of
God, to avoid all snares. It is the subtlety of Satan, and
therefore he warns the little ones more against it. “ But
ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all
things. I have not written unto you because ye know not
the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the
truth. Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the
Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the
Son.” Here he gives us the full character of the antichrist.
ere were many antichrists, because the spirit of it had
come in. Here it is the full character of it. It takes a certain
Jewish character, denying Jesus to be the Christ; and it is
opposed to Christianity, denying the Father and the Son.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
340
en he presses another point of immense importance,
because people in these days use a great many fashionable
words, such as development.
“ Let that, therefore,” the apostle says, “ abide in you
which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which
ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye
also shall continue in the Son and in the Father.” It is the
Person of Christ. Instead of talking about the church as a
body that teaches, I say it is taught.
e thing that is revealed is the Person of the Lord Jesus
Christ, that which was from the beginning. But if my soul
is resting upon that, the truth about Christ as taught by the
Holy Ghost, I am taught of the Father. “ at which was
from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have
seen with our eyes … of the word of life.” And now he says,
“ Let that therefore abide in you which ye have heard from
the beginning.” It is the Person of Christ that is the great
thing, and it was by the revelation of Him that the church
itself was formed. It exists in virtue of being taught of God.
e church does not teach-had nothing to do with
teaching at all. God may raise up individuals in the church
to teach, but the thing pressed upon us is that which we have
heard from the beginning. It is a test of divine truth that
we hold fast the starting-point-Jesus Christ. is is what
tests everything. Where people insist upon the authority of
the church, they never have the certainty of being children.
If I am taught of God, I shall know what I have got for
certain. Faith is always absolutely certain. If I have got the
Father, I know that I am a child. I may be a naughty child,
but still I am a child. “ If that which ye have heard from
the beginning remain in you, ye also shall continue in the
Son and in the Father. And this is the promise that he hath
Notes on 1John 1
341
promised us, even eternal life.” He has promised me eternal
life, and I shall have it; it is a perfectly settled thing.
“ ese things have I written unto you concerning them
that seduce you. But the anointing which ye have received
of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach
you; but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things,
and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you,
ye shall abide in him.” ere is real divine teaching. God
may use an instrument to put it before us; but there is no
real faith in the soul except where there is this unction of
the Spirit of God. ere may be convictions of sin before
we get our souls clear as to being saved. But the moment
I am divinely taught the Person of Christ, I say I have got
eternal life-the life that God sent into the world.
A babe in Christ being most in danger, he enters into
these kinds of warnings; but a person grown up into
Christ knew very well where these things came from.
What we now might think would be very learned things
in Christianity, he says to the babes; but the great thing
that marks those that are the most advanced-the fathers-is
their knowledge of Christ.
e apostle takes up again in verse 28 all Christians in
general, with an exhortation to abide in Him. You have
here God in Christ so before the apostle’s mind, that
he says “ Him,” without saying who He is. He had been
talking about the anointing-” even as it hath taught you, ye
shall abide in him.” Previously, it was rather God as such
spoken of; but “ when he shall appear,” we know Christ is
meant thereby.
“ And now, little children, abide in him; that when he
shall appear, we may have condence, and not be ashamed
before him at his coming.” If they did not abide in Him,
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
342
the apostle had lost all his work. It would have been so far
to his shame. You get the same thing in the second epistle
(v. 8), “ Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things
which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward.”
It is just what the apostle says to the Corinthians; 1Cor.
3:12, etc.) If we build upon the foundation, wood, hay, and
stubble, the work will be burnt; there will be loss: he is
proved to be a bad workman. e apostle here is pressing
upon them to abide in Christ, that he may not be ashamed
of his work. It is “ that we may have condence and not be
ashamed,” etc.-not that you may have condence, etc. It is
just what you see in the second epistle.
en he takes up the second great object of the epistle-
that communication of the divine nature of Christ, as our
life, which gives us the same traits and characters that there
are in God Himself-” which thing is true in him and in
you.” God is love, and the Christian loves. God is holy,
and the Christian is so too. In His almighty power God,
of course, is alone. But in what may be called the character
of God, inasmuch as we are born of Him, we are like Him.
And this divine nature enables us to enjoy God, as well as
to be like Him.
en, again, we see that God and Christ are so absolutely
one, that the apostle says, “ that we may not be ashamed
before him at his coming “; but immediately he adds, “ If
ye know that he is righteous, ye know that everyone that
doeth righteousness is born of him.” We are born of God;
yet he would appear to be speaking of the same one that
should come -which is Christ. We nd the same truth in
Dan. 7 e Ancient of days described there is in Rev. 1
the Son of man. We get in Christ what the character and
nature of God is in a man as living in this world; and then
Notes on 1John 1
343
he shows that it is true of us too, as having the same life.
He is righteous; and if a man doeth righteousness, he is
born of Him. He has this nature.
CHAPTER 3.
“ Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed
upon us, that we should be called the sons of God.” When
once you come to grace, we have the Father spoken of
again. We are called God’s children because we really are
so. “ erefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew
him not.” Who? Now by the “ Him “ is meant Christ. e
world knew Him not: it does not know us for the same
reason. We have the same life and character that He had.
e world cannot recognize and own what is of Christ in
us, because it did not recognize it in Christ. It is extremely
remarkable and blessed for us to see this Man, the humblest
man that ever was, and to nd out what He really was, that
God really became a man. e Word was God, and was
made esh.
We have got the same life; and when we have found
Christ, we know that we have found God in all His
blessedness close to us. And the world cannot know us.
It does not know God, and cannot know us. You will nd
persons with a diculty as to knowing whether it is Christ
or God here, because the apostle carefully puts them
together.
“ It doth not yet appear what we shall be.” It has not been
seen what we are to be. e apostles saw it for a moment
in the transguration; but, as to the manifestation of it, it
does not yet appear. But being saints of God, having the
same life, we know that we shall be like Him. He identies
God with Christ, and in a sense identies us with Him.
His glory is not yet manifested: but we shall be like Him,
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
344
for “ we shall see him as he is “-not as He will be, but as
He is now in heavenly glory at the right hand of God. e
esh could not see this and subsist. Daniel fell as one dead,
and John too, at the appearing of it. But we shall be like
Him, and therefore capable of seeing Him as He is. is
is a matter of innite blessedness. We are to be conformed
to the image of God’s Son, that He may be the rst-born
among many brethren. If we were only conscious that there
was all this blessedness, and yet had the thought, I am not
to be like it, this would not be joy: whereas we are in it with
the consciousness that we are the same. “ We shall be like
him, for we shall see him as he is “; that is, in glory as He
is at the Father’s right hand, and we shall see Him in that
way.
“ And every man that hath this hope in him purieth
himself, even as he is pure.” Ours is the hope of being like
Him-” that hath this hope in him,” that is, in Christ-the
hope of being like Himself. It does not say that he is pure
as Christ is pure. But I have got the glory; and as it is mine,
and I am going to be like Him, I must be as like Him as
I can now. I must purify myself, and He is the measure
of it. We are called by the glory to be up to it practically.
e apostle says, “ I press toward the mark, for the prize
of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” I have not yet
this resurrection from the dead, but I am pursuing it. But
when Christ comes, He will change our vile bodies-and
then we will have got it. e connection between glory and
present walk is striking. As long as we are down here in
this corruptible body, there is not a bit of glory. But the
Spirit of God applies all this glory to the aections. I long
to be like Christ, and therefore I get like Him in spirit. It
is like a man that has a bright lamp before him at the end
Notes on 1John 1
345
of a long passage. I have not the lamp till I get there, but I
get more of it at every step. So with the glory: I have not
got it till I am in it; but I get more of it the nearer I move
towards Christ.
So in the epistle to the Ephesians Christ loved the
church, and gave Himself for it. He was washing and
cleansing it, and would take away all spots. But it was that
He might present it to Himself without spot. e Spirit
takes of the things of Christ and presents them to us, and
transforms us into the likeness of Christ. In Philippians
he is speaking of the spiritual eect, by actual resurrection,
upon the heart. “ at I may know him and the power of
his resurrection … if by any means I might attain unto the
resurrection of the dead.” It is the actual thing, and he gets
it applied to his heart now. “ Not as though I had already
attained … but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that
for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.” Christ,
in grace, had laid hold of him for the glory. Now he sees
the glory, and follows after it. It is the glory in resurrection
applied to the man’s heart all along the road. So it is here.
“ Every man that hath this hope in Him purieth himself,
even as he is pure.” is bright and blessed glory xes the
aections and puries the heart and forms the proper
Christian path. It is a sanctifying hope-the soul being
occupied with Christ, so that it is kept out of the evil.
He then goes on to another thing. If I go and commit
sin, it is the lawlessness of the esh, and nothing to do with
Christ. “ Whosoever practiseth sin, practiseth lawlessness;
and sin is lawlessness.” He does his own will in spite of God
if he can. Because without the law sin was in the world.
It is a kind of background he is making. If you are not
purifying yourselves, as Christ is pure, it is the lawlessness
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
346
of the esh; it is entirely opposed to Christ. ere is no
middle path; for there is nothing good in this world. It is
either Christ or esh. Man is fallen and out of paradise,
and there is nothing owned at all of man now. God made
paradise, and man is out of it; and He made heaven, and
man is not in it. But between the two there is nothing that
God owns. God never made the world as it is, nor man as
he is, that is, not the moral state that the world and man
are in. It grew up when God had driven man out from His
presence. en Cain went and built a city, and established
himself and his seed away from God. It must be either “ ye
are from beneath,” or “ I am from above.” “ I know that in
me, that is, in my esh, dwelleth no good thing.” If the law,
then, is applied to the esh, of course the esh transgresses
it. “ And ye know that he was manifested to take away our
sins; and in him is no sin.” ere was no sin in Him; and
He came to put away sin.
en he takes in the strongest way the opposition
between the two. “ In him is no sin. Whosoever abideth
in him sinneth not; whosoever sinneth hath not seen
him, neither known him.” He is taking the two things as
opposed in every way. Because, “ If we say we have no sin,
we deceive ourselves,” he says to the same persons. But here,
“ Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not,” etc. e divine
nature cannot sin. e thing that is born of God cannot
sin, and that is ourselves so far as we are in Christ. As the
apostle says, “ I am crucied with Christ; nevertheless I
live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.” Of course, that is
not sin. e saint is never looked at as in the esh; but
“ he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is
righteous.” It is not merely that you are changed, but you
are made partakers of. the divine nature. “ Little children,
Notes on 1John 1
347
let no man deceive you; he that doeth righteousness is
righteous, even as he is righteous.” He has got the same
nature which walks in the same path.
Christ has died as regards our guilt, and what is spoken
of now is the communication of this nature. A man might
come and make a great boast of high doctrine, and not do
righteousness. en I say, is is not the divine nature. We
have it in Rom. 6 “ How shall we that are dead to sin live
any longer therein? “ You are dead. How can you be living
in sin? rough carelessness you may fall into it, but that is
not living in it. In general he takes what the truth is in itself,
that we may know it in all its force. “ He that practiseth sin
is of the devil.” He takes the opposite thing altogether. “
For the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose
the Son of God was manifested that he might destroy the
works of the devil. Whosoever is born of God doth not
practice sin.” How can he? “ For his seed remaineth in him;
and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.” It does not
say, “ he ought not to sin,” but “ he cannot.” It is not a
question of progress, but of the nature. e nature a man
is born of is the nature he has. Take any animal you please,
and this is true of it. We are born of God, and we have
got that nature, and I say that cannot sin. I have got the
treasure in an earthen vessel-that is true. e esh is there,
but the new nature is a sinless nature. It is, “ Whosoever is
born of God doth not commit sin.”
“ In this the children of God are manifest and the
children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is
not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.” ere
are the two traits which show themselves in a thousand
details of life- righteousness, practical righteousness, and
love of the brethren. Mere amiable nature you nd in dogs
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
348
and other animals, being animal nature; but the love of the
brethren is a divine motive. I love them because they are
of God. I have communion in divine things with them.
A man may be very unamiable naturally, and yet love
the brethren with all his heart; and another may be very
amiable, and have no love for them at all. Lower down,
he says, “ We know that we have passed from death unto
life, because we love the brethren.” It is the great test of
the divine nature. It is the life of Christ which is in us,
reproduced in our ways and walk. It is not merely avoiding
sin, because there is more in Christ than the absence of sin.
ere was the manifestation of the divine nature. He was
the divine nature walking through this world, and He had
special love to the disciples, as we also have special love
to the brethren. He was in the world, and as among men,
to manifest God in it. And this is what we have always to
do-to represent God in this world. “ Ye are the epistle of
Christ.” People ought to read Christ in you, as they read
the ten commandments on the tables of stone. If they read
that, they will not read evil. We have the esh to struggle
against, but not to walk after. It is not an eort to try and
be like Christ, but that being full of Him it comes out.
erefore He talks of abiding in Him. So “ he that eateth
me abideth in me.” He has become our life, but He is our
life in every-day exercises. We are sent into the world to
manifest God. en come diculties and hindrances, and
if we are not full of Christ, we give way to them; whereas, if
we are full of Christ, we manifest Him in them. If not, we
show heat, temper, or some evil thing. But there is no need
of living in the old nature. We never can excuse ourselves
for living in it, because Christ is ours.
Notes on 1John 1
349
We again see in the rst of these verses the proof of what
“ the beginning “ is here. e great thing we have to look
to, as regards life, and what that life is, is Christ manifested
in this world. “ is is the message that ye have heard from
the beginning, that we should love one another.” We get
Christ very distinctly there as the One who alone could
give us the true measure and character of all else: He is the
truth. Divine light, such as this, was not till Christ came.
He was the faithful witness. en you nd another thing:
there is the evil life or old Adam, and the true life, which
is in Christ.
Both principles are at work. In the one there is hatred
and his works evil, just as in the other we nd love and
righteousness. ese go together. It began in Cain and
Abel and has gone on ever since. ose that are really
God’s people are hated. erefore it is said that “ he was
of that wicked one and slew his brother.” “ In this the
children of God are manifest and the children of the devil:
whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither
he that loveth not his brother.” It was the spirit and nature
of the being departed from God, of which the devil was
the spring and the strength. “ For this is the message that
ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one
another. Not as Cain who was of that wicked one and slew
his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own
works were evil and his brother’s righteous.”
You must not be surprised, therefore, if the world hates
you. It is natural to man. In the rst place, Satan is the
prince of this world; and, besides that, it is the nature of
man as he is. We were in death spiritually, and wherever
that was the case, the spirit of Satan ruled and governed,
and therefore there was hatred of God’s children. But then
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
350
there is this new life, and “ we know that we have passed
from death unto life, because we love the brethren.” If a
man does not love the brethren, he abides in death. at
is where we all are naturally. He is looking at the very
principle of life. If I only nd a sign that it is a wild apple-
tree, I know what the tree is. On the other hand, get the life
of Christ, and the fruit answers to it. It is not a change of
human nature as it is, because this abides in death. But the
new life that comes is a life that bears its own fruit, just as
that which is grafted into a tree. What sprouts up from the
old stock is what came from the nature of the tree before. “
Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer, and ye know
that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.” He has
not this good graft. It is a clear case.
en he rises up to the source of it. “ Hereby perceive
we love.” What is this love? How can I tell it? In that He
laid down His life for us. And if Christ is really my life, He
will be the same thing in spirit in me, as He was Himself.
Christ kept the law because He was born under it. But the
law calls upon man to love God and his neighbor, and that
Christ did. But, besides that, He was the manifestation of
God’s love to man, and specially to His disciples, when
they did not love God. is is what we are to be. Christ,
who was the activity of His love, laid down His life. We
perceive what the love of God is by this. But you ought to
manifest the same thing. It is an immense privilege. Not
only am I required to do certain things, but I am called
upon to be a witness of God in a world that is without
Him. And there is no limit to it. I ought to go as far as
Christ went. And there have been some that have done
this to death. Many martyrs have laid down their lives for
Christ. “ We ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.”
Notes on 1John 1
351
Besides the immense privilege, it is an essential truth. We
have to manifest God in this world, because Christ is in us.
at is, if we are children of God, there is communion with
the source of it, and then there should be the display of it in
our walk-the epistle of Christ known and read of all men.
“ Whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother
have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from
him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? “ We have
another mark there in the dwelling of the love of God. It is
not merely love to God, because it is the spirit in which a
person walks himself towards his brethren. It is the power
of this divine nature dwelling in us which will show itself
in love to God and man. e love of God dwelling in us is
the way of God Himself, who through the Spirit thereby
brings His love into us. It is not God’s love to us, but it is
the power of that love working in us, and therefore it will
soon show itself to others. “ My little children, let us not
love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.
And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall
assure our hearts before him.”
Now he looks to the eect of walking with God, as
giving, not the knowledge of forgiveness, but condence.
He wrote to them because they were all forgiven; but if
I want to have my heart assured before God, I must walk
in this way. If my intercourse with God causes my heart
to condemn me, you cannot call it condence. If I am not
walking according to God, I must either get away from
Him, or if I nd myself in His presence, His Spirit is
constantly reproaching me, and that is not condence.
“ For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our
heart, and knoweth all things.” He knows a great deal
about me that I do not know myself. If a child has got a
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
352
bad conscience, he sneaks about, if his father is coming but
if not, he runs to meet him and throws himself into his
arms. But he cannot have that kind of condence, if his
heart reproaches him. at is what we have always to look
for: to be with God, and in entire condence with Him-no
thought behind that perhaps he has something against us,
not as to condemnation, but as to present condence. How
far it goes, the entire full counting upon God-counting
upon His present activity for us! It is not only a question
of the day of judgment, but it is the present dealing of the
soul with God, and of God for the soul. “ Beloved, if our
heart condemn us not, then have we condence toward
God.” In chapter g it is said, “ is is the condence
that we have in him, that if we ask anything according
to his will, he heareth us.” We are brought into a present
condent spirit with God, so that we expect everything
good from Him. If a child is going on naughtily, he cannot
go on in condence. He may say, My father loves me, but
he is going to give me a whipping. But when the heart is
all right, the child expects everything that ows from his
father’s love. So here, “ Whatsoever we ask, we receive of
him, because we keep his commandments, and do those
things that are pleasing in his sight.” is has nothing to
do with acceptance, but with the every-day outowing of
the Father’s kindness, so that the child counts upon it. It is
the terrible eect of looking at acceptance and forgiveness
as the end of the Christian’s course, that this condence
is almost unknown. e apostle began with forgiveness: “
Your sins are forgiven you, for his name’s sake “; and now
he is speaking of the condence of the heart towards God.
You get this in John 14:23: “ If a man love me, he will keep
my words; and my Father will love him,” etc. is is not
Notes on 1John 1
353
the grace that saves. In the epistle John says, “ We love
him, because he rst loved us.” e Lord says, “ He that
loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him
and manifest myself to him.” He is speaking of the present
exercise of this love to Christ.
It is a great thing to say, I have only to ask according
to God’s will, and I am sure to get it. He loves us in such
a way that I can ask nothing without an answer. I want
power and I get it directly. I want some hindrance removed
out of the way, and it is removed directly. I may ask my
father here for something, and he may tell me, I cannot do
it; I cannot attend to you. But this is never the case with
God. You can ask nothing, according to His will, without
getting it. In a right path I have the whole power of God
at my disposal. I may see mountains before me-all Satan’s
power. But never mind. If you are walking right, “ ask what
you will, and it shall be done for you.” You have thorough
present condence in God. He is never too busy to hear us.
All that we can come about is ours. “ Whatsoever we ask
we receive of him, because we keep his commandments,”
etc. It is the direct government of God with our souls.
is is where the question, between us and God, right and
wrong, comes in. As regards our responsibility as men, we
were ruined. Now we are saved, and God’s dealings meet
us on that ground, and then He delights to do everything
for us. It is not what we will, but “ whatsoever we ask.” It
is the will of the new nature, that is, obedience really. In
that path of obedience God always heard Christ, for He
was obedient, and God hears us; He puts us, in this life of
Christ, into the same place as Christ.
“ And this is his commandment that we should believe
on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
354
as he gave us commandment. And he that keepeth his
commandments dwelleth in God, and he in him. And
hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he
hath given us.” He comes now to another most important
point. Not merely that there is life, but that God by His
Spirit dwells in us. ere is power of communion as well
as life. God dwells with Him who is love. It is not merely
that I am redeemed. But as it was said of Israel, “ ey shall
know that I am the Lord their God that brought them
forth out of the land of Egypt, that I may dwell among
them “; so it is said of us, “ Your body is the temple of
the Holy Ghost.” Christ was the obedient One, and God
dwelt in Him; and he who is an obedient one now, God
dwells in him. Christ said, “ Destroy this temple, and in
three days I will raise it up.” In us it is only derivatively by
His Spirit, but still He dwells in us. In the obedient man
God dwells as in Christ Himself. “ And hereby know we
that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.”
at is, it is the presence of the Holy Ghost with us that
gives us the consciousness that God dwells with us. He
does not add in this latter part of the verse that we dwell in
Him; but simply that the eect of the presence of the Holy
Ghost was and is, that we know that God abides in us.
CHAPTER 4.
en he warns them against false spirits; verses 1-6.
Every spirit is not the Holy Ghost. Many false prophets are
in the world. e saints must beware. e question is not,
whether a man be converted; but whether he who speaks,
speaks by God’s Spirit or a demon. e touchstone is the
confession of Jesus come in the esh. He who is guided of
God confesses Jesus Christ Himself so come (not merely
that He is come). To confess His coming is to recognize a
Notes on 1John 1
355
truth; to confess Jesus Christ come in the esh is to own the
Person and lordship of Jesus. Once a demon is discerned,
it is important to treat it as a demon: otherwise your sword
is broken in your hand. To yield to human considerations,
to play the amiable under such circumstances, will nd you
powerless against Satan. It is not to have communion with
God in His thoughts of Satan. How precious is the word
before such dangers! Holding it fast, with uprightness and
humility, nothing will stumble us. God is faithful, and will
guard the feeblest of His own. But outside this submission
to God and His word, no matter what may be the beauty
of a man’s sentiments, or his ability, he will sooner or later
fall under the power of the enemy.
But we come to a new point here, verses 7-16. Besides
the life of Christ, there is the dwelling of God in us and
of us in God. is was fully manifested in Christ, and the
more we think of that, the more we shall see that the new
life we have is a dependent life. Our Lord Himself said,
“ Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word
that proceedeth out of the mouth of God shall man live.”
erefore we see He was a man praying always-leaning on
His Father. For though He was God, He never used this
to take a false position as man; but He took the place of
dependence. And it is where He puts us-in the place of
dependence, and therefore the place of power from above.
It is not a question of sincerity, but of that lowliness which
is the sense of dependence and looks for help and power
from another.
What a privilege and motive for holiness that God
dwells in us! And when we want to glorify God, the
presence of His Spirit is the power. How distinctly God
has come into close communion with us, and brought us
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
356
into intimacy with Himself by forgiving us and saving us
and giving us a life in which we walk with Him! It is a life
of constant trial here, but of having Himself by the Holy
Ghost as our power dwelling in us as we walk through the
world. And this is what we have to see to-that the life of
the saint should be developed according to Christ. And
it is there that daily experience comes in, and we nd our
weakness if we are not looking to Christ.
Another great fact, brought in at the close of what we
last saw, was the giving of the Holy Ghost. In verse 1 of
this chapter, the apostle drops that to distinguish between
spirits, not merely evil men. But there is a much greater
action of Satan going on in the church of God than we are
apt to suppose; and if we do not treat it as such, there is no
power. If we come to terms with it, we cannot have power,
because God cannot come to terms with Satan.
en there is another thing in verse 6: “ We are of God:
he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God
heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the
spirit of error.” Receiving the apostles’ teaching is one of
the tests of knowing God. “ He that is not of God heareth
not us.” A person that does not listen to the Scriptures as
such is not of God at all.
He comes now, with the additional fact of the Holy
Ghost being given, to the third part-love of the brethren-
and shows you how deep its source goes. It is not merely
obligation, or righteousness, but the very nature of God
Himself, what He is, as Christ is the pattern of human
righteousness. He goes to the very nature of God Himself as
such. “ Beloved, let us love one another; for love is of God.”
It comes from Him, having its source in Himself. “ Love is
of God.” Because we have got His nature, we can say that
Notes on 1John 1
357
“ every one that doeth righteousness is born of him.” But
there I stop. It is a course of righteousness. But now I say, “
every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.” It
is not merely duty that I do; it is the true nature itself that
I have. If a person has this nature, he has that of God. John
is not speaking of mere natural aections: these you have
in the brute beasts. But it is a question of the divine nature.
at which marks divine love is, that it thought of us while
we were yet sinners. It is above evil. Where sin abounded
grace has much more abounded. He that loves knows God.
at is a great thing to say. I know what a man is because
I am a man. An animal cannot tell what I am, because he
has not my nature. In that way, when we love, we have
the nature of God-we know what God is. ere may be
a great deal to learn, but still we have got the nature, and
therefore know what that nature is. “ He that loveth is born
of God, and knoweth God.” If that new nature is in me, I
enjoy it; I have a nature capable of enjoying it. Every nature
enjoys what is suitable to it. If we have the divine nature,
we enjoy God. We know Him in the way of enjoyment of
that which belongs to our very nature.
“ He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.”
If I have it not, I do not know Him, because that is what
He is. It is an immense truth, as regards the saints, that I
know God. I have got the nature that enjoys God: and that
is what our everlasting enjoyment will be.
“ In this was manifested the love of God towards us,
because that God sent his only-begotten Son into the
world, that we might live through him.” e apostle turns
outside to get the proofs of this love. He is not looking
inwards, as others do. “ Herein is love, not that we loved
God, but that he loved us.” If I want to know divine love,
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
358
God’s love, I do not look within; because “ Herein is love,
not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his
Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” ere is another
thing here which shows the perfectness of this love-it had
no motive. It is what God was. ` If we love them that love
us, what reward have we? ‘ e manifestation of this love
has a double character here. First, the Son is sent to be
the propitiation for our sins; He loved us when we were
guilty and deled. “ God so loved the world that he gave
his only-begotten Son,” etc. God’s love to us has its proof
in this-when there was nothing at all in us to bring-when
there was not a movement in us towards God, there was in
God toward us. We had no spiritual life, but we were guilty,
looked at as born of Adam. erefore this love is a perfect
love. It has no motive in us, and, therefore, is perfect in
itself; and it is exercised towards us according to our need.
Here we have the proof of this love. “ Beloved, if God so
loved us, we ought also to love one another.” How he draws
the practical conclusion! If God has so loved me, I ought to
love the brethren. I ought to get above all the disagreeable
things and untowardness, because God loved me when I
was as untoward as possible.
Now we come to another thing. It is God Himself
present. Not merely have I got the divine nature, but God
is present in a very remarkable way. “ No man hath seen
God at any time.” How can I know and love a being that
I have never seen? “ If we love one another, God dwelleth
in us, and his love is perfected in us.” e Apostle Paul
expresses it in a dierent way. e love of God,” he says,
“ is shed abroad in our hearts.” Now, what makes it so
remarkable here? If we look at John 1:18, it is said there, “
No man hath seen God at any time.” How can I know and
Notes on 1John 1
359
love a person I have never seen? “ e only-begotten Son,
which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.”
at is, in the Gospel, which is to bring Christ before us, I
nd the sense to be this: Well, you have not seen God, and
yet you have; because He who was the very delight of the
Father-who is in the bosom of the Father-the immediate
and closest object of the Father’s delight-He has declared
Him. erefore I do know Him. It is the answer to the
diculty, that no man ever saw God. Christ has made Him
known to me. Here, in the Epistle, it is, “ no man hath seen
God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in
us, and his love is perfected in us.” at which is revealed in
Christ is brought directly into our own hearts, because the
Holy Ghost is in us. When Christ was in the world, it was
the Son casting out devils and doing mighty works. And
yet He said, “ e Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth
the works.” Now, by the Spirit, He says, “ We will come
unto him, and make our abode with him.” He makes God
dwelling in us the answer here to not seeing God; as Christ
being in the world was then the answer to not seeing God.
Having washed us in the blood of the Lamb, He comes
and dwells in us. We have a knowledge of God in that way.
“ If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love
is perfected in us.” It is not merely that the nature is there,
but God is there. “ Hereby know we that we dwell in him
and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.” is is
the way we have the consciousness that we dwell in God,
because, as God dwells in us, and He is innite, we have
the consciousness of dwelling in God. He is our home: we
dwell in Him. He is our abode. It is the presence of the
Holy Ghost that gives the consciousness of God’s being
there.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
360
Still he turns back to objective truth. “ And we have
seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the
Savior of the world.” I have God within me, and have the
knowledge of that love. How did He prove it to me? By
sending His Son to be the Savior of the world. e proof
of it is that which has been done without me-not anything
within me. A person might say, But I have not got that.
en I say, You have got nothing. If you say, at is too
high for me: I cannot speak of God as dwelling in me; then
I answer, You are not a Christian at all. “ Whosoever shall
confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him
and he in God.” He does speak of the blessed consciousness
of it as our portion, but then he declares that it is the truth
as to every Christian; and therefore if I am not enjoying
it, there is something that is hindering me. If we had the
Queen in the house, and did not trouble ourselves about her,
we should have no enjoyment of the honor and privilege of
having such a guest. And we may be going on in such a way
as to have no consciousness of God’s being in us. It shows
a habit of living without intercourse with the God who
dwells in us. e Christian has a life from God, which lives
with God. He says therefore, after having spoken of this, “
We have known and believed the love that God hath to us.
God is love, and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God,
and God in him.” at is the kind of character he gives of
a Christian: “ We have known and believed the love that
God hath to us.” ere is no uncertainty. “ God is love, and
he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God,” etc. It is the very
nature of God.
