John 12, 13, 14 are remarkably connected together, as bringing out the work of Christ in the eternal redemption of a people to be sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty. The Jews had tried to put Lazarus to death, not liking to have such a witness of the presence among them of One who could raise the dead. God puts it into the hearts of the people to prepare Him an ovation, to give Him a triumph; and then certain Greeks (not Hellenistic Jews, but Gentiles) come up to the feast, and, without knowing what they were about, wished to see Jesus. But the Lord knew what it meant; i.e. that He was to step forth into His new work of gathering a people to God. He knew it was time for Him to die. The eternal Son of God had come off the throne eternal to die, and to die on the cross, and by whose desire? Was it coveted by man? desired by His disciples? No; anything but the cross of Christ is what man would think of. Satan, the prince of this world, could make those hearts which had cried, "Hosanna," say, "Away with Him, let Him be crucified!" And though Christ had spent Himself on earth for man, man would rather bury his dead out of his sight than have Christ as the Resurrection and the Life.
"Now is the judgment of this world." What does that mean? The water of the deluge had once destroyed the earth, fire will destroy the heavens and earth that now are. There was no flash of lightning, nothing destructive when Christ died, yet a thorough manifestation of what the world was came out then. Its judgment was proved, though not executed. The world exposed what it was itself by putting the Lord out of the world. "Now shall the prince of this world be cast out." Satan was a covert enemy before the Lord came into the world, not open as now. The power of Satan was broken. As was seen at the day of Pentecost, he could do nothing against the Holy Ghost. "I will draw all men unto Me." A strange, foolish thought to nature; but according to the perfection of Him who is the wisdom of God to know that nothing would draw the heart of poor sinners, save the Son of God hanging on a cross, the expression of man's hatred, but of God's grace.
Did you ever taste for yourself that the Son of God in heaven can look down upon you, and make you taste the marvellous love of His heart, entering into all your discipline down here in this wilderness, occupied with your weakness, and coming in to wash and cleanse your conscience?
John 14. Who would have thought of what we find here, that His love would lead Him to come out again to fetch us home? Who has thought of it since? rather, who thinks of it now? Oh, how little our hearts, the best of them, live in the thought that our future (Christ's tomorrow) is the Father's house! "Ye believe in God, believe also in Me." He would have no confidence in Peter; but Peter might confide in Him, as though He said to him, "You want keeping as well as saving. I can meet all you want in spite of yourself." It is superstition to speak of angels taking the souls of saints into heaven. Angels dare not intrude on work that belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ. If a Stephen is to die, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself receives his spirit. All about the soul and its salvation is in the hand of the Lord Himself.
from Memorials of the Ministry of G. V. Wigram. Vol. 1. [Notes on Scripture; Lectures and Letters. Second Edition, Broom 1881 (First Edition 1880)]
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At Oxford he met John Nelson Darby and Benjamin Wills Newton. Dissatisfied with the established church, Wigram and his friends left the Anglican church and helped establish non-denominational assemblies which became known as the Plymouth Brethren.
Wigram had a keen interest in the original Hebrew and Greek texts of the Bible, which was of great interest to the emerging Brethren assemblies. In 1839, after years of work and financial investment, he published The Englishman's Greek and English Concordance to the New Testament, followed in 1843 by The Englishman's Hebrew and Chaldee Concordance to the Old Testament.
With Wigram's help, Darby became the most influential personality within the Brethren movement. Wigram is often referred to as being Darby's lieutenant as he firmly supported Darby during moments of crisis. He also helped Darby fend off accusations of heresy, also in regards to the sufferings of Christ, in articles written in 1858 and 1866, which some considered were very similar to Newton's errors two decades earlier.
George Vicesimus Wigram was converted whilst a subaltern officer in the army, and in 1826 entered at Queen's College, Oxford, with the view of taking orders. As an undergraduate he came into contact with Mr. Jarratt of the same college, and with Messrs. James L. Harris and Benjamin Wills Newton, both of Exeter College, who were all destined to take part in the ecclesiastical movement with which Wigram's name is also prominently connected. This connection was strengthened from about the year 1830, when these friends, all Devonians, were associated in the formation of a company of Christians at Plymouth, who separated from the organised churches, and were gathered to the Name alone of Jesus, in view of bearing a testimony to the unity of the church, and to its direction by the Holy Spirit alone, whilst awaiting the second coming of the Lord.
Wigram was active in the initiation of a like testimony in London, where by the year 1838 a considerable number of gatherings were formed on the model of that at Plymouth.
In 1856 he produced a new hymn book, "Hymns for the Poor of the Flock," which for some twenty-five years remained the staple of praise in the meetings with which he was associated. Ten years after the first appearance of the hymn book edited by him he stood by J. N. Darby once again at a critical juncture, when the question of the doctrine maintained by the latter on the sufferings of Christ some further dissension occurred, though the teaching was vindicated. During the rest of his life he paid visits to the West Indies, New Zealand, etc., where his ministry seems to have been much appreciated. He passed away in 1879.