������������������������������������������������������� Prairie Christian Newsletter
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Vol. 1 No. 13������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� �����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������August 2001
We hear much about the "Law" today in the national and local media. They are constantly saying "it is the law." But you will notice that it is never God's Law which is to be observed, it is mans law and it is quickly putting shackles on us, our children and our� grandchildren. This is not to say that law is not important, for law is essential to an orderly way of life. But it is to bring safety and peace not hostility and slavery.
It has been the continued and uninterrupted operation of� God's Laws of Life that has made possible the existence of the human race. In fact, law is so essential to our very existence that life itself came into being as the result of the operation of� God's Law (Which has not been done away with, the cries of the Christian clergy to the contrary).
The operation of law is not confined to our physical existence alone. Our very health and prosperity with every act and need of man, individually, socially and governmentally, are all governed by law; and if we keep and observe these laws all their benefits will accrue to us while, if we violate them, there will follow inevitable retribution and suffering.
When men come to a full realization of these facts, they will willingly apply themselves to understanding God's Laws so that in the knowledge of their operation and in obedience to them they may secure a blessing instead of a curse. Then the many and varied problems of administration which have so troubled and perplexed mankind will find a solution in their observance.
Chaos is the physical, spiritual or economic life of man is evidence that there has been a failure to observe and keep the orderly laws of peace. A perusal of both past and present conditions with mankind afflicted with crime, violence and war; while revolution, famine and disease have taken their toll of life. Such evil conditions can only exist where there has been a violation of the perfect laws of life, the keeping of which will bring results far from chaotic.
Creation is an orderly process, while chaos results form the failure of man to observe and keep God's Law which is the law of life and the way of peace, health and happiness. Life at its best, with all the blessings of peace, results from keeping the positive commands of God and refraining from violating the negative injunctions.
The Laws of the Lord were made known to man from the very beginning of our peoples history.
"Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws." (Genesis 26:5)
So God's "Commandments," "Statutes," and "laws" were known to Abraham hundreds of years before Moses. We know this from scripture and because man would have had no guide to prosperity and peace. All the evidence of history and every factor of life continually demonstrate that the keeping of perfect laws is the very essence of a happy and enduring existence. And so it behooves us, if we would have perfection in living, to know them!
The Bible states, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." A study of that creation reveals order and perfection with a minuteness of balance in accord with the so-called immutable laws of nature. The physical creation of the earth was followed by the creation of life; and finally, man.
The same law operating in the physical is seen to operate in the instincts and habits so in evidence in the animal kingdom. Is it unreasonable to assume that "man," a higher order of creation, is also subject to law, and to laws higher than those governing the instincts and habits of animal life?
God took man, whom He had "formed," and placed him in the garden, "And the Lord God 'Commanded' the man." Thus the command of God became the law of life to man.
From the very beginning man became subject to the commands of God and this was a law unto him, for God had placed man high above the rest of creation in that man was made responsible for his acts, having been given the right of choice and the power to choose.
It would be impossible to give a full and accurate account of the entire history of law as it applies to man, for to do so would necessitate the writing of the entire record of the human race involving the manifold phases of social activity, national affairs and international relationships.
History, however, records the fact that the happiness, prosperity and contentment of a people is in a large measure the direct result of the type of law administered and the method of administration: a blessing for the people when the commands of God (which is the Divine Law) are kept and administered; and a curse when that law is violated and its administration ignored.
While the command of God became law to men yet, in the violation of that command, men became subject to the disasters and troubles which have afflicted the human race from the day of man's disobedience until now. The antediluvian civilization which arose after man was driven from the garden was no exception.
During the years following the expulsion of man from the paradise of God, there arose a civilization apart form God.
Men were a law unto themselves and bound only by their goodwill to keep the commandments of God. The result was a complete failure to abide by the requirements of the law, which is clearly in evidence in the condemnation of that civilization:
"And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." (Genesis 6:5)
The deluge brought to an end this civilization of violence and crime. With the beginning of the new order human government was established, and to that government God issued the command:
"Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man." (Genesis 9:6)
Here we have the first evidence of the introduction of human government for, though man may know the law of the Lord, that law will not enforce itself! Therefore, it became necessary to delegate to human society the right of administration and judgment.
Men were now enjoined to organize society and government and to curb violence. Under this command every earthly government has a right, nay it is a duty and "command" to bring to justice the murderer and subject him to the death penalty.
Men have failed to recognize that from the very beginning of human history God's Law has operated in the life of man. Because of this failure they have assumed that the law was first given to man at Mount Sinai. Nothing is further from the truth. God-fearing men have lived in accord with the principles of the law of the Lord centuries before the Mount Sinai experience of Israel and it is erroneous to attribute the knowledge of that law as coming to man through Moses.
The revelation of God's Law is from antiquity. Wherever we find men, there also for man's guidance was a knowledge of the commandments, statutes and laws of God. True men ignored and forgot them but, nevertheless, God saw to it that in the beginning His laws were known to men.
