06/27/2009 Sabbath Meeting Transcript

That's what we're going to talk about today is the greatest commandment coming from Deuteronomy 6:4-9.

Deuteronomy 6:4 - "Hear, O Israel: YAHWEH our Elohim, YAHWEH [is] one!

Deuteronomy 6:5 - "You shall love YAHWEH your Elohim with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.

Deuteronomy 6:6 - "And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart.

Deuteronomy 6:7 - "You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.

Deuteronomy 6:8 - "You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.

Deuteronomy 6:9 - "You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

In the above words, we find the greatest commandment in all of scripture, and that is to love Yahweh our Elohim with all of our heart, soul, and might, or strength.

Many claim to be heeding this precept to be loving Yahweh, as is commanded. We're going to examine today what that really means. What does it really mean to love Yahweh?

Many believe they are. In fact, I think 95% of Americans in the recent Gallup Poll, 95% of Americans says that they believe in God--that's the word they used--in spite of evolutionists and humanists often trying to destroy that belief.

So, if you asked the people of this generation, who claim to believe in a Creator, if they do love Him, the vast majority, I'm sure, would say, "Well, yes, I do love Him." But do they?

Well, not even everyone knows Yahweh, of course. But of those who do claim to know Him and do love Him, the One who is written about in the Holy Scriptures, do they truly love Him?

The truth is, of course, we know that Yahweh Himself will answer that question. He tells us what it means, though, to love Him by His own definition, by His own standard, and not by man's.

So, if the commandment to love Yahweh is the greatest and most important commandment in all of scripture, then probably the most important question we need to find the answer to is, "What does it mean to love Him?"

It's a common notion in this modern age that as long as we love, we will be accepted by Yahweh into the kingdom of eternal life. I believe that's true.

Yet, almost every religion in this world teaches that we should love. Yet, only the one true faith teaches that we need to not only love our fellow man, but that we need to truly, truly love our Creator, Yahweh, our mighty One.

It's written in scripture, 1 Corinthians 2:9-10:

1Corinthians 2:9 - But as it is written: "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which Elohim has prepared for those who love Him."

1Corinthians 2:10 - But Elohim has revealed [them] to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of Elohim.

An often-quoted scripture, but context is Yahweh has revealed them to us by His Spirit.

Romans 8:28 - And we know that all things work together for good to those who love Elohim, to those who are the called according to [His] purpose.

Many great promises are indeed given to those who truly do love Yahweh. The real issue is what does it mean to love? For instance, someone might suppose that we can love Yahweh and love idols at the same time, and that Yahweh wouldn't mind. But we know, according to the scriptures, that's not possible.

Many promises are given to those who love Yahweh, but the real issue is what does it mean to love?

Romans 8:28 - And we know that all things work together for good to those who love Elohim, to those who are the called according to [His] purpose.

Very good things are promised to those who truly, from the heart, do love Yahweh our Creator.

The real question is what does it mean to love, truly? What does it mean to love?

If we really want to receive the promises that are given to those who are willing to love Yahweh, if we want to receive that promise, then in order to receive the promise, we need to really understand what it means to love Him.

What does it really mean to love Yahweh? Someone might say we can love Yahweh and love idols all at the same time. Is that true? Can we love Yahweh and idols at the same time? Yahweh says it's not possible to love idols and Him at the same time.

If we love idols--Yahweh says we are not to love idols--then we're not loving Yahweh. Mothers who choose to murder their children in the womb often use the cloak of love to justify their wickedness by saying, "This child will not be brought into a very happy world where I'll have the ability to support them, so I'll love my child by not bringing the child into the world."

Even the murder of one's own children can somehow be twisted to be an act of love. The truth is that is not love; that is murder. There are other examples of people who do wicked things; yet, as long as they can find some way to say it's love, they're accepted by the world. We need to be aware of that deception.

Satan can do a lot of deception in the world of grey. It's often that grey area that he does his work in. It's when something seems to be neither black nor white that he can deceive.

It's evident that, for the most part, it is honorable in the world to at least try to love your neighbor, but by their own standards. Often, whether you truly do love your neighbor or not doesn't really matter so much, as long as you try or speak the smooth words of effort.

If you choose to be a person who speaks against the standards of love that the world tries to hold, you're called intolerant. Tolerance is often taught today. We're expected to be tolerant of evil and tolerant of wrong and wickedness.

I'm not against mercy in the right situations, but the world generally wants us to tolerate their sin, because they do not want to come to the light.

If you speak out against sin, they will say that you don't love, but that you hate, and they might even accuse you of a hate crime.

It's a common misunderstanding among believers even sometimes that if you rebuke another person for committing some kind of sin, that somehow they think that means you don't love them.

That cannot be true, if you're rebuking them in a way that's motivated by love. In fact, Yahweh says in the scriptures:

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.

