The Way of The Master - Keeping Torah

Many of us are familiar with the young man who approached Yeshua, and asked the question, "Good Master, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"


But so often, we fail to recognize this story for what it is... evangelism by the Master.  Here we have a true seeker, "... what must I do to inherit eternal life?" 


And the response is amazing!


Mark 10:17-22 ¹⁷ As He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him, and asked Him, "Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" ¹⁸ And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone. ¹⁹ "You know the commandments, 'DO NOT MURDER, DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, DO NOT STEAL, DO NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS, Do not defraud, HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER.'" ²⁰ And he said to Him, "Teacher, I have kept all these things from my youth up." ²¹ Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him and said to him, "One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me." ²² But at these words he was saddened, and he went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property.


And so here we see, by the Bible's own admission, the "Way of the Master."  It is a little different from Ray Comfort's method of evangelism.  Yeshua points him to the one standard that all men are held to, that of Yahweh's Torah, "you know the commandments..."


And so we see Yeshua's answer to the man's question, keep the commandments.  How can we have missed such an important question so quickly resolved here in the Gospels?  Because of our separation from the God-ordained carriers of the faith, the Torah.  Clearly, this is what Yeshua tells us that we must do to gain eternal life. 


The young man replied, "all these things I have done..."  Does this mean he was without sin?  No, it means that, according to Yhwh's commands, when he had sinned, he made sacrifice at the temple.  But he had a bigger problem.  Being a man of wealth, he had much possessions, and they were an idol for him.  And Yeshua knew that too.  So when he told him to go and sell his possessions, and give to the poor (another aspect of the Way of the Master ~ the fruits of Torah and Spirit-filled living in the life of believers), the young man was dismayed and chose not to follow the rabbi's advice. 


And so here we see that the young man did not love his neighbor as himself.  As so as Yeshua's criticism of the scribes and teachers of the Law, tithing their mint, dill and cumin, but neglecting the weightier matters of Torah, so too did this young man, miss the spirit of the Torah's teaching.


Again we see Yeshua the Messiah stressing that it is not necessarily about our physical, visible rituals we carry out (though that is a part), it is about our heart's identification with the Father's heart.  How is your heart?  Do you carry out the Father's will/desire in your life?  Many protestants question that and do not know how they can clearly identify that in their lives.  But the apostle John helps us with this, and spells it out clearly, "All who commit sin practice lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness," that is, torah-lessness (1 Jn. 3:4).


Matthew 7:19-23 ⁹ "Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰ "So then, you will know them by their fruits. ²¹ "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. ²² "Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?' ²³ "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.'

Pope Francis hosts Islamic and Jewish Prayers at the Vatican

As we have seen in the news, this tremendous "unprecedented" move by Pope Francis to host both Peres and Abbas for prayers at the Vatican, in an effort to "promote" and progress peace talks among the Palestinians (Muslims) and the Jews

Why you ask, is this so important?  It seems like a good move to working toward finding peace in the Middle East between Jews and Muslims.  Well one thing the news doesn't tell us is that the three religions involved, Islam, Judaism and Christianity (though the Vatican is NOT a true Christian church, it is apostate and teaches a false gospel (Galatians 1:8,9; Ephesians 2:8,9; Romans 10:9-10)), de facto making whatever Pope a false prophet, though I believe this one IS THE False Prophet spoken of in scriptures (Revelation 13: 11, 19:20).

Revelation 13:11, 12  Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb and he spoke as a dragon.  12 He exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence. And he makes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed. 

All three faiths have Endtime scenarios involved, awaiting their version of a Messiah or Mahdi to return and usher humanity into a great era of peace, prosperity and blessing.  But everything uttered in God's word through the Hebrew prophets, and the Apostles has been fulfilled on time.  In Daniel's prophecy in chapter 9:24-27, on the last Seventy "Sevens" or Shabuas destined for the Jews, as it is written:

Daniel 9:24   24 "Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place.

We know from scripture that after the first seven shabuas, and the 62 shabuas, Messiah was cut off, Yeshua was crucified by the Roman soldiers under the Political authority of the Romans and Religous authority of the Jewish leaders, who did not understand that Messiah must come first as a suffering servant (see Isaiah 53).  So According to Daniel 9, we have the Messiah cut off after the first 69 shabuas or "weeks", which leaves one final week or shabua to be fulfilled.

During this time, Yahweh extended the good news of salvation to the Gentile world, so that the gospel might be preached in every nation.  As Yeshua tells us in Matt. 24:14 - 

Matthew 24:14  14 "This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come. 

