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Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Where Does Your Compass Point?


…WHERE DOES YOUR COMPASS POINT?...

We all know what a compass is. Webster’s 1828 Dictionary[1] defines our traditional understanding of a compass as “…5. An instrument for directing or ascertaining the course of ships at sea, consisting of a circular box, containing a paper card marked with the thirty two points of direction, fixed on a magnetic needle, that always points to the north, the variation excepted. The needle with the card turns on a pin in the center of the box. In the center of the needle is fixed a brass conical socket or cap, by which the card hanging on the pin turns freely round the center. The box is covered with glass, to prevent the motion of the card from being disturbed by the wind…”[2]

Now when you hear of a compass, this is what you think  of: But I want us to focus upon a different type of compass, the one covered by Webster’s first definition: “…1. Stretch; reach; extent; the limit or boundary of a space, and the space included; applied to time, space, sound, &c. Our knowledge lies within a very narrow compass. The universe extends beyond the compass of our thoughts. So we say, the compass of a year, the compass of an empire, the compass of reason, the compass of the voice. ‘And in that compass all the world contains…’

What is the depth of one’s compass? What limits or boundaries will one impose upon themselves in order to embrace the due limits of truth? What direction dear one does your compass point?

There is a reason for what I ask. In the past week, two separate incidents happened that involved members of my extended family, incidents that had tragic outcomes. I won’t go into detail, yet my heart is grieved over what has happened and what surely is to come over these incidents. The situations involved young men whose lives will be forever changed and I have to wonder, how did their compasses get so skewed to point them in the wrong direction? Sadly, I believe I know, and the answer isn’t an easy one to speak of, let alone teach about, yet it bears upon those of us who are called to teach for it is in our failings that failure comes.

Ephesians 4:11-15 (NASB95)
“…(11)
 And He agave bsome as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as cevangelists, and some as pastors and dteachers,  (12) afor the equipping of the 1saints for the work of service, to the building up of bthe body of Christ; (13) until we all attain to athe unity of the faith, and of the 1bknowledge of the Son of God, to a cmature man, to the measure of the stature 2which belongs to the dfullness of Christ.  (14) 1As a result, we are ano longer to be children, btossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by ccraftiness 2in ddeceitful scheming;  (15) but 1speaking the truth ain love, 2we are to bgrow up in all aspects into Him who is the chead, even Christ…”  [3]
                                         
“…for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ…” The role of the teacher is to equip the saints, to present the Messiah to the lost, to weep, to laugh, to help, to encourage; yet far too often most that are called to teach miss what their true calling entails.

(1Ti 1:3-13)  “…As I counseled you when I was leaving for Macedonia, stay on in Ephesus, so that you may order certain people who are teaching a different doctrine to stop. 4  Have them stop devoting their attention to myths and never-ending genealogies; these divert people to speculating instead of doing God's work, which requires trust. 5  The purpose of this order is to promote love from a clean heart, from a good conscience and from sincere trust. 6  Some, by aiming amiss, have wandered off into fruitless discussion. 7  They want to be teachers of Torah, but they understand neither their own words nor the matters about which they make such emphatic pronouncements. 8  We know that the Torah is good, provided one uses it in the way the Torah itself intends. 9  We are aware that Torah is not for a person who is righteous, but for those who are heedless of Torah and rebellious, ungodly and sinful, wicked and worldly, for people who kill their fathers and mothers, for murderers, 10  the sexually immoral — both heterosexual and homosexual — slave dealers, liars, perjurers, and anyone who acts contrary to the sound teaching 11  that accords with the Good News of the glorious and blessed God. This Good News was entrusted to me; 12  and I thank the one who has given me strength, the Messiah Yeshua, our Lord, that he considered me trustworthy enough to put me in his service, 13  even though I used to be a man who blasphemed and persecuted and was arrogant! But I received mercy because I had acted in unbelief, not understanding what I was doing…” [4]

And what is the way that the Torah [the “Law”] itself intends? To show us how to come before a Holy
G-d and live and how we are to treat our fellow man. In this the “church” is failing; in this the teachers are failing; in this the preachers are failing; in this the seminaries are failing; and on and on it goes.

Please allow me to preach here, to speak of the “Law” or the Torah, by way of the Apostle Rabbi Sha’ul, {Paul}…

[Authors Note  : The following section comes from my epistle “Before Reformation: 10 Indictments of the Modern Church…an exposition on the sermon of Paul Washer[5]. See additional information in footnotes.]

