Transcript of Sabbath Meeting - 10/27/2000

It is 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.

This, I believe is truth

1Corinthians 2:9 - But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which Elohim hath prepared for them that love him.

Romans 8:28 - And we know that all things work together for good to them that love YAHWEH, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

While it is true that loving Yahweh and loving our neighbor are foundations of our faith, we must be sure we have a scriptural understanding of love.

There are many evil things that wear the cloak of love

Nearly all the major religions focus on loving our neighbor, yet they are walking in darkness. Why?

What is the difference between what we should believe and what other religions believe?

Firstly, we love and worship Yahweh. Secondly, we know how to love Yahweh and our neighbor in truth because we have proper teaching on this from Yahweh's word, His law

For example..

Mothers who choose to murder their children in the womb often use the cloak of "love" to justify their wickedness by saying, "This child would not be brought into a happy world where I would have the ability to support them, therefore I love my child by not bringing it into this world".

Thus, they justify by "love" even the murder of their own children!

Why not kill them when they come out of the womb?

How about at age 2 or 3?

Their physical location doesn't matter

There are other examples of people who do wickedness, yet as long as they can find some way to say it is love, they are accepted by the world.

We all need to beware of this!

I believe that Satan lives in a world of greys. It's often the grey area that he does his work in. It is when something seems to be neither black nor white that he can decieve

So we can see that for the most part, it is honorable in the world to TRY loving their neighbor...but by their own standards.

Whether you do it or not doesn't matter so much...as long as you try.

Another common misunderstanding (even among believers) is that if you rebuke others for committing sins, that you do not love them.

So many times we hear "don't force your morality on me"

Yet, part of loving our neighbor is to rebuke them for sin.

Leviticus 19:17 - Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him.

Leviticus 19:18 - Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am YAHWEH.

Revelation 3:18 - "I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see.

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

If we love a person, we would not want to see them walking in sin..we wouldn't want them walking down a dead end road and we would encourage them to repent

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.

1Timothy 5:20 - Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear.

Proverbs 9:8 - Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee: rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee.

Psalms 141:5 - Let the righteous smite me; it shall be a kindness: and let him reprove me; it shall be an excellent oil, which shall not break my head: for yet my prayer also shall be in their calamities.

We are led to believe just the opposite in this day and age.

It is obvious that man has lost the definition of love.

Both in the world and even within those who we might call brethren..get confused over it's definition and meaning

How would we define love?

It seems that everyone has their own understanding of what it means to love

But surely there must be a truth in meaning somewhere. Let's look at One Example..

Yahshua the Messiah is the perfect example

He is the ultimate pattern of righteousness. What understanding did He have?

Let's examine a comment that He made concerning the law of Yahweh:

Matthew 22:36 - Rabbi, which is the great commandment in the law?

Matthew 22:37 - Yahushua said unto him, Thou shalt love YAHWEH thy Elohim with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

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

Matthew 22:39 - And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

Matthew 22:40 - On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

All the commandments written have to do with loving Yahweh and/or loving our neighbor.

Some would say that if you do these 2 commandments, you need not follow the Torah/Law...

...and some even say that they do away with the law

But these 2 commandments are FROM the law!

Leviticus 19:18 - Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am YAHWEH.

Deuteronomy 6:5 - And thou shalt love YAHWEH thy Elohim with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

But it is also true that if you break one of the commandments found in the Torah that you are also breaking these 2 as well!

Yahushua was pointing out that all of Yahweh's commandments had to do with loving Yahweh and loving our neighbor.

Matthew 22:40 - On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

Brothers and sisters..tonite I would like to say as I often say to people:

"Forget not to love Yahweh!"

You will find portions of this study on the home page

But I have more to share tonight

Yahweh's word has a much higher standard than does the world.

Let's examine the Ten Commandments that have to do with loving our neighbor:

Exodus 20:12 - Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which YAHWEH thy Elohim giveth thee.

Exodus 20:13 - Thou shalt not kill.

