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John Nelson Darby

John Nelson Darby (1800 - 1882). Anglo-Irish Bible teacher, author, and founder of the Plymouth Brethren, born in London to a wealthy family. Educated at Westminster School and Trinity College, Dublin, he graduated with a gold medal in classics in 1819 and was called to the Irish bar in 1822. Ordained a deacon in the Church of Ireland in 1825, he served as a curate in Wicklow but left in 1827, disillusioned with institutional religion. In 1828, he joined early Brethren in Dublin, shaping their dispensationalist theology and emphasis on simple worship. Darby translated the Bible into English, French, and German, and wrote 53 volumes, including Synopsis of the Books of the Bible. His teachings on the rapture and dispensationalism influenced modern evangelicalism, notably through the Scofield Reference Bible. Unmarried, he traveled extensively, planting Brethren assemblies in Europe, North America, and New Zealand. His 1860s split with B.W. Newton led to Exclusive Brethren. His works, at stempublishing.com, remain influential despite his rigid separatism.
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Sermon Summary
John Nelson Darby emphasizes that Jesus is the sole source of rest for the weary and heavy laden, calling all who feel burdened by sin and separation from God. He highlights that true rest comes not just from alleviation of troubles but from a deep, peaceful relationship with the Father through the Son. Jesus invites individuals to take His yoke, which symbolizes complete submission to God's will, as a path to finding perfect rest amidst life's challenges. Darby reassures that in Christ, believers can find peace and strength to navigate the troubles of the world. Ultimately, the message is one of hope and divine love, offering rest to all who come to Jesus.
Scriptures
Rest for the Weary. Matthew 11:97-30
Christian Friend vol. 19, 1892, p. 162. Jesus knew man, the world, the generation that had enjoyed the greatest advantages of all that were in the world. There was no place for the foot to rest on in the miry slough of that which had departed from God. In the midst of a world of evil Jesus remained the sole revealer of the Father, the source of all good. Whom does He call? What does He bestow on those who come? Only source of blessing and revealer of the Father, He calls all those who are weary and heavy laden. Perhaps they did not know the spring of all misery; namely, separation from God — sin. He knew, and He alone could heal them. If it was the sense of sin which burdened them, so much the better. Every way the world no longer satisfied their hearts; they were miserable, and therefore the objects of the heart of Jesus. Moreover, He would give them rest. He does not here explain by what means; He simply announces the fact. The love of the Father, which in grace, in the person of the Son, sought out the wretched, would bestow rest (not merely alleviation or sympathy, but rest) on every one that came to Jesus. It was the perfect revelation of the Father's name to the heart of those who needed it, and that by the Son — peace, peace with God. They had but to come to Christ. He undertook all, and gave rest. But there is a second element in rest. There is more than peace through the knowledge of the Father in Jesus, and more than that is needed; for even when the soul is perfectly at peace with God, this world presents many causes of trouble to the heart. In these cases it is a question of submission or of self-will. Christ, in the consciousness of His rejection, in the deep sorrow caused by the unbelief of the cities in which He had wrought so many miracles, had just manifested the most entire submission to His Father, and had found therein perfect rest to His soul. To this He calls all that heard Him, all that felt the need of rest to their own souls. "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me"; that is to say, the yoke of entire submission to His Father's will, learning of Him how to meet the troubles of life; for He was "meek and lowly in heart," content to be in the lowest place at the will of His God. In fact nothing can overthrow one who is there. It is the place of perfect rest to the heart. J. N. D.
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John Nelson Darby (1800 - 1882). Anglo-Irish Bible teacher, author, and founder of the Plymouth Brethren, born in London to a wealthy family. Educated at Westminster School and Trinity College, Dublin, he graduated with a gold medal in classics in 1819 and was called to the Irish bar in 1822. Ordained a deacon in the Church of Ireland in 1825, he served as a curate in Wicklow but left in 1827, disillusioned with institutional religion. In 1828, he joined early Brethren in Dublin, shaping their dispensationalist theology and emphasis on simple worship. Darby translated the Bible into English, French, and German, and wrote 53 volumes, including Synopsis of the Books of the Bible. His teachings on the rapture and dispensationalism influenced modern evangelicalism, notably through the Scofield Reference Bible. Unmarried, he traveled extensively, planting Brethren assemblies in Europe, North America, and New Zealand. His 1860s split with B.W. Newton led to Exclusive Brethren. His works, at stempublishing.com, remain influential despite his rigid separatism.