(Start of section)“Romans 1”

1 Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, acalled to be an apostle, bseparated to the gospel of God 2 cwhich He promised before dthrough His prophets in the Holy Scriptures, 3 concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who 1was eborn of the seed of David according to the flesh, 4 and fdeclared to be the Son of God with power according gto the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead. 5 Through Him hwe have received grace and apostleship for iobedience to the faith among all nations jfor His name, 6 among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ; 7 To all who are in Rome, beloved of God, kcalled to be saints: lGrace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 8 First, mI thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that nyour faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. 9 For oGod is my witness, pwhom I serve 2with my spirit in the gospel of His Son, that qwithout ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers, 10 making request if, by some means, now at last I may find a way in the will of God to come to you. 11 For I long to see you, that rI may impart to you some spiritual gift, so that you may be established— 12 that is, that I may be encouraged together with you by sthe mutual faith both of you and me. 13 Now I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that I often planned to come to you (but twas hindered until now), that I might have some ufruit among you also, just as among the other Gentiles. 14 I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to wise and to unwise. 15 So, as much as is in me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome also. 16 For vI am not ashamed of the gospel 3of Christ, for wit is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, xfor the Jew first and also for the Greek. 17 For yin it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, z“The just shall live by faith.” 18 aFor the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and bunrighteousness of men, who 4suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because cwhat may be known of God is 5manifest 6in them, for dGod has shown it to them. 20 For since the creation of the world eHis invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and 7Godhead, so that they are without excuse, 21 because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but fbecame futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 gProfessing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and changed the glory of the hincorruptible iGod into an image made like 8corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. 24 jTherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, kto dishonor their bodies lamong themselves, 25 who exchanged mthe truth of God nfor the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. 26 For this reason God gave them up to ovile passions. For even their 9women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. 27 Likewise also the 1men, leaving the natural use of the 2woman, burned in their lust for one another, 1men with 1men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due. 28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things pwhich are not fitting; 29 being filled with all unrighteousness, 3sexual immorality, wickedness, 4covetousness, 5maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, 30 backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31 6undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, 7unforgiving, unmerciful; 32 who, qknowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things rare deserving of death, not only do the same but also sapprove of those who practice them. [6]


The Epistle to the Romans gives us a unique glance into the mind of Sha'ul.  While it isn’t what modern day scholars regard as systematic theology[7], it is still the closest one can come to in the New Testament.  While only chapter one of Romans is cited here, the first three chapters are the Holy Spirit’s indictment (through Sha'ul) of mankind; this indictment is summarized in the following verses:

Romans 2:1-10 (NKJV)

2     Therefore you are ainexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, bfor in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. 2 But we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things. 3 And do you think this, O man, you who judge those practicing such things, and doing the same, that you will escape the judgment of God? 4 Or do you despise cthe riches of His goodness, dforbearance, and elongsuffering, fnot knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? 5 But in accordance with your hardness and your 1impenitent heart gyou are 2treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, 6 who h“will render to each one according to his deeds”: 7 eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality; 8 but to those who are self-seeking and ido not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness—indignation and wrath, 9 tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew jfirst and also of the 3Greek; 10 kbut glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. [8]

And in verse 31 of Romans 3, we see the reason for all things:

Romans 3:31 (NKJV)

 Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law. [9]

This is the reason for the law, or more correctly, the Torah; this was its true intent.  In it’s fullest sense, Torah exists for one purpose, to teach us what is hateful to God and to instruct us on a moral course that we are to live by.  There is in Christianity today the idea that the Torah is done away with, that we are not “under the law” anymore, for it is grace which abounds.  But what is grace? Is grace license to sin?  What is sin, if we are not under the law? For Sha'ul tells us:

