The Heaton File

Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. (Genesis 12:1)

Leaving Family

There is nothing more important than family because that is the foundation of life every person is born into. Whatever a man will become largely is dependent upon the environment of his surroundings as the member of his extended family. As a child, character comes from interaction with family creating bonds that are often deeper than any other relationship. This connection grows strong over the years becoming more entrenched in the older years. Imagine being seventy-five years old and deciding to abruptly pack up your life’s collection of memories and move to a far off land that you have never seen and have no knowledge of what is in store for you and your family. In the early story of man, there was a man called Abram who was the son of Terah, ten generations removed from Noah. God comes to Abram and tells him to leave his country, his family, and from his father’s house to a land that He would show him. Abram acted like a man who believed fully in the word of the Lord and obeyed when he was called to go out to a place which he would receive as an inheritance. The Hebrew writer will illustrate faith by showing that Abram had no idea where he was going and what was before him but he trusted in the will of God that all would be well. Leaving the comfort of family, friends and a life he had known for three-quarters of a century, Abram took his wife Sarai and Lot his brother’s son and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people whom they had acquired in Haran and journeyed toward the land of Canaan. He lived in tents in a foreign country. This was quite a change for Abram and his family. Nothing would dissuade him from the will of God and Abram acted in faithful obedience to the word of the Lord. He would live to be 175 years old and have two sons, Ishmael and Isaac. Sarai would give birth in her 90^th year to Isaac making him a son of the promise given by the power of God.

Family is important and few things can replace the value and worth of family. Abram was a man of the home and would be declared by the Lord that he was known of God in order that he would command his children and his household after him, that they would keep the way of the Lord. Abram was a man devoted to his immediate family as a husband, father, and uncle. When the Lord called Abram to leave his family he was willing to give up all that was familiar to him and everything that was comfortable for his family to live in tents and wander for one hundred years in a land that was never his own. The family he left behind was his extended family, his roots and his heritage. This is important to treasure the full relationships of the wealth in the community of family but obeying the Lord had more blessings for Abram. He was willing to leave all he knew for a life that seldom knew what the next day would bring. Faith was the engine that fueled the spirit of Abram to leave family and follow God. Whether he would understand all the will of the Lord and what the promises would mean for him, Abram lived every day with the assurance that God had a plan for him and leaving family, friends, and life comfortable in his familiar surroundings was only a blessing to serve God more. He was guided by the word of God and the word of God alone.

Jesus would declare that if a man loved his family more than Him, he could not be His disciple. The faith of Abram illuminates the spirit of love one must have for God that places the will of the Lord above all other relationships. Abram fulfilled his role as a husband, father, and leader of his community of family by setting before them the power of God’s word. He was willing to leave many things to follow an unknown path of blessings given to him by the Lord. As the head of his family, he led his family towards God. His example of faith would show the family he left behind that God was of greater importance. The message to his immediate family was his love for God. Sadly, his nephew Lot and his family lived among the richest men of the world in respect to the love of God and failed to allow that influence to guide their lives. Lot will not be remembered as a man who put the Lord first above family. Abram left an indelible mark on the pages of holy writ of true faith in the promises of God above family, self, and life itself. The church is in desperate need of men like Abram who will stand as beacons of hope for the family to lead them to the land of promise given through the blood of Jesus Christ.

The word of the Lord which came to Zephaniah the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah. “I will utterly consume everything from the face of the land,” says the Lord; “I will consume man and beast; I will consume the birds of the heavens, the fish of the sea, and the stumbling blocks along with the wicked. I will cut off man from the face of the land,” says the Lord. (Zephaniah 1:1-3)

The Wrath Of God

There is nothing more terrible or powerfully horrific than standing face to face with the wrath of God. What makes the message of the prophets less palatable is the knowledge the anger of the Lord is brought against His own people. Like those who tried to bring Israel back to the Lord and the men that heralded the doom of the Lord if repentance was not seen in the heart, the son of Cushi clearly outlined the punishment of God upon those who would fail to heed the divine warnings. Zephaniah’s preaching is a piercing message announcing the day of the Lord. He warns the nation to repent and bring their hearts back to devotion to the only true and living God. There will be a remnant that will survive the final judgment of the Lord but God’s warning to Judah is very certain and forthcoming. Sin will not be tolerated. The people may think that God is a loving God and He would never punish His children but Zephaniah makes it clear the wrath of God is fierce, consuming and total. A time comes for men to realize the penalty of sin and how much God hates what sin has done to His creation. The wrath of God is a consuming fire that destroys all life. Like in the days of Noah, no one with the breath of life remained outside the ark. Millions of people died because they refused to believe in the grace of God and the wrath of the Lord. The grace of God was seen in Noah preaching to a lost world to repent. When men refused to change their hearts, the wrath of the Lord destroyed every living thing that had the breath of life. Many generations later as Israel crumbled into the despair of idolatry and rebellion, the Lord is warning the final remnants of a once proud nation that unless they change the wrath of God will consume them. It is clear the message of Zephaniah does not leave anyone out.

