. That's the faith you have to buy into! Still interested? This is the 'Yah'shua Investment Fund'! How many churches tell you about this?
The End of Your Faith
Moreover, this is not merely the faith you began you walk with Messiah but specifically is the "end of your faith", that is, the result of this faith, which leads, finally to "the salvation of your souls". So once again we find the Scriptures speaking of three salvations - salvation past (the day you were born again), salvation present (abiding in - or wearing the clothes of -- that faith and obedience today), and salvation future, which is the end of your life, after you have worked out your salvation fully and divested yourself of every last element of the world.
The First Clothing is Never Enough
The Laodicean saints had grown complacent and lukewarm, relying on their first set of clothing and thinking it would automatically remain on them, that it would be impossible to climb out of them or that the Master who gave them could possibly remove them. And yet naked is precisely what they were - and you can't be naked unless you have taken off the clothing or someone also has taken it off you! You see., these people had been fooled by a first century version of the 'once saved, always saved' doctrine, believing that 'once clothed, always clothed'. Just look at the state of evangelical churches in the West today and you will see that this is their main condition. They are lukewarm and ready to be spat out.
Under the Delusion of Clothing
Unfortunately we are no less susceptible to being spiritually 'unclothed' as they were. It is one thing to know you are unclothed and to feel the shame of your exposure but it is quite another thing when you think you are clothed when you are exposed. The former is rooted in reality and the latter in delusion. The one who is exposed can a choice to repent and get re-covered or he can choose something glittery from satan's wardrobe as a false substitute to submission.
False Clothing
How can you tell these three apart? The unclothed one, before he makes a good or bad decision, feels guilt. He knows his shame has been exposed and he desires to cover it. The one who chooses the glittery clothing of the enemy puts on a mask - a false face - and more, he puts on a whole unform - an image of what he wants to be seen as, whether as handsome, beautiful, clever, witty - it could be anything, including virtues. That false smile at being warm and friendly when underneath is bitterness. False acts of kindness to get something by stealth or manipulation. Anger to protect self from being hurt. We hide beneath literally tens of thousands of different costumes, even the 'Gospel'. Some is so obviously fake, some more subtle because there is demonic aid at work such that only the sons and daughters of Elohim can discern it.
Repenting of Illusion and Glitter
Finally, there are those who repent and get back under a husband's and/or Yah'shua's covering, and when they do, they reap the fruits of the seed planted in the good soil of Emet or Truth:
"These are the people who hearing the Word, hold fast in a just - noble, virtuous - and worthy heart, and streadily bring forth fruit with patience" (Lk.8:15, Amp.V.).
The Three False Soils
They are the ones who have bought that refined gold from Yah'shua and stood firm in persecution, opposition, trials and all manner of difficulties. Moreover, it is only possible to do this in that "good soil" (Lk.8:8) for it is impossible to purchase that gold anywhere else.
"Those along the traveled road are the people who have heard [the Word of Emet/Truth]; then the devil comes and carried away the message out of their hearts, that they may not believe (acknowledge Yah'shua as their Saviour and devote themselves to Him), and be saved.
"And those upon the rock [are the people] who, when they hear [the Word], receive and welcome it with simcha (joy); but these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of trial and temptation fall away - withdraw and stand off.
"And as for what fell among the thorns, these are [the people] who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked and suffocated with the anxieties and cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not ripen - come to maturity and perfection" (Lk.8:12-14, Amp.V.).
Fruits of the Good Soil
These are also the three principle ways of being unclothed: (1) being on the well-worn path of the world and refusing to leave it; (2) believing while a heart is still hard and unsanctifiable such that when tribulation comes there is no place for deep roots to weather the storm, and (3) Having so many competing interests that Yah'shua by the by gets choked out of a life which never brings forth the Kingdom fruits, which are:
"...ahavah (love), simcha (joy), gladness, shalom (peace), patience (an even temper, forbearance), kindness, goodness (benevolence), faithfulness, (meekness, humility), gentleness, self-control (self-restraint, continence). Against such things there is no law [that can bring a charge]" (Gal.5:22-23).
Signs of the White Robe
This is what comes forth from the soul which is wearing the white robe of Messiah. This white robe or garment is of the utmost importance because it is a future mark of glory, not a present one, and those who wear it must understand something vitally important: we must endure in patience whatever happens to us until the appointed time:
"When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of Elohim and for the testimony which they held. And they cried with a loud voice, saying, 'How long, O Yahweh, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?' Then a white robe was given to each of them; and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed" (Rev 6:9-11, NKJV).