“…Rom 7:7  Therefore, what are we to say? That the Torah is sinful? Heaven forbid! Rather, the function of the Torah was that without it, I would not have known what sin is. For example, I would not have become conscious of what greed is if the Torah had not said, "Thou shalt not covet." 8  But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, worked in me all kinds of evil desires — for apart from Torah, sin is dead. 9  I was once alive outside the framework of Torah. But when the commandment really encountered me, sin sprang to life, 10  and I died. The commandment that was intended to bring me life was found to be bringing me death! 11  For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me; and through the commandment, sin killed me. 12  So the Torah is holy; that is, the commandment is holy, just and good. 13  Then did something good become for me the source of death? Heaven forbid! Rather, it was sin working death in me through something good, so that sin might be clearly exposed as sin, so that sin through the commandment might come to be experienced as sinful beyond measure. 14  For we know that the Torah is of the Spirit; but as for me, I am bound to the old nature, sold to sin as a slave. 15  I don't understand my own behavior — I don't do what I want to do; instead, I do the very thing I hate! 16  Now if I am doing what I don't want to do, I am agreeing that the Torah is good. 17  But now it is no longer "the real me" doing it, but the sin housed inside me. 18  For I know that there is nothing good housed inside me — that is, inside my old nature. I can want what is good, but I can't do it! 19  For I don't do the good I want; instead, the evil that I don't want is what I do! 20  But if I am doing what "the real me" doesn't want, it is no longer "the real me" doing it but the sin housed inside me. 21  So I find it to be the rule, a kind of perverse "torah," that although I want to do what is good, evil is right there with me! 22  For in my inner self I completely agree with God's Torah; 23  but in my various parts, I see a different "torah," one that battles with the Torah in my mind and makes me a prisoner of sin's "torah," which is operating in my various parts. 24  What a miserable creature I am! Who will rescue me from this body bound for death? 25  Thanks be to God [, he will]! — through Yeshua the Messiah, our Lord! To sum up: with my mind, I am a slave of God's Torah; but with my old nature, I am a slave of sin's "Torah”…”[10] 

No, what Sha'ul is telling us is not that the law dictates to us all that is sinful, but rather is the agency that God has used to awaken within us the knowledge of our depraved souls, the sin nature.  If, as Ravi Sha’ul (Rabbi Paul) says “…apart from Torah, sin is dead…”, then what is sin?

1Jn 3:4  Everyone who keeps sinning is violating Torah — indeed, sin is violation of Torah.[11]

1 John 3:4 (NASB95)
4     Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness [Torah-lessness]; and asin is lawlessness. [12]

 We are not as some profess free of the law, for these are the commandments of God, and He changes not.  What He decreed to the Isra’elites, He decreed to believers today.  If all the law (Torah) hangs upon the two greatest commandments,
Matthew 22:36-40 (NKJV)

36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”
37 Jesus said to him, x‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: y‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 zOn these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” [13]”, then how is Torah put aside, seeing as how Torah is based on love? 

The bottom line here is, if apart from the law sin is dead, then why does man need a Savior?  If there is no law, there is no sin.  If no sin, Christ needn’t have died.  Hell’s best kept secret is in convincing man that we no longer are under Torah.  If man has no sin, then for what does he seek salvation for?  John the Immerser [ modern: “baptist”]  asked the Pharisees “…who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?…”[14]  Charles Spurgeon once said:

            “…Lower the Law, and you dim the light by which man perceives his guilt.  This is a very serious loss to the sinner, rather than a gain; for it lessens the likelihood of his conviction and conversion…I say you have deprived the Gospel of its ablest auxiliary [most powerful weapon] when you have set aside the Law.  You have taken away from it the schoolmaster that is to bring men to Christ…They will never accept grace till they tremble before a just and holy Law. Therefore, the Law serves a most necessary and blessed purpose, and it must not be removed from its place…”[15]

Torah then represents not the end, but the means by which man’s need for salvation is realized.  Much too often, we picture Christ as pleading with sinners to come, to accept Him as Lord so that He can save them.  We approach salvation as “man-centered”, not Christ centered.  Oh but you say, “Not So!”  “We give an altar call by telling them of what Christ can do for them!”  Friends, this is attraction.  We try to make Yeshua “appealing”, so that the masses will find Him attractive and want to “try” Him out.  This is not salvation!  How does the sinner turn himself around?  How can a dead man make himself live?  For Scripture tells us in  Romans 3:10-18 (NKJV):

10 As it is written:
l“There is none righteous, no, not one;
11There is none who understands;
There is none who seeks after God.
12 They have all turned aside;
They have together become unprofitable;
There is none who does good, no, not one.”
13“Their mthroat is an open 4tomb;
With their tongues they have practiced deceit”;
n“The poison of asps is under their lips”;
14“Whose omouth is full of cursing and bitterness.”
15“Their pfeet are swift to shed blood;
16Destruction and misery are in their ways;
17And the way of peace they have not known.”
18 ”There qis no fear of God before their eyes.” [16]