Part of love is to lovingly rebuke when you see that your brother is clearly sinning. If you love your neighbor, you will not want him to continue in the wrong thing he is doing, which may lead to death. Rather, we would want to love our neighbor, to love our brother, by reproving them so that they will turn away from that wrong thing.

Reproof and rebuke and correction is not hate. It's not necessarily hate, in and of itself, although some certainly might choose to do it in a hateful way. If it's done rightly, it's the very opposite of hate; it's love.

Revelation 3:19 - "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.

It is actually a great act of love to turn someone from sinning. Of course, it needs to be done in the right way.

Galatians 6:1 - Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who [are] spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted.

If we get too self-righteous in our rebuke of other people, then Yahweh may choose to test us in a similar way sometime later. We may also find ourselves in a similar temptation.

We need to remember, ultimately, even if we come to someone in gentleness and they do not receive it, it is Yahweh who must do the conviction, by His Spirit--not our own might, not our own wisdom.

James 5:19 - Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back,

James 5:20 - let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.

We can have a part in turning someone back, but we are not Yahweh's Spirit. We cannot play Holy Spirit. Yahweh can reach a person in places and ways that we personally cannot.

We can be used by Yahweh, through His Spirit speaking through us, to turn someone back, but we are not Yahweh.

James 3:13 - Who [is] wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct [that] his works [are done] in the meekness of wisdom.

The wise are going to receive the reproof and will love you for it.

Proverbs 9:8 - Do not correct a scoffer, lest he hate you; Rebuke a wise [man], and he will love you.

Proverbs 9:9 - Give [instruction] to a wise [man], and he will be still wiser; Teach a just [man], and he will increase in learning.

If we do it in love, the wise will receive the reproof, and he will love you for it, knowing that it's going to improve him.

Even if there was reproof brought to us, which was not done in love or gentleness, I think it's still wise to consider the rebuke.

If there was a bomb underneath my car, and someone was screaming at me, I wouldn't say, "You need to be more gentle in your correction."

We need to have ears to hear, no matter how it's spoken or who the source might be. We want to turn away from something that would be harmful to us. We may indeed have something in our lives that is spiritually dangerous, even more dangerous than a bomb underneath our car, something that may cause us to be spiritually out of touch with Yahweh.

We need to be willing to hear. Sadly, many believe just the opposite in this day and age. May the light of Yahweh reveal the truth in this matter. If you try to bring correction to them, they don't want to hear, and they think you hate them. They think you're rejecting them.

That's probably the biggest stumbling block to someone receiving correction is a sense that they're being rejected by you. That's why it must be done in love, in a manner that you are communicating adequately that they are not being rejected by you as a person. You don't hate them. You love them, and you're just informing them about this thing.

In the world, even within those who we might call brethren, many do get confused over what it truly means to love one another and to love Yahweh.

How would we define love? It seems everybody has their own understanding of what it truly means to love. We know who has the right answer. We know of One we can look to and say, "That's a perfect example right there of how to love Yahweh and how to love our fellow man, how to love our neighbor."

Yahushua the Messiah, He is and was the perfect example. He's the ultimate pattern of righteousness. He truly loved Yahweh and His fellow man perfectly.

One could sense His love for Yahweh and His fellow man by His attitude and the way He served Yahweh and the way He served others.

What understanding did He have? How did He understand the way in which we could define love? Let's examine a comment He made concerning the law of Yahweh in Matthew 22:36-40:

Matthew 22:36 - "Teacher, which [is] the great commandment in the law?"

Matthew 22:37 - Yahushua said to him, "`You shall love YAHWEH your Elohim with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.'

Matthew 22:38 - "This is [the] first and great commandment.

Matthew 22:39 - "And [the] second [is] like it: `You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'

Matthew 22:40 - "On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets."

Very interesting comments here. On these two commandments hang the entire law and prophets. He was teaching us that the very essence of the law and prophets is love. Everything written therein has to do with Yahweh's desire for us to love Him and to love one another.

The picture I see in these verses here is a wood carving of the two great commandments on two separate wooden slates, and there are chains hanging off of them, and the Torah and prophets are hanging underneath the two wooden slates by the chains.

Everything written in the Torah and prophets have to do with loving Yahweh and loving one another. What's sad is that some today will seek to go take a set of bolt cutters and cut the Torah and prophets off the two commandments from which they hang.

They don't like Yahweh's definition of love, so they would rather create their own elohim. They'll keep the two great commandments up there, so that they can define love in their own way.

They don't like the way Yahweh has defined love, so they put their own words up there, the commands and doctrines of men. That's exactly the impression we get today, that somehow, some way, these two great commandments actually abolish the law, and somehow they replace what they call the Old Testament.

You can't abolish the law without abolishing these two great commandments, because these two great commandments are in the law. Yahushua was just quoting them:

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.

Deuteronomy 6:5 - "You shall love YAHWEH your Elohim with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.

