Bits and Pieces – 6th Edition – April 12, 2020

THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST.  Two noted English sceptics of the 18th. century, brilliant lawyers in their own right, Gilbert West and Lord Lyttleton, decided that Christianity could be destroyed by removing two prominent pillars of the faith, namely, the resurrection of Christ, and the conversion of Paul on the road to Damascus. They decided to study the evidence for both and apply their legal minds to rebut the proofs.  After spending some months sifting the evidence for both subjects they met and discovered that, far from destroying Christianity it was their atheistic views that suffered.  They confessed to each other that the proofs were convincing and conclusive. Jesus Christ did rise from the dead, and Paul was miraculously converted on the Damascus road.  Both of them became devoted Christians, and penned books on the subjects. [Christian Foundations. Page 134].

WITNESSES OF THE RESURRECTION. The bodily resurrection of Christ is one of the best attested facts in history. There is a listing of over 500 eyewitnesses in the great chapter on resurrection (1 Corinthians 15).  These were people who saw Jesus during His earthly ministry, and they saw Him again after the crucifixion, alive and walking.  They bore witness to the fact of the resurrection of Christ.  Their evidence can not be dismissed, nor can the amazing transformation of the disciple who went from fearful to fearless in spreading the gospel after the resurrection.

STILL NO PUBLIC SERVICES are permitted due to the need to contain the Covid19 virus. Preaching will continue on the webcasts.  The Toronto church services can be seen and heard on SermonAudio.com/toronto each Sunday at 11.00am and 6.30pm.

SKYPE PRAYER MEETINGS for the North American F.P.C. pastors and student ministers are to continue on a regional and weekly basis.  The first meeting was held on Monday March 30.  The Rev. Reggie Cranston brought a brief devotional message to Frank D’Addurno, John Kelly, Frank McClelland, Larry Saunders and Milos Solc, before the session of prayer – a blessed time. The next meeting is planned for Tuesday, April 14 at 1.00pm. 

TIMELY BIBLICAL ADVICE during the coronavirus lockdown.  The Bible always has the right word. “Come my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment until the indignation be overcast.” (Isaiah 26:20).

CHECK THE BOXES.  Surely the worldwide disaster of Covid19 is someway tied into the fact that the “coming of the Lord draweth nigh” (James 5:8).  The disciples asked Jesus “when” and “what” would be the sign of His coming (Matthew 24:3).  In answer Jesus listed several things that would precede His return.  We can check them all. (Matthew 24:6,7).  1)Wars have been on the earth since Genesis to the present.  Check.  2)Famines. Ditto.  Check.  3)Earthquakes.  Thousands have taken place from Elijah’s day (1 Kings 19:11)right up to the present. Check. 4)Pestilences.  They have been with us since the Exodus right up to Covid19.  Check.  These, the Lord said, are “the beginning of sorrows.” (Matthew 24:8).  Jesus also mentioned the “the days of Noah”  (v37).  There is a remarkable correlation between Noah’s day and our day.  Check.

There is one sign that has not been fulfilled until recently.  “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.”  (Matthew 24:14).  This is now fulfilled.  Anyone, anywhere with a computer can hear the gospel, and if they have no computer, they can hear from those who have.  “Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the son of Man cometh”  (Matthew 24:44).

EUTHANASIA.  The federal government is pushing forward with Bill C-7 to further enlarge the provisions for medically assisted dying (suicide and murder involved here).  The Justice Minister, David Lametti, recently announced that more than 13,000 people in Canada have ended their lives through euthanasia since the law was first passed in 2016.  The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada is calling on people to contact their federal M.P. to call for C-7 to be amended because it “discriminates against people with disabilities and violates their equality rights.”  They also say, “Don’t expand euthanasia to include people who are not dying.”  [EFC Canada Watch.  April/May 2020].