Category Archives: Type

Articles, Education, Prophecy, Teaching

The Seventh Commandment – Part 04: Adultery & New Testament Teaching

 

 

A Christian theologian and culture war blogger sent out an SOS message to his readers: Help. HeChr had just posted a blog on the benefits of Biblical Christian sexual morality and was being mercilessly attacked online. Yes, the unchurched were at him but he could handle it. He’s an experienced debater. It was the putative Christians who criticised him as well that precipitated the SOS. The blogger wanted his readers to comment in support of his stance.

It may sound strange that there is not a solid consensus on something as fundamental as Biblical morality. One of the key reasons is that only a fraction of Christians have a Scriptural worldview whereby they live. Biblical illiteracy is the key reason for this.

This author simply asks those who dissent:

1.       Did God relax His holy standards in the New Testament?

2.       Did God tighten His standards in the New Testament?

3.       Are God’s clear standards still applicable today?

4.       Finally, is western society better or worse off by adopting the ways of the 1960s sexual revolution?

In this fourth and final part of The Seventh Commandment, which condemns adultery, we focus on what the New Testament actually says. As you read, please ask yourself: do these standards still hold true today?

A key New Testament passage on this subject is 1 Corinthians 6:15-20, originally written to a church that was zealous for spiritual gifts but showed shocking tolerance towards sexual immorality.

Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid. 16 What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh. 17 But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. 18 Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body. 19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? 20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.

 

Our bodies (v. 15): While there has been modern emphases about ‘It’s my body, I can do what I want with it,’ the Biblical Christian response needs to be ‘my body is now Christ’s body’ and the ‘temple of the Holy Spirit.’ Keeping these points in mind, the exhortation to moral purity becomes all the more real and sensible. After all, to take a ‘member of Christ’s body’ and physically team up with a harlot, or any other non-spouse, is abhorrent. Physical intercourse renders a person as ‘one-flesh,’ whether with a spouse or stranger. The ramifications are massive.

Practical side: The same apostle who tells us to fight the good fight of faith (1 Timothy 6:12) tells us also to flee (6:11; 1 Corinthians 15:20), in this case, fornication. It is a sin against the body and God himself. Please remember, all you who name the Name of Jesus: it’s God’s body now (Romans 12:1). Don’t do anything with it without His leading or permission. Our bodies and spirits are to be used for His glory.

Sexual sin is bad news for anyone, anytime. It can disappoint, discourage, and destroy. When it happens in the church, and especially among leaders, it is beyond scandal. While we want to avoid being harshly judgemental, discipline of the offender is the only recourse. They have despised the LORD (2 Samuel 12:9-10) and used His name in vain (Proverbs 30:9). There can be discipline and eventual restoration, but not without repentance and a period of probation. Such moral failure need not be inevitable, but remember, it doesn’t happen overnight, either. Failure to repent can have harrowing consequences (1 Corinthians 6:9; Galatians 5:19-21). Of interest, (spiritual) adultery is labelled the condition of an apostate church (Revelation 17:1-5).

An Exorbitant Price

In order to encourage people to walk in moral purity, bear in mind that sexual sin has a very high price tag. Please consider:

1.      Disease: For many people, the Russian roulette of fornication/adultery is that the woman may become pregnant. It is always better to have a child after marriage, but conception outside of marriage is not an excuse for abortion, either. The child within, made in the image of God, needs to be protected and cared for like anyone else; it is not a punishment from God. Practically speaking, pregnancy is only possible three days out of the month. However, a more serious issues is sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), which can be contracted 24/7. Just one encounter can give you a life-sentence of STDs, even if they are of the non-fatal variety. Is it really worth it?

 

2.      Emotional: Since physical intercourse brings ‘oneness’ between the two parties, anything less than sex with a person who has made a Godly commitment towards the other, is a big gamble. In the absence of such a commitment, one party can walk away and leave the other in tatters. It can take months and years to recover, if ever.

 

3.      Spiritual: Even if a person escapes STDs and emotional upset, this last one is unavoidable. There is a spiritual dimension. One Bible teacher likened marital sex as a life-giving stream but sexual immorality as a broken sewer pipe. Again, graphic terms but they convey the fact that highest price tag of all is alienation from the living God (Revelation 21:8; 22:15). Only repentance, the gospel of Christ, and the new birth can give you the forgiveness and cleansing necessary, to start a new chapter.

 

Are you ready?

