Self-examination

1. Be Doers: Memory, Readiness and Christ’s ReturnNo. 2 · 1 January 1868 · 16 min read aloud · Read: James 1

   Observes that the breaking of bread directs thought to Christ, and that the Roman Question and the expected end of the Papacy’s 1260 years point to his return, as in Daniel 7.

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. Fellowship with the Father: Walking in the LightNo. 4 · 1 March 1868 · 32 min read aloud · Read: 1 John 1

   Starts from the opening of 1 John, noting that the apostles’ eyewitness testimony to Christ was written to Gentiles and so addresses present believers, and that its object is fellowship with the Father and the Son.

4. Sons of God: Submission, Training and HopeNo. 5 · 1 April 1868 · 24 min read aloud · Read: 1 John 3

   Taking 1 John 3 as its ground, the exhortation says believers are now sons of God, whom the world does not know, and that sonship means submission to God’s will, learned by continual study of the Scriptures.

5. Suffering Now, Doing Good, Meeting Christ UnafraidNo. 8 · 1 August 1868 · 29 min read aloud

   Beginning with the need to behold the High Priest by faith, the exhortation contrasts the disciples’ wish to call down fire (Luke 9) with Christ’s present work of saving and his coming work of destroying, illustrated by the plagues of Egypt.

6. Faith That God Is: Trial and PerseveranceNo. 19 · 1 April 1870 · 28 min read aloud · Read: Hebrews 11

   Taking Hebrews 11 as his starting point, the speaker says that faith in God as a rewarder of those who seek Him is a great consolation, and that trial, as with the prophets and Joseph, is the means by which God prepares men for the kingdom.

7. Past, Present and Future in Spiritual LifeNo. 20 · 1 May 1870 · 23 min read aloud

   The speaker says three truths, the past, the present and the future, must be realised for an active spiritual life, and that in each the appearance is contrary to the truth.

8. Walking in the Light, Not Mere KnowledgeNo. 22 · 1 July 1870 · 24 min read aloud · Read: 1 John 1

   Taking 1 John 1 as an address to believers, the exhortation says the truth is meant to fill them with joy, but memory is weak and needs the stirring of apostolic letters.

9. Pilgrims awaiting the times of refreshingNo. 26 · 1 March 1871 · 21 min read aloud · Read: Acts 2

   Taking up Peter’s call in Acts 2 and 3 to repent that sins may be blotted out when the times of refreshing come, the speaker says believers will not know how they stand until the Lord comes and judges.

10. Christ Our Captain: Diligence and True HonourNo. 34 · 1 February 1872 · 26 min read aloud

    Begins from the weekly breaking of bread as Christ’s appointed reminder of himself, whom the world offers nothing to recall, and presents him as the captain who chooses his followers, requiring loyalty and promising immortality in return.

11. Purity, Kindness and Sharing Christ’s SufferingsNo. 36 · 1 April 1872 · 24 min read aloud · Read: 2 Corinthians 1

    Taking Paul’s opening words in 2 Corinthians 1, the exhortation says that the peace Paul wished the Corinthians rests on purity, and that believers should take comfort only where they are walking in obedience, and repent where they are not.

12. 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.

13. 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.

14. 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.

15. 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’.

16. Honour God by Daily Bible ReadingNo. 54 · 1 May 1874 · 22 min read aloud · Read: Romans 1

    Beginning from the saying that all that was written aforetime was written for our learning, the speaker urges daily, patient and prayerful reading of the Bible as against the occasional study of mere scholarship.

17. The Table’s Panorama: Christ Behind and BeforeNo. 58 · 1 September 1874 · 19 min read aloud

    Gathered at the table, the exhortation surveys the Bible story as a landscape coloured with Christ: behind, his birth, ministry, death, resurrection, ascension and the apostolic age, followed by the decline into apostasy and the rise of the Papacy; ahead, his reappearing, the judgment, the time of trouble among the nations and the kingdom of God filling the earth.

