The Italian Memorandum

The Road Out of Eden

Leads to Your Back Door

Believing, as we do, that the book of Genesis holds extremely important information for Christian believers today, we are excited about our upcoming series: Genesis: The Road Out of Eden.

If you have never studied Genesis before, or have never understood the connectedness of these Hebrew stories, you are about to be blessed. We think that this Genesis study will bless you personally
(Hebrews 2:16).

-Robert M. Housby

“But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth , for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth”

(John 4:23-24)

Most would agree that it matters how one worships (John 4:23-24). Still, the guidelines for New Testament worship are being challenged today by many would-be followers of the Lord.

Five prominent and seductive areas in which Christian worship is being displaced today include:

1. Non-verifiable worship (“Now, where’s that in the NT?”)
2. Talent -based worship (“Who gets to go to the mic?”)
3. Entertainment based worship (mechanical; clapping; etc.)
4. Validation object (God or Man?)
5. Feedback (Effectiveness is marked by 2,3,4 above)

What is the scriptural source of authority for worship? If it is older than the NT, it is too old (Heb. 8:8-13). If it is newer than the New Testament, it is too modern (Heb.12:28-29). Authority derives from Jesus (Matt. 28:18). So, if worship is not “in Jesus name”—that is, by his authority, it cannot be legitimate (see Col. 3:17).

In contrast, NT worship is scripturally verifiable; privileged not talent based; heart based rather than hearer based; directed to God not man; and feedback comes from the Lord—his word-based will.

– Robert M. Housby

Introduction: The people of God in Isaiah’s day were running a Little Shop of Horrors on the side (a reference to giving away their life-blood; as chapter 59 illustrates). However, the true people of God, the Messianic believers, would be defined by certain characteristics:

1. Have Abrahamic Continuity (Isaiah 41:8-10; 51:2)

2. Have Biblical Comfort (Isaiah 51:4,7,16)

3. Have Messianic Consciousness (Isaiah 61:1-2)

Conclusion: “Many are called, but few are chosen” (Matthew 22:14; Isaiah 44:1/Galatians 6:16).

It is not only permissible for Christians in America to participate in the political process (according to the New Testament) it is redemptive and God glorifying.

1. Christian doctrine endorses subjection to the American political process (see Romans 13:1-7). Fortunately, in the American system a citizen of the country may have a voice and a vote. But this voice and vote are to be for “good” (not evil) and as “servants of God”(not servants against God) (see 1 Peter 2:13-17).
2. Christian examples of Paul and his associates models for all time approved apostolic examples of participation in the political process. See Acts 16:35-40 and 26:1,32 for evidence of this both on the local and the imperial level.

3. Christian purpose was, perhaps, never clearer than when Jesus said in Matthew 5:14-16 “You are the light of the world…let your light shine before others that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” Notice, here, that privatization of one’s faith is the very opposite of what the Lord meant.

Political issues are often moral issues. When Jesus said, “Judge righteous judgment” (John 7:24) he endorsed for all time that Christians should use their voice and their vote for good not evil. Yes, we are aware that some in America are citing “separation of church and state” as grounds for Christians to hush their mouths. The fact is, however, that Thomas Jefferson uttered those words, January 1, 1802, to reassure the Danbury Baptist Association of Connecticut of their continued and uninterrupted expression of Christian faith. Current attempts to infer that this is a constitutional matter have another agenda in mind.

Secular humanists are not only anti-Bible and anti-Christ, they are against the very Founders of our own Nation. Will you participate in the political process as a Christian?

-Robert M. Housby

“blessing each with the blessing suitable”

        (Genesis 49:28)

Introduction:    The book of Genesis contains vital information about the fundamentals of blessing (Blessing 101; Psalm 134!).

I.    Blessing is an old word (Gen. 1:22; 9:1) about the Lord God (9:26) and, very Abrahamic (12:3; 14:19).

II.    Blessing is _________________ (27:36-40).

III.    Blessing is characterized by _____  __________ (49:28)

Conclusion:  I am a member of the body of Christ.  Like everyone else, I have a past; I have a present; and I have a future.  But, because I am a member of the body of Christ—my past, my present, and my future may all be understood in the concept of blessing: my past is blessed; my present is blessed; my future is blessed.  I am blessed because I am a part of the body of Christ (Galatians 3:14; 1 Corinthians 12:13).

Does Observance of the Lord’s Supper
Every Lord’s Day Diminish Its Design?

