The Faith Once Delivered to the Saints

Definitions

• Yahweh– Name of God

• Yeshua– Jesus

• Torah– Law

• Tanakh– Old Testament

• Mitzvah– Commandments

• Talmud– Jewish

commentary on Tanakh

• Tzedek– Righteous

Session 1:Have We Cut

Ourselves Off From the Root?

Romans 11:17-19

• But if some of the branches were broken off, and you – a wild olive – were grafted in among them and have become equal sharers in the rich root of the olive tree, then don’t boast as if you were better than the branches! However, if you do boast, remember that you are not supporting the root, but root is supporting you.

What is the root?

Romans 9:4-5• (The people of Israel)…were made God’s children,

the Sh’khinah has been with them, the covenants are theirs, likewise the giving of the Torah, the Temple service and the promises; the Patriarchs are theirs; and from them, as far as his physical descent is concerned, came the Messiah, who is over all.

Isaiah 11:1-2• But a Branch will emerge from the trunk of Yishai

(Jesse), a shoot will grow from his roots.

What is the root?

• The root is the covenant made with the Patriarchs–Have we cut ourselves off from the

root, and if so, what have we lost because of this?

Living By the Torah

Why the Jews? By Dennis Praeger and Rabbi Joseph TelushkinExcerpt from chapter 4

• “In nearly every society in which the Jews have lived for the past two thousand years, they have been better educated, more sober, more charitable with one another, committed far fewer violent crimes, and have had a more stable family life than their non-Jewish neighbors. These characteristics of Jewish life have been independent of Jews’ affluence or poverty…”

Why the Jews? By Dennis Praeger and Rabbi Joseph TelushkinExcerpt from chapter 4

• Lower alcoholism• Lower homicide rates• Lower truancy and juvenile delinquency rates• Higher IQ’s• Higher voting rates• …and more

Jewish Educational & Professional

Success

The Supreme Commandment

• Deuteronomy 6:6-7These words, which I am ordering you

today, are to be on your heart; and you are to teach them carefully to your children. You are to talk about them when you sit at home, when you are traveling on the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

Education in Jewish Communities

• The Talmud legislates education

• The Purpose of Education• A Passion for Education• The Result of Education

Jews & Alcoholism

“A Drunkard is a Non-Jew”

Kiddush: The Mitzvah of Drinking

• Psalm 104:5 – “Wine makes glad the heart

of men.”

Secularism and Jewish Alcoholism

• Anthropolgist Raphael Patai “…the traditional Jewish resistance to

alcoholism is weakened to the extent to which Jews become assimilated to their Gentile environment.”

Jews & Charity

Disproportionate Giving

• US Population–2% Jewish

• The largest Jewish charity, The United Jewish Charities, gathers in excess of $1 billion annually

Love Thy Neighbor:17th Century Rome

• Only a few thousand Jews…– 7 societies providing clothes, shoes, linens and

beds– 2 provided trousseaus for poor brides– 1 aided families struck by sudden death– 1 for visiting the sick– 1 collected charity for Jews living in Israel– 11 raised funds for Jewish religious and

educational institutions

Charity is Righteousness

• “Charity is as important as all the other commandments together.”

• Tzedeka, the Hebrew word for charity, actually means justice

• To withhold charity is to be unjust

Tzedeka Laws

• Accepting charity was considered a last option

• The highest form of charity was to set someone up in their own business

• Most Jewish communities had a gemilut hesed society which provided interest free loans

The Jewish Family

Origen of Alexandria

• “…three sacrifices are pleasing to God– A martyrs death– Voluntary celibacy– Abstinence from sexual intercourse among

married persons”

Judgment Day• Genesis 1:28

– The Talmud teaches that among the first questions asked of a Jew on judgment day will be, “Did you fulfill your duty with regard to establishing a family?”

• A man could not be a high priest unless he was married

• A man could not be a member of the Sanhedrin unless he had children

The Family and the Sabbath

• The home is the center of worship• The Blessing of the Wife

– Proverbs 31• The Blessing of the Children• Kiddush• Grace after meals

Observant vs. Non-Observant Jewish Homes

• Fewer observant Jewish homes break up than non-observant homes

• Among those families that stay intact, observant families are noted for having closer relationships than non-observant families

• As with alcoholism, secular Jewish families have a markedly higher rate of divorce and spouse disertion

The Church Today

“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no

longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled

under foot by men.