It's very true that if you keep those two commandments, you will also be keeping the law. Many say that. If we keep these two commandments, we're keeping the law.

Yes, that's very true, but it's also true, if you break one of the commandments written in the law and prophets, you're also breaking one of the two great commandments, as well.

You can't break one and keep the other. They're all one and the same, except that the commandments written in the Torah, the laws, the statutes, the judgments that are written in Yahweh's law are what define clearly what love is.

If I had a room full of 30 children, and I said, "I want everyone here to love one another," and they all said, "Okay," and the very first day I watched over the 30 children, everybody loved each other, and nobody harmed each other, but then the next two or three days, I watched 30 children in a room, and they were all hitting each other, and stealing each other's toys, and doing different things that are wrong, guess what?

They all had their own idea of what love was, and so I have to create commandments. Thou shalt not steal another person's toy. Thou shalt not hit another person. I have to create commandments, so that they have clear definitions of what love truly is. The same is true of human children that are even adults.

Sometimes we have our own ideas of what love is, so Yahweh said, "Don't steal from each other, don't commit murder, don't hit each other." He also gave His commandments to help us understand what it means to love Him.

Since Yahweh is at the receiving end of the offense, we need to look at what He has to say about what it means to love Him. We can't look to man to tell us, necessarily, what it means to love Yahweh. We've got to look to what Yahweh says about how we show our love for Him.

Try as you might, you cannot remove the law and the prophets from the two commandments from which they hang. You can't separate the two.

Many want to divorce the two and say that the one replaces the other, that Yahushua was just pointing out that all of Yahweh's commandments have to do with loving Him, loving Yahweh, loving one another.

If we refuse to obey a commandment written in the Torah, in the law, then, based on Yahushua's words here, we're not walking in love.

No matter how hard someone might try to convince you otherwise, if you're breaking one of the commandments written in Yahweh's law, you're either failing to love Yahweh or failing to love your fellow man or both.

Yahweh wants us to love Him and love one another, truly, from the heart, from the soul, with all the strength we have. Why don't we examine together how Yahweh Himself defines love and see what we can learn from it?

The Ten Commandments, I think, are arranged in an order of importance and priority. The first four and possibly five commandments have to do with loving Yahweh, and the remainder of the commandments have to do with loving our fellow man.

Exodus 20:12 - "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which YAHWEH your Elohim is giving you.

This commandment you might also connect to loving Yahweh, not just our fellow man, because, of course, Yahweh is our heavenly Father, and He's the one that set our father and mother in the place of honor, so it's connected together.

The remainder of the Ten Commandments listed in Exodus 20:13-17:

Exodus 20:13 - "You shall not murder.

Exodus 20:14 - "You shall not commit adultery.

Exodus 20:15 - "You shall not steal.

Exodus 20:16 - "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

Exodus 20:17 - "You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that [is] your neighbor's."

The last commandment can only be broken in someone's heart. Some say the law written in stone were external commandments. Not true. They were internal. The tenth commandment about not coveting your neighbor's wife, Yahushua repeated, when He said, "If you lust in your heart, you've committed adultery already in your heart."

Yahweh sees our hearts and will judge accordingly. Mainstream Christianity and almost every other religion in the world will teach that we should do these last commandments here, that we should refrain from murder, and stealing, and lying. Those are all honorable things. If you did break those commandments, we would have societal mayhem.

We'd have anarchy and all kinds of problems. That's why we have the problems we have today. It is, for the most part, honorable to love your neighbor and to keep these commands. You'll receive very little persecution for doing these things.

According to Yahushua, the most important commandments we ought to do and keep, the most important commandment is to love Yahweh with all our heart, soul, and might. If you start to do that, you can expect persecution.

But the truth is, brethren, you cannot say you even love your neighbor unless you do love Yahweh.

1John 5:2 - By this we know that we love the children of Elohim, when we love Elohim and keep His commandments.

1John 5:3 - For this is the love of Elohim, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.

Do you see the tying together of love and commands? You can't say you love the children of Yahweh unless you love Yahweh and keep His commandments.

The first four commandments mentioned in the Ten Commandments deal with how we love Yahweh, our mighty One.

Exodus 20:3 - "You shall have no other gods before Me.

There is to be nothing between us and Yahweh. Yahweh needs to come first in everything we do. Without this, trying to keep the remaining commandments isn't going to do us a whole lot of good.

This commandment is often broken today, because many will set aside the scriptures, and set aside any relationship with Yahweh, and just trust their pastor, or their favorite Bible teacher to teach them everything they need to know to get to heaven.

Others will put an organization before their own relationship with Yahweh. You've got to watch out for that one. Still others will choose to fear man more than they fear Yahweh. These are very dangerous things. Spiritually, they're very dangerous.

In scripture, Yahweh often would deal very harshly with those who walked away from that commandment. Today, there isn't a whole lot of people bowing down before graven images and idols and things like that, but there are still idols in the hearts of men and women out there.