It is time to get right and cleansed before the LORD; the coming revival requires nothing less. Moral purity is a small price to pay for a lifetime of blessing and honour from Almighty God Himself.

 

 

 

 

Articles, Education, Prophecy, Teaching

The Kingly Messiah: Why Study the Gospel of Matthew? Part 01

 


Welcome to the New Testament! Having given introductions and surveys of all thirty-nine books of the Old Testament, the Issachar Teaching eLetter is pleased to offer you the same regarding the twenty-seven books of the New Testament. We begin with the Gospel of Matthew. Our purpose is to encourage you to do your own in-depth study of God’s Word.

Purpose of the Gospel of Matthew

Matthew’s apparent purpose is to persuade a primarily Jewish audience the case that Jesus of Nazareth is the long-awaited ‘Son of David’ and ‘Messiah of Israel.’ He does so by highlighting the following:

1.     

1.  Fulfilled Old Testament prophecy,

2.       Christ’s supernatural conception,

3.       The flight to Egypt,

4.       The use of parables,

5.       His genealogy via Abraham and David,

6.       The testimony of God the Father and the Holy Spirit at His Jordan River baptism,

7.       The witness of John the Baptist,

8.       Sermons,

9.       Discourses and,

10.   Emphasis on His many miracles.

Introduction to the New Testament

The Gospel of Matthew is the beginning of what we call the ‘New Testament’ or ΗE ΚΑΙΝΗ ΔΙΑΘΗΚΗ (He Kaine Diatheke), which is ‘The New Covenant.’ The word ‘covenant’ comes from the Hebrew ברית berith, a binding agreement between two parties which is ratified by a sacrifice and the subsequent shed blood. It is the last will and testament of the testator, namely Jesus Christ, Whose blood initiates the new covenant, first promised Jeremiah 31:31-34.

The New Testament is an anthology of books, written in Koine Greek, the international common language of the 1st Century AD. It teaches the gospel of Jesus Christ, practical Christian living, and highlights ‘things to come.’ The New Testament does not replace the Old; it in fact is the sequel. Without the Old, we could not understand the New.

For our purposes, the ‘new covenant’ can be described as God’s work of atonement and reconciliation between Himself and humanity through the death of His Son, Jesus Christ. He is called the ‘Mediator’ of the new covenant (Hebrews 9:15).

‘Gospel’ is known as evangelion Ευαγγελιον , from ευ good, and αγγελια a message, or ‘good news,’ ‘glad tidings.’ This news is so great that it brings joy. This good news is that through God’s unilateral initiative to bring reconciliation between Himself and humanity through Jesus Christ, Lord of all, who tasted death for every man. His death was for our offences and His resurrection for our justification (Romans 4:25). Those who believe this good news will receive the new birth, forgiveness of sins, mercy from God the Righteous One, and the gift of eternal life. This priceless gospel is known as the ‘free gift’ (Romans 5:15,16,18).

Other New Testament phrases for the gospel include:

•    The Gospel of God concerning his Son. Romans 1:1 , 3 .

•    The Gospel of the Son of God. Romans 1:9 .

•    The Gospel of the kingdom of God. Matthew 4:23 ; 9:35 ; 24:14 ; Mark 1:14 .

•    The Gospel. Mark 13:10 ; Mark 16:15 .

•    The word or doctrine (λογος) of the Gospel. Acts 15:7 .

•    The Gospel of peace. Ephesians 6:15 .

•    The Gospel of glory 1 Timothy 1:11 .

•    The Gospel of salvation

 

The gospel of eternal salvation in Christ is told through ‘four gospel narratives,’ Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. There has been debate of whether Matthew’s Gospel was originally written in Greek or in Hebrew (or Aramaic) and then translated into Greek. Why the latter? Because the extensive use of Hebrew idioms led scholars to believe the original gospel was in Hebrew, since the Greek translation of these idioms can be a little awkward. The current Greek text was published very early in church history.

Summary: In the Gospel of Matthew, the case is built that Jesus of Nazareth is the long-awaited kingly Messiah, for Israel and the world. In our estimation, Matthew through the Holy Spirit did an outstanding job.

GREEK NAME OF MATTHEW

From the Greek Kata Matthaion, according to Matthew.

AUTHOR OF THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

The general consensus is that the author of the Gospel of Matthew is Matthew Levi, according to the early church fathers. Eusebius, the ancient church historian, quotes Papias who said that Matthew wrote in Aramaic before the gospel was written in Greek.