18. Reading the Word and Prayer: Rejoicing in GodNo. 59 · 1 October 1874 · 21 min read aloud · Read: Psalm 21

    The speaker urges the brethren to use the present opportunity to examine themselves, since after the Lord’s arrival judgment will be too late to amend; mere sorrow and resolution do not help unless they lead to the word of God.

19. Humility, Prayer and Mercy: Principles of the KingdomNo. 61 · 1 December 1874 · 21 min read aloud · Read: Psalm 28, Daniel 2

    Noting that the events of Daniel’s image have run their course without us and that the end is near, the speaker says the question at Christ’s appearing will be whether our lives have been in harmony with the principles of the kingdom, which differ from the world’s wisdom.

20. Psalm 19: Creation’s Glory and the Coming KingdomNo. 65 · 1 May 1875 · 16 min read aloud · Read: Psalm 19 F. R. Shuttleworth

    Reads Psalm 19 as a hymn on the glory of God in creation, and holds that the unchanging order of nature points to the same power that will bring in new heavens and a new earth when the apostles’ words and the Sun of Righteousness again go forth.

21. Remarks on the Death of Brother AllsoppNo. 66 · 1 June 1875 · 19 min read aloud

    Spoken on learning of the sudden death of brother Allsopp, who led the singing; praises his usefulness, Scripture-reading and zeal, and suggests the loss may be like rain on the garden, sent so that the Word planted in believers may bear fruit.

22. Fellowship in Christ’s Sufferings and Coming GloryNo. 75 · 1 April 1876 · 39 min read aloud · Read: Psalm 99

    Contemplating the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow, the speaker says Christ’s sufferings were largely mental, caused by a world indifferent to God, and that believers share them as pilgrims in an evil world; he contrasts the living sacrifice God requires with the penances of Charles V. and the early martyrs.

23. Israel’s Empty Worship and Salt Without SavourNo. 77 · 1 August 1876 · 22 min read aloud · Read: Isaiah 58

    Taking the apostolic call to behold the goodness and severity of God, the speaker says Israel’s sacrifices and feasts were rejected because they lacked love to God and care for neighbour, and that believers who rely on knowledge, baptism and breaking of bread without these may fall into the same position.

24. One God Speaking: Rejoice, Bear Fruit, Glorify GodNo. 78 · 1 November 1876 · 27 min read aloud · Read: Ezekiel 20

    Starting from the readings in Ezekiel and from Jesus, the exhortation says that the same God speaks by the prophets and by his Son, with the same aim of bringing men to obedience, and that Gentile believers, grafted into Israel’s olive tree, are exhorted to rejoice.

25. Lovers of Pleasure More Than Lovers of GodNo. 80 · 1 January 1877 · 19 min read aloud · Read: 2 Timothy 3, 2 Timothy 4

    Taking the apostolic warnings about the dangers of the present evil world, the speaker says the love of pleasure is the danger named in the chapters read, and that those who have only a form of godliness deny its power as seed that is not allowed to bear fruit.

26. The Goodness of God: Nineveh and CalvaryNo. 81 · 1 February 1877 · 18 min read aloud · Read: Jonah 4, Hebrews 9

    Beginning with the way the Scriptures never lose their interest, the exhortation takes the two chapters read, Jonah 4 and Hebrews 9, as showing the goodness of God.

27. Finding Christ through the Word and BreadNo. 82 · 1 March 1877 · 22 min read aloud

    Christ is not found in daily surroundings or in nature, but through the preaching of the apostles’ written word and the breaking of bread, by which faith in him is created.

28. Russia’s War on Turkey and the Coming ChristNo. 85 · 1 June 1877 · 24 min read aloud

    Taking notice of Russia’s declaration of war against Turkey, the speaker says it is the event long looked for from Daniel, Ezekiel and John, and contrasts the situation with that of 1854, when Papal power, France, Turkey and the state of the Holy Land and of believers made the time not yet ripe.