Many will spend more time focusing on sports figures, TV, movies, money, games, and numerous lusts, than they do hearing the words of Yahweh and seeking His will.

Yahweh does not want nor does He deserve second place to anything. He is already in the number one position. We just need to live our lives in recognition of that.

In a sense, any time we choose to willfully and rebelliously sin, we are putting ourselves before Yahweh. If Yahweh commanded anything in His Word, even outside the Ten Commandments, and we choose to ignore it and break it, we are breaking one of the Ten.

If we know Yahweh says do not eat that which is unclean, and we choose to do it anyway, and say we don't care, and we're going to do it anyway, we're putting self before Yahweh. In that sense, we are breaking the first commandment, making ourselves elohim.

Exodus 20:4 - "You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or 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;

Exodus 20:5 - 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 on the children to the third and fourth [generations] of those who hate Me,

One thing you might not think about, but often the children of this generation are taught that when they're fearful, when they're afraid, to grab hold of a stuffed animal or teddy bear or some inanimate object, and they'll feel secure.

I don't believe we ought to do that. I believe we need to teach them to pray to Yahweh and to cleave to Him and let our faith be built in Him, not in some object. That's the spirit of idolatry. That's the spirit behind idols, to begin with, as if they had some kind of power. They don't have it.

That little pile of stuffing and cloth isn't going to save anyone. Observances that have their roots in idolatry also is very rampant in a lot of mainstream Christian worship, including pagan holidays, crosses, steeples, which seem to be rooted in obelisks, Sunday worship--the list goes on. We need to flee from all forms of idolatry.

1Corinthians 10:13 - No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but Elohim [is] faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear [it].

1Corinthians 10:14 - Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.

If we're to flee from idolatry, then we need to have no idolatry at all in our hearts, in our worship toward Yahweh, and the roots of our observances. Covetousness is also considered to be a form of idolatry.

Colossians 3:5 - Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.

We can set up idols in our hearts by having an unhealthy desire for things that belong to others, whether it be another person's car, another person's house, or another person's wife. That's the root behind pornography.

Covetousness is running out of control in this society. We need to be aware of these things. Covetousness is why everyone is in debt. They want it now.

It was said to Saul:

1Samuel 15:23 - For rebellion [is as] the sin of witchcraft, And stubbornness [is as] iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of YAHWEH, He also has rejected you from [being] king."

Stubbornness is as idolatry. If a person is stubborn, they refuse to repent, they refuse to obey the Word of Yahweh, they stubbornly refuse reproof, as Saul was doing here in this chapter, they are setting themselves up as the idol, putting their own ways before Yahweh in their rebellion.

Exodus 20:7 - "You shall not take the name of YAHWEH your Elohim in vain, for YAHWEH will not hold [him] guiltless who takes His name in vain.

That's another commandment often broken today. I realize many take the third commandment here to mean that we should not use the heavenly Father's name alongside some kind of swear word or profanity. I can certainly see where it could mean that.

Others would say we take His name on our lips, and yet we live this life of sin, and we're causing others to blaspheme the way because of that, and we're taking His name in vain, as well.

I could see that. But there's another way that we can take His name in vain that we need to examine. Let's look at the third commandment here as written in the King James Bible. I'm going to quote from the King James Bible. I don't agree with it.

It says, "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. For the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh His name in vain."

The word in Hebrew that's translated "vain" in this passage is Strong's word 7723. If you look in the Strong's Lexicon, it says, "It means in the sense of desolating, evil, literally ruin, or morally or figuratively idolatry, as false, subjective, uselessness."

Isn't that interesting? Uselessness and in the sense of desolating. Let's look up the word "vain" in Webster's Dictionary.

What is has there is "Having no real substance, value, or importance, empty, void, worthless, unsatisfying, vain excuse, destitute of forge or efficacy, effecting no purpose, fruitless, ineffectual, as vain toil, as vain attempt."

We have several definitions here: uselessness, desolation, destruction, emptiness, worthlessness, having no real substance, value, or purpose.

Let me ask a question. What greater way to bring Yahweh's name to uselessness, to desolation, to destruction, to emptiness, worthlessness, and having no real substance, value, or purpose, than to take His name out of the Bible completely and substitute it with some title of our own choosing?

Those who have chosen to practice this are doing just that. The practice of putting "The Lord" in place of Yahweh in the Holy Scriptures is so widespread and so complete that very few people even know He has a personal name.

Yahweh chose, by His Spirit, by His own inspiration, to place His name in the scriptures nearly 7,000 times. Each one of those 7,000 times, man has come in there and replaced it with a title, such as "The Lord" or "God" in 99% of all translations.

It doesn't seem right. In fact, most translations, if you were to read the third commandment in most translations, the way they wrote it out, they actually transgressed the third commandment in the way they wrote it.

