10/21/2005 Sabbath Meeting Transcript

Matthew 28:18 - And Yahushua came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

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

Matthew 28:20 - Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the age.

"The Great Commission" it is often called

Much of the religious world makes a habit of seeking out others to convert them to their religion

Yet, Yahushua's command isn't to go out and make a bunch of "converts"

He says, "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations"

Teach them what?

"Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you"

For only then will they truly be "Disciples"

The word "Disciples" means "Ones who are taught"

We are called to teach the commandments of Yahushua the Messiah.

What were His commandments?

John 1:1 - In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with Elohim, and the Word was Elohim.

Yahushua is called "the Word"

John 1:14 - And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

In truth, He is the whole word.. not just what is found in the "New Testament"

The new covenant involves the placement of Yahweh's law in the heart

The word "Law" in Hebrew is "Torah", which actually means "teaching, instruction"

Isaiah 8:16 - Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples.

Isaiah 8:17 - And I will wait upon YAHWEH, that hideth his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him.

Isaiah 8:18 - Behold, I and the children whom YAHWEH hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from YAHWEH of hosts, which dwelleth in mount Zion.

This verse 18 is quoted in the book of Hebrews 2:13 as referring to Yahushua

Isaiah 8:19 - And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their Elohim? for the living to the dead?

Beware of peeping and muttering spirits. Instead, remember!

Isaiah 8:20 - To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.

Brethren, the great commission involves proclaiming Yahweh's Torah to all nations! It is the Torah that we learn, and thus become "taught ones" of Yahushua the Messiah. For He is the living Torah, and it is He who seeks to live in each one of us.. placing the Torah in our inward parts as the new covenant declares.

In truth, all of Yahweh's word is actually "Torah", for it is all His instruction, His teaching, His way of life and love

Matthew 4:4 - But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of YAHWEH.

All of Yahweh's word (Torah) has one aim in mind

LOVE

I recently wrote a tract for the purposes of sharing it with unbelievers

So many unbelievers view the bible as a book of "hard to do" commandments that appears to be nothing more than "bondage" to them.

But if we can share the important point that every commandment is written in the context of love, it helps them to see things from the proper perspective

So I would like to share this tract tonight with all of you.. though I may add some things to it as I go

At the end of tonight's study, I will share with everyone the URL where you can view and download this tract in HTML or Microsoft Publisher format.

The tract is entitled "The True Way of Love"

On the front, it says "This may be the most important thing you will ever read. You have this pamphlet because someone really, truly cares about you."

"Ever wonder why we live in a world with such sorrow, emptiness and pain? Through it all, you need to know that there is some good news for us: It will not be like this forever!"

“Thy Word Is Truth” (John 17:17b)

Every day, archaeological discoveries are confirming that the bible is indeed a true and trustworthy book. With the Dead Sea Scroll biblical manuscripts dating all the way back to 200 BCE, we not only have confirmation that the bible been preserved with remarkable accuracy, but also that hundreds of biblical prophecies have come true

The scriptures say the days are coming when there will be an end to all that is evil in the world. Our Creator will right all the wrongs and cause everyone to walk in the ways of love and peace.

If we choose to walk in the ways of love and peace now, we can be saved from this doomed world where pleasures are only temporary, but pain and sadness our frequent companion.

The reason why we are in this situation simple. We have failed to love one another and we have failed to love the One who created us with His definition of love. Our failure to love is called sin.

Although every one of us have sinned, the Heavenly Father has shown His love for us by sending His only begotten Son into this world to suffer and die for the sins of the world.

The Messiah willingly allowed our sin to be placed on Him, resulting in His torture and death. But because He did not sin, He was raised again and has the power to give us everlasting life in the coming age.

We only need to make the choice to love Him in return by believing in the Him and seeking to walk in the ways of love rather than our own ways. How could anyone turn down such an act of love? It is a wonderful opportunity! His ways are the ways of truth, purity, life and joy. But the ways of man are the ways of falsehood, corruption, death and sadness.

For this reason:

“...Cursed is the man who trusts in man…” (Jeremiah 17:5)

Trusting in man for salvation has resulted in thousands of churches, denominations and beliefs amongst those who claim to follow the scriptures.

But what would happen if we chose to set aside thousands of years of man’s tradition, corruption and watered down faith, and just went straight to the words of our Creator as the source of understanding the ways of truth and love?

And what if we decided that we were not going to care what people thought of us if we found something that was quite unusual or out of the mainstream? Wouldn’t that be a good way to show love to our Heavenly Father?

“And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul...” (Matthew 10:28a)

So if we do love Him, we should seek to live in a way that honors Him, no matter what. After all, when He puts an end to this age, only His ways will stand. Our life here but is a speck in the universe compared to eternity. When this short life is over, man’s wayward opinions and false traditions will not stand.

FALSE TRADITIONS OF MEN

One of the many false traditions of men is the complete removal of our Heavenly Father’s name from the English translations of scripture. Just as you and I have a name, so does our Heavenly Father: Yet, because of this, few people even know His name.

“I am Yahweh, that is My name; And My glory I will not give to another, nor My praise to carved images.” (Isaiah 42:8)

Yet, in most bibles, it will say “I am the LORD, that is my name”. But this is not true. Man chose to remove the Heavenly Father’s name and put “the LORD” in its place. This is simple historical fact:

“Yahweh, the God of the Israelites, his name being revealed to Moses as four Hebrew consonants (YHWH) …. the divine name was increasingly regarded as too sacred to be uttered; it was thus replaced vocally in the synagogue ritual by the Hebrew word Adonai ("My Lord)” Encyclopedia Britannica, under the heading “Yahweh”.

