9-6-13 Changes

[Adriel]

Topic is: Changes
Happy Sabbath - Please see our chatroom information at: http://www.csda-adventistchurch.to/chat.html

Zahakiel : All right, let's begin. Bro. Luke, please offer an opening prayer.

Lucan : Dear heavenly Father... We thank you for this time of rejoicing and rest. We pray for new insights into your character and other blessings you have given to us with your faith. In the name of Yahshua we pray, amen.

Zahakiel : Amen.
Barbli : Amen
Pastor_Chick_CSDA_7 : Amen.
Adriel : Amen
Barbli : Phenehas: Amen
Daphna_Matthews3067 : Amen
Elyna : Amen.
Guest_Naraiel : Amen
Guest_gadriel : Amen & Amen

Zahakiel : Happy Sabbath to everyone. Last week, we had a study about the things that Yah has prepared for those who serve Him in faith, and with a clear conscience. We saw that although He has promised “good” for us, the specifics of what awaits those who develop the perfection of Christian character are left almost entirely unsaid. As we read, “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which Yah hath prepared for them that love Him.” (1Cor 2:9) What this means is, we need to take the inheritance of the saints largely on faith. Of course, it is not a blind faith. Yah does not say, “Trust me because I say so,” although He has infinite authority with which to command our trust and obedience. But mere obedience has never been something that has interested our Father in Heaven. He has given us evidences of His love in answered prayers, in His Word, and most of all in the life of His Son, offered up for our sakes on the cross, restored to live as an example of His power over death, and finally dwelling within us through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Adriel : Amen

Zahakiel : He gives us these things, and then says, “Believe in my promises.” But in doing so, Yah has balanced faith and evidence perfectly. He has given us sufficient cause for a faithful heart and mind to trust in Him, but He has not (often) revealed His power in such a way as to remove doubt from those who do not love His principles and character. Eventually, the difference between those who are faithful, and those who are lost, comes down to a decision.

Do we choose to believe in the things Yah has done for us in the past, and that He has promised to continue to do in and for us? The decision to make this step must be balanced against what I have called “the religion of the flesh,” which is the way that Satan has influenced practically all of humanity, to place its trust in those things that its senses can readily perceive.

Those who have their minds centered on “matter,” those whom the Scriptures call “the natural man,” do not receive the things of Yahweh. The things of Yah are spiritually discerned, which means that they do not come to us through the natural senses, but through the work of the Holy Spirit on our hearts.

And for those who are in the valley of decision, there is often a fear of losing what they believe they now have for something that they cannot yet see. As I said last week, “I know that, in speaking to my own family, and various others, one of the biggest barriers I have encountered in getting them even to hear my words on these matters, is that of fear. And it is not just ‘fear’ in a general sense. It is a very specific fear – that of change, that of the unknown.” I would like to expand on that a little this week.
A fear of changes will keep many from the Kingdom, but it is a necessary factor for Christian growth. Not many know this, but in the occult philosophies, the concept of “change” is closely associated with the concept of “death.” For example, in some popular forms of fortune telling, the same card signifies both death and changes for the individual, and this principle underlies (unrealized by many of them) much of their rebellion against Yahweh.

In Yah’s kingdom, the Law is eternal. It is unchanging, and based on everlasting principles. Those who would come into conformity with Yah’s purposes must change themselves in order to meet the requirements of this Law. They are, because of the corruption of sin, unable to do so of their own selves; however, as it is written and we all know, Paul tells the believer, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of Yah, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world; but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” (Rom 12:1, 2)

When we sacrifice ourselves, considering ourselves “dead to sin,” it is then that Christ enters in, and does His purifying work within us, to bring us to that place that we cannot attain in our own strength. This is a picture of the Gospel.

In the kingdom that Satan would establish, by contrast, the laws would change to meet the inclination of the rebels. The people would remain as they are, sinners without grace, but because the laws would be altered to meet their desires, they would be happy for a time, believing that they are “good enough.”

The contrast could not be clearer.

