Last Lessons #42 – LAW AND ORDER

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”  Matthew 5:17-19

We are all distressed over the lack of law and order in the USA and in the rest of the world.  Disobeying the law started when Adam and Eve ate from the one tree that was forbidden by God (Genesis 3:1-7).  God the Creator had given them everything they needed to live a perfect life forever, but Satan convinced them to break his one law – they were not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  But they disobeyed and ate the fruit.  They liked the idea of deciding for themselves what was good and what was evil.  From that time on lawlessness has been with us.  We want to decide what is right and what is wrong instead of God telling us, and so, because we want no authority over us, everyone does what is right in his own eyes (Judges 21:25). That’s why we have chaos in our land.  God has graciously given us governments (Romans 13:1-4) but we break national laws; he has given us parents, but we disobey them; he has given us church leaders and bosses, but we do not want to come under their authority.  So we have chaos.  No country can function very long without law that controls behavior and order that provides systems for living together.  Without law and order any country will self-destruct. 

The good news is that God has given countries and individuals the perfect Law that will bring order to this world.  The Law (the Ten Commandments) is found in the Bible in Exodus chapter 20 and Deuteronomy chapter 5.  God in his mercy has not left us without direction.  We have been given, as Adam’s descendants, a second chance to know what is right and what is wrong.  Furthermore, Christians have been given the ability to obey God’s Law and to understand God’s systems for living through the Holy Spirit. 

• So, how should we respond to God’s second chance in today’s world?
• We study the Ten Commandments and obey them through the enablement of the Holy Spirit. 
• We teach the Ten Commandments to our children.  I used to pay my children money to memorize Scripture including the Ten Commandments.
• We send our children to Christian schools so that they learn about Jesus who obeyed the law perfectly.
• We elect leaders who believe in the First Commandment and want to live under his law and order.
• We stand for what God says is right and wrong and make our voices heard.

Our one little voice may not seem like much, but God gave us the Ten Commandments through the one man, Moses.  Who knows what God will do if we ask him to bring Law and Order back to our land and we do our part to help that happen!

Last Lessons #41 - ISRAEL

“And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” Genesis 12:2-3      

Whatever the United States thinks of the Jews, we had better bless the nation of Israel – that is, if we want to be blessed.  Without going into the politics or the rights of the Arab nations, I will tell you why I will support Israel’s battle to protect her land.

1. God gave Israel her land.

“The Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, ‘Lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward, for all the land that you see I will give to you and to your offspring forever.” Genesis 13:14-15

The Lord doesn’t lie, and he keeps his promises.  The Lord gave the land of Israel to Abraham, the father of the Jews, and he promised that Abraham’s descendants would have it forever.  The land of Israel belongs to the Jews.  Not only that, the Lord was quite specific as to the boundaries of Israel. 

“Arise, walk through the length and the breadth of the land, for I will give it to you.” So Abram moved his tent and came and settled by the oaks of Mamre, which are at Hebron, and there he built an altar to the Lord.  Genesis 13:17-18

2. God promised Israel that she would be a blessing to all the families of the earth.

“They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.” Romans 9:4-5

Just look what the Jews have given to this world!  We would not have the Bible today if it were not for God’s people Israel.  And, don’t forget that Jesus was a Jew – God’s greatest Blessing to the world.  Jesus said to the Samaritan woman, “You worship what you do not know, we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.”  John 4:22

3. Israel will be saved.

“God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew….So too at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace.” Romans 11:2-5

Someday all God’s elect Jews will bow the knee to Jesus Christ.  In the meantime, we Christians need to pray for not only the safety of the Jews in Israel, but for the salvation of all Jews wherever they live.  Each believer in Jesus Christ as Messiah is precious in God’s sight. 

And that includes my son-in-law whose first name is Israel.  He is a Jew who came to saving faith in Jesus because a Christian flight attendant knew her Bible and talked to him on his flights from Miami to New York. God may use you to present the gospel to a Jew.  I can tell you that I received a wonderful gift when my son-in-law became the son I never had.  I gave birth only to daughters!

