Bits and Pieces – 141st Edition – November 20, 2022

“Behold, He cometh with clouds”  [Revelation 1:7]

      According to the apostle Paul, the blessed hope of the church is “the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour” [Titus 2:13].  The passage of time has not dimmed that expectation.  Jesus is coming again.

     Christ’s coming is to be personal, physical, and actual.  The promise cannot be spiritualized or idealized.  It has not yet been fulfilled, but remains before God’s people as a fixed point towards which all Bible prophecies of the end time are irresistibly moving.

     Satan and sinners may mock this truth.  They may sneer, “Where is the promise of His coming?”  [2 Peter 3:4], but they cannot alter the glorious truth that Jesus is coming again.  God’s prophetic program that leads to that glorious appearing is on track and on time.

     The Scripture uses this truth to stimulate us to be holy.  It is impossible to hold this hope before us without living pure and holy lives: “Every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure” [1 John 3:3].  The blessed hope is not indulgence in wild prophetic fancies that put the brain in a fever and lower the temperature of spiritual life.  It is intensely practical and leads us to live such a life that we will not be ashamed before Christ at His coming.

     The promise of the Lord’s return also brings comfort amid our suffering and affliction.  It directs a bright beam from glory into the darkness of bereavement and gives us strength to face death and overcome its terror [1 Thess. 13-18.  1 Corinth.50-58].  It assures us that these bodies in such we have so much limitation and trouble will soon be made like the glorious body of our Saviour.  No more sickness, no more suffering, no more sadness, no more sin – this is the glorious expectation of the people of God.  With the apostle we eagerly cry, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus”  [Rev 22:20].  What a day of rejoicing! [Dr.Alan Cairns]

“Yet a little while, and He that shall come will come, and will not tarry” [Hebrews10:37].

“Surely I come quickly. Amen.  Even so, come Lord Jesus”  [Revelation 22:20].

     We want to ask for special prayer for a number of our friends who are sick.  The Rev. Reggie Cranston, minister of Port Hope FPC, has been in hospital for a few days with pneumonia.   At home now he still has a way to go in his recovery.  Rev. John Bodner, a good friend of our church, is currently in hospital with a debilitating sickness that renders walking difficult.  Serene Wong is a relatively young woman, but has serious eye troubles that the medical staff have so far been unable to diagnose and treat.  Ron Blair has suffered for quite a while with Lou Gehrig’s disease.  These all need the comforting touch of the Lord.  There are also some others who need the Lord’s help and your prayers.

     One of most distinguishing marks between mankind and the rest of creation is the ability to use tools.  A few birds and animals have learned to use stones to open shells, but apart from that the animal world does not have the reasoning power to make and use tools.

      Man, however, is different.  He can think, imagine, reason, design, and build.  As he advances in knowledge the increasingly complex tools he makes become the foundation for the next level of achievement.

     Man has a sinful and rebellious heart, and because of that his use of tools is always suspect.  For example, he may make a knife and use it for the good and wholesome purpose of preparing food.  But unfortunately that wicked heart may also cause him to stab someone.  All of man’s tools are subject to good or evil use.

     The most exciting, and complex, tool ever devised by designing man is the computer, and its offshoot, the smart phone.  Like every tool they are subject to good use or evil abuse. It is here we must cleave to the good and eschew the evil.

    As it is virtually impossible to clean up the moral pollution of the Internet, parents must take action within their homes to ensure that their children are protected.  Remember that in any given situation a computer screen can be removed in a split second when a parent approaches. Therefore any computer with Internet access should be in open view at all times so that parents can see what their children are looking at.

“I will set no wicked thing before my eyes” [Psalm 101:3].