2014 already!
2013 is all but over and 2014 is upon us, if the Lord does not come beforehand. But we are waiting and these two hymns, one by JND bring out our expectation far better than I can.
And shall we see Thy face,
And hear Thy heav’nly voice,
Well known to us in present grace?
Well may our hearts rejoice!
– JN Darby (1800-82)
Tis not far off – the hour, when Christ will claim His own;
We soon shall hear that voice of power; The Lord Himself shall come!
The days are passing by, the years flow on apace;
Lord Jesus, Thy return draws nigh, we long to see Thy face.
– Miss Hannah Kilham Burlingham (1842-1901)
Have You any Room for Jesus?
We did a little ‘Christmas message’ in the neighbourhood of our meeting room and in writing it I thought “I don’t know when Jesus was born. It certainly wasn’t 25th December. But what I do know is that there was no room for HIM – plenty of room for everything else: Christmas shopping, Christmas parties, Christmas cheer and an old man dressed in red – anything, anybody but Jesus. Have you got any room for Him?” To date, no evident response, but we can leave that with God.
Have you any room for Jesus,
He who bore your load of sin?
As He knocks and asks admission,
Sinner, will you let Him in?
– DW Whittle
There are Wolves about!
What a day we are in! – Satan is doing his best to divide God’s people everywhere. “The hireling … whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep.” (John 10:12) How important it is to be steeped in the truth, not just the letter, of the Nature and Unity of the Church of Christ. Not surprisingly, this summary gets the most hits!
Our Standing before God
What pains me is that so few believers have really understood that Jesus has done EVERYTHING. They (should I say, we – or even I?) know it as fact – but then try to live by rules – or even the accepted norm of the Christian company they meet with. May we be “looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith” (Heb 12:2).
Spreading the Message
“A Day of Small Things” is getting an increasing number of hits, and we can thank God for that. But that number is still quite small (82 on one day but 25 an average). God knows that, and of course the site is only about four months old. I am dependent on others to spread the word. Here are a few suggestions:
- If you have your own website put a link to https://adoss.co.uk
- If you have a blog or newsletter write something about the ADOSS.
- Send an e-mail to your Christian friends
- Put something on Facebook – our page is https://www.facebook.com/adayofsmallthings
- Put out a tweet – Use hash tag #jndarby and reference @BroSosthenes
Facebook and Twitter are part of Satan’s world, I know, but God has enabled the Lord’s servants to use the latest technology spread the gospel.
Acknowledgments
There are two brothers whose support I would like to acknowledge. Firstly our dear brother Bill in Wheaton Il – who now calls himself Aquila (and his wife Doris must be Priscilla!) – and has christened my wife Dorcas! – See picture! – His site Bibles etc.
Then specifically, I would like to mention Paul Wilkinson in Manchester. His prayerful support, whilst laid aside due to a cycling accident has been of comfort to me (I have had a shoulder operation too). His book “For Zion’s Sake: Christian Zionism and the Role of John Nelson Darby” – is very interesting and helpful.
Christmas Greetings
We don’t ‘keep Christmas’, but to forbid any celebration is, in my opinion, legality. It is a time for the family. It is also an ideal time to tell relatives, neighbours, colleagues and friends of the One who when here was “God manifest in flesh”. – died for us, was buried for us, rose again for us and is now alive for us!
May you be blessed!