In most translations, the third commandment is actually a transgression of itself, because the third commandment forbids bringing His name to nothing; yet, most translations do just that in that very verse.

If we truly do want to love Yahweh, we need to submit ourselves to His definition of love. If we want to keep the greatest commandment of all, which is to love Yahweh with all of our heart, then we need to keep the third commandment.

We need to let our minds be transformed by the scriptures, by the Word. Don't let society define for us what's important and what's not. Let's let the scriptures, the Ten Commandments, the words of Yahweh teach us what's important and what isn't.

If we want to keep the third commandment, if we want to love Yahweh, we would never participate in this practice of pulling Yahweh's name out of the Bible and replacing it with some false title that does not accurately convey His name at all.

Yahweh says we're not to add to, and we are not to take away from His Word. We don't have the authority to change one jot, one yod, one tittle. We have no authority to change anything.

In spite of what others may think, our love for Yahweh should be evidenced by the keeping of His commandment. We need to seek to restore that which Yahweh has placed there originally. We must be willing to set aside vain traditions, which are based on practices that are not scriptural, and be willing to walk in the original truth of Yahweh, just as He inspired it.

Let's look at the fourth commandment:

Exodus 20:8 - "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.

This is the one that many people wish were not in the Bible. They wish it wasn't included in the Ten Commandments, because they cry out so loudly against the removal of the Ten Commandments from public places here in the United States, and so this commandment included in the Ten is sort of an embarrassment to them, because they don't keep it.

It's very grievous the various ways people seek to find their ways out of this command. Many would rather stick their head in the sand and pretend it doesn't exist. It's included in the Ten Commandments.

If it wasn't important, it wouldn't be there. It's right up there ahead of the list of not murdering, not stealing, not committing adultery, not robbing from others. It's right there. If you were looking at the Ten Commandments, the greater commandments have to do with loving Yahweh.

It's ahead of that. It's even more important than that. I find it very grievous the various ways people try to get out of it.

Exodus 20:9 - Six days you shall labor and do all your work,

Exodus 20:10 - but the seventh day [is] the Sabbath of YAHWEH your Elohim. [In it] you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who [is] within your gates.

Exodus 20:11 - For [in] six days YAHWEH made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that [is] in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore YAHWEH blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.

It's a holy day. The Sabbath, we are commanded to remember the Sabbath. What is the Sabbath? If you look up the word "Sabbath," every place in the scriptures you look up the word "Sabbath," whether you're looking in the Old Testament or reading about the Sabbath in Acts, look up every place you find "the Sabbath," and tell me what day of the week is called the Sabbath.

You're going to find it's the seventh day of the week. One thing you could notice, if you look at what the scriptures say concerning the time Yahushua lived in, He never had to teach anyone to keep the Sabbath. It was already being kept, although to the extreme and in a wrong way.

Some like to twist Yahushua's words into saying it's okay to break the Sabbath now, because He didn't keep it. If He didn't keep it, that would mean He sinned, and He broke Yahweh's law, and He Himself was a sinner.

Yahushua did say the law and prophets are still hanging from the two great commandments. What He was correcting was the way that they interpreted the Sabbath, not the way Yahweh commanded.

It was good to heal on the Sabbath. That was not a breaking of the commandment to heal anyone. It's the way they interpreted it.

Before there was ever a written law, through Mosheh, Yahweh had made the seventh day of the week holy. He sanctified it at creation.

It's a holy day we are commanded to keep holy. We cannot make any other day of the week holy. We cannot create a Sabbath. We cannot created a sanctified day. Yahweh is the One who makes every day.

Isn't He the one that created days, to begin with? If I choose to keep another day holy that's not holy, I'm not keeping holy which He made holy.

If I had seven sheep, and I said, "Son, I want you to go out and sheer the seventh sheep and bring its wool to me, it's special, I'm going to set it apart for special us," and he went out, and looked at the seventh sheep, and he liked the wool on the first one better, and he sheared the wool off the first sheep, and he brought it to me, did he do what I asked him to do?

Did he perform my commandment? Of course now. If we are choosing to keep a day holy that is not holy, to begin with, then are we doing our Father's will? Of course not.

Some will say, "I trust Yahushua to keep that command for me. It says in scripture, 'Come to me, you who labour, I'll give you rest.' So I rest in Messiah."

How about my son? Could he just say, "Well, I just rested in Yahushua. He kept that commandment for me." This is attempts to explain away the clear commands of scripture.

Yahweh set apart the seventh day of the week so that we would keep it holy. Let's not disobey Him and choose another day for ourselves. These first four commandments written in the Ten Commandments have to do with loving Yahweh, and they are the most important for that reason.

I realize that they're not considered to be very important by our culture today. Many ignore them or put them in a second class set of commandments, suggesting, "I won't lose my salvation, if I break those commands," as if they are somewhere way down the priority list of things that are important.

