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This is
Yeshua’s final meal, a Passover Seder, with those
that have followed Him during the previous three
or four years, so what He is about to say to them
is extremely important. Let’s continue in John
14, starting with verse 18: He says, I will
not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.
You know, it’s not easy to raise kids. Raising
children is hard, even for two parents. It’s even
harder for single parents, and Martha and I sometimes
wonder how they do it! And hardest of all is being
raised as an orphan without any parents. Knowing
this, Yeshua promises that He will not abandon
His disciples so that they are like orphans -
without proper supervision and guidance, unprotected,
impoverished, not able to survive in the world’s
hostile environment.
He promises
to come for His disciples, and He will come to
them in three ways: After His resurrection, in
just a few days, He will come to them in His new
glorified body.
Then,
some 50 days later, He will come to them by means
of His Spirit, which will indwell the disciples
and all Messianic Believers.
Finally,
Yeshua will come for them at the Second Coming,
when those who died believing in Messiah will
be raised, and those believers who are alive at
that time, will be given their own eternal bodies,
and will be in the presence of God and Messiah
forever.
Yeshua
continues: After a little while the world will
no longer see Me, but you will see Me; In
just a very short time I will be invisible to
the world, but I will remain visible to you. I
will be physically visible to you, because after
I come back to life I will remain on Earth for
forty days, showing Myself to you, teaching you,
preparing you to take over My task. After that
I will still be visible to you, but you will have
to rely on your spiritual sight to see Me. Those
who are part of this fallen world system, and
who are alienated from God, don’t have spiritual
sight. And so they are likewise blind to Me. But
you will know that I am alive, and so you will
see Me in that sense, with your spiritual eyes
- by the sight that faith gives.
And, we
since will share the same Spirit, and the same
destiny, therefore we will share the same life.
because I live, you will live also. I will
overcome death. I will come back to life. I will
be alive forever, and since you are identified
with Me and you have joined yourselves to Me by
placing your faith in Me, you will live too! You
have my promise about that.
50 days
from now, after My resurrection, and the coming
and the indwelling of My Spirit in you, in
that day you will know that I am in My Father,
and you in Me, and I in you. You see, I am
the one and only mediator through whom God and
mankind can be reconnected. When My Spirit, who
is also the Spirit of God the Father, dwells in
you, then we will all share the same Spirit.
Then God,
and Me - the Son of God and you - the children
of God, will have the kind of close and intimate
and personal relationship and a sharing of nature
that was intended from before eternity. There
will be a unity between us of love and relationship
and nature that will bind us together for all
eternity.
He
who has My commandments and keeps them is the
one who loves Me; Don’t fool or deceive yourselves.
There will be a lot of false Christians, nominal
Messianic Jews, who claim to know Me, and be My
disciples, but I’m telling you now that they aren’t.
A human being has to know what I demand, and then
do it, to truly love Me. You must truly become
My students. You must study My commandments, My
teachings, and practice them.
What are
Yeshua’s commandments? He is asking us to do what
He has always asked us to do - the commands found
in the Torah. However, not all 613 commands in
the Torah are meant to apply to everybody. Not
everyone needs to be circumcised. There are laws
that only apply to priests, but not to the rest
of Israel. There are laws that only apply to the
High Priest, but no one else. For example, the
High Priest couldn’t marry a divorced woman or
a widow, whereas a regular Israeli could. There
are laws that only apply to the king (like writing
his own copy of the Torah). There are laws that
apply to men and not to women. All of the laws
directly apply to the Jewish people, but not all
apply to those from other nations. All of us are
to fulfill His commands, but the requirements
of the Law are different.
So what
relationship does the Gentile Christian have to
the 613 laws of the Torah? The book of Acts records
that Messiah’s Emissaries (the Apostles) and the
Elders of Messiah’s Holy Community met to decide
this very issue. According to the binding decision
issued by the Emissaries and Elders, guided and
inspired by the Holy Spirit, apart from saving
faith in Messiah Yeshua, only four things are
obligatory for Gentile Christians to observe (see
Acts 15, especially verses 19-20, 28-29). It was
also expected that every human being would obey
the Moral Laws - laws such as not murdering, not
stealing, and not committing adultery. These are
laws which God has written on everyone's heart
(see Romans 2:14-15).
All of
us - Jews and Gentiles, must fulfill Yeshua’s
commands, like the greatest commandment, that
you love God above all else, with all your being.
God must come first before everyone and everything!
And, we must love those human beings that God
has placed around us, even if they are difficult
to love. Each one of us must pick up our cross,
and reject the world’s corrupt and twisted values.
We must be men and women of mercy, people of integrity
and godly character.
So, we
must show we love Yeshua by obeying Him. And
there’s more - he who loves Me will be loved
by My Father - how wonderful, how blessed,
to be loved and accepted by the glorious Creator
of the universe! And let me suggest that
the opposite is true - that the person that does
not love Yeshua - Jew or Gentile - will not be
loved by God, with a fatherly love, a love of
acceptance and embrace.
