One of the big questions people have is what about those who do not keep Shabbat or those who do not call upon the name of Yahweh? Maybe they go to church on Sunday. Maybe they celebrate Christmas and Easter, but ignore the Sabbath day. What about those folks? What's going to happen to them?
We're going to talk about a very salvational topic. The reason why it's salvational is because it has a whole lot to do with the good news of Yahweh and to whom He is willing to give mercy.
Isn't there a scripture where Yahweh says, "I will have mercy upon whom I will mercy." Yahweh chooses whom He chooses to have mercy upon, and that's Romans 9:15.
Romans 9:15 - For He says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion."
He will have compassion on whom He chooses to have compassion. We do see in scripture Yahweh making declarations about whom He is willing to give mercy to. There are certain people He is willing to give mercy to, and there's other people He's not willing to give mercy to.
Of course, since we want to be recipients of Yahweh's mercy, we need to understand what it is He desires of us in order for us to be on the receiving end of Yahweh's mercy on the day of judgment. Of course, that's what's going to really matter, isn't it?
You can take two sinners, and both of them having committed the exact same sins, which is not possible, but assume there was. One might have mercy, and one might not have Yahweh's mercy upon them.
When I mean mercy, I'm talking about mercy that leads to salvation. What's the difference?
You might find somebody attending Christian church every Sunday who's going to be a recipient of Yahweh's mercy, and you might find someone who's keeping Shabbat and the feast days, and calling on the name of Yahweh, eating clean foods, and they are not going to be recipients of Yahweh's mercy.
I might be a little controversial in saying that, but there's a whole lot more to receiving His mercy than just keeping those key areas of Torah. What is the common denominator? We're going to talk about that today.
We know that Yahweh is compassionate, He's longsuffering, He's slow to anger, He's quick to forgive. He is an Elohim of mercy. Today I want to talk about Yahweh's mercy and to whom He will give it. Many claim to have received it. Indeed, we all have received some level of mercy from Him; otherwise, we would not continue to live.
Yahweh sends the rain upon the just and the unjust. Without His mercy, this generation today would not have been born, because it's of His mercies that we are not consumed.
Many claim to have salvation, because they believe they are recipients of Yahweh's mercy. We're going to examine that in detail.
The truth is that man has been in rebellion against His Creator, as a whole, for the most part, the last 6,000 years since man has been created.
For 6,000 years, Yahweh has endured the consistent, awful, sad, sinful rebellion. Why? Why is He enduring it?
Psalms 103:8 - YAHWEH [is] merciful and gracious, Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.
Because Yahweh has chosen to have mercy upon all of mankind, many will scoff in the last days.
2Peter 3:3 - knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts,
2Peter 3:4 - and saying, "Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as [they were] from the beginning of creation."
Why is evil permitted to continue? A lot of people struggle with that question. Why does Yahweh allow this? Why does Yahweh allow that? Why not come now and just end it all? Send Yahushua to the earth, reap the harvest, and set up the kingdom. End it now. Why not? Many struggle with that question.
If it was not permitted to continue in former generations, and if Yahweh had already came and put an end to all things--if He came in the 1970s or something, then we would never have had the opportunity to become His people, possibly, many of us.
I'm thankful that He waited for me, and He waited for so many of us.
2Peter 3:5 - For this they willfully forget: that by the word of Elohim the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water,
2Peter 3:6 - by which the world [that] then existed perished, being flooded with water.
2Peter 3:7 - But the heavens and the earth [which] are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
2Peter 3:8 - But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with YAHWEH one day [is] as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
2Peter 3:9 - YAHWEH is not slack concerning [His] promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
Yahweh is longsuffering. It's why He's waiting. To Him, a day is as a thousand years; a thousand years is as a day. So while men mock the fact that Yahweh made the heavens and the earth, and that Yahweh will judge the wicked, it is Yahweh's longsuffering and mercy that brings about the long wait, not willing that any should perish.
I'm glad He was not willing that we should perish. We could have died in our sins. Yahweh chose to have mercy. Even as believers today and every day, Yahweh is patient and merciful, as we diligently seek His will and struggle in our lives to overcome.
Psalms 103:9 - He will not always strive [with us], Nor will He keep [His anger] forever.
Psalms 103:10 - He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor punished us according to our iniquities.