Yahweh says loving Him is the most important commandment of all. Most religions will tell you, "Love your neighbor, love your neighbor!" But the faith of Yahweh says we're going to love Yahweh, not just our neighbor.

We look at how Yahweh reacted when the commandment was broken. How did He feel about it? Did He say, "Ah, well, I know my Son will keep it for you someday, so it's okay if you want to break it."? No, He took it seriously enough that the men that went out and gathered sticks or wood on the Sabbath, and Yahweh said, "Put them to death."

Many people are out there today crying out--all the gays out there are committing sins that are worthy of death. They should be put to death. They shouldn't even be here in the United States. They ought to be dealt with swiftly and severely.

The command to break the Sabbath carries the same sentence. It's just that you don't think it's very important. If you're going to do it for one, you've got to do it for everything. Yahweh feels the Sabbath command is just as important.

It used to be different. Yahushua didn't have to teach everyone to keep the Sabbath or feast days. They were already being kept.

He didn't need to teach a lot on those commandments that deal with loving or serving Yahweh, with the exception of the fact that many leaders were not serving Yahweh with their heart, but were seeking to receive glory and praise of men, which was self idolatry.

In those days, it was honorable to serve Yahweh, so much so that you could receive glory for having long tassels, long tzitzyot. Others would look at you and say, "Wow, he must really want to remember those commandments."

Today, if you walked around with the long tassels, you might get persecution. People might think you're a bit weird. What's happened is Yahushua dwelt on, quite a bit, the commandments having to do with loving your neighbor, which were often being changed and ignored to fit various situations.

The commandments dealing with loving your neighbor, they like to alter and change, based on their own situation ethics. One of many examples, Matthew 15:3:

Matthew 15:3 - He answered and said to them, "Why do you also transgress the commandment of Elohim because of your tradition?

Matthew 15:4 - "For Elohim commanded, saying, `Honor your father and your mother'; and, `He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.'

Matthew 15:5 - "But you say, `Whoever says to his father or mother, "Whatever profit you might have received from me [is] a gift [to Elohim]" --

Matthew 15:6 - `then he need not honor his father or mother.' Thus you have made the commandment of Elohim of no effect by your tradition.

They would give a gift to the temple or something like that, but they would still use it and say, "Well, if you were going to be profited by me, it's a gift. You can't use it. It's mine."

They did not honor their father and mother, allowed their father and mother to become poor, and breaking the fifth commandment. You've made the commandment of none effect by your tradition.

Matthew 15:7 - "Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying:

Matthew 15:8 - `These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with [their] lips, But their heart is far from Me.

Matthew 15:9 - And in vain they worship Me, Teaching [as] doctrines the commandments of men.'"

Isn't this the same situation we deal with today, traditions of men replacing commandments of Yahweh? In those days, they ignored the fifth commandment by their tradition. Today, people ignore the fourth commandment by their tradition. Different commandment, same problem.

In fact, they regularly break the first four commandments, so they may keep their tradition. Worship and observances with roots in idolatry is tolerated. Replacing Yahweh's name is tolerated, making it desolate and useless. Breaking the Sabbath is tolerated.

Many say, "We don't have to do that commandment anymore, because..." Just put whatever excuse you want in that.

In the first century, Yahushua never had to tell people to keep the Sabbath day, to keep the feasts, eat clean foods. They were already doing those things.

In fact, they were adding to Yahweh's law concerning these subjects and subtracting in other places. But what's happened today is a total shift and interpretation. The paradigm has completely gone the other way. All people seem to care about now is the commandments that have to do with loving our neighbor.

We need to do both. We need to love our neighbor, and we need to love Yahweh, which is the most important command.

If you love your neighbor, you're going to be accepted. You're not going to get much persecution. So that's what's often taught from the pulpit. That's all well and good, but what about loving Yahweh by keeping His commandments that have to do with how we serve Him and how we please Him?

That's all been forgotten. All they care about is the heart. "Well, He knows my heart." That's important, I agree, but we shouldn't be misguided to the point that our own heart deceives us. We need to let our hearts be conformed to the words of our Creator.

People are too busy today listening to their own heart in terms of what they want to obey, rather than listening to Yahweh's Spirit.

Jeremiah 17:9 - "The heart [is] deceitful above all [things], And desperately wicked; Who can know it?

Proverbs 28:26 - He who trusts in his own heart is a fool, But whoever walks wisely will be delivered.

The words written in scripture are spirit and life. Yahushua said, "It's the spirit that quickens or gives life. The flesh profits nothing. The word I speak to you, they are spirit, and they are life."

Yahweh does not want us to look at His Word and then decide whether or not it matters, depending upon our heart. He wants us to look at His Word and say, "I want to conform myself to Your Word. I want to love the way You say I am to love, whether my heart tells me the opposite or not. What my heart says doesn't matter. It's what Yahweh has spoken."

