BITS and PIECES
290th Edition – April 12, 2026
A random collection of news and views compiled by Frank McClelland for the Toronto Free Presbyterian Church.
A GLORIOUS PROCLAMATION
“Now is Christ risen from the dead” [I Corinthians 15:20].
This past weekend, we have been recalling the resurrection of Christ and what a worthy study it is. It is the capstone of Christian doctrine – no resurrection, no Christianity! Yet some still deny the resurrection.
What a gloomy proposition is the denial of the resurrection of Christ. It would mean that all Christian preaching is vain and a waste of time. Even worse, it would be an exposition of falsehood. Christian faith would be groundless; sin would be unforgiven and our buried loved ones eternally perished. What a dark prospect! Salvation at best could at best be only for this present life.
However, the resurrection of Christ is one of the best-attested facts in history. There were over five hundred eyewitnesses whose testimony must be overthrown to deny the fact. These people saw Jesus before His death and they saw Him after the resurrection. Their witness can’t be denied.
The lives of the disciples, so depressed and discouraged by the crucifixion, were suddenly transformed by the resurrection of their Master. They went forth as fearless heralds of Christ. A faked resurrection could not account for that transformation. Nor could it explain the changed lives of millions of Christians since then.
Three philosophers – Karl Marx, Sigmund Freud and Charles Darwin – have had a marked but debilitating effect upon modern society. Thank God, the Christian does not follow the mutable of dead philosophers, but the life-giving and true Gospel of a living Redeemer whose bodily resurrection is the capstone of Christian doctrine.
FROM GLOOM TO GLORY [By Dr. Alan Cairns]
“He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare His generation? [Isaiah53::8].
This literally is a statement of Christ’s resurrection and exaltation. Death was not the end for Christ. He rose again
the third day, the conqueror of death and hell. There are two views of Christ here – Jesus as Prisoner and as Conqueror.
Christ as Prisoner. Our Lord was taken prisoner in Gethsemane and taken to Ananias. He was then led, a prisoner, to Caiaphas, in whose house He could have spent time in the dungeon awaiting the Jews’ verdict. From there, he was taken as a prisoner to Pilate and back again. Finally, He was led as a prisoner to Calvary.
As a prisoner, the Lord Jesus endured a trial and a judgment that were a cruel mockery of justice and a crime unparalleled in human history. Jonathan Edwards preached a famous sermon called Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. Here we are dealing with the reverse: God in the hands of angry sinners.
Christ endured all the ignominy and shame of His imprisonment, and when He had made a full atonement for our sins, He was laid in the tomb – the last stage of His imprisonment. His enemies thought the story was finished. They were wrong. It had only begun!
Christ as Conqueror. Death could not hold Christ. He rose from the dead, and later
God took Him to glory. Taken in our text is the word used in the Psalm to denote resurrection [Psalm 49:15]. God took Christ as He took Enoch and Elijah. He took Him bodily up to heaven. The tomb is empty, and the throne is occupied! Hallelujah.
A GREAT DAY
Some years ago, I drove to Glenabbey Golf Course, home of the Canadian Open. It was tournament week, and security was as tight as Fort Knox, but I was waved in by the guards and allowed to park in the players’ car park.
Then, into the clubhouse for a delicious meal in the players’ dining room, and out to the practice area to mingle with the players. Then onto the beautiful course, not as a spectator, but with the players. Then they allowed me to play a hole with them.
In all this, I had nothing to pay or tickets to show! How did I get in? I HAD A PGA FRIEND! It was his status that let me enjoy that day. How do we get to enjoy the blessings of heaven? Through our dear friend Jesus. He paid the price for us.
“What a Friend we have in Jesus!”
