"16 Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. 17 But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils and scourge you in their synagogues. 18 You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. 19 But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak. For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; 20 for it is not you who speak, but the Ruach (Spirit) of your Father who speaks in you. 21 Now brother will deliver up brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. 22 And you will be hated by all for My name's sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved. 23 When they persecute you in this city, flee to another. For assuredly, I say to you, you will not have gone through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes. 24 A talmid (disciple) is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. 25 It is enough for a talmid (disciple) that he be like his teacher, and a servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more will they call those of his household! 26 Therefore do not fear them. For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known" (Matt.10:16-26, NKJV).

Shabbat shalom kol beit Yisra'el and Mishpachah LevTsiyon and welcome to this first sabbath assembly following the autumn (fall) and annual festivals of 2022 as a whole this year as we now enter the 'silent' season of winter with its shorter days and longer nights, at least here in the upper reaches of the northern hemisphere.

I have chosen today's passage in response to a very clear revelation about what to talk to you about this afternoon. In the centre of today's test are the interesting and challenging words of our Saviour to never quit and stay true to Him. The reason He gives puts a lot of Protestants in denial:

"He who endures to the end will be saved" (Mt.10:22; 24:13; Mk.13:13).

Common sense tells you that if you want to see a project completed, a romantic ambition come to fruition, or a game won, you have to see it through to its very end. An aborted project, romance or game produces nothing. It is a fact of life that nearly all the projects we set out to do in life encounter problems and complications along the way, the more so the more complex or involved they are, and particularly if they involve lots of people with their own ideas about how things should be done. Very rarely are they entirely trouble-free, especially the bigger projects requiring more time and careful planning.

When I trained to be a Systems Analyst I quickly learned the critical importance of planning. Those were the days when the computerisation of businesses was just getting underway from big corporations to tiny street businesses. Some businesses were still organised using manual systems but realised they needed to computerise to become more efficient and so become competitive because as a rule computers can do a lot of things much faster than humans. The other day I was in a used car parts shop, a small family business, and I was amazed to see the owner still cataloging parts using a manual system. His used car parts folders must have been as old as he was...and he was about my age. The covers had long since fallen off and the pages were worn and grubby. But it seemed to work for him. Had he had a bigger business and competitors full computerisation would have been essential.

In order to graduate from my Systems Analysis course my team was set the task of computerising an autombile spare parts business, no less, though these were new and not second-hand. It might surprise you to learn that writing a program to computerise the company was the 'easy' part of the job. Most of the work of a Systems Analyst consists of custom-designing a system that caters to the individual needs of a particular company. The company in question would receive orders viâ telephone and in the mail (this was before the days of the widespread use of the Internet) and had certain proceedures in place to get the orders down to the shop floor, a card system for keeping records and making sure parts were reordered from suppliers so they never ran out, and packing and despatch departments. The business was being out-competed by more efficient fully computerised companies in the same line of business. They weren't too keen to moderise because the system had worked well for them for half a century but the necessity of staying solvent forced them, unwillingly, to call us in. It was a small company so perfect for us newbies to get out teeth into.

Our job was to first of all prepare a detailed systems chart showing how the old manual operation worked. Getting that right was critical. This meant observing the business in the order department, in the office of the managers, on the shop floor, and so on. We had to interview everyone to make sure we knew inside out how the operation worked in detail. Inevitably one would find weaknesses, inefficiences, and the like, and long before we set about writing a computer program (in those days, in Cobol) we had to improve the existing system so that it would work better by making recommendations to management. Some of the problems we faced were criminal malpractice, a tricky thing to deal with without stepping on toes and getting people upset and being uncooperative with our investigation. Some of the blue-collar, as well as the shop-floor, workers were often cheating to make their life easier (making things inefficient), or because they were stealing (causing the company to lose revenue), and so forth, and so careful but diplomatic detective work was essential. Back in those days there was a lot of labour unrest and whenever management tried to improve the efficiency of their businesses by commissioning 'time and motion' studies, the workers would commonly go on strike. Communist agitation in those days was very strong and unions were much more powerful than they are today.

