Godly Judgment

Because thou hast had a perpetual hatred, and hast shed the blood of the children of Israel by the force of the sword in the time of their calamity, in the time that their iniquity had an end: Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord God, I will prepare thee unto blood, and blood shall pursue thee: since thou hast not hated blood, even blood shall pursue thee. Thus will I make mount Seir most desolate, and cut off from it him that passeth out and him that returneth. And I will fill his mountains with his slain men: in thy hills, and in thy valleys, and in all thy rivers, shall they fall that are slain with the sword.

 I will make thee perpetual desolations, and thy cities shall not return: and ye shall know that I am the Lord. Because thou hast said, These two nations and these two countries shall be mine, and we will possess it; whereas the Lord was there: Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord God, I will even do according to thine anger, and according to thine envy which thou hast used out of thy hatred against them; and I will make myself known among them, when I have judged thee. And thou shalt know that I am the Lord, and that I have heard all thy blasphemies which thou hast spoken against the mountains of Israel, saying, They are laid desolate, they are given us to consume. Thus with your mouth ye have boasted against me, and have multiplied your words against me: I have heard them.

Thus saith the Lord God; When the whole earth rejoiceth, I will make thee desolate. As thou didst rejoice at the inheritance of the house of Israel, because it was desolate, so will I do unto thee: thou shalt be desolate, O mount Seir, and all Idumea, even all of it: and they shall know that I am the Lord (Ezekiel 35:6)

There is in men’s thinking a great pendulum which tends to swing in extremes from one to the other. The subject of judgment shows this great swing; from those who claim we should never judge anything, any action, or anyone to those who feel they themselves are the very hand of YHWH to mete out punishment to all who offend them. The common consensus may be that the first group acts from love while the second feeds on fear.

The truth of this matter is that neither of these extremes operates from love or a proper fear. True love understands the necessity of proper judgment to bring about relationship and proper fear is not of YHWH’s vengeance but of what we are without His presence and life in us.

We are told in scripture that we must judge ourselves or our Father will judge us. As a family of believers we are told to judge our siblings and have no fellowship with those who desire to live in sin. We do not disfellowship those who desire to live Godly just because they have sinned. These brothers we are to build up in the faith until they are set free. However those who would excuse their sin and claim it as the liberty provided by Messiah we must leave to their own; with the hope that the hurt they bring on themselves by such sin will drive them to repentance. When they have repented then once more they can be our family.

The verses above serve as a somber warning to those who would use such an occasion to take for themselves a ministry or position or relationship from a child of YHWH who has fallen in such a way.

YHWH does use men to take from His children and discipline them but those same men find themselves crushed by YHWH for their evil desire to lift themselves by the fall of His children.  

 

Did Sunday replace the Sabbath?

