Jordan Christian School

If you like to keep things clean and are keen on interacting with students and staff in a Christian school community, please contact Mr. Paul Wagenaar ([email protected]) for more details.

June Meditation:
"What would you say to someone who came to you asking how to obtain eternal life? What if this person was a good person, kind, honest, upright, recognizing the law of God and confessing to keep this law blamelessly? This person even recognized God and acknowledged Jesus to be a good teacher, demonstrating humility and urgency in desiring to know the answer to life’s biggest questions. We know what Jesus would do, because this scenario confronted Him in His lifetime here on earth. Jesus would look at such a person with love and point out the idolatry and the sinfulness of covetousness that is keeping such a person from trusting in Him alone for salvation. Now, it’s true that we cannot look into hearts as Jesus does, yet it is also true that the sin of covetousness is a pervasive sin that infects the hearts of all who are self-righteous and of all who are unrighteous alike. The gospel writer says, “Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me” (Mark 10:17).
We have come to the final month of this school year, and the final consideration of Holy Love under the theme, Living Contentedly. We have studied this theme through the Ten Commandments, considering each one a month at a time. As we come to the tenth commandment, do we still approach the law as the rich, young ruler did? He told himself that he kept all of these commandments from his youth up. He didn’t see any reason for conviction of sin, he didn’t have any desire for repentance and faith, and he didn’t feel any need for the gospel of Jesus Christ. In reality, he didn’t know anything of Holy Love even though he claimed to keep these same commandments. If this describes you, friend, let this tenth commandment convict you of your sin and your need for the gospel today:
“Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s” (Ex. 20:17).
Just as the first commandment (against idolatry) pervades all of the other nine, so this tenth commandment (against covetousness) does the same. All of the commandments are violated through this one.
Puritan Thomas Watson spells this out one by one with vivid examples: the covetous breaks the first commandment for “mammon is his god”; the second, for he bows down to “the graven image in his coin”; the third, as Absalom, who vowed to get his father’s crown; the fourth, as the covetous “will ride to fairs on a sabbath: instead of reading in the Bible, he will cast up his accounts”; the fifth, the covetous “will not honour his father, if he doth not feed him with money”; the sixth, as Ahab killed Naboth to get his vineyard; the seventh, as “an adulteress for money sets both conscience and chastity to sale”; the eighth, as Achan, stole the wedge of gold; the ninth, as the perjurer takes a false oath in “hopes for a dividend”; and the tenth, plainly by endeavouring to get his neighbours goods for himself. Watson calls covetousness a “mother-sin, a radical vice” quoting Scripture directly, “The love of money is the root of all evil” (1 Tim. 6:10).
What is more, this commandment is especially directed at the heart. This is vividly captured by the Heidelberg Catechism’s simple and profound exposition of this tenth commandment. See how comprehensively the Catechism describes what the tenth commandment requires of us: “That even the smallest inclination or thought contrary to any of God’s commandments never rise in our hearts; but that at all times we hate all sin with our whole heart, and delight in all righteousness.” (Q. 113).
St. Augustine of Hippo was a young man who relished living in sin, though he knew better from his Christian upbringing. He gave himself to immorality and worldly philosophies, seeking to find fulfilment and satisfaction for his covetous heart. One day, a small child’s voice saying tolle lege or “take up and read” encouraged him to open a book of the apostle Paul’s letters and the Lord used his reading of Romans 13:13-14 to convict him of his covetousness: “Not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh to fulfil the lusts thereof.” Augustine later confessed to the Lord, “Thou hast formed us for Thyself, and our hearts are restless till they find rest in Thee.”
Truly, contentment is the antidote to covetousness, and true contentment is found only in God, resting in the finished work of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the One who never had the smallest inclination or thought contrary to any of God’s commandments, the One who conquered sin and earned our righteousness. He is the One who has gifted eternal life and peace to all who are in Him by faith. Amazingly, that eternal life begins already in the here and now for believers, and this command exhorts us to live contentedly, resting in His love."

