Although the recovery with the Moravian brethren was quite strong, God did not stop there; instead, He continued to take the way of recovery. Approximately a hundred years after this great recovery, God had another strong recovery with the so-called Brethren. This recovery began in England in the early part of the nineteenth century, formally in 1828. This recovery was even stronger. Readers of the Bible who have the light all acknowledge that this recovery was the fulfillment of the Lord’s prophecy concerning Philadelphia (Rev. 3:7-13). The name Philadelphia means “brotherly love.” When the Brethren were raised up, they were truly a “Philadelphia”; a situation of brotherly love was recovered and manifested among them. This recovery was very thorough, and it might be said that what needed to be recovered in the church was recovered completely. Every item related to the church was restored to its original condition. It was truly pleasing to the Lord. Here we can cover only the main points of this recovery briefly.
First, they obeyed the Lord’s word absolutely. At that time the Bible in their hands was truly an opened book, a shining book. Many important truths were released at that time. The Brethren released almost all of the biblical and orthodox truths preached in Christianity for the past one hundred years, from the truth of the gospel to the deepest truths. What a tremendous matter!
For example, before the Brethren were raised up, even though the truth concerning justification by faith was recovered, the truth of the gospel was not clear, and there was no assurance of salvation. The Brethren started from this point and released the light of the truth. Other truths were discovered by the Brethren, including the truths concerning the second coming of the Lord Jesus and the church. Biblical truths flowed out from them like torrents, and we are still being helped by them. Many famous Bible teachers in church history were brothers in their midst, such as J. N. Darby, J. G. Bellett, C. H. Mackintosh (who wrote Notes on the Pentateuch), and William Kelly. These brothers knew the Bible and opened up the Bible book by book. At their time the Bible was completely opened up. This fulfilled what the Lord said to the church in Philadelphia: “You have a little power and have kept My word” (Rev. 3:8). When the Brethren were raised up, they kept the Lord’s word. This is the reason that thel ight of the Lord’s word was especially shining among them. To this day there is still much light among the Brethren.
Furthermore, their separation from the world and forsaking of idols was thorough and absolute. At that time, many among them were persons with titles of nobility, and they respectfully returned the titles to the royal family. They were reluctant even in the matter of taking pictures. They would not have their pictures taken unless it was absolutely necessary. Mr. Darby was the weightiest among them, yet it is difficult to find a picture of him. He felt that this kind of thing inevitably had the smell of the world and carried the flavor of idols as well. He did not want to have his picture looked at and adored by others. Here we can see that their separation from the world and forsaking of idols was absolute!
It was not until the time of the Brethren that the hierarchy in the church was truly and thoroughly eliminated. They were brothers together. Among them, they called each other brother in their preaching; when shaking hands they called each other brother; in their conversation they also called each other brother. They always addressed each other as brothers. When people first went into their midst, it seems as if they could not hear anything else; they only heard “brother.” Based on this particular characteristic, outsiders called them the “Brethren,” since they did not have a special name. This term Brethren was translated into Chinese as “Brethren church,” but actually in English it is simply “Brethren.”
Concerning the elimination of hierarchy among them, I can tell you a little story. Many people have heard of George Müller, who founded an orphanage; he was also one of the Brethren. At the Lord’s table, he always sat on the last row of seats, as if to say, “I am the same as all the brothers; why should I sit at the front?” By this we can see that they paid attention to being brothers to one another. They thoroughly eliminated hierarchy.
Let me tell another story regarding the Brethren. During World War I, England and Germany were bitter opponents. Because many British people were killed by the Germans, they hated the Germans. After the war ended and the peace treaty was signed, the Brethren in England felt that some of them should go and visit the brethren in Germany. Thus, they went, and the brethren in Germany greatly welcomed them. In one of the meetings, a brother in Germany stood up and said, “We really thank and praise the Lord that some of the brethren of England have come to visit us.” After he finished, a brother from England stood up and corrected him, saying, “We are not brothers of England but brothers from England.” Dear brothers and sisters, how sweet it was! All of the flavor of the world, all of the element of idols, and all the things related to the hierarchy were completely removed from their midst. They were purely before God as brothers and as fellow members of the Body of Christ, paying attention especially to mutual love and fellowship. Even today their mutual love and fellowship are still very strong. Although I have not personally observed their situation, others have described it to me thoroughly, and it is truly a tremendous scene of mutual love and fellowship.