If you were to go to any place where Christians post messages it would only be a matter of time before the debate of whether the sabbath is on Saturday or Sunday would appear. I have lived long enough to know that people have a tendency to believe what they are familiar with unless provided with overwhelming evidence to the contrary. I have no delusions that the article I am now writing will settle this debate but it is with a prayerful heart that I hope it will be used of my Father to reach past our human desire to be correct and help us to know our Fathers heart on the issue.
The question that lies at the core of most disagreements on this subject is which day did God ordain for believers to worship. The question itself is skewed because sabbath is about rest in Gods work, honor of Gods sovereignty, and remembrance of our dependence on God as the only maker of the cosmos and ourselves making it as God has said a day of rest from our own labours.
 So though we do worship God on the sabbath; everyday is a day in which we are to worship God. The word worship means a submission of our will to any power. So for this reason our worship is found in our every day actions, speech, and motives. God would never give His family instructions to only do these things once a week.
Still why did the church replace the seventh day from Saturday to Sunday? The answer is they did not. In the early church we see the brethren coming together on the Lord's day for fellowship, the Lord's supper (or love feast), and sharing of their faith; it is clearly still seen as the first day of the week. The sabbath remains the sabbath; a day of rest.
Why then did the church meet on the first day? The answer most would give for a reason of Sunday meetings is the resurrection of the Lord but a clearer answer becomes apparent when we read the writings of the very early "church fathers". Those who wrote only decades after the last of the apostles had passed away referred to the Lords day as the eighth day.
The consummation of the covenant given to Abraham was the token of circumcision; the removing of the flesh. This token was reaffirmed by Moses so that on the eighth day every male of God's covenant was to be circumcised. The token of the outward removal of the flesh as given to Abraham is a teaching to us of the true circumcision of the heart.
The flesh that every man has inherited from Adam has no ability to walk in the life of God since it is filled with the death of separation from God by its nature which only produces sin. It is by faith in Messiah that we become one with Him and the living death of Adam in us is laid upon Him and carried to His cross. In the death of the cross we die; receiving the wages of our sin. The life generated by our Adamic flesh dies there and we find that our new life is the life of God which lived in Jesus. This is the true removal of the flesh.
The flesh generated life is a self life and as such all that live by it are separated and alone. Those who are joined to the Lord have through death come to share one life; the life of our Lord which is the life of our Father. This life in which we move and breath and have our being makes us not only one with our Father and His Son but also one with each other. It is by this new life that we can come together not as individuals but with one accord and one heart in Messiah.
So Sunday was never intended to replace the old but to be a remembrance and a fellowship of the new.

The light of the world: who is Jesus part 2

"Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." John 8:12

If we were to look at the Ten Commandments as a description of the life of the Father and Jesus then we may begin to see it is a promise of the life His Spirit is forming in us. These same commandments have bookends. The first command, if we dive in to the language, makes it clear that we are to look to no other power to affect or form us but YHWH alone. If we go against this first command then we have broken them all.

I am YHWH thy Elohim, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other Elohim before me.

For this reason every person born of Israel heard, prayed and said throughout their life “hear, o Israel; YHWH is our Elohim, YHWH is one” which loosely translated is Listen up! Chosen princes of God; The one true God who has entered a marriage covenant with you is your creator and maker, The one true God who has entered a marriage covenant with you has no separation of you and Him. He has cleaved to you.

The last bookend of the commandments in a similar way shows us that when we, by our natural ability, set out to imitate through obedience the commandments description of life we are still undone. True life does not even consider breaking the other commands for they are its true nature. The very struggle to imitate what we should be doing shows that the life described is not the life in us.

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbors

It is for this reason that even Paul who followed the strictest teachings of the Pharisees was forced to find himself as a sinner.  What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.

I have said all these things to make clear our consideration of Jesus statement of being the light of the world. The light and possession of life are again and again placed together throughout the scripture. The word tells us God is life, light, a consuming fire, love etc. what we must remember is God is one so these things cannot be compartmentalized.

"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." Psalm 119:105

"And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night" Exodus 13:21

 "The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!" Matthew 6:22-23

"But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day. The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble." Proverbs 4:18-19

 "Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." Matthew 5:14-16

"The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?" Psalm 27:1

"For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." 2 Corinthians 4:6

"For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light" Ephesians 5:8

 "But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light" 1 Peter 2:9

When Jesus says I am the light of the world he says that those who have Him will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life. His life in us is the light. One of the many things that set Jesus apart from the other teachers around Him was that while they might reflect the words of life to their audience Jesus instead emanated the life from His being. This is because He is the living word, as He told His disciples if you have seen me you have seen the Father.

If we stop at just this difference we can see the great glory and praise that Jesus showed forth of the Father. Yet for our savior and Gods messiah this is just the door to where He is bringing our understanding. By both His own mouth and the witness of His apostles by the Holy Spirit Jesus says that those who believe, follow, and become His disciples will have this light and life in them. The new covenant is not a place where men reflect the light of God nor do we strive to imitate that light but instead we have the life abiding in us.

