Bits and Pieces – 199th Edition – July 14, 2024

     Martin Luther described the book of Job, “as more magnificent and sublime than any other book of Scripture.” Others, like the poets Tennyson and Carlyle, shared the same sentiments. The book of Job is placed in the middle of the Old Testament, but chronologically it belongs in the time of Genesis.

     Job was a great and prosperous man.  He was also a godly man, of whom the Lord said, “that there was none like him in the earth” [Job 1:8].

      However, Job suffered severe trials.  He lost his possessions, then his ten children, and finally lost his health.  His wife advised him to commit suicide, and three “miserable comforters” [Job 16:2] accused him of wickedness for, they said, no-one who was righteous would suffer so.

     But, as Matthew Henry said, “God  found Job a good man, but made him a better one.”  In the latter chapters of Job, God spoke to Job in a series of questions that is essential reading for everybody.

For example, “Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth?  Declare if thou hast understanding.” [Job 38:4].

     As the Lord spoke He grew in Job’s estimation, and Job got smaller and smaller until he cried out, “I have heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.”  [Job 42:5 & 6]. Every person in this world should read Job chapters 38 to 42 and attempt to answer honestly the questions posed by God.

     That way they would understand the relationship between the Infinite God and mere, miserable, mortal man, and his need of salvation.  There is only one way to God, it is by His Son, Jesus Christ

Who says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by Me.” [John 14:6].

     Any history of the Free Presbyterian Church would not be complete without mention of the unique part played by Dr. Ian R.K. Paisley M.P. Under the guidance of Almighty God, his vision, faithful labour, and fearless preaching, were singularly blessed in the raising up of a strong, separatist Christian testimony in this age of apostasy.

   Ian Richard Kyle Paisley’s parents, Baptist pastor James, and Isabella, of Scottish covenanting stock, were faithful servants of God for many years in Ulster. At the conclusion of a children’s meeting one evening Mrs. Paisley had the joy of leading her six-year-old son to the Lord.

     Ian Paisley’s first sermon was in a little Sixmilecross (Co. Tyrone) mission hall.  Knowing his call to the Gospel ministry he studied in the Reformed Presbyterian Theological Hall, and the Barrie School of Evangelism in Wales.

     In 1946, at twenty, he was called to Ravenhill Evangelical Church, (Belfast).  For nearly seventy years he faithfully preached the Word.  Our family started attending Ravenhill in 1948, so we were there when the Free Church was founded in 1951.   Today, many Free Presbyterian churches and missions dot the globe.

     Dr. Paisley was a man of unique gifts – a powerful preacher with a booming voice, a gifted politician, a ready writer, and a fearless champion for truth.  He passed away ten years ago.  He is survived by his wife Eileen and five children.  In all my experience I never heard a Gospel preacher to match Dr. Paisley’s God-given abilities.

I REMEMBER:

*In 1948, as a young man entering my teens, our first visit to Ravenhill. The preacher’s prayer, his booming voice had a major impact on my rebellious heart.

*Those godly early elders, Atkinson, Harbison, and Nichols, whose kindly ways spoke of men who lived near to God

*The mission in Crossgar that led to the formation of the Free Presbyterian Church in 1951. A new beginning.

*The men’s all-night prayer meetings, the zeal and spirit of prayer, helped so much in the future growth of the church.