Last Lessons #40 - COMMENTARIES

“And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.  Ephesians 4:11-14

I am so glad that God gave us teachers, especially Bible teachers.  I have read the Bible most every day since I was sixteen years old, but that does not mean that I have understood everything I read.  When we lived in London in 1957-58, I was fortunate enough to hear D. Martin Lloyd-Jones preach in Westminster Chapel and from then on, I read his commentaries. I knew I needed help in understanding the book of Romans so I read his volumes (all of them!) and for the first time, I really began to understand Romans.  But it was when I taught the Bible in the 1970s that I used commentaries extensively.  I wanted to be equipped for the work of ministry and I needed good teachers to help me.  I am grateful that through the years God has given me good teachers along with Dr. Lloyd-Jones.  Anyone preaching, teaching, or leading Bible study groups needs good commentaries to help explain the Scriptures to others.  We all need help. Even those who write Bible commentaries read commentaries written by others! 

When the churches in Africa asked for Sunday School material and Rafiki agreed to honor their request, we knew that Sunday School teachers needed more than the lessons we sent if they were to teach well.  We decided to start with lessons for adults and children on the book of MATTHEW.  With the help of many of you, the ROSEMARY JENSEN BIBLE FOUNDATION added a commentary written by R.C. Sproul on the book of MATTHEW to the 10,000 boxes containing the Sunday School lessons.  We do not charge for these boxes to African churches because they cannot afford to buy them.  However, we have made these boxes available to churches anywhere in the world (including the USA) that can afford to purchase them.  They are available for purchase through Rafiki’s website (rafikibiblestudy.org). 

The next 10,000 commentaries I want the RJBF to send to Africa with Sunday School lessons is on ACTS.  I get them at a good price because I buy in large quantities, but they are not free.  You are welcome to help!  Just email me at RMJ@rafikifoundation.org to find out how. 

I still read the Bible every day, but I also read a chapter in a commentary every day.  You might want to do the same.  I would suggest as a starter the commentary we sent to Africa.  It’s R.C. Sproul’s commentary on MATTHEW.  It explains MATTHEW verse by verse.  You can get it from Ligonier Ministries or on Amazon.  It is long (more than 700 pages!) but you will love it! 

I am so grateful that God gave us good teachers so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.

I am happy to recommend commentaries to those who want to be careful in choosing doctrinally sound commentaries.

Last Lessons #39 – DIVISION

“Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand.”  Matthew 12:25

When I lived in Africa, I was able to visit various game parks.  Those trips were amazing experiences because I not only saw animals in the wild, but because several of the parks overlooked the Great Rift Valley.  For your information, the Rift Valley is a 6,000-mile crack (fissure) in the earth's crust, stretching from Lebanon to Mozambique.  Violent subterranean forces literally tore apart the earth's crust.  It divided Africa in two.

There is a great rift in Christianity that is becoming increasingly evident today.  It is the divide that is happening in churches, especially evangelical mainline churches.  The division centers on the Bible.  One section I call “the biblical Christian church” because it believes the Bible, teaches the Bible, and attempts to live out the Bible.  The other section I call “the cultural Christian church” because it uses the Bible but says that the Bible contains errors, that the Bible is not enough for us to live by, and its preaching is mostly about love and accommodation to the culture.  But there are some who try to straddle the divide between the two sections.  They want the Bible and they want the culture.  Picture trying to straddle the Great Rift Valley!  It just won’t work so it causes division in churches.

Most all the mainline Protestant churches have split over the past few decades over the issue of homosexuality, particularly gays or lesbians in the pulpit and performing same-sex marriages.  The divide started way back with the Enlightenment that began a movement based on human reason as the primary source of authority, not God. They questioned God as Creator and advocated tolerance and the brotherhood of mankind.  This movement led to questioning the inerrancy of the Bible, the sufficiency of the Bible, and the interpretation of the Bible.  If the culture can interpret the Bible however it wants, then it will eventually lead to what we have today - the LGBTQ issue that has, and is, dividing churches.  

It’s understandable why the “straddling” churches are struggling.  Most Christians have at least one family member who is gay and families do want to love and accept each other.  The problem is that the Bible calls homosexuality “sin” so there is bound to be division between those who believe that the Bible means what it says and those who don’t.  

“Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division, For from now on in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”  Luke 12:51-53

Today there are denominations studying and taking sides on the question of whether the church should accept LGBTQ members into the church.  There should be no question about LGBTQ people attending church, but the question is whether they should be members and especially leaders.  And the church should minister to LGBTQ attendees by teaching them the Bible from the pulpit, in Sunday School, and in Bible study groups.  The church’s mission is not to become counseling or therapy centers, but to call sinners to identify with Christ and live as a new person saved by grace.

I pray that church denominations will continue to be biblical.  I pray that I will attend and support biblical Christian churches and I pray that you will too.