And indeed it has.  The gospel has gone forth into the world and been carried to every continent on earth.  Some of the only countries on earth where the gospel is not known are Islamic countries where they forbid the people of the book from sharing the news about Yeshua, the promised and returning Jewish Messiah.

So why is this "meeting" of prayers and meditations so important at the Vatican today?  Daniel's prophecy tells us of the remaining shabua, the 70th:

Daniel 9:27   27 "And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week [shabua], but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate."

Earlier I cited Nowtheendbegins' article on this matter, though I do not agree that Revelation 17 and 18 are describing the Vatican system.  Many Catholic and Protestant theologians have interpreted it this way, but that was before the rising of the American empire!  I believe "the city that reigns over the kings of the earth" (Rev. 17:18) is none other than New York!  It fits the prophecies of the scriptures Revelation 17 and 18 more precisely, and today, does indeed reign over the kings of the earth!

Who the final man of sin, the man of lawlessness is remains to be seen.  Daniel tells us that he will "confirm a covenant with the many for one shabua," and in the middle of the shabua, will stop sacrifice at the Jewish Temple.  The Apostle Paul, born-again into the truth about Yeshua, the Messiah, tells us that this one will "opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the Temple of God (Yahweh/Yeshua), displaying himself as being God."  (2 Thessalonians 2:4).

The only way to escape the coming destruction and horrors that are facing mankind is to cry out to the Lord Yeshua, for forgiveness of sins and everlasting life. "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me will live, even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die!" (John 11:25)  Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved!  (Rom 10:13).

For you are saved by grace, through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.  (Eph. 2:8,9).

'God is Finishing His Mission,' John Piper Says Reflecting on Cross Conference

According to Anugrah Kumar, "Theologian John Piper, reflecting on the recently concluded Cross conference attended by about 3,600 college students, believes Christ's mission to the unreached people of the world is progressing towards its culmination."


...


Quoting from Operation World - 4, Piper writes that Patrick Johnstone, the founder of the reference book and prayer guide, mentioned in 1979 that the most difficult places for gospel breakthrough were Mongolia and Albania at the time. However, today there are more than 40,000 Mongolian believers, and Albania is open with churches growing. "Who among us, 30 years ago, could have envisioned over 100 million Chinese Christians, massive people movements in Iran, Algeria, and Sudan, breakthroughs in Mozambique, Cambodia, and Nepal, and the beginnings of freedom for hundreds of millions of oppressed in India?"



For more on an encouraging article, go to:

'God is Finishing His Mission,' John Piper Says Reflecting on Cross Conference

The Truth about Easter

First off I would like to say, Happy Resurrection Day everyone!  This is truly the most glorious day of the Chrisitian calendar (and one day it will be on the Jewish one too)!  When the historical Lord Jesus was taken and arrested by the Roman centurions, taken and unjustly beaten, mocked, whipped and crucified for the sins of those who would be saved from every nation, tribe and language.

Revelation 7:9-10  ⁹ After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands;  ¹⁰ and they cry out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb."

This is why the apostle John can say, “For God so loved the Word (i.e. humanity) that He sent His only-begotten Son into the world, that whoever believes through Him, shall not perish, but have eternal life” (Jn. 3:16).  If anything is under attack today, it is the good news that Jesus came into the world to preach.  And I mean, under attack, not just from the secular progressives and the atheists that are trying to destroy a groups culture and religion, their very lifestyle (boy, talk about intolerant!), but from the very churches where we sit each and every Sunday.  The places where we go to worship, the places where we serve, and often seek to fulfill, at least in part, our service and devotion to God.

I want everyone to know that I love the pastor whose message I’m about to use as an example.  He and I have got together on a few occasions and had wonderful fellowship!  He shall remain unnamed, because I do not want to bring public shame to his ministry, but desire his recognition of his error, repentance and correction of an erring theology.  In fact, today in the Resurrection service, my wife and I were having a wonderful worship experience, and following the message wonderfully, until right at the end.  Now the reason this concerns me so, is that pastors are called to be God’s spokesmen in this age, much as Moses was to the Jews.  So there is a much higher accountability before God, whose ways and Word they are claiming to teach.

It is well said in church that you can’t understand the good news, until you know the bad news (and just how bad the bad news really is, I mean, BAD!!!).  He did a wonderful job setting out how sinful we are as people, and that all have sinned, and fallen short of the glory of God (Rom 3:23), that all our righteous deeds are like filthy rags before  just and holy God (Isaiah 64:6).  All of this is right on, and completely Biblical.  In fact, there were more scriptures used, but from lack of recall I list these examples.

All was great, but then, bringing the sermon to close, trying to really “bring it home,” trying to really “clinch the audience,” he shifted, and in his sincere efforts, he made God look weak and responsive, and even dependent on us humans.  That’s where the sermon crashed.

