Ecclesial life

1. Brotherly Love as the Essence of the TruthNo. 1 · 1 December 1867 · 15 min read aloud

   Starting from the exhortation “Let brotherly love continue”, the speaker argues that love is the root and object of the truth, and that those who lack it are not of God and will be cut off like unfruitful branches.

2. The Bible’s Influence and Forbearance Among BrethrenNo. 3 · 1 February 1868 · 21 min read aloud · Read: 1 Peter 2

   Observes that the Bible has raised the character of the nation and of individuals, and that progress toward the hope depends on continual submission to the Word and on meeting with the brethren, not retiring from society.

3. Gifts, Schism and Unity in the EcclesiaNo. 14 · 1 November 1869 · 23 min read aloud · Read: 1 Corinthians 12

   On 1 Corinthians 12, the speaker says the miraculous gifts have ceased but the chapter’s lessons still apply.

4. Walking in Love Without Silencing the TruthNo. 16 · 1 January 1870 · 25 min read aloud · Read: Ephesians 5

   Taking Ephesians 5 as his starting point, the speaker says that to follow God is to walk in love, and that a man who holds the truth without love is not of God.

5. Spiritual Gifts, Bishops and Ecclesial ExampleNo. 31 · 1 November 1871 · 12 min read aloud · Read: 1 Corinthians 12

   Notes that in Paul’s day the ecclesias were guided by men endowed with spiritual gifts, whereas today there is no such authority and all is voluntary.

6. Spirit, Philosophy and the Body of ChristNo. 35 · 1 March 1872 · 24 min read aloud · Read: 1 Corinthians 12

   Reads 1 Corinthians 12 against the situation of the Corinthian believers, who had received the gifts of the Spirit yet were divided, and some of whom, influenced by Greek philosophy, called Jesus accursed while claiming the Spirit.

7. Receiving the Grace of God Not in VainNo. 38 · 1 July 1872 · 16 min read aloud · Read: Romans 6

   Takes the apostolic entreaty not to receive the grace of God in vain and says grace is favour offered with a purpose, which can be wasted, as Israel in the wilderness wasted it.

8. Children of the Day: Laodicea and Daily ReadingNo. 39 · 1 August 1872 · 28 min read aloud · Read: 1 Thessalonians 5

   Says the day of the Lord will come as a thief only upon those who cry ‘peace and safety’, not upon believers who are children of light, yet an ecclesia may contain members who fall short, as the message to Laodicea shows.

9. The Ephesian Ecclesia: Godly Edifying and First LoveNo. 41 · 1 February 1873 · 18 min read aloud

   Starting from 1 Timothy 1, Roberts explains that Timothy was left at Ephesus to check those whose teaching ministered questions rather than godly edifying, and warns against treating speculative points as matters affecting a believer’s standing.

10. Philemon: Brotherly Love and Christian CourtesyNo. 44 · 1 May 1873 · 21 min read aloud

    Taking Paul’s letter to Philemon as a model, Roberts urges brethren to imitate apostolic warmth in their intercourse and letters: using genuine words of affection, invoking God’s blessing on one another, and thanking God for faithful fellow-labourers.

11. John’s Second Epistle: Love Bounded by the TruthNo. 49 · 1 December 1873 · 16 min read aloud · Read: 2 John

    On 2 John, the speaker distinguishes the worldly and orthodox notions of love from the apostolic love, which is bound up with the truth and issues in obedience.

12. Sardis: A Name to Live, and DeadNo. 50 · 1 January 1874 · 20 min read aloud · Read: Revelation 3

    Takes the Lord’s message to the ecclesia in Sardis as instruction for every ecclesia, including Birmingham, beginning with his assurance ‘I know thy works’.

13. Love Christ: His Character and Coming GloryNo. 51 · 1 February 1874 · 23 min read aloud

    Beginning from the breaking of bread, the speaker describes the love of Christ as the strongest motive among men and sets out the many sides of his character, which are all to be imitated, not only the gentle ones.

14. Ignorance, Forbearance and the Place of SistersNo. 56 · 1 July 1874 · 24 min read aloud

    Taking Paul’s words ‘If any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant’ (1 Cor. xiv. 37), it urges that the truth must not be governed by pusillanimity or misplaced charity, and that the ‘bearing’ of the strong with the weak in Romans xv. concerns matters outside the faith and not its doctrines and precepts.

15. The World’s Enmity, Offences and Unprofitable ServantsNo. 68 · 1 August 1875 · 23 min read aloud · Read: Psalm 64, Luke 17

    Says the conflict with enemies in David’s psalm reflects God’s plan to take out a few chosen by faith and the world’s nature of self-interest, so the world hates the truth and believers must expect tribulation, honouring the shame as a sharing in Christ’s.

16. Fruitful Truth, Not Barren Crotchets or SpeculationNo. 71 · 1 November 1875 · 25 min read aloud

    The exhortation urges the brethren to let the word of Christ dwell in them richly, by steady daily reading of the Scriptures rather than fits of intense application followed by neglect.

17. Obedience to Commandments, Not Mere Interest in ProphecyNo. 84 · 1 May 1877 · 18 min read aloud

    The basis of the ecclesia is the work of the apostles, and the first-century brethren were faithful without the excitement of the political signs of the times.

18. Walking Worthy of God: Constant ExhortationNo. 87 · 1 August 1877 · 27 min read aloud

    Pointing to Paul’s practice of exhorting the brethren constantly, the exhortation says the matters needing constant repetition are not the first principles but our moral relation to God and to the world, summed up in the command to “walk worthy of God”.

19. Growing in Christ’s Priesthood and the HopeNo. 115 · 1 January 1880 · 25 min read aloud · Read: Hebrews 3

    Starting from the reading in Hebrews 3, the speaker urges believers to grow in the truth, saying growth depends on daily companionship with the word and the avoidance of worldly company.

20. The Golden Candlestick: Light-Bearing EcclesiasNo. 116 · 1 February 1880 · 25 min read aloud · Read: Zechariah 4

    Taking the vision of the olive-fed golden lampstand in Zechariah 4, the speaker says its message, “Not by might nor by power, but by My spirit”, points to the future work of God through Christ and the saints drawn from Jew and Gentile, the two olive trees, by tried faith.

21. True Agnosticism and Charity Toward the WeakNo. 147 · 1 June 1883 · 24 min read aloud · Read: 1 Corinthians 8

    Taking 1 Corinthians 8, the speaker says knowledge by itself puffs up, and that Paul and modern science agree nothing can be known of the ultimate nature of things in the philosophical sense.

22. The Nearness of Death and the Lord’s ComingNo. 176 · 1 March 1887 · 29 min read aloud · Read: Psalm 53, Psalm 54, Psalm 55, Romans 7, Romans 8

    The speaker defends the commanded meeting and urges that its order and exhortation aim at edification, then argues that the Lord’s coming is nearer than supposed, since death, as with a young brother lately dead at 27, would bring it for any of us in a moment.

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