May Meditation:
“There is nothing more contrary to God than a lie.” Puritan Thomas Watson teaches a simple yet profound truth in these words – a truth well substantiated by the Scriptures. Perhaps you might think that a little white lie is a small matter, and that this statement must be an exaggeration. There must be many things worse than lying, are there not? Watson follows his statement by pointing out that the Holy Spirit is called the “Spirit of Truth” (1 Jn. 4:6). Lying is contrary to God’s very nature, and it is impossible for God to lie (Heb. 6:18). Lying is an abomination to the Lord (Prov. 12:22), and it is Satan that is the father of lies (Jn. 8:44). Lying is also against the law of God, and this is what we consider in our theme of Holy Love for this month, focused on Witnessing Truth. The Ninth Commandment is clear: “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour” (Ex. 20:16).
Each commandment we study seems of the utmost relevance and importance, and truly it is. In an age where online interactions have propagated slander, harassment, and aggressive insults toward others, and where social media has produced a world of fabrication, self-promotion, and a false representation of ourselves, the law of God commands us to not bear false witness. In an age of AI-driven fraud and deepfakes complete with voice cloning, fake news and political manipulation, identity theft and other malicious scams, and in Canada, where police-reported incidents of fraud have more than doubled in a decade, the law of God condemns such acts against our neighbour.
To be clear, while digital technologies and the online world may exacerbate these issues, the root of the matter is really the sinful, deceptive heart of man. The prophet tells us that “the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked” (Jer. 17:9), and as the Preacher says, there is no new thing under the sun (Eccl. 1:9). Centuries before the internet, the Westminster Larger Catechism (1647) was penned, and in great detail this catechism describes various breaches of the Ninth Commandment. Consider these: “all prejudicing the truth, and the good name of our neighbors… concealing the truth, undue silence in a just cause… speaking the truth unseasonably, or maliciously to a wrong end, or perverting it to a wrong meaning” (Q. 145). That’s not all – and the following list of sins forbidden indicate that these issues were rife long before our age: “lying, slandering, backbiting, detracting, talebearing, whispering, scoffing, reviling, rash, harsh, and partial censuring; misconstructing intentions, words, and actions; flattering, vainglorious boasting; thinking or speaking too highly or too meanly of ourselves or others; denying the gifts and graces of God; aggravating smaller faults; hiding, excusing, or extenuating of sins… raising false rumors…” Surely, we must put our hand upon our own mouths, for the ninth commandment convicts us of our sins and shows us our need for the gospel!
As we consider our theme of witnessing truth we are also reminded of the positive aspect of the law of God in the duties that are enjoined. Again, the Westminster Larger Catechism emphasizes this beautifully. For instance, we are to be “from the heart, sincerely, freely, clearly, and fully, speaking the truth, and only the truth, in matters of judgment and justice,” and we are to be “studying and practicing of whatsoever things are true, honest, lovely, and of good report” (Q. 144). In order to witness truth, we need to know the truth. What a wonder of God’s grace that He has revealed to us the truth of the Word of God, and what an amazing wonder that He has sent forth His Son into this world, He who is “the way, the truth, and the life” (Jn. 14:6)! Jesus has kept this Ninth Commandment perfectly, and Jesus gave His life to redeem all liars, perjurers, and lawbreakers who turn to Him in truth. This is the truth that will set us free (Jn. 8:32).
Christian, consider how we bear witness to the truth. After grace, we still need admonition. Jerry Bridges lists gossip and sins of the tongue among the ‘respectable sins’ that we so easily tolerate. Yet hear the apostle James calling the tongue “a fire, a world of iniquity” (Jas. 3:6), and rebuking fellow believers with this admonishment: “Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be” (vs. 10). Instead, James calls us to faithfully witness truth, exhorting us that “the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy” (vs. 17). Let us be committed to sharing the gospel of grace, genuinely witnessing to the truth as it is in Jesus. He is True and Holy Love.

Promo Video #2 - A Day In the Life
Our Secondary Students would like to invite you to a celebration of learning in Secondary, on April 23, letting you see what a day in the life is like! Please RSVP using this link or the QR Code.
Feel free to invite uncles, aunts, grandparents and friends as we show off a little bit of our learning in this interactive evening program!
https://forms.gle/Ku4HuxgBcz7kFnJf7