Now he goes on. We have seen the love manifested when
we were mere sinners, when we were guilty and dead. is
was the starting-point with us. We were spiritually dead:
Notes on 1John 1
361
there was not a single movement in our hearts towards
God. And then God loved us. But we had a natural life
from Adam, and therefore were guilty; and then God sent
His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. en the next
thing is, that we dwell in God and He in us: we have this
blessed communion by His being in our hearts. en he
comes to the third thing in verse 17. “ Herein is love made
perfect with us, that we may have boldness in the day of
judgment; because as he is, so are we in this world.” Now
it is not merely that He has loved me when I was a sinner,
and that I enjoy Him in communion, but that all fear for
the future is taken away entirely. I get boldness for the day
of judgment; that is a dierent thing.
It is blessed love that Christ came into the world for
such sinners as we. But then there is the day of judgment.
When I think of the love, I am all happy; but when I
think of the judgment, my conscience is not quite easy.
ough the heart may have tasted the love, the conscience
not being quite clear, when I think of judgment I am not
quite happy. is is what is provided for here. “ As he is,
so are we in this world.” e love was shown in visiting us
when we were sinners; it is enjoyed in communion; but it
is completed in this, that I am in Christ, and that Christ
must condemn Himself in the day of judgment, if He
condemns me, because as He is, so am I in this world. I am
gloried before I get there. He changes this vile body and
makes it like to His glorious body. When I am before the
judgment-seat, I am in this changed and gloried body; I
am like my Judge. If He is my righteousness, as He is so I
am now; because it is Christ’s work, and Christ’s work is
nished, and Christ is appearing in heaven for me. And
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
362
though I have exercises and trials of heart, yet, ` As he is, so
am I in this world.’ ere love is perfected.
God Himself can do nothing more blessed than to make
me like Christ in His presence. ere is an end of judgment
practically as an object of dread, because I am as clear as
my Judge. He judges by His own righteousness, and that
is my righteousness: I am that. I am united to Him, and,
in that sense, am the same as Himself. ere love is made
perfect, that I may have boldness in the day of judgment.
ere has love been shown, and it makes me miserable if
my heart does not answer to it. I have not got boldness in
the day of judgment. ere is a judgment, and in order that
love should be perfect in our hearts, there must be no dread
of judgment. In order to have all its perfectness, I must
have boldness in the day of judgment, and that I have by
being as Christ is. is is true now. It is not that we have
got the glory yet; but it is true as having Him for my life,
and being united to Him. Now he draws the conclusion at
once. “ ere is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out
fear.” Fear is all gone. If I am dreading my Father, I cannot
enjoy His love-there is torment in that. Love casts out fear.
ere is nothing to fear if God loves me perfectly, and does
nothing but love me. at is what the Lord Jesus says: “ I
have declared thy name unto them and will declare it, that
the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them and
I in them.” And so again He says, “ Peace I leave with you,
my peace I give unto you.” e same peace that He had
Himself He has given unto us. He was not dreading His
Father. He had ineable peace and delight. Well, “ As he
is, so are we in this world.” en comes, as a consequence
of knowing this love, “ We love him, because he rst loved
us.” at is the fruit and consequence in our hearts. All
Notes on 1John 1
363
this love which He has shown to us has been in us and is
perfected with us. “ We love him because he rst loved us.”
e heart turns back in thankfulness and love to Him.
But now, as through this Epistle, the apostle brings a
kind of counter-test. “ If a man say, I love God, and hateth
his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother
whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath
not seen?” If His image in the saints does not draw out any
aections, you do not really love Him. You may say you do,
but it is not true. We nd running all through the Epistle,
this kind of counter-test. Another remarkable thing we
see here. Even love itself does not get out of the place of
obedience in its exercise. “ And this commandment have
we from him, that he who loveth God love his brother
also.” However blessed may be the workings of the divine
nature in us, it is always in the shape of obedience. is was
true even of Christ. Speaking of His own death, where His
perfectness was brought out fully, He says, “ e prince of
this world cometh and hath nothing in me. But that the
world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father
hath given me commandment even so I do.” It was still
the commandment, as well as love. So love makes us serve
and love the brethren, and yet it is obedience. Whatever
is not obedience is not Christ. It is not a commandment
against our nature, because we delight in doing what God
commands. Still it is obedience, although it is the obedience
of a joyful nature that has pleasure in obeying; and that,
through God’s dwelling in us and revealing Himself in that
very way, in this nature in our souls.
It brings the position of the Christian to a wonderful
point- his actual condition in the way of connection with
God. It is not merely that the Holy Ghost dwells in us
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
364
in the way of power (this would be a proof of the Holy
Ghost’s, that is, of God’s, being in us, yet it would not prove
that we are in God), but that we dwell in Him. When we
think what kind of enjoyment and privileges we have here,
what foolish creatures we are not to realize God more and
to enjoy Him! “ e diligent soul,” it is said, “ shall be made
fat.”
CHAPTER 5.
ere is a kind of summing up in this chapter of who
these are: not what they are, but who they are, and what
that is in which they have part. It was loving the brethren,
for instance, we were seeing in a previous chapter. Now
comes the inquiry, not who is my neighbor, but who is my
brother? “ Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ,
is born of God: and everyone that loveth him that begat
loveth him also that is begotten of him.” It is not now
a spiritual or moral test to see: whether the love is real,
but we get those who are the children of God, and then “
everyone that loveth him that begat, loveth him also that
is begotten of him.” at is, if it is really this divine love, I
shall love those that are born of God. If it is for the parent’s
sake, I shall love all the children, and this is the way in
which it is put here.
But in verse 2 he gives a counter-proof that it is genuine.
I know that I love God by loving the children of God;
but I know that it is really loving them if I love God and
keep His commandments. If I love them as His children, I
shall love Himself. It runs all through this Epistle, a kind
of countercheck which is of the greatest use. If it is the
Holy Spirit, it is the Spirit of truth too. I have thus the
means of checking one thing by another. I might seem to
be loving God’s children very much, while it may be only
Notes on 1John 1
365
a party feeling. But if I love God, I love all for His sake.
Anything else may be merely a feeling of human nature.
It is the bringing God in which sets all right. In 2Peter it
is said, Add to brotherly love, love. By this we know that
we love the children of God, when we love God and keep
His commandments. If I love them as God’s children, it is
because I love Him that begat them. It takes them all in,
but it always takes Him in, and therefore it is a question of
obedience. “ For this is the love of God, that we keep his
commandments; and his commandments are not grievous.”
e great diculty is the world; but faith vanquishes
it. “ For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world;
and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our
faith.” ere is a nature we have received which belongs
to a system which is not of the world at all. “ Ye are not
of the world, even as I am not of the world.” “ Ye are from
beneath, I am from above.” is world, as a system, is of
the devil- not of God at all. All that is in it, “ e lust of
the esh, and the lust of the eye, and the pride of life, is not
of the Father, but is of the world.” e Father is the head,
and source, and blessedness of a great system to which the
world is entirely opposed: and therefore when the Son
came into the world, the world rejected Him, and this has
put the world, as a tested world, in perfect antagonism to
the Father. We always nd that it is the esh against the
Spirit, the world against the Father, and the devil against
the Son. “ Whatsoever is born of God overcometh the
world.” It is truth which sancties. e diculty is the
world. We look on the things that are seen, and not on the
things that are not seen, and therefore we are weak. e
victory that overcomes the world is our faith.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
366
It is not merely a nature that is given to us, but as
creatures we must have an object for this nature and this is
the Lord. I must have the true object, and therefore, “ Who
is he that overcometh the world but he that believeth that
Jesus is the Son of God? “ He is occupied with something.
When I nd that the One whom the world has spit upon
and crucied is the Son of God, I say such is what the
world is. And therefore when my faith really rests upon
Jesus as this despised One, the Son of God, I have done
with the world; I overcome it as an enemy.
ere we have the short account of these saints. ey are
born of God: they are a set of people that belong to Him as
those that are alive; they live in another world that belongs
to the Father. He then speaks of the spirit and power in
which Christ came, that by which we are connected with
this scene of blessedness that belongs to the Father. “ is
is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not
by water only, but by water and blood.” is goes back to
a most vital principle that we have had all through the
Epistle. If it had been by water only, John the Baptist came
by water. e word of God, if only applied to man as a
child of Adam, could not purify him. Christ coming into
the world by that put man to the test; and man was God’s
enemy, and, therefore, there was no mending him at all. It
then became a question of redemption, of blood, as well as
water, and that life was in the Son; not in the rst Adam,
but in the Second. “ is is he that came by water and
blood.”
ere is a cleansing, as we know; but this is the eect of
redemption on the new life. It was out of a dead Christ that
the cleansing came. A living Christ coming into the world
presents Himself to man to see whether any link could be
Notes on 1John 1
367
formed between God and man. But then was man nally
condemned, and death comes in. It was always so. ere is
no life in us. “ If ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in
your sins.” And that is the reason why He says you must eat
the esh and drink the blood. If you do not take Him as a
dead Christ, you have nothing, for that cleansing came out
of a dead Christ. It is death to the old thing, and a new life
entirely is brought in.
en there comes another blessed truth. We have a
dead Christ, now alive for evermore; and next we have the
Holy Ghost dwelling in us. But this is all as belonging to
a new world. “ ere are three that bear witness-the Spirit,
the water, and the blood.” We have three witnesses, the
Spirit bearing testimony; the water, the cleansing power;
and the blood, the expiatory power; and these all agree in
one. ere is no cleansing of the old nature, but there is a
new nature given. “ God hath given us eternal life, and this
life is in his Son.” It is not by mending the old Adam, but
it is life in the Son. “ He that hath the Son hath life, and
he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.” ere is
no life belonging to the old man, it is a rejected thing, and
there will not be two Adams in heaven. Here is the Son,
and those that have life in the Son. God began working out
this since the fall, but the full truth of it was brought out
when Christ was risen.
en there is another point in connection with the truth,
and that is, the knowledge of it. “ He that believeth on the
Son of God hath the witness in himself,” because we have
got Christ, through the Spirit of Christ in us. erefore I
know that I have eternal life-that I am a child of God. We
have got this blessed consciousness and comfort. e work
has been wrought, the blood is shed, and, besides that, I cry,
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
368
Abba, Father, through the Spirit that dwells in me. at is,
“ He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in
himself.” He has got the thing; in a word, he has Christ.
e fault of the unbeliever is not that he has not the
blessing, but that he makes God a liar. God has given an
adequate witness about His Son; and “ he that believeth
not God hath made him a liar.” And therefore a person
rejecting the gospel is rejecting God’s testimony about
His Son. e witness was sucient. We read of many
who believed on His name. But they did not overcome
the world, because there was no real faith. Jesus did not
commit Himself to them.
“ And this is the record, that God hath given to us
eternal life, and this life is in his Son.” It is of all importance
to see that it is not a mending of the nature that we have
already, but the giving to us one that we had not before, in
receiving Christ as our life. And all the rest is accomplished.
e Spirit is the Holy Ghost present in the world. e
water came out of Christ’s side as well as the blood. Water
cleanses what already exists. e water is the washing by
the word- but not without the power of the Holy Ghost.
It is the application of the word by the Holy Ghost. But
besides that, the water gives the idea of the washing by the
word; and therefore he says we are born of water and the
Spirit.
One thing remains-the present condence that we have
with God. “ ese things have I written unto you that believe
on the name of the Son of God, that ye may know that ye
have eternal life, ye that believe on the name of the Son of
God.” And then there comes every-day condence. “And
this is the condence that we have in him, that if we ask
anything according to his will, he heareth us.” We are really
Notes on 1John 1
369
reconciled to God. It is not an uncertain condition with
God, but we are at home with Him. We have condence
in Him. It is not merely the fact that we have been saved,
but we have present condence. “ And if we know that he
heareth us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the
petitions that we desired of him.”
But there is another privilege we have-that of intercession
for others. And now, too, we get just a hint at the dealings
of God in the way of government with a man that is saved. “
If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death,
he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not
unto death. ere is a sin unto death: I do not say that he
shall pray for it. All unrighteousness is sin; and there is a
sin not unto death.” In the case of Ananias and Sapphira,
there was a sin unto death. ere is a constant dealing of
God in government with His children, when if the sin be
not of that character as unto death (it may go on to it), it
is a question of discipline. ere is many a sickness that
is a discipline of God in some shape or another-positive
discipline, which, if the heart were bowed to God about it,
would be for good.
Chastenings are not always for actual faults. In Job it
is said (chap. 33: 18, 19), “ He keepeth back his soul from
the pit, and his life from perishing by the sword. He is
chastened also with pain upon his bed, and the multitude
of his bones with strong pain “; and that we nd from verse
17 is for the purpose of hiding pride from man. en in
chapter 36 the chastening is for positive faults (v. 9). “ en
he showeth them their work, and their transgressions that
they have exceeded. He openeth also their ear to discipline,
and commandeth that they return from iniquity.” ere
was a positive discipline of God. It is not merely here that
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
370
there is this discipline, and that if there is a “ messenger
with him, one among a thousand, to show unto man his
uprightness, that there he is gracious unto him, and saith,
Deliver him from going down into the pit,” etc.
But now, as a Christian, you are competent yourself to be
a messenger. e Christian having the title of intercession,
and walking with God, he has this access to God to be
heard in whatever he asks. When then you see a brother
sin, and come under the discipline of God you go and be to
him this messenger, one among a thousand. It is a matter
of discipline and chastening for sin: and if this intercession
be used, he will be restored. It supposes a person walking
with God to be able to be this interpreter.
“ We know that whatsoever is born of God sinneth
not.” e man is living after the esh, if he is giving way to
sin. e new nature sinneth not. If he sins at all, therefore,
it must be because he is acting in the esh. If we walk in
the Spirit, Satan has no power over us at all. “ He that
is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one
toucheth him not.”
“ And we know that we are of God, and the whole world
lieth in wickedness.” He sums up all in these two verses. “
e whole world lieth in wickedness,” and “ we are of God.”
We blink at things that are so plain sometimes, in order to
save a little bit of the world. But “ we know that the Son
of God is come, and hath given us an understanding that
we may know him that is true: and we are in him that is
true, even in his Son Jesus Christ.” God being revealed in
Christ, and we being in Christ, we have got our place in a
scene outside the world altogether.
We have here, too, a remarkable witness to the divinity
of our Lord Jesus Christ. “ We are in him that is true, even
Notes on 1John 1
371
in his Son, Jesus Christ. is is the true God and eternal
life.” It is an immense comfort; because, when I have found
Christ, I have God Himself. I have found Him; I know
Him; and I know what He is to me. “ He that hath the Son
hath the Father also.”
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
372
63029
Fellowship With the Father
and the Son: 1John 1
e great purpose of God, in all His dealings in grace, is
to bring us-and to bring us individually too-into fellowship
with Himself. “ Truly our fellowship is with the Father.”
us we have the full knowledge of God, as far as it can be
known by men, and that in full communion with Himself:
not in the way of creation-that is, not merely as creatures,
but in “ union “; and we are made partakers of the Holy
Ghost that there may be power; “ we dwell in him and he
in us.” ere cannot be anything more intimate.
It is not knowledge or science that has anything to
do with this; for if it be but the human mind working on
the things of God, it is but that “ high thing that exalteth
itself against the knowledge of God.” Babes in Christ have
possession of these things, they have not to seek for them,
they are in possession of them, though of course they have
to ripen in acquaintance with them. Knowledge itself,
mere knowledge, pus up; but, being brought low, the
Spirit of God can act upon the soul and give knowledge in
communion with God.
Although the Epistle of John is very abstract, yet it is
abstract about things that the very feeblest saint knows in
Christ. God is brought down to our nature, for God can
come down to us in our weakness in Christ. e dierence
between the writings of Paul and John is this, that Paul
unfolds to us the counsels of God in creation-the counsels
of God towards the Jews (there are various developments
Fellowship With the Father and the Son: 1John 1
373
of Christ’s Person, as in Hebrews and Colossians); but
John may be called more abstract, because he speaks of the
nature of God Himself. e purpose and object of God is
to bring us into full fellowship with Himself.
ere are three things I would here notice. First, the
work of God by which we can stand in His presence
perfectly free from any question of sin, so that we can
enjoy all that God is. Second, justication by faith and
acceptance in the Beloved-the perfect cleansing of the
conscience, knowing we are accepted so as to be able to
be before Him in perfect peace. ird, the new birth,
commonly called regeneration. ere must be a new nature
capable of aections towards God. An orphan who never
knew a father has the aections of a child, is capable of
loving a father, and is often very unhappy because without
the object towards whom those aections would naturally
ow. So the capacity to love God is that which we get by
being partakers of the divine nature. e Holy Ghost is
that which gives us competency to enjoy these things. We
have an unction from the Holy One given to us, to enable
us to enjoy what God has given to us. ere must be our
standing in the presence of God without our conscience
being at work at all; a nature capable of enjoying God-a
new nature; and power to walk in that new nature, which
is by the Holy Ghost dwelling in us.
e thing brought especially before us is what that is
we are to enjoy: the nature of the thing brought down
to the understanding of a poor sinner; and that tries the
conscience, just as it moves the aections. God is light,
and if I am brought into the blessedness of what God
is, it must put the conscience to the test; and I ask, am I
standing in it? If I am capable of it, then I enjoy all the
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
374
blessedness of standing in the light, and am in a position
to test all that pretends to possess this character. “ God
is light.” He is bringing this home to the hearts of the
saints. And this must be by presenting Christ Himself.
ere was, at the time this Epistle was written, a great deal
made of development, and He wants to bring them back
to the truth. Science, so called, had got in. e character of
apostolic teaching was to bring them back “ earnestly to
contend for the faith once delivered to the saints.” “ But
continue thou in the things which thou hast learned.” “
at which was from the beginning.” My soul ought to
know Christ better every day. e moment I get “ God
manifest in the esh,” I cannot know anything out of Him,
but that which is false. e question of knowledge is to
give place to Christ. If I get there, nothing can shake me. I
am in Christ. “ ese things write we unto you that ye may
believe on the name of the Son of God.” Do you believe on
the Son? en rest there.
Verse 1. First, it was from the beginning; second, it was
a real substantial Person they had known familiarly, not a
doctrine; that is the blessed secret of all. If they have Christ,
then they have all that the Father has, all that is revealed of
Him: and they cannot go from that without being wrong.
ey have got eternal life, the perfect revelation of God-
the power of life in Christ. is is what is presented to us
as the full enjoyment and the safeguard of the saint. It is
ours, though that which was with the Father, yet was so
near to us; not union, but so near to us that nothing could
be so near as Christ Himself. Instead of wanting anything
between myself and Christ, it is revealed to me, so that
nothing could be so near to me as Christ Himself. is is
the eternal life that was with the Father.
Fellowship With the Father and the Son: 1John 1
375
And it is as we study the Lord Jesus Christ that we shall
have aections established towards Him, which nothing
can break. e poor woman who was a sinner had such
condence in Him that she had come to Him, and loved
Him; but the secret of our joy is to know the love of Christ
to us; and then we have condence in Him, understanding
that God has come so near as to reveal Himself, and inspire
condence. e more we go out and study Christ-the more
we penetrate into His ways-the more we learn the depth
of all these riches in Him, the more is His divine fullness
revealed to us. If it is His taking little children up in His
arms, I see in it what God’s character is. “ He that hath
seen me, hath seen the Father.” Having truth thus revealed
in a Person, I get it for the humblest, lowest, poorest,
sinner, because it is a personal act of our Lord Jesus Christ.
“ at which was from the beginning.” And now, mark, this
“ Word of life,” while it shows what God was in Christ,
shows it communicated to us; and everything, true or false,
is tested by this. So he asks, “ Is there love? “ No. en it is
not of God. “ He that loveth not knoweth not God.” is is
now what John teaches, he brings me up to the object-what
God was. “ at which we have seen with our eyes “; “ God
is light “; “ the blood of Jesus Christ his Son, cleanseth us
from all sin “; the communication of life to the Christian;
the height of the source of the life communicated to us. But
in the Gospel of John you will nd, “ of his fullness have
all we received, and grace for grace,” “ which thing is true
in him and in you.” “ An old commandment which was
from the beginning “; now a new commandment, become
true in Him and in you. He called it a new commandment,
though an old one-a simple truth that Christ Himself is
become our life, “ that the life of Jesus might be manifest
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
376
in our mortal bodies.” If a poor sinner is converted, he has
the life communicated from Jesus up there, which comes
down to the lowest need in us; and yet how high it rises!
is Gospel begins before creation. Genesis begins
with creation, and gives the scene in which all is to be
acted; but John gives Him who created, and states the
pre-existence of God. “ ou, Lord, in the beginning hast
laid the foundation of the earth,” “ thou art the same “-we
get Christ before the creation, and then in creation. “ e
Word was made esh, and dwelt among us,” and became
the source of life; and we receive our life from Him who
existed, before all worlds, from everlasting. We receive our
new nature from Him, and are united to Him who was
before the world, and who created the world. is has a
double eect (if right with God), lifting our hearts up in
ten thousand, thousand thanks, while it manifests the life of
Jesus. e least thing manifests the life of Jesus. Whatever
does not manifest Him is of the world; whatever is not the
manifestation of the life of Christ in our souls, it is sin.
And do not think that a hardship. No; rejoice in it. I would
have your hearts enlarged; as the apostle says, “ be ye also
enlarged.” Oh to have Christ so before the eye as to be able
to judge everything in His light!, Do not think it is great
learning; no, there may be the lust of the mind as well as
the lust of the esh; but if in communion with God, we
discern all things.
I call your minds back to see the way we received the
life; it was in the humblest and simplest way. He who came
into the world to save sinners, He has made us vessels of
His fullness. us we have fellowship with the Father and
with the Son, and display it. “ Truly our fellowship is with
the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.” e eect is, we
Fellowship With the Father and the Son: 1John 1
377
have the Father and the Son, and we have nothing more to
seek. I have the Father and the Son. Can I get truth outside
the Father and the Son? I may have more to learn. If a man
is on the ocean, there may be a great deal he has to discover
of it, but he has not to get there; he says, I am there. So I
am in the truth. I have got a great deal to learn; but I am
in the Father and the Son, and I am in the truth. I do not
want to seek it if I am in it. I have the very eternal God in
whom I dwell-I have come to the Father. When there is a
consciousness of this, O what comfort and what peace! It
not only guards us from evils without, but it gives spiritual
rest within. If I am striving to get something, I have no
communion. If I want to get to the sovereign, when I am
in His presence already, I have no communion; and if I am
not brought up there, I cannot have the sense of what the
conscience ought to be in God’s presence. e joy is, that
our fellowship is with the Father, and not that of getting
there.
“ ese things write we unto you that your joy may
be full.” ere is where God brings the saint if there is
humbleness. And if there is not humbleness, we shall slip.
When we lose the sense of God’s presence, the sense of
it, I say (because we are always in His presence in truth),
we are at the point to sin. My natural character or esh
will show itself if I am out of His presence. ere is such
a thing as the saint’s dwelling in the conscious presence
of God without fear. If there is anything between me and
God, my conscience will be at work; but when the Spirit
is not grieved, the soul is in the presence of God for joy;
learning holiness, it is true, but in joy, because occupied
in communion instead of in detection; and that is a great
thing. ere is such a thing as being in His presence without
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
378
the conscience having to be exercised, and in perfect joy. “
My peace I give unto you.” What was that peace? ere
were no vagabond aections- there could not be, and so
there was full peace of heart with God. Christ was divinely
perfect-all His aections always in tune with God. Now,
through the grace and power of God, we may be brought
to that, Christ having been revealed to the soul, the world
is cast out, and Christ is everything, and there is perfect joy.
is is often what our experience is after conversion, but
afterward the love to Christ grows less fervent-the world
creeps in little by little, and we have less joy.
ere are three things which characterize a Christian.
First, “ he is in the light as God is in the light.” Now God
had said to Israel, “ I will dwell in the thick darkness “; and
at Sinai told them to keep o; “ for if so much as a beast
touch the mountain it shall be stoned.” ere was a great
deal of good there, but He was in His pavilion of darkness,
not seen. God acted towards Israel, but did not show
Himself. Now the veil is rent from top to bottom, and all is
light. It is the very nature of the truth we are in, that God
is now manifestly revealed, and he that is come in through
the veil stands in the light of God’s holiness, perfect purity
in itself, and it shows everything that is not so. Second, “
Fellowship one with another.” We are there together, and
all have fellowship by the same Holy Ghost dwelling in all.
ird, We can be there because “ the blood of Jesus Christ
cleanseth us from all sin.” e more thoroughly in the
light, the more it is seen that there is no spot on us through
that blood. is could not be said of a Jew; but now the
righteousness of God is set forth, and we are brought into
the light as He is in the light. Is this a thing that makes
you unhappy, or gives you joy of heart? If we are true of
Fellowship With the Father and the Son: 1John 1
379
heart, we shall be glad of the light to detect the darkness in
us. “ Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and
know my thoughts: and see if there be any wicked way in
me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” We do not want
to escape from the light, but to be searched by it-not with a
pretension that we have no sin, but the consciousness that
the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin. For the
eect of being in the light is, that we confess our sins. “ In
whose spirit there is no guile.” ere are two things there,
the confession and the love.
Verses 1-4 are that there may be no deception. en in
verse 5, “ is then is the message which we have heard of
him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him
is no darkness at all.” Now that is the test when Christ is
known in the presence of God: there is no question about
sin. How came I there? I came through the blood-then I
have got peace. If I am reasoning about God, this is another
thing; but if we have got there, we got there through the
blood, and this gives peace, a peace which is never lost.
ere is a peace which may be lost: happy at rst, while
fresh from conversion, and all is easy and smooth with us,
our hearts attracted by the grace of Christ; but if failure
comes in, conscience is awakened, sin alarms, and we lose
our peace, so that we do not know where we are. Until we
have apprehended that we are brought to God-where we
never could be brought if there remained a spot of sin upon
us-we cannot know settled peace in our souls, as spoken
of in Hebrews, “ no more conscience of sin “; and that is
enduring peace. e power of the aections of the new
nature forms a link of fellowship with God; and only as we
keep in the light, shall we know the practical enjoyment
of it. We must be in the light that evil thoughts may be
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
380
shut out, so that we may have fellowship with God. In how
many things, in our intercourse with one another or with
the world, self comes in and is not judged by us! ere is
a practical consciousness in the Christian that he cannot
go on without God, and he judges, waits, and confesses,
trusting in God, and thus his heart is kept calm and in
peace.
ere are two things. First, e manifestation of the
eternal life-for it has been manifested to us. Second, We
are partakers of it, I have fellowship with the Father and
the Son. He has communicated to us that nature, so that
we can delight in His fellowship.
e Lord give us to keep ourselves in the love of God-
in His presence, in the light, detecting everything that is
not of Him, judging it, and thus to be in the enjoyment of
His love.
If our hearts were as simple as the word of God, our
perception of its truths would be as simple and as easy. But
it is not so. In a certain sense it could not be so; nor ought
it to be so, till our hearts and thoughts are brought into
subjection to God’s thoughts. ere will be no simplicity
till the conscience is purged; because, till the soul is
brought to God, all is confusion and darkness on account
of sin. In partial and dimmer light there is often terror,
because everything is confused. So when the conscience is
at work, until we are brought to set to our seal that God
is true, and learn that all our thoughts perish, all our ways
are foolishness, terror and confusion reign in the soul.
But when brought to this, our hearts become as simple as
the word. It is a great matter to have the heart exercised.
God would have, and will have, the mind and conscience
exercised. But till our thoughts are brought into subjection
Fellowship With the Father and the Son: 1John 1
381
to God’s thoughts-our own thoughts utterly set aside-we
cannot have blessed and happy thoughts of God. When
our thoughts ow in the current of God’s thoughts-when
His thoughts become ours-it is blessed in every sense.
e conscience is blessed, the heart is blessed; and you go
on cheerfully. Not so when God speaks, and we begin to
reason; setting up our thoughts against, or mingling them
with, God’s revelation. at is not simplicity. Till the soul
is bowed to receive God’s thoughts you cannot, and ought
not, to have perfect peace. I have sin in me; how then can
I have peace? Here is the diculty. For, “ if we say we have
no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” If
the revelation of God in Christ shines into me, I cannot say,
“ I have no sin.” What follows? “ If any man sin, we have
an advocate with the Father.” Here, then, I nd how I can
have fellowship with the Father, and with His Son Jesus
Christ. Christ the Advocate with the Father, maintains
us in the communion we are apt to lose. is is the great
secret which breaks down human pride-entire subjection
to God’s thoughts. If God has given a revelation, and I am
not subject to it, it is unbelief and rebellion. God says, “ the
blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanseth us from all sin.” If
I say, “ I have done this or that, and God cannot forget; He
knows all, and He must remember “; I am found reasoning,
and not submitting to God’s thoughts. I am concluding
what God must be, from what I nd in myself, consequent
on the light which has shined in.
How then can I have peace? God does not mean us to
take up things lightly, without exercise of soul. When the
light of God shines into the conscience, sin is felt, and seen
too, where it never was seen before. God shines in, and I
nd darkness. God cannot have to do with darkness. I nd
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
382
that in me which God cannot accept. How can God accept
me?
I am always glad to see a conscience exercised thus. It is
all useful to convict of sin. It is good for the light to probe
to the bottom of the heart. It is awful to think what the
human heart is-I do not mean in the gross forms of evil.
ere is something in the selshness, the cold calculating
reasoning of man’s heart, worse than all the sins one could
enumerate- yes, even of the decent man who keeps his
character! Is there one single motive which governs your
heart, decent and sober as you are, which governed Christ?
Is there one feeling in your breast which was in Christ? Not
one. What governs men? Selshness. Not so Christ. ere
was no selshness in Christ. In Him all was love. Love it
was that brought Him down. Love gave Him energy when
hungry and weary at the well. Love carried Him on, one
constant unfailing stream of love. Never was He betrayed
into anything contrary to it. Deserted, abandoned, betrayed,
still there was one un-wearying action of love. Selshness
can feel love. It is even lovely to man’s mind, though he is
the very opposite of it. Yet some are amiable and beautiful
characters. But how do they use their amiability? To attract
to self! self governs man. Selshness need not be put
into him; it is there. All is sin from beginning to end-all
self. Whatever be the form it takes, it is vanity. Is it not
true of every one that will read this, that some personal
gratication, perhaps some little bit of dress, has more
power to occupy the thoughts, than the agony of Christ?