The natural man thinks not of the things of God (1 Cor. 2:14); only God through His Spirit makes men live (Zechariah 4:6 (NKJV) “ 6 …So he answered and said to me: “This is the word of the Lord to  fZerubbabel: g‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ Says the Lord of hosts… [17]”) and again in John 1:12-13 (NKJV); “12 …But qas many as received Him, to them He gave the 5right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: 13 rwho were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God…” [18] 

So the common way of “seeking converts”, the common way we teachers in the west seek to bring men before God, holds no promise of true repentance, no promise of eternal life for we seek dead men to save themselves, instead of allowing God to do His work.  The Spirit must quicken the dead heart, must restore it to life, and then that man would seek to flee the wrath that is to come when he comes face to face with the certain judgment of a Holy God.  He must be brought into the knowledge of self before he can be brought to the knowledge of the Savior and salvation.  Every hope in the flesh has to be cast down before they can be brought to the cross; such is the fallen manner of man. 

There must be a reckoning of self; no “invitation” is sufficient for the sinful man, you must break their hearts!  Plow their hearts till the Spirit of God brings them to their knees.  Forget the invitation – the ground must be worked, must be torn asunder, must be broken by the harrow and the tooth, by the disc and the plow – for if we just talk to them, just give them some “nice” points to ponder – then we have made them into a two-fold son of hell, never to be open to the gospel again because of the damnable easy lies we have told – asking them to pray a “sinner’s prayer” or a prayer of “invitation” to “make a decision” when they are dead and have no life within them to even begin to ask such a thing. How easy it is for us to say to a man “You are saved!” when we know not whether such a great transaction has taken place for it is the providence of G-d and G-d alone to save a man or woman; our job is to preach the Gospel of Christ, to plead with the lost that their eternal destiny hangs in the balance if they disregard such a great salvation, to plead with them not to resist the leading of the Ruach. For us to do otherwise is a lie, and leads the lost not to salvation but to false hope based upon works of the flesh.

This religious lie is a spewing lukewarm paste in our mouths!

 When we treat sin as an exercise, as a thing that can be tossed about casually, then we are fighting against the Holy Spirit who has come to convict the world of its sin!  Why do preachers today want to give you your best life now when they should be concerned with your eternity!  Think about it brethren!  When one does not preach or mention sin, repentance, daily dying to oneself, or carrying your cross in their sermons, then the Holy Spirit has nothing to do with his ministry, unless it is to work against it.  If we don’t preach against sin, if we say our ministry isn’t concerned about sin, then we are in contradiction with the Holy Spirit because His ministry is about sin!  It is His primary ministry, to convict men of sin, to bring them to the truth, to reveal to them Jesus Christ!  If we do not deal with men in their sin, in their depraved condition with passion, conviction and love – then the Holy Spirit is no where near us, and God is not in the house.  We are also deceivers if we deal not with the sin of men or treat it lightly [compare with Jeremiah 8]:

Jeremiah 6:8-19 (KJV)

8 Be thou instructed, O Jerusalem, lest my soul departc from thee; lest I make thee desolate, a land not inhabited.
9 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, They shall throughly glean the remnant of Israel as a vine: turn back thine hand as a grapegatherer into the baskets. 10 To whom shall I speak, and give warning, that they may hear? behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken: behold, the word of the LORD is unto them a reproach; they have no delight in it. 11 Therefore I am full of the fury of the LORD; I am weary with holding in: I will pour it out upon the children abroad, and upon the assembly of young men together: for even the husband with the wife shall be taken, the aged with him that is full of days. 12 And their houses shall be turned unto others, with their fields and wives together: for I will stretch out my hand upon the inhabitants of the land, saith the LORD. 13 For from the least of them even unto the greatest of them every one is given to covetousness; and from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely. 14 They have healed also the hurtd of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace. 15 Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore they shall fall among them that fall: at the time that I visit them they shall be cast down, saith the LORD. 16 Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls.

Pause with me here for a brief moment; the next two verses contain the most heart-breaking words that Jeremiah had to have ever heard… Here was a man that wept, that pleaded, that begged his people to t’shuvah, to repent, yet hear what they said:

 But they said, We will not walk therein. 17 Also I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken.