Laying Your Life on the Line
Many who receive this robe are killed for their testimony and anyone who receives it needs to be prepared to do the same, if this is called of him. But none will do so - or can do so - if they are not planted in the Good Soil - the hearts of those lying on the rocky soul will faint when the moment lof the ultimate test comes to them.
Overcoming Obstacles
Christians and Messianics - the born-again ones who love Yahweh, love Yah'shua, love the Covenant and love the Torah - will struggle. Obstacles will continually present themselves, some of our own making and some of the making of the enemy of our souls and his human instruments, and we will be required to overcome if we don't want to soil or lose our white robes:
"You have a few names even in Sardis who have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy. He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels" (Rev 3:4-5, NKJV).
I'll Do It My Way?
It is a hard thing when Yahweh wants you to do something or life your life in one way and you are determined to do it in another. Men and women alike get hard-headed sometimes and try to force Yahweh to like something when he doesn't. Our mission in life before anything else is to love, serve and please our Master Yah'shua. How do we do that?
The Career and Two Obligations of Men
As men, we have one career (a path through life) and two obligations, all of which should be a joy, and in the following order:
- 1. Career: Priestly service for Messiah and His Kingdom 10;
- 2. Obligation #1: Our families (wives and children)
- 3. Obligation #2: Our jobs - providing for our families
It is my trinity of goals and desires. As one who is retired and a minister, my 'job' and the Kingdom are now one and the same even though I still need to provide for my family in other ways.
The Career and Two Obligations of Women
Women have one career and two obligations too. Famous Christian author Debi Pearl, whose cutting-edge and spiritually rigourous books I highly recommend, quotes her first cousin and childhood friend, Freida Lansing, to explain the woman's parallel career, her two parallel obligations being (1) her children and (2) the household which her husband placed under her stewardship when he married her. But first the woman's career:
"When I married, I became MRS. Lansing. His life, his agenda, and his desires became mine. I considered my marriage to be my career for the rest of my life, and I intended to be successful at it...I have worked at it from that perspective for almost 33 years. It is still my goal to be pleasing to my husband. I am pleased to tell you that he delights in me. I was determined to earn his delight"
With Yah'shua in View...
And that, brethren and sisters, is exactly the same goal that we as believers should have toward our Master. It is that simple. Freida Lancing continues:
It is not an easy thing to wear that white robe. Do you ever get agitated with Yahweh? I do, I am ashamed to admit, from time to time. And He lets us rail until we either abandon Him, proving we were not planted in good soil, or finally yield to Him, and do what He asks, and so finally get shalom.
The End of Torah Too?
Isn't it ironic how people twist the words of Scripture round because they do not want to submit to the truth of the Word? Everybody here knows that when Peter speaks of "the end of your faith" that he is not saying that faith will one day end or that it should end now. And yet people take exactly the same use of words when it comes to the Torah or Law and claim that Messiah has ended it!
"For Messiah is the end of the law (Torah) for righteousness to everyone who believes" (Rom 10:4, NKJV).
The Lawless Trap
How utterly ridiculous! For if Messiah is the end or termination of the Law then He is the beginning of lawlessness, which is the mark of Satan (2 Thes.2:8-9). For Yah'shua also said:
"And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold" (Matt 24:11-12, NKJV).
Be Complete and Repent
It is time that evangelical Christians repent of this foolish talk and accept that when Scripture says that Yah'shua is the "end" of the Law He is not saying that He has terminated something which stopped people's love growing cold but that he was the "goal" of the Law to keep people's hearts warm - it is 'to that end' or purpose that He died - to bring the Law to completion or perfection, the same calling we have been given:
"Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect" (Matt 5:48, NKJV).
Buy Gold!
How will you do that? How will you become "perfect" or "complete"? By buying the gold of Yah'shua! By walking in trusting obedience to Him and His commandments so that you may be refined and purged of all sin. For only by doing this will you retain your white garment - your clothing, your covering. Remember, remember, that the true disciples are first. Torah-obedient, and second, Yah'shua-trusting!
"Here is the patience of the set-apart ones (saints); here are those who keep the commandments of Elohim (the Torah) and the faith of Yah'shua" (Rev 14:12, NKJV).