Exodus 20:14 - Thou shalt not commit adultery.

Exodus 20:15 - Thou shalt not steal.

Exodus 20:16 - Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.

Exodus 20:17 - Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.

Now mainstream christianity (and even many other religions) do usually teach that we should do these last 6 commandments.

This is fine, HOWEVER the MOST important commandment according to Yahshua is that we love Yahweh with all our heart, soul and might.

It is the first and greatest commandment

You cannot love your neighbor if you hate Yahweh

Let's examine the first four of these ten commandments dealing with loving Yahweh (some might say the 5th commandment applied to Yahweh also and I agree)..

Exodus 20:1 - And Elohim spake all these words, saying,

Exodus 20:3 - Thou shalt have no other elohim before me.

Exodus 20:2 - I am YAHWEH thy Elohim, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

Exodus 20:3 - Thou shalt have no other elohim before me.

Exodus 20:4 - Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:

Exodus 20:5 - Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I YAHWEH thy Elohim am a jealous Elohim, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;

Some think that Idolatry isn't all that prevalent today

But Idolatry is a real problem today also!

Paganism is rampant in alot of christian worship including the festivals, the crosses, the steeples (obelisks), the SUNday worship, Santa (Satan) Claus, etc etc :( We have covered some of these things in past meetings.

But there is another aspect to this commandment.

I believe that if anyone knowingly sins, no matter what that sin is...they are also committing idolatry

Colossians 3:5 - Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:

It is the desire of self over the desire of Yahweh

Putting oneself on the pedestal is what we do when we choose our own will over Yahweh's will

So we do need to beware of these things!

Colossians 3:6 - For which things' sake the wrath of YAHWEH cometh on the children of disobedience:

Colossians 3:7 - In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them.

Colossians 3:8 - But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.

1Samuel 15:23 - For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of YAHWEH, he hath also rejected thee from being king.

So any time that we refuse to obey the word of Yahweh, we are setting OURSELVES up as a deity and putting our own ways before Him in our rebellion

Therefore if we think that it is only the ten commandments that we must obey, we should think twice.

For instance, Yahweh's word says not to eat unclean animals. If we refuse...we are also disobeying one of the Ten commandments in our rebellion to His word

Let's look at another commandment often ignored today...

Many take the third commandment to mean that we should not curse Yahweh's name. It certainly does mean this.

However it also means that we should not replace His name with a substitute such as "the Lord" ..

Deuteronomy 5:11 - Thou shalt not take the name of YAHWEH thy Elohim in vain: for YAHWEH will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

This Hebrew word is "Shaw" which means desolating, vain, vanity, or falsehood.

Now let us look here in these same ten commandments where we will find this same Hebrew word but it is translated differently:

Deuteronomy 5:20 - Neither shalt thou bear false witness against thy neighbour.

If we subsitute Yahweh's name for something else are we not being a false witness?

Are we not promoting falsehood..falsifying His name?

Yahweh's name has been taken out of the way thereby making it vain.

For instance, where the real scriptures say:

Isaiah 42:8 - I am YAHWEH: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.

Isaiah 42:8 - I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.

This is a falsification, a lie to the core

We should flee from such lies

It is breaking the 3rd commandment

In fact, in most bibles.. the 3rd commandment is a direct transgression of itself!

So if we want to keep the ten commandments, we should never replace Yahweh's name with a false one. Doing so would be breaking the third commandment.

Now let's consider the fourth commandment...

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

Exodus 20:9 - Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:

Exodus 20:10 - But the seventh day is the sabbath of YAHWEH thy Elohim: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:

Exodus 20:11 - For in six days YAHWEH made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore YAHWEH blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

It was already being kept...though wrongly

Yahshua didn't have to teach anyone that they must keep the feast day sabbaths

They were already being kept

In fact, Yahshua didn't need to teach a whole lot on those commandments that dealt with loving or serving Yahweh with the exception of the fact that the leaders were not serving Yahweh with their heart but rather to receive glory from men

In those days, it was honorable to serve Yahweh.