The Law of Yah, because it is established by infinite wisdom, is not subject to change, but the creature that was born in sin must change in order to fulfill it.

The laws of Satan, because they are proposed by a fallen being, are subject to change, and they change often in order to keep man as he is, without the transformation that results from accepting Yah’s love and mighty power.

We know that the work of Satan on the earth is to “speak great words against the most High, and [...] wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws.” (Dan 7:25) We know that the attempted alterations to Yah’s instructions to mankind, by which He has revealed to us His divine nature, are a sign of the beast’s power amongst mankind.

Nevertheless, a part of the work of the saints, to “teach [His] people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean,” (Ezek 44:23) involves showing the world what is subject to changes, and what is unalterable forever more.

In the process of sanctification, there are things in us that are to remain unchanged– those things that our Father has placed in us from the beginning. As He said to His servant, He says to all of us, “By thee have I been holden up from the womb; thou art He that took me out of my mother’s bowels, my praise shall be continually of thee. “For thou hast possessed my reins; thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are thy works, and that my soul knoweth right well.” (Psalm 71:6, Psalm 139:13, 14)

Not all of us will have the same calling as did King David, or the prophets of old, but all of us are messengers of the Gospel, and Yah has chosen us, whom He foreknew, equipping us with talents and skills to accomplish this intended purpose. We need not rehearse our individual talents here; hopefully we know the gifts that we bring to the Church Covenant, to be used individually and in cooperation with the brethren for the winning of souls.

And additionally, we (by virtue of being human) have had in us the image of our Father, even if it had been covered over by the stains of sin. But this image means that we have always had the potential, because Yah has placed it in us, for the fruit of the Spirit – love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance. (Gal 5:22, 23)

The work of Yahshua is a restoration, a re-creation, so that we begin to reveal those things that we were intended to have from the beginning. The life that has fallen victim to sin is a destroyed life, incapable of realizing its potential, and so we must be “born again,” the first and most significant of the changes necessary to see the Kingdom of Heaven. But the things to which we have been restored in Christ Yahshua, these are things He created to be in us, and those principles, and that fruit of the Spirit, will never change. This is because these things are the outworking of the Law placed in our hearts when we are converted to the truth.

And what do we say about those things that must surely change? That is where it takes faith to believe that we may safely step into the unknown with our Father holding our hand. This is where the decision comes, in this generation, to stand in the light of Yah’s judgment, to be willing to be examined, and to examine ourselves, to see that we have “truly ceased to sin.”

This is where fellowship becomes a true blessing, and the Covenant to which we are called sees its true value. This is also where many will come short, because they will prefer the “truth” revealed to them by their senses, over the everlasting truth that they have not yet been permitted to see.

If those who are unwilling to stand in Yah’s light will not change, because of pride, or stubbornness, or improper desires, they will be – in effect – choosing the religion of Satan, who is quite willing to conform what is acceptable in his kingdom to the inclinations of the flesh. His law changes, and Yah’s law does not.

Therefore we must be transformed, changed, from glory to glory, to reflect the likeness of His dear Son, who perfectly fulfilled that unchanging Law.

So again, we have seen what is not to change. Yah’s law, and the good gifts that He has given to mankind, though obscured by sin until conversion... these are everlasting.

So then, what is to change? We read, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect.” (Mat 5:48) Yahshua said, “Be ye,” which means “become.” It means “transform.” It means “change.”

Clearly, He would not have spoken this to those who were already being perfect as Yah is perfect. Clearly, as Paul has said, all “have come short” of this perfection. But despite this, Yahshua does not say, “Ye cannot be perfect, even as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect.” No, and just the opposite.

His word, his instruction, is a promise to be claimed. But have men changed? Have they accepted this promise? Have they come to “be?” There are not many who have said, ignoring the temptations of Satan and the barrier of their flesh, “We accept.”
Instead, they have twisted the Savior’s words at every point, and come to believe exactly the opposite of what He has declared. Yahshua says, “Be,” and they have said, “We cannot be.” What a reversal. What a perversion! What a repeat of the Garden of Eden, when Yah says to mankind, “Ye shall surely die.” Satan says, “Ye shall not surely die.” And when, thousands of years later, Yah says to mankind, through His Son, “Ye shall surely live!” Now... what does Satan say? “Ye cannot. Ye shall surely die.”