The wrath of God is a complete picture of destruction and no one will be able to escape. One of the injustices of life is that many people get away with crimes that are never discovered or revealed. This will not be the case when the wrath of God is brought against rebellious men. As Zephaniah opens his prophetic message of judgment, he wants the children of God to understand the Lord will hold them accountable for everything they have done. It is folly to think that what a man does is not known by the One who sees all. As hard as it may be for the human mind to grasp the infinity of God’s knowledge, the reality of judgment is seen in the consuming manner of the judgment of the Lord. All men will stand before the bar of judgment and receive an accounting of their lives. Everything that is done – whether in the light or the darkness – is open to the eyes of the Lord. Judah tried to hide their sins but God saw the Baal worship and those who swore by Molech. He knew the hearts of the people that worshipped the host of the heavens on the housetops turning their backs from following the Lord. From the king, princes and royal court to the common man of Judah, God will hold all men accountable. His wrath is not reserved for only a select group of people but rather any man who refuses to follow His will stands in condemnation before a righteous God.

Reading the prophets is a rehearsal for the righteousness of the Lord today. The Christian cannot understand the grace and love of God without appreciating the message of the prophets and how God tried to change the hearts of Israel but to no avail. Everything that could be done was done by the Lord to dissuade the people of God to turn their hearts back to Him. God’s grace was shown time and time again from the wilderness wanderings through the period of the judges into the kingdoms united and divided. But the longsuffering of the Lord will come to an end and judgment day will arrive. Zephaniah is a messenger of the grace and love of God but he is the proclaimer of the wrath of God. When men refuse to repent and acknowledge the power of God His wrath will come down with a mighty force in total destruction. God so loved the world He gave His only begotten Son to save men from their sins. If a man refuses to accept the gift of God in obedience to the will of the Lord, the wrath of God will be imputed upon that rebellious soul. Denying there is a place of eternal torment is like believing the world is flat. A man can believe the world is flat and do so with an earnest and sincere heart but it does not change the fact the world is not flat. Trying to mitigate the language of eternal damnation to say God could never punish anyone in an eternal lake of fire and brimstone does not change the language of Jesus Christ who said a place was real or deny the teachings of scripture inscribed by the Holy Spirit. The wrath of God is real, it is fierce and it will come upon all who refuse to obey His will. Zephaniah proves there is a place of eternal judgment with his language of God’s wrath. The great day of the Lord is yet to come for men today but come it will.

Not everyone who says to Me, “Lord, Lord,” shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?” And then I will declare to them, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!” (Matthew 7:21-23)

The Other Side Of Jesus

When Jesus gathered disciples around Him they recognized their teacher as one that spoke with authority and power unlike the scribes of their day. The teaching of Jesus was like a breath of fresh air with its clarity, illustrative stories, and purity of doctrine. Often the Jewish leaders would spar with Jesus attempting to trap Him in His speech but fail on every occasion. Everything the man from Nazareth said was without challenge because it was the word of the Father. The teaching of Jesus was controversial and reactionary. Through the wisdom of man trying to paint a picture of Jesus being a man full of love and compassion, a false impression of the Son of God has unfolded through the centuries denying the other side of Jesus. Most people see Jesus as a kind man who never said a stern word or offended anyone with His teaching. This is clearly evident in the manner the religious world portrays Jesus in their teaching. Sin is never spoken of, condemnation of character is unacceptable and the idea of eternal perdition is vehemently opposed. Clearly, the story of Jesus is full of grace and love but the other side of Jesus reveals the complete will of the Father. The Son of God came to save men from their sins but He also came to tell men the consequence of their unrepentant hearts.

The Sermon on the Mount is one of the most familiar passages in scripture. Filled with strong words of love, mercy, grace and a benevolent Father, Jesus unfolded to His disciples the preamble of the spiritual constitution that would make up His new covenant. What must not be lost in the study of the sermon is the message of the harsh reality of rejecting the teachings of God. Not everyone who claims allegiance to God will enjoy eternal life. The Son of God clearly tells His disciples that many will claim to be very religious in their lives and seek to follow Him but if they are not doing the will of the Father, they will be eternally lost. Saying, “Lord, Lord” does not imply a man is saved. Proclaiming they have prophesied in the name of Jesus, casting out demons in the name of Jesus and doing many wonders in the name of Jesus will not save a person. Jesus said He will tell many people that He did not know who they were and demand they depart from Him. What He means by this is that in the final day of judgment when individuals stand before Him that He will condemn them to Hell because they have not done the will of the Father. This is a side of Jesus most folk refuse to acknowledge. The Sermon on the Mount reveals that most men will be lost in destruction while only a few will find eternal life. God does not desire any man to be lost and has given a man everything he needs to find salvation but if a man does not do the will of the Father they will be lost in a lake that burns with fire and brimstone.