Matthew Levi, son of Alphaeus, one of the twelve original apostles of Jesus. Originally a despised tax collector for Rome in Capernaum, who got up and left everything in order to follow Jesus. He is the one that gave a great reception in his home in honour of Jesus.

Some question Matthew’s authorship because, if he were one of the Twelve Apostles, why does he heavily rely on Mark’s gospel, who was not one of the Twelve? Why isn’t he more ‘personal,’ like John’s Gospel? These issues are not so serious; after all, there can be stylistic issues, including being more formal and less personal in such an important document.

Articles, Education, Prophecy, Teaching

From Meltdown to Mountaintop: Making a Dynamic Ascent from the Lowest Valley Part 01

 


And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God — 1 Samuel 30:6

 

Meltdown (noun): A disastrous event, like the fall of share prices; an accident at a nuclear reactor, a nervous breakdown, an emotional outburst.

It happened to Job: He had gone from plenty and blessing to trial and tribulation, losing assets and family members all in one day. His was possibly the most extreme example of compound intense suffering in history

Yet it also happened to the ‘man after God’s own heart,’ King David. When he and his 600 men returned to their city of Ziklag, it had been burned with fire and their wives, children, and possessions were missing. The only consolation is that nobody was slain but they were hostages in the custody of the carnal Amalekites.

Here in 1 Samuel 30:6, we learn that David and the mighty men were reduced to tears and continued to weep until they ran out of strength. The mood went from grey to black. Now the spirit of mourning for sons and daughters turned into the spirit of murder: the mighty men spoke openly of stoning their leader David. The man who they followed and adored for years now was in the line of fire.

Please note: Persistent worry, fear, fretting, and despair, can and does lead to rebellion and sin. It must have been the darkest moment of David’s life. The men of David had been loyal to him throughout many challenges, starting from their gathering at the Cave of Adullam (1 Samuel 22:1-2). However, their grief was leading them to a tipping point.

After all, David was the leader. It was his responsibility to ensure the safety of all his people at Ziklag, including the women and children. Why did he take all the men and not leave a sufficient number behind to guard Ziklag? The answer was unknown and puzzling. Did he think the place was untouchable? That he had eliminated enough potential opposition? We just don’t know what David was thinking.

In summary, the grief and fear led to potential rebellion. If David was in a low mood, his men were even lower. They were not in a good frame of mind or spiritual condition. He was not yet king and if he failed to take wise and quick action, all would be lost.

Fortunately, David, had a track record of walking with God. At the end of this key verse was a note of hope: but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God.

WORD WISE: The Hebrew word for ‘encouraged’ is hazaq, used 290 times in the Old Testament. Hazaqis translated ‘strong’ 43 times; ‘strengthened’ 28 times; ’strengthen’ 14 times; ‘encourage’ 9 times; and ‘courage’ 8 times.[1]

Encouragement brings strength and strength begets courage.

David knew the location of the spout where the blessings flow out. He was experienced at finding the secret place, the hiding place, the Cave of Adullam, to retreat and be recharged in the presence of the Lord. This was the wisest course of action he could have taken and it led to a stunning reversal, from misfortune to massive blessing, from valley bottom to mountaintop.

How did he do it? And how do we encourage and strengthen ourselves in the Lord?

•    Focus on God’s personhood: With the Bible as your guide, mediate on God – His holiness, nearness, care as a good shepherd, faithfulness, and more.

•    Focus on God’s promises: There are many wonderful promises of God and they are all ‘Yes’ and ‘Amen’ in Christ (2 Corinthians 1:20).

•    Focus on past victories: Reflecting on the faithfulness of God for past victories brings encouragement that the Lord, who never changes, will do it again for you, today and in the future.

•    Focus on praise and thanksgiving: This under-utilised practice can get awesome results (2 Chronicles 20:20-22).

•    Know ‘who you are ‘ and ‘where you stand:’ This cannot be emphasised enough. Ignorance is the darkness that stokes the fires of fear. Knowing the facts, your legal rights, and how things work, can be helpful. Knowing your position in Christ is transformational. If we are on solid ground – and we know it – then we can handle the situation far better.

Next time: We will see how David responded and how you can respond today.

TO BE CONTINUED


[1] “H2388 – ḥāzaq – Strong’s Hebrew Lexicon (KJV).” Blue Letter Bible. Accessed 8 May, 2021. https://www.blueletterbible.org//lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=H2388&t=KJV