Psalms 103:11 - For as the heavens are high above the earth, [So] great is His mercy toward those who fear Him;
Just how high is the heavens above the earth? Some years ago, I read a story on CNN's website. It took the Hubble space telescope, which is a telescope so powerful, it could look at a penny 500 miles away and tell you if it was heads or tails.
They opened the lens on this telescope on a spot in the sky as small as a grain of sky held to the end of your finger, and they opened it for ten days, so that it could catch all the light possible.
When it was over, they found something that was probably quite frustrating for them: more galaxies. As far as man is able to tell, there are over 100 billion galaxies in the universe, and each of them average about 100 billion stars.
They recently did the same thing again. Yet, again, they found more galaxies. I really don't think they're ever going to find the end of the universe. If they did, what would the universe be inside of? Something.
Yahweh's mercy toward those who fear Him is infinite, as are the heavens above the earth.
Psalms 103:12 - As far as the east is from the west, [So] far has He removed our transgressions from us.
Consider this for a moment. If we were to go east, how far would you go before you would stop going east? It's infinite. It's forever.
If we were to go west, how far would you go before you would stop going west? It is infinite, as well.
Either direction are infinitely apart from one another. The same is not true of north and south. Once you hit the North Pole, you start going south again.
Yahweh knew east and west are infinitely apart from one another. Like a father pities His children, so Yahweh pities those who fear Him. Last month we talked about the fear of Yahweh. Those who fear Yahweh are given mercy.
It's a very important thing that we are a people who truly do fear Yahweh and are concerned about the things that He teaches us and the things that He says.
In terms of our ability to walk it out, He knows we are not able. We must rely completely on Him and His Spirit to strength us to walk in His ways.
Psalms 103:14 - For He knows our frame; He remembers that we [are] dust.
Psalms 103:15 - [As for] man, his days [are] like grass; As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.
Psalms 103:16 - For the wind passes over it, and it is gone, And its place remembers it no more .
This would well sum up the extent of our days here on the earth. We're like a flower that grows, goes forth out of the ground. Of course, it's the ground that gives us life, one way or another. Yahweh does it through the ground, through the nutrients and the soil.
We're like a flower that grows and becomes very beautiful, and then we fade away. We begin to fade like a flower until finally we die, just like a flower.
We praise Yahweh that even though we may perish from the earth in the flesh, there is something which endures forever that will outlast our flesh on the earth. The thing that will outlast us is found in verse 17.
Psalms 103:17 - But the mercy of YAHWEH [is] from everlasting to everlasting On those who fear Him, And His righteousness to children's children,
Psalms 103:18 - To such as keep His covenant, And to those who remember His commandments to do them.
Very beautiful poetry here. The things which are spoken are true. There are certain ones to whom Yahweh gives this righteousness. It says His righteousness is given unto children's children. This mercy, through Yahushua the Messiah, to those who are willing to remember to do His commandments and to keep His covenant.
If we're doing His commandments, why do we need His mercy? Isn't it just mercy that's needed when we are sinning in some way? Isn't that when we need His mercy? I think so. He must be talking of those who maybe have sinned in their past. All of us do that, too.
Who does Yahweh give mercy to? That's an important question. If we want to receive His mercy, surely we want to know how. It's a life and death matter. It's one of the most important things we can learn from His Word. How am I going to receive Yahweh's mercy unto salvation? It can literally determine our destiny in the age to come.
Without a proper understanding, we might believe that others are going to be recipients of salvation, when in reality they will not be. Without a proper understanding, we might believe others will not receive Yahweh's salvation, when in reality they will.
If we are deceived about Yahweh's mercy toward us personally, and we believe He's going to have mercy upon us in the age to come, we're going to be in for a rude awakening when Yahushua returns and says, "I never knew you."
We don't want to be among the deceived who think that we've been given the mercy and grace from Yahweh to inherit eternal life, when in reality we have not. Very important question, isn't it?
Most of us want to receive His mercy, but how many are willing to find what's needed to receive it and then act upon it?
Proverbs 3:33 - The curse of YAHWEH [is] on the house of the wicked, But He blesses the home of the just.
Proverbs 3:34 - Surely He scorns the scornful, But gives grace to the humble.