Not that He would have us always occupied with that; He
would have us occupied with His Person and glory.
When I want to prove, then, is that we cannot think
badly enough of what our hearts are. It is well that we
Fellowship With the Father and the Son: 1John 1
383
should know it, for we cannot have the truth without in
some measure judging the root and principle of evil within.
But then have we any power to remedy the evil? No, none.
But when brought to God, happily we get miserable about
it. When there are desires after truth, I hope, because I see
some goodness in God; but hope is dashed by seeing some
evil in myself. at is not simplicity. It is judging God by
some sort of knowledge of what I am. It may be true and
righteous; but it is law. e principle of law is, that God
is towards man according to what man is towards God.
It is the principle which conscience always will act on; for
according to conscience it is right. e evil is not in this,
but in the fact that I am not brought to total despair. e
light has not yet broken down the will, so as to make me
cry out, “ I am vile, and abhor myself in dust and ashes.”
Beloved friends, if I take the ground of expecting
anything from God, in virtue of what I am towards Him,
all is over! there is nothing but condemnation. God is holy,
and I am not. God is righteous, and I am a sinner. e end
of all these exercises of soul is to make you cry out, “ I am
vile,” and that is all. God is holy, and I am not. He is holy,
and must be holy, and ought to be holy. Would you have
Him lower Himself down to what you are? No, never. I
may tremble before Him when I think of it, but I would
not have it otherwise. No person quickened into the divine
nature could deliberately wish God to come down from
His holiness, to spare one sin; because he has learned by
that same nature to hate sin. My heart has tasted a little
of love in God Himself; for He cannot reveal Himself
without revealing love. e law shows man what he ought
to be, but does not show what God is. It says, love God,
and it shows me that I ought to love, but does not tell me
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
384
who or what the God is I am to love. Job said, if I could but
nd Him! However distracted and broken to pieces under
the hand of God, he felt that if he could only nd Him,
he would love Him. “ ough he slay me, yet will I trust
in him! “ Flesh is always under the law. Realizing by faith
the precious truth that the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses
from all sin, then all is easy, all is peace. Flesh comes in and
troubles, and the soul is down; and it is up and down; and
the evil is that the soul gets habituated to such alternations,
and not to walking in communion with God.
To think that God is going to condemn me is not
fellowship with His thoughts. What is fellowship?
Common thoughts together; common feelings, aections,
objects; one heart, one mind. us we have fellowship with
God! How wonderful! Fellowship with the Father and the
Son. How so? Why; what have I received, if I have not
received God’s thoughts? Does not the Father delight in
the Son? and do not I delight in that there is all beauty
and perfectness in Him? Do not I delight in a soul being
converted? Is it not your delight that Christ should be
perfectly honored and gloried? and is it not God’s too?
If God’s thoughts are the spring of our thoughts, can we
wonder that our joy should be full? e Holy Ghost gives
thoughts, and our hearts are too narrow to take them in in
all their fullness and power; but our joy is full, nay so full
that it runs over. It is not that we are not inconsistent to
the end. e peace and rest that we get is, that there is no
modication, no change, in God Himself.
If we say there is this or that inconsistency in me, and
how can such as I look to God, and begin questioning, we
get back to law-to judging by my own good-for-nothing
heart of what God is. Would I have you indierent to
Fellowship With the Father and the Son: 1John 1
385
sins? No! but I would you had so settled and constant a
judgment of the esh, as vile and cannot please God, as
to give yourself entirely up. Many of us have to learn this
by detail-by failing, and failing, and failing. It is better to
learn it by a ray of light shot from God’s credited word-to
believe, from His report that, from the rst shoot it puts
forth from the earth to the last fruit it bears, it is the old
tree, and will never bring forth anything but wild grapes.
A hard lesson this, but a true one. Are your hearts brought
to say, in God’s presence, I know that “ I am carnal, sold
under sin? “ Have you come to this point, to accept the
entire judgment of God against yourself? Terrible! But you
must get there to know more full blessedness. Have you
ever sat down satised to know that the self that is sitting
there cannot please God? When it comes to that I give up
all thoughts of judging God by what I am; for then He
could only cast me out of His presence! I am not looking to
gain eternal life. I cannot; I have failed. Where then shall
I nd that which I so desperately want? Why in this was
manifested the love of God (v. 2). Himself is manifested.
e life you want is come by another. “ Grace and truth
came by Jesus Christ.” You are just the opposite to Jesus.
How did you nd that out? Jesus is manifested, the eternal
life which came down from the Father, to you, because you
could never have got your heart up to it. If Christ is not
my life, where is it? Is Christ my life? Yes! and what a life
I have. It makes me see sin in me-true. But if I have the
sin, have I an imperfect life? A life which, perhaps, God
cannot be pleased with? No; it is given from God, because
I am mere sin. God sent His Son that I might live through
Him. It is God’s free gift. Where is responsibility then? As
regards getting, there is none. It is in the using! Do I weaken
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
386
responsibility? Nay, I give it all its force. If you are under
the law, you are either weakening its authority (for if I say
God is merciful and will give a reprieve, I destroy the law),
or you established the law, proving its utter condemnation,
and that you are dead through it-a lost sinner-alive by the
life of Christ.
“ is then is the message which we have heard of
him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him
is no darkness at all “ (v. 5). God comes in as light. Sin
is darkness. Light has no fellowship with darkness. Light
being come in, we must so stand in the presence of God
that, in the full light of His holiness, no spot at all is seen
in us. Do you walk thus in the light? It is a real thing. e
walk is what a man really is. Can you stand in the light, as
God is in it without a veil between, walking, not according
to the light, but in the light? Have you ever walked in such
sort, knowing, without an eort in your conscience, that
you are in the presence of God? If not, how have you been
walking-going on for a few brief years? Whither you know
not-in the awful folly of the human heart-in a constant
state of moral madness! Have you ever had it all told out in
your conscience, alone with God, all that you ever did? A
long tale! at is what you have done, that is what you have
thought, and I saw it all! Would you like thus to be told
out, alone with God, the things that perhaps were not done
before men, just proving that you thought more of man
than of God? Is it all going to sink into oblivion? Have you
thus been manifested to God, as the apostle speaks?
Here is a message-mark who brings it! A message by
Christ. To bring me to Christ-to God-to judge? No! But
to bring me to One who has come to put away all that He
has made manifest! I breathe again: what a comfort! I can
Fellowship With the Father and the Son: 1John 1
387
desire now that everything should be known, everything
I have even thought of, because it is up Him who came
to put it all away-not to hide, nor excuse, but to put it all
away. e Son of God has died for it all. It is God putting
my sin away, instead of putting me away. I am in the light,
but the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses me from all sin. I
get the witness of God Himself, God who is light. If He
does not show a spot in me, who will? Do I say, there is no
spot in my nature? No. But it does not depend on what
I am; it depends on God, in whose light I am. e God
who manifests me tells me that the blood of Jesus Christ
cleanses me from all sin! God has loved me perfectly. How
do I know that? Because of what I am? No: I know it from
what God is, and from what He has done; and my soul
rests in constant, perfect, undisturbed peace; for God has
revealed Himself to be what He is, and has revealed what
He has done, in that Christ died; and what He has done
never can change-He never changes. It is in the power
of an accomplished salvation that the soul rests, and not
on anything that is yet to be done; so that there can be
no change. e blood of Christ alone blots out my sin. If
Christ did not do it perfectly, when will it be done? But
He has done it. “ By one oering he hath perfected forever
them that are sanctied.” When faith, by divine teaching,
has laid hold on this, faith does not change either. “ e
worshippers once purged have no more conscience of sins.”
One word at the close on that which is important to
us all- communion or fellowship. Is communion never
interrupted? Yes! But God’s love is not interrupted, nor my
condence, though my communion may often be; for God
cannot have communion with a single sin-with an idle
triing thought- so that, when such come into the mind,
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
388
we cannot have communion. What is the resource then?
e answer is given in chapter 2:1, “ My little children,
these things write I unto you that ye sin not. And if any
man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ
the righteous.” It is not here the Mediator with God, but
the Advocate with the Father. Communion with the Father
has been interrupted.
Advocacy is founded on two points: that He, the
righteous One is in God’s presence, and that He has made
propitiation for us. We have fellowship with the Father
and the Son, and we lose it through sin or folly. Christ
comes in as the Advocate, and the Spirit of Christ works
according to advocacy, and restores communion, brings us
back to fellowship with the Father and the Son. Here is the
remedy for daily failure. Our position is fellowship with
the Father and the Son.
“ at our joy may be full.” Have you been brought to
this? He has made peace. Have you got it? Take no rest till
you have it. Tolerate no sin; but see that God has put it all
away by the blood of the cross. God forbid there should be
any levity about sin. Nothing is so impossible as that God
can brook sin. But He can put it away. Have you, by faith,
attained this rest, rest in that eternal life which came by the
shed blood, never to be shed again? Beloved friends, only
be sure of this, that God is love; that in all His ways with
you, He is love, and He would have you happy. You cannot
be happy in evil. Because He is love, He would bring us
to know this love and nd therein our rest. Aye, and He
would have us reckon on Him as regards our failures. I
have sin in me, and I have no strength save in Him. If I
cannot, or do not, go to Him when there is sin and failure,
where am I to go for strength? Moses said, Ex. 34:9, “ If
Fellowship With the Father and the Son: 1John 1
389
now I have found grace in thy sight, O Lord, let my Lord,
I pray thee, go among us; for it is a stinecked people;
and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for thine
inheritance.” Could you go up with the stineckedness you
have without God? “ Go with us,” says Moses, “ because it
is a stinecked people.” You will never get the victory over
sin, nor indeed properly judge it, unless you have God with
you. Christ can give us to hate the sin and strengthen us
against the thing we hate. God is love. I know it in Christ,
and I have Him against the evil that would hinder me-the
thing I feared would be too much for me. “ We have known
and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love, and
he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.”
It is a great mercy that God has not left us in the dark as
to our state before Him. Now men, by nature, have a notion
of judgment. Even the heathen have this; and much of the
Christianity of the present day is little more. Men try to
conduct themselves in such sort as to stand in judgment,
tempered perhaps by mercy. ey confound what is never
confounded in the word of God-judgment and mercy.
Now Christ did not come to leave men there; He did
not die to leave men there. He came to put men in a totally
dierent condition. If the Son of man came into the world
and died, it must have been for some great purpose. He
brought down into this world the whole light of grace and
truth-all that was needed to change the whole relation of a
man to God; He came with it.
In verse 3 we get the object of writing this scripture,
that we may have fellowship with the Father and with
His Son Jesus Christ. It speaks of such an entire putting
away of sin, and such a knowledge of God’s thoughts about
the Father and the Son as that we may have fellowship
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
390
with them. What a wonderful thing! Not a mere natural
thought of judgment, but companionship of heart with the
Father and the Son. Does this leave any uncertainty as to
our state at the great day? No. He is not to have fellowship
and intimate friendship with us and then condemn us. No.
ere is such a cleansing as that all that could hinder this
fellowship is forever put away.
Mark how far a man’s thought is from that naturally. He
says, I have not this fellowship, this joy: God is in heaven
and I on the earth. Well, if it is so, you have not got the
good of the gospel. If you have not fellowship with the
Father, you are not thinking about Him at all, or else you are
dreading Him. You have not fellowship, you cannot have
fellowship, if you feel criminal before Him. It is anything
but fellowship. e will is not broken down when there
is dread. But how is this? Why! is not your heart given
to pleasure, to money? Are you not after the esh, after
things which are quite contrary to God, and contrary to
fellowship with God? “ e carnal mind is enmity to God.”
is is our state naturally, and what the word of God calls
darkness; not merely being in the dark, but darkness itself,
just as God is light. It is in you that the evil is. ere is the
insensibility of a drunkard; but besides this, there is the
fact that he loves to gratify a vile lust. “ Ye were sometimes
darkness.”
And what is this darkness? Corruption of nature.
Compare yourself with Christ. He is the pattern of what is
good. Are you not just the very opposite? How came you
to be so? All the objects for which you are living are just
the opposite of that for which Christ was living. You are
living for pleasure, for money, for fame, and for a thousand
other things, while He was ever living unto God. I am not
Fellowship With the Father and the Son: 1John 1
391
speaking of your outward life, but of your motives. All that
is governing your life is the opposite of what governed
Christ. Suppose a person brought up in lth from his youth;
he does not know that it is lth. He has got accustomed to
it; and why? Because his heart is as lthy as his clothes or
his house.
Now we are so accustomed to sin that we do not see it
to be sin. What does that prove? Just that we love it. “ is
is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and
men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds
were evil.” e rejection of Jesus is the proof of it. You may
say that, if you had lived then, you would not have done as
they did, you would not reject Him. Are you sure of that?
What are you doing now? Do you see any beauty in Him?
Do you see one bit of darkness in yourself? When He is
brought in testimony before you, you do not see beauty in
Him. at is darkness. We love our lusts, and we do not
love the Lord Jesus Christ. at is our state. Christ is not
the thing that governs and possesses our hearts day by day.
If so, how can we have fellowship? “ God is light, and in
him is no darkness at all.” But you are darkness, and how
can you have fellowship with Him? You are darkness in
your conduct, in your will, and in your judgment; for your
judgment is governed by your will, your motives, desires,
etc. He is holiness itself, “ light,” which is pure and which
manifests everything. But if He manifests everything in
you, how then can you have fellowship with Him?
Now this is a message of what God is, “ God is light, and
in him is no darkness at all.” He cannot give up His light,
He cannot have fellowship with darkness; and it would not
be a blessing if He did. But it is a message brought down
here. It is not in heaven, but here that we have the message,
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
392
“ God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.” “ If we say
that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we
lie, and do not the truth.” If you call yourself a Christian,
you are saying that you have fellowship with Him; but if
you are walking in darkness you are deceiving yourself. is
is a fearful thing. God is so totally out of men’s minds, that
they have not the sense that they have got away from Him.
God is light. ere cannot be the slightest communion
with darkness. God cannot undo Himself, and destroy His
own holiness to have fellowship with darkness. You are
deceiving yourself.
Now there is another thing; “ If we walk in the light
as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another;
and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from
all sin.” God will not leave you away from Himself. If He
makes you happy, it is in Himself. Now this is what natural
conscience dreads-to be in God’s presence. God, as He is,
without modifying one bit of His holiness, puts us there
in the light. en I am in the light as God is in the light.
is was in Christ. What do we see in Christ? Holiness in
every thought. Israel undertook to obey God under terror,
Christ in love. Men undertake this as Israel did, under
terror of judgment. Men do undertake to do God’s will in
view of judgment. Now Christ said, “ Lo, I come to do thy
will, O God.” at is what Israel undertook, and we know
how they failed. at is what men are doing-undertaking
to have to do with God in prospect of judgment. God dealt
with Israel so to prove that they could not do it. But that
is what Christ did in grace. So when He came on earth
He was all obedience and love. Christ comes, and what do
we nd in all His ways? Separation from evil. He kept evil
outside of Him in passing through it. He touched the leper
Fellowship With the Father and the Son: 1John 1
393
and was undeled. He was love; He never did anything but
love. He was the living expression of the holiness and love
of God in the midst of sin.
When the truth of that is brought into the conscience,
when I see that I have slighted the Christ, and preferred
idle vanities to Him, how it shows me what I am! When
I see the love of Christ, does not that come and say, “ O
you are a wretch to prefer a bit of dress to Christ, to take
anything when Christ is disliked for it! “ And when thus
brought into the light, in the presence of God, we judge
ourselves. I judge rightly what I am, and what I have been
doing, all the while I have been in darkness. I must, of
course, see the light; therefore it is by faith. Not that I may
realize all, but yet I judge all in God’s presence and hate
myself. And it is just when we begin to think that God
does not hate us that we begin to hate ourselves. When
the spirituality of the law comes, we hate sin, but dread the
consequences; but when the light of Christ comes, we hate
sin through and through, and there is humbleness. I hate
sin and abhor myself. Now, there is a real moral change. I
am brought into the true light. O what a dierence when a
man is brought to God; not in terror which makes him run
away, nor in full peace, but yet to a God who, in love, has
brought me into His presence to show me what I am. en,
I repeat, it is getting into the light. ere is distress at rst,
but so much the better, for the heart is set right.
“ e blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from
all sin.” Here is something more than hating sin. We are
in the light. God will not enfeeble that light so as to allow
one shade of darkness. He loves us so much as not to dim
one ray of His glory, but He is doing that which will make
us happy in it. Instead of allowing sin, He cleanses it away.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
394
If walking in the light as He is in the light, how do I
get there? Not in Christ’s life merely, for I need His death.
ere the light was more shown than in His life. ere
God is shown to be intolerant of all sin. God Himself has
marked there, in the cross, that He cannot tolerate sin. And
if Christ was holiness Himself, it shows more clearly the
fearfulness of sin put upon Him. If God and Christ are
to settle the question of sin between them, they must do
it according to the perfection of their own knowledge of
it. ere light and sin met. Light is turned into judgment
against sin. Light did meet the sin, and in judgment. Where
are we to get the fruit of this? Now take the cross; there
He was giving Himself up, all that He was for us. ere
never was a time in which light and love came out so as
on the cross-the perfection of light, because of obedience;
of love, because of giving up of self. Never was there such
obedience as when Christ was made sin. All is brought
to the same focus, that I may see light and love in Christ.
Why all this? at the blood of Jesus Christ His Son may
cleanse us from all sin.
Now that I am brought into the light, what do I see? Sin
on me? No, I see it was laid on Christ. I see light dealing
with sin on Him. When I learn the extent of sin, then I
learn the extent of love. When brought into the light as
God is- in the cross, I see that Christ has put my sins away;
and my being in the light it is that enables me to see it.
When I come to see sin in its fullness, I see that it is on
Christ. And now there is not merely the cleansing of my
conscience, but peace with God. It is in the light. I am in
the light, as God is in the light; and the very thing that
brings me to see sin, brings me to see sin put away. I know
too that God is love, and here I have peace. en we get
Fellowship With the Father and the Son: 1John 1
395
truth in the inward parts. If I confess sin-own all sin as
such, that is truth in the inward parts. See Psa. 32 So we
are brought in the consciousness of forgiveness into the
presence of God; and there I know I am cleansed according
to God’s mind. en I learn God’s love. In Isa. 43 God
says, “ ou hast wearied me with thine iniquities.” What
then? “ I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions
for mine own name’s sake.”
Now this is the message that “ God is light.” He cannot
change; you must. e place where this takes place is the
cross. e message is God’s perfect love. God, in love to
your souls, has not waited till judgment to tell you what
sin is, but has told it out in Christ as in His sight, and He
has done so in putting it away. Hence the fearful guilt of
despising such grace.
e special point in what we have before us here, as I
may say in all the writings of John, is such a manifestation
of the Father in the Son as should bring us into fellowship
and association with both. We have diculties: there is the
holy nature and character of God, and our state. He rst
puts this blessed thought and purpose of God, giving us
fellowship with the Father and the Son, and then goes on
to show where the diculty lies.
As Christians we have a new nature and capacity of
enjoying God, as born of God, a divine nature-” that which
is born of the Spirit is spirit “; and we have the power of the
Holy Ghost. Evil nature has some special delight; and so
the divine nature in us delights in divine things. If this were
simply so, all would be very simple; but the esh is there.
Yet it is true for all that, that we should never have had the
same kind of fellowship with the Father and the Son if we
had not these exercises with other things that are not the
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
396
Father and the Son. We have to go through temptation;
but all this brings out the love and thoughtfulness of God
about us that we never should have learned if we were not
what we are. Man in Eden would be in innocence, thanking
God and enjoying himself; but we have had Christ, that is,
God-revealing Himself fully in grace above all the sin. It
was natural to God, if I may so speak, to love creation,
but something more than natural, when God in sovereign
grace commends His love to us when we are sinners. ere
I nd what rises above all my thoughts of simple goodness;
One absolutely holy, not merely good, but a perfectly
holy nature dealing with one that is evil. at is innite
goodness, and yet it brings us in this increased knowledge
of what God is to where there has been no evil at all.
is revelation makes us know God as we never could
have known Him otherwise. e angels delight to look into
it, but it applies to the aections of our hearts as applied
to ourselves; for He does not take hold of angels but of
the seed of Abraham. I get then the Lord Jesus Christ
becoming a man, showing His holiness where sin was-not
where sin never could enter-and then the patience and the
goodness of the love, the perfect revelation of the Father.
He could say, “ Have I been so long time with you and yet
hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath
seen the Father.” “ No man hath seen God at any time; the
only begotten Son which is in the bosom of the Father, he
hath declared him.” Even if we take the highest character
of this, we have the Father’s delight in the Son Himself
revealed to us, and we are brought into it in Christ, the very
thing that should occupy us. He puts us, by the love that
sought us while sinners, into this love we have fellowship
Fellowship With the Father and the Son: 1John 1
397
with the Father and with His Son; it is there that we are
and thus so blessedly brought in.
I see a Man (one who is God over all, but still a man)
the object of the Father’s delight, and the One who had
His delight in the Father. “ As the Father hath loved me,
so have I loved you.” And “ I have declared unto them thy
name and will declare it, that the love wherewith thou
hast loved me may be in them and I in them.” It is all
sovereign grace towards me, it is true, but redemption has
brought us thus (Christ having become our life) into the
apprehension of all these delights; so that, while we are
brought to the dust as to ourselves, it brings us to full joy.
And when God revealed Himself thus, He does not say “
this is my beloved Son, you ought to love Him,” but “ this
is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased “-” I love
Him.” He reveals His own aections to the Son. When
we come to the death of the Lord Jesus, “ now is the Son
of man gloried and God is gloried in him.” I see the
sinless One, in the very place of sin where He was made
sin, perfect in love to His Father and perfect in obedience.
I say, was there ever anything like it? is perfect One,
perfect in dependence when as a victim forsaken of God,
perfect in His love, perfect in obedience: everything was
tested to the uttermost-” the cup which my Father hath
given me, shall I not drink it? “ When I see all this, my
soul as taught of God adoringly delights in it, humbled to
the dust as to ourselves, still looking at the perfectness of
this wondrous One. I suppose the soul has had peace, sin
all gone; then Christ is the blessed object of my soul, and
I learn the kind of feelings I never should have otherwise
known. He could say “ therefore doth my Father love me
because I lay down my life,” and I say therefore do I love
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
398
Him. I have got the thought of the Father about Him. It
is not merely that my sins are put away; but by the Father
thus revealing all His thoughts and ways in Christ as He
has, my soul in looking at Christ sees all this perfectness,
enough to draw out the aections of the Father because of
His perfectness of love to Him and obedience. He has set
Him at His own right hand in glory; I sit down to gaze
at Him, and see innite perfectness. e Father could not
but delight in, and love Him; and as taught of God I have
fellowship with the Father in the very most blessed objects
of His aections, the closest fullest object of His love. He
has centered all my aections; as it is said in the Epistle to
the Ephesians, “ that in the ages to come he might show
the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness towards
us in Christ Jesus “-even to angels and principalities and
powers in the heavens.
It is there where a soul is brought, when there is peace of
heart-not merely of conscience-but peace of heart through
the Holy Ghost, when peace of conscience has nothing to
do with it. If my aections are concentrated on the object
of the Father’s whole delight, I know the inniteness of
the object, and this gives peace of heart. rough sovereign
grace I have my delight in Him. My aections are feeble
and weak; but still if they are centered on this object, I
am at the inniteness of the source of delight. He is the
Father’s constant delight. His delight was to do His Father’s
will-His meat and drink to do the will of Him that sent
Him. With Him I have all things; the object is there; with
Him I know the Father. I have His Father my Father, His
God my God. I have the Spirit of adoption whereby I cry,
Abba Father. e aections ow out according to the new
nature and the Spirit of Christ. It is not supposing that
Fellowship With the Father and the Son: 1John 1
399
our aections are adequate: they never are even in human
things, but they can be concentrated-not let out to other
things. We are nite: the object is innite; condence
grows in the apprehension of it.
We are brought then in this new nature and the power of
the Holy Ghost-the Father has brought me-into the very
same place and title and name that Christ is in. “ Behold
what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us that
we should be called the sons of God. Beloved, now are we
the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall
be; but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like
him, for we shall see him as he is.” “ As we have borne the
image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the
heavenly.” e soul goes on in fellowship with the Father
and with His Son Jesus Christ. It cannot be otherwise if
you merely take the truth, because it is the Holy Ghost
that is the spring of the aections and thoughts, and He
cannot give us dierent ones from those of the Father and
the Son. For though the Holy Ghost is down here and
working in us, He brings down the things that belong
there and communicates them to us.
When I speak of my need as a sinner, it is not fellowship;
I must come as a sinner to the cross, wanting to be cleansed,
and justied. is brings me into that;” but I must come as
a sinner, I must come by my conscience, though my heart
may be attracted by the Lord Jesus; if my conscience is not
reached, nothing is done. His holy love, not mine, attracts
me; but if I come into God’s presence, He is light, and
my conscience is reached. If I anon with joy receive the
gospel, there is no root, though there may be sincerity
at the moment; where love works, it always brings light,
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
400
because God is love as well as light, and the love gives me
condence to come into the light when I nd I am a sinner.
You will always nd these two things where a soul
has to do with God: you cannot have condence without
nding out both. Why did the woman that was a sinner
come into the Pharisee’s house? Because the love of Christ
was in her heart. It is the same with every soul. God is
both light and love: He has really revealed Christ to us,
and I have condence. e righteousness of God against
sin is revealed and love to the sinner. We walk in the light
as God is in the light. It is the only way we can go to God;
I cannot come but through the cross of Christ. en, when
I am come, I nd in passing through the veil, there is not
a morsel of sin left on me in the sight of God. I am t for
the light, and then I come to enjoy God’s way in it. I have
this side in coming to God, I want the cross; but then when
I pass through, I am reconciled to God, and begin to learn
His thoughts-to look on the cross from God’s side. I come
to Him, and there I see all the wondrous blessedness of
what God is, and therefore my heart can adore, being in
peace. Having come, I have fellowship with the Father and
with His Son Jesus Christ.
First is brought out simply and absolutely that as such
he that is born of God cannot sin. Christ is his life: sin
cannot touch it-” he that is born of God keepeth himself,
and that wicked one toucheth him not.” But it gives us what
our portion, our place is. If I only get a mixed condition, I
cannot have God’s complacency in it. It is in complacency
and fellowship: our proper life is proper fellowship, and that
in divine complacency. Our proper divine life is fellowship
with the Father and with the Son. It is not a question of
being able to stand before God in righteousness; that is the
Fellowship With the Father and the Son: 1John 1
401
claim of His holiness and righteousness, not fellowship.
If it be a question of righteousness, He is estimating in a
judicial way what is before Him. And, Christ being before
Him, it is all settled. But here it is the full joy that should
be ours in this fellowship, and that by the perfect blessed
revelation of the eternal life which was with the Father.
“ For the life was manifested and we have seen it, and
bear witness and show unto you that eternal life, which was
with the Father and was manifested unto us: that which we
have seen and heard declare we unto you that ye also may
have fellowship with us.” We have seen all that is in the
Father’s heart close to ourselves in a man (v. 1). “ e Word
was made esh and dwelt among us; and we beheld his
glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father “-He
was constantly before us, and we looking on Him.
Here I get this blessed object before me, this eternal
life come down to me in which the Father has been
perfectly revealed, revealed in Him so that that which is
my life reveals the Father. It is a wonderful blessedness, a
truly blessed joy. at which perfectly reveals the Father
and represents Him has come down here in my nature.
erefore the apostle so insists on it-we have heard Him,
we have seen Him with our eyes, we have looked upon, and
our hands have handled, of the Word of life. ere is what
he rst presents; “ these things write we unto you, that your
joy may be full.”
Now comes the other side, the grace having been all
brought out. is is that which was from the beginning
(mark the word); now what does he reveal? He has a
message, “ that God is light,” which is, that He is absolute
purity, and reveals everything. is is what light does, it
makes all things manifest. “ God is light and in him is
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
402
no darkness at all “-no mixture. “ If we say that we have
fellowship with him and walk in darkness, we lie and do
not the truth.” It is the nature of God in its purity, applied
as a test of communion. is is the message that Christ
has brought, that God is light. And we walk in the light-
that is, in the thorough knowledge of God. Darkness is
no knowledge of God at all. If I take the world, the light
shines in darkness, and the darkness comprehends it not.
at is, man’s heart was the very opposite of God’s. “ Ye
were sometime darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord.”
“ If we walk in the light “-here it is not merely according
to the light, but “ in the light,” that is, the full revelation of
God, though of course we ought to walk accordingly.
Now mark another point of importance. It is an entirely
new thing that is given to us; it is that which was “ from the
beginning.” It is not as in the Gospel-” in the beginning “;
because the Word is before the creation. In the beginning
God created; but before this Christ was there and had
no beginning: when nothing was created He was-that is
where the Gospel begins. But here we have got a question
of associating man with God in a new standing, that is, in
grace, and this is what was “ from the beginning.” e old
man is set aside; it is a new start-point, God’s Son, still a
man. He is the First-born, the man of God’s delight and
God’s counsels; others are brought into the place by grace.
But the cross has come in and closed the history of man as
a lost sinner, and begun the history of the accepted man-
that is, of Christ. “ Let that therefore abide in you which
ye have heard from the beginning “-it is Christ. e law
and the prophets were before Him, but are all entirely set
aside for faith; and, Christ taking the place of everything,
I have got that which was from the beginning. “ Jehovah
Fellowship With the Father and the Son: 1John 1
403
possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works
of old; it was then I was by him as one brought up with him,
and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him.”
erefore the angels say “ glory to God in the highest, on
earth peace, good pleasure in men,” Luke 2.