Because He wrote those words so that we would learn how to love Him. Men today have transgressed the laws of Yahweh. They say all that matters is your heart. You change the ordinances of Yahweh, like keeping Easter, instead of Passover, and they've broken the everlasting covenant. They say that its precepts are all done away with. The book of Isaiah prophesied this was going to be the case.

Isaiah 24:1 - Behold, YAHWEH makes the earth empty and makes it waste, Distorts its surface And scatters abroad its inhabitants.

Isaiah 24:2 - And it shall be: As with the people, so with the priest; As with the servant, so with his master; As with the maid, so with her mistress; As with the buyer, so with the seller; As with the lender, so with the borrower; As with the creditor, so with the debtor.

Isaiah 24:3 - The land shall be entirely emptied and utterly plundered, For YAHWEH has spoken this word.

Isaiah 24:4 - The earth mourns [and] fades away, The world languishes [and] fades away; The haughty people of the earth languish.

Isaiah 24:5 - The earth is also defiled under its inhabitants, Because they have transgressed the laws, Changed the ordinance, Broken the everlasting covenant.

Isaiah 24:6 - Therefore the curse has devoured the earth, And those who dwell in it are desolate. Therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, And few men [are] left.

Some might say, "Well, that covenant back then, wasn't that just for the Israelites? We're Gentiles. We're under the new covenant now." Yahweh said:

Jeremiah 31:31 - "Behold, the days are coming, says YAHWEH, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah --

Who is the new covenant with? It's with Israel, and it's with Judah. If we remove ourselves from the old covenant and say, "I'm not an Israelite," then by the same logic we need to remove ourselves from the new covenant, as well as the old covenant.

You can't take yourself out of the old covenant, because you're not Israel, and then claim the new covenant. The same parties are involved.

I invite everyone who has been influenced by the traditions and interpretations of the Christian church fathers to go further. Look to the teachings and example of Yahushua the Messiah.

Look to the teachings and example, not of Christian church fathers or anyone who came later. Look to the teaching and the examples of the first century assembly. Don't look to the doctrines and commandments and philosophies of men.

If you compare the way things are today with the way the leaders deceived the people into following their doctrines in Yahushua's day, that's one thing that did not change.

Yahushua did not come to abolish the law and set a bunch of manmade doctrines in its place. He came to magnify the law and make it honorable again, because they had done the very thing which is being done today in our age.

Isaiah 42:21 - YAHWEH is well pleased for His righteousness' sake; He will exalt the law and make [it] honorable.

The teachers of that day that Yahushua was walking the earth and teaching men, the people of that day had made the law a burden that was so difficult to keep, it was impossible, because they had added their own laws on top of it and claimed that was from Yahweh.

Different method, but same problem today. You take out the law of Yahweh, and you create your own law, and you're doing the same thing.

Sure, you're making it easier. That's not what Yahweh wants, either. He wants us to cleave to the truth, to cleave to His teaching. That's what the word "law" means: teaching and instruction. He wants us to cleave to that.

Isaiah 42:22 - But this [is] a people robbed and plundered; All of them are snared in holes, And they are hidden in prison houses; They are for prey, and no one delivers; For plunder, and no one says, "Restore!"

So it is today. The people are robbed. They're plundered by Malachi 3:10, quoting preachers of darkness. We see a people who are robbed by the thieves who not only steal their money, but often also their salvation.

Beware of merchant preachers. Beware of hirelings that are just hired to be your shepherd. They're smooth salesmen, and they keep men hidden inside the prison walls of the local church, the prison houses that confine them, lest the Spirit of Yahweh would lead them out into a greater understanding of Yahweh's ways.

Churches are set up to keep things the way they are. If anything changes, they're going to lose their whole group. They're going to lose their congregation.

If they start keeping Sabbath on the correct time, what's going to happen to the church? The whole thing is going to crumble.

Things are designed to keep things the way they are. We need to stay out of that. I'm sorry I have to be so blunt, but Yahushua was very blunt about the leaders of His day, and I guess I need to be blunt also.

The one time He resorted to a physical action and got the whips out and drove people out of the temple was when He saw the temple full of moneychangers.

John 2:15 - When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers' money and overturned the tables.

John 2:16 - And He said to those who sold doves, "Take these things away! Do not make My Father's house a house of merchandise!"

Our ministry is not one of exchanging money. That's not the hallmark of what a ministry is to be. Freely we have received; freely give.

We are called to be a people who are not caught up in the money game. We preach the truth, and that be it. If you want a copy of The Scriptures on this website, you're going to get it at my cost. I cannot in good conscience make money off of Yahweh's Word.

I have never put my hand in any contribution of Yahweh's people. That is for Yahweh's work only, and that's the way it needs to be.

If I was out there in some city walking around and teaching the Word, and someone took me into their home and provided my food and shelter, that would be great. That's the way it should be.