We were't, in any case, there as policemen about to arrest malcreants but colleagues to make them realise things had to change if they were to keep their jobs and prosper. It would be up to the management to take action later if dishonest practice was uncovered (and of course they had to know about it eventually as we had to write reports to management) but before they came to know of the dishonest doings of some of their employees we needed to know exactly what was going on and what the company's weaknesses were. Obviously they knew that if they were found out that they might be fired so in a way it was in their interests not to tell us the truth. Computerisation more often than not would threaten their ill-gotten gains and therefore their livelihoods. So anaylsing the system and charting it 100 per cent accurately was the biggest challenge, a bit like getting people to confess their sins when they didn't want to. It does illustrate why confession of sin must always preceed public profession of faith. Crooked Christians give Yah'shua (Jesus) a bad name. Far too many believers are compromised and then wonder why some things aren't going right in their lives. The sinful shortcuts are harming them as much as those they are sinning against or living around. A company making financial losses because of corrupt workers inevitably has to fire staff to remain competitive. Crime, like sin, never pays.

I might mention that on occasion systems analysts are sometimes bribed or threated by those involved in malpractice so their integrity is often tested. The business we were computerising was making financial losses owing to pilfering. Had we turned a blind-eye and worked their scam into the programming we would soon have been discovered and our careers ruined, a reason systems analysts often work in teams for mutual accountability. There's a lot about this profession I like because it affords insights into how the Gospel life must work too. There are plenty of rules, which if broken lead to botched jobs and compromised reputations. It's really a tough profession. In a way it's like the Torah'lifestyle because if you break the Torah mitzvot (commandments) it's your life that gets compromised, your relationship with your Boss and the spiritual equivalent of your career. You will lose the trust people place in you. So I guess training as a Systems Analyst was good training for pastoral leadership.

The systems anaylst who is not phased by the threats of the corrupt persons he must work with, and refuses to take short cuts, will have a successful career (good systems analysts are paid very well, incidentally), in the same way that the believer who endures hardships, persecution, and attempts at corrupting and compromising him, will be saved at the end. There's no other way you can read this passage except in its plain, p'shat or obvious sense: the fact that you were saved when you were born again, the fact that you may still be saved now, does not mean you will necessarily remain saved if you allow that original salvation to be systematically and habitually compromised. That's what Yah'shua (Jesus) Himself taught here and yet, ironically, it's the very opposite of what Calvinists and other 'Once Saved, Always Saved' sectarians believe and teach. If you choose to be compromised, you risk losing the most precious gift there is - the gift of salvation. Do you want to lose your place in glory? I'm deadly serious.

I am of the firm belief that all the Gospel essentials are simple and require no complex, convoluted theological or philosophical systems to explain them. If you think about it, this has to be so, because the Gospel was designed to be given and received in every culture and in every nation at every point in history, from the so-called 'primitive' to the 'sophisticated'. Everyone can understand "repent or perish" (Lk.13:3,5, NKJV) or "believe on the evidence of the miracles" (John 14:11, NIV) or "By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you" (1 Cor.15:2, NIV). You don't need to be an intellectual to understand the basic tenets of the faith. Many of the convoluted antinomian (lawless) denominational theologies you read about in our day like that of the Reformed tradition could only have been created in a 'sophisticated', Enlightenment-inspired Western culture like our own. There was a reason the Gospel was first revealed 2,000 years ago when folks were simple and the intellectual tools available to them were limited, because that's all that was needed. You can even teach the basic elements of the Gospel just using pictures if you can't speak the language of the person you're witnessing to.