Now, dealing in detail as to this fellowship with God,
God is light; where therefore there is growth, if there is a
thing in which the esh is active, this comes to the light.
e Person with whom I have fellowship is light; the light
detects if my conscience is right. I cannot have fellowship
really without my conscience being brought into the light.
He unfolds this both as to the nature, and as to the acting
of it. We have to walk in the light as God is in the light.
We could not have got it in Adam, blessed and happy and
peaceful as he was; but here I have got it. Christ is the
revelation of God in light; and if I am made partaker of
the divine nature, it is in the last Adam. “ In him was life,
and the life was the light of men; and the light shineth in
darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not.” Darkness
does not comprehend light, but light that is of the same
nature does.
“ But if we walk in the light “; for mark here that it is
not now the law. Do not call the law light. In the law I get
the measure of what man ought to be, and therefore God
says, “ I dwell in the thick darkness.” Christ meets it for us;
but when I have got this new nature, this light that comes
down from heaven, it is not what a man ought to be, but
what is t to be in the light as God is. us you cannot go
back to innocence. Here I am, a lost sinner, and now I have
found God revealed in Christ, the light of the world. is
brings me in through the rent veil, and I must be t for
God’s presence in glory.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
404
us it is in John 13. In the chapter before “ the hour
is come that the Son of man should be gloried.” It is the
third character in which He is presented in these chapters-
as Son of man. e Greeks come up, and He says, “ except a
corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone.”
en in chapter 13, “ He riseth from supper and laid aside
his garment and took a towel and girded himself.” What
was the meaning of that? “ If I wash thee not, thou hast no
part with me “-I cannot sit with you as your companion: I
cannot go on; I am going to my Father, and I must have you
t to be there. You are going through the world and will
pick up dirt, and I cannot have it. He is showing this, that
it is not now any return to a condition of man, responsible
as man, but to walk in the light, even as God is in the light.
If I am not t for that, I cannot be with God at all. ere
is where the diculties come in. It is not the question-
can I answer to God? No, I cannot. e veil is rent now:
the question is, Have you got such a new condition and
standing that you can be in the light with God, where the
esh cannot be? ere is where He puts us.
“ If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have
fellowship one with another.” ere is no selshness there.
Suppose I enjoy the love of God, do you think bringing
another in makes it less? No; you enjoy the light, and it is
not a bit the less for others. In human things, if I have a
loaf and another comes in to share it, there is only half a
loaf left for me. In divine things we have fellowship one
with another, and there is no diminution.
en I come to the third point. Here I am in the light
as God is, in this blessed fellowship, “ and the blood of
Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” It is not ‘
has cleansed ‘ or ‘ will cleanse,’ but very simply an abstract
Fellowship With the Father and the Son: 1John 1
405
statement; just as when I say ‘ that medicine cures the
ague,’ I am talking of its nature. I have to do with God
in the light as He is in the light. I have got this blessed
knowledge, that the light has come out through the cross,
and I am as white as snow. e thing that let out the light
made me t for it. us there are these three great elements
of my condition- in the light as God is, the fellowship of
the Spirit, and the blood of Jesus that cleanses from all sin.
“ If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and
the truth is not in us.” I cannot say the esh is not there
(it is not sinning), but the existence of sin in the esh does
not give a bad conscience. My conscience is bad (I mean
practically) if I let the sin, the esh, act. e old man in its
nature is always there. In the cross of Christ I have what
meets the case-our old man is crucied with Him, and I
have to reckon it dead; but still there it is in itself too truly.
en I get the next step. Suppose it does act-” If we
confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” It is not “ if we
confess our sin “-I have nothing to do with confessing sin.
People will confess their sin, not their sins; for the heart
is deceitful enough to excuse the sins by admitting sin in
the esh. I admit the esh is there; but why did not you
keep it down in the power of Christ so as not to let it act?
erefore it is we have to confess our sins: and mark, we
have to walk with that. When he speaks of sin (v. 8), it is
the present tense; I never can say I have no sin: but when of
sins it is, “ if we say that we have not sinned “ (v. 10). I ought
not to be sinning; I may be thinking of the blessedness of
Christ. If so, I am not sinning; my mind may be occupied
with Him. But if I say that I have not sinned, I make God
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
406
a liar, because He declares all have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. Here I get the distinction.
It is surprising that people do not see the dierence
between ‘ sin ‘ and ` sins.’ Peter speaks of sinning, that is,
of the lust that comes when the esh is active; but when
I come to Paul and John, they speak of the nature of the
esh, of sin in the esh. “ If we say that we have no sin, we
deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us: if we confess
our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Observe in the Epistle to the Hebrews, it is not
communion exactly which is the main object of the
teaching there. Here it is, and therefore I get the Father
and the Son, the highest expression of it. In Heb. 1 enter
into the holiest. It is a question of whether I can approach
God who is holy and righteous, and does not give up His
holiness and righteousness because He is love; and there I
get this, that I am perfected forever (the words “ forever “
meaning not merely for eternity, but what is uninterrupted).
As Christ is always at the right hand of God, so we are
uninterruptedly before God. ere is never a moment that
the believer is not the righteousness of God as standing in
Christ. erefore priesthood in the Epistle to the Hebrews
does not apply to sins. What it does apply to is this:-I
am perfected forever and He who is my righteousness, by
whom I am perfected forever, has sat down at the right
hand of God. But I am here walking in this world, where I
cannot take a step without mercy and grace to help. I have
diculties and trials; I go to the throne of God and get
help in time of need. e thing in Hebrews is whether I
can go as a mere sinner into God’s presence. Yes, the veil is
rent, and the Person that put away my sins is sitting there.
Fellowship With the Father and the Son: 1John 1
407
He is my witness that I am perfect-” for by one oering
he hath perfected forever them that are sanctied “-a
perfection that never changes, for He is sitting there for me,
“ expecting till his enemies be made his footstool.” He is
sitting there because He has nothing more to do. ere are
these two points in the Epistle: having by Himself purged
our sins, He sat down; and, being perfected forever, I am
walking on this earth with temptation, but He is always
getting grace to help me through this world of diculty
and contradiction of sinners. ere is a daily dependence
on grace to help me to walk a holy life, without a question
of my being perfect before God, and the constant supply of
grace through Christ who is there.
Now here the question is raised of how I can have
fellowship with the light, where, if I have for a moment
a thought not spiritual or charitable, it is sin. e instant
I come to fellowship or communion, if I let my own
thoughts come in, it is gone. e smallest thing interrupts
communion; even supposing I recollect myself, yet for the
moment it is gone. e holy God cannot have communion
with that which is unholy. Now I get what Christ is as the
Advocate: “ if any man sin, we have an Advocate with the
Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and he is the propitiation
for our sins.” What is the ground of it? Jesus Christ the
righteous. e righteous One is there, my righteousness
is always there (as in the Hebrews). us not a question
of imputation arises, but of communion. I cannot bear
the thought that I should grieve the Spirit of God and
turn Him into a reprover, instead of communicating the
joy of God to me, the One that gives me fellowship with
the Father. e moment that is all settled, Jesus Christ the
righteous One is there, and He is the propitiation for my
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
408
sins, I must not have one thought that is inconsistent with
the place. But what makes me nd it out? My Advocate has
been there about it to bring my soul back into fellowship
with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ, which had
been entirely interrupted: but the righteousness has not
been interrupted. erefore he says “ an Advocate with
the Father,” and does not talk about God in that sense,
because it is a question of communion with the Father, not
of righteousness.
us I have got grace acting, not the law; no question
of imputation, but no allowance of sin at all as a matter
of holiness. It does not put me back to the law, nor its
righteousness; but Christ being Advocate for me there,
and the Spirit of God in me to act in my conscience, it
brings me into utter humiliation before God, and restores
the communion of my soul.
Some chastening or other comes. But there is not the
smallest allowance of anything that hinders communion,
nor the smallest imputation of sins. It is the maintenance
of communion practically, or the restoration of it when
broken, with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ;
while the righteousness and propitiation remain, so that it
is advocacy, not imputation.
We must walk in the light as God is in the light.
Nothing unt for God is tolerated. ere is propitiation,
there is provision of grace if we sin. As to imputation, all
is settled, perfected forever. But we are to walk worthily
of God who has called us unto His kingdom and glory,
to walk worthily of the Lord unto all pleasing, worthy of
the vocation wherewith we are called. Now let me ask, do
we really believe we are called to fellowship of that kind?
How is it in our hearts? I am sure there is growth in this
Fellowship With the Father and the Son: 1John 1
409
fellowship with the Father and with the Son. Is this where
our souls live? It is what we are called to. It is not saying
we have no sin. e sin is there, but in the power of Christ
dwelling in us we are called into this fellowship. e power
is there, so that I have no excuse for letting in anything that
will interrupt communion. We do, when careless about
prayer or something of the sort; but there is no excuse for
it. Our place is to walk in fellowship with the Father and
the Son always. If we do fail, we have the Advocate with
the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and, as with poor
Peter, He restores us. Do you suppose that the work of
Christ has not put you in the light as God is, that there is
not the perfecting us forever? ere is grace for you to walk
aright. It is not saying I am weak: if we always said that, we
should get the strength we wanted.
e Lord give us to have the blessed consciousness,
that we have been reconciled to God as revealed in Christ,
loved as Christ is loved, and called to walk in the sense of
this, so that there is the constant dependence on Christ,
the constant supply of grace to depend on, the constant
testimony to the One we are dependent on.
It is not saying, I am perfected and that is all about it.
You have to go through a world of temptation. When Israel
was redeemed, they had to go through the wilderness: there
is where all the “ ifs “ come in. If I am in Christ, there is
no “ if “ at all. But I am walking through the wilderness
with that which keeps me constantly dependent. I have the
revelation of Christ’s power. We are kept by the power of
God, and we are kept because we want to be kept; I need
this power every moment, there is all necessity for it.
I know this power, and there ought to be this blessed
dependence on God. He does not raise the question of
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
410
righteousness in it, but puts me in this place, and then leaves
me to go through the world to have the senses exercised to
discern both good and evil. If I do fail, there is my Advocate
with the Father, to restore my soul. Unceasing grace and
unceasing dependence are the true ground.
e Lord give us the distinct and full sense that the
work of Christ has perfected us forever, and then that you
are brought by it into the presence of God in light, and
know every instant dependence on the grace of Christ, and
constant grace to be dependent on.
e Positiveness of Life in Christ: 1John 3:1-10
411
63030
e Positiveness of Life in
Christ: 1John 3:1-10
If we weigh the state of the church, we shall nd a
great deal of what is negative in the Christian life, and
contentedness with what is negative. For example, a man
sees sin, he takes for granted that there must be sin in him,
and it is true and well that he should know it, provided it
be not working; he sees the blood of Christ, and is happy. If
his esh is kept in check as to positive sin, and the blood of
Christ is seen, he is content. at is what I call negative-a
person settling in himself that sin is, and is met by the cross
of Christ. It is not as speaking lightly of the cross that I
say this. ere is nothing like the cross. God Himself is
gloried by it. e glory we can have with Christ, but on
the cross He was alone.
is condition ows greatly from all that is of nature
not having been judged, and the heart then occupied with
Christ. When there is a positive life in exercise which
attaches itself to Him, and sees the excellency in Him, it
never can be satised without seeking to have and be that
which it sees in Him. Being free from sin-freed, if you
please (for when this word is used in Scripture it refers
to slavery), there is the positive activity of delighting in
Christ. e heart is so far delivered from sin as to delight
positively in Christ.
John takes up a positive active life, in the activity of
which he supposes the Christian lives, and which has joys
and delights of its own. “ If ye know that he is righteous,
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
412
ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of
him. Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed
on us, that we should be called the sons [children] of God!
“
I get the nature of which we are made partakers shown
from the life which is lived. If He is righteous, we know
that every one who doeth righteousness has the manifested
character of that nature, is born of Him. Where has it come
from? From God. I recognize this relationship of a child
by the nature that is manifested. e apostle is not merely
thinking of what we are in the title of righteousness, but
of whom we are born-whence we draw our life. Hence it
is that he says in verse 9, “ cannot sin,” for it is the nature
of God in which we live as born again. He takes the truth
up, as he does on every subject, in its own absoluteness,
without modifying it by the contradictory principle in us.
But the result of the possession of this life is brought in in
remarkable terms. We are born of God, but the life which
we have received is that eternal life which was manifested
in Christ; chap. 1: 1-3. Hence he says, “ It doth not yet
appear what we shall be,” no one has seen the glory, “ but
we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him,
for we shall see him as he is.” We shall be like Him; it is
from the blessed consciousness of this, and the object thus
set before us, that the activity of this life now ows. “ And
every man that hath this hope in Him purieth himself “
(he does not say is pure, but) “ even as he is pure.” at is,
the measure and standard which he has before his soul is
Christ as its object.
How dierent this is from the negative state, occupied
with sin, perhaps thinking how I shall get rid of it! I am
a child of Adam is the thought of such an one; no, I say,
e Positiveness of Life in Christ: 1John 3:1-10
413
I am a child of God. If we are suciently emptied of self
to have Christ before us in this double way, as the life in
which we live, and the object for which we live, then the
aections are associated with the object we like; and He is
not merely object but life. e power of the life is exactly in
the measure in which Christ is the object. ere is where
a Christian is happy. His soul’s aections are set free and
occupied with Christ. He is the One we love and delight
in, and we want to be like Him and with Him. If your heart
is dragging through the world, and you are trying to get
as free from all the spots as you can, you cannot be happy.
is positive life is real liberty of heart, and that is what
happiness means. He puries himself as He is pure.
If I am not living this life of Christ, the old lawless
thing is active. When there is not the activity of divine life,
there is not merely failure in this, but there is the activity
of the Adam life, and it is always lawless. “ Whosoever
abideth in him sinneth not,” and whosoever eats His esh
and drinks His blood abides in Christ and Christ in him;
that is, if I am eating Christ and occupied with Christ, I
do not commit sin, nor is my mind living in the sphere
in which it has power. If you are not abiding in Him,
you will get down to the other state I have spoken of, the
mere avoiding of positive evil, while living in the sphere of
thought in which esh can nd itself at home, while the
spiritual aections are dull and inactive. “ He that doeth
righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.” I am
in Christ on the same footing of righteousness, as to my
walk down here, that He is, as partaker of the same nature
and looking forward to a perfect conformity to Him. We
have a positive life in itself, which is itself. ere is this
positive life in connection with Christ who is our life, and
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
414
this life lives entirely on Him. “ I am crucied with Christ,
nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me, and
the life that I live in the esh, I live by the faith of the Son
of God,” etc. is is the way it lives. It has these two traits-
practical righteousness, and love of the brethren.
A word on the way the soul gets into this living on
Christ and with Him. I do not believe you can ever do that
until you get free in your conscience. Till then you cannot
get beyond this negative conict with sin, which avoids the
evil the new life sees and judges. If I have the new life,
I nd the sin in me; and if I have not the consciousness
of divine righteousness, I cannot delight in Christ as set
free; that is, I must think of the sin. Is not God holy? And
have not I sins? not merely guilt, but sins in my members?
Yes; then “ he that committeth sin is of the devil.” Well, I
commit sin, and hence I am afraid. at is, the workings of
esh come back on my conscience, and I must be occupied
with self. e soul is not discharged from self as the ground
of its standing before God, though there be divinely given,
self-humbling conviction of sin, enough to be cast over on
divine righteousness in Christ. It has not been brought to
see that the case is perfectly hopeless and then to be cast
over entirely on Christ. When brought to this, I am taken
out of esh by this work of redemption in Christ, so that I
am made the righteousness of God in Him, and I do not
look at myself to know if I am righteous before God.
What a contrast between that kind of negative life, with
the head just above water and which says, I am alive, so I
ought to be thankful, and this positive joyful life which
goes out in active energy after Christ! But in order to this
the sta of condence in self must be snapped. If your
hearts are with the world, this is not living on Christ. You
e Positiveness of Life in Christ: 1John 3:1-10
415
have these diculties because you are inclined to them and
nourish what is the seat of them by continually letting your
heart move on in the sphere where Christ is not. Christ
Himself is not enough your object. ere is surely grace
enough in Him to help, when He is looked to, and His
strength is made perfect in weakness.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
416
63031
e Love of God, the Love of
Saints, and Overcoming
the World: 1John 4-5
1John 4 and 5
God’s love, in contrast with man’s is distinguished by
this, that while man must have something to drew out
his love (as it is said, “ For a good man some would even
dare to die; but God commendeth his love to us-ward, in
that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us “), God’s
love is without motive, there being nothing attractive in
the object that draws it out. “ In due time Christ died for
the ungodly.” God’s love sees no good in us. e brightest
proof of God’s love and man’s enmity was seen in the
cross: they met there, and thus showed the superiority
of God’s love; as Jethro says, “ In the thing wherein they
dealt proudly He was above them.” Verse 9 sets out the
open manifestation of His love to us while we were yet
sinners. We learn His purposes and counsels about us as
saints, in the second place, in verse 17-” Herein is love with
us made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of
judgment, because as he is so are we in this world.” is is
a very dierent thing from His rst visiting us in our sins.
“ Herein is love with us made perfect.” e perfectness of
God’s love towards His saints is seen in the bringing them
to be like Christ Himself. e sovereign grace of God puts
the saint into the same place as Christ, that we may have
the same kind of fellowship with the Father that Christ
had. So in John 14 the Lord says, “ My peace I give unto
The Love of God, the Love of Saints, and Overcoming the World: 1John 4-5
417
you “-that is, the peace He had with His Father-” not as the
world giveth give I unto you.”
e world has the character of a benefactor; and that it
sometimes gives generously I do not deny. But then it is by
helping a man as he is, out of the resources which it has,
which may be all very well; yet, while helping him, it is only
taking care of itself. But it is evidently a dierent thing
here; for Christ takes us clean out of our condition, putting
us into the same relationship with the Father as Himself.
e world cannot give in this way. ere is no guarding
anything for self in Christ’s un-jealous love, but in us there
is. erefore He could say, “ Not as the world giveth give I
unto you.” His delight was to show that the Father loved
them as He loved Him. “ e glory thou hast given me I
have given them, that the world may know that thou hast
loved them as thou hast loved me.” Jesus not only loves
them Himself, but He will have it known by the world that
they are loved by the Father as He Himself is loved. Can
there be anything more disinterested than this (although
the word “ disinterested “ fails to give the full meaning)?
Still all this is guarded, for Christ ever keeps His place as
the eternal Son of God. At the mount of transguration,
the moment there is the question of putting Moses and
Elias on an equality with Jesus, they both disappear, for
when Peter said, Let us make three tabernacles, one for
Moses and one for Elias, as well as one for the Lord, while
he thus spake there came a cloud and overshadowed them,
and instantly the gloried men vanished. “ And there came
a voice out of the cloud, saying, is is my beloved Son:
hear him.” It is not said “ hear them,” but “ hear him.” “
And when the voice was past, Jesus was found alone.”
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
418
If Christ, in His wondrous grace, reveals Moses and
Elias as His companions and associates in the glory, the
moment Peter, in his foolishness, gives utterance to the
thought that would place them on an equality with Christ,
they must both vanish from the scene. It does not say, as the
Father loved them, but as “ he has loved me “ (as a man).
For however Christ may bring us unto the same place with
Himself, He abides the object of homage and honor, even
as the Father. If we elevate ourselves to an equality with
Christ, immediately we set ourselves above Him. And it is
ever the case thus with esh. But the more a saint enters
into his elevation, as being brought by grace into the same
place with Christ, the more he adores Christ as God over
all, blessed for evermore. is is ever to be borne in mind.
e thought in verse 17, “ as he is, so are we in this
world,” is that the saints are in the same place as Christ.
If I have righteousness, it is a divine righteousness: “ We
are made the righteousness of God in him.” If I have life,
it is a divine eternal life: “ when Christ who is our life shall
appear.” If I have glory, it is the same glory: “ the glory
thou hast given me, I have given them.” If we have an
inheritance,_ we are “ joint-heirs with Christ “; if love, it is
the same love wherewith the Father loved Christ: “ ou
hast loved them as thou hast loved me.”
e love is the most dicult thing for us to enter into,
but the Lord would have our hearts enjoying it. All that
we have in Christ is brought out in this passage, in the
general expression, “ as he is, so are we.” It is the thought
and purpose of God’s grace to bless us not only by Christ,
but with Christ. Christ could not be satised unless it was
so, we being the fruit and travail of His soul: “ Father, I
will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me “:
The Love of God, the Love of Saints, and Overcoming the World: 1John 4-5
419
again, “ I will come again, and receive you unto myself, that
where I am there ye may be also.” e Father’s love is seen
in giving His Son for us, and the Son’s love in His giving
Himself for us, and thus bringing us into His perfect place.
Some Christians do not give this verse 17 all its power;
they refer it simply to our position before God respecting
the day of judgment. Whatever judgment may come,
the saint has nothing to do with it, for where there is a
question about judgment there can be no boldness. ere
is nothing more comforting than the perfect condence
of having God as my Father. I cannot get the aections
in full play if I think God is going to judge me; but I have
the Spirit of adoption, and if I sin or do wrong, I run
to my Father directly, because I know my Father is not
going to judge me for it; for God is my Father, and will
not judge (save as a Father, now for my correction, by the
way). erefore boldness is needed for the exercise of the
spiritual aections in me; and we ought to remember this,
for Christians often shrink from it; but it is evident that,
if I am hesitating whether God is going to bless me or to
judge me, I cannot love Him.
en observe another thing-there is a great dierence
between spiritual desires and spiritual aections, although
they both have the same root. e spiritual desires, if the
relationship which would meet them be not known, only
produce sorrow. Take an orphan, for instance, in a family
where the parent’s love to the children is witnessed every
day, the sorrowful experience would be, O, that I too had a
father! e child who has its parent has the same desires;
the relationship existing of parent and child, it knows the
joy and gladness which ows from such relationship. So
also that we may have joy and gladness as the children of
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
420
God, we must have the consciousness of the relationship
in which we stand to God. It is not merely that we have a
divine nature which gives us spiritual desires, but we must
also have the consciousness of the relationship into which
we are brought by the power of what Christ has done. It is
clear there never could be a question between Christ and
His Father as to the daily and hourly enjoyment of the
consciousness of His Father’s love: “ is is my beloved
Son, in whom I am well pleased.” So also He says, “ My
peace I give unto you.” Again he says, “ that they might
have my joy fullled in themselves.” e Father’s delight
was in Christ, and He knew it in the daily enjoyment of it.
And now, “ as he is, so are we in this world.”
While Christ lays the ground of our relationship
by being the propitiation for our sins and the source of
our life, yet it is not by Christ’s righteousness that I get
“ boldness.” I must be righteous, of course; I cannot have
boldness without it; but besides this there is another
character God has towards me-that of a Father-and I have
another character towards God, as a child. I have not only
righteousness, but I am a son. And here I should notice the
defectiveness of some of our hymns which call Christ our
brother. We never nd in Scripture that Christ is called
our Elder Brother. In the fullness of His grace He is not
ashamed to own and call us His brethren. My father is a
man, but I do not call him a man; it would show a want of
lial reverence in me if I did. In nothing is the power of
the Spirit of God more shown in the child of God than the
suitableness of his expressions and feelings towards God.
If we are really enjoying our place of innite privilege, the
Source and Giver of our privilege will maintain His own
proper place in our hearts.
The Love of God, the Love of Saints, and Overcoming the World: 1John 4-5
421
When we are in the mount of God, it always humbles;
although when a saint gets down again, he may be proud of
having been there: he is never so when there. Paul was not
pued up when he was caught up into the third heavens;
but after he had been there, he needed the thorn in the
esh to keep him humble.
“ As he is, so are we in this world,” not only in the same
standing as to acceptance with God in Christ, but we are
brought by the communication of His life into the same
relationship as Himself. While in the beginning of the
epistle the foundation is laid deep and wide in the blood
which cleanses fully, still the grand subject of the epistle
is the place into which we are brought. “ Herein is love
with us made perfect.” If my heart has seized the truth
that God as a Father is acting in grace towards me, there
is no place for fear. If I have fear I y to Him, instead of
being afraid of Him. If I sin, I y to Him to pardon it. I
could not in my sin y to my judge, but I have condence
in my Father’s love, and I y to Him because “ perfect love
casteth out fear.” e proof of God’s love is that He has
given His Son; the perfection of it is, that we are as He is;
and fear is cast out even in view of judgment. But if we ask
how this came to pass, the answer is, “ We love him because
he rst loved us “ (v. 19). ere we are brought back to the
simplest principles: we love God because He rst loved us.
We did not come to God because of His loveliness; “ we
love him because he rst loved us.” We do not come in by
loving God (this we do after), but we come in as sinners, as
debtors to His grace; and then, having come in, so nding
God to be what He is-love meeting us in our every need-
then we love Him.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
422
Verse 20. Here is a check upon man’s deceitful heart:
if a man does not love his brother, he cannot love God.
Wherever the divine nature is, it is attractive to one born
of God.
Verse 21. We have another important principle in this
verse: whatever the energy of the divine life in me, it always
will have the character of obedience. While there was in
Christ the devotedness of love, there was also obedience.
We are to love the brethren as being led by the energy
of the Spirit, but I am to love them in the path of holy
obedience. ere is nothing so humble as obedience, and
love never takes us out of the place of obedience. e Lord
Jesus said, “ As the Father gave me commandment, even so
I do.” When Lazarus was sick, and they sent to Jesus, He
abode two days in the same place where He was, because
He had no word from His Father; and so, if I have any little
service to do for my brother, it must be as in the path of
obedience to the word of God. is is what Satan tried to
get the Lord out of in the wilderness. Oh, says Satan, have
your own will, if it is only in ever so little a bit, by making
these stones into bread, now you are hungry. No, the Lord
says, it is written, “ Man shall not live by bread alone, but,”
etc. Here we get a countercheck even to the workings of
the divine nature, for if it is not a command, it is not of
God, and we are here to obey.
Chapter 5.
Verse 1. “ Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ.”
Here we get the link between God and the family. When
any one is born of God, he is my brother. If the question is
asked, Who is my brother? How am I to know my brother?
Every one that is born of God is my brother. I may have
to sorrow over him sometimes, but still he is my brother,
The Love of God, the Love of Saints, and Overcoming the World: 1John 4-5
423
because I am related to him by the same divine nature.
It is of great importance to remember this in the present
day, because, when the Holy Ghost really acts, there will
be a constant tendency to follow dierent courses. ere
has been an awakening from the dead mass around by the
power of the Spirit. ere are glimmerings of light: mere
stones would be motionless, but there is life; therefore the
moving power would lead in dierent directions, because
of what we are. If we were all subject to the Spirit of God,
we should all go one way. ere is another thing also to be
observed-we are not at the beginning of Christianity, but
at the dark end, and escaping as it were by dierent roads.
e very fact of the operation of the Spirit would be to
produce perfect unity if we were subject, but we are not so.
e remedy for this is for the heart to be in close
fellowship with Christ; and in proportion as this is the
case, will love for all saints be there. To the same extent as
Christ is valued will the saint be valued. In proportion as
Christ’s thoughts about His saints are known to me, will
all saints be in my thoughts. I do not know Christ’s love
aright if one saint is left out; as it is said in Eph. 3:18, “
Ye … may be able to comprehend with all saints what is
the height, and depth, and breadth, and length, and to_
know the love of Christ.” Only can I enter into this in any
measure when I embrace all saints. If I should leave one
out, I leave out part of Christ’s heart. In Colossians we
have “ your love to all saints “; and in that epistle we have
the fullness of the Head; in Ephesians, the fullness of the
body. God’s grace working in me makes every one born
of God the object of my aections. I cannot go every way
at once, and a real diculty arises how to walk in delity
to Christ, and in love to the brethren, so as not to let
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
424
the aections get into a loose and general way. I cannot
be loving God without loving all the children of God. “
By this we know that we love the children of God, when
we love God, and keep his commandments “ (v. 2). Now
men would say that is reasoning in a circle, but there is
in it a deeply practical check against the evil of my own
heart. If I love the Father, I shall love the children for the
Father’s sake, and not lead them into wrong paths, because
this would displease and grieve the Father. If I should lead
them into anything wrong, I should prove that I do not
love them for the Father’s sake, but for my own pleasure
and comfort. If you truly love them, you at the same time
love God and keep His commandments. If I knew that a
member of Christ’s body is going wrong, does this make
me cease to love him? No; but because he is going wrong
my soul is more deeply in aection, going out after him,
as being one with Christ. To be able to love the brethren
faithfully we must keep close to Christ.
Again, we have another counter-check: if one comes to
me with a vast amount of truth without holiness, or if there
be a great show of holiness and truth be absent, neither is
of the Spirit. e Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth. Satan
never touches that which is born of God; he cannot touch
it.
Worldliness is a terrible hindrance to the saint. e
world is opposed to the Father, as the esh opposes the
Spirit, and the devil opposes Christ.
e diculty lies in not maintaining nearness to Christ,
which the world would come in and hinder. en I am
open to all sorts of error, for I shall not like the trouble to
be right if I am not near Christ. It is very troublesome and
disagreeable sometimes to have to do with saints: one will
The Love of God, the Love of Saints, and Overcoming the World: 1John 4-5
425
not give up this thing, and another that; and if we are at
a distance from Christ, we shall be ready to give them up,
and shall not take the pains to get them right when they
are wrong. So Moses said, when in a wrong spirit, “ Have I
conceived all this people? have I begotten them, that thou
shouldest say unto me, Carry them in thy bosom? “
So Paul says, “ My little children, for whom I travail in
birth,” etc. You have got o the right ground, and I must
have you, as it were, born again. I am travailing over again
for you, that you may be right, because you belong to Christ.