What He DID teach were commandments having to do with loving our neighbor which were being ignored or changed to fit the situation.

Here is one among many examples:

Matthew 15:3 - But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of YAHWEH by your tradition?

Matthew 15:4 - For YAHWEH commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death.

Matthew 15:5 - But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me;

Matthew 15:6 - And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of YAHWEH of none effect by your tradition.

Matthew 15:7 - Ye hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying,

Matthew 15:8 - This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.

Matthew 15:9 - But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

People say we don't have to do this commandment anymore because (insert excuse here).

This is the kind of teaching that Yahshua had to deal with.

He never had to tell them to 'keep the Sabbath, keep the feasts, eat clean foods' for they were already doing these things. In fact they were adding to Yahweh's law concerning these subjects but subtracting in other places!

But what has happened now is a total shift in interpretation

All that people seem to care about now is the commandments that have to do with loving our neighbor.

These are the ones that are accepted in this world for the most part. You will usually receive little persecution for doing them.

Now all we hear is "Love your neighbor...Love your neighbor..."

I say, "What about loving Yahweh by keeping the commandments that have to do with how we worship Him?"

This has all been forgotten!

People have done a complete 180 degree shift of direction compared to the people of that time.

All they care about is the heart. This is important, I agree..But we shouldn't be misguided to the point that our own heart decieves us

Jeremiah 17:9 - The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

Indeed the word of Yahweh IS Spirit

Jeremiah 6:63 -

John 6:63 - It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

Yahweh doesn't want us to look at His word and then decide whether or not it matters depending on our heart.

He wrote these words so that we would learn how to love HIM.

And this is the most important commandment of all!

Yet men have transgressed the laws of Yahweh (they say what matters is the heart), changed the ordinances of Yahweh (like keeping easter rather than Passover) and broken the everlasting covenant (they say it is done away with)

What will Yahweh do?

Isaiah prophesied that this would take place in the end times:

Isaiah 24:1 - Behold, YAHWEH maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof.

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 taker of usury so with the giver of usury to him.

Isaiah 24:3 - The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for YAHWEH hath spoken this word.

Isaiah 24:4 - The earth mourneth and fadeth away, the world languisheth and fadeth away, the haughty people of the earth do languish.

Isaiah 24:5 - The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.

Isaiah 24:6 - Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left.

Of course the source is none other than Satan but I believe that it may have started with the Jewish persecution of believers in Yahshua and also the Jewish uprising against Rome that sparked the eventual temple destruction in 70 CE.

Soon after this began a very ANTI Jewish anything

One "Church Father" wrote that anyone who keeps the Passover is a partaker of them that killed the Messiah!

The way of life that the Torah presents (keeping the 7th day Sabbath, the feast days, eating kosher foods, etc) became associated with the Jews

Therefore, anyone adhering to these things were considered "Jewish" and therefore were persecuted along with the Jews by the Greeks.

This is all historical fact. The greeks legislated their culture on everyone. The effects of this culture can be felt even today.

But we should recognize that the law is not a Jewish law. It is Yahweh's law.

This is not the Jewish way of life, this is the way of life that Yahweh would have us walk in! The Sabbath is HIS DAY:

Isaiah 58:13 - If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of YAHWEH, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:

We are commanded to KEEP it Holy...

We can't make it holy..only Yahweh can.. and He already did! So let's keep it holy!

Isaiah 58:14 - Then shalt thou delight thyself in YAHWEH; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of YAHWEH hath spoken it.

All of the commandments are HIS!

Exodus 16:28 - And YAHWEH said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws?

Psalms 119:18 - Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.

Psalms 119:19 - I am a stranger in the earth: hide not thy commandments from me.

So I invite all those who have been influenced by the traditions and interpretations of the "Christian Fathers" to serve Yahweh, not the doctrines and commandments of men.

