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John Gifford Bellett
John Gifford Bellett (1795–1864) was an Irish preacher, writer, and a foundational figure in the early Plymouth Brethren movement, known for his gentle spirit and Christ-centered teachings. Born in Dublin, Ireland, into a well-off Anglo-Irish family tied to the Church of Ireland, he was educated at Exeter Grammar School and excelled in classics at Trinity College Dublin, where he met John Nelson Darby, forming a lifelong friendship. Converted in 1817 during his student years, he briefly pursued law in London and was called to the bar in Dublin in 1821, but soon abandoned this career to serve the church as a layman. In 1825, he married Mary Drury, with whom he had six children, though only one daughter, Letitia, survived to adulthood. Bellett’s ministry took root in the late 1820s when he joined Darby, Edward Cronin, and others in Dublin to break bread and pray, sparking the Plymouth Brethren movement in 1829. Unlike his more itinerant peers, he remained largely in Ireland, focusing on local Bible study, pastoral care, and writing devotional works like The Patriarchs, The Evangelists, The Son of God, and The Moral Glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, earning him the nickname “the nightingale among the Brethren” for his poetic style. From 1846 to 1848, he lived in Bath, England, for his son John’s health, returning to Dublin in 1854 to establish a new Brethren assembly amid the movement’s divisions. Though aligned with Darby’s “exclusive” faction, he sought peace with all, notably supporting the 1859 Irish Revival. Bellett died in Dublin in 1864, leaving a legacy of humility and devotion that continues to inspire through his writings.
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John Gifford Bellett emphasizes the importance of our walk in the presence of the Lord, highlighting that our actions should lead others, whether saints or sinners, into His presence. He contrasts the way of the worshipper, the activity of a true servant, and the fruit of vanity and lack of single-heartedness, warning that the latter will result in uncertainty, joylessness, and weakness, becoming a snare and bitterness in the end.
Three Things
1. We may so walk as to have ourselves in the presence of or in company with the Lord. 2. We may act so as to bring our fellow-saints or fellow-sinners into His presence or into His company. 3. We may be living so as to be keeping ourselves before our fellows and companions. The first is the way of the worshipper. The second is the activity of a true servant. The third is the fruit of vanity, and want of single-heartedness, and will surely keep us uncertain, without joy or strength, and prove a snare as well as bitterness in the latter end.
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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 spirit and Christ-centered teachings. Born in Dublin, Ireland, into a well-off Anglo-Irish family tied to the Church of Ireland, he was educated at Exeter Grammar School and excelled in classics at Trinity College Dublin, where he met John Nelson Darby, forming a lifelong friendship. Converted in 1817 during his student years, he briefly pursued law in London and was called to the bar in Dublin in 1821, but soon abandoned this career to serve the church as a layman. In 1825, he married Mary Drury, with whom he had six children, though only one daughter, Letitia, survived to adulthood. Bellett’s ministry took root in the late 1820s when he joined Darby, Edward Cronin, and others in Dublin to break bread and pray, sparking the Plymouth Brethren movement in 1829. Unlike his more itinerant peers, he remained largely in Ireland, focusing on local Bible study, pastoral care, and writing devotional works like The Patriarchs, The Evangelists, The Son of God, and The Moral Glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, earning him the nickname “the nightingale among the Brethren” for his poetic style. From 1846 to 1848, he lived in Bath, England, for his son John’s health, returning to Dublin in 1854 to establish a new Brethren assembly amid the movement’s divisions. Though aligned with Darby’s “exclusive” faction, he sought peace with all, notably supporting the 1859 Irish Revival. Bellett died in Dublin in 1864, leaving a legacy of humility and devotion that continues to inspire through his writings.