But multimillion dollar ministries, if you want to hear the Word, you've got to pay for DVDs, that's not the way it should be. I don't believe Yahweh wants any ministry to be a house of merchandise.

We are told to seek the truth and love Yahweh, no matter what men may say. Even if we are the last person on the earth who loves Yahweh, and cleaves to Him, and seeks that purity and righteousness, we still need to do it.

Thankfully, there are many people who do still love Yahweh, and many of you are listening to this broadcast today. But there are others who do love Yahweh, and they are still within the walls of churches, ignorantly doing what they believe is good and right to do.

We need to love them and choose to bring the message of restoration to the few who are willing to hear. We need to bring the truth about the love for Yahweh that we're supposed to have to all who are willing to hear it.

His commandments, His way of love, His way of life and truth needs to be restored. His Sabbath needs to be restored. His name needs to be restored.

What it truly means to worship Him in spirit and truth needs to be restored. Fathers' hearts need to be turned to their children. Children's hearts need to be turned to their fathers.

We have lost so much in this age. It's not the time to go up and set up some kind of denomination which presumptuously says, "Oh, we've found all the truth now."

Why build another prison house? Let's keep our hearts and minds open. Seek Yahweh, find the ancient paths, loving Him with all of our hearts, loving our wives, loving our children, loving all those around us with Yahweh's love that He revealed in Yahushua the Messiah, a balanced walk of loving Yahweh and loving our fellow man.

It's time that we share the Good News that Yahweh desires love from us, too, in His ways, not our own ways, because that truly is Good News.

The One who loved us, while we were yet sinners, loved us in the hope that we would no longer choose sin, but that we would choose to love Him in return.

Don't we need to find out what it means to love Him in return? Don't ever forget, it's our sincere, heartfelt love for Yahweh with all of our hearts that needs to be the driving force behind our desire to keep His commandments--not desire to be men pleasers or religion keepers, but a true love for Yahweh.

Let's fulfill Yahushua's commandment to go out and make disciples of all nations and proclaim the original Good News which was once delivered to the saints.

It is for the saints that Yahushua tarries and does not return quite yet. He has more people He wants to seal, more sheep He wants to bring into His fold. I'm thankful He waited for us.

Let's seek out the sheep, the ones that are lost, and expose the truth, thereby hastening His return.

They may call us evildoers for contending and for disrupting their unity in error, but we must, because we love them. We must do as Yahweh leads us to do.

We have a chance to reach those who are lost, and we can do all of these things in His name. We can magnify His name and make it honorable again. We can magnify His Word, His law, and make it honorable again, and we can keep His name pure and separate.

When we do so, our rewards will be beyond measure. Let's proclaim the highest standard of love written in the Torah and prophets. Yahushua said, "If you love me, you will keep my commandments."

John 14:15 - "If you love Me, keep My commandments.

What were His commandments? Remember the two commandments? Love Yahweh and love one another. He confirmed them, and He confirmed that the Torah and prophets hang off of those two great commands.

Brethren, they're still there. Yahweh never took the bolt cutters and cut them off. They're still there. Yahushua taught and revealed to us:

Matthew 28:18 - And Yahushua came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.

Matthew 28:19 - "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

Matthew 28:20 -

What were the things Yahushua commanded? The two great commandments, including the law and prophets. Unless we teach everyone to observe those commandments, there are no disciples, because the word "disciple" means "one who is taught."

Go, therefore, and teach all nations whatever Yahweh has commanded. Let's remember the two commandments that Yahushua said were so important and the law and prophets which hang from them.

It's high time that we lift up that standard unto all the world. It's high time that the law of Yahweh be lifted up as a standard of love for all men to live by.

Brethren, let's proclaim the highest standard of love, in His name, the standard of love found in His everlasting Word.

Psalms 119:126 - [It is] time for [You] to act, O YAHWEH, [For] they have regarded Your law as void.

Psalms 119:127 - Therefore I love Your commandments More than gold, yes, than fine gold!

Psalms 119:128 - Therefore all [Your] precepts [concerning] all [things] I consider [to be] right; I hate every false way.

Psalms 119:129 - PE. Your testimonies are wonderful; Therefore my soul keeps them.

Psalms 119:130 - The entrance of Your words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple.

Psalms 119:131 - I opened my mouth and panted, For I longed for Your commandments.

Psalms 119:132 - Look upon me and be merciful to me, As Your custom [is] toward those who love Your name.

Psalms 119:133 - Direct my steps by Your word, And let no iniquity have dominion over me.

Psalms 119:134 - Redeem me from the oppression of man, That I may keep Your precepts.

Psalms 119:135 - Make Your face shine upon Your servant, And teach me Your statutes.

Psalms 119:136 - Rivers of water run down from my eyes, Because [men] do not keep Your law.

With that, I will close. May Yahweh bless you, and may He have mercy on us all.