Jesus taught the whole pattern of God’s grace when He reminded men of their obligation to follow the teachings of the Father. When telling Nicodemus what a man must do to be saved, the Son of God said that God so loved the world He gave His only begotten Son so that those who believed would not perish. What else could Jesus mean by those who perish than teaching that men who refuse to obey the will of the Father will perish in eternal fire? Jesus taught there was a place called everlasting punishment. The Son of God taught there was a place of outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Jesus taught the whole counsel of the Father including teaching men their obligation to obey the love of God and if they refused to do the will of the Father they would go to Hell. This may be unpopular in the modern soft-peddling gospel of the social message of plastic grace but teaching the whole counsel of Jesus Christ demands recognition of the other side of His teaching. There is a place of eternal rest and thank God for that. Understand the message of Jesus Christ received from the Father there is a place of eternal torment reserved for those who do not do the will of the Father. Jesus said it was so because God said it was so.

Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is across from Jericho. And the Lord showed him all the land of Gilead as far as Dan, all Naphtali and the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Western Sea, the South, and the plain of the Valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, as far as Zoar. Then the Lord said to him, “This is the land of which I swore to give Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I have caused you to see it with your eyes, but you shall not cross over there.” So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord. And He buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth Peor; but no one knows his grave to this day. Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died. His eyes were not dim nor his natural vigor diminished. And the children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days. So the days of weeping and mourning for Moses ended. Now Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him; so the children of Israel heeded him and did as the Lord had commanded Moses. But since then there has not arisen in Israel a prophet like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, in all the signs and wonders which the Lord sent him to do in the land of Egypt, before Pharaoh, before all his servants, and in all his land, and by all that mighty power and all the great terror which Moses performed in the sight of all Israel. (Deuteronomy 34)

The Death Of Moses

After forty long years of wandering in the wilderness, Israel stood at the brink of a new day with the land promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob stretching out before them. A new generation had arisen that would be the seed of a new nation in a new land blessed by the hand of the Almighty. The land that flowed with milk and honey would become the dwelling place of God’s people to live in a rich and full history of the heavenly Father’s abundant blessings. Preparations were being made with excitement filling each family with the anticipation of finally finding a place to call home. Four decades earlier a giant of a man had come to Egypt and by the power of God delivered the Hebrews from bondage. He proclaimed the wrath of the Lord against Pharaoh and his wicked spirit of rebellion bringing ten plagues upon the once powerful nation crippling the nation and bringing it to its knees. The army of the Egyptians was destroyed in the Red Sea as a final blow against the nation that held God’s chosen race in bondage. Moses was the great deliverer who would always be etched in the mind of every Hebrew as the man who brought them from bondage to the land of promise. Great signs and wonders were done in the land of Egypt. Throughout the wilderness journey, Moses had shown the power of God in mighty power and all the great terror which Moses performed in the sight of all Israel. The Israelites enjoyed the blessings of God and suffered at the hand of a wrathful Lord who punished thousands for their unbelief. Moses was the center of this attention as he begged the people to heed his words and obey the Lord. Often it was Moses himself that stood between God and the certain destruction of the people. For more than forty years Moses had agonized over the children of Israel, prodding them to trust in the Lord and accepting the forty-year banishment with grace. There would never be a man like Moses to stand in the ranks of the godly among the Israelites.

Moses was a man of faith but he was a man hampered by the failings of sin. It is hard to compare any other man to the story of this humble servant whom the Lord knew face to face. No one shared a more personal relationship with God in the nation of Israel than Moses. With all of his faith and courage, Moses had failed to give glory to God in Kadesh. Sin comes with a consequence and the Lord forbade His humble servant to lead the people into the promised land. His sister had just died and shortly after the event at the water of Meribah, his brother Aaron died. Moses had a lot to take in but he never wavered from his purpose to serve the Lord. He leads the people to the Jordan River as instructed by God knowing he would never set foot in the land of Canaan. At the age of one hundred and twenty years, the son of Amram had his natural vigor with eyes as clear as a youth. But he died in the land of Moab according to the word of the Lord. He was buried in a valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth Peor but no one knew where the Lord laid His servant to rest. The apostle Peter would remark many centuries later how that everyone knew where David was buried and so many of the other great men of God would be known of their burial plots. This would not be the case with the great leader of Israel. Moses would be buried where no man could find him because God willed it. No marker to show his place, no monument to bear his name and no piece of earth people could go to and honor their deliverer.