Thus Yahoveh had little choice but to pronounce His judgment:

18 Therefore hear, ye nations, and know, O congregation, what is among them. 19 Hear, O earth: behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not hearkened unto my words, nor to my law, but rejected it. [19]

If we as ones who are called to teach do not teach the way of God, then not only are we deceivers, but we are immoral, for we shy away from the truth so that those around us won’t be cross with us. 
“…Oh but they’ll be angry- they’ll be sad; they just won’t understand…”
And yet how can we justify keeping the one truth from them that will save their lives?  Teachers and pastors will say though, “My sheep are weak, they can’t bear the truth! We just must bring them along slowly… Why even Paul tells them in 1 Cor. 3:1-2:  And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. 2 I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.” [20]  Even Jesus told them in John 16:12: “… I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now…” [21] 

Let me say this: man has never been able to bear the truth of God’s word.  Either he’ll react to it with anger, reject it with finality, or he’ll be broken by it, crushed by the weight of his iniquity and be saved. 

“Oh but,” says the pastor, “it’ll crush what little self-esteem they have!”

I say, what little self esteem?  SELF is all any - if the truth is told - esteem!  More than they esteem God!  We are all thieves when we speak not of sin.  Look at the morning sky- bright is the sun.  The stars have gone (though not really!) but what they are, is dwarfed by the light.  In the absence of light, when the sun goes down and the sky darkens, the whole of the visible cosmos shines and we see the stars everywhere.  This is how sin is.  In the absence of the Son of Man, the darkness takes over and sin abounds, unabashed and unashamed to be seen, standing tall in its pride and in the power of itself.

When we refuse to preach and speak on the utter depravity of man, we refuse to give glory to God, His Son and His Spirit.  There can be no glory in self!  Found there in is only darkness and the revealed sin, unabashed, unashamed.  God is only glorified when we see Him in and as the light, when He is the light dwarfing our darkness in Glory, Power and Honor.  Only the cross of Christ and its glory is revealed in the back drop of our own depravity.  It is impossible to bring Glory to God, His Christ and His Cross if we fail to teach about man’s sin.  Consider the following scriptures:

Luke 7:36-48 (1901 ASV)

And one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him. And he entered into the Pharisee’s house, and sat down to meat. 37And behold, a woman who was in the city, a sinner; and when she knew that he was sitting at meat in the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster cruse of ointment, 38and standing behind at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment. 39Now when the Pharisee that had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have perceived who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him, that she is a sinner. 40And Jesus answering said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he saith, Teacher, say on. 41A certain lender had two debtors: the one owed five hundred shillings, and the other fifty. 42When they had not wherewith to pay, he forgave them both. Which of them therefore will love him most? 43Simon answered and said, He, I suppose, to whom he forgave the most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged. 44And turning to the woman, he said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thy house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath wetted my feet with her tears, and wiped them with her hair. 45Thou gavest me no kiss: but she, since the time I came in, hath not ceased to kiss my feet. 46My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but she hath anointed my feet with ointment. 47Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. 48And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven. [22]

She loved much for she was forgiven much and she was forgiven much for she knew how wretched she was… 

Man can never know or love God unless we tell him how wicked he really is, by showing him the Torah to reveal his nakedness and then he will be able to receive all of God’s counsel. To do otherwise is to   rob them of the opportunity to put aside self, and let them exalt Adonai Yahoveh and boast of His salvation and grace.”  (End of section) [23]

So where does your compass point today?

Remember the second definition for compass? “…Stretch; reach; extent; the limit or boundary of a space, and the space included; applied to time, space, sound…” It is in the limit or the boundary that our compass must reside, that it must point. The tragedy that I had mentioned at the beginning might not of taken place had a compass been instilled in the young men involved. From mother and father, to brothers and sisters to the community as a whole, especially the community of G-d, if the work had been done, and I’m talking of the work of the Kingdom of G-d, if it had been done maybe lives would not be shattered today. Deut 6:4-9 says:

Deuteronomy 6:4-9 (KJV)

Deuteronomy 6:4-9 (NASB)

“…4 "Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one!
5 "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
6 "These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart.
7 "You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.
8 "You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead.
9 "You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates…”[24]

If  there is to be any hope for civilization, we the teachers have to place back the ancient boundaries and the institutions of God. I can blame no one for not getting the message of G-d if I don’t teach it right. James said in James 3:1: “…My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment…” [25] The blame lays to me if I don’t lift you up, if I don’t work in you that “…godly sorrow…” which “… worketh [in you] repentance to salvation not to be repented of…” For if I do less, all you are left with is “…the sorrow of the world [that] worketh death…” [26]

I know how harsh sometimes my words can be, or at least seem. I speak sometimes as if I am coming against “Christianity”, yet it is never my intention to do so. But, and this is a huge “BUT”: I am called to teach, and there is but one message the Father and Son has given me, and that is to proclaim Truth.
Pilate asked, “What is truth?”