When Paul looked at them in confusion, as they were, away
from Christ, he could only say, “ I stand in doubt of you “;
but when he looks at them as in Christ, he can say, “ I have
condence in you through the Lord.”
Faith not only sees Christ in the glory, but sees also
the connection between the glory of Christ and the saints,
and it is that which enables one to get on. So Moses said
of Israel, not only God was their God, but they are “ thy
people.” e real hindrance is the world. See Gehazi in the
king’s court: his heart had drawn in the spirit of the world,
and he was able to entertain the world with the mighty
actings of the Spirit. e world will be entertained, and it
will be entertained with religion if it cannot get anything
else. All that I know of the world’s path, spirit, aections,
and conduct is, that it has crucied my Lord; not in its
aections and lusts merely, but by wicked hands it has
crucied my Master. Suppose it was but yesterday that
you had seen Pontius Pilate the governor, the chief priests
and elders, putting Christ to death, would you feel happy
to-day in holding communion with them? e stain of
Christ’s blood is as fresh in God’s sight as if it had been
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
426
done but yesterday; the time which has elapsed since makes
no dierence in its moral guilt.
e question then is, Am I to get under the power of
this world, or am I to overcome it (in my heart I mean)?
When Christ was down here, in all the beauty and attractive
grace in which God the Father could delight, there was not
found in the world one thought or sentiment of common
interest or feeling drawing them to Him. e world in all
its classes- rulers, priests, Pharisees, and the multitude-
have all been associated in hanging the Son of God upon
a gibbet. Such is the world’s heart. If I have seen the glory
of Christ’s Person, and see that He is the very Son of God
who came down and was turned out by the world, can I
be happy with it? e link between the natural thoughts
and aections and the world exists in every heart, so that
in all kinds of things, even in walking through the streets,
I constantly nd that which attracts me eye, and my eye
aects my heart.
Nothing will overcome the world in my heart but the
deep consciousness of how it has treated Christ. Take my
children, for instance: do I want them to get on well in the
world? must I have good places for them in it? Nothing but
knowing the place Christ had in it will overcome the world
in my heart. ere is no possibility of getting on with God
unless the world is given up, and the heart is satised with
Christ. Christ must be everything. Look at Abraham’s
history: he sojourned in a strange country where he had
not a place so much as to set his foot on. So we are not of
the world; and this is the test of our aections, for as we are
not at once taken out of the evil, we must have our hearts
exercised to godliness. It is very easy to overcome the world
when the love of Christ has made it distasteful. Satan is the
The Love of God, the Love of Saints, and Overcoming the World: 1John 4-5
427
god of this world. Perhaps you will say, at is true of the
heathen world. Yes, but it is not true of the heathen world
only. Although it was not till after the rejection of Christ
that it was brought out, it was true before. God had spoken
by His servants and prophets, and the world had beaten
one, and stoned another, and killed another; then He said,
I will send my beloved Son: it may be they will reverence
Him when they see Him. But Him they crucied, thus
proving that Satan was the master cf man. So the Lord
said, “ O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee.”
You will not have spiritual discernment or power of motive
unless the heart be kept near to Christ. I shall not want the
world if Christ is in my heart. If my delight is in that in
which God delights, that is, in Christ, then I can overcome.
Whether therefore ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do
all to the glory of God the Father.
What! must I do everything to Christ? Oh, that very
question proves a heart away from Christ, showing it
bondage for you to do all to the glory of God. It is not that
we are to scorn the world in the least, for God’s grace is
for every poor sinner that will receive it. It is the spirit of
the world in my own heart which I have to overcome-that
which my heart is in danger of being led by.
e three points we have looked to, then, have been-rst,
perfect love with us. ere is not merely the manifestation
of God’s love to the saint, but association with Christ’s life,
putting us into relationship with God. Secondly, love to
every saint; but we are to love them as God’s children, and
keep ourselves in the exercise of love to God and keeping
His commandments. irdly, we are to overcome the
world. e heart, resting on, looking to, eating, feeding on,
Christ, gets the consciousness of what the world is, and it
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
428
overcomes. e Lord keep us in humble dependence on
Himself. His grace is sucient for us; His strength is made
perfect in our weakness.
e ree Who Are Witnessing: 1John 5:6-21
429
63032
e ree Who Are
Witnessing: 1John 5:6-21
1John 5:6-21
In the preceding verses the question between God
and the world is brought to an issue; for the Son of God
having been seen in the world, and in the world and by the
world crucied -thus putting the world to the test-God
could do nothing in the world in the hope of nding good
in it, after it had crucied His Son. Jesus had to say, “ O
righteous Father, the world hath not known thee.” Having
hung God’s Son on the cross, it is plain that this act cut the
world o from all possible association with God, and thus
the world has become a thing to be overcome by the saint,
as the apostle says (v. 5), “ Who is he that overcometh the
world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?
“ But he then adds, “ is is he that came by water and
blood.”
at is, he now presents the character and value of the
cross, “ He came by water and blood” e water and the
blood are as a witness on God’s part, or the testimony
that God gives; for it should be observed that the words, “
witness,” “ record,” and “ testimony,” are all the same word
in the original.
You may remark here, that “ is is the witness, that
God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his
Son.” is is the thing witnessed. is is the record (or
testimony) that God has given to us eternal life, and this
life is in His Son. It is not in the rst Adam, but in His
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
430
Son; not in man, nor by his works, nor by any means
whatever, but it is God’s gift. “ He hath given,” and though
we possess the life, it is not properly and intrinsically in
us, but IN His SON. When we are quickened, the life is
not looked at as in us; for Christ says, “ Because I live, ye
shall live also.” It is therefore immutable. If Christ’s life,
indeed, can in any way be annulled or set aside, then can
the life in us be so likewise, and not otherwise. If Christ
can die, so can we; but if death has no more dominion
over Him, no more has it over us. And this it is that gives
the amazing value and most blessed character of this life,
namely, that its spring and source is in Christ. It is given to
the Son to have life in Himself; John 5:26. And thus He
becomes, through grace, our life. For example, my nger
has life, my natural life, owing through it; but the seat
of life is not there. My nger may be cut o, though I am
not here supposing that a member of Christ can be cut
o (which is impossible); but if my nger be cut o, the
life still remains in my body, the seat of life not being in
my nger. My nger was as much alive as the rest of my
body, but the seat of life was not there. e seat of life is
in Christ. “ Our life is hid with Christ in God.” Hence all
the character of the life and all the communion ows from
the blessed truth-” in his Son.” e character of this life is
nearness to God. Christ Himself is my life. It is of the last
importance for the strength and comfort of our souls, and
for all blessed delight in God, clearly to understand what
our life is; for our thoughts on regeneration are necessarily
altogether imperfect until we apprehend that it is a real
life which we have, a life associating us with God’s Son,
a life not possessed before, and in virtue of which we get
e ree Who Are Witnessing: 1John 5:6-21
431
communion with the Father, who has given us eternal life-
not in us, but “ in his Son.”
We get brought out in various testimonies what Christ
is to us, as in 1Cor. 6:9-11, where the apostle, speaking
of the oscouring of the earth, says, “ Such were some of
you, but ye are washed, but ye are sanctied, but ye are
justied in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of
our God.” And so here we get a corresponding testimony
brought out in these three witnesses, the water, the blood,
and the Spirit.
In John 19:34 it is recorded that “ one of the soldiers
with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there-
out blood and water.” e blood and the water owed
from a dead Christ. Hence we see how manifestly the link
between the natural man and God is broken, and broken
forever! For “ in that he died, he died unto sin once.” All
that Christ could have blessed in nature is now entirely
and forever gone; and if there is to be any blessing now,
it must be in a new nature, and through a dead Christ; as
also all connection and association with God. Expiation,
purity, life, can alone be had through a dead Christ. It is
a dead Christ that must purify me if I am to be puried;
for it was from a dead Christ that the water (the symbol
of cleansing) owed. Until the death of Christ, God was
dealing with nature, to see (or rather to teach us, for He
knew what it was) if any good thing could come out of
nature. But the cross proved-God’s rejected Son proved-
that it was not possible that any good thing could come out
of nature. Man is not merely a sinner driven out of paradise,
as we know Adam was; but man’s state now results not only
from his being turned out of God’s presence because of sin,
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
432
but from the will and energy of his evil nature, which has
cast God out of His own world.
e cross shows that man’s nature is utterly incapable of
being acted on by any motive whatever which could set it
right. is is very humbling, yet very blessed. Heaven will
not do; earth will not do; the law will not do. I have yet
one thing in heaven-My beloved Son: I will send Him. It
may be they will reverence Him when they see Him. But
no. e determination of man’s will is to have the world
without God. is is what man wants. He will not have
God in any sense. Here it is brought to a climax; and the
very worst display of Christendom will be just this. If any
of you should be seeking pleasure in the world, you know
you do not want to nd God there; for if you did, it would
upset it all. us are you saying in spirit, “ Let us kill the
heir, and the inheritance shall be ours.” You may not have
lifted up your hand to slay God’s Son, but you have turned
Him out of your heart. Man’s great abilities will be much
more developed in the day that is just approaching than
they have ever yet been, in trying to make the world go
on thoroughly well without God. When was there ever a
time when everything was going on so well, as men speak,
such unity among nations as now, or such drawing out
of resources? e cry is, “ Peace, peace,” by the energies
and working of man’s will without God. Man looks
for progress in the philosophy, commerce, politics, and
comfort of this world, but still there is in his heart a dread
of the consequences of the progress of this self-will. us
is fullled the apparent paradox of Scripture, the cry of
peace combined with “ men’s hearts failing them for fear.”
Now men would say this is a contradiction, but it is not; for
while men are building up commerce and arts and. science
e ree Who Are Witnessing: 1John 5:6-21
433
in the energy of self-will, who is there among them that
would undertake to answer for the state of any nation in
three years’ time, or for even a much shorter period? Man
is afraid of the working of self-will in his neighbor, though
he likes to exert it in himself. But the Christian has learned
that the question as to the world is settled in the rejection
of Christ. At that moment it was all over with the world.
e question between God and man is settled as to man
himself; for not only is man turned out of paradise, but
when God’s Son came, they crucied Him, and now grace
comes in; and the Christian goes outside the world to get,
in God’s rejected Son, the life which is to be had in Him
alone. is is God’s record that He has given to us eternal
life, and this life is in His Son. Amidst all this turmoil
and trouble where shall I get peace? e moment I see a
pierced Christ, I have that which expiates and puries. All
this is not a theory, not a doctrine merely, but a reality;
for the moment my conscience begins to work, I nd that
by nature I am separate from God; that my carnal mind
is enmity against God; that it is not only the world that
has crucied God’s Son, but my sins pierced Him. is
is an individual thing, for this is how individual souls are
brought into the blessing. When I have real faith in what
God’s word tells me about my own evil, then the question
arises, What am I to do? All that which makes me a mere
moral man declares that I could have nothing to do with
God; but through a pierced Christ I have three witnesses
that I can have to do with God. e highest act of insolence
that it was possible for man to do against God brought out
the very thing that put guilt away, even the blood and water
owing from Christ’s pierced side. Suppose it was but
yesterday that I wielded the spear against Jesus, the very
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
434
act that brought out my enmity brought that which put it
away. I cannot estimate sin aright until I see the water and
blood owing out of the pierced side of Christ, putting
it away. But then I must be brought to the consciousness
that I in spirit was there; my enmity to God did it; my sins
pierced Him. It was thus God addressed the Jews, telling
them that they had killed the heir; that is, their hearts had
consented to it. ose Jews whom Peter addressed, saying,
“ Ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucied and
slain,” had not actually murdered the Prince of life. ey
had not held the spear any more than you did; but in the
same spirit they refused Christ a place in their hearts; and
it is thus God deals with the world. His question with the
world is, “ What have you done with my Son? “ As with
Cain, “ Where is Abel thy brother? “ And the only answer
they can give is, “ We have slain him.”
e moment the Messiah was rejected, that moment
all title to the promises was lost to the Jews. All hope of
salvation -everything is now gone from them as a people;
and now, if they would get blessing, they must come in
as sinners, and have their sins put away by the blood that
owed from the pierced side of their Messiah. Now then,
as all title on the part of man to anything is gone, God is
giving eternal life. God must direct the heart away from
itself (except to the sense of its sinfulness) to Christ. Have
I estimated my own sin as the murderer of Christ? Well,
the blood has put the sin away; for the blood has cleansed
the man who held the spear that pierced His side. We
are nothing but sin; well, Christ was made sin for us, and
through a dead Christ we get the blood as a witness that
our sins are all put away; the blood being a witness of the
perfect expiation of all sin. Christ “ hath put away sin by
e ree Who Are Witnessing: 1John 5:6-21
435
the sacrice of himself.” Here, however, it is not looking at
the part man took in it, but at what Christ came into the
world for, and which He accomplished.
ere is, however, the water as well as the blood, and
what is that? e water cleanses as the blood expiates: “
that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of
water by the word.” While the blood expiates, the water
cleanses. e water bears witness to the same life-giving
power. “ Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit,
he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” e Spirit
of God is the source of life and the power of the word,
and gives life. Practically the word is the instrument, the
incorruptible seed; and it is also a discerner of the thoughts
and intents of the heart; and it is that by which God’s
thoughts are communicated to us. And it is out of the
pierced side of Christ that these testimonies of God ow,
thus writing death upon every production of nature. For
it is not a modifying of the nature which now exists that
the cross brings in, but the counting everything outside
Christ to be dead, as there is not a thought, lust, or desire
about the world upon which Christ does not write death;
and thus it is that we get altogether new aections, “dead
unto sin, but alive unto God,” through the life in His Son.
And the real character of purifying is this writing death
upon everything that ows not from a pierced Christ. e
water is the purication, but the purication is through a
dead Christ. Christ all His life through was the pattern in
man of what man ought to be; but our participating in this
could only be by the cleansing of His death.
But there is a third thing-we have not only the blood
which expiates, and the water which puries, through
which we are dead to sin, but He has obtained for us the
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
436
Spirit, the presence of the Holy Ghost, as the power of the
word. It may, perhaps, be objected, I do not nd myself
thus dead to sin and puried. But you have a hatred to sin,
which is a proof of your having died to it. And “ In that
Christ died, he died unto sin once, so likewise RECKON
ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin “; for God
ever treats us according to what He has really given us,
treating us as though we had realized it all. So in John,
the Lord says, “ and whither I go ye know, and the way ye
know.” Now they did know HIM who was truly the way to
the Father, yet omas objected and said, “ We know not
the way;” because they had never realized it. e instant
I believe in Jesus, I am called on to reckon myself dead. I
am never told to die, but I am told to mortify my members
that are upon the earth. But I am never told to die. A man
under the law will be trying to die with all his might, but
he will never succeed. A Christian is dead, and his life is
hid with Christ in God, and therefore he morties his
members which are upon the earth, as living in the power
of the life he has in the Son of God.
Observe, he does not speak of our life being on the earth,
for that is above with Christ in God; therefore he treats us
as dead, but our members which are upon the earth we are
to mortify. He never tells us to kill ourselves, but faith takes
God’s testimony as true, therefore I say I am dead, and
because I am dead, I have to mortify my members, being as
dead to the earth as Christ was, for I have God telling me
that I am dead through believing. is is most practical as
to peace of soul, for the moment I believe in Christ, I am
delivered from all these things. I am not seeking to die, for
I have the secret of power, and count myself dead. ere is
a practical diculty as to the water, for how can I say I am
e ree Who Are Witnessing: 1John 5:6-21
437
washed, if I still nd myself to be dirty? But I can say I am
dead with Christ, for I shall never succeed in killing myself.
e moment that I believe in Christ, all that He has done
as a Savior is mine, and God appropriates and applies it to
me. I may have failed to realize it, but the treasure is put
into my possession.
Some souls often say, I believe all the value and ecacy
of Christ’s work, but I cannot apply it. And who asks you
to do so? It is God who applies it, and He has applied it
to you, if you believe in its value and ecacy. e moment
we believe in Christ we have the Holy Ghost as bearing
witness, “ He shall take of mine and show it unto you.”
Just as the Son came down to do God’s will, and then
ascended up again into heaven, so, at the Son’s ascension,
the Holy Ghost came down as a Person on the earth; for
the Holy Ghost is always spoken of as being now on earth,
and it is this which gives the true and peculiar character
of the church of God. And here we get the third witness
in the Spirit of truth coming down to earth. e moment
I believe, I am sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise.
All that I can produce of God’s good fruits as a Christian
is in consequence of being sealed by the Holy Ghost.
Redemption being perfectly accomplished, then the
Holy Ghost comes down in Person, so that the position
of the church on earth is between these two things, the
redemption made, and the glory in prospect, as the Holy
Ghost comes down between the church’s redemption and
the church’s glory._
e knowledge of being dead with Christ gives me a
pure heart as being myself dead to nature, sin, the world,
and law. By the blood I get perfect peace and a good
conscience; and then the Holy Ghost comes down from
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
438
God; thus we have perfect peace with God, having God’s
own witness. Well, then, I have left the whole scene; I have
done with nature altogether; my sins are all gone, the blood
has put them away, and I am now dead unto sin and alive
unto God. e cross, the wounds of Christ, are the door by
which I entered, and the presence of the Holy Ghost is the
power by which I enjoy the fruits of it. As we have seen,
the witnesses of God on the earth are three-the Spirit, the
water, and the blood, and these three agree in one “ for this
is the witness of God which he hath testied of his Son.”
e heart is constantly looking for God to give it a
testimony about itself; but God is giving a testimony about
His Son, and not about what we are; if God were to give a
testimony about us, it must be about our sin and unbelief
of heart. But no; and it is of great importance in this day
of indelity to see that if God gives a testimony, it is about
His Son, and what He is to the sinner. If you believe that,
you will get peace.
If I am going about to get a standing before God on the
ground of my holiness, this would be self-righteousness,
and of course I shall not get a witness from God as to that.
But if my soul takes its stand with God, on the testimony
God has given to His Son, then I get the witness in myself:
when I have got this faith, I have got the thing in my own
soul. For instance, look at Paul before Agrippa: “ I would to
God that not only thou, but also all that hear me this day,
were both almost and altogether such as I am, except these
bonds.” He was so thoroughly conscious that the Christ
in his soul was the Christ in heaven, and he was so happy
in this consciousness, that he wished the whole company
were like himself (except the bonds), having Christ, and
a well of water springing up within. at which makes
e ree Who Are Witnessing: 1John 5:6-21
439
heaven to be a heaven to the saint is just this, that he nds
the same Christ in heaven that he has in his own soul; and
all the subtleties of indelity cannot touch the soul that
possesses Christ thus within. No reasoning of an indel
can shake my condence if I am happy in Christ; for if a
man came to tell me there was no Christ, when my soul
was happy in Him, I should not believe him. ere may be
no intellectual or logical proof on my part, but there will
he, to a certain extent, a moral testimony in the happiness
of my soul, and the warmth of my aections being centered
in Christ. I have often found how much it tells with men of
all conditions to assure them that I am perfectly happy in
Christ, and quite sure of going to heaven. Are you so? they
say; I only wish I could say it. It would not be a proof to
an indel, his merely seeing you were happy; but it comes
home to the heart of man, as there is a craving in man’s
heart that will never be met till he gets Christ there; for
man is never happy without Christ, whatever he may say.
“ He that believeth not God, hath made him a liar.”
e sin of men is in making God a liar, when they do not
believe the record God has given of His Son; for men do
quarrel with you when you tell them you know that you are
saved. ey say, How can you know that? which is just as
much as saying that God is not capable of communicating
any blessing to man. It is calling God’s wisdom in question,
as well as His power, in the testimony of His mercy and
grace. is is what I have felt in the great question about
the Bible. It is not whether it is the people’s right to have
the Bible, but it is questioning God’s right in giving it. e
treason is in keeping away God’s message from His servants.
It is not merely the servants’ right to have the message, but
it is God’s right in giving it that is called in question, as
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
440
it is interfering with God’s right of communicating His
thoughts in His word. Whenever God gives a revelation,
man is responsible to receive it. God has given a witness
in which He reveals the glory of His Son; and when man
calls in question that word, he is disputing with God in the
testimony of His grace as to what He is.
Who can explain the riddle of this miserable world
without Christ? Go into the alleys and lanes of this vast
city, and see the woe and degradation even in this best and
most civilized of countries, and learn there what sin does.
In the drawing room you may philosophize about it, but
it is not in a drawing room that you will learn what the
world is. But when you tell me that it was because of all
this sin and wretchedness that God’s Son came down into
this world to put the sin away, then I can understand it;
and God gives eternal life, not life for a moment, or a life
we can sin away, as Adam’s, but eternal life, which is above
and beyond sin altogether; being in His Son, and therefore
as near to God as can be. “ is life is in his Son,” who was
ever the subject of His Father’s delight; for when down
here God could not be silent in His expression of joy, “ is
is my beloved Son.”
And God, in giving me eternal life, has also given me
a nature and capacity to enjoy Him forever. I am brought
into an association with God, a relationship to God, and an
enjoyment of God, which the angels know not, although
holy in their nature, and exalted. We are thus brought
near that we might know the love of Christ which passeth
knowledge, that ye may be “lled with all the fullness of
God.”
In what a wondrous place we are set, if we could
but be purged, not from gross sins, but from the vanity
e ree Who Are Witnessing: 1John 5:6-21
441
and earthliness that lls our minds, to enter into all our
blessedness, and the association which we have thus with
God, the very same which. Christ has! He has borne the
wrath of God for our sins, that this full cup of blessing
might be given to us. In all this God would have simplicity
of heart. A man may talk about many things, but knowledge
apart from Christ will never do; but if we possess Christ
within, Satan can never touch us; and if he comes, he will
nd Christ there, who has overcome him. It is a sweet and
blessed thing, that any saint, though born but yesterday, has
all in Christ that I have. And if one says, But I am such a
great sinner, well, the blood has put that away, and settled
that question forever.
“ And this is the condence we have in him, that if we
ask anything according to his will, he heareth us.” ere
is a condence in God that applies itself to all the details
of life through which I may be called to pass. is is the
condence we have in Him: His ear being ever open to us,
we have what we ask for, when we ask according to God’s
will. How wondrous is this, that God’s ear is ever open
to us, for surely we should not desire to ask for anything
contrary to His will! “ And if we know that he hears us
whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that
we desired of him.” I am so made to know the love that, if I
ask, I shall have. If I am really in earnest to do God’s will, to
preach the gospel, for instance, and there are hindrances in
the way-Satan in the way-I have only to ask, and I have all
God’s power at my disposal, His ear being open to me. If
you know what conict and diculty are, what a blessing is
this, to have God’s ear open to you, and to know, if you are
doing God’s will, you will always succeed in doing His will.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
442
“ ere is a sin unto death, I do not say ye shall pray
for it.” Temporal death is here intended as chastening in
the way of God’s government. “ ere is a sin not unto
death.” And if there be real intercession, God will forgive
us; James 5:14, 15. If you ask me what the sin unto death
is, it may be any sin; it may be the telling of a lie, as in
the case of Ananias and Sapphira. (Peter does not pray
for them.) See also the case of Stephen, when he said, “
Lay not this sin to their charge.” And in Corinthians, “ For
this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many
sleep.” e horribly confused state of the church causes the
government to be kept more in the hands of God and from
the saints’ incompetence to walk in the power of the Spirit,
they are necessarily more thrown on the Lord, whose
faithfulness to us will not allow our sins to go unjudged. “
He withdraweth not his eye from the righteous.”
May we be so walking in the power of holiness, that we
may not be struggling with sin under His correcting hand;
may we be walking in full communion with His grace!
Amen.
Notes on 2John
443
63027
Notes on 2John
What specially characterizes the Epistle is the
connection of the truth with the manifestation of love.
Both the second and third Epistles are occupied with the
receiving of these who are going about preaching. e third
Epistle commends those who went forth for Christ’s sake,
to the love of the faithful, who in receiving such, became
fellow-helpers to the truth.
Here John warns this lady against receiving certain
persons that did not bring the truth. He had pressed
extremely the walking in love in the rst Epistle. And so
here too he says, “ I beseech thee, lady, not as though I
wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that which we
had from the beginning, that we love one another.” en
he takes these two guards of true charity: one is the truth
and the other is obedience- just what Christ was when
He was in the world. He was love come into the world,
the witness and testimony of love, and He was the truth,
and He was the obedient man. His love to His Father was
shown in His obeying Him in all things. He was the truth
in showing out everything just as it was. Besides, He came
down to do the will of Him who sent Him.
John takes up these three great principles here. Love-
divine charity-is insisted on, but it is always the truth,
because it is Christ; and if it is not in the truth, it is denying
Christ: it is saying there can be love in nature. e third
thing is this obedience to the commandments of Christ.
Such is the business of a Christian obeying Christ, with
truth in the heart, and love as the spring of all. And that is
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
444
just Christ. You cannot separate them. e esh may put
on the appearance of a thing; it may put on a great show
of love; but it is not truth and obedience, it is not Christ.
Here it is a question of conscience with anyone. It is not
an ecclesiastical question, but of a woman if so called on.
It is a matter of personal conscience with every saint, the
question of the individual receiving Christ in His members
and of refusing whatsoever denies Christ. And this is the
means of judging of it: “ For the truth’s sake, which dwelleth
in us, and shall be with us forever.” e apostle loved the
lady and her children, but it was for the truth’s sake. Where
there was not that, there could be no divine love.
In the next verse, again, we have “ from the Lord Jesus
Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.” “ I rejoiced
greatly that I found of thy children walking in truth, as
we have received a commandment from the Father.” Now
he brings in the obedience it is a commandment from the
Father. He will have the Son honored, even as Himself.
“ And now I beseech you, lady, not as though I wrote
a new commandment unto thee, but that which we had
from the beginning, that we love one another. And this
is love, that we walk after his commandments.” Just as
Christ walked after the commandments of God because
He loved Him. As He said (John 14:31), “ at the world
may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave
me commandment, even so I do.” So it is with those that
follow Him. “ is is the commandment, that, as ye have
heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it.”
en he adds, “ Many deceivers are entered into the
world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the
esh. is is a deceiver and an antichrist.” If this divine
love came down in a man, what was it to deny that? Christ
Notes on 2John
445
came as a man. It could not be a mere man come in the
esh. is could not be said of a mere human being. If a
man say, I am come in the esh, I should ask, What else
could you come in? at is what you are: you are a mere
man. But whosoever shall “ confess not Jesus Christ come
in the esh, this is a deceiver and an antichrist.” Perfect
Man, He is innitely more.
“ Look to yourselves.” If they had all departed away, his
work would have been burnt with re. And therefore he
says, “ Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things
which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward.”
e reward of labor in that sense is for the work that he has
done in the souls of others. As it is said of the Lord Jesus,
“ he shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satised
“; so we in our little measure receive it.
Now we have a little more. After having spoken about
these deceivers, he adds, “ Whosoever goeth forward and
abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God.” If you
have not got the true Christ, you have not God at all. at
is the rst great broad principle. All through John, when he
is speaking of relationship, it is the Son; but if of nature, it
is God, not the Father. In John 8 it is God; and Jesus takes
that place-” Before Abraham was, I am.” ere may be the
rejection of the truth, and then I have not God in any; I am
outside the whole scene in which this grace is displayed.
I have not the doctrine of Christ, that is, the truth as to
Christ; I have not got God at all. “ He that abideth in the
doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.”
He gets the whole unfolding of this unspeakable grace. It is
the perfect revelation of God in its own blessedness within
itself, not outside, but you have God inside; and you have
got here all blessedness, in which the Father loves the Son
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
446
and has given the Son for us; you have got both the Father
and the Son. “ Truly, our fellowship is with the Father
and with his Son Jesus Christ.” … “ If we say that we have
fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do
not the truth.” He has not communion with God, because
God’s nature is light.
You have, rstly, the great fact of not having God at
all; a man is absolutely without God if he has not Christ.
en, secondly, when he unfolds the truth, it is the Father
and the Son. He urges decision upon these saints. “ If there
come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him
not into your house, neither bid him God speed.” To do
so would be encouraging and helping him; it is to tamper
with my own conscience, because I am allowing something
to be Christ which is a false one, and the deepest dishonor
to God. If I show this appearance of love where the truth
is not, it is not Christ at all; it is denying Him, and saying
that what is false is as good as what is true. It is helping
the Antichrist and not the Christ. “ Him that biddeth him
God speed “ (that is, literally salutes him on going away),
“ is partaker of his evil deeds.” It was a sign of recognition
and companionship.
“ Having many things to write unto you, I would not
write with paper and ink; but I trust to come unto you,
and speak face to face, that our joy may be full.” I get there
another thing, that is, the kind of aection which should
reign among the saints. It was not a sort of mere abstract
love; but there was gladness in seeing them, real comfort in
it, and rejoicing to see them doing well. e Holy Ghost
always encourages this activity of love, however strong He
may be for the truth. Christ has come into the world: the
one point round which souls can rally and nd God in
Notes on 2John
447
grace. When anything unsettles that, there is no resource
at all. If Satan cannot do anything by persecution, he tries
to unsettle souls about the truth in Christ. He is a roaring
lion, going about seeking whom he may devour that is
persecution. But he is not always a roaring lion. When
he comes in as a serpent (that is, when he steals along,
and does not roar at all), it is a great deal more dangerous.
A person is tried by violence and rage; but it is far more
serious when we have to withstand the wiles of the devil.
Still, wherever Christ is held to simply, all is simple. Here it
is the case of a lady. It is personal faith that clings to Christ
for His own sake. e person may not be wise enough to
set the world right, but there is something that faith clings
to. I must have Christ. e secret of all is the individual
personal faith that holds fast to Christ and His truth. It is a
wonderful mercy to have that which is a test of everything,
and a proof of Christ’s love. To have a clear and distinct
object this carries’ me through, according to God’s mind,
this is what Christ walked in; and if we hold fast to Christ,
it is always true.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
448
63028
Notes on 3John
We have here the same great principle in general that
we saw in the Second Epistle-that is, loving the truth. Only
there John was warning against any one that transgressed
the doctrine of Christ, and here he is rather encouraging
gracious ways and liberality towards those that were going
about with the truth.
ere is here the kindness that works among Christians.