The people wept for Moses for thirty days. Life went on. Joshua took the people and crossed the Jordan River. The land of Canaan was conquered and the inhabitants subdued. Sadly the history of Israel did not show reverence for God and the people soon forgot the story of Moses. They wept for thirty days at the loss of their great leader remembering all the signs and wonders and mighty power Moses performed before them but when life returned to normal Moses was forgotten. His law was rejected because they did not believe in God. The memory of the meek and humble servant Moses was lost. A greater deliverer would come in the form of a man whose name was Jesus. Like Moses, the son of Mary was revered for a time but then rejected and killed. His memory is often obscured by the busy pursuits of life. No story is as powerful as the life of Jesus but most people do not give heed to His word. Like Moses, Jesus becomes a forgotten byline that is lost in the dust of time and the carnal pursuits of men trying to conquer the world for their own possession lose the identity with the Son of God. Moses’ death was untimely but according to the will of God. The death of Jesus may have seemed untimely in the eyes of man but it was the perfection of the scheme of redeeming man from the consequence of sin. A greater than Moses rose from the dead on the first day of the week. No one knew where the Lord buried Moses but everyone knew where they buried Jesus. The difference is eternal: there was a body where God buried Moses but the tomb of Jesus was empty. Thank God for men like Moses. Greater still, thank God for Jesus Christ.

He who believes and is baptized will be saved, but he who does not believe will be condemned. (Mark 16:16)

When A Man Does Not Believe, Baptism Means Nothing

Before Jesus ascends to the Father after His resurrection, He spends forty days with the eleven and His disciple’s teaching and instructing them the patterns of the new covenant. Writing to the Roman mind, Mark addresses the immediacy of the message of Christ with power showing the clarity of God’s message of salvation. There are no wasted words in the gospel of Mark as he unfolds clearly, concisely and succinctly the story of the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the son of God. As Mark closes his book, he declares the words of Jesus to the eleven concerning the commission they would take with them from the city of Jerusalem into the whole world. The ministers of God would preach the gospel to every creature. That message was summed up in eighteen words; half describing salvation and the other half declaring condemnation. In the first part, it is a simple declaration defining the grace of God and how a man can justify himself. Salvation comes from the hand of God to those who believe in Him and obey His command. Belief is necessary for acceptance of the rule of God and baptism obedience from the heart the form of doctrine delivered by the Holy Spirit to the first-century disciples. One is dependent upon the other. When a man believes in the word of God he will not question what is required of him. Baptism is a natural response to the message of the gospel. Peter told those gathered on the day of Pentecost to repent and be baptized for the remission of sins in keeping with the command of Jesus. Throughout the book of Acts in the early years of the church, myriads of men and women heard the gospel of Jesus Christ, believed and were baptized. This was keeping the command of Jesus as described by Mark.

In the latter part of Jesus’ instructions to the eleven, He said that if a man did not believe he would be condemned. What Jesus did not have to say is that if a man did not believe and was not baptized he would be condemned because the conclusion of a man who does not believe is that he will do nothing that will save his soul. When a man does not believe he rejects the Son of God and His word. If a man refuses to believe in God he has no desire to listen any further, obey any commands and consider his lost state as important. Detractors of what Jesus said in Mark’s account claim baptism is not necessary because the latter part of the statement does not say anything about baptism. They are correct only in the matter that no man will desire to be baptized that does not believe in God. Those who are condemned are not lost because they have not been baptized; they are lost because they do not believe. When a man becomes fully convinced that Jesus is the Son of God he will do anything and everything to obey the word of God which includes confessing His name, repenting of sins and being buried with Christ through baptism into death. No questions whatsoever. If a man does not believe in God he will not confess the name of Christ, repent of his sins and surely have no desire to be immersed in water. When a man does not believe, baptism means nothing.

The account of Mark’s gospel and rendering of the final words of Jesus are simple to read and understand. He instructed the eleven to go into all the world and preach the gospel and they did that very thing beginning in Jerusalem. The message they preached was the power of God declaring that if one believed in Jesus Christ they would submit to His word and His rule and desire to be baptized. Three thousand souls understood this on the Day of Pentecost as recorded by Luke in the Acts of the Apostles. A man from Ethiopia was taught about Jesus beginning in the prophet Isaiah’s book and his conclusion was that water baptism was necessary for salvation. Every story of conversion in the new covenant includes the act of baptism because that is the gospel message taught by the early disciples. The New Testament writers wrote extensively about the necessity, importance, and relevance of baptism in all of the epistles. Many people did not believe the teachings of Jesus Christ and they were never baptized because they did not believe. Religious teachers today proclaim a false doctrine of salvation when they deny the role of baptism in salvation teaching contrary to the plain instruction of Jesus as seen in Mark’s account. With all the platitudes of the graceful speech made by the wisdom of men, the eternal truth of God’s word remains. He that believes and is baptized will be saved. If a man does not believe in God and accept His word, he will be lost. Salvation is found in the bosom of the Father in obedience; condemnation in the lake of fire and brimstone to those who do not believe.

