Royal Dainties

Royal Dainties

Part way through this book entitled "Royal Dainties," I feel the need to say something about it. I had looked forward to reading it with immense anticipation, as I had to put off the opportunity of reading it, until I had finished another book I was already reading.

My longing was to immerse myself in the "Upper Room discourse," if you will kindly allow that expression, Johns' Gospel chapters 13-17. The book is a revision by J. McBroom of Bible Readings and Addresses held in November 1948.

The Bible Addresses were contributed by six different brethren, only two of whom were familiar names to me, J. McBroom himself not being one of them. 

It may well be argued that I need to read the entire book before attempting any kind of review ,and that is a fair comment. But my disappointment is so real that I cannot help but say something at this juncture, having read 48 pages of the 123.

In the notes of the Bible Reading of John 13:31-14:6 there is this statement, "The Fathers' house and its many abodes would be the universe." I struggled to grasp what this really meant, I am able to see some argument of this nature in connection with the Lord Jesus as the "Son of Man" to whom all things universally will be subject in a coming day; but the context does not allow this line of truth, at least as far as I can understand.

The next passage is John 14:6-16. The exposition of these verses is fraught with that which is objective, subjective and even abstract. It went over my head! I fear if there were believers today subjected to this method of unfolding the truth, they would very soon give up all hope of being edified, and consequently lose any attention to what is being said. 

On a brighter note, I found the Address by J.B. Duff, "Under His Shadow," to be quite delightful. I trust there is more of this character to be enjoyed in the ensuing pages.

International Tract Distribution Day (4)

Saturday 18th April

By the grace of God I managed to distribute 50 copies of Via Magazine in my immediate area. I used my legitimate exercise time, and never left the house before or after I had completed my distribution. The vast majority of my deliveries were to business premises in the high street which are closed, to make things even "safer," as it was obvious many of these were only checked from time to time as evidenced by the build-up of mail that was visible through the "windows" of their front entrances. I confined myself to the low number of copies somewhat reluctantly, and only because of some expressions of disfavour received from other believers. We are living in a state of perplexity and fear on every hand, with the vast multitude of mankind desperate for answers to their plight; and yet we have closed our places of meeting, and I fear in some cases our hearts too. Yes we may cry "legislation demands it," but does that absolve us of failure to seek a way to reach the lost?

Different countries have differing degrees of "lock-down," some perhaps have less restrictions. In the U.K. our Postal Service continues to deliver ALL the mail! Large delivery companies continue to deliver orders placed on-line from Amazon, Ebay etc. This begs the question, "why can we not deliver too?" The present "science" suggests that the COVID-19 virus only remains very briefly on the printed page. Of course one would have to have contracted the virus in the first instance, or unknowingly be a carrier if they were to infect any one else. Now, one would not dream of leaving the house with any of the symptoms of the virus; but if there was the slightest possibility that one was a "carrier" due to minimal time the virus remained on the page the risk would be minimal.

The Via Magazine were last years copies received by me eight or so months BEFORE the pandemic began, thus I am the only one who has touched them since. The likelihood of me spreading the virus is negligible compared with the Postmen and delivery drivers! The obvious conclusion is that I could not use the present "lock-down" as an excuse to fail to discharge my responsibility to the Lords' commission.   

Finally on this day designated "International Tract Distribution Day" I feel compelled just to say that the Lord has enabled me to reach more than 50 people with the Word who might not ever have the same opportunity. If I have given offence to any other believer in my words or by my actions, I apologise for the offence, but not for my spiritual exercise; the "day" will declare it