April Meditation:
“The cross is a resplendent display of unmerited, unexpected, unexampled love.” Charles Spurgeon highlights the beauty of the gospel of Good Friday with these words. Here there is hope for sinners and good news for guilty ones who look to Christ for salvation. He alone has met the law’s demands, bore the curse due to us, nailing the sins of all His people to His cross. At the cross God’s gracious, generous love is wonderfully on display!
This month we look at another dimension of Holy Love with our theme, Giving Generously, taken from the text: “Thou shalt not steal” (Ex. 20:15).
The commandment that forbids stealing is clearly stated in the negative to prohibit all theft, robbery, fraud, and other deceitful means of cheating our neighbour and seeking to wrongfully obtain that which does not belong to us. Holy Love requires justice. It is right and good and loving to apply the principles of justice to our own lives and to uphold these in society. The Lord does the same through Moses by giving the children of Israel the civil and judicial laws that follow from the moral law in the book of Exodus, making application of the ten commandments – and while these were only binding on theocratic Israel, they are certainly still instructive for us. In fact, while the world likes to mock the Old Testament laws as extreme or ridiculous, if we were to approach the Scriptures with high regard for the Lord and seek to understand the context in which these laws were given, we would see how wise the Lord is! Consider the instructions given for adjudicating cases of theft, explained by commentator Matthew Henry: “If a man steal any cattle (in which the wealth of those times chiefly consisted), and they be found in his custody, he must restore double. Thus he must both satisfy for the wrong and suffer for the crime.” However, “if the thief were touched in conscience, and voluntarily confessed it, before it was discovered or enquired into by any other, then he should only make restitution of what he had stolen, and add to it a fifth part. If he had killed or sold the sheep or ox he had stolen, and thereby persisted in his crime, he must restore five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep, more for an ox than for a sheep because the owner, besides all the other profit, lost the daily labour of his ox.” How wise and good our just and holy God is in giving such practical instruction for dealing with such offences! In so doing, the Lord brings justice to the perpetrator along with consideration for the party wronged.
Yet the commandment “thou shalt not steal” goes much deeper than merely refraining from taking that which is not ours. There is a positive dimension contained in this command, as articulated in the Heidelberg Catechism Q. 111: “But what doth God require in this commandment? A: “That I promote the advantage of my neighbour in every instance I can or may, and deal with him as I desire to be dealt with by others; further also that I faithfully labour, so that I may be able to relieve the needy.” We are called to give generously, and in order to be able to do so, we are instructed to labour diligently. Implicit in this command is that we not only provide for our own but also use the gifts we receive to also give charitably. The apostle makes this explicit when he says, “Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth” (Eph. 4:28). Jesus told the parable of the Good Samaritan not merely to speak against those robbers who left a man helpless, but to show us how the priest and the Levite neglected to love their neighbour who was in need. We are to give generously as the Good Samaritan exemplifies.
Ultimately, this commandment goes deeper than our actions and behaviours, addressing our hearts from which our actions flow. Our sins are exposed as we see in ourselves greed, jealousy, envy, and materialistic idolatry. How we need the love of God to be shed abroad in our hearts, how we must put on the Lord Jesus Christ by faith, that we would be compassionate, selfless, merciful, and generous.
Amazing wonder that the Lord not only upholds justice and righteousness, but He also gives most generously and forgives most graciously! The gospel writers record the scene at Golgotha where Jesus was crucified, and Mark records, “with him they crucify two thieves; the one on his right hand, and the other on his left” (15:27). Matthew adds that as many were mocking the Saviour, “the thieves also, which were crucified with him, cast the same in his teeth” (27:44). Yet before these thieves had their legs broken hastening their death as the gospel of John tells us, we learn from Luke that one of the thieves came to see Jesus as the Messiah. He rebukes his fellow criminal, confesses his sins, and looks to Christ for salvation, saying, “Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.” Jesus mercifully responds, “Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise” (23:42-43). There on that middle cross, Jesus took on Himself the sins of all such thieves who turn to Him for salvation, paid their penalty in full to meet God’s justice, and most graciously gave His life for our redemption. Let us embrace such Holy Generous Love!

March Meditation:
How is it evident when a nation forsakes God? Not only will it reject the gospel and the exclusive claims of Christ, but it will also reject His laws. The law of God is supplanted for the will of man, and everyone does that which is right in his own eyes. Evidently, there has been a seismic cultural shift in Canada when laws prohibiting so**my are removed in one generation and so-called conversion therapy bans are put in place in the next. Perhaps the most openly flagrant rejection of the commandments in our culture is evidenced in the breaking of the seventh.
As we continue our study of Holy Love, we turn to our theme of Maintaining Purity based on this seventh commandment: “Thou shalt not commit adultery” (Ex. 20:14).
This commandment does not only address our culture, but it convicts each of us of our sinfulness and impurity. Jesus is clear that this command goes far deeper than the outward act but includes even the lustful look (Matt. 5:28), and it proceeds from our corrupt hearts (Matt. 15:19). When we are naturally inclined to iniquity from within and as we are bombarded in this culture with immorality from without, how shall we then live? Surely, grace is most necessary.
Amazingly, Jesus comes with the gospel of grace to repentant sinners. To the sinful woman who washed His feet with tears, anointing Him with costly ointment, Jesus says, “Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace” (Luke 7:50). To the woman caught in the act of adultery, Jesus does not throw a stone but speaks: “Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more” (John 8:11). The gospel says to fornicators and adulterers who turn to Him for cleansing, “And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Cor. 6:11). This is gospel purity indeed! And it is when we are saved by grace that we begin to delight in the law of God.
Wisely, our Reformed forefathers expounded on the 10 commandments more fully as it relates to our life of sanctification. We are not saved by obedience to the law, but once saved we begin to live out of gratitude in accordance with this law. How are we to maintain purity? Walk in obedience following Christ.
Surely, we want to maintain the chastity of our children amid this adulterous generation. It takes wisdom to know how to protect their innocence while teaching discernment. Let us use the law of God as a teacher, instructing them in God’s good design for marriage and sexuality, and warning them against the destructiveness of sin. God’s law is good!
The Heidelberg Catechism expounds on the seventh commandment in Lord’s Day 41, and we ought not to shy away from teaching these truths. I have recently put this to verse for children to sing! May God’s law and gospel be impressed upon hearts and be evident in our lives, as we delight in Him.

School is cancelled today due to the forecasted inclement weather!