He desires that Gaius might prosper and be in health, even
as his soul prospered. is Gaius received the brethren
that went about preaching the word, and Diotrephes was
jealous of them. He not only refused to receive the brethren
himself, but hindered those that would. ere was resistance
to the free witness to God rendered by these persons going
about. “ Because that for his name’s sake they went forth,
taking nothing of the Gentiles.” ey went out freely,
trusting the Lord, and Diotrephes would not have such
things. So he not only would not receive them himself, but
if other people did, he forbade them, and cast them out of
the church. e Apostle writes to strengthen Gaius in the
spirit of hearty welcome in receiving them.
With Diotrephes it was love of prominence, a eshly
desire in him, and this even rose so high that he was
speaking against the apostle. Still, the main point that the
apostle dwells on, in writing to Gaius, is that he was in
the truth. It is remarkable in John that, while he speaks
of love, he always guards it in the most denite way by
what he calls “ the truth.” Real charity is in God Himself.
He is love, and wherever love is real, it must be guarded
Notes on 3John
449
by the truth as it is in Jesus, or it is not of God. erefore,
before he commends Gaius for his love and hospitality to
the brethren, he says, “ I rejoiced greatly when the brethren
came and testied of the truth that is in thee, even as thou
walkest in the truth.” is is the rst thing he dwells upon,
before he even speaks of what he does to the brethren and
to strangers.
“ Beloved, thou doest faithfully whatsoever thou doest
to the brethren, and that strangers, which have borne
witness of thy charity before the church; whom if thou
bring forward on their journey after a godly sort, thou
shalt do well; because that for his name’s sake they went
forth, taking nothing of the Gentiles.” Gaius was evidently
a gracious man, hospitable to these strangers. “ We ought
therefore to receive such, that we might be fellow-helpers
to the truth.” It is a remarkable expression-” the truth.” “
We know that the Son of God is come and hath given us
an understanding, that we may know him that is true; and
we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. is
is the true God and eternal life.” Christ is the truth. “ I am
the way, the truth, and the life.” Whatever was not Christ
was nature, and this was not the truth, and you never could
be able otherwise to discern good and evil.
Indeed Christ is “ the truth.” If we speak of the truth,
we mean that it is a person speaking exactly what is true
about anything. Christ tells us the truth about God. Satan
takes very fair forms, as, in the case with Peter, when he
said, in reference to the suerings of Christ, “ Be it far
from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee.” But Christ
says, “ Get thee behind me, Satan; thou art an oense unto
me,” etc. He told the truth about that. It looked a very fair
gracious speech; but it was really denying all that He had
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
450
to do, and Christ tells the truth about it. And so about man.
Who would have suspected that man could have done such
things as he did when Christ was here? ere you get the
truth about man; all his evil was brought out; it was not
fully detected till Christ came. So, too, I do not know what
sin is till I see it in the cross of Christ. And just the same
about righteousness. Christ is the truth. Whether it is God
or man or Satan, or righteousness or sin, the truth about
everything is in Christ; and if we have Christ, we have the
truth. When we have to discern our way in the midst of
good and evil, we do not know the truth unless we have got
Christ. e truth is in Him: it is not in me.
e moment that I have Christ, and that I judge
according to His feelings and thoughts, I am able to discern
sin. It may take a very fair form-perhaps the loving your
father or mother; but still the truth detects everything. God
has shown Himself to be love, rising above all evil; but still
it is always “ the truth.” If He rises above the sin, He shows
also what the sin is. It is of immense importance to hold
fast Christ, else we do not know what the truth is. Satan
is the father of lies, and no lie is of the truth. With the
apostle, we see that it was his joy to get this truth sharper
than any twoedged sword, sparing nothing in himself. It
was his joy to see his children walking in the truth. en,
when the truth is settled, the outow of love is beautiful. “
Beloved, thou doest faithfully whatsoever thou doest to the
brethren, and to strangers, which have borne witness of thy
charity before the church.” ere you nd the love coming
out beautifully. e moment it is settled in Christ as the
truth so that our own heart is judged, then God is free to
act. e moment I have got the truth-Christ, then, freed
from self-this divine love begins to act in its right channel.
Notes on 3John
451
“ As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto
all men, especially unto them who are of the household
of faith.” God has a peculiar love to His own, but He is
gracious and kind towards even the very sparrows-makes
His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth
rain on the just and on the unjust.
“ Whom if thou bring forward on their journey after a
godly sort, thou shalt do well.” ey were these preachers
going about. “ Because that for his name’s sake they went
forth, taking nothing of the Gentiles.” ey were casting
themselves upon God.
“ Demetrius had good report of all men, and of the
truth itself.” John looks at “ the truth “ as a thing standing
in the world, and going through a great service in conict.
Demetrius is witnessed to by the truth: the gospel itself
bore him witness. e gospel or truth is personied. If
a man is hated for the truth’s sake, we say that it is the
truth that is hated. e gospel is love in the truth, and this
working in the world. at is the substance of this Epistle:
rst, the truth; then, the working of love and grace, which
becomes a fellow-helper to the truth. en he says that
there were these persons coming into the church, who were
setting up to have a high place in it. ey did not even
receive the apostle. But that did not take away the apostle’s
power. “ Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds
which he doeth.”
“ Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which
is good. He that doeth good is of God; but he that doeth
evil hath not seen God.” We have seen the truth rst, and
then grace to the brethren and to others in general. If you
do good, you are of God. It is not the question of mere evil;
but “ he that doeth good is of God.” It is the active service
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
452
of love. God does not do evil-that is clear; but He does
good. “ Demetrius hath good report of all men, and of the
truth itself; yea, and we also bear record; and we know that
our record is true.” Demetrius was one of those who were
going about in this way whom Diotrephes would not have,
and one that the apostle encourages Gaius to receive.
It is an interesting thing to see not merely great doctrines
in Scripture, but all the interior of what was at work even
then. We are apt to see things upon stilts. ings were going
on just then as they are now. ere were some going about
preaching the truth, and some did not like to receive them.
We see thus the interior of Christianity going on, whereas
we generally think it was something extraordinary; instead
of being just the same struggling with good and evil, in
principle the same kind of thing that is going on now. e
apostle was left to watch over the declension of the church,
and to give us the warnings that were needed all through.
It is a wonderful thing to know that “ the truth “ has come
into the world. It is not merely that certain things are true,
but the truth itself has come. I have got that which is God’s
own truth, in the midst of men’s thoughts and confusions.
“ Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” We have seen
here these two things: the truth which has come and tested
everything; and then grace towards the brethren and these
strangers, according to this truth. It is a great thing to have
what links us up with Christ, which is to abide forever. is
world is all passing away, and man’s breath goes forth. “ He
returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.”
But we have the truth in the midst of it all. e word of
our God abides forever. Holding peacefully fast by that, we
have got, by grace, what we know is everlasting. Christ is “
the way, the truth, and the life.”
Epistle of Jude
453
63034
Epistle of Jude
e point in the Epistle of Jude is departure from
original standing, and contains strong warning to us in
the last days. It is not the same as 2Peter, where you see
the angels judged for having sinned. In Jude it is apostasy:
“ ey kept not their rst estate.” In 1Peter we get the
judgment of God’s people (the house of chap. 4). It is
the government of God exercised towards His people. In
2Peter it is His government exercised against wickedness.
e general character of apostasy is Cain, of ecclesiastical
error Balaam, of gainsaying Korah. e mention of these
things is meant to be a warning, and an admonition-” crept
in “ practically abusing the grace of God. He warns against
such; v. 12.
Why is mercy introduced here? v. 2. Because they
needed the mercy, they were no longer addressed as the
church, but as individuals. In all the closing writings of the
New Testament, the church is looked at as a thing judged
(that is, the professing thing on earth). God is judging
it as contrary to His mind. If God’s judgment is on the
church, I cannot look to it for judgment; its judgment is
worth nothing to me. He was going to write to them about
the common salvation, but was obliged to write on this
particular subject, because they were in danger. We have
lost what he was going to write, but we have gained what
he did write by the guidance of the Spirit. If the rst estate
is not kept, there may be long patience, but there is no
remedy. And when God comes in to judge, He always goes
back to the rst departure from the original standing. us
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
454
Stephen, when speaking of the departure and sin of Israel,
goes back to the golden calf, their rst departure; Acts 7.
We must go back to the original to judge the present state.
“ I planted wholly a right seed.” Verse 4 shows the character
is suited the enemy to take at a particular time. ose who
had “ crept in unawares “ are those on whom the Lord will
execute judgment when He comes. Enoch prophesied of
these; v. 14, 15. e same set of people who in the apostle’s
days were coming in, the Lord will judge.
ey deny the only Lord (despot, Master). e same
word is used in 2Peter 2:1, “ denying the Lord that bought
them.” He bought the world, just as Joseph bought up all
the land of Egypt and the persons too for Pharaoh-like a
slave bought.
I will not know you apart from your master. It has
nothing to do with redemption. It is His claim over them,
but these “ crept in unawares,” and refuse to admit His
claim.
As to “ contend earnestly for the faith once delivered
“ this would be rather defending the faith which we have
than attacking that which is false. If I see the mischief
coming in, I stand out against it, setting my face as a int.
ere is no good in your raising the devil if you cannot lay
him. ere is no use in your meddling with evil if you are
not called of God to do so.
“ Once delivered,” that is, I must go back to the beginning,
to the original faith as it was delivered. In these days it is
all-important to inquire what was from the beginning. You
have certainly got what is in the New Testament, what was
in the beginning. If I abide in that, I abide in the Father
and in the Son; 1John 2:25. Verses 14, is, Enoch’s prophecy,
the rst testimony of God. Here we nd that God had
Epistle of Jude
455
from His rst testimony contemplated the apostasy of the
church; just as in Deut. 32 at the commencement of Israel’s
history, He foretells what the end would be. At the starting
point the apostasy was thought of. It strengthens faith to
see this. I am not surprised at any evil that may come in. I
am not looking at what He has put out of His hand, but
at that which is in His heart. e tendency of the path
all around was to shake faith. “ Will ye also go away? “
A person never sees beyond what he is. He cannot judge
beyond the moral state he is in. A person may have light as
to mere knowledge, but not as to their judgment of things
arounds.
ere is responsibility as to being clean in your walk. “
Contend earnestly “ for it. It may be in stating the truth-
not only to teach but to convince gainsayers, v. 11. In Cain
we get the rst principles of apostasy, natural religion and
evil, the world and hatred to that which is true. In Balaam
we get religion for gain, selling his services for reward,
and fornication (seducing God’s people), and idols. In
Korah we get open rebellion, the full apostasy, the denial
of Christ in His titles as Priest and King. Cain is the man
in whose family. the world was set up with a natural false
worship. e Balaam and Korah forms of evil are going
on both together. With Cain it was the utter blindness
toward God. What answers to the gainsaying of Korah
now? It is open indelity, such as we nd in Colenso and
the Oxford “ Essays and Reviews.” e error of Balaam for
reward. Balaam’s was religious seduction, taking the name
of the Lord, and the real inspiration comes from the devil.
“ Stand here while I meet [the Lord] yonder.” e words, “
the Lord “ are introduced by the translators. He was really
going to seek enchantments, as we learn from Num. 24:1.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
456
He was professing to get his inspiration from the Lord,
whilst really inspired by the devil.
In Balaam we get him selling what he really received
from God to the devil for reward. Jezebel is the principle
of national religion. Jezebel had no business with Israel
at all. It is the Jezebel character of evil rather than that
of Balaam now. “ For reward “ is the point here. We get
the other in Pergamos; Rev. 2. He had a certain and
remarkable knowledge of Jehovah, but could not do what
he liked-an awfully wicked man-with the love of reward,
power, and gifts. “ Feast with you, Feeding themselves,” etc.
ey like the credit of being with God’s children. ose
who had crept in were feasting themselves at their feasts
of charity, like those against whom the apostle warns the
Philippians, “ whose god is their belly.” Another thing
which characterized them was the absence of all conscience,
“ feeding themselves without fear.” Compare Ezek. 28, the
prince of Tire. Conscience is always awake when we have
to do with God. It may be sometimes reproved, but it is
always awake.
Verse 19. Without God’s Spirit. “ ese be they who
separate themselves. ey are like the Pharisees. “ Stand by
thyself. Come not near me, for I am holier than thou,” Isa.
45:5. e word “ Pharisee “ means separatist.” Here they
are those who had crept in. In 1John 2 the antichrists are
distinguished by having gone out.
Verse 20. at which characterizes the faith amidst all
the evil is that it is a “ most holy faith.” “ Praying in the Holy
Ghost.” e great dierence between those who were really
saints and those who had crept in was having the Spirit;
the others were described as “ sensual [natural], having not
the Spirit.” e presence of the Holy Ghost in the saints
Epistle of Jude
457
is what characterizes the Christian state and the Christian
church in this dispensation. “ e natural man receiveth
not the things of the Spirit of God.” “ He that is spiritual
discerneth all things.” We do not make half enough of the
fact that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Ghost. No
Spirit, there is no life, nor spiritual understanding. Prayer is
not only dependence, but expressed dependence, absolute
condence too. “ In everything by prayer … let your requests
be made known unto God.” It may be perhaps foolish
requests. It is the emptying out of the heart to God. It does
not say that you will receive all your request, but that “ the
peace of God, ‘ which passeth all understanding shall keep
your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” It is another
thing to go and talk with Him about His interests.
ere is another thing needed-absolute condence in
God, asking in the name of Jesus, being in the current. If
the words dwell in us, we shall ask aright. Moses says to
God, “ You brought Israel out. What will You do for Your
great name? “ Until the Lord Jesus comes the state will be
evil. e last bit of the hill is the steepest: but climb, never
mind, and as thy day so shall thy strength be.” e days in
which we live are perilous times, but the Lord is just as
sucient for perilous times as any other time. e power
of the Spirit is always accompanied by a sense of weakness
and diculty, and therefore the need of mercy. “ Looking
for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.” It
is here the mercy needed along all the path, mercy reaching
to the end and carrying us into everlasting life. It is not
the same as Phil. 3- looking for the Savior, that is, actual
deliverance. Peter speaks of the grace that is to be brought
unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. “ Building up
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
458
yourselves “ is individual here. It is not building the church,
but individuals.
Again, He says, “ Keep yourselves in the love of God
“ practically. It is one thing to know the love of God as a
general truth-” God so loved the world “; but it is another
thing to know myself as the special object of it. It is knowing
myself as the special object of it that I get here. We get the
two things in Eph. 1:4, 5. In verse 4 it is the general truth
that we should be “ holy and without blame before him in
love.” In verse 5 the special thing is, “ Having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ unto
himself.” We get the same thing of the love of Christ. He
“ loved me and gave himself for me.” Verses 22, 23. It is a
man who will not let an evil in to hinder the enjoyment of
divine love. When a man is ensnared, “ have compassion “;
but if he goes on recklessly without conscience, have “ fear.”
Verse 24. ere is a power able to keep the saints above
circumstances. “ Now unto him that is able to keep you from
falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of
his glory with exceeding joy, to the only (wise) God our
Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both
now and ever. Amen.” Faultless as to our walk, our life. He
is able to keep one. “ Exceeding joy? “ Yes. We must not lose
sight of that, that there is a power ecient to keep us from
falling. We are apt to get into Rom. 7 as a practical state.
ere is an evil nature and it will out. “ at ye may not do,”
etc. e Spirit hinders you from living after the esh; v. 23.
“ Saving saints.” He sees the saints in conict, but above
the circumstances. A saint above circumstances knows how
to abound and to be hungry. We do not realize suciently
that the power is there to keep us from falling-in all things
more than conquerors, that is, over circumstances.
Epistle of Jude
459
It is a great thing to have the inward consciousness of
the love of God, that I walk in the perfect consciousness
that God loves me. “ Put on therefore, as the elect of God,
holy and beloved,” etc. It is power as regards my walk, that
I have the present and immediate consciousness that God
loves me. I get a double character of His love-His nature.
And all that He does ows from love. But it is another thing
to be the personal object of His love. “ He loved us and
washed us.” “ Loved me and gave himself for me.” God’s
love was manifested, and that in His general character. He
might have had servants, but that would not satisfy Him.
If you have the character of Antichrist in the Epistles
of John, you get the opposite element in Jude. “ ey went
out from us.” It is open apostasy. Denying the Father and
the Son is anti-Christian; denying that Jesus is the Christ
(1John 2:22) is apostate Judaism. is is not the case
with Jude. ere I see, not the Person of the Lord Jesus
Christ, but Christendom-Christians looked at as general
profession, and the corruption is in that. ey “ crept in “
(v. 4), not “ went out “; 1John 2:19. ey not only denied
the Master, but turned His grace into lasciviousness; v. 4.
“ To convince all that are ungodly among them,” v. 15.
Even when He executes judgment, it is still “ among them
“; every character of evil is taken up to the very end. Enoch
prophesies of these who have “ crept in.” ey denied the
character of Christianity, without open apostasy; as in
Philippians, they were “ enemies of the cross of Christ.”
e judgment is on those who have got in, though of
course there will be a judgment on others.
“ Denying the only Master “ (despotes) (v. 4) is the
comparison of a master who has bought a slave in the
market that will not own him. e earliest evil bears its
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
460
fruits to the end-they ought to have been purged out, but,
as a fact, they remain to the end Cain is natural religion;
Balaam, ecclesiastical corruption; and Korah, opposition to
Christ’s royalty and priesthood. We have to look not only
for open indelity, but to moral persons moving on amidst
Christendom and “ gainsaying.”
“ Looking for the mercy “ (v. 21) is striking. You cannot
get into an evil that you do not nd Christ for you in it;
you cannot give up your Isaac without getting him in
resurrection. If in trial we look to God, we receive fresh
revelations. e disciples gave Him up as a living Christ,
and they got Him as a gloried Christ. e mercy throws
the soul on the patient goodness of Christ, and of this
goodness, if we are spared the evil, we are the expression.
If I feel that I belong to a system that has all gone wrong,
I feel myself cast on the mercy of God. Do not get out
of the place where the sense of divine love can keep you
in the sense of divine holiness. See 1ess. 3:12, 13 If I
walk with God, there must be holiness. Christ Himself is
the perfection of good in the midst of evil. Elijah goes to
heaven in the midst of apostate Israel. In that case we have
an Elisha. is mercy keeps the tone of the heart right.
ere must be real faithfulness, not pretension; but we
must be looking on to the end, when things will be right;
but now things are gone so wrong that I want mercy at
every step.
One single beautiful word I would add. “ God sent forth
his Son, made of a woman, made under the law.” Christ has
come of a woman and come under law, He has come into
a place of ruin where the law has made transgressors. e
Pharisees separate themselves (v. 19); they set themselves
up.
On Revelation
461
63035
On Revelation
e rst thing I nd in the Apocalypse is that this
revelation was not committed to the church as being in
its normal relationship with the Head of the house. Just
as we have distinguished in prophecy these two cases,
that in which the people were acknowledged of God, and
that in which they were not; so we have as regards the
Apocalypse something like the latter of these two cases.
It is a man who receives the communication of it, not the
body. ere is, however, a slight dierence, on account of
the seven churches. It is not an internal communication, a
communication of grace (an ecclesiastical communication,
as one might say, in the good sense of the word); but it is a
prophetical communication concerning a certain time.
Verse 4. It is not properly the Trinity, for in that case
there would be the Father. Verse 6. One sees here the
position of the church in this governmental order of God,
which characterizes the Apocalypse. In verse 13 it is “ a Son
of man,” not the Son of Man: it is to express the character
in which He shows Himself. He is servant here; yet not
absolutely, for He was clothed with a garment down to
the foot. It was not tucked up for service, and His girdle is
not brought down so as to strengthen the loins. He wears
it about the breast like a girdle of righteousness. en in
verse 14 He is “ Jehovah.”
Verse 16. We have His power in authority, authority
over that which acts in power as administering in the
church. All that have authority He holds in His hand. ey
are not administrators as gifts; it is rather as government.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
462
Verse 17. John fell at His feet as dead. It is a man who
receives a glorious vision, as a prophet (Daniel). Verse 18. “
I am the rst and the last “ (Jehovah). “ I am he that liveth
and was dead.” He had passed through the state where
sin had reduced man. Verse 19 gives us the division of the
Apocalypse.
Verse 20. “ e angels “; they are the administrative
representatives. If as head of the state I häd before me the
representatives of a dozen towns, I could, according to the
case, address one of them and say to him, How is it that
such a thing should take place in such or such a locality?
ey are mystical administrative representatives of the
church. It is not that angels go and come from the church
to God; it is the idea of angels, without saying that they are
persons. e “ angel of Jehovah “ is an expression to signify
that mysterious representation of God when it is not He
Himself. For the rest, it is a dicult expression to dene
rightly.
Ephesus. Chapter 2: 1-7. Here is Christ in His general
character-chief and inspector. It seems to me pretty clear
that the seven churches are the moral history of the church
from the time of John until the end. First, this number
seven shows that it forms a whole. If it is a complete idea, it
cannot be the aggregate of the church at that time, because
they are totally dierent states. e Lord could not say at
the same time, as if to the general church, “ ou hast them
that hold the doctrine of Balaam,” and “ ou hast kept
the word of my patience.” en, if it were only a question
of those seven churches, it is incredible that He holds the
seven stars, as a whole, in His hand, and that He only thinks
of seven churches when there were thousands in the world;
v. 12. e stream still runs, but the spring had dried up.
On Revelation
463
Christ in these epistles, we see, will not bear with anything
short of the primitive state of the church: it is that which
He had set up Himself in forming the church. If they do
not return, the Lord will take away the candlestick; and
we nd very little of repentance in the history of the seven
churches. From the very rst, judgment is pronounced
on the church; only we have the dierent phases through
which it passes to arrive there.
Smyrna. Verses 8-11. “ Some of you.” Although it has
to do with an angel, He will not speak as leaving all the
responsibility on one only. It is instructive to see that the
Lord, who has all power, allows Satan to act, and is content
with saying (as judge), “ Be thou faithful unto death.” We
do not nd here the communications according to grace,
nor that care which belongs to priesthood. ey are left
simply in their own responsibility. ere would be no
chastisement, if there were not a cause. ere surely was
at Smyrna a certain decline, which was the occasion for
it; for the persecution, which is rst for the sake of Christ,
is often also a correction, as we see in Heb. 12:4, 5. As for
myself, I do not make up a theory of a gradual decline. God
may, for a moment, stop the outward evil, as in the time of
Josiah, although the evil continues underneath, and works
in an underground way.
He maintains responsibility so as to bring one to feel
the need of resting upon Him. What does “ overcoming “
mean in these passages? I answer, To hold fast, in spite of
the esh and Satan.
Pergamos. Verses 12-17. Now Christ explains the
word. He here again judges within. But it is not merely a
moral judgment. He begins to exercise judgment on one
part of the church (perhaps as in the case of Ananias and
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
464
Sapphira), for there was yet much good in the church. But
it is the church itself judged in a portion of its members.
“ ou hast there them. I will ght against them with the
sword of my mouth.” Verses 15, 16. e doctrine of the
Nicolaitanes is a doctrine which sanctions evil deeds in the
church. It suces to know what is said about this in the
word.
Now however that the church is found where Satan’s seat
is, there must be a seal for heaven. e church was losing its
heavenly character; then Jesus encourages this character. It
is an exhortation to be heavenly, particularly addressed to
individuals. When all is heavenly, there is no need of that
exhortation. e manna is not that which is necessary in
this world, but the enjoyment of Christ, known in heaven,
as having been in humiliation. It is, in a word, a heavenly
character in intimacy with Jesus, for the manna which is
oered is a hidden manna; and the name on the stone is a
name that no one knows but he that receives it. is epistle
is clear enough to my mind, to enable me to apply it to the
time of Constantine.
yatira. “ e Son of God “-this is a new title, distinct,
outside of the vision. It is necessary that Christ should
separate Himself somewhat from the church. He isolates
Himself a little in His Person, because the church has so
lost its characteristic features that He cannot really own
it. It is this new title which causes the change in the order
of the promise and of the warning. e result of it is, that
those who had faith were much more faithful. Hence He
distinguishes the conquerors in a more particular manner;
and, not being able hopefully to occupy Himself with the
improvement of the church, He speaks of His coming as
the sole object of hope. e church, as such, is clean set
On Revelation
465
aside. e church is, by nature, a remnant; but that character
was so totally lost in yatira, that it was needful to form
again a remnant. With the churches which follow (save
that He has the seven spirits and the seven stars, that is to
say, all that suces for the church, whatever may come)
Jesus never takes a revealed character, because the church
has lost the character in which He can be in its midst,
as church. e church must therefore by special faith lay
hold on Him, of that which He is for the circumstances in
which it is found, because the character which He takes is
not His natural character (one may say) even in judgment.
He nds His delight in owning the good which was
found there. Verse 22. “ I will cast her into a bed “; Jezebel
is an adulterous woman. In hell she will have her bed!
ere are children born of her prostitution, and the Lord
will kill them with death (by judgment). Her children are
those who draw their faith from her: the thing must be
understood morally (thus Bossuet); but there are servants
of His who commit fornication with her (Fenelon, for
instance, and many others). Verse 24. “ But unto you I say,”
he distinguishes a remnant very plainly. “ I will put upon
you none other burden “; the Lord would add nothing
more. He only asked that they should be faithful in keeping
themselves from Jezebel. In truth, it is already a great thing
to keep oneself from Popery. Since that, indeed, there have
been other communications from the Lord.
Verse 26. “ To him will I give power over the nations.”
He is coming; then when He has come, He will give
authority to this little remnant who have been faithful in
the midst of the nations. He gives the morning star; this
is the portion of the church, to have its part with Christ
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
466
before He comes. Having traced the failure with Jezebel, it
is the coming of the Lord which is the only answer to faith.
ese churches are never the energy of God, which
produces the eect-the blessing; but they are the state
which results from it, when the eect is produced, and
God condes it to the responsibility of man. God forms
the church; after that He declares the responsibility of the
church. It is quite simple. Does Christ judge what God has
done? Surely not.
We can divide the seven churches into two categories:
rstly, the rst four; secondly, the last three. As to the
rst four, all is ended with yatira. God works anew in
Sardis. He recommences, so to speak, and all terminates
with Laodicea. Now when God has wrought, He brings
man into what He has done, with the responsibility of
maintaining it.
If man fails therein, if he spoils it or allows it to be
spoiled, God rejects all that is spoiled. is is what has
happened for the church. God wrought to establish a
testimony for His Son; man, who was placed in that
testimony, has failed in it, as Ephesus in its rst love, etc.;
then the state of things becomes so bad that God rejects it,
without abandoning His mode of action. He recommences
at Sardis according to the same principle; but at Laodicea
the Son, to whom testimony was to be rendered, is outside:
then all is spued out.
Verse 27. See Rev. 18:20. We do not get here the
relationship of the church: but that which is governmental
and of judgment. It is always the case in the Revelation.
Judgment is not our habitual thought; but there are cases
where one feels that the righteousness of God is a good
thing. In yatira, the evil is complete; it is no longer
On Revelation
467
corruption only. Hence, when the evil takes the character
of an adversary, it is a thought according to God to bring
in judgment.
ere is a connection between yatira and the
Babylon of chapters 17 and 18 of Revelation, although
there are also in these chapters other elements. en the
Lord distinguishes the remnant in the plainest manner by
saying, “ To you I say, the rest who are in yatira.” If one
commits fornication with Jezebel, there is indeed danger
of throwing oneself into the depths of Satan and of going
through the experience of these and not of the depths of
God.
“ e morning star “ is the coming of Jesus preceding
His manifestation to the world. Peter goes up to the point
where Paul begins. He speaks of prophecy as pointing
out the evil things, the events. He warns me; whereas
the morning star is Christ Himself, my hope, outside of
all other things, turning my eye towards the dawn of day.
For me the coming of Christ is not prophecy, because the
coming of Christ is my own proper hope. I am as it were in
a dome which has no opening but at the summit, so that I
am in immediate connection with Christ in heaven, and a
stranger to all the rest. Peter limits his doctrine to what he
saw. He saw the Lord up to the moment when the cloud
concealed Him from their eyes.
Sardis. Chapter 3:1. We have here a beginning again.
e Lord presents Himself in an already revealed character,
the seven stars, and in a new character, the seven spirits-
not the seven spirits which are before His throne. It is
what suces for all times, where the church is found. e
“ seven spirits “ show fullness of action; the “ seven stars “
are fullness of power in government. Whilst going through
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
468
the experience of our weakness, we ought not to forget that
there is, even now, in Christ, all that is needed in order to
work with blessing and eect.
“ ou hast a name that thou livest “ (renown). It was not
merely negative, for there was enough to deserve renown
among men. e Lord distinguishes persons from things;
but He judges persons according to things, “ the things
which remain,” the good which remained, whether people
or things. I see here that, whatever be the state of failure,
God expects that the works will be complete, according to
the light which He has given. Protestantism will be judged
according to the light which was given at the Reformation,
and not according to what it is now. In practice this remark
is important, because it happens that men lose the light
soon after it is given; and yet God judges according to the
light which was given. So it is no reason for saying, I did
not know it. It often happens that when all has been lost,
one pretends to have all, by retaining the reputation which
had been acquired when all was possessed. is is the case
in yatira.
We nd here, moreover, a very solemn thing. It is that
Sardis is threatened with the same _ judgment as the world.
Although recognized as the church, and although it had a
name that it lived, this professing church is threatened to
undergo the woe which is declared in 1ess. 5 as not
to come upon Christians. Sardis is not the remnant of
yatira, because, after all, that remnant would be dead
whilst having a name that it lived, and that of those chosen
ones a very small number would be walking with the Lord.