Favor or grace is given to the lowly. The humble and lowly state of a servant of Yahweh is one thing that separated Moses from the rest of the Israelites, many of them, David from Saul and Yahushua's disciples from the religious leaders of His day.
The humble and lowly were those that Yahweh would save and show mercy toward. Every single one of us have sinned, but only certain people are going to receive Yahweh's mercy unto salvation.
One of those characteristics we see in scripture of those who are receiving that kind of grace and mercy are those who are lowly of mind and humble in heart. What are some other characteristics?
2Samuel 22:26 - "With the merciful You will show Yourself merciful; With a blameless man You will show Yourself blameless;
Very interesting. Some people think that might be a New Testament principle only, but that's not. It's something characteristic Yahweh has always had. Matthew 5:7 says the same thing.
Matthew 5:7 - Blessed [are] the merciful, For they shall obtain mercy.
This is one that many actually stumble over. They're not willing to give that mercy that they've received from Yahweh. They choose to remain bitter and maybe angry and are not willing to extend that very mercy that Yahweh has given them, and so they go out and choose to judge. Many times, they judge falsely because of their own bitterness. In Luke 6:37, Yahushua taught us:
Luke 6:37 - "Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.
Matthew 18:34 - "And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him.
Matthew 18:35 - "So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses."
Very strong words. We don't want to be delivered to the tormentors. We don't want to receive the wrath of Yahweh. These are very strong words. It's these kind of things we need to be very careful about.
It's these kind of things that may cause one person, who appears to be keeping Torah, to not be a recipient of Yahweh's mercy. We don't want to be in that condition.
We need to heed these warnings and let not our worship and service toward Yahweh be in vain. Those who will not extend mercy are forgetful people who lack the humility to remember the pit from which they were dug. Merciful, lowly servants will receive Yahweh's mercy.
If we have failed Him--and we all have failed Him--and we have not done what's necessary to receive His mercy up to this point in our life, there's still time for us to do what's necessary. Everyone listening to this message today has the opportunity to do what is necessary.
As long as our heart beats, we have the opportunity to do what is necessary to receive His mercy, walk in humility, and be merciful toward others. We're not without hope. Today is the day of salvation.
We must not take advantage of time, brethren, because the truth be told, time is not necessarily on our side. We all have an appointment with death.
Hebrews 9:27 - And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,
As one brother has told me many times, we don't know for certain when that appointment is, but I assure you none of us will be late.
Are we ready for what comes next? This life is not all that there is. There's a whole lot more to come. There's an eternity of things that have yet to occur. What have we lived? A very short time, a mere speck on the wall compared to eternity.
Will we tremble at Yahweh's Word today? Will Yahweh look upon us with favor and mercy right now if we should pass from this life? To whom will Yahweh look?
Psalms 32:1 - <<[A Psalm] of David. A Contemplation.>> Blessed [is he whose] transgression [is] forgiven, [Whose] sin [is] covered.
Psalms 32:2 - Blessed [is] the man to whom YAHWEH does not impute iniquity, And in whose spirit [there is] no deceit.
Is there any deceit or guile in our spirit toward Yahweh or toward others concerning the seriousness of our repentance? To whom will Yahweh look? Will it be to those who say, "I've tried to be a good person and because of that Yahweh will have mercy," all the while ignoring the wrong things that have been done and have never been repented of and never confessed?
Our salvation is not dependent upon how many times we try to be good. Our salvation does not come through our own works alone.
Ephesians 2:8 -
Ephesians 2:9 -
The gift of Yahweh. Brethren, Yahweh wants to hand you and every one of us on the face of the earth a gift. It doesn't cost us anything that we're not going to lose anyway; yet, it is very costly in that Yahushua gave His life in order for us to receive it.
It is a free gift, but it's not given to just anybody. He's not passing it around like candy to anyone and everyone. If He were, then all mankind would be saved, and repentance would just be kind of a joke.
To whom will He give that gift? We know that not everybody is saved. Yahushua taught us in Matthew 7:14:
Matthew 7:14 - "Because narrow [is] the gate and difficult [is] the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
Few there be that find it. To whom will Yahweh look upon and give them mercy?
Isaiah 66:1 - Thus says YAHWEH: "Heaven [is] My throne, And earth [is] My footstool. Where [is] the house that you will build Me? And where [is] the place of My rest?