When you compare the way things are today with the way the leaders decieved the people in Yahshua's day, this is one thing that has yet to change

Isaiah 42:22 - But this is a people robbed and spoiled; they are all of them snared in holes, and they are hid in prison houses: they are for a prey, and none delivereth; for a spoil, and none saith, Restore.

People are plundered by malachi 3:10 quoting hireling preachers of darkness. Indeed we see people robbed by the thieves who not only steal their money but also often their salvation :(

They are hidden inside the church walls, the prison houses that confine the Spirit of Yahweh that might otherwise lead them in His ways!! :(((

What are we to do?

We are to seek the truth!

When we find it, are we to rest on our heels while the entire world around us walks in darkness?

Are we to hide ourselves and our testimony in Yahushua the Messiah from those we come in contact with?

Are we indeed supposed to hide the truth from this wicked world?

Do we realize what we have here!?!?

We have been granted the knowledge that leads to eternal life!

We have learned how to love Yahweh!!!!!!

Today, there are so few out there who believe in ALL of Yahweh's word. We have a true treasure from Yahweh.

Some say "Obey only the New Testament"

Others say "Obey only the Old Testament"

I say "Obey ALL OF IT!"

Therefore, let's learn the parable:

Matthew 25:14 - For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods.

Matthew 25:15 - And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey.

Matthew 25:16 - Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents.

Matthew 25:17 - And likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two.

Matthew 25:18 - But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his master's money.

Matthew 25:19 - After a long time the master of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them.

Matthew 25:20 - And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, master, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more.

Matthew 25:21 - His master said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy master.

Matthew 25:22 - He also that had received two talents came and said, Master, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them.

Matthew 25:23 - His master said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy master.

Matthew 25:24 - Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Master, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed:

Matthew 25:25 - And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine.

Matthew 25:26 - His master answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed:

Matthew 25:27 - Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury.

Matthew 25:28 - Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents.

Matthew 25:29 - For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.

Matthew 25:30 - And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

What truths has Yahweh revealed to you?

What are you doing with what Yahweh has given?

Are you hiding it in the ground or zealously sharing it with others?

Are you hiding it from your children or are you diligently teaching them?

Brothers and sisters, let us not hide what Yahweh has given us in the ground but let us all cry out, "RESTORE!"

Forget not to LOVE YAHWEH

Let us restore all His commandments to these oppressed people.

For these TRULY ARE what love is!

Not all will hear, but some will. Those whom Yahweh chooses will hear.

Let us all fulfill Yahshua's commandment to go and make disciples to all the nations and preach the original glad tidings which was once delivered to the saints:

Jude 1:3 - Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.

and for disrupting their unity in error...

but we MUST!

We have a chance to reach those who are lost. We can do all these things in HIS name.

Let us beware lest we handle His name unworthily. For in doing so we blaspheme.

But if we can magnify His name and make it honorable and keep it pure and seperate...our rewards will be beyond measure. Let us proclaim the highest standard of love

Yes...Let us proclaim the highest standard of love in His name. The standard of love found in His everlasting word:

Let's proclaim them to all, to Christians, to unbelievers, to those in Judaism, to our children, to our families

Psalms 119:126 - It is time for thee, YAHWEH, to work: for they have made void thy law.

Psalms 119:127 - Therefore I love thy commandments above gold; yea, above fine gold.

Psalms 119:128 - Therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right; and I hate every false way.

Psalms 119:129 - Thy testimonies are wonderful: therefore doth my soul keep them.

Psalms 119:130 - The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.

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

Psalms 119:132 - Look thou upon me, and be merciful unto me, as thou usest to do unto those that love thy name.

Psalms 119:133 - Order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me.

Psalms 119:134 - Deliver me from the oppression of man: so will I keep thy precepts.

Psalms 119:135 - Make thy face to shine upon thy servant; and teach me thy statutes.

Psalms 119:136 - Rivers of waters run down mine eyes, because they keep not thy law.

May Yahweh bless you all!