True, certain cultures, like the ancient Greeks, had their sophists, a pagan philosophical school whose name gives us the words 'sophistry', 'sophisticated' and 'sophistication' which are part and parcel of our English language today. I don't know what you visualise when you picture a 'sophisticated' person but are you aware of the etymology (the origins of the meaning) of the word? A sophist is a capracious or fallacious reasoner, a quibbler. Oh yes, one of the hallmarks of today's political élites is sophistry - they know how to expertly 'spin' words. One of our modern words for propaganda is 'spin', isn't it? Everyone knows what that means. That's one meaning of the word 'sophist'. Another is a paid teacher of philosophy and rhetoric. So we should not be surprised to learn that the verb 'to sophisticate' not only means to mislead a person but to deprive a person of natural simplicity, making real things artificial. Now to be fair, the word has acquired another - perfectly valid and positive - meaning in our scientific world. Something (as opposed to some person) can be sophisticated, like a living cell, where it simply means highly developped or complicated. But that's the exception and isn't what I am talking about. It should be the desire of no believer to be 'sophisticated'. That's Satan's world of lies and deceptions, and the world his followers delight in for dishonest gain or advantage. The American statesman, attorney, writer, and diplomat, John Adams, who was one of the founding fathers of the United States, once said:

"Abuse of words has been the great instrument of sophistry and chicanery, of party, faction, and division of society."

That doesn't mean, by the way, that in rejecting sophistication you should reject intellectualism. They're not the same thing. Most, if not all, sophisticated persons may be intellectuals but by no means are all intellectual persons sophisticated. Paul was the supreme intellectual or his day but he was absolutely not sophisticated even if his theology may at times appear to be complicated and involved. In our day, British theologian and historian N.T.Wright, American economist Thomas Sowell, British politician Nigel Farage, Canadian psychologist Jordan B.Peterson, and British mathematician John Lennox are amongst the eminent non-sophisticated intellectuals of our day that I respect and have been mentored by, but none of them are remotely sophisticated. They speak plainly and honestly. I could list you hundreds of sophists in the political, theological, scientific, economic and philosophical world today but I am sure you can figure all those out for yourself. A keen mind is a wonderful thing if it is linked to a good, honest heart. Stalin and Hitler both had keen minds but their hearts were evil. There are many like them today in our political establishments, who hide behind the sophistry of crafty words, who appear benificent but who are fundamentally dishonest and malicious. So be careful of the intelligent charmers with forked tongues - they are not "harmless as doves" as Yah'shua (Jesus) commanded His talmidim (disciples) to be (Mt.10:16).

If you're wondering why I did not become a Systems Analyst but went into education instead, one of the reasons was because theirs is a punishing work schedule. Systems analysts not only design new systems but maintain and improve existing ones so if a large company's computing system suddenly crashes in the middle of the night because of some programming glitch (and there are always plenty of those in any new system, the more so the more complicated that system is), the systems analyst is on immediate call until the problem is fixed even if it means working round the clock for several days. A large company in such a situation could be losing a small fortune for every hour lost while their system is down. Just imagine an airport brought to a halt because of some computer failure and the resultant chaos. It's one of the major reasons I did not go into the computing world as I knew it would negatively impact my planned family life. It wasn't what I was called to anyway, and I knew it, nor did I have the acumen for the really complicated stuff as I am not remotely a good programmer.

I'm glad I trained as one because Systems Analysis taught me to be a good detective and to see through the lies of those trying, through sophistry, to hide their sins. If you're going to be a pastor or a counsellor you have to see through such stuff. It's thanks to my Systems Analysis training that I can see through all the sophisticated nonsense of the Reformed theology of Calvinism and it's what got me quickly out of Mormonism after a brief three year stint after taking a wrong turning as a young man when I was not properly informed and naïve. It also helped me refine my scientific skills to see through such nonsense as evolutionism and, more recently, flat-earthism. The job of the Systems Analyst is to seek the simplest, quickest, most effective and most cost-effective solutions to the problems of computerising in the business world (I was studying business computing at the same time). I have long believed that Yahweh is economical, effective, quick and simple in His solutions to life's problems. I have always found Him to be brief, no-nonsense and to the point when He speaks, a reason I am by default suspicious of the claimed revelations of those, particularly in the Pentecostal movement, who like to use long-winded flowery language. It is we, through procrastination or avoidance of culpability for sin, who tend to take the long, arduous and sometimes circuitous routes to salvation by inventing sophisticated excuses not to repent and get on course in life [1].