The oldest record in Scripture, in which we have the account of the experiences of Job (who lived a few hundred years after the Deluge) makes mention of the laws of the Lord which were being kept by Job. Abraham was keeping these same laws four hundred and thirty years before the organization of the Israel Kingdom at Mount Sinai. This is borne out in the information given to Isaac to whom the Lord said He was performing His oath which He had sworn to Abraham, giving as one of the reasons:
"Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws." (Genesis 26:5)
Thus Abraham observed the law long before Moses was born! Moses, however, had a task to perform and codified the laws of the Lord for Israel to administer at the time His people were organized into a Kingdom at Mount Sinai.
Inasmuch as Abraham kept the commandments, statutes and law, then of what law is Paul speaking when he refers to the promises made to Abraham four hundred and thirty years before the law? (Galatians 3:17) The passage is translated by Ferrar Fenton:
"And I assert this -- the rituals, beginning four hundred and thirty years after, could not cancel a Settlement previously established by God, so as to abolish the promise."
The King James Version renders this verse as follows:
"And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect."
It was not the commandments, statutes and laws of Almighty God which Abraham was keeping that Paul refers to as coming four hundred and thirty years after the promise but it was the ritual or religious service which was established or added at Mount Sinai because of sin (Galatians 3:19).
Here Israel received their system of national worship, which had to do with the ordinances by which atonement was made for sin.
Establishment of this distinction between the law contained in commandments, statutes and judgments and the ordinances may not seem important. However, due to the erroneous teaching of multitudes of Christian Church leaders regarding the law and their acceptance of the false doctrine that Christians do not have to keep the law, it is necessary to define this distinction between the ritual (abolished in Christ) and the laws of administration which are still in operation.
God's Law is the very essence of life for, in the observance of the perfect Laws of God, life is worthwhile. The keeping of these laws is essential to orderly conduct and their administration is necessary in bringing justice and establishing equity and peace.
Without law, anarchy would reign and society would be in a state of lawlessness and political disorder under which no government could function.
Christians who advocate doing away with the law and who refuse to accept the operation of the principles of the commandments, statutes, and judgments of the Lord as the law of life in the conduct of man individually, socially, economically and in the administration of national affairs, are no different from the anarchist; for he also advocates the abolition of law.
Christians holding such doctrines believe that they are above the need of keeping the law. Anarchism at its best stands for society made orderly by good manners, but where there is no law there is no standard of conduct or good manners and the end of such a society is but confusion and disorder.
Anarchists are in rebellion against human government, but the Christians who refuse to observe and keep the laws of God are in rebellion against Divine rule and government.
It is a serious charge but, nevertheless, true. Peter declared that those who despise government are presumptuous and self-willed. (2 Peter 2:10) If God did establish a government and law upon the earth, it behooves every man, and certainly all true Christians, to conform with the requirements or come under the condemnation of being presumptuous.
What is the sin of presumption? Under the kingdom laws of administration, it is deliberately doing that which is known to be forbidden and are found in Numbers 15:29-31:
"Ye shall have one law for him that sinneth through ignorance...But the soul that doeth ought presumptuously ...the same reproacheth the LORD; and that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Because he hath despised the word of the LORD, and hath broken his commandment, that soul shall utterly be cut off; his iniquity shall be upon him."
Lest there be those who refuse to respect God's Commands and Government in their daily living and life, by making the excuse that the New Testament doctrine has set them free from law observance, it is well to listen to the words of Christ in Matthew 5:19-20:
"Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven."
��������� Here we have an interesting promise made to Christians, for only those who are called by God, and accept Christ are eligible to position and power in the Kingdom. Greatness in the Kingdom will come to those who have kept, and taught others to keep, even the least of the laws. Condemnation and a place of obscurity is promised to those who are presumptuous and refuse to keep even the least of them.
Many passages in the Scriptures confirm all this, so let us not be anarchists and, above all, Christian anarchists, for the essence of an orderly and happy existence is to observe all the rules and regulations as contained in the commandments, statutes and judgments of Almighty God.
Once the fact is established that law observance is essential to orderly social relationships, it become necessary to make known to men the laws that must be kept. But along with a knowledge of that law is the need of an effective instrument or organization through which the law may be administered for the benefit of all men.
God recognized this need and, though His laws were known for centuries before Abraham's day, God called Abraham and in this call chose a family through whom He proposed to work, making the descendants of this man a servant nation to become the administrators of Kingdom laws.
Through them He would demonstrate to all nations the righteousness and perfection of His government and Kingdom. Moses had this in mind when he instructed Israel to keep the statutes and judgments of God in Deuteronomy 4:6: "Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people."
No matter how just and perfect a law may be, the mere knowledge of its existence does not bring it into operation, nor will that knowledge alone compel men to observe and obey its precepts. It is necessary that a nation adopt that law as the law of the land and through the acts of administration demonstrate the perfection of that law in operation.
In the call of Abraham a race was chosen by God to whom was to be given the perfect laws and through whose administration He would demonstrate to the world the perfection of that law.