But He said, “The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.” (Luke 18:27)

God Is Not Limited

Words are important in language to convey a thought describing an idea that predicates the need of the speaker. Jesus was very surgical in the use of language to establish the teachings of His Father. When a wealthy ruler came seeking the answer to salvation, Jesus carefully instructed the man what to do but sadly it was not in the heart of the seeker to obey the will of God. He went away to the amazement of the disciples who had witnessed the encounter. Questioned what was required to be saved, Jesus defined the eternal difference between man and God. There are many things that are impossible for man but there is nothing impossible for the Creator. When something is impossible it is beyond the bounds or means of a man to accomplish. This would not be a matter that man is unable to do a thing today but at some future day invent a means to accomplish what seemed beyond reality. No one would have imagined a man walking on the moon but on July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin accomplished what seemed for thousands of years as completely without certainty. In some small way, a man accomplished an impossible task but this is not what Jesus is telling His disciples. No matter what man can invent it is impossible for man to walk to the moon. Man will never be able to live on the moon or travel to Mars to establish colonies or touch the surface of the largest known star in the universe, VY Canis Majoris (4,900 light years away). The things that are impossible with men are possible with God.

Salvation is not a walk to the moon. There is no way to measure, define or understand the immensity of man’s place before a loving, graceful, wrathful and punishing God who has determined the habitation of man to dwell upon the face of the earth. Sin may be diminished in the mind of man but the very thing that separates him from his Creator is the one thing that it is impossible for him to bring to bear upon his soul. Adam and Eve could not find a means to change what they did in the garden and without the grace of God to allow them to live humanity would have been lost at the beginning. As the world grew corrupt and turned away from the love of God, only because mercy did the Lord speak to Noah and show him a way to save himself. Without the knowledge of grace from the mind of God telling the family of Noah what to do to be saved, all men would have perished and there would not have been eight saved in the ark. What separated Noah from all others is he believed the grace of God and through his faith justified himself in building a most unlikely means of salvation – the ark. Noah believed in something impossible: a flood that would cover the world more than twenty-two feet above the mountains. He also believed in the impossible: God would save Him if he obeyed. Abraham was tested by God to kill his only begotten son as an offering. The man of God took Isaac and told his servants they were going to the mountain to worship and the two of them would return. Abraham knew exactly what he was going to do with Isaac. He would take him, bind him, kill him and through the power of God his son would be raised from the dead – an impossibility – but Abraham believed in the power of God. David overcame the threats of the Philistine giant to defeat a nine-foot behemoth because he believed a young lad with a sling and a few stones could defeat such a champion. Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah defied the king of Babylon who threatened to burn them alive in a fiery furnace because they believed in the impossible. The things that are impossible with men are possible with God.

The wealthy ruler came to Jesus wanting to know what to do to be saved. Jesus gave him a stark answer but one based on the reality of the man’s heart. He was unwilling to sell all he had and give to the poor going away sorrowful. The day came when he did give up his riches and left them for others to squabble over. What seemed impossible that day now seemed possible if only he had trusted in the word of the Lord. Nothing is impossible when a man allows God to work in his life, changing his heart and overcoming the wiles of the devil. No matter what life brings and no matter where a man finds himself, the God of possibilities stands ready to help in times of impossibility. Man is limited. God is unlimited. There are things a man cannot do because it is beyond his abilities and powers to accomplish because his Creator has drawn a line of declaration and determined he will go no further. There are no lines with God. He can walk on the water, raise the dead, heal any disease immediately and tell you the name of every star in the heavens. The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.

Then little children were brought to Him that He might put His hands on them and pray, but the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.” And He laid His hands on them and departed from there. (Matthew 19:13-15)

Bring The Children To Jesus

It is a remarkable thing to consider that as busy as Jesus was trying to put into less than three years His ministry of salvation for all men the Son of God would often take time with children. The disciples did not understand and rebuked those who would dare interrupt their master. They would receive a harsh rebuke from the Lord for thinking He did not have time to engage with young children. On one occasion Jesus placed a young lad in the middle of His disciples and used him as an object lesson on the humility of character required to be a follower of the Christ. Jesus took time for children. Because of this, parents would bring their children to Him that He might put His hands on them and pray. They were seeking the blessings of this teacher and guide impressing upon their children His worth and importance. Little did they know how important He would become to themselves and their children when He emptied Himself on the cross. The Holy Spirit does not reveal how many of these parents who brought their children to Christ during His ministry would have brought their children to the story of Jesus in the early church. What is impressive about these parents is a deep desire to do something as simple and profound as bringing their children to Jesus for a blessing. They recognized Him as a teacher and as one to give wisdom to their children. Going beyond the pressures of those who tried to keep them away from Jesus, the parents wanted to let their children’s lives be touched by the hand of Jesus. He laid His hands and them and blessed them.