Isaiah 66:2 - For all those [things] My hand has made, And all those [things] exist," Says YAHWEH. "But on this [one] will I look: On [him who is] poor and of a contrite spirit, And who trembles at My word.
Yahweh will look upon the poor and contrite ones who tremble at His Word, the lowly ones. He is seeking those who care about what He has to say.
When they see what He has to say, they respond. He's looking for responders. He's looking for people who believe what He says, take it seriously and respond. He's looking for places to where His Word will bear fruit.
He's scattering the seeds, seeing where the good soil may be. Some will fall by the wayside. Some will fall among thorns, others among the rocks and stones, and some on good soil.
If His Word won't do, if we're not willing to listen to His Word, in His mercy He has other ways of getting our attention. Circumstances, trials, tests, tribulations.
Lamentations 3:18 - And I said, "My strength and my hope Have perished from YAHWEH."
Have any among us felt that way at some point in their life? Anybody feeling that way even now? My strength and my hope is perished from Yahweh.
Lamentations 3:19 - Remember my affliction and roaming, The wormwood and the gall.
Lamentations 3:20 - My soul still remembers And sinks within me.
In these difficult times, we can remember, like the author of Lamentations, Jeremiah, this.
Lamentations 3:21 - This I recall to my mind, Therefore I have hope.
Lamentations 3:22 - [Through] YAHWEH'S mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not.
Lamentations 3:23 - [They are] new every morning; Great [is] Your faithfulness.
Lamentations 3:24 - "YAHWEH [is] my portion," says my soul, "Therefore I hope in Him!"
Lamentations 3:25 - YAHWEH [is] good to those who wait for Him, To the soul [who] seeks Him.
Lamentations 3:26 - [It is] good that [one] should hope and wait quietly For the salvation of YAHWEH.
Why don't we hope and quietly wait for the salvation of Yahweh? Sometimes our trials put us in a position where we need to be, in a condition of heart to where we need to be in order to receive His mercy.
Paul the apostle, with all that he did, all the works of Yahweh that were accomplished through him, he never claimed perfection. He didn't claim to have attained already. I'd like to read from the New King James. I know it's not what I read from last night. It's kind of hard to understand the King James.
Philippians 3:12 - Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Messiah Yahushua has also laid hold of me.
Philippians 3:13 - Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead,
Philippians 3:14 - I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of Elohim in the Messiah Yahushua.
Not even Paul counted himself to have already been perfected. He did not claim utter perfection or total sinlessness. One thing he did do, he pressed on toward the goal. He was seeking the perfection. He wanted it. That should be our desire.
It's not where we're at that matters. It's not where we've been that matters. It's where we're going. It's a direction that we want to go from the heart and truth.
Anyone who wants to go the right direction and receives Yahushua the Messiah and the good news that is given, that's my brother. That's my brother.
I don't care what church, assembly, congregation you go to. We all need Yahushua the Messiah, every single one of us.
Acts 2:38 - Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Yahushua Messiah for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
In Him is forgiveness of sin. In Him we receive mercy. We must be people who respond to His Word, humble people who turn away from doing wrong.
We repent. That's what the word "repent" means, tshuvah in Hebrew, to turn. If we do not repent, you're wasting your time getting baptized. If you don't receive Yahushua, you're wasting your time repenting. We need to do both.
Repentance does not mean you are instantly without sin and never sin again for the rest of your life. That is not what repentance means. It doesn't mean you're instantly sinless, but it does mean that you truly, from your heart, want to be.
It does mean that we believe His Word, and we seek out His ways, and we truly want to know where we are doing wrong, so that we might turn away from that wrong.
It does mean we are a humble people, knowing we are undeserving. Because of that, we are willing to extend that mercy that Yahweh gave to us to those around us. We believe His Word, knowing we can believe His Word when it says He gives mercy to those who have done these things.
Do not let the enemy of Yahweh get you looking back at things you've already confessed and repented of. Like Paul said:
It's when we look back at Egypt, and all the mistakes we've made, and the foolish things we've done in our past, that we find ourselves in trouble.
In truth, if you begin to look at some kind of wrong thing long enough, you'll probably find yourself doing it again. If wrong things are your meditation, wrong actions typically will come out of that.