Have you heard him saying it, tempting you in any way? Rebuke him, and live. Brethren, ye shall surely live! Be ye perfect, in love, in gentleness, in character, even as our Father in Heaven is perfect.

Elyna : Amen.

Zahakiel : Do not let Satan tell you anything else. Do not let the flesh, or the faithless ones who claim to be the mouthpieces of Yahweh (who are unjust servants that have buried their talent in the earth) convince you any differently. Let us convince them differently.

Yahshua brings you to life in the power of His Father. Yahshua dwells within you, with His own perfect, un-borrowed life, if you are His indeed. If you have accepted the changes, and that there WILL be changes, if you have cast off the flesh – by faith, without fear of gaining invisible things, without fear of losing visible ones – you have come to dwell in the Spirit. You shall surely live, and you will not fear the judgment, the sanctification, or the fire of Heaven.

We are to show the world the joy of true salvation. We are to show the world what is everlasting and eternal, and what is to change and be put away. Be not afraid of change, for it is – to those of us learning the society and knowledge of Heaven – life itself. It is growth, and renewal. It is not death – the Old Man, who did NOT change, he is the one laid in the grave, because he was incapable of changing. He could not grow, and therefore he died. He could not step forward, out of sin, and therefore, as Paul tells us, sin destroyed him.

But we dwell in the Spirit, and the life that we now live, in the flesh, is the life of the Son of Yah, being Yah’s own righteousness, remaining on earth a short while to testify to the love that has so transformed us.

Adriel : Amen

Zahakiel : How important, then, is it that our words reflect this always? What boldness, what confidence, what peace, ought we to have, not speaking of those temptations and trials that trouble us (except to declare that we have been given victory over them), but speaking rather of blessings. Our words are to be that of an invincible faith, because that which has refused to change has passed away, and that which grows, and grows forever, and transforms ever more perfectly into the reflection of the Law of Yah, has come to be.

We read, as we have read, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away, behold, all things are become new.” (2Cor 5:17) All things are “become new.” They have changed. All that was incapable of change in us (of the flesh) has passed away, a nd all that has not changed of Yahweh in the Spirit remains perfect to guide us and keep us from falling.

Therefore, let us embrace this fully, and stand in the light. Let us consider all that would remain to keep us from perfection to be dead, to be passed away. Let this bring us to new light, and new knowledge of the Word of Yah. And let us see our Father’s perfect promises through faithful eyes, that the work may be completed in triumph, and that the universe itself may finally change, expelling sin and sinfulness, and reflecting, in every element, the glory of our Father’s love.

Adriel : Amen!
Elyna : Amen

Zahakiel : Are there any questions or comments about tonight's study?

Elyna : C
Zahakiel : Go ahead.
Elyna : That is a beautiful study. Thank you.
Adriel : Amen
Guest_gadriel : Amen.
Guest_Naraiel : C.
Zahakiel : Go ahead.
Guest_Naraiel : A practical faith to make things even more beautiful. End
Zahakiel : Putting it into practice? Yes
Guest_Naraiel : yes.
Zahakiel : All right, if there are no others, I will ask pastor to close the meeting with a prayer.
Pastor_Chick_CSDA_7 : Let us pray...Dear Father in Heaven...Thank You for Your Design and Your Plan for Your creation... Thank You for the miracles that You work in our lives... Bless the remainder of this Sabbath to our benefit... In YAHSHUA's name, AMEN!
Barbli : Amen
Guest_Naraiel : Amen
Elyna : Amen.
Barbli : Phenehas: amen
Zahakiel : Amen
Adriel : Amen
Guest_gadriel : Amen & Amen
Lucan : Amen
Guest_eagle : Amen.
Sandiie : amen
› Sandiie has left the conversation.
Guest_gadriel : Amen
Guest_gadriel : Amen