Bits and Pieces – 119th Edition – June 19, 2022

     For a long time, motherhood and fatherhood have been remembered, but the modern versions are of relatively recent origin.  Fathers’ Day was first recognized in 1910 at the behest of Sonora Smart Dodd.  He established it on the third Sunday of June.

     Mothers’ Day was on the initiative of Anne Jarvis, of Grafton, West Virginia in 1917, and is celebrated each year in mid-May.

     It is a scriptural thing to honour one’s parents.  The moral law calls upon us to “honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee” [Exodus20:12]. Do not overlook that this is the “first commandment with promise; that it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth” [Ephesians 6:2]

     Today we honour fathers and fatherhood.  But let us not forget the “One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all” {Ephesians 4:6}.

     The prayer known as “the Lord’s Prayer” is not really His.  It is a pattern prayer that He gave to help us intercede at the throne of Grace.  The prayer asks to “forgive us our debts (or Sins)”.  Jesus never sinned so He would have no cause to use it.

     Here is an outline of the wonderful prayer:

The Pattern Approved 

“After this manner therefore pray ye”

 [Matthew 6:9ff].

The Person Addressed               

 “Our Father which art in heaven.”

The Perfection Adored.

“Hallowed be thy Name”

The Power Acknowledged. 

“Thy kingdom come.”

The Plan to be Accomplished. 

“Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.”

The Petitions to be Asked  [Matthew 6:11-13].

“Give us this day our daily bread.  And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.”

The Prayer Concluded.          

“For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

Christians ought to frequently repeat this prayer.  It was given by the Lord to teach us how to pray [Luke 11:1].  It cannot but help us.

     There are many names for God in the Bible.  One of the best-known is Father.  He is the Father of all things.

     The name Father in relation to God appears hundreds of times in the Bible.  The number of instances of the word “Father” as applied to God in the Gospels is more than double the number found in the remaining books of the New Testament.  In the Gospel of John alone there are 107 appearances, indeed 25 in chapter 14.

     Jesus taught that all men are children of God by creation and receive His providential kindness [Matthew 5:45].  He also taught that sin has brought a change in men necessitating rebirth, and reconciliation to God.

     In accordance with this, the apostles taught that men become children of God by faith in Christ and thus receive the adoption of children [John 1:12].  The Father is revealed as sovereign, holy, righteous, and merciful.  Prayer may confidently be offered to Him in Jesus’ name.

“Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear Him” [Psalm 103:13].

“Have I been so long time with you, and yet?  hast thou not known me, Philip?”  [John 14:9].

“Take heed how ye hear” is a needful exhortation. Philip, if he had listened aright to the answer of the Lord to Thomas, would have heard that the Father had become manifest in the Son.  It was as if he had asked an unnecessary question.

     A glorious revelation was before Philip.  Christ was in the Father and the Father in Him.  Jesus is the brightness of the Father’s glory and the express image of His person.  Failure to comprehend that, which is already revealed, means that we ask for further revelations.

     “If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also” [v7].  To know Christ is to know the Father whom He came to reveal.  He is the way to the Father.  So inseparable is the Father from the Son in essence, though distinct from Him in person, that when the Word Incarnate came, it was a revealing of the Father.  Jesus Christ is all in all.

     Philip was a man of slow mind in this matter.  It was as though Christ had not revealed the Father.  Pray for the illumination of the Spirit, for only the Spirit can lighten our minds with the truth concerning Christ.  May God anoint our eyes with eye salve that we may see?  {From an article by Rev. Leslie Curran}