It would thus be a very poor remnant, and it would be sad
enough to belong to it. One must always remember that
these churches, such as they are pointed out, are not the
On Revelation
469
energy of God which wrought the thing, when, after it is
done, God condes it to responsibility.
ere is yet another remark to make on these last three
churches. It is this: the coming of Christ is foremost,
whether as a hope or in judgment for the conscience,
because there was no longer either hope or means of putting
the church in its right position. It is no longer a question
of seeking to put Protestantism in its ecclesiastical state.
No: “ I will come on thee as a thief.” Save the fact that
He has the seven stars, none of the characters which Jesus
takes after this belong to the revelation given of Him in
chapter 1. If, for my part, I rest upon Christ now, I must
lay hold of Him in a special character, according to the
need in which I nd myself. e book of life is the book
of citizenship: one is registered therein-one has the right
to ght. It is a great thing to walk with the Lord; but save
the fact that they had failed, I do not nd much here-little
relationship with the Lord, little intimacy. All is corrupted.
ey are faithful, it is true; they keep themselves from that
corruption, but there is little specialty. ey escape from
this worldliness-” ey have not deled their garments
“; all is negative. Protestantism has hardly the sense that
one is in relationship with God, and that there are many
things to know in Him; there is but little spiritual exercise.
Protestantism is insipid; it has not the idea of a God who is
present. In verse 4 read “ But thou hast a few names.”
Philadelphia. Chapter 3:7. Here one is quite outside
this class of titles; one is not ecclesiastically but morally
outside the characters which He takes, when He has in
view all the church. Verse 7. We have in these titles the “
holy,” and the “ true,” as well as the power which holds the
door open for us, that we may attend to His service.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
470
Some say, In keeping such or such a position I keep a
door open for myself. Well! I nd here, that it is Christ
alone who has the keys. In verse 8 it is very touching, that
without being able to say anything more, He says, “ I know
thy works.” He thus turns away the attention from the
works to direct it on the path which He has opened for
working still. Although there was very little, it was already
a great deal, for there was but little strength. It is no longer
some of those violent ones who take the kingdom by force,
but Christ, who has the key, holds the door open before
these feeble ones, and this suces. If there was much
strength, it would surely be more remarkable; but when
with little strength one is faithful notwithstanding, this is
the beauty of faithfulness.
Verse 9. Historically, they were Jews who tormented the
Christians; it may be that at the end, these Jews will be
found again and do the same thing. One may understand
by “ Jews,” people of their character (namely, some
assembly constituted on Jewish principles, a pretension to
be the people of God by natural descent, whether race or
principles, etc.). is expression-” I will make them,” etc.-is
very vague; it may be thus understood, that, without being
joined to them, they will own that the Philadelphians are
the remnant that God loves. In verse to we have the reason,
the wherefore of the blessing: “ ou hast kept the word of
my patience.” It is not only that we wait for Him, but that
we wait as He waits. One keeps the word of that patience,
and that word forms the aections and the conduct.
“ e hour of temptation.” A temptation is coming,
which will try all the dwellers upon the earth. We must
not confound the temptation with the tribulation; the
latter is more peculiar to Judea; it is Jacob’s trouble; Jer.
On Revelation
471
30:7. But here, although this temptation embraces the
whole habitable world, Philadelphia is not found there, so
that it is neither in the great temptation, nor in the great
tribulation. In verse 11 mark well, that there is here a very
positive revelation of His coming, and that it is not the
same here as for Sardis, to which the threat is addressed
of being overtaken as by a thief. e contrast with Sardis
is remarkable enough. If we are keeping the word of His
patience, though weak, we shall be kept out of the hour of
temptation. First, all Jewish character is set aside; secondly,
one is identied with Jesus in His awaiting.
Verse 12. e promise has for me a very touching form;
He says, “ My,” “ My.” In this address, we see Christ found
again on the earth; He was there found with little strength;
He suered from the Jews; the porter opened to Him the
door; John to. So it is here. at is why the gures are rather
Jewish. At the same time we nd the church also. ere
are the great moral elements of Christ and the church,
although there is not the power displayed in judgment
before the world. As to the characters which Christ takes,
in these three churches, there is this to notice: in Sardis,
the church; in Philadelphia, David and the kingdom; in
Laodicea, the world. We can understand His resuming
successively these characters for the end.
Laodicea. Chapter 3: 14. at which Jesus essentially
is in Himself; not however as a character available for the
church in holiness and truth. If the church fails, He takes His
range in His own personal character, more independently
of what the church is. He is the “ beginning “ of all things,
always, in Himself; He is that, come what may. When the
church was the manifestation of Himself to the world, He
was something for it; at least, as motive in conduct. Here
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
472
the church does no longer respond to Him; then He takes,
in Himself, every character in testimony: “ e Amen,” in
whom every promise is secured; “ the faithful witness,” etc.
at which is wanting to the church, He is that in Himself”
the beginning of the creation of God,” the beginning of all
things. Christ is that which corresponds to the primitive
idea that was in God’s mind before all things. e Greek
word arkel means the beginning in theory, and the end in
practice. e main thought in building a house is to have
a roof; but, in practice, a roof is the last thing that is made.
e word “ principle “ comes nearest to the sense; but it
does not give all the idea of the Greek. ese titles lead us
to follow the setting aside of the church.
Verse is. ey did not see this faithful and true witness;
therefore they are content with a miserable state, which is
nothing at all as testimony. ey are so far o, that they
do not perceive what they are come to, and they think
themselves rich. For them it is not worth while to be
hot or cold for Jesus; it is complete thoughtlessness and
indierence. “ And thou knowest not that thou art … the
miserable.” Until the church is spued out He does not
cease to counsel. As to the characters which Christ takes
here, it is not as saying that He will act towards Laodicea
according to these titles; but He prepares the spirit of the
church to know that those things will be accomplished in
Him; it is what He will do, when He accomplishes His
promises, etc. In this manner, Laodicea follows a line, after
the church is gone, to lead to the throne from which comes
forth the judgments in the following chapters. “ I counsel
thee to buy,” because it is always a question of responsibility.
Verse 20. ere is so much apathy, that the Lord
contented Himself with knocking at the door. Verse 21:
On Revelation
473
“ To him that overcometh,” who will have overcome that
indierentism. It is, indeed, something to open the door
to be saved, and to ascend the throne. When there is
indierence for so precious an object, truly it is sad. “ On
my throne.” It has been said that it is the highest promise;
for my part it seems to me that it is the promise which is
most simply necessary; it is the minimum of the reward,
because one must either reign or not be there at all. At
Sardis, repentance is proposed to the church; the promise
is conditional for the whole. At Laodicea, the invitation is
individual.
In these churches, we have the moral character; but the
manner in which that ends in judgment is not said. For my
part, I do not occupy myself with the ruined house, which
is going to fall; I take away the stones, because I know that
the Lord is coming to fetch that which belongs to Him. e
action of the Spirit among Protestants, rather than among
Papists, is to me a sign of the approach of the judgments,
because God is acting in that which is outside the original
church. at makes me understand the blessing of being
like Jonathan, who, having gone forward in simple faith,
repelled the enemies of Israel without participating in the
follies of Saul. It may be that, in the Roman states, popery
will extend its sway over all, whilst in other states, Germany,
Holland, England, etc., Protestantism will end by being
merely a negative state of things without importance.
is quite naturally leads to the throne. Christ has said
His last word in the church: it is a question now of the
introduction of the Firstborn into the world.
Chapter 4. Here Christ is no longer seen on the earth,
in the midst of the candlesticks; He is no longer occupied
with them. He is now seen in heaven. All is over with the
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
474
church down here. Verse 2: “ A throne.” It is not Christ in
the church, nor at Jerusalem, but in heaven. e church
ought to have been, on the earth, an adequate witness of the
ways of God, making God known; but if it has failed in this,
God makes Himself known. He Himself accomplishes His
objects. Verse 3: “ A rainbow.” It is neither in relationship
with the church nor with the Jews, but with the creation-
postdiluvian relationship.
Verse 4: “ Four and twenty thrones.” A throne is the
royal seat of authority and government. ose four and
twenty elders are kings. Here are only thrones and crowns.
It is not the church as the bride; yet the church is formed
there. ere is nothing said either of the character of
priest. e main thought is a throne: we are there before a
throne. ese four and twenty are reigning ones. Verse 5: “
Seven lamps of re,” which bring to light and judge what
does not suit the throne. “ underings “ mean majesty in
government, manifested in a fearful manner. Verse 6: “ A
sea of glass “ is solidied purity. One needed to be pure to
be there. It is what one must be to be there. It is also the
remembrance of what was done for those who are there;
but it would be rather in chapter 15, that the sea might
present this idea of remembrance. “ Four living creatures
“ are the active qualities of God; they are the principles of
His authority.
In the symbols, we must know how to set aside the
thought of the creatures themselves, so as only to see the
ideas. is is what is important in a symbol, that it is a
grouping together of moral qualities by means of one
being or several, thus forming a picture which gives us
a complete idea of God in the thing symbolized. us
with the beast, it is hardly possible to understand the
On Revelation
475
symmetrical arrangement of seven heads and ten horns;
whereas, we understand easily seven forms of government
for the beast, and his power represented by ten kings. “ Full
of eyes “ (v. 8) is the absolute sagacity to see everywhere. As
to the cherubim, the idea that I have is, that they are the
symbol of God’s judicial government. God put a cherubim
“ to keep the way of the tree of life.” ey are four heads
of creation, just as one sees their classes for the earth in
Gen. 2:20. ey celebrate the Creator-God, the governor
of the world, the God of the Old Testament; what He is
outside Christianity, consequently for the world, whether
the world or Israel; the Almighty, Jehovah, the coming
One, the God who is coming, as He is the God who was.
At the same time these names are mentioned in one of the
epistles to the Corinthians; 2Cor. 6:18. e God who is the
Almighty, the Jehovah, would be the Father of Christians.
Verse 9: it is a question of the creation here. Such is the
subject of chapter 4. It is the creation which gives glory to
God; there is neither redemption, nor anything else. In verse
11 read, “ for thy will,” for thy good pleasure. It is God the
Creator, governor, on the throne, with all that appertains
to the supreme throne. “ Four and twenty “ is twice the
administrative perfection in man-a double testimony. “
Seven “ is a prime number that has no factor; this number
is more abstract, and rises higher as a symbol. “ Twelve “ is
the number which is most capable of subdivision. When it
is a question of the action of man, it is always twelve.
Chapter 5. Books were then rolls. When there was much
matter, they were written on within and on the back. In
this one, which had seven seals, each turn was sealed at the
head of the roll. Verse 5: you will always nd that it is the
elders who have divine intelligence; they are the explainers.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
476
We nd here the Jewish power of government. “ Root of
David “ is just to say, where the government of God is to
be placed; Christ is the source of it. “ Seven horns “ and “
seven eyes “; it is still for government, because they are “ the
seven spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.” ere is
something to learn in the history of these eyes. In 2Chron.
16:9, they “ run to and fro throughout the whole earth.”
is is providence in general. In Zech. 3:9, they are on the
stone laid in Jerusalem. In Zech. 4:10, these same eyes,
being established in Jerusalem, “ run to and fro through the
whole earth”; it is a providence which originates in God’s
intention of putting the throne in Zion. Lastly here, in Rev.
5, before being in Zion, the eyes are in the horns of the
Lamb on high.
Verse 8. According to the grammatical order, it is only
the elders who have harps and vials; but one can hardly
insist as to this. It is the prayers of the saints, and not of
the priests; the idea is Jewish. It is as in Luke 1, at the time
when Zechariah oered the incense, all the people were
outside praying. Verse 9 is literally, “ and they sing.” Read
rather, “ thou hast bought [people] … ou hast made them
kings.. and they reign.” All scholars suppress the “ us.” It
is not dicult to understand, because the priests present
the prayers of the saints. As to these saints on the earth,
God has made them kings and priests. ere was no doubt
that the four and twenty elders were kings and priests; but
that which was so beautiful to celebrate was, that those
suering ones, left behind awhile, were also kings and
priests. ere is a slight dierence of reading as to “ reign,”
or “ will reign “; for my part, I think it is rather “ will reign.”
e church is there, but not alone: all the saints of the Old
Testament are there also. Verse 11 and following; it is not
On Revelation
477
only creation which this multitude of angels celebrate, it is
also redemption. It is only the elders who say “ for thou,”
etc. (v. 9). ey have the divine intelligence which lays hold
of the reason why Christ was humbled. It is the same as
to the creation; chap. 4: 11. Whereas, the angels merely
celebrate the glory of God, without saying why God has
done the things.
Chapter 6. e rst four seals are the providential
history of what God will do, when the moment comes
to introduce the Firstborn into the world. en, in the
general government of His providence, God does certain
things, by which He begins to put down man. It is the
beginning of the ways of God, when He is going to
introduce His Firstborn into the world. ere is, rst of
all, the rst start, which seems an apparent victory, then
all sorts of chastisements, which press upon men, without
breaking them down. Verse 9, they are those who have
before suered from the hand of man. “ e souls are,” as if
to say, I saw them living, although they were put to death.
eir souls were under the altar, as a sacrice to God for
His cause. (e same re-appears in chapter 20, where they
are seen to be raised from the dead.) But it is the idea that
they have been put to death. ey received white robes,
to show that they are pure and approved of God. What
they ask for is not resurrection, but vengeance. Verse 17, we
must carefully mark that it is not God who says, “ the great
day of his wrath is come “; it is the frightened men who say
so at that moment; but later, when the day is come, they
are not frightened about it. Verses 12-17: this earthquake
is not the same as in Matt. 24 At the fth seal, after the
scene of the souls under the altar, there is a certain period
not mentioned here, during which there are still some put
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
478
to death. is would be the place of the great tribulation
which follows the abomination standing in the holy place;
Matt. 24:15-28. en, at the sixth seal, a shaking, which is
not yet the end; but after which come other things noticed
farther on in the Apocalypse.
Chapter 7. Here again we have twelve (twelve multiplied
by twelve). ey are the spared ones of Israel. is is much
more general. It is all the spared ones of Israel.
Verses 9-17: this is the passage of the Apocalypse,
which is the most dicult to class. God will help us, I
trust. Here I do not nd intelligence. I nd still that they
celebrate salvation coming from God, such as He is in His
government. God (and the Lamb on the earth) is the one
who spared them. It is an elder who has the intelligence of
what concerns this multitude. We have seen Israel in the
rst part of this chapter: now we have Gentiles. I nd in
these saved ones neither intelligence of redemption, nor
the Father, nor that joy which nds in God its happiness.
ey are relieved. It is an almost negative blessing. “ ey
shall hunger no more,” etc. I nd nothing here of what
is characteristic for the church. ey are Gentiles, who go
through the time of trial pointed out to Philadelphia. Are
they in heaven or on the earth? At all events, they are before
the throne, and not on thrones. eir position is altogether
inferior to that of the church. eir religion is that of the
Apocalypse; their relation with God is according to the
Apocalyptic form. ey are neither in relationship with the
Father, nor with the throne on the earth.
Chapter 8. In verses 3-5, the eect of intercession in
this case is to bring down judgment. ere is something
of mystery here. e saints begin to interest themselves
about this. We have much more of the imagery of the
On Revelation
479
temple. “ e re of the altar,” the judgment of God which
Christ suered, is turned against the earth. at which had
been a burnt-oering to God of a sweet savor becomes
against man his very judgment. ese are not only acts of
providence, but religious dealings in connection with the
world. e Jewish principle of the relationship of God is
with the world. If there is evil, God will avenge it; Psa. 20
e opening of the seals brings out the counsels of God,
whilst the trumpets announce God in judgment. As there
is a throne in heaven before it is established in Zion, so
before there is a temple where God receives His worship,
the saints on the earth are in relationship with the temple
of God in heaven. Since it is a question of introducing the
Firstborn into the world, God shows Himself more and
more distinctly under a Jewish character.
In the rst four trumpets the judgment is limited to the
third part of the things smitten. It is all that is organized
on the earth, beginning by the lowest. e sources of
refreshment and the authorities are smitten completely for
a third part. First trumpet is a third part of the eminent
persons and all prosperity. Second trumpet is some great
power, which God employs in judgment, in causing to
fall into the mass of the people (the sea). ird trumpet
is the star, some power, acting as light, which corrupts the
principles of the peoples and inuences for evil. It is not
only human power; it is something higher (as for instance
the star of Napoleon). e “ rivers “ represent peoples, the
“ waters “ moral inuences. e peoples moving under
certain principles become the rivers. Fourth trumpet is the
governmental powers are smitten: they are in darkness, at
least for a third part.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
480
Chapter 9. Now we have not only men smitten in their
circumstances; but those who cling to the earth are smitten
in their persons in a direct manner. Fifth trumpet is a power,
especially Satanic, which comes out of the bottomless pit
and nishes the corrupting of all wisdom of government.
A star of heaven ought never to be on the earth. Mahomet
is an instance of this. He was a man of extraordinary power
put by Satan in movement to spread a moral inuence,
which vitiates the atmosphere one breathes. In verse 3 are “
locusts.” ere are agents, a whole army, which spring from
this principle.
Verse 6. Men tormented by the devil will seek death.
ey will suer in two ways, morally and physically, being
prepared unto battle. ere is an appearance of dignity, of
royal righteousness; but when they turn round, one sees that
they are subject to something (hair). At the same time they
will do harm. ey have the teeth of lions. God gives the
name of their head in two languages, perhaps because the
scene takes place in the East; and for a Hebrew he would
be Abaddon, and for a Greek Apollyon. Sixth trumpet-
we are in the East since the fth trumpet, it seems to me.
Here we are near the Euphrates. It is a terrible invasion.
It is much more an armed attack than a moral inuence
(the inuence of the tail, so to speak); not but that there is
equally that. Verse 19. e men that escape repent neither
of their idolatry, nor of their wickedness. e inuences
of the last form of evil, for the last judgments in the East,
prepare themselves on every side, because Jerusalem is
about to become the center.
Remark that up to the end of chapter 11 we have the
general history; afterward we have that which is more
specially relative to the beast and to the apostasy. erefore
On Revelation
481
it was necessary to mark the place in the general history,
and it is this we have in the parenthesis of chapters 10 and
11 up to verse 13.
What we have in chapters 8 and 9 is the preparation
to arrive at the last form of evil. God chastens men in
order to stop them, and it would be a mercy if they would
listen. One must notice, moreover, that until now it is these
wicked men who are smitten, and not as yet the saints,
although there may be persecutions as at all times.
Chapter 10. “ Clothed with a cloud “ is an appearance
of divine majesty. “ A rainbow “ is again the covenant with
the creation. “ His face was as it were the sun “-supreme
majesty; “ his feet as pillars of re “-the rmness of
judgment. He descends from heaven to take possession of
the earth, by placing His feet, one on the earth, the other
on the sea. Verses 3, 4: “ Seven thunders “-the perfection
of God’s intervention in His judgment, answering to the
voice of the angel. God keeps sealed those things which
John then sees; He will not allow John to write. God allows
things to be spoken, in order to show that all His power
must intervene to answer this cry of Christ; but He will
only reveal what is in relationship with that which is an
object of veneration in the world; Christianity, Judaism,
and consequently the apostasy. With His feet, Christ
takes possession of all, China, America, etc.: but it is not
His will to occupy us with it here. In verse 6 read, “ at
there should be no longer delay.” e “ Little book “ means
not the ways of providence in the world hidden, but the
relation of the servants with what takes place in the world,
the persecuted servants.
Chapter 11. is chapter is properly the summing up
of the “ little book,” the development of which will take
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
482
place in the following chapters. “ Measure “: the book
takes Jewish forms here (this had not taken place before)
and owns those who can really oer worship to God, or
enter into the interior of the temple. e prophetic Spirit,
announcing that a judgment is going to take place, takes
and puts the individual in relationship with God according
to the principles of His government. We are in the last
week, and commence the history of the things which enter
into the sphere of the last prophets. Up to this the things
did not distinctly come out in this way; but now here
we are in the week of Daniel. In verse 2 this measuring
indicates that God owns what belongs to Him (property is
measured by a line). In Matt. 24 the Lord leaves everything
vague until the last half-week, at least as to the period. It
is from the time of the abomination in the holy place that
all is determined. For the last half-week, there is nothing
doubtful to my mind. As to Zechariah 10, 14, chapter to
gives the last attack, and chapter 14 the rst. It is evident
enough to me that, the rst time, Jerusalem is taken, and
that the second time, the Lord being there and the remnant
in force, the enemies do not succeed.
Verse 4. e two witnesses stand before the God, not of
heaven, but of all the earth. It is not a candlestick before
the Lord of the earth; it is an adequate testimony to the
state of Israel according to God-” two witnesses.” God will
also be in the midst of the remnant, without owning the
people. In Zechariah we see everything in order. ere is
a candlestick and two olive trees, which furnish oil for the
candlestick. Here it is two candlesticks and two olive trees.
How can you arrange them so as to make a whole? In the
“ two,” I do not go beyond the idea that it is an adequate
testimony.
On Revelation
483
Verses 5, 6. We nd again here the power of Elias and
of Moses. It is the proof that God takes up anew His
relationships with His people, but in a sovereign manner, by
means of the prophets as of old, when they were in Egypt
or separated from the temple, as in the time of Elijah. is
is always what God does when His people are in disorder
and He returns to His relationship with them. One sees
again here that His relationships with His people are at
the same time relationships and non-relationships, because
nothing is in order (a proof by the way, that the rst half-
week is viewed vaguely and might well belong at the same
time both to the mission of Jesus and to the testimony
of the end until the abomination of the desolation). e
witnesses shut the heavens; they have authority over the
waters and over the earth. e three things which we have
seen to be objects of the judgment (chap. 8) are now in
their power.
Verse 7. It is not only that the holy city is trodden under
foot, but besides that, Satan destroys the testimony of God
on the earth. All then is in the hands of the wicked one.
Verse 8. Read “ the great street of the city.” “ e city “ is
not Babylon, but Jerusalem. Verse to. What ferocious joy of
man, when they had put to death the witnesses of God! “
ey that dwell upon the earth “ are those who are settled
there, morally as well as otherwise. Verses 11-13: we see
that after their testimony there is a series of events. Verse
13: there is extreme fear; but they had not received the
testimony, for they give glory to the God of heaven. Here
the sixth trumpet is nished. It goes up to the death of the
two witnesses.
e seventh trumpet is probably the end of the last half-
week. ere is nothing said here of what happens; only,
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
484
when it has sounded, they celebrate in heaven the victory,
because the trumpet has sounded for the end; chap. to: 7.
Chapter 11 terminates the Apocalypse; for in the seventh
trumpet they celebrate the result of all, up to the judgment
of the dead and the everlasting kingdom.
In chapter 11 the prophet makes the beast to ascend out
of the bottomless pit without developing its history. Now
he begins afresh, and although it is a fresh taking up of the
thing, at the same time it is, as it were, the sequel. Having
given the history of the world in general, he reserved the
beast for a particular history; but when he comes to that,
he takes his sources in heaven (that is, from Satan).
It will be noticed that chapters 12-14 go together. In
chapter 12 we have the great elements, the bringing on the
scene the principal actors, and all that relates directly to
the power of Satan; in chapter 13 the instruments of that
power in the world. Chapter 14 gives the ways of God,
who intervenes in the midst of all that.
Chapter 12:1: “ Clothed with the sun “ is with supreme
power. Verse 10: it is the beginning of the kingdom-not
that it is yet established on the earth;
22
but because he who
hinders is cast out from heaven. His power, although not
yet destroyed, is thrown into a more limited circle. It is
no longer an inuence from heaven. Satan on the earth is
obliged to show himself such as he is. As long as he is in
22 ere is progress in the return of the Jews to God. First,
they acknowledge their sad state and ask for deliverance
in acknowledging that the nations cannot deliver, and that
one must lean upon God. To this God responds. Secondly,
they judge their sins between themselves and God; then the
impression is much deeper. (Psa. 130. De profundis.) God
responds to this also. ese make two interventions of God in
the restoring of His people.
On Revelation
485
heaven, he can exercise a deceitful inuence; once upon the
earth, he is obliged to unmask himself. “ Our brethren “ are
those who on earth were yet aspiring to heaven. e church
is already in heaven.
Chapter 13. Here we are in history. e beast rises out
of the sea, not out of the bottomless pit, because it is a
question of the history of the instruments, and not of the
sources of power. It resembles the characters of the rst
three beasts of Dan. 7; and it is the fourth. It is (v. 3) a
resurrection beast; it is important to notice this in order
to recognize it. Verse 5: “ Continue forty and two months
“; God will permit him to act during that time. It always
seems to me that the “ little horn “ of Dan. 7 resembles
this rst beast much more than the second. Verse 8: “ All
that dwell upon the earth “; one must always distinguish
them in the moral character of being settled down here, in
contrast with those who by faith belong to heaven. Verse
10: God will not have force and violence; He will have the
patience of faith.
Verse 11: “ Another beast.” Christianity is not the Lamb;
for the Lamb is Christ personally. I have an idea that it is a
power of the earth, a power which rises up from among the
Jews, when all is organized, when the rst beast is already
there. e word “ earth “ is one to which one must pay great
attention, in order to have the interpretation, because in
Hebrew and Greek it means the organized earth, or else
Judea. See this second case in Isa. 24
It had “ two horns,” so as to resemble “ a lamb.” For
my part, I think that it is a false Christ in Judea, who will
be the Messiah of the Jews and the agent of the Roman
empire to persuade the Jews to submit to the beast.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
486
Verse 13. Here he is acting as a prophet, and giving signs
or wonders, as a proof that he is sent by Jehovah. Is it not
said in 2ess. 2 that he owns no God? e answer is “ Yes
“; but the diculty is completely removed by the testimony
of Dan. 11, where we see that he does not “ regard any
god “; while at the same time he honors his god Mauzzim.
Outwardly before the Jews, he will have a god; inwardly,
he has none. In 2ess. 2 it is, to my mind, religious and
moral.
Chapter 14 is the intervention of God in the midst of
all these things. “ An hundred forty and four thousand “
are those who have suered with Christ from the hands of
the wicked Jews, like the remnant with David. Before the
temple is built the true David reigns in Zion, and those
who have suered with Him reign with Him. ey have
a share in of heaven. ey are not in heaven; but they sing
the song of heaven. I do not know whether they are raised
from the dead or changed. ere are seven things in this
chapter: verse 1, rst; verse 6, second; verse 8, third; verse 9,
fourth; verse 13, fth; verse 14, sixth; and verse 17, seventh.
In the fth section-the time when one ceases to be
put to death for the Lord-it is “ the dead,” particularly
their character the diers, so to speak. is is the close of
martyrdom. e diers in the Lord are blessed from that
moment; they enter into the blessing which they have been
waiting for.
Hence it is nished-nothing remains but the coming
of the Son of man. ey are blessed from this time. I do
not say that they die from henceforth. In the sixth it is
the harvest or judgment where distinction is made; in the
ninth, the vintage, where everything is trodden down. At
His coming, He smites everywhere; but where all has not
On Revelation
487
been against Him (“ the isles “), He distinguishes; whilst
in Edom, where the gathering together of the wicked ones
takes place, all is trodden down.
Chapters 15, 16 are altogether separate. It is the wrath
of God. is is not the same as the wrath of the Lamb. It is
God acting in public government, and not Christ executing
judgment in person. At the same time, it is unmingled
judgment, because the saints who suered under the beast
are not ingathered and in glory.
Chapter i6 is the vials. We have here, as for the
trumpets, the earth, the sea, the rivers, the sun: the sun
becomes more scorching. Men would have this beast: they
must know what it is. Fifth vial: the throne of the beast
is the object. Sixth vial: the Euphrates is dried up. All the
sources of prosperity are smitten. e plagues fall upon the
men who worship the beast and did not repent. Also the
sixth vial prepares the last great catastrophe. Verse 13: “
e dragon “ is the open energy and hostility of Satan; “
the beast “ is the Roman empire in its state of blasphemy,
having again come up out of the bottomless pit; and “ the
false prophet “ is he who pretended to be the sent one of
God. In verse i6 we nd ourselves again with Hebrew
landmarks-Armageddon. It is, as in Judg. 5, the gathering
together of the kings to make war against God.
Verses 16, 18. “ In the air “; because it is universal. What
a solemn word-” It is done! “ We have not yet the judgment
of the beast. Up to this it is only what happens around;
the judgment of the beast is another thing. “ e earth “
is where they have not received “ the love of the truth “;
then God sends them “ strong delusion, that they should
believe a lie.” ey unite with the rebellion of men under
the government of God, and undergo direct judgment.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
488
ey are smitten alive; whereas “ the nations,” where
Christianity has not had its seat, undergo the judgment
in a less terrible manner. e Apocalypse brings us to the
point where the apostasy of the church has led the world;
it is an apostate concentration. It ends in this way on the
earth. On the other hand, this book shows us also the end
of all. things for good by the rapture of the saints to heaven.
To sum it all up, blessing is on high, judgment below.
Chapters 17, 18. It is not the beast in its particular
history, but now its relationship with the harlot.
Chapter 17: 1. “ Upon many waters” means by the side
of the waters. She has direct power over the beast, and her
inuence extends even over nations. Verse 3: For the Spirit
this world is a wilderness. e beast has the royal color, but
the harlot is much more adorned. Verse 5: “ Abominations
of the earth “ are idols. It is a mystery; it is not a clear
thing, as if it were a city. If there were Nebuchadnezzar at
Babylon, it would not be a mystery. One must seek here one
or more characters. She is the cause of every persecution,
and of all the blood which has been shed. Verse 8: e beast
reappears with a diabolical character. Verse 9: “ Mountains
“ are seats of authority in stability.