For almost 60 years now I have heard some sermons by some Christian preachers, one in particular, which would have you believe that the Blacks, Jews, Mexicans and all the other races are God�s Chosen people;� who were crying out that there is no Chosen Race, or People. This is a damnable, and provable lie.
There is a Chosen Race and People in the Scriptures. The following very clearly shows this, and there are many more that I could have listed, but these should suffice.
Chosen People:
�For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: THE LORD THY GOD HATH CHOSEN THEE TO BE A SPECIAL PEOPLE UNTO HIMSELF, ABOVE ALL PEOPLE THAT ARE UPON THE FACE OF THE EARTH. The LORD DID NOT SET HIS LOVE UPON YOU, NOR CHOOSE YOU, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people: BUT BECAUSE THE LORD LOVED YOU, and BECAUSE HE WOULD KEEP THE OATH WHICH HE HAD SWORN UNTO YOUR FATHERS...� (Deut-eronomy 7:6-8; 14:2; Isaiah 41:9; 43:1, 10-20; 44:23; 48:10; 49:3; Haggai 2:23)
My People Israel:
�Now the LORD had told Samuel in his ear a day before Saul came, saying, To morrow about this time I will send thee a man out of the land of Benjamin, and thou shalt anoint him to be captain OVER MY PEOPLE ISRAEL, THAT HE MAY SAVE MY PEOPLE out of the hand of the Philistines: for I HAVE LOOKED UPON MY PEOPLE, because their cry is come unto me. And when Samuel saw Saul, the LORD said unto him, BEHOLD THE MAN WHOM I SPAKE TO THEE OF THIS SAME SHALL REIGN OVER MY PEOPLE.� (Exodus 7:4; 1 Samuel 9:15-17; 2 Samuel 3:18; 5:2; 7:7; 7:10-11; 1 Kings 6:13; 8:16; 14:7; 16:2; 1 Chronicles 11:2; 17:7; 17:9-10; 2 Chronicles 6:5-6; Jeremiah 7:12; 12:14; 23:13; 30:3; Ezekiel 14:9; 25:14; 36:12; 9:7; Daniel 9:20; Amos 7:8; 7:15; Matthew 2:6)
My Chosen:
�I HAVE MADE A COVENANT WITH MY CHOSEN, I have sworn unto David my servant.� (Psalm 89:3; Isaiah 43:20; 65:15)
I Have Chosen:
�BUT THOU, ISRAEL, ART MY SERVANT, JACOB WHOM I HAVE CHOSEN, THE SEED OF ABRAHAM MY FRIEND. Thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the chief men thereof, and said unto thee, THOU ART MY SERVANT I HAVE CHOSEN THEE...FEAR NOT, THOU WORM JACOB, AND YE MEN OF ISRAEL; I WILL HELP THEE, SAITH THE LORD, AND THY REDEEMER, THE HOLY ONE OF ISRAEL.� (Isaiah 41:8‑14; 43:10; 44:1-2; John 13:18)
Thou Art My Servant:
�Thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the chief men thereof, and said unto thee, THOU ART MY SERVANT I HAVE CHOSEN THEE, and not cast thee away.� (Isaiah 41:9; 44:21; 49:3)
�REMEMBER THESE, O JACOB AND ISRAEL; FOR THOU ART MY SERVANT: I HAVE FORMED THEE; THOU ART MY SERVANT; O ISRAEL, THOU SHALT NOT BE FORGOTTEN OF ME...I HAVE REDEEMED THEE...THE LORD HATH REDEEMED JACOB, AND GLORIFIED HIMSELF IN ISRAEL. THUS SAITH THE LORD, THY REDEEMER, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the LORD that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself.� (Isaiah 44:21-24)
His Chosen Ones:
�O YE SEED OF ISRAEL HIS SERVANT, YE CHILDREN OF JACOB, HIS CHOSEN ONES.�. (1 Chronicles 16:13; Psalms 105:6; 135:4; Isaiah 41:8; 44:1; Acts 9:15)
The People whom God has Chosen for His Inheritance:
�Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and THE PEOPLE WHOM HE HATH CHOSEN FOR HIS OWN INHERITANCE.� (Psalm 33:12)
I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.
�But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine...For I am the LORD thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour: I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee. Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee: therefore will I give men for thee, and people for thy life.� (Isaiah 43:1, 34)
God chose Abraham alone.
�Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the Lord: look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged. Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you: FOR I CALLED HIM (Abraham) ALONE, and blessed him, and increased him.� (Isaiah 51:1-2)
The Bible records the history of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob/Israel and the Egyptian sojourn of Jacob's twelve sons. Then came the deliverance from Egyptian bondage under the leadership of Moses. Following the trek across the wilderness they arrived at the foot of Mount Sinai where they received a national charter from God and were enjoined to administer His commandments, statutes and judgments.
Following the Mount Sinai experience of this people there emerged from the wilderness a nation with a perfect system of administration and law, which left so deep an impression upon this nation that it materially influenced all its acts and deeds for thousands of years.
So don't let anyone tell you God's Laws have been done away with.