How is the Church doing at being salt &

light?

Our Cities are in Crises• Poverty

– 1 in 6 Americans are living in poverty

• Divorce– 1st Marriage – 50%– 2nd Marriage – 67%– 3rd Marriage - 74%

• Single Families– 1 in 15 children being raised by one parent

• Teenage Pregnancy– 33% of Teenage girls

• Education– 16% of Teenagers Never Graduate from High School

Marriage & Divorce Among Christians

Barna Research Group, March 31, 2008

“…when evangelicals and non-evangelical born again Christians are combined into an aggregate class of born again adults, their divorce figure is statistically identical to that of non born again adults: 32% versus 33% respectively.”

Pornography & Christians• 51% of pastors say cyber-porn is a possible

temptation

• 37% of pastors say it is a current struggle

• Focus on the Family states that 20% of the calls to their Pastoral Care Line are for help with issues such as pornography and compulsive sexual behavior.

• 33% of clergy have admitted to visiting pornographic websites

• 29% of “born again” adults in the US feel it is morally acceptable to view movies with explicit sexual behavior

The Church Is Dying

• 65 years old and older – 65% Believers• 45 to 64 years old – 35% Believers• 27 to 44 years old – 16% Believers• 26 and younger – 4% Believers

The Church & Money

• In 2007, Christian causes received $370 billion in tithes, offerings and donations

• However, Christians worldwide had personal income totaling more that $16 trillion– That means that Christians gave a total of only 2%

of their income in 2007

The Church & Money (cont.)

• 85% of all church activity and funds is directed toward the internal operations of the congregation, such as staff salaries, utility expenses, and Sunday School materials

• 50% of the average church’s budget goes to staff and personnel salaries. Missions and evangelism accounts for about 5%

The Church & Money (cont.)

• That means that $314 billion went to maintaining the institution of Christianity

• Only $19 billion went to missions & evangelism

Revelation 3

I know what you are doing: you are neither cold nor not…For you keep saying, “I am rich, I have gotten rich, I don’t need a thing!” You don’t know that you are the one who is wretched, pitiable, poor, blind and naked.”

Back to the root…“You will recognize them by their fruit. Can

people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every healthy tree

produces good fruit, but a poor tree produces bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit,

or a poor tree good fruit. Any tree that does not produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into

the fire! So you will recognize them by their fruit.”

What fruit are we producing?

A Modern Day Parable…

We have been forced to settle for an artificial faith

Putting it together…

• Salt & Light• Good Fruit & Bad Fruit• Wide Gate & Narrow Gate• Wise Builder & Foolish Builder

• Why the difference?

A Midrash on Torah Observance

• Salt & Light – Matthew 5:13-16• Good Fruit & Bad Fruit – Matthew 7:15-20• Wide Gate & Narrow Gate – Matthew 7:14-15• Wise Builder & Foolish Builder – Matthew

7:24-28

• Why the difference?– The Torah

Salt & Light - Matthew 5:13-16

• Matthew 5:17-20 – “Don’t think that I have come to abolish the Torah or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete. Yes indeed! I tell you that until heaven and earth pass away, not so much as a yud or a stroke will pass from the Torah – not until everything that must happen has happened.”– Has everything that must happen, happened?

Good Fruit & Bad Fruit – Matthew 7:15-20

• Matthew 7:21-23 – “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, only those who do what my Father in heaven wants. On that Day, many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord! Didn’t we prophesy in your name? Didn’t we expel demons in your name? Didn’t we perform many miracles in your name?’ Then I will tell them to their faces, ‘I never knew you! Get away from me, you workers of lawlessness!’”– Anomia – Opposition to Law or Torah

Wide Gate & Narrow Gate – Matthew 7:13-14

• Matthew 7:12 – “Always treat others as you would like them to treat you; that sums up the teaching of the Torah and the Prophets.”

Wise Builder & Foolish Builder – Matthew 7:24-27

• Vs. 24 – “So everyone who hears these words of mine and does them…

• Vs. 26 – “So everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them…

John 14:15

• “If you love me, you will keep my commands.”–Mitzvah

•Torah

Revelation 3:18-20“I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and {that} the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock (the door of the Church); if anyone (you and I) hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him and he with Me.”