GOD’S PERFECT LAW

R Cameron-Smith

Two lawyers lived in a certain city in America. One was a Christian, an elder in the church, but the other man was not a believer.

One day the unbelieving lawyer asked the elder, “I wish to examine the truth of Christianity, what book should I read?” “The Bible.” “But I want to examine the truth of the Bible.” “I advise you to read the Bible itself,” he replied. “Most people are very ignorant of what the Bible actually teaches.”

“Where shall I begin… at the New Testament?” asked the unbeliever. “No, at the beginning, at Genesis.” The unbelieving lawyer went home and began to read, using all his legal mind to carefully examine the Bible.

Occasionally the elder called to inquire how he was getting on. He replied that he liked some passages, but could not accept others.

One evening he called, to find the lawyer deep in thought walking up and down his room. “You seem to be thinking deeply. What have you been reading?” asked the elder.

“I have been reading the moral law in Exodus chapter 20”, he replied. “Well, what did you think of it?” asked the Christian.

“I would think that Moses was a leader of a company of bandits, whom he tricked into believing that he had some divine message.”

“But what do you think of it now?” asked the Christian.

He replied, “I have been looking into the nature of that law, to see whether I could take anything from it or add anything to make it better, but I cannot. It is perfect.”

He continued, “The first commandment directs us to make the Creator the object of our greatest love and reverence. This is right. If He is our Creator and Preserver we ought to treat Him in a special way.”

“The second forbids idolatry. That certainly is right. The third forbids profaning God’s name. The fourth fixes a time for worship, and if there is a God, He ought to be worshipped. One day in seven is certainly not too much.”

“The fifth defines the special duties arising from family relations. Injuries to our neighbour are then set out in the law. These are offenses against life, property and character. I notice that the greatest offence in each case is forbidden. The greatest offence to life is murder; to chastity, adultery; to property, theft; to character, false witness. Now the greater offence must also include the lesser of the same kind.”

“Murder must include every injury to life, adultery every injury to purity, theft every injury to property and false witness every injury to character. And this moral law ends with a command forbidding every improper desire in regard to our neighbour.”

“I have been thinking,” he continued, “where did Moses get that law? It is so much better than any other ancient law. I am convinced that he must have received it from heaven and now I believe the Bible to be true.”

This unbelieving lawyer was an unbeliever no longer, he remained to his death a firm believer in the Bible and Christianity.

“The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul” (Ps 19:7a).

Source: R Cameron-Smith, Saved in the Icy Waters and Fifty Other Stories (Tasmania: Southern Presbyterian Church of Australia, 1999–2004), 61–62.

WHEN PEOPLE FORSAKE HIS LAW

There was once a very poor family (a man, his wife and six sons). They lived from hand to mouth. One day the man’s wife died, and he was left to take care of his six young sons. He loved them all. He worked very hard to build a house for his sons, to feed them with good food, and to give them a good education.

After many years of hard work, the whole family now lived in a very beautiful and big house, and enjoyed very good and delicious food every day. All his sons grew up strong, healthy and educated. They became very successful businessmen. They have become a rich family.

The father is now old and weak. But he still loves his sons very much. He does not want to be served but to serve. He still works very hard to take care of them, and make the house more beautiful and comfortable and feed his sons with good food.

But the sons began to despise their father. They say he is now old and useless. We do not need him anymore. We do not want him in our lives.

Day and night, they scolded him and criticised him for being old and useless. They wish that he would die soon. The father was so heartbroken, he gave his sons the whole house and all his possessions, packed up whatever little he had, and left the home in tears.

If you ask me, can people be so wicked and cruel. The answer is yes. When people forsake the Lord and His Law, this is only to be expected.

“Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding. For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law” (Prov 4:1–2).

“If his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments; If they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments; Then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes” (Ps 89:30–32).

“They that forsake the law praise the wicked: but such as keep the law contend with them” (Prov 28:4).

MY LIFE AT GILSTEAD

Thessa Lagapa

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning” (James 1:17).

On December 30, 2015, my family and I moved to Far Eastern Bible College (FEBC) after staying in Calvary Pandan BPC (CPBPC) for six and a half years. I truly thank God for His mercy and grace to always provide everything we need—such as having a roof over our heads.

God had been so good to us during our stay in CPBPC and has continued to be ever good to us that we are here in FEBC now.

Several months before that, the offer to stay at FEBC was suggested and I didn’t quite take it seriously. But later on, it was confirmed that we were indeed moving. Growing up, I was familiar about packing up and moving to another place, but that didn’t make me proficient enough. We took a long time packing everything up—either to send back to Philippines or to FEBC. And even then, we still had a difficult time deciding whether to keep, send, give or throw away the things that had been piled up back in CPBPC given by people over the years. Thank God we eventually were able to move and for all the kindhearted people He used to help us out.

The one question that had been posed to me recently would be: “How is living in FEBC?” Living in FEBC had been different in a good way. Due to my father being a student in FEBC, I have always been quite well informed of who the students were, what was going on, etc., but somehow, living in FEBC made everything more real. Being here and seeing the FEBC students everyday was different from just hearing about them or seeing them only during prayer meetings and on Sundays at church. We would attend the chapels in the morning and see them having their own group prayer time, and they would be running to and fro from one class to another, having their sports and recreation on Tuesdays, and going for evangelism on Wednesdays. We even hear them sing a hymn before eating a meal. Sometimes we were called to go down to help out with some things like preparing for VBS arts and crafts last month when a mission trip was made to Siem Reap. We were also just a door away from the girls’ dorm, so I could sometimes overhear them.

Thank God for the daily feeding of His Word every morning at chapel. I am also very encouraged to see FEBC lecturers and staff around fervently serving the Lord like how I see Mrs. Tow after chapel, despite her age, cooking lunch for the students in the kitchen.

There have been a lot of blessings that came from living here in Gilstead. Since we were a lot nearer now to RELC and even Berean BPC where YPF is at, in a way, I could stay longer and have more fellowship with others rather than having to worry about going back and having to travel for nearly an hour long. Plus night class is just downstairs now, so it’s a whole lot more convenient.

There are also a lot of Filipinos in this area. Whenever my family and I go for a walk in the evenings, we would bring with us tracts and invitations to give out to those we bump into. It would always be a huge accomplishment to finish passing out the stack of tracts we went out with.

I have also been able to know some of the FEBC students more by being able to talk with them. I would ask them of how God called them to full-time ministry. I guess being nearly done with high school I’ve been thinking and praying for God to show me what His will is. People would ask what I planned to do after finishing high school and they would continue with, “Are you going in to FEBC?” It’s pressurizing sometimes because people tend to expect me to go for full-time ministry just because my father did. Although my parents do desire for us to do so if it is God’s will, they always remind us that we should be truly called by God first. They do want us to study in FEBC for one year first before going into anything else in order to have a sound and firm Biblical foundation to ground us into.

Another blessing I have was that we could have the privilege to open our home for fellowship meetings. Not only that, but through this, I am trained to become a warm welcoming host. It reminds me that God indeed owns our dwelling places and He gives us the opportunity to serve Him by using them for His glory and for the edification of His children.

It has been over nine months of living here at Gilstead and I do miss CPBPC since I basically grew up there, but I’m content and happy being here and most of all thankful to God for all the blessings that I’m able to taste in living here at the school of His prophets.