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J.G. Bellet
John Gifford Bellett (1795–1864) was an Irish preacher, writer, and a foundational figure in the early Plymouth Brethren movement, known for his gentle demeanor and deep devotion to Christ. Born into a prosperous Anglo-Irish family in Dublin, Ireland, he was the eldest son in a household tied to the Church of Ireland. Educated at Exeter Grammar School and Trinity College Dublin, where he distinguished himself in classics, Bellett met John Nelson Darby, sparking a friendship that shaped his spiritual journey. Converted in 1817 during his university years, he pursued law in London, was called to the bar in Dublin in 1821, but soon left this path to focus on Christian ministry as a layman. In 1825, he married Mary Drury, and together they had six children, though only one daughter, Letitia, reached adulthood. Bellett’s ministry emerged in the late 1820s when he joined Darby, Edward Cronin, and others in Dublin to break bread and pray, helping establish the Plymouth Brethren in 1829. Staying mostly in Ireland, unlike the itinerant Darby, he devoted himself to local Bible study, pastoral care, and writing, producing works such as The Patriarchs, The Evangelists, The Son of God, and The Moral Glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. His poetic style earned him the affectionate title “the nightingale among the Brethren.” From 1846 to 1848, he lived in Bath, England, for his son John’s health, returning to Dublin in 1854 to start a new Brethren assembly amid the movement’s growing schisms. Though aligned with Darby’s “exclusive” Brethren, he remained irenic, even maintaining cordial ties with “open” Brethren. Bellett died at home in Dublin in 1864 at age 69, leaving a legacy of humility, warmth, and Christ-focused teaching.
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Charles Spurgeon preaches on the discipline of grace, emphasizing that grace serves as a schoolmaster to educate, train, and prepare believers for a life of holiness and maturity. Grace instills new principles, inspires gratitude, and cultivates love for God while revealing what is evil and guiding believers in discerning between good and evil. The discipline of grace includes instruction, correction, and chastisement, ultimately leading believers to deny ungodliness, live righteously, and eagerly anticipate the second coming of Christ.
The Form of a Servant
"Christ Jesus: 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" (Philippians 2:5-7). In His life, Christ hides His glory "the form of God," under the "form of a servant" as illustrated in the gospels. When asked for tribute, He pays the custom for Peter and Himself by commanding a fish from the sea to bring Him that very piece of money needed. On another occasion, He was the unnoticed guest at a marriage feast, yet as the very Creator of all He furnished it. Observe Him again in the vessel on the lake during a storm. He was there as a tired laboring man whose sleep was sweet. Such was His manifested form. But underneath lay "the form of God." He arose and rebuked the sea into a calm. Who was He? None less than He of whom it had been written "The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof."
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John Gifford Bellett (1795–1864) was an Irish preacher, writer, and a foundational figure in the early Plymouth Brethren movement, known for his gentle demeanor and deep devotion to Christ. Born into a prosperous Anglo-Irish family in Dublin, Ireland, he was the eldest son in a household tied to the Church of Ireland. Educated at Exeter Grammar School and Trinity College Dublin, where he distinguished himself in classics, Bellett met John Nelson Darby, sparking a friendship that shaped his spiritual journey. Converted in 1817 during his university years, he pursued law in London, was called to the bar in Dublin in 1821, but soon left this path to focus on Christian ministry as a layman. In 1825, he married Mary Drury, and together they had six children, though only one daughter, Letitia, reached adulthood. Bellett’s ministry emerged in the late 1820s when he joined Darby, Edward Cronin, and others in Dublin to break bread and pray, helping establish the Plymouth Brethren in 1829. Staying mostly in Ireland, unlike the itinerant Darby, he devoted himself to local Bible study, pastoral care, and writing, producing works such as The Patriarchs, The Evangelists, The Son of God, and The Moral Glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. His poetic style earned him the affectionate title “the nightingale among the Brethren.” From 1846 to 1848, he lived in Bath, England, for his son John’s health, returning to Dublin in 1854 to start a new Brethren assembly amid the movement’s growing schisms. Though aligned with Darby’s “exclusive” Brethren, he remained irenic, even maintaining cordial ties with “open” Brethren. Bellett died at home in Dublin in 1864 at age 69, leaving a legacy of humility, warmth, and Christ-focused teaching.