It should go without saying but it does not; no man can serve two masters. No man can live two lives; if we live by a trust and expectancy of ourselves to produce life we frustrate the grace of God’s life in us. We must trust and expect that our old life is crucified and dead in Messiah and that our dependence is on the Spirit to live the Fathers life through us. As we take up our cross daily, as we are brought from faith to faith the righteousness of Messiah is revealed in us. That we would, by His life becoming our life bring praise and glory to the Father; as we are made the living word of God. We are one with our Father and our Messiah and brother has made us to be as He is the light of the world.

 

The true bread of life: Who is Jesus part 1

Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled. Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.

  Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?

  Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.They said therefore unto him, What sign shewest thou then, that we may see, and believe thee? what dost thou work? Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat.

 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread.

 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. But I said unto you, That ye also have seen me, and believe not. All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.

 For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.

 The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven. And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? how is it then that he saith, I came down from heaven?

 Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, Murmur not among yourselves. No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me. Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father.

 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. I am that bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead.

 This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.

 The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat?  John 6: 26-52

In the gospel of John Jesus gives us an autobiography of Himself in seven statements of who He is. Some have referred to these lessons as the “I am” statements; they include the bread of life, the gate, the shepherd, the vine, the way, the truth, and the life. Consider with me for a moment this statement of the bread of life.

Wheat has been called the staff of life in recognition that it is easily the most sustainable food source at man’s disposal. Fruits, vegetables, and animal flesh have a very limited shelf life but wheat can be stored for decades. Any food source may help man survive but it is wheat that made it possible for man to become more than nomadic tribes. In the story of Joseph it is stored wheat that not only saved Israel from death during the seven years of famine, but also made Egypt into an empire. For modern man bread is just one more item we pick up in the grocery store but for those who were listening to Jesus that day bread was the definition of the ability to sustain life.

For the context of Jesus statement and the ensuing debate about Moses and Messiah we should know that this same crowd to which He was speaking are those who were present when two fish and five loafs feed five thousand. Jesus had departed from these men because He knew they intended to take Him to Jerusalem and make Him king. This was the determination of men as to who Messiah was to be and what benefit He was to be to them.

The modern church would do well to consider the wrong thinking and attitude of this group. Their own carnal desires and how their carnal thoughts of how things should be caused them to be blind and eventually reject the gift of God standing before them.

We often speak of Gods blessings as health, wealth, favor, and all that these things entail but these things are only a shadow of the true blessings. Those things which we receive from our Father that are perishable may be needful in the short term but the true blessings are those things we will bring with us in the resurrection; love, life, oneness with God, righteousness, holiness of such things there shall never come an end.

Jesus tells these men that they must not follow Him because of the miraculous bread that filled their stomachs. Jesus is the true sustainer of life so He is the true bread. Jesus by His teachings and example shone forth a light into men’s darkness but this is not the bread. He is the bread; his very life essence for lack of better terminology is what we have been given. The call to by faith be joined to Him and the Fathers life is the offer of true bread. They were looking at a manifestation in man’s flesh of the life of the Father because Messiah and the Father are one.

These blind followers scorn Jesus as a man and would rebuke Him that if He makes claim as Messiah then they should receive from Him as the Fathers received bread from Moses. Jesus quickly corrects them that Moses gave nothing but the Father in heaven was the source of all that was done through Moses; just as the life in Messiah was not from a carnal providence but came down from heaven.

The manna only served to sustain the body for a season but it could not sustain life. When we become one with the life of Jesus we become one with the life of the Father. In like fashion Jesus bore the death of Adams inheritance in us to the cross where it was judged and found its end. So we have died in Him that the old man who’s so called life was found in sin is done away with. We have consumed His body which was killed and His blood which was shed that we should become one with His life through the Spirit.

This is a life that cannot die even if the body is destroyed. This is why Jesus is the bread of life.