29. 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”.

30. Death of a Sister: Mourning, Hope and WarningNo. 91 · 1 January 1878 · 24 min read aloud · Read: 1 Thessalonians 4

    Spoken after the sudden death of a sister who had broken bread the Sunday before, it says that sorrow is for ourselves, since the dead in Christ are at rest, and that death teaches the wisdom of the house of mourning over the pursuit of present cares, riches and pleasures.

31. Zion’s Dawn: Cyprus Protectorate and WatchfulnessNo. 99 · 1 September 1878 · 21 min read aloud · Read: Jeremiah 4

    Beginning from the heavy tidings against Zion in the portion of Jeremiah read that morning, the speaker turns to the promises of her comfort and restoration, and says the time of Jerusalem’s desolation is now past.

32. Minding the Things of the SpiritNo. 100 · 1 October 1878 · 21 min read aloud

    Taking Paul’s contrast between those who are after the flesh and those who are after the spirit, the speaker says the weekly breaking of bread does not lose its interest, and that the world is almost wholly given to the things of the flesh.

33. Paul as the Appointed Pattern for BelieversNo. 102 · 1 December 1878 · 27 min read aloud

    Starting from the proverb that he who walks with wise men shall be wise, the speaker says that society dismisses Paul as obsolete, whereas Christ chose him and he repeatedly told believers to follow his example.

34. Praise, Hardness of Heart, and Daily ReadingNo. 106 · 1 April 1879 · 25 min read aloud · Read: Psalm 95

    On Psalm 95, the exhortation says praise is reasonable because the Lord is a great God and Creator, notes why “the deep places of the earth” are mentioned, and describes the full praise that will be offered when Christ and his brethren are manifested.

35. Judgment on Moab and the Love of ChristNo. 109 · 1 July 1879 · 29 min read aloud · Read: Isaiah 15, Isaiah 16

    The speaker commends fixed Scripture readings as the basis of exhortation, then draws from the burden of Moab the lesson that pride and contempt of Israel bring judgment, which the world’s like sins will bring at Christ’s coming, so that believers must not be one with the world.

36. Israel’s Restoration and the Believer’s FightNo. 110 · 1 August 1879 · 32 min read aloud · Read: Isaiah 43, Revelation 2, Revelation 3

    Beginning with the privilege of hearing God’s voice in the readings, the speaker says Isaiah shows that Israel’s calamities were God’s doing and not merely human prowess, and that the next chapter promises restoration.

37. 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.

38. Betrothal to Christ and the Lamb’s MarriageNo. 117 · 1 March 1880 · 22 min read aloud

    Taking the blessing on those called to the marriage supper of the Lamb, the speaker says the Bride is the saints, so those now called are invited to take part in the union and not merely to watch it.

39. Election Signs, Christ’s Coming, Fruits of the SpiritNo. 119 · 1 May 1880 · 22 min read aloud · Read: Galatians 5

    Takes the 1880 general election as a sign of the times and says that the Liberal victory must serve the purpose of God, as Joseph’s sale into Egypt did, so that believers can only watch the developing latter-day situation.

40. Not All Israel: Children of the PromiseNo. 123 · 1 September 1880 · 24 min read aloud · Read: Romans 9

    Takes up Paul’s sorrow in Romans 9 over Israel’s estrangement from Christ, and compares the lot of believers among a nominally Christian community that disregards the truth, urging patience and separation.

41. Election by Moral Fitness: Romans 9 ConcludedNo. 124 · 1 October 1880 · 25 min read aloud · Read: Romans 9

    Returns to Romans 9 and argues that God’s family is not developed on mere descent but on faith and docility like Abraham’s, so that heirs must do the works of Abraham.

42. Godliness: God Chooses Those Who Fear HimNo. 131 · 1 July 1881 · 27 min read aloud

    Starting from the unshaken foundation on which believers stand, the speaker asks whether Christ will accept those who have accepted him, and finds the answer in the Spirit’s declaration that the Lord has chosen ‘him that is godly.’ Godliness is held to be devotion to God himself, as shown in the Mosaic and Christian systems and in Abel, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David and Jesus, rather than the mere ‘manliness’ of popular Christianity.