We need to press on, forget those things and press on toward the goal. Press on toward the high calling of Yahweh in the Messiah Yahushua.
I'm not saying don't learn from it. Of course, we learn from it. We don't want to repeat it. We learn a lesson. We don't continue in the thing, because we've learned from it. In terms of guilt, we are cleansed.
1John 1:9 - If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us [our] sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Some claim that we only are going to find the mercy of Yahweh in the New Testament, but that's not true. From the scriptures, even His law, even in the Ten Commandments, Yahweh speaks of His mercy.
Deuteronomy 5:8 - `You shall not make for yourself a carved image -- any likeness [of anything] that [is] in heaven above, or that [is] in the earth beneath, or that [is] in the water under the earth;
Deuteronomy 5:9 - you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, YAHWEH your Elohim, [am] a jealous Elohim, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth [generations] of those who hate Me,
Deuteronomy 5:10 - but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
Even in Yahweh's law, even in the Ten Commandments, Yahweh declares His mercy toward those who love Him and keep His commandments. Is that us? I hope so.
He wrote it with His own finger about His mercy right there in the Ten Commandments.
Some will mock us and refer to us as law keepers, as if that were some kind of an insult. Isn't it those who love Yahweh and keep His commandments that will be given mercy? Absolutely.
Yahushua spoke and said, "Mercy is a weightier matter of the law." He was talking to the scribes and Pharisees and said:
Matthew 23:23 - "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier [matters] of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.
Contrary to popular opinion, the scribes and Pharisees were being condemned by Yahushua here, and they were not law keepers. Some people think they kept the law to the exact degree. No, they didn't. They ignored the weightier matters of the law: judgment, mercy, and faith. He said:
John 7:19 - "Did not Moses give you the law, yet none of you keeps the law? Why do you seek to kill Me?"
They were murderous, bloodthirsty men who had much pride and arrogance. They were not law keepers.
Contrary to popular opinion today, Yahweh's law does speak a lot about His mercy. In fact, it is a weightier matter of the law. Contrary to popular opinion, the law is not just some list of legal regulations. The Hebrew word Torah, usually translated law, means teaching and instruction.
Part of Yahweh's teaching and instruction is that He has mercy, and He wants to extend that to others. Yahweh's mercy was and is great from Genesis to Revelation. It wasn't just in the New Testament He decided to have mercy.
Yahweh had mercy from the day He had mercy on Adam and Eve when they sinned against them. He could have destroyed them right there. He could have, but He knew they were going to bear children who were going to be His children one day--at least some of them.
We don't have to read very far in the scriptures, including the Old Testament, so to speak, to see that Yahweh has abundant mercy.
Psalms 85:7 - Show us Your mercy, YAHWEH, And grant us Your salvation.
Psalms 85:8 - I will hear what Elohim YAHWEH will speak, For He will speak peace To His people and to His saints; But let them not turn back to folly.
Psalms 85:9 - Surely His salvation [is] near to those who fear Him, That glory may dwell in our land.
Psalms 85:10 - Mercy and truth have met together; Righteousness and peace have kissed.
Those who act as if there's no mercy in what they call the Old Testament need to read these verses. Those who act as if there's no mercy need to read the Torah.
Exodus 34:6 - And YAHWEH passed before him and proclaimed, "YAHWEH, YAHWEH Elohim, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth,
Isaiah 55:7 - Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to YAHWEH, And He will have mercy on him; And to our Elohim, For He will abundantly pardon.
Isaiah 55:8 - "For My thoughts [are] not your thoughts, Nor [are] your ways My ways," says YAHWEH.
The purpose of the Torah is to make our thoughts more like His thoughts. Yahweh gave us in the Torah His teaching and instruction to teach us how we need to be: loving, merciful, righteous, wise, loving one another, loving Him.
If our heart is right, Yahweh's mercy will never be used as a license to sin, either in the Old Testament or the New.
Romans 2:4 - Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of Elohim leads you to repentance?
Romans 2:5 - But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of Elohim,
Romans 2:6 - who "will render to each one according to his deeds":
Romans 2:7 - eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality;
Romans 2:8 - but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness -- indignation and wrath,
Romans 2:9 - tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek;
What are they doing? They're treasuring up wrath.