Let's look more closely at today's passage so that you will see where I am going. The truth-statement, "he who endures to the end (by implication, he who overcomes, a dominant theme in the Book of Revelation) will be saved" it is nestled on either side between some important information that is the essential context of the statement that explains what Yah'shua (Jesus) meant. Salvation is here placed in the stream of time and as you know time for each individual has a past, a present and a future. We all share the same present but we all experience different pasts, with the future as yet unknown. And we all know that what may be true of certain things today might not be true in the future. I may be poor now but rich in the future (or the reverse) because our wealth status can so easily change with the right decisions and the most favourable circumstances. I was quite literally 'saved' recently by couple of heart operations (I'd be dead if I hadn't had them) but in the future I could always do something foolish and undo all that (like run a marathon). I can be happy today and miserable tomorrow. I can be full of doubt one minute and full of confidence the next. I can be excitable and euphoric one minute, sober, calm and reflective the next. You can think of a thousand examples of this idea of the impact of time on our lives. Time implies change of flux because life, live a moving river, is never static. Yahweh may never change (Mal.3:6; Jas.1:17; Heb.13:8) but we do...all the time (pardon the pun). And Yah'shua (Jesus), using very plain language that anyone not trying to be sophisticated can understand, said: you can lose your salvation - your deliverance from sin and spiritual death - if you don't endure to the end.

I came across this wonderful saying of New Zealander Ray Comfort, whose Evidence Bible we use in our congregational assembles, whose little dog Sam died the other day. He used to take his dog with him on evangelism trips in California and it was the means of softening a lot of hearts to make his listeners receptive to the Good News he preached every day. He said:

"This life is the only hell [true] believers will ever know. But for those who die in their sins, this is their only heaven."

One of the big lies that prosperity or 'health-and-wealth' ministers and their flocks propagate is the claim that poor health and poverty are always caused by a lack of faith in divine healing. It's simply not true. They mistake the biblical teaching of victorious living as applying equally to the material world too when it is uneven for a number of reasons. For sure Yahweh takes care of our physical needs down here in many different ways, but like the proverb I quoted last week at Sukkot, we need to seriously embrace the right-minded spiritual philosophy that asks of Yahweh:

"Give me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me with the food allotted to me; lest I be full and deny You, and say, 'Who is Yahweh?' or lest I be poor and steal, and profane the Name of my Elohim (God)" (Prov.30:8-9, NKJV).

So the proverb is sound advice. Why? Because our circumstances can change very quickly. We need to prepare for the future as best we can, and when we can't, we must leave it in Yahweh's hands. Indeed my wife was asking me the other day how on earth we are going to be able to pay our bills this winter, a question I am sure almost everyone is asking now, because we all want financial security. As heads of the home, we provide financial security as best we can - that is our responsibility and duty to our families - but beyond that, Yahweh will provide what is needed. How can we know what we need and distinguish that from what we want? Pray for what Solomon said we should pray - not too much, not too little. And when surplus comes your way, don't go wild and change your lifestyle and suddenly become more unrestrained and decadent - invest for the future because all our futures are being threatened now by the satanic cabal that rules the world in the shadows. Do some extra prepping, help some poor person in greater need than yourself.

We ought to be viewing our salvation in the same way we view the biblcial approach to stewardship and finances. A lot of people who are saved now won't be in the future because they will choose to abandon the faith. Why will they do this? Well, Yah'shua (Jesus) explains why in today's passage:

"Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils and scourge you in their synagogues. You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak. For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; for it is not you who speak, but the Ruach (Spirit) of your Father who speaks in you. Now brother will deliver up brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. And you will be hated by all for My name's sake" (Mt.10:16-22, NKJV).