The people of Jesus day realized there was something special about the man from Nazareth. There is no greater need for parents in our day to see the need to give their children the most important example they will find in life: Jesus Christ. Learning about God and His Son begins at home. From infancy, children should be brought to Jesus through song, teaching, instruction, and example of godly parents who show Christ living in their life. Children in large part become the kind of people their parents instruct them to be. Learning about truth and righteousness is not something that is found without diligent effort, constant study and a devoted spirit to emulate the pattern of God’s word in life. The home is the bastion of the word of God. Prayer is the constant presence in the home with an examination of the Bible as a daily menu of the stories of God’s people. Children must first learn about God in the home and parents must be the first to introduce them to the man from Nazareth.

Many children do not know about Christ because their parents never took the time to bring them to the Bible.  The mistake that is most often made is parents who believe that taking their children to church is all they need to learn about the Bible. While the activities of the church whether in Bible class or worship time are invaluable to the training of the child if this becomes the only basis of knowledge the attempt to teach the lessons of God’s word will be severely limited. Bringing children to Jesus must begin at the hearth of the godly home nurtured by the hearing of the word of God. Fathers lead as spiritual guides to train their children in the way of truth and righteousness. Mothers exemplify the characteristics of a godly woman that knows well the stories of holy writ. The home becomes a haven of spiritual foundations built upon the love and grace of God. Nothing is more imperative to the teaching of children than what happens in the home. Like the parents long ago who brought their children to Jesus to be blessed by Him, fathers and mothers must bring their children to an understanding of the Son of God through the knowledge of God’s word and lives that are filled with the glory of God. If parents do not bring their children to Jesus, the world will take their children to the devil.

Therefore, if perfection were through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need was there that another priest should rise according to the order of Melchizedek, and not be called according to the order of Aaron? For the priesthood being changed, of necessity, there is also a change of the law. For He of whom these things are spoken belongs to another tribe, from which no man has officiated at the altar. For it is evident that our Lord arose from Judah, of which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning priesthood. (Hebrews 7:11-14)

New Priesthood Means New Law

When God gave the law to Israel at Sinai He ordained the tribe of Levi to be His priests and servants to guard the words of the covenant. Originally the Lord had said that Israel would be a kingdom of priests but following the worship of the golden calf and death of three thousand Hebrews God set up the priesthood after the tribe of Levi. Specifically, the priest only came from the family of Aaron. This would remain unchanged throughout the history of Israel. The attempt of Jeroboam to circumvent the law requiring priests to be from Aaron did not change the word of God when the kingdom divided after the death of Solomon. Jesus kept the law including all the activities connected with Temple worship as He watched the priest from the ancient family of Aaron carry out their duties each year when the Son of God came to the Temple. When Jesus died on the cross and rose the third day the priesthood changed forever. One of the most profound doctrines of the New Testament church was the teaching that the Aaronic priesthood was no longer binding and through Jesus, a new priesthood was established after the order of Melchizedek. When Abraham returned from rescuing his nephew Lot he was met by the king and High priest of Salem (later called Jerusalem) where the patriarch paid tithes to Melchizedek. It was a significant part of Jewish history to read of Melchizedek who was unknown as far as his lineage. Paul makes the argument in the Hebrew book that Jesus was a priest after the order of Melchizedek which required a changing of the law. Under the Law of Moses priest could only come from the tribe of Levi and from the family of Aaron. Jesus was born of Mary who was from the house of David who was from the tribe of Judah. The Law of Moses said nothing about priest coming from the tribe of Judah.

If perfection came through the Law of Moses there would never have been a need for a second covenant. For a man to believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God there would require a belief the Law of Moses is no longer binding because the priesthood of Jesus is not defined in the Law of Moses. Paul makes the argument the Law of Moses was abolished because Jesus is not a Levite and was not born from the family of Aaron. If the Law of Moses is still binding then Jesus cannot be a priest and could never serve as a High Priest. To deny Jesus is the great High Priest is to deny the kingship of Christ and refuse to accept that Jesus is the Son of God. No man could serve as a priest who came from the tribe of Judah. Jeroboam tried to change the law of God by having men who were not from Aaron serve as a priest but this was futile. If Jesus is the great High Priest and Jesus came from the family of David through the lineage of Judah then the only conclusion can be drawn is the Law of Moses has been abolished. When the priesthood changed the law changed. It is impossible to bind the Law of Moses and accept Christ as High Priest. If the priesthood has changed then the Law of Moses has no more authority for salvation. It is evident that Jesus arose from Judah and the Law of Moses says nothing about the tribe of Judah serving as priests much less ordained as High Priest.