So let me state a few things to make sure we all have a Biblical understanding of the Gospel, (the good news) as taught in the Bible.  God is not weak.  He is not dependent on us, nor does he need us.  God created human beings as a way to manifest His glory and increase the glory of His perfection and praise.  Saying that God is omniscient means that God knows all things.  God created a race of beings that he knew would turn against Him and hate Him and reject all His commands, and try to take His place over them.  He knew that they would through their sin and rejection, earn a just sentence of eternal punishment (2 Thessalonians 1:9 says ‘destruction’ ).  But the Bible tells us that Christ was crucified from before the foundation of the world.  His ‘tabernacling among us,’ and his death on the cross were NOT a ‘plan B’ or ‘plan C’ that God fretfully came up with, wringing His hands as humanity continued to reject Him and break His covenant love and His righteous commands!  God FOREKNEW from before the creation of the world!  This was God’s plan.  God knew that humanity would rebel against Him, and that everyone of us, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Southern Baptist, would fall short of His righteous ways, and that we would create religions, and we would put on a face of righteousness, while justifying out sinful behavior.

But scripture teaches that God always leaves Himself a remnant of humanity.  You see, our creation was and is a manifestation of God’s overflowing goodness and love for and to Himself.  The way my theology professor, Dr. Russ Moore put it, “All of creation is a gift, from God the Father to His Son.”  The tiny little sparrows flitting about on the tree branches, is a gift from the Father to Jesus His Son.

But as God knew, all humanity has rebelled against God’s holiness.  But in His love, God foreordained, before the creation of the world (Eph. 1:4-6), a group of people, from every nation, tribe and language, predestined for salvation.  “In love  ⁵ He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the ²kind intention of His will,  ⁶ to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved” Ephesians 1:4-6.

And so today at church, at the close of the message, people were invited to “accept” the good news.  The pastor showed a verse on the screen that was right on.  The verse is Mark 1:15  ¹⁵  and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel."  But see, here’s the trick, no where are we asked or pleaded with to “receive” or “accept” the gospel.  The Bible already tells us that there is no one who seeks God (Rom. 3;11), and that of our own power, we do not want to, nor are we even able to obey God’s commands (Rom. 8:7-8).

That is why churches today are weak and apathetic, because pastors, whose sermons are seething in Arminiansism, plead and beg with their people to “accept” and “believe” the gospel, and then they get frustrated when no one responds.  Who wants to follow a God who can’t make a people obey Him?  What kind of God is that?  Certainly not omniscient!  Who wants to follow a weak, worried God that is always responding to the whims of man, and enacting ‘plan B’ and ‘plan C’ to get things right?  Not me.

Here is the God I want to follow (although it’s only by His grace and not of myself in any way Eph. 2:8,9):

·         One who takes wretched, foul, broken sinners, and in a gift of love and grace, applies the satisfaction of His only Son’s passion and sacrifice to my account (Rom. 5:8, 2 Cor. 5:21). 

·         A God who is in complete control of all things, and directs the path of humanity, even in their wickedness, according to His will (Eph. 1:11; Rom. 8:22-23, 11:36). 

·         I want to follow a God who raises up evil wicked men, to show His power and greatness over them, and to show just empty their threats of grandeur and greatness really are.  I want Him to show them for what they really, false prophets, who promise people freedom, while all the while being slaves of carnal desires and lusts themselves, only further enslaving those who follow them (2 Peter 2:1-19).

And this is what God does!  According to God, Men cannot and do not want to follow God!  Even us who are born again into new creations (2 Cor. 5:17), can sometimes fall back into sin, for a brief period.  But it is quickly followed by open confession, repentance and making amends for the wrongs committed during the sin.  John 3:19-21  ¹⁹ "This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.  ²⁰ "For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.  ²¹ "But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God."

  So no more teaching that we can “accept” the gospel!  What really happens, is that through the teaching and preaching of the good news, the Gospel, that God has foreordained from the creation of the world, some to eternal life.  And they will be convicted of their sins, and respond to the effectual calling upon their life.  Jesus said,  ¹⁶ "I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd.  John 10:16  Jesus laid down His life for His sheep.  But there are those whom God raises up for destruction, to manifest the riches of His grace and mercy on the objects of His kindness… for none of us deserve it!  Romans 9:21-24  ²¹ Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel ¹for honorable use and another ²for common use?  ^{22 1}What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction?  ²³ And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory,  ²⁴ even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles.

So if you have had the patience to read through this, and you don’t know Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, God commands you right now, Mark 1:15  "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel."

Praise be to Yahweh!