Romans 2:10 - but glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
We recognize His mercy and grace are absolutely, positively a free gift to the humble who are called and are willing to repent of their ways.
After our repentance, surely we would not want to return to sin. If we want to return and live in sin, we have not really repented at all; rather, we're going about not caring that the goodness of Yahweh is supposed to lead us to repentance, and our treasures in heaven consist of Yahweh's wrath against us.
2Peter 2:20 - For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Master and Savior Yahushua Messiah, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning.
2Peter 2:21 - For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known [it], to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them.
Let's not turn away from the holy commandments delivered to us. Let's not again get entangled in them and overcome, but let's be overcomers.
Suppose we did at some point in our life get re-entangled back in things again? Are we doomed? Are we without hope? Maybe someone listening today has gotten entangled with some things that they shouldn't be. If you care that you've turned away, and you want to turn back, you truly want to turn back, it is Yahweh who is calling you back.
John 6:44 - "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.
It's impossible for you to come to Yahweh unless He's drawing you. Every single one of us who have repented and turned and gave our life to Yahweh and received Yahushua the Messiah had to be sought out by our Father. Aren't we thankful for that?
We can believe it when Yahweh says:
Ezekiel 18:21 - "But if a wicked man turns from all his sins which he has committed, keeps all My statutes, and does what is lawful and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die.
Ezekiel 18:22 - "None of the transgressions which he has committed shall be remembered against him; because of the righteousness which he has done, he shall live.
Ezekiel 18:23 - "Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die?" says the Master YAHWEH, "[and] not that he should turn from his ways and live?
If you turned from His holy commandments, there is still hope. While your heart beats, there is still hope. When it no longer beats, you may not have any hope, but today is the day of salvation. Today can be a day that you decide to turn and live for Him, serving Him until the day that your heart no longer beats.
The sins which you've committed in the past will be forgotten, will not be mentioned unto you, will be as far from Yahweh as the east is from the west and as high as the heavens are above the earth. So great his mercy will be toward you.
There is no mark Yahushua the Messiah cannot erase. You will look back at the times you were doing the wrong things and say, "That was a bump in the road, but today I'm walking the road of life, by the grace of Yahweh."
But if you remain in that sinful condition, the latter end is worse than if you had never known the way of righteousness. It's better to not even know the right way than to know it and to turn away from it.
Let's not turn away from the holy commandments given to us. Let's turn toward them and desire and truly from the heart want to keep them and walk them out.
Faith without works is dead, and works without faith isn't faith either and isn't really works. We must live and grow in Yahweh, learning His ways, applying them to our lives, bearing fruit.
I've heard it said this way. Faith is one oar, and works is the other oar. They must both work together for us to get anywhere; otherwise, with one oar we're only going to go in circles, and we're never going to go forward.
We must by faith and works walk as Yahushua walked. As we bear fruit and grow and progress, I have an admonition. Don't look down at another person's budding little sprout just barely coming up out of the ground, that has yet to bear fruit, and then say within your heart, "I have fruit. Where is his? Where is hers?"
We were all just a little sprout at one time. Let's have mercy on the little sprouts and be patient, because we know Yahweh is. Part of being righteous is being merciful. We are all undeserving of His mercy. We must acknowledge this no matter where Yahweh takes us.
If we want to be righteous, as Yahweh is righteous, then we need also to be merciful, as Yahweh is merciful. Part of righteousness is mercy.
If we want to live in His image, we need to imitate the mercy He gives, especially the mercy He gave to us. If we have the heart Yahweh seeks, we can truly expect and believe that He will have mercy.
There's a doctrine out there called predestination, foreknowledge and different things, and people think if a person turned to Yahweh, and then they walked away later in life, they were never saved to begin with. That's it. Once you're chosen, you're chosen. You're not, you're not.
I was talking with a person who believed in this predestination. I said, "If that person who turned to Yahweh and walked in His ways had died before he turned away, could you say he was not saved or would not be saved?"
If we've done the needful thing that Yahweh requires of us in order to receive His mercy, why do we have to worry about who's chosen or who isn't? We don't really know anyway. We don't know where we're going to end up. We don't know if two weeks before we die we turn out and run loose in the world and just absolutely turn our heart away from Yahweh and shun Him. We don't know that.