The Law of Moses was annulled because the priesthood of Aaron was based on the blood of bulls and goats which could never take away sins. A time of reformation came when Jesus established the law of grace and truth through His blood nailing the Law of Moses (including the Ten Commandments) to the cross so that He could rise the third day as High Priest of the good things to come. He is the mediator of a new covenant making the Law of Moses an old covenant with no authority and no saving power. When men try to return to the Law as their guide and body of truth they immediately deny the Kingship of Jesus and His place as High Priest. Jesus offered one sacrifice for sins forever and sat down at the right hand of God as High Priest. If the Law of Moses is still binding Jesus could not sit at the right hand of God because He is from the wrong tribe and wrong family and sits on a throne that denies the word of God. But Jesus, because He lives and reigns forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. Binding the Law of Moses today requires identifying those from the family of Aaron through the tribe of Levi. What most people fail to understand is that no Jew for nearly two thousand years has been able to identify what tribe they are from. God removed the tribal identities because the Law was abolished. The only tribal identity that brings salvation is the tribe of Judah because Jesus came from the family of David. Thank God He gave the gift of His Son who was born of the seed of David to be the great High Priest to cleanse all men from their sins.

For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second. For he finds fault with them when he says: “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. For they did not continue in my covenant, and so I showed no concern for them, declares the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.” In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away. (Hebrews 8:7-13)

They Did Not Continue In My Covenant

Israel shared a relationship with the Lord God that no other nation on earth could claim. The Hebrews were chosen by God not because of they were a mighty people in number (they were the least of all peoples) but because of God’s love for them. He had made a promise to Abraham and He kept His word with the covenant made with His servant to bring forth a nation so that all the nations of the world would be blessed. A covenant was established at Mt. Sinai between the people and the Lord which was ratified with the blood of animals and confirmed by the voice of the nation to be faithful to the promises given in the law. Before leaving Sinai the people disobeyed the covenant and worshiped the golden calf. Throughout the legacy of Israel’s history, the people would continually break the word of the Lord, reject the covenant made at Sinai and rebel against the voice of the prophets who cried for the people to repent. During the final days of Israel when only two tribes remained the prophet Jeremiah proclaimed the will of God to remove the first covenant and establish a new law that would be written in the hearts on His faithful people. Almost seven hundred years later the apostle Paul would describe in a letter to the first century Hebrew Christians the first covenant (Law of Moses) was flawed and the Lord would seek a second covenant as declared by Jeremiah. If the Law of Moses had been faultless (perfect), then no place would have been sought for a second. Because finding fault with the Law of Moses, the Lord proclaimed the days were coming when He would make a new law with the house of Israel and the house of Judah which would be very different from the covenant He made with them at Sinai. The reason a second covenant had to be made is that the children of Israel did not continue in His covenant and so the Lord disregarded and ignored the first covenant. God had been faithful in His part of the law; Israel had failed repeatedly to keep the law. Because of their rejection, the Lord rejected them.

In the legal world, a contract is a binding covenant as long as both parties fulfill the declarations stipulated and faithful participation of both parties agrees to continue in the arrangements outlined in the agreement. If at any time one of the parties fail to meet the requirements of the contract and a continued effort is rejected to resolve the dispute, the covenant is broken. There can be no doubt of the legality of a broken covenant when it is clearly demonstrated the one party did not follow the guidelines and instructions sworn to at the inception of the covenant. This principle of law did not originate with the wisdom of man but was ordained by the wisdom of the Creator. God made a covenant with Israel and stipulated innumerable blessings to the people if they would heed the words of the law. The Hebrews broke the covenant so often the day came when the Lord rejected them and canceled His promises made through the Law of Moses. He took them by the hand and led them out of Egypt but they did not honor Him. In the days of Jeremiah, the Lord promised to make a new covenant nullifying the old covenant. When God promised to make a new covenant He made the first covenant obsolete. The first law was old and the apostle Paul (who was a Hebrew of Hebrews) declared was vanishing away and to disappear. In the first century, the people of God would no longer follow a law that was outdated because of the blood of bulls and goats but they would find a new law sanctified by the blood of Jesus Christ. The first covenant was taken out of the way because Israel did not continue to be faithful to the agreement with God.