Those of you who have been on the earth a while know this is true because you have seen once strong believers abandon their faith and go to their graves unrepentant and unreconciled to either Elohim (God) or the fellowship of the qodeshim (saints, set-apart ones, true believers). The OSAS people will tell you that they're fine because they were 'once saved' and therefore 'always saved' and will either bold-facedly tell you that someone who converted when they were 16, and abandoned the Gospel shortly thereafter, and became, say, a bank robber or murderer, is going to be fine because 'Jesus is still in their hearts' at some fundamental spiritual level...allegedly...and that's all they need to 'make it to heaven'. That's the naïve and supremely irrational hope they cling to, especially if the person is someone they dearly love. I'm sorry, but that's utter 'BS', and no amount of sophisticated, theological mumbojumbo will alter the reality of their lost condition [2]. The 5-point Calvinist will typically hold out the OSAS claim but go one step further, waiting until the minute before death 'to be absolutely sure'. If this formerly once-saved 16 year-old remains impenitent on his death-bed when he's 80, the Calvinist will then turn around and claim the lad was never saved in the first place. So in spite of invention of the false OSAS doctrine being motivated by the desire for 'eternal security' without consequences for sin (something every carnal Christian wants), for the Calvinist it reveals, tragically, that he has no security whatsoever - he can't know if he was (supposedly) elected to salvation (against his will) until he dies. Only then can he (supposedly) know the truth. What a miserable way to live...and all for a sophisticated theological lie. It's not unlike the equally pernicious works-based Mormon doctrine which teaches that you can only be saved by grace "after all you can do" (Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 25:23).

Yah'shua (Jesus) makes it clear that you can be genuinely saved and then lose that salvation (which is not to say that all people who claim to be saved actually are - there are many unregenerated nominal 'believers' in the world - many fake conversions) and He says what the principle causes of this final act of apostacy are: persecution at the hands of ungodly religious authorities, ungodly state authorities, and even our nearest and dearest - especially children, parents, siblings and the like. He goes one step further, guaranteeing that "all men will hate you because of Me" (v.22a, NIV) and then promises, "but he who stands firm to the end will (shall) be saved" (v.22b, NIV). That's the guarantee of your eternal security - you'll be fine so long as you stand firm and endure, because the journey is going to be tough, not because Yahweh deliberately made it so but because we must share this world with other human beings also working out their salvation (or not even trying), messing up and impacting our lives in the process. Yahweh uses that to either refine us or helps us navigate through it to the other side.

Then the Master follows with some counsel. He says, don't invite martyrdom - do what you must do, say what you must say, and then move on if you are persecuted. Don't stay in the jaws of the lion's mouth when you've delivered your testimony, move to another city and keep witnessing. That's not cowardice. It's being brave when you have to be and then, if you survive, move on so you can witness to others and save them. He says, 'don't be afraid, I will be with you. Just boldly witness when I tell you and then move on to your next appointment' and ends with the assurance that though your persecutors are using sophistry and falsely accusing you, "there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed [one day], or hidden that will not be made known [one day]" (v.26, NIV).

That might happen while you're witnessing, or shortly thereafter, but even if it's not, the truth will come out in the end and you will be vindicated if you have acted morally and righteousnly, and stood your ground. Sometimes believers must be martyred and, like those souls under the altar in the Throne Room, await vindication until the æon (age) is passed. Others may be vindicated in this life but it's not guaranteed. I myself have learned not to expect justice in this life when my soul was screaming for it to happen now and I can tell you that has given me shalom (peace) and well-being inside. There will always be unaddressed injustice because the rulers are unjust and we depend on them to ensure justice. I can truly let Yahweh take care of things at the final Yom haKippurim at the end of the æon (age) and move on even when injustice remains unaddressed. I can live with that now even if I really found it hard when I was younger. It is that emunah (faith) that I have in Him to make all things right one day, ensure justice is done, and that everything will be put to rights, that enables me to go on, be productive (whilst standing up for justice) and not fall into the trap of anger and demanding instant revenge. He will take care of the revenge part. Paul rather taught:

"Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for Elohim's (God's) wrath, for it is written: 'It is Mine to avenge; I will repay,' says Yahweh. On the contrary: 'If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head'. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good" (Rom.12:19-21, NIV).

It is emunah (faith) in emet (truth) such as that by which we are justified which makes us progressively right before Yahweh - not just emunah (faith) in one 'profession of faith' at conversion but proactive emunah (faith) throughout life. That is what Paul meant when he said:

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith" (Eph.2:8, NIV)

Finally, I need to address an enigmatic statement in today's passage that is the cause of much misinterpretation that is often used to justify the false doctrine of preterism that we recently addressed at the beginning of our Book of Revelation course:

"I tell you the truth, you will not finish going through the the cities of Israel (as you flee persecution) before the Son of Man comes" (v.23b, NIV).