Yahweh forbid. We don't want that. In the same way, two weeks before our life, we may turn away from wickedness and repent and turn our hearts to Yahweh, and Yahweh receive us as the thief on the cross, the tree.
We turn away from Yahweh the last two weeks of our life, all of our righteousness we've done will be forgotten. That's what Yahweh said in Ezekiel 18.
If we're doing that which is necessary in order to receive mercy, we need to believe that Yahweh's Word is true.
Some people today are living a life of sadness, pain, a false sense of rejection, spiritual cancer, because they believe Yahweh is holding a grudge against them, because they've done some kind of wrong thing.
Let the Word of Yahweh free you. Don't have a false image of what He is about. He doesn't hold grudges. We confess our sins; He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. We need to believe that.
When we are sincere in our repentance, and we desire to change, and we are truly making sincere efforts, scripture says Yahweh forgives, as long as we are willing to forgive others, as long as we are willing to maintain our humility and put Yahweh first in our repentance.
Remember the promise in Ezekiel 18. Believe that every bit as being true as the words, "In the beginning, Elohim created the heavens and the earth."
The mouth of Yahweh spoke all those words. We know it's Yahushua the Messiah who enabled that promise to exist. Yahweh was able to promise through Ezekiel that all those sins will be forgiven, because he knew what Yahushua was going to do.
He knew that Lamb was going to be slain, as He is slain from the foundation of the world and covers the sin of every man who needs redemption and seeks repentance by faith.
Our own righteousness could never atone for the wickedness we've done, brethren. We could never make up for the wrong. Yahushua said about one woman:
Luke 7:47 - "Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, [the same] loves little."
Yahweh just wants us to love Him. He has shown His love for us in so many ways. He doesn't want us to have a grudge toward one another, and neither does He hold one against us.
Leviticus 19:17 - `You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall surely rebuke your neighbor, and not bear sin because of him.
Leviticus 19:18 - `You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I [am] YAHWEH.
Many people feel a false sense of security, believing Yahweh is merciful toward them, accepts them, but in reality He does not. Many feel a lack of security, believing Yahweh is not merciful toward them, when in reality He is.
Brethren, let the words of Yahweh cut through the confusion. To the one who wrongly feels Yahweh is not extending mercy toward them, I think your humility and your reverence for Him is beautiful, but He doesn't hold grudges.
Does He expect our mercy to be greater than His? Remember what He said through Yahushua the Messiah.
Matthew 18:21 - Then Peter came to Him and said, "Master, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?"
Matthew 18:22 - Yahushua said to him, "I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.
Yahweh is not going to hold a standard of mercy for us that He wouldn't Himself uphold. Of course, He's going to uphold it. It's true that we need to ask in truth, humility, and repentance from the heart. Yahweh loves them who are that way.
It is these He knew would be saved, and it is to those that Yahushua came to save. Do we believe that? It's much like a father with his children. Mercy will be given. A good father will give mercy to his children who sincerely want to do his will.
They may fail out of weakness. He's willing to help them, and he's willing to forgive.
If we, as fathers, are willing to do such a thing, we can believe our heavenly Father also, and we can believe the good news that Yahweh commendeth His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, the Messiah died for us.
Does that not prove His love toward us? Even though we were sinners, and we were rebels against Him, the Messiah died for us. Can we show that same love to others? Can we love those who are not showing love to us?
Yahweh did that for us. We were not loving Him at one time. He was loving us, but we weren't loving Him. Can we do that for others? If we love those who love us, we're not any better than the Gentiles. We're not any better than the nations in the world.
If we're willing to love those who don't love us and show Messiah's love to those who are not showing Messiah's love to us, that's the calling of Messiah. That's being like Him. That's exhibiting His love and light to others. That's being merciful.
In our lives, we're willing to love those who do not love us in order to show forth His mercies. His life, Messiah living in us, is seen in our walk, remembering at one time most of us did nothing but rebel against Yahweh.
Because of His mercy, because of His love, we decided to seek Him. We love Him, because He loved us first. Are we willing to love Him? He already loves us first. Are we willing to love Him? That's an important question.
Will we show that same love to one another? Will His love do its work in us? Will the character of the Messiah be seen in our life? To those who do not read the scriptures, His mercy can be seen in our mercy.
It's hard for some to imagine that Yahweh, who is merciful, is also an Elohim of judgment.