The answer comes from Yeshua Himself: John 14:6(a):  “…Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life…” [27]

And what is the way:
Psalm 119:1 1 ALEPH. Blessed are the perfect in the way, who walk in the law of Jehovah. [28]

What is the truth:
Psalm 119:142 Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, And thy law is truth. [29]

What is the life:
Proverbs 13:14  lThe law of the wise is a fountain of life, To turn one away from mthe snares of death. [30]

There’s more:

Proverbs 7:2  2 keep my commandments and live, keep my teachings as the apple of your eye;

Proverbs 28:9  9 If one turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination. [31]

Psalm 1:2  But chis delight is in the law of the Lord, dAnd in His law he 2meditates day and night. [32]

Psalm 119:44-45  44 So I will akeep Your law continually, Forever and ever. 45 And I will awalk 1at liberty, For I bseek Your precepts. [33]

Psalm 119:97 O how I alove Your law! It is my bmeditation all the day.[34]

This is the compass of life, this Torah, the direction marker that leads us to salvation, to Messiah Yeshua. As a teacher it is my obligation to teach it, to plead it, to weep if need be to help you as a disciple of Jesus get going on the correct bearing. In the case of my family members, someone failed them; they lost their way, they had no moral compass, no boundaries, no ancient path laid before them that could have prevented what happened. Many lives lay in shambles today because someone somewhere failed to do the work of G-d. Thus, humbly I come before G-d this day, aware of my own short comings and yet prepared to do what is necessary to help guide His people onto the path of the way of truth and life. There are those who might speak against what I teach; there are those who will undermine the message I bring. To this situation there is little else I can do except never compromise in my duty to Yeshua to speak the truth He has laid on my heart. That is the compass I follow. May you dear brethren always be ready to follow yours.
May Yahoveh richly bless you all this day, Amein and Amein…
