It was a misunderstanding of this, and similar passages, that led most of the early believers, including Paul, to believe, and hope, that Yah'shua (Jesus) would return physically again in their generation and so inaugurate the Millennium in their own day. As we know, He never did, unless you interpret His 'coming' to be in some way invisible as the Jehovahs Witnesses do. That passage, the way it stands, can be read in a number of ways so we need to seek clarification elsewhere in the Master's other teachings. We don't have to look far:

"'Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.

"'It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulphur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.

"'It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed. On that day no one who is on the roof of his house, with his goods inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything. Remember Lot's wife! Whoever tries to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left.'

"'Where, Master?' they asked.

"He replied, 'Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather'" (Luke 17:26-37, NIV).

Clearly Yah'shua (Jesus) didn't want to give too much information about His Second Coming and there are good reasons for that - for one, so that His people would always be ready in every generation, and two, so that Satan would remain in the dark. Being ready always means constant preparedness, not in a state of anxiety, but loving the Christian/Messianic life to the full so as to be good talmidim (disciples) and witnesses...and to preclude falling away and losing ones salvation if He doesn't turn up when we expect or want Him to. Date-setting the Second Coming has always been forbidden because no one knows (Mt.25:13), not even the Son Himself (Mt.24:13; mK.13:32). Instead, we are to be prepared, and look out for the signs that Luke mentions in his Gospel that I just cited. Indeed, He clearly says, that the conditions will be just like those that prevailed before the Flood - universal apostacy (save for a Remnant) and global wickedness. We see those conditions rapidly advancing in our world even as I speak now, even if we're not quite there yet. The message is very clear: be consecrated, be on-the-alert-talmidim (disciples) and -witnesses, asking neither for too much nor for too little. In the words of John the Baptist, 'be satisfied with what you have' (when some soldiers grumbled about their low wages) for your basic life needs and then focus on the reason you're really down here on earth.

A word for preachers or those hoping to be preachers one day. Yah'shua's (Jesus') council not wo worry what you will say has nothing to do with preparing sermons! Preachers should always prepare for their sermons, whether they write them down or not, whether in full or as short notes! At the same time they, like all of us, should be ready to give a defence of our faith - to give an explanation of the hope they have in Christ - at a moment's notice, relying on the Ruach (Spirit) to give utterance. Today's passage was giving advice on how to deal with persecutors so unless you think your congregation will persecute you, prepare well! That's preacher-prepping.

As we go through increasingly difficult times, as Yahweh's ministers and faithful talmidim (disciples) get arrested, imprisoned and sometimes even killed, as is already happening in some countries, we need to remember these sayings of the Master. Mark records the same teaching in his Gospel as related to him by Peter. As William Barclay translated this passage in his elegant paraphrase:

"You will be universally hated because of your connection with Me. But the man who sees things through to the end will be saved" (Mk.13:13, Barclay).

If you're looking to be popular, or liked by everyone, to be wealthy or famous, you're on the wrong track. Your motivation is all wrong. There are many devils in sheep's clothing pretending to be preachers. I know one or two of them. No man or woman will be saved in the end who values self-esteem more than Christ-esteem, or who is a person-pleaser. When I was first called to this work in 1984 I literally had no idea how much endurance would be required of me and of those called to be my companions-in-Christ. I had no clue how tough it would get or of all the betrayals that would follow, including by beloved members of my own family. It has hurt a lot but really this was properly the only way to get the attitude of being worried about how other people see me burned completely out. Today I don't give a fig about what anyone thinks of me because I don't have a reputation left to be worried about. Yes, I have a good reputation amongst those who know me well - believers and unbelievers alike (and as you know congregational leaders are required to have a good reputation with outsiders, which means getting known in the local community in which we live - 1 Tim.3:7), and that matters to me, but what all the rest think about me is now academic. It is what it is. I have no emotions invested in that as once I did, and it took adversity to burn them out of me. I begged for the adversity to be taken away when it happened but now, in retrospect, I am glad of the fruits it brought. So should all of you.