It's hard for some to imagine that maybe that friendly neighbor down the street, the man with a couple of cars in the garage, a nice clean home, that helps anybody who asks, the friendly neighbor, that man down the street who's not really interested in the scriptures or spiritual things, but seems like a nice guy anyway, that unless that man repents, he will face judgment and wrath from Yahweh.
That man did not seek Yahweh's mercy. He did not care about what Yahweh had said.
If everybody in the entire world served Yahweh in truth, such a man would be looked upon maybe a little differently. If everybody was a servant of Yahweh, keeping Torah, then this one man down the street with a car in the garage, a nice clean home, he'd be that man down the street who ignores His Creator, doesn't seek to love Yahweh. He seems more interested in carnal things.
That man down the street, he'd be the one ignoring everything that Yahweh has done for him, even sending His Son to die and shed His blood, so that this man would turn to him, but he refused it. He would be that man who rejected Yahweh's love for him. Isn't that sad?
But Yahweh's mercy and love was not without works. In sending His Son to die for us, He showed His mercy and love toward us. Will we be willing to show that love to Him? Will we care?
Yahushua said, "If you love me, keep my commandments." Let's do that--not just in word, not just in tongue, but in deed and in truth.
1John 3:18 - My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.
How could any man, after knowing such a love from Yahweh, believe we can disobey His commandments? "It's okay. He'll have mercy anyway. If you sin, you just ask for forgiveness. He'll just keep forgiving you all the time, no matter what you do."
How could we ever teach that we, who needed to be redeemed, because we broke Yahweh's commandments, after we've been redeemed now have an excuse to keep on breaking them. Wasn't that the reason Yahushua had to die, because we did break them?
Did He die so we could continue to break them? Grace doesn't do any good to a man who isn't willing to seek it. Grace is of no value to one who's not willing to walk uprightly.
Isaiah 26:10 - Let grace be shown to the wicked, [Yet] he will not learn righteousness; In the land of uprightness he will deal unjustly, And will not behold the majesty of YAHWEH.
We must cleave to His mercy, knowing it's only in His mercy we have any hope at all, and not let mercy cause us to not learn righteousness; rather, let His mercy cause us to want to learn righteousness, to love Him, because He loved us first.
Let's not allow that bitter root to take hold. Bitterness defiles us and prevents us from extending mercy toward others.
Hebrews 12:12 - Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees,
Hebrews 12:13 - and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed.
Hebrews 12:14 - Pursue peace with all [people], and holiness, without which no one will see YAHWEH:
Hebrews 12:15 - looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of Elohim; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled;
The root of bitterness springing up, causing trouble, defiles a person and causes them to no longer extend mercy toward another person, and it causes them to view every action of another person as being evil, even when it isn't.
If we are bitter toward another person, we have a tendency to interpret even their innocent actions as wicked, and we pass false judgment, and we fail to show mercy.
We must remember that if we do not choose mercy toward another, and we choose bitterness, Yahushua said, "With what judgment we've judged, we shall be judged, and the same measure we use will be measured back to us." It's better that we would have mercy on others, even when they don't ask for it.
Someone asked me one time, "That other person hasn't asked me for forgiveness, and so I haven't forgiven them. Is that okay?"
I ask you this question. Could there be any areas in your life where maybe you haven't asked Yahweh for forgiveness, but you really hope He will have mercy on you and forgive you anyway? Maybe there is. Maybe you don't see it. Maybe you don't recognize it.
For myself, I think I'm better off just having mercy, even though they don't ask for it, because with what judgment I judge, I will be judged.
Yahweh gives mercy, even when we don't ask. What a loving Elohim we serve. Let's take hold of that love that He has for us. Let's allow His mercy to flow through us unto others. Let's seek Yahweh's strength and seek to walk in His light.
Let's allow His light to live in us in deed and in truth, because in deed and in truth, Yahweh has given mercy to us and offered His Son for us. He has given so much. He has served us in such a great and mighty way. He is constantly serving us.
Every time we pray, we ask Him to do things for us. Why don't we return that service unto Him and to our fellow man, remembering His love and remaining humble, no matter how high He takes us, and always hoping and trusting in and sharing His mercy? May Yahweh bless you. May He have mercy on us all.
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