[1] Author’s note: There is a reason I use this particular Dictionary; Noah Webster was and is considered the Father of American Christian education. I take the following quote from the website http://1828.mshaffer.com: “…No other dictionary compares with the Webster's 1828 dictionary. The English language has changed again and again and in many instances has become corrupt. The American Dictionary of the English Language is based upon God's written word, for Noah Webster used the Bible as the foundation for his definitions…”  and this quote also: “…This master linguist understood the power of words, their definitions, and the need for precise word usage in communication to maintain independence. Webster used the Bible as the foundation for his definitions…” By using a dictionary that focuses upon the Word of God as its inspiration, a clearer more Biblical world view can be had in the defining of terms, in the defining of words. (An updated website for utilizing the words of Noah Webster is found at http://www.1828-dictionary.com.
[2] Webster’s Dictionary, 1828 Edition, (electronic edition) e-Sword® v.9.9.1, Copyright ©2000-2011 by Rick Myers
a  Eph 4:8
b  Acts 13:1; 1 Cor 12:28
c  Acts 21:8
d  Acts 13:1
a  2 Cor 13:9
1  Or holy ones
b  1 Cor 12:27; Eph 1:23
a  Eph 4:3, 5
1  Or true knowledge
b  John 6:69; Eph 1:17; Phil 3:10
c  1 Cor 14:20; Col 1:28; Heb 5:14
2  Lit of the fullness
d  John 1:16; Eph 1:23
1  Lit so that we will no longer be
a  1 Cor 14:20
b  James 1:6; Jude 12
c  1 Cor 3:19; 2 Cor 4:2; 11:3
2  Lit with regard to the scheming of deceit
d  Eph 6:11
1  Or holding to or being truthful in
a  Eph 1:4
2  Or let us grow up
b  Eph 2:21
c  Eph 1:22
[3]  New American Standard Bible : 1995 update. 1995. LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[4] The Complete Jewish bible, translated by David H. Stern ©1998 by David H. Stern, Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc, Clarksville Maryland
[5] Part of the title and parts of the theme of my epistle are derived from the original message of Paul Washer, HeartCry Ministries. Always give credit where credit is due… 1 Cor. 3:5-7: “…5Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one? 6I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. 7So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase…” Thank you Paul for your inspiration.
a  1 Cor. 1:1; 9:1; 15:9; 2 Cor. 1:1; 1 Tim. 1:11
b  Acts 9:15; 13:2; [Gal. 1:15]
c  Acts 26:6
d  Gal. 3:8
1  came
e  2 Sam. 7:12; 1 Chr. 17:11; Is. 9:7; Jer. 23:5; Gal. 4:4
f  Ps. 2:7; Acts 9:20; 13:33; Heb. 1:2
g  Ps. 16:10; [Heb. 9:14]
h  Eph. 3:8
i  Acts 6:7; Rom. 16:26
j  Acts 9:15
k  Acts 9:13; Rom. 8:28; 1 Cor. 1:2, 24
l  Num. 6:25; 1 Cor. 1:3; 2 Cor. 1:2; Gal. 1:3; Eph. 1:2; Phil. 1:2; Col. 1:2; 1 Thess. 1:1; 2 Thess. 1:2
m  1 Cor. 1:4; Eph. 1:15; Phil. 1:3; Col. 1:3; 1 Thess. 1:2; 2:13
n  Acts 28:22; Rom. 16:19
o  Rom. 9:1
p  Acts 27:23
2  Or in
q  1 Thess. 3:10
r  Rom. 15:29
s  Titus 1:4
t  [1 Thess. 2:18]
u  Phil. 4:17
v  Ps. 40:9, 10
3  NU omits of Christ
w  1 Cor. 1:18, 24
x  Luke 2:30; Acts 3:26; Rom. 2:9
y  Rom. 3:21; 9:30; Phil. 3:9
z  Hab. 2:4; Gal. 3:11; Heb. 10:38
a  [Acts 17:30]
b  Rom. 6:13; 2 Thess. 2:10; 2 Pet. 2:13; 1 John 5:17
4  hold down
c  [Acts 14:17; 17:24]
5  evident
6  among
d  [John 1:9]
e  Job 12:7–9; Ps. 19:1–6; Jer. 5:22
7  divine nature, deity
f  2 Kin. 17:15; Jer. 2:5; Eph. 4:17
g  Jer. 10:14; [1 Cor. 1:20]
h  1 Tim. 1:17; 6:15, 16
i  Deut. 4:16–18; Ps. 106:20; Jer. 2:11; Acts 17:29
8  perishable
j  Ps. 81:12; Acts 7:42; Eph. 4:18, 19
k  1 Cor. 6:18
l  Lev. 18:22
m  1 Thess. 1:9
n  Is. 44:20; Jer. 10:14; 13:25; 16:19
o  Lev. 18:22; Eph. 5:12
9  Lit. females
1  Lit. males
2  Lit. female
1  Lit. males
1  Lit. males
p  Eph. 5:4
3  NU omits sexual immorality
4  greed
5  malice
6  without understanding
7  NU omits unforgiving
q  [Rom. 2:2]
r  [Rom. 6:21]
s  [Ps. 50:18]; Hos. 7:3
[6]  The New King James Version. ©1982. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
[7] “…Systematic theology is a discipline of Christian theology that attempts to formulate an orderly, rational, and coherent account of the Christian faith and beliefs. Inherent to a system of theological thought is that a method is developed, one which can be applied both broadly and particularly. Systematic theology draws on the foundations of the sacred texts of Christianity, and also looks to the development of doctrine over the course of history, philosophy, science, and ethics to produce as full a view and as versatile a philosophical approach as possible…” From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systematic_theology
a  [Rom. 1:20]
b  2 Sam. 12:5–7; [Matt. 7:1–5; Luke 6:37]; John 8:9; Rom. 14:22
c  Rom. 9:23; 11:33; [2 Cor. 8:2; Eph. 1:7, 18; 2:7; Phil. 4:19; Col. 1:27; 2:2; Titus 3:6]
d  [Rom. 3:25]
e  Ex. 34:6; [Rom. 9:22; 1 Tim. 1:16]; 1 Pet. 3:20
f  Is. 30:18; [2 Pet. 3:9, 15]
1  unrepentant
g  [Deut. 32:34]; Prov. 1:18; James 5:3
2  storing
h  [Job 34:11]; Ps. 62:12; Prov. 24:12; Jer. 17:10; [2 Cor. 5:10; Rev. 20:12, 13]
i  Job 24:13; [2 Thess. 1:8]
j  Amos 3:2; Luke 12:47; Acts 3:26; Rom. 1:16; 1 Pet. 4:17
3  Gentile
k  Rom. 2:7; Heb. 2:7; [1 Pet. 1:7]
[8]  The New King James Version. ©1982. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
[9]  The New King James Version. ©1982. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
[10] The Complete Jewish bible, translated by David H. Stern ©1998 by David H. Stern, Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc, Clarksville Maryland
[11]Ibid…
a  Rom 4:15; 1 John 5:17
[12]  New American Standard Bible : 1995 update. 1995. LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