Yah'shua (Jesus), after all,

"...made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore Elohim (God) also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Yah'shua (Jesus) every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Yah'shua the Messiah (Jesus Christ) is Master (Lord), to the glory of Elohim (God) the Father" (Phil.2:7-11, NKJV).

I know this is a hard thing for sensitive people whose hearts are easily hurt by unjust things that may be said about them or done to them. I wish I could shield you, but I cannot, and I would be wrong to. Instead, I can only counsel you to throw your all on Christ and not try to manage your hurt by devising self-protection mechanisms which by shutting your heart down will destroy your sensitivity. Traditionally we Brits have chosen the Stoic route (an indifference to pleasure or pain) but that is a pagan and unnatural solution invented by the Greek Zeno of Citium in the third century BC. Christ was not a Stoic because He was not indifferent - He dealt with reality head-on and by this means won an atonement for us. Instead or unnaturally turning off pleasure and pain, by casting our all on Him, He will toughen our brows whilst keeping us sensitive and tender within. If that appears a contradiction, know that it actually isn't - it's a supernatural equipping, and it works provided you know that you are loved by Him, and that means investing time seeking His face until you do know Him and can sense the presence of the Comforter. Jeremiah was one such sensttive soul, easily wounded emotionally, but Yahweh made him bold and tough through adversity, never subjecting him to more than he could manage- We have the same guarantee.

So we are called to persevere but perseverance is not guaranteed as the Calvinists claim. It's something we must choose to do. The fact that you are persevering is actually really good news, because it is a sign or evidence that you are saved (Heb.3:14; 6:11-12; 10:36). So to those who are struggling and messing up but repenting and trying again, keeping their eyes on Yah'shua (Jesus) no matter what, know that if you are clinging on to your faith you are saved in the here-and-now! You're doing OK, you're not cast off no matter what anyone else says, and there are always those trying to undermine us to make themselves feel better about their own sinning. But at the same time don't exploit His grace, by remembering that it is our sinning - past, present and future - that sent the Saviour to the cross to die for our sins in the first place. Am I guilty of that? Oh yes, I'm ashamed to say, as we all are...which is not an excuse, just an admission of frailty and weakness that's common to us all. The day I abandon the Gospel and my calling (Yah forbid) will be the evidence that I am probably not saved anymore and am not therefore enduring or overcoming.

I hope that I have in some way encouraged you today. I felt strongly that this message was important and timely, and I know I was supposed to share it with you before the two important messages I am to give you at Rosh Chodesh in two days' time. So regard this as Part 1 of a two-part series. I hope also that some false ideas have been laid to rest and that some true ones have been given place in your minds and hearts to replace them. The concept that salvation is both an initial event whose reality must be preserved throughout life through careful and diligent application does not rest easily with most Protestants and yet this was a doctrine that was taught from the earliest days of the coming of the Kingdom. There's always Good News when lies are exposed - I can neither be complacent nor careless about my salvation but equally I may be reassured that I have to go a long way into apostacy over a longish period of time - the culmination of a series of negative choices beforehand with resultant negative spiritual behaviours - before I finally lose that precious gift - and during that time my Saviour will plead and patiently wait for my choice to turn around. Indeed, He is as patient as the father of the prodigal son in the famous parable (Lk.15:11-32). But make no mistake, that grace can become exhausted as justice persistently and righteously makes its demands too. So make a commitment to endure to the end no matter what for such are of the Kingdom of Heaven! I look forward to seeing you at Rosh Chodesh. May the Elohim (God) of love and grace be with you all until then, in Yah'shua (Jesus) our Messiah. Amen.

Endnotes

[1] Speaking of a failure to teach repentance, Sarah-Jayne Pomeroy said: "Today, young people are promoted as Christians leaders because they did a course, or because they are cool and relevant. Abandoning of the biblical requirements for leadership is paving the road towards perpetual infancy among the prethren. If you don't even know the basics of sin and repentance, why are you a church leader?" (October 2022)
[2] If there any hope is to be offered it is in that of universal reconciliation one day