43. Self-Examination: Weakness, Will and Daily ReadingNo. 133 · 1 September 1881 · 27 min read aloud · Read: Romans 7

    Invites the brethren to review the past six days. Using Romans 7, he distinguishes the unavoidable weakness of the flesh, which will be forgiven through Christ’s intercession, from deliberate, wilful sin, which excludes from the kingdom, illustrating the two with Peter and Judas.

44. The Rechabites and Obedience to CommandmentsNo. 134 · 1 October 1881 · 27 min read aloud · Read: Jeremiah 35

    From the interview between Jeremiah and the Rechabites, who obeyed their father’s command to drink no wine while Israel disregarded God’s, the speaker draws the lesson that the words of a man are obeyed and the words of God are not.

45. Wisdom Begins with the Fear of the LordNo. 139 · 1 May 1882 · 30 min read aloud

    Starting from the praise of wisdom in Proverbs, the speaker says wisdom is the right adaptation of means to good ends, seen in nature and revealed to man in the Scriptures, where God makes known how free will should be used.

46. David’s Shortcomings and the Psalms’ ImprecationsNo. 146 · 1 May 1883 · 27 min read aloud · Read: Psalm 40

    Taking Psalm 40 as its starting point, the exhortation explains two features of the Psalms.

47. Waiting for God: Manna Instead of Flesh-potsNo. 148 · 1 September 1883 · 23 min read aloud · Read: Matthew 9

    The speaker asks the hearers to look at their lives as they will appear in retrospect, and urges them to live now so that the judgment seat of Christ will find them faithful, taking the Scriptures alone as guide.

48. Prophecy’s Delay and the Parable of the SowerNo. 150 · 1 November 1883 · 23 min read aloud · Read: Ezekiel 12

    Taking Peter’s call to desire the sincere milk of the word, the speaker turns to Ezekiel 12, where the proverb ‘the days are prolonged and every vision faileth’ was rebuked, and compares it with the scorn now met at the delay of Christ’s coming.

49. God Alone Is to Be ExaltedNo. 155 · 1 April 1884 · 22 min read aloud Robert Ashcroft and Robert Roberts

    Opens with an extract by R. Ashcroft arguing that all life and power come from God, that men wrongly exalt the creature, and that Scripture praises only spiritual qualities and never natural greatness.

50. Equal with the Angels: Confidence, Joy and DoingNo. 157 · 1 June 1884 · 26 min read aloud

    Starts from the prospect of being made equal to the angels and notes that Christ says not all who are called will be chosen.

51. Overcoming the Old Man by Reading the ScripturesNo. 162 · 1 November 1884 · 22 min read aloud

    The speaker says the apostolic call to ‘overcome’ is a war in the mind between the old man, the natural state, and the new man, formed by divine ideas.

52. Overcoming as Christ Did: Crucifying the Old ManNo. 252 · 1 April 1894 · 20 min read aloud

    Starting from the wonder that Christ is remembered every week, the speaker turns to the chapter read, which shows Jesus in Gethsemane submitting the Father’s will over his own.

53. Fulfilled Prophecy of Tyre and the Overcoming LifeNo. 259 · 1 November 1894 · 22 min read aloud · Read: Ezekiel 25, Ezekiel 26, Ezekiel 27, Ezekiel 28

    The speaker says believers stand between the old man and the new, and that God alone can make all things new, which is why His words are to be trusted as true.

54. Readiness for Christ’s Summons Through Bible ReadingNo. 308 · 1 July 1899 · 13 min read aloud · Read: James 1 Printed after his death

    The exhortation considers Jesus as shown in the emblems and expects the aspect in which the world sees him to change soon, judging from the state of Europe and the coming end of Papal supremacy.

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