Bits and Pieces – 112th Edition – May 1, 2022

     One of Paul’s most effective tools was his use of the power of reason.  On several occasions, we read of him entering into synagogues and reasoning with the people those things that pertain to Christ and the salvation of the soul [Acts 17:1,2].  We learn that the Word of God, and hence, salvation are reasonable and can stand the closest inspection, something that cannot be said for some human philosophies.  The effectiveness of Paul’s reasoning, backed by the power of the Holy Spirit, can be seen in the fact that many turned to Christ.

     The Roman procurator of Judea was Felix, a man described by Tacitus as one who “revelled in cruelty and lust.”  So powerful and reasonable were Paul’s arguments of “righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come” [Acts 24:25] that Felix literally trembled and had to send Paul forth from his presence.

     The natural man does not like to reason of his soul and eternal things.  He is happy to reason out some human problems but shies away from thinking deeply about his soul and his relationship with God.  He prefers ritual worship and will follow a human formula, just so long as he doesn’t have to think.

     God says, “Come now, and let us reason together” [Isaiah 1:18].  He would talk to you about vile sin, and vain sacrifice, and how you, with uncleansed sin and heartless ritual, propose to enter heaven, which is barred to the unclean?  But God and His Word are reasonable.  He makes the wonderful offer that “though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow.”  Heed His gracious call today.

     “What a moment of tragedy. [W. Burnett in Our Daily Bread, on 2 Samuel 14:33].  This was the beginning of many sorrows that David brought on his own head.  David meant well, but oh, the folly of dispensing restoration before repentance, of granting forgiveness before confession, of giving liberties before discipline has run its course.  Absalom deposed David his father, taking the throne and the sceptre.  May we be warned that the finer graces of forgiveness and compassion must be mingled with righteousness and justice.”

     Someone asked me recently, “What is an ephod?”  Primarily, it was a sacred vestment worn by the High Priest and made of “gold, blue, purple, scarlet and fine twined linen” [Exodus 28:4ff; 39:2ff].

     Later, persons other than the High Priest wore ephods.  Samuel wore a linen ephod while ministering before the Lord [1 Samuel 2:18]. David wore a linen ephod when bringing the ark to Jerusalem [2 Samuel 6:14] and received one from Abiathar.  It represented to David a token of the divine presence[1 Samuel 23:6,9].  The ephod was also misused as an object of idolatrous worship by Gideon [Judges 8:27].

“It is a sad thing to be often eating of the tree of knowledge, but never to taste of the tree of life”

[Thomas Brooks].

     Almost every daily newspaper feels it necessary to carry a column by some astrologer to advise its readers of their fate according to the stars.  The Bible warns of “monthly prognosticators” [Isaiah 47:13].  You would be surprised at the number who take such columns seriously.  The wife of a former president of the United States regularly consulted an astrologer.  Some officials admitted that presidential action was at times influenced by the astrologer’s advice.  Even some Christians are foolish enough to check the astrology column in their newspaper.  Of course, it is just for fun they say! The trouble is, there is nothing funny about astrology.

     Astrology is ancient.  The notion that the stars somehow control our destiny goes back a long way.  In ancient times court astrologers made a lucrative, but dangerous, living by convincing their masters that the stars could direct their policy to the best advantage.

     Astrology is a counterfeit of the revealed truth of a personal, all-wise, sovereign Creator who rules all His creation according to His will. It is a substitute for the Word of God.  It is sorcery.  It is fatalism at its worst, a slayer of souls.  The “monthly prognosticators,” led people astray.  When some people discovered their error, it was too late to recover.

     We have God’s infallible Word.  It is the “light that shineth in a dark place” [2 Peter 1:19].  It tells you how to be saved.  It shows you how to live.  It has the answer to every problem in life.  And it lights the way through death to heaven.  Go to the Bible today.  It is not a horoscope you need, but the handbook of heaven.  [Dr. Alan Cairns].

“It is a sad thing to be often eating of the tree of knowledge, but never to taste of the tree of life”