There are many in the religious world teaching the need to keep the pattern and teachings of the Law of Moses. Jeremiah would challenge this failed doctrine of trying to follow a covenant that God has rejected because the Jews rejected Him. They killed the Son of God sealing their final judgment of rejecting the will of the Lord. No man can be saved by the Law of Moses or keeping the commandments of the law (i.e. Ten Commandments). The law was given through Moses and the people of Israel broke that covenant. Grace and truth come through Jesus Christ and Him crucified. The only law that can save a man now is the blood of Christ and the perfection of His priesthood found in the church of Christ and His body. A new covenant has been made with Jew and Gentile alike and salvation is found in repenting and being baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins. The promise made through the Holy Spirit as spoken by Peter on the day of Pentecost still resounds in the hearts of those who will faithfully accept the covenant of Christ and His blood.

Then Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his household. And many of the Corinthians, hearing, believed and were baptized. Now the Lord spoke to Paul in the night by a vision, “Do not be afraid, but speak, and do not keep silent; for I am with you, and no one will attack you to hurt you; for I have many people in this city.” And he continued there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them. When Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews with one accord rose up against Paul and brought him to the judgment seat, saying, “This fellow persuades men to worship God contrary to the law.” (Acts 18:8-13)

Teaching Contrary To The Law Of Moses

During the Apostle Paul’s second missionary journey, he is told by the Holy Spirit to go into the region of Macedonia to preach the gospel to them. This will eventually bring the preacher of the Lord to the city of Corinth, one of the populated, prosperous and immoral cities of Greece. There was a common saying that if one acted in an overtly wicked manner they were acting like a “Corinthian.” The city was home to the goddess Venus with licentious worship an integral part of the cities character. Paul would spend eighteen months in this city establishing the church and in working as a tentmaker with his fellow companions Aquila and Priscilla. There was a synagogue in the city and Paul spent much of his time during the year and a half in Corinth reasoning with Jew and Gentile alike. His message was the crucified Christ and that salvation could only come through a belief that Jesus was the Son of God and that He had come to ordain a new covenant found in the teaching of the first-century church. The Jews opposed Paul and shaking his garments against them, the apostle declared he would go the Gentiles to teach the good news of salvation. As a result of his teaching, Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue believed on the Lord with all his household and many of the Corinthians, hearing, believed and were baptized. After a time, the Jews rose up against Paul and brought him to Gallio, Roman proconsul of Achaia and brother of the great philosopher Seneca. Gallio would dismiss the attempt of the Jews to have Paul arrested or charged but what the Jews said about their fellow Jew was most telling.

Taking Paul before the Roman authorities is no small matter and the Jews believed they had a justified cause to bring him before Gallio. Their charge was that Paul was persuading men to worship God contrary to the law. Compelled by the Holy Spirit, Paul testified to the Jews that Jesus is the Christ. Many of the Corinthians and a number of the Jews believed in the teaching of Paul and were baptized on the belief that Jesus was the Christ. If salvation was found in keeping the Law of Moses and binding the precepts, commands, and doctrines of the Law, what was Paul preaching that upset the Corinthians Jews? By their own words, Paul was suggesting the Law of Moses was no longer a valid avenue of salvation as he was persuading men to worship God contrary to the law. Many believe today the Law of Moses is still a binding law but Paul (who was a Jew and Rabbi) taught the Corinthian Jews to worship in a manner contrary to the law given to Moses. The conclusion can only be the gospel message of salvation did not come from keeping the Ten Commandments as contained in the Law of Moses or the practices and worship of the Law of Moses. Paul was better versed in the Law of Moses than anyone living today and yet to believe the Law of Moses is still a valid body of law is made without consideration of a man who left the Jewish faith to embrace the grace of God in a crucified and risen Christ. The teaching of the apostle Paul clearly defined the Law of Moses was abolished as he wrote to the Roman church. If Paul is the author of the book of Hebrews the thesis of the entire message is the perfection of the new covenant over the old covenant; i.e. the Law of Moses and the law of Christ. Teaching men to worship contrary to the law shows that Paul taught the Jews of his day that salvation cannot come from keeping the Law of Moses whether in part or in the whole.

The Jews of Paul’s day continually sought ways to destroy the apostle and often made plans to murder him. His eventual death was orchestrated by the hatred of the Jews against the man that was their champion at one time. Luke tells the story of Paul’s early days when he was known as Saul of Tarsus and the efforts he put forth to destroy Christ and His church. When he came to a complete understanding of the grace of God he left the keeping of the Law of Moses and all its teachings to share the gospel of Christ. Paul never taught that men should keep the Law of Moses. In fact, the apostle throughout all of his writings shows the failing of the Law and the perfection of Christ and that abolished the Law of Moses with all its ordinances and customs. Israel had broken the covenant God made with them at Sinai and as early as the prophet Jeremiah determined there would be a better covenant in the Christ. Paul explains this in the book of Hebrews. The Jews of Corinth confirm the Law of Moses is abolished and obsolete. Paul taught men to worship God in a manner not in keeping with the law because the law could no longer save a man. As Peter and John declared in the early days of the church, there is salvation in no other name but Jesus Christ.