“Do this in remembrance of me”

(1 Corinthians 11:24)

We recently encountered a view of the Lord’s Supper which essentially tries to justify the denominational practice of observing the emblems less often than weekly. The rationale for this view goes something like this—To take the communion every week is to defeat its purpose as being a special observance.

The above view fails to appreciate the following scriptural information:

(1) The Lord, himself, designed this communion memorial and the apostles by inspiration transmitted these directives to the church (Acts 2:42). It is, therefore, not a matter open to the discretion of a board of deacons or church bishops to negate what is already in place (see 1 Cor. 11:23; 14:37; 4:17).

(2) The frequency of the Lord’s Supper must include the apostolic traditions which have been set forth in the New Testament, not traditions which were super-added hundreds of years later (see 2 Thessalonians 2:15; 1 Thessalonians 2:13; 4:1-2).

(3) The Lord’s Supper coincides with the Lord’s Day; that is a weekly participation (see Rev. 1:10; 1 Cor. 11:17,18,20; 16:1-2; Acts 20:7).

(4) The Acts 20:7 reference is even stronger in Greek than in English, though the English is quite adequate to convey the truth that the reason why they came together was to partake of the communion.

The idea of observing the Lord’s Supper annually; quarterly; or, bi-monthly is a departure from the New Testament. This kind of arbitrary reasoning challenges the Lord’s revelation on the subject. One might as well try to argue that praying done weekly diminishes from its being special; or that singing, scripture reading; or preaching detract from the Lord’s design. So, “pray without ceasing” and remember the Lord as often as you come together.

– Robert M. Housby

“…behold your king is coming to you…mounted on a donkey”

(Zechariah 9:9; see Matthew 21:4-5)

Introduction: The donkey at the east gate is a definite signal. Let us explore this magnificent text.

I.     Matthew 21:1-3 – A Messianic Directive

II.   Matthew 21:4-5 – A Messianic Fulfillment

III. Matthew 21:6-7 – A Messianic Feat

IV.  Matthew 21:8-10 – A Response to Messiah

Conclusion: Zechariah’s prophecy was given about the year 520 B.C. Simple math infers that this pre-dated the coming of Jesus to Jerusalem by some 550 years. What does it say? What does it say to you?

“The LORD is one”

(Mark 12:29)

Introduction: Is all this merely about getting along? “I believe Christianity as I believe that the Sun has risen not only because I see it but because by it I see everything else” (C. S. Lewis).

I. The Seven Ones of Ephesians 4:4-6 (4:3; 2:16-22)

1. “one body” (2:16)
2. “one Spirit”(2:18)
3. “one hope”
4. “one Lord”
5. “one faith”
6. “one baptism”
7. “one God”

II. Why this Oneness Matters (in God’s salvation-history)

A. Mark 12:29 influences everything Paul writes.

B. Eph. 2:1,5; 3:9 _____________________

C. Eph. 2:14-22 _____________________

D. Eph. 6:12 _____________________

Conclusion: Ephesians is cosmic (1:10). Your cosmos! There is nothing at all in your life that is left unaddressed in Ephesians. To forget Spiritual unity (4:3) by minimizing the importance of the seven ones of Eph. 4:4-6 is to open yourself up to frightful fragmentation (4:14).

Sometimes people in the hard sciences such as physics have said daring and even spiritually applicable things. Such is the case in the following observation-quote from the great German physicist, Albert Einstein.

Not everything that counts can be counted,
and not everything that can be counted counts.

We think that Einstein was making a statement here, not only about materially quantifiable data (including star-light), but also about a sociology of valuing people above things. As Christians, we trace our religion back to the patriarch Abraham (Romans 4:16). And, the promise of Genesis 22:17 inevitably comes to mind—“I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven…” (see Hebrews 11:12).

The French mathematician Blaise Pascal also said something about the counting of the stars. In his Pensees, he wrote, On Man’s Disproportion to the Universe…
marvel at the fact that Earth is merely a tiny point compared to the stars which roll through the firmament. But if our gaze stops there…it will grow tired…For
finally, what is man in nature? He is nothing in comparison with the infinite, and everything in comparison with nothingness, a middle term between all and nothing…we are something, and we are not everything. Listen to Pascal’s breathtaking conclusion—“Man is but a reed, the most feeble thing in nature; but he is a thinking reed…the universe knows nothing of this.”

Yes, man is immensely disproportionate to the stars! But, man can comprehend the stars; the stars will never reciprocally ponder man! May we learn to count again—to learn; to live; to love—the things which truly matter (John 17:3).

– Robert M. Housby