So this tradition continues to this day. But it isn’t very loving toward our Heavenly Father to take His name out of the bible, is it?

Yet it is no secret. The translators of most bibles admit that they have done this if you just read the bible preface. His name is actually in scripture nearly 7,000 times, most often replaced with the title “LORD” or “GOD”.

So keep this in mind: Our Heavenly Father really does have a name. His name is “Yahweh”, and He wants us to use it:

“Oh, give thanks to Yahweh! Call upon His name; Make known His deeds among the peoples!” (Psalm 105:1)

“And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of Yahweh shall be saved.” (Joel 2:32a)

[Also see Acts 4:12, Psalm 68:4 and Isaiah 52:6|

We have also discovered that men have changed the name of the Messiah to “Jesus”. But His actual name is “Yahushua” (pronounced Yah-oo-SHU-a). The name Yahushua carries a very important meaning which is not found in the name “Jesus”:

Yahu = Yahueh/Yahweh (the Heavenly Father’s Name)

Shua = Saves

Therefore, “Yahushua” means “Yahweh saves” or “Yahweh (is) salvation”. Thus, scripture begins to make more sense when we read Yahweh’s words in the book of Matthew:

“And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Yahushua (Yahweh saves): for he shall save his people from their sins.” Matthew 1:21

So it was the Heavenly Father who named His Son and He had a really good reason for it. It isn’t very loving to change His Son’s name, is it?

Would you want someone to change your son’s name?

Yahweh wants us to walk in love, so why not do it? Why not leave His word alone and let it speak to us, just as He inspired it?

Of course, many aren’t aware of these things. But once we learn about it, we should walk in love rather than false traditions.

ALL OF HIS WORD IS TRUTH

Yahushua said:

“You shall love Yahweh your Mighty One with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets." (Matthew 22:37-40)

Another false tradition we have discovered is the “Christian” belief that we do not need to keep Yahweh’s law (commandments) anymore. But notice that the above scripture says all of the law and prophets (the law is His commandments) hang from the two greatest commandments which are to love Yahweh and love one another.

This means every biblical commandment was given to help us learn what it means to love our Heavenly Father and love our fellow man. In the commandments, He defines what love truly is. For if He had only given us the two commandments, everyone would just decide for themselves what love is.

For instance, some could have claimed that committing adultery is an act of love, but He says that we should not commit adultery.

The Ten commandments also teach that we are to keep the Sabbath day holy. When Yahweh created the heavens and the earth, he rested on the 7th day of the week. He blessed that day and made it holy so that we would also rest on the 7th day of the week.

It would not be very loving to profane the day that he made holy by choosing to work on that day, would it?

Ignoring what Yahweh has done and choosing to do our own thing is not love.

There are many other commandments as well, and they are all good for us. He knew our bodies needed to rest.

“If you love Me, keep My commandments.” (John 14:15)

“For this is the love of Yahweh, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.” (1 John 5:3)

Don’t let anyone tell you different. Man thinks His commandments are a burden so he tries to find ways to avoid keeping them.

But His commandments are not burdensome at all, especially when we consider all that He has done for us.

He created a very beautiful world for us to live in. He has given us every good thing we have. He also gives us life and hope in spite of man’s choice to ignore Him and choose his own way. He loves us very much.

He only wants us to love Him in return and choose life. How could we ever turn that down?

There are awesome and wonderful things awaiting those who have chosen the way of truth and love. Find yourself a bible and read Revelation 21 & 22 for a glimpse!

Indeed, a day of judgment is coming:

“And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, Some to everlasting life, Some to shame and everlasting contempt. Those who are wise shall shine Like the brightness of the firmament, And those who turn many to righteousness Like the stars forever and ever.” (Daniel 12:2-3 )

So if you desire eternal life, and if you see the foolishness of this world and desire to be delivered from the bondage of sin, consider these very important words from the scriptures which tell us what we should do:

“Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Yahushua Messiah for the forgiveness of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 2:38)

To repent means to turn away from a life of sin and turn toward walking in righteousness. It is a decision to leave the ways of this world and walk in the ways of Yahweh. We need forgiveness for past sins and a true commitment to walk in love by keeping His commandments

When we receive the Spirit through baptism, Yahushua the Messiah lives in us and gives us the power to walk in His love:

“...it is no longer I who live, but Messiah lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of Yahweh, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20b)

Do you desire a new life?

A life of peace?

Peace only comes when we are at peace with our Creator. He wants you to come to Him so that He may cleanse you from all sin, no matter how bad the sin:

“Come now, and let us reason together," Says Yahweh, "Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool.” (Isaiah 1:18)

We can believe that the most powerful being in the universe is able to purify us and take away our sins.

We can also believe that the day is coming when those who refuse His offer of love will find out where the end of their road takes them:

“And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.” (Revelation 20:15)

After all, it would not be very loving for our Heavenly Father to force those who walk in love to live forever with those who refuse to walk in love, would it?

"He will hear the sincere prayer of those who receive His Son and are committed to walk in love. Pray, seek baptism and read the scriptures. He will guide you!"

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May Yahweh's name be magnified, and may He use His word, and our very lives to reach out to others who need to know the way of life

For it is not walking in love, my brethren, to ignore the call to reach out to a damned world. It is an act of love to show this world a better way. The wonderful, awesome ways of Yahweh!

May Yahweh bless you, and may He have mercy on us all!