x  Deut. 6:5; 10:12; 30:6
y  Lev. 19:18; Matt. 19:19; Mark 12:31; Luke 10:27; [Rom. 13:9; Gal. 5:14; James 2:8]
z  [Matt. 7:12; Rom. 13:10; 1 Tim. 1:5]
[13]  The New King James Version. 1982. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
[14] The King James Version, (Cambridge: Cambridge) 1769.
[15] The Best of C.H. Spurgeon, by Charles H. Spurgeon ©1986 Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, MI
l  Ps. 14:1–3; 53:1–3; Eccl. 7:20
m  Ps. 5:9
4  grave
n  Ps. 140:3
o  Ps. 10:7
p  Prov. 1:16; Is. 59:7, 8
q  Ps. 36:1
[16]  The New King James Version. 1982. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
f  Hag. 1:1
g  Is. 30:1; Hos. 1:7; Hag. 2:4, 5
[17]  The New King James Version. 1982. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
q  [John 11:52]; Gal. 3:26
5  authority
r  [John 3:5]; James 1:18; [1 Pet. 1:23; 1 John 2:29; 3:9]
[18]  The New King James Version. 1982. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
c  depart: Heb. be loosed, or, disjointed
d  hurt: Heb. bruise, or, breach
  A Hebrew word occurs that is not directly translated in the King James Version.
Hebrew Strong’s: 1323
Stem, Mood: 8676
[19]  The Holy Bible : King James Version. 1995 (electronic ed. of the 1769 edition of the 1611 Authorized Version.). Bellingham WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
[20]  The Holy Bible : King James Version. 1995 (electronic ed. of the 1769 edition of the 1611 Authorized Version.). Bellingham WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
[21]  The Holy Bible : King James Version. 1995 (electronic ed. of the 1769 edition of the 1611 Authorized Version.). Bellingham WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
[22]  American Standard Version. 1995 (Electronic edition.). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
[23] From the epistle “…Before Reformation: 10 Indictments of the Modern Church…an exposition on the sermon of Paul Washer” by David E. Robinson; original by Paul Washer can be seen/heard at: http://www.sermonindex.net/modules/mydownloads/singlefile.php?lid=17378&commentView=itemComments
A copy of my exposition can be obtained by contacting me at david_seedofabraham@hotmail.com .
[24] New American Standard Bible, Updated Edition, ©1995 by THE LOCKMAN FOUNDATION. Database©2007 WORDsearch Corp., ver. 9.0.2.125
[25] The Holy Bible, New King James Version, (Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson, Inc.) 1982.
[26] The King James Version, (Cambridge: Cambridge) 1769.
[27] King James Version, Red-Letter Bible, by James Strong, ( electronic edition), e-Sword®, v. 9.9.1,  copyright ©2000-2011 by Rick Myers
[28]  Darby, J. N. (1996). The Holy Scriptures : A new translation from the original languages (electronic ed.). Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems.
[29]  American Standard Version. 1995 (Electronic edition.). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
l  Prov. 6:22; 10:11; 14:27
m  2 Sam. 22:6
[30]  The New King James Version. 1982. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
[31]  The Revised Standard Version. 1971. Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
c  Ps. 119:14, 16, 35
d  [Josh. 1:8]
2  ponders by talking to himself
[32]  The New King James Version. 1982. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
a  Ps 119:33
a  Prov 4:12
1  Lit in a wide place
b  Ps 119:94, 155
[33]  New American Standard Bible : 1995 update. 1995. LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
a  Ps 119:47, 48, 127, 163, 165
b  Ps 1:2; 119:15

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