Verse 11. is eighth king is the beast itself; but it is,
at the same time, one of the old forms which reappears
(consuls, decemvirs, emperors-one knows not what; but it
is “ of the seven “). Verse 12: “ ey reign for the same time
with the beast.” e ten horns belong to the beast; they
are not the barbarians of the middle ages. Verse 17 means
the horns, which destroy the harlot, not the “ kings of the
earth,” for they lament; chap. 18: 9. We have here the end
of Christendom; Christianity had ceased before this. ese
horns are indeed kings; but they are powers and kings at
On Revelation
489
the same time. If the king falls, the power-the people-is
always there.
Chapter 18: 4-6. Two things are said to the saints: rst,
to come out of Babylon in order not to partake of her sins,
nor of her judgment; secondly, to smite her. is warning,
though placed in the account after the judgment of Babel,
is addressed to the saints before the judgment.
Chapter 19: 10. We must distinguish the prophetic
Spirit from the Spirit sent from heaven. In the rst case,
it is the Spirit who declares things beforehand; in the
second, it is the Spirit given after a work accomplished in
redemption, as a seal of that work. is is important to
distinguish, because the testimony of Jesus is not always
the gospel.
From verse 11 to chapter 20: 3 is the warrior judgment.
What follows is rather the sessional judgment. Verse 11.
e armies which accompany Him are the saints. Chap.
17: 14: As to “ heaven opened,” it is interesting to remark
that, until Christ, heaven could not be opened. We nd
four times heaven opened in the New Testament. Firstly, at
the time of the baptism of Jesus (Luke 3:21, 22); secondly,
during the days of the Son of man, according to John 1:
52 (this will be fully accomplished in the millennium;
but already on the earth, His Person called for that, Luke
22:43); thirdly, at the death of Stephen, for the reception
on high of the redeemed man; fourthly, in judgment. Rev.
19:15. “ Out of his mouth “; “ the word that I have spoken
“ to you, “ the same shall judge,” etc. Verse 20. ose are the
two which go rst into the lake of re. Others will be cast
in somewhat later; Matt. 25.
Chapter 20. As for Satan, he is cast into the bottomless
pit, because he is again to come out and deceive the nations
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
490
afresh. In verse 4, besides the general expression, which
says that they are on thrones, there are two classes named.
Otherwise it might have been feared that these persons,
those of the last half-week, the last raised from the dead,
would not be found with the others; they are introduced
here, in order that we may see their place. Christ, who
comes like lightning, does not pass away like lightning.
He sits down to judge. In verses 7-9, it is to be remarked
that the saints do not suer; there is a complete separation.
at which belongs to God is gathered to the Lord who
is there; but when “ the camp of the saints “ is surrounded,
re comes down out of heaven.
Verse 10. Satan, once cast down, never goes up again
to heaven. In verse 11, “ I saw a great white throne “; it is
always sessional; but Christ is alone. ere are no other
thrones here, because it is a question of the dead; we shall
not judge the dead. One must, moreover, pay attention to
this, that Christ does not come for the judgment of the
dead. He is already there when the moment arrives. Verse
13. is is to say, that all the rest of the dead were there.
Chapter 21: 1-8. ese verses continue the history.
e Lamb is not named in these eight verses; it is not a
mediatorial system. It is God “ all in all.”
In chapter 21: 9, we go back a little. It is one of the
seven angels who shows the New Jerusalem to John. is
remark may show that we have not here a continuation of
the history. ere is also the contrast of the two cities. It
needs a measure of spirituality to lay hold of the gures
here. e city descended out of heaven; the origin of the
church is heavenly. It is always twelve, because it is always
a question of men, though it be in glory. “ Gold “ is divine
righteousness. One sees the meaning of this symbol by the
On Revelation
491
mercy-seat of gold which received the blood. As to “ precious
stones,” I do not know whether I could explain more than
the light of God diversied in His saints; as, for instance,
the light of the sun in a prism. God is light; and the church
is the perfect prism, in which the light of God brings out
in detail all the beauties of His glory. I nd this varied
expression of the perfection of God, rst in the creature
(or creation); secondly, in Christ, in the priesthood; thirdly,
in glory for the church. It is God’s essential perfection, not
manifesting itself essentially, but in a center which shows
its various beauties. All these gures furnish us with real
ideas, which it is good to lay hold of. is is made very
evident by the fact, that this varied glory has its history
in creation, in grace, and in glory. e “ gates “ are twelve
pearls; the beauty of the church appears directly. ere
was no temple therein: God is the temple of it; His proper
glory insures His majesty. e city has God Himself for its
light; but the city is itself the light of the nations; v. 23, 24.
In verse 26, they bring their gifts “ to “ it, and not “ into “ it.
Instead of each one worshipping his net (Hab. 1:16), they
will own the God of glory, honoring Him and presenting
to Him their gifts (in His city on this earth), as of old they
oered oblations to Jehovah before His altar on the earth.
Chapter 22: 3. All the ripe fruit which the life of
Christ produces we eat of in heaven; all that is manifested
(the leaves) will be administered in grace and healing on
the earth. On the earth now, the church should be the
manifestation of all this glory.
In this chapter there are three times “ I come quickly.”
Verse 7 is a warning for those who are in connection with
the things said in this book-those who are found in the
circumstances to which the prophecy applies. Verse 12. is
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
492
is much more general; the consequence will be universal.
In verse 16 Jesus no longer prophesies; He introduces
Himself afresh. en as soon as He announces Himself in
His character for the church, namely, His Person and His
coming, the cry of the bride is-” Come.” is (v. 17) is the
complete picture of the church in the absence of Christ.
Four things are there: rst, the Holy Ghost; secondly,
the bride waiting for Christ, knowing what He is for it;
thirdly some weak ones, who have not yet entered into the
aections of the bride, but at the same time belonging to
Christ, and therefore invited to join their voices to its own.
Fourthly and lastly, the church, the depositary of living
waters, possessing the Holy Spirit in the absence of Christ,
invites those from without to come and quench their thirst.
Outline of the Revelation
493
63037
Outline of the Revelation
Let us look a little at the dierent forms of evil in
connection with the Revelation.
When we go beyond the seven churches, we nd the
government of the world, but we see the government put
into the hands of the Lamb that was slain. e book, we
know, is divided into three parts; chap. 1: 19. Firstly, “ e
things which thou hast seen,” that is, the personal glory of
Christ; not merely in His deity, nor His humanity, but in
the character of judgment, as seen in chapter 1. Secondly, “
e things which are “-the seven churches-His judgment
of the seven churches as given in chapters 2 and 3. irdly, “
e things which shall be hereafter “ (or, after these). ere
we see God’s judgment and government of the world.
In chapter 1 we nd the divine attributes in One who
is Man. ere is a full description of the Lord Jesus, not
as girded for priestly service, but “ clothed with a garment
down to his foot “; here it is priestly judgment. e “ golden
girdle “ is divine righteousness. “ His head and his hairs
were white like wool,” the Ancient of days; Dan. 7:9. “ His
eyes a ame of re “ are divine unsparing scrutiny; “ His
feet like unto ne brass,” earthly judgment; “ His voice as
the sound of many waters,” His majesty; “ His countenance
as the sun,” supreme light; “ e rst and the last,” Jehovah;
“ He that liveth and was dead,” the risen man. We see Him
with certain divine attributes, and executing judgment as
the Son of man. ere is something similar in chapters 7
and to of Daniel. You get Him as Jehovah, and as One
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
494
risen from the dead, as the risen Man walking among the
candlesticks.
e seven churches (chaps. 2, 3) then existing are looked
at as those which Christ judges, though they present to us
the whole history of the church until the coming of the
Lord. ey are thus given that there might be nothing
to hinder their looking for the immediate coming of the
Lord. It is the same in Matt. 25 e virgins who go to sleep
are the same that wake; and the servants who receive the
talents are the same the Lord reckons with at His coming,
though ages and generations have passed away from the
time of the church going to sleep, and the time of the going
forth of the cry, “ Behold, the Bridegroom cometh.” When
the Spirit of God speaks of the Bridegroom tarrying, He
speaks of the present state of things existing unto the end.
We see seven subsisting churches, and there is no form of
evil can come in that is not provided for. In Jerusalem was
found the blood of all the prophets; in Babylon (chap. 17)
the blood of all the saints. We at the close have all the
responsibility. e vision and the blessing was from Him
who is, and who was, and who is to come. “ Who is “ is
the immutable being of God. us time is brought in in
connection with Him who is eternal- the coming One-
who is, was, and is coming.
In chapter 4 we see a throne set in heaven, and the four
living creatures surrounding it. e throne of Dan. 7 is a
partial development; but it is not simply the throne in that
character here. We have cherubim as well as seraphim.
What is the dierence? e cherubim are connected with
present judgment on the earth; they are the seat of God’s
judicial power on earth. e seraphim covered their faces,
crying, “ Holy, holy, holy.” ey are connected with God
Outline of the Revelation
495
revealed, so as to bring man as man into His presence. In
Isa. 6 we nd the seraphim. Here we see government in
respect to the holiness of God’s nature, not so much His
revealed ways. God comes out according to His nature.
Anything not according to that nature I cannot have.
We nd the incompatibility of God’s nature with sin-
the contrariety of an unholy nature with a holy Being.
e living creatures here are cherubim, the attributes of
God and the heads of creation- cattle, beasts of the eld,
birds, and man. e lion was the symbol of strength; the
calf, rmness; man, intelligence; the eagle, swiftness of
judgment. e seraphim in Isa. 6 have nothing to do with
grace, only with judgment. e coal of re is grace, but
burning grace. Cherubim are the government of God on
earth; seraphim cry, “ Holy, holy, holy.” e living creatures
here illustrate the cherubic character: Holy, holy, holy, the
seraphic character; the seven Spirits of God the attributive
character. e seven lamps are the seven Spirits; they are in
connection with God’s government of the earth, and similar
to Isa. 11, “ the spirit of wisdom,” etc. e rainbow (v. 3) is
God’s covenant with creation. You nd judgment, but not
yet the Lord till the next chapter. e living creatures in
Ezek. 1 are the attributes of God, the pillars of the throne.
“ e Lord reigneth … he sitteth between the cherubims,”
Psa. 99: I. Man made gods of the attributes to worship.
In chapter 5 the angels are seen as a distinct set outside.
In chapter 4 are no angels at all-the living creatures may
be angels; in chapter 5 they are the heavenly saints. We
perhaps get here the transfer of power from angels to men,
according to Heb. 2e coming age is not to be under
angels, but under man. e Lamb’s taking the book is the
beginning in a certain way of the coming age. All through
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
496
the old dispensation God was dealing with man through
angels-” the law was given by the disposition of angels “;
now they are displaced by man, their power transferred to
the heavenly saints. e four living creatures are only used
as symbols, just as the beast of chapter 17 has seven heads
and ten horns; if taken literally, where would you put the
ten horns on seven heads? ey have tried to put them in
pictures, and they have made a mess of it.
e beasts and elders worship together. e beasts
celebrate, but do not worship. You see the beasts and elders
separate in chapter 4. e angels never give a reason for
their worship; the saints always do, for they have the mind
and thoughts of God. eirs is an intelligent-a “ reasonable
service.”
God has been pleased to use certain agents, according
to these attributes, of which the beasts are the symbols. He
has used angels, He will use saints. Earthly saints will not
reign over the earth, they are reigned over-a royal nation
in a certain sense. e beasts have more the governmental
character, the elders are worshippers. Both represent the
church in chapter 5; they may perhaps include the Old
Testament saints too. e elders are characterized by their
intelligence in the mind of God. In chapter 5: 10, the
words us and we should be them and they-it refers to the
remnant. eir song mentions the two classes-themselves
the heavenly saints, and the remnant. “ Redeemed or
bought,” “ made them.” He is worthy, for He has purchased
us. It is not here so much His character as the Redeemer
making atonement that is seen, but rather what we nd in
Phil. 2-the humbled Man set upon the throne-the eect of
His death for Him, and not for us. rough death He got
Outline of the Revelation
497
into this place. It is His title to take the government of the
earth.
Verse 6. e seven horns and the seven eyes represent
the perfection of power and the perfection of intelligence.
e “ eyes “ are the exercise of divine intelligence in the
government of the earth. (See 2Chron. 16:9; Zech. 4:10.)
In the lion (v. 5), we have the symbol of power, in the lamb
(v. 6) of redemption, in the seven spirits we get the Holy
Ghost as governing. ey are sent out into all the earth,
the divine perfection of government in the earth. e
eyes in chapter 4 are all-seeing; in chapter 5 perfection in
government; in chapter 4: 8 internal spiritual perception;
in chapter 5 all is looked at as in order, both in the heavens
and the earth, the eect of the Lamb’s taking the book.
ere is no reign in chapter 4.
e church has the spiritual intelligence now which is
necessary to the government of the earth, but is not yet
in the place to exercise the power. We have an unction
from the Holy One and know all things. You cannot go
beyond that. We do not need any fresh endowment. Of
course there is the new body and the glory which we have
not got. Our bodies belong to the rst creation. I belong
to the new creation. e church will have no more power
of discernment in the glory than now. e perfect thing is
not yet come; 1Cor. 13. ere are always the two things
(for instance, in John, we have everlasting life as a present
possession; in Rom. 6:22, “ the end everlasting life “). So
in Romans we have justication and righteousness as a
present thing, whilst in Phil. 3 it is something future. is
is because, although we belong to the new creation, we are
still in the old as to the body. As regards the new man, it
realizes everything in heaven. As to our body, we realize
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
498
that we are groaning on earth. ey are priests in chapter
5, but not acting in chapter 4. at is preparatory, a sort of
program to the soul of all the things that were to come out
after. e throne is set, but not yet acting. God’s holiness
is celebrated.
You have the throne set in heaven, not in Jerusalem. God
is seen in heaven and directly I see the character of things in
Him. When Christ comes to the world, He comes as God,
not as the Messiah. In the rst three Gospels He comes as
Messiah, presenting Himself to man’s responsibility. ey
are summed up in John 1:11 “ He came unto his own, and
his own received him not.” en in John we have Him as
God manifest in esh. e Son came to reveal the Father.
So we nd John full of election. We have the character of
John’s Gospel in that verse, “ I came forth from the Father
and am come into the world,” chap. 16 ‘ 28. If He comes as
God, He must necessarily come to the world as the sphere
of His acting, not to the Jews only. “ I came into the world.”
He leaves the world and goes to the Father. Whenever you
put an interpretation upon a scripture, you go wrong. One
of the old fathers has well said, “ He reads the scriptures
well who brings back a sense from it, but does not take one
to it.” In chapters 4, 5, the elders are the administrative
power by which the attributes of God are displayed.
In Rev. 6, at the opening of the fth seal, we nd the
souls of martyrs under the altar. ey cry for judgment, not
rest. en as the answer to their prayer we have a mighty
shaking at the opening of the sixth seal, so that the kings,
the great men, etc., think in their terror that the end is
come (but they are mistaken).
Chapter 7. Before the other judgments are poured out,
the Lord takes care to number His people. We have in this
Outline of the Revelation
499
chapter God’s people on earth: rst, the Jews, then the
Gentiles. ese are those who go through the tribulation.
ey are the results of the everlasting gospel going out to the
Gentiles after the church has been taken up. ese saints,.
after the church is gone, are living in earthly circumstances
and have the highest kind of comfort you can have. ese
saints are in a better case than the millennial ones, but not
in so good an one as the elder saints. Saints have so got
down to earth in their hopes that they have taken this as
belonging to them, thanking God that He is coming down
to them to wipe away their tears, instead of rising up to
God beyond the place where tears are. e church is up in
heaven. Where does this multitude come from? ey are
those who are living on the earth, for they serve God day
and night in His temple, whilst in the New Jerusalem there
is no temple. e everlasting gospel bears something of the
character of John the Baptist’s. Connected with judgment,
they are warned. e number of the Jews here (one hundred
and forty-four thousand) is a mystic number-it is that of
human perfection-a thousand times over of each tribe
(seven the highest indivisible number, perfection in unity,
God’s perfect number; twelve is the lowest number divisible
by four dierent numbers). We nd these Jews in Matt. 25
spoken of as the Lord’s brethren. We have the heavenly
saints in the same chapter as the virgins and the servants.
ese are not altogether the same as the one hundred and
forty-four thousand of chapter 14. Some of them are killed
during the tribulation and get their places in heaven. White
robes-token of acceptance and righteousness-are given
to the slain remnant. e Gentiles seen in chapter 7 are
those who have gone through the tribulation and therefore
have a higher place of blessing than those born during the
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
500
millennium. e great tribulation is not the same as Jacob’s
trial; the former is connected with the whole earth, whilst
the latter only applies to Israel. ey may be going on at
the same time.
We may just look at the connection of Psa. 93-100 with
this period. Psa. 93, the Lord reigneth-general idea; Psa.
94, the cry of the remnant of Israel and the question asked,
Is He going to have the throne together with Antichrist?
(v. 20); Psa. 95, the last summons to Israel; Psa. 96, the
everlasting gospel to the heathen; Psa. 97, He is actually
coming; Psa. 98, He is come; Psa. 99, He is sitting between
the cherubim; Psalm too, all the Gentiles, the nations are
summoned to come up and worship. Here we get what the
reign of Solomon is a type of.
Chapter 8. Here we nd the answers to the prayers of
the saints (chap. 6: 10), the angel having given ecacy
to their prayers by oering them up with incense on the
golden altar before the. throne and now the judgments are
poured out. e angel here is Christ. When the heavenly
saints act as priests, they do not pray at all; chap. 5: 8, 9.
When Christ is the priest, as here, He adds incense to the
prayers. In chapter 5 the prayers are the incense. At the
opening of the seventh seal we see more special judgments.
First, there is silence, a lull after the terrible sixth, and no
action. en we come to the trumpets. In chapter 8 are the
rst four judgments, and these are more specially on states
and circumstances (they are the western judgments); in
chapter 9 the fth and sixth trumpets, which are specially
upon man, people are attacked; these are the eastern
judgments, the third part of man being slain. e fth
falls on the apostate Jews who had not the seal of God
on their foreheads; chap. 9: 4. It is the wrath of God here
Outline of the Revelation
501
that is poured out, not that of the Lamb. God is about to
bring the Only-begotten into the world again, and in this
chapter He is clearing the ground. His title as the slain
Lamb is owned in chapter 5, but we do not get His acting
in judgment till we come to chapter 19. e action here is
all angelic.
Chapters 10 and 11 are parenthetical; chaps. 12, 13
and 14 are connected; chaps. 15-18 form an appendix. e
whole book closes at chapter 11: 18. It brings us down to
the judgment of the dead, at the end of the millennium,
which you get more fully gone into in chapter 20. e
last verse of chapter 11 belongs to chapter 12. It goes on
beyond the millennium into the eternal state. en follows
an appendix, chapters 12-20 going more into detail right
on to the nal scene in the last two chapters. In chapter 10
you again nd Christ under the gure of an angel. Before
the sounding of the last trumpet, He brings in a little book
which unfolds all the rest; chap. 11. In chapter pp: 6, “
that there should be time no longer “-the real force of the
word here is, “ that there should be no more delay,” but the
mystery of God should be nished at the sounding of the
seventh angel.
Chapter I1: 2. e holy city is trodden under foot of the
Gentiles forty-two months. is is the second half of the
last of the seventy weeks of Daniel. We only nd the last
half of the week spoken of in Revelation. e whole week
is spoken of in Dan. 9:24-27. First, you have seven weeks-
these were historical; then sixty-two weeks are added,
bringing us “ unto Messiah the Prince.” “ After these things
[it does not say how long] Messiah is cut o.” e rst half
of the remaining week we nd is the ministry of Christ
which lasted three years and a half. en the Messiah is cut
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
502
o. So now to faith there is only the last half of the week
to come. But the apostate nation, not owning the period of
Christ’s ministry, “ conrms the covenant “ with Antichrist
for the whole week. ey go on ourishing till the middle of
the week. en Antichrist breaks his covenant with them,
and their judgment follows, and Jerusalem is trodden down
of the Gentiles for “ forty and two months.” ey refused
Him who came in His Father’s name, and will receive him
who comes in his own name. In Dan. 7:25 it is the times
and laws, and not the saints, that are given into his hand.
In the rst book of Psalm we see the experience of the
remnant during the rst half-week, and that is why we nd
more of the experience of the Lord Jesus here than in all
the other Psalm In the half-week of the Lord’s ministry
the remnant received Him, the nation did not. When
under Antichrist the nation again go through the rst
half-week, it will be the converse, the nation receive him
and the remnant do not. In the Gospels by Matthew and
Mark we have only the last tribulation, whilst in Luke is
also seen the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus. Luke says
nothing of the abomination of desolation set up. We nd
from Rev. 11:1-3 that true worship and true testimony are
maintained during the whole of this time of one thousand
two hundred and sixty days. Time is never counted except
in connection with the Jews. e church belongs to heaven,
and time is not reckoned in connection with it. ere is
no date mentioned in Revelation till you come to the last
half-week (v. 9, probably literal days). When the church is
caught up, there will be apostasy. We see in 2ess. 2 that
those who received not the love of the truth that they might
be saved are given up to believe a lie. So to Christendom it
is the same thing whether Christ comes, or does not come;
Outline of the Revelation
503
if the truth is rejected, they die in their sins. Rev. 11 takes
us on to the last scene of judgment-that of the dead, which
takes place after the millennium: this nishes the book.
us the beast, Babylon, and then the appendix (chapters
11: 19, and chaps. 12, 13 and 14) go together.
You are in the dark place, but you have the Lord’s candle,
namely, prophecy, and you do well to take heed to it.
In chapter 11: 19 we see the ark of God’s testament in
His temple. Come what may, there is security for Israel. He
has given a heavenly security to the covenant on earth. e
word of prophecy is not to draw, but to drive us out of the
world. e best thing is to have a heavenly Christ to draw
us out, but it is good to have the word of prophecy to let us
know what is coming on the world.
e church is not spoken of here (chap. 12); she forms the
body of the one new man, the man-child caught up to God
and His throne. e woman includes all the twelve tribes
clothed with supreme authority, and complete government
about her head. Seven is the highest indivisible number,
twelve the most divisible number (a circle and a cube). e
man-child is taken up to God and His throne, the woman
is left to persecution. James addresses all the twelve tribes,
though ten seem to have been lost sight of.
In chapter 13 we get the instruments of Satan: the
Roman beast in his last form, and the second beast, which
I believe to Antichrist. In chapter 12 we had an anti-priest,
“ the accuser of our brethren, which accused them before
our God day and night.” In chapter 13 we see an anti-king
and anti-prophet. e true King and Prophet was rejected;
so now they get a false king and a false prophet. He takes
these two earthly characters, now he can no longer exercise
the former.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
504
In chapter 14 we get the result of God’s dealings
during this period-one hundred and forty-four thousand
associated with Christ on earth. It is “ His Father,” never
the Father relating to the saints. ey are associated with
Christ in His royal place upon earth. ey are those who
have been specially faithful; they learn the heavenly song
though they are not in heaven, and they have His comfort.
ey have shared Christ’s rejection, and now they have a
place of special blessing. Special blessing is always the result
of special sorrow. ey are the rstfruits for God and the
Lamb on the earth, as we are the rstfruits for heaven. It
is too late to go to heaven unless they are killed. ey learn
the song that is sung there, and accompany Him in His
rejection. Whoever belongs to Him out of all the nations
you nd in chapter 7.
Chapters 15, 16. Now we come to a new wonder. e
others in chapter 14 end with the winepress of the wrath of
God. Chapter 15 begins before the end of chapter 14. ere
are seven dierent testimonies in chapter 14. Corruption
is centered in Babylon, power in the beast. God destroys
Babylon, not the Lamb.
An inward quickening is never treated of in Scripture as
salvation; the idea of regeneration has been lost. Cornelius
was quickened beyond a doubt, but was told to send for
Peter to hear “ words whereby he might be saved.” We get
the two things in Romans to: “ with the heart man believeth
unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made
unto salvation.” Salvation is here the result not merely of
believing, but also of confessing. Peter, in Acts 2 exhorts
those who were pricked to the heart by the word spoken to
“ save “ themselves from that untoward generation. Lydia
was a worshipper of God before the visit of Paul to Philippi.
Outline of the Revelation
505
Salvation is not the Holy Ghost’s work, but the work of
Christ. I cannot say a man is saved unless his conscience
is purged. e church has lost the thought of being saved.
People think it is enough to be born anew. Regeneration
is confounded with having life. If we look at Israel, they
are not spoken of as saved till they were across the Red
Sea. Salvation is connected with actual deliverance. When
the blood was on the doorpost, they were free from the
judgment. ere God was known as a Judge; as a Savior at
the Red Sea” Stand still and see the salvation of God.”
In result, salvation always includes the body. “ Believe-
be saved,”( Ephesians chaps. 1,2). “ By grace are ye saved.”
I should say a quickened soul was safe, but not saved. Israel
was safe under the shelter of the blood, though they had
not then seen “ the salvation of God “-full deliverance from
Egypt. A man has not to be saved unless he is lost. You
could not say in that sense, that a Jew, before the rejection
of Christ, was totally lost; that is, he was under probation.
It is no longer so now that man is in a probationary state.
Not only is he a sinner, but the cross of Christ proves him
to be totally lost. Man thus proved to be lost is in a position
to be totally saved-” delivered from this present evil world.”
I was in the esh, but now I am in Christ. If a soul were
only quickened and not saved, he would not belong to the
church at the coming of the Lord. I know this is impossible,
because, as the apostle says, “ He which hath begun a good
work in you, will perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ.”
You are not united by faith, or by life, but by the Holy
Ghost. “ In whom, after that ye believed, ye were sealed
with that Holy Spirit of promise,” Eph. 1People are now
taught to hope that they have life. I meet two dierent
persons, and I ask both whether they are the children of
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
506
God. I get the same reply from each, “ I hope so “; but if I
hear them at their prayers, I nd there the dierent state
of their souls. Whilst one, having the Spirit of adoption, is
crying “ Abba, Father,” the language of the other is “ Lord,
have mercy.”
“ Regeneration,” as the word is used in the New
Testament, is not the same as being born again. e word
is only used twice; Matt. 19, where it is in connection with
the millennium: and in Titus 3, with baptism. It is more
connected with salvation than quickening. A desire after
holiness would be one evidence of a quickened soul. I do
not say he is saved; Scripture does not say so. If one has
been set free, one never gets into uncertainty. “ Forgotten
that he was purged from his old sins,” is speaking of
practice. For instance, my child runs out in the street and
gets dirty, and I say to him, “ You have forgotten that I
washed you just before you went out.” A person may be
very clear and have little godliness. I would far rather see a
person in real distress of soul, as in Rom. 7 than knowing
himself saved, and taking it coolly without any exercise of
conscience. It is not till after Israel had passed the Red
Sea and seen the salvation of God, that we get the song of
deliverance. What is the meaning of the word of the Lord
to Zacchaeus: “ is day is salvation come to this house
“? Christ was Himself the salvation of God. As Simeon
says, “ mine eyes have seen thy salvation.” Zacchaeus now
receives Him joyfully. He had been full of his good works
before, giving half of his goods to the poor, etc.; he was just
telling the Savior what he was doing before. Jesus seeks
and saves the lost.
In chapter 17 we have Babylon and the two beasts.
Outline of the Revelation
507
Chapter 18, the judgment of Babylon, “ in her was found
the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all that were
slain on the earth.” She is corrupt religion, most hateful to
God, like Jerusalem which the Lord held guilty in His day
of all the righteous blood shed upon the earth from Abel
downward.
Chapter 19. e marriage of the Lamb comes after the
judgment of Babylon. Here we have not God destroying
corruption, but the Lamb Himself taking the power.
In chapters 20, and 21: 5 is seen the nal scene, till,
according to 1Cor. 15, “ God is all in all.”
Chapter 21: 8 entirely closes the history of the book.
A description follows (from chap. 21: 9) of the New
Jerusalem; then warnings. In the end we get again the
relationship of the church to Christ, as at the beginning
of chapter 1. At the presentation of Himself, she says, “
Unto him that loved us,” etc. Here, in chapter 22: 16, He
presents Himself as the Root and the Ospring of David,
the bright and morning star. e bride immediately with
the Spirit answers, Come. We have three invitations in
this verse: rst, as to the Bridegroom, she invites Him
to come; second, she turns to the other saints-those who
have heard and received the word are invited to join in
the cry, and say, “ come “; third, she turns to the world and
invites the thirsty to come and drink freely of the water of
life. We see the bride under dierent names, the assembly
and the body in Ephesians; and holy city, and the new and
holy Jerusalem in Rev. 21 Were Abraham, etc., not in the
church? Some think they may be of the city, but not of the
body. Would you make a third sphere then for the Old
Testament saints? ere may be twenty spheres. Look
at Heb. 12:22-24: there we see several spheres. First, we
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
508
are “ come unto Mount Zion “ (that is, the hundred and
forty-four thousand in the land (Rev. 14)-here we have
royal grace upon earth); secondly, AND unto the city of
the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem; thirdly, AND to
an innumerable company of angels, the general assembly;
fourthly, AND to the church of the rst-born which are
written in heaven; fthly, AND to God the Judge of all;
sixthly, AND to the spirits of just men made perfect (that
is, the Old Testament saints, Heb. 11:40); seventhly, AND
to Jesus the mediator, etc.; eighthly, AND to the blood,
etc. You nd out the dierent divisions by noticing where
the word AND is used. We have the ascending scale, then
the descending. He begins with earth and goes higher and
higher till he arrives at God the Judge of all at the top, and
then descends to earth again. e blood of sprinkling is
connected with the new covenant of God and the earth.
I suppose that Abraham, etc., looked for the blessing that
accompanied that state of things. Having got nothing on
earth, he looked up for the eternal city.
Courtesy of BibleTruthPublishers.com. Most likely this text
has not been proofread. Any suggestions for spelling or punctuation
corrections would be warmly received. Please email them to: BTPmail@
bibletruthpublishers.com.