The Inter-connectedness of Everything
Everything connects, brethren and sisters - there are no loose ends in the Gospel. If we are serious about getting and maintaining this covering, then we must be serious about obeying and trusting all the Scriptures. The scriptural cherry-picking and bead-stringing of the bits we like best and ignoring the rest has to stop -- we must embrace the whole counsel of Scripture. I for one will be adhering to it as I always have done, learning and repenting along the way, but not dismissing any part of it. I will not compromise it. I hope you won't too.
How To Get Naked Made Easy
So how do people lose this covering - this item of spiritual clothing? They lose it when they try to turn it to personal advantage and self-aggrandisement. We are only covered for as long as we stay under the covering of our Rosh or Head. Our covering is a free gift upon surrendering to the Rosh or the one who gives it to us, whether it is a husband and/or the Messiah.
The Tenth Commandment
This brings me back to the Tenth Commandment which we were discussing last Shavu'ot which I want to remind you of again because unless this concept of headship and covering is understood we will misunderstand everything else. This teaching goes against the grain of traditional Christian teaching and modern political correctness but I make absolutely no apology for it whatsoever, because it is the emet or truth. Let us not cherry-pick the Scriptures to try to make them fit into other, more modern and socially-acceptable philosophical systems but let them speak as they were written by the finger of Yahweh Himself:
"You shall not covet your neighbour's house; you shall not covet your neighbour's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbour's" (Ex 20:17, NKJV).
Don't Covet What Doesn't Belong to You
In other words, another man shall not covet or crave for something that comes under another man's covering or protection. It quite simply does not belong to him - it is not his stewardship. It belongs to the other man. Notice also the ordering which is a hierarchy of values - his wife (the most precious thing he owns - and by extension, his children), his servants (also humans and very precious), his animals (other living things) and finally physical objects. A man's "house" does not, in the opening verse, refer to his house-building but to to his 'household'. What consititutes a man's "house" is what Yahweh has given to Him to take care of and one day give account. And if a man covets another man's possession, he will provoke his righteous anger and reap the whirlwind.
Similarly, a woman should not covet what does not belong to her or what has not been given to her stewardship. If she does, she too will only reap the whirlwind. Thus it is written:
"Behold, a whirlwind of Yahweh has gone forth in fury -- a violent whirlwind! It will fall violently on the head of the wicked. The anger of Yahweh will not turn back until He has executed and performed the thoughts of His heart. In the latter days you will understand it perfectly" (Jer.23:19-20, NKJV).
Conclusion
Only if we repent can we gain Yahweh's favour and blessings:
"I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely, for My anger has turned away from him. He will be like the dew to Israel; he shall grow like the lily, and lengthen his roots like Lebanon. His branches shall spread; his beauty shall be like an olive tree, and his fragrance like Lebanon. Those who dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall be revived like grain, and grow like a vine. Their scent shall be like the wine of Lebanon" (Hos.14:4-7, NKJV).
Yahweh looks on our world and is angry - enraged - at its wickedness. A new Tower of Bable is arising build on the stolen wealth of the nations. It is doomed. We must avert our eye from it and make sure that our heart is only in the Messiah, our Living Torah, and in those things which He has divinely appointed. It is time to tighten the belt, brace for the storm, sink deeper roots, clear the rocks, and stand firm to meet the wind. As David Minor prophesied in 1987:
"Turn your face into the wind and let it blow. For only that which is not of Me shall be devastated. You must see this as necessary. Be not dismayed, for after this My wind shall blow again" (Olive Branch 7:16-19).
Baruch haShem Yahweh! Amen.
Endnotes
1
See Shavu'ot
2
See sermon series, The Bozrah Breakout and Returning Home to the Land of Israel: Is It Time to Gather?
3
See Rosh Chodesh
4
See Welcome to the EUSSR
5
See Apocalyptic Visions for 2010: The Death Cloud
6
Timothy Garton Ash, Europessimist
7
See Is There a God? You Can Know for a Surety
8
Avah Hayden, Yahweh's Clothes Shop: A Prophetic Dream
9
See sermomn series, The Nine Character Tests
10
"Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness" (Matt 6:33, NKJV)
11
"Do not let your adornment be merely outward -- arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel -- rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of Elohim. For in this manner, in former times, the holy women who trusted in Elohim also adorned themselves, being submissive to their own husbands, as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him master, whose daughters you are if you do good and are not afraid with any terror" (1 Peter 3:3-6, NKJV).
12
Debi Pearl, Created To Be His Helpmeet (NGJ: 2009), p.153. This is one of the standard marriage textbooks of this ministry
Author: Lev-Tsiyon