You mean
Rabbi Loren, that God doesn’t love every human
being? Well, yes, in one sense He does love every
human being. They are made in His image, and they
are therefore precious and valuable, but at the
same time they are dangerous. God loves human
beings, just as you may love a dog, but if that
dog develops rabies, and becomes dangerous to
others, you might have to have that dog put down
and destroyed.
Some years
ago my parents had a ferret named Alfie. Alfie
was cute, and was house trained, and was allowed
to run around the house. He would climb up in
the closets, and burrow under the bed covers,
but Alfie had an annoying habit - occasionally
he would come out and nip the back your foot -
around your heel! And, it hurt! At first he wasn’t
too bad - he mostly bit my father, and only on
occasion, but after a while the bites became more
frequent, and he bit more and more people. Well,
when Ari, the first grandchild, came along, my
parents decided that although they loved Alfie,
it was time for Alfie to go.
Like a
mean, nasty ferret, or a rabid dog, human beings
have been corrupted by sin and are dangerous,
and are of no ultimate use to God if they will
not allow Him to cure them of their terrible and
deadly spiritual disease.
So, here’s
what must be done. God the Father loved this planet
full of corrupted, dangerous human beings enough
that He sent His Son, Yeshua the Messiah, to show
us who God really is, and to redeem us, and to
restore us to the Father, and to heal us from
sin and death. We must love Yeshua and receive
Him and commit our lives to Him and obey Him.
Then, and only then, God the Father is able to
fully love us and receive us to Himself.
And, if
we truly love Messiah Yeshua, and prove that we
do by obeying Him, the Son of God promises to
respond to our love for Him: and I will love
him and will disclose Myself to him."
Among
human beings, when you love someone, and they
respond to your love, and love you in return,
that wonderful, and it’s natural to want to get
even closer to them, to share more of yourself
with them, to reveal more of yourself to them.
Even so, the Son of God promises to respond to
those who love Him by drawing closer to them,
becoming even more intimate with them, and by
revealing even more about Himself to them, giving
us ever greater glimpses of His wisdom and power
and glory.
Well,
these declarations caused some confusion: Judas
(not Iscariot - and probably the apostle Thaddaeus,
or some other disciple who was there) said
to Him, “Lord, what then has happened that You
are going to disclose Yourself to us and not to
the world?" Yeshua - Master, I don’t understand
- what is this private disclosure that you are
talking about? Aren’t You the Messiah, the King
of Israel, who is soon going to be revealed to
all of the nations of the world?
Yeshua
answered and said to him, “No Judas, I am
not going to reveal Myself to the entire world
right now. That will have to wait for a couple
thousand years, at My Second Coming.
If
anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My
Father will love him, and We will come to him
and make Our abode with him. I am limiting
My self-disclosure to only the ones who truly
love Me, and prove it by obeying Me. Then, not
only I, but God, who is My Father, the Two of
Us, since We are One and yet Two, we will drawer
closer to than man, that woman, and reveal more
of who We are to him, to her. And, we will make
our home with him. It’s will be like living in
the same home together, like a close and loving
family. That’s the self-disclosure that I am planing,
Judas.
Do you
want a more exciting spiritual life? You want
greater spirituality? You want a better understanding
of God and His Word? You want greater spiritual
experiences? Don’t seek for new spiritual experiences,
empowerments, releases, anointings, signs, wonders,
miracles or doubtful revivals, so that you place
yourself under the influence of questionable men
and ministries who have caught the public fancy
with over-night popularity.
Spend
more time learning about Yeshua, studying His
life, His teachings, and then obey Him. Then He
and God the Father will drawer closer, and reveal
more to you.
He
who does not love Me does not keep My words; and
the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father's
who sent Me. So, this teaching which we are
getting right now, comes from the Highest Authority,
from God the Father, through the Clearest Channel
- God the Son, through a Reliable Messenger -
the Emissary John, to us. Do you think it can
get any more true, any more reliable, any more
authoritative?
These
things I have spoken to you while abiding with
you - here on Earth, in the flesh. And
that’s great, to have the eternal and wise Son
of God, who came from Heaven, here with you, teaching
you, telling you the things that you need to know.
What a blessing! Great prophets of old longed
to see Me here on Earth! But the Helper, the
One who gives the same kind of help that I have
given to you while I was here in Person while
on Planet Earth, helping and comforting you, advising
and correcting you, teaching and strengthening
and encouraging you, the Holy Spirit, whom
the Father will send in My name - to those
who believe in Me, to those who place their faith
in Me, who will represent Me, who will carry on
My same work, He will teach you all things,
and bring to your remembrance all that I said
to you.
The Special
and Unique Spirit of God, who is also My Spirit,
will continue My same ministry to you, but from
inside of you, carrying on My work, but from within
you, in a deeper and greater way than was possible
before. I will still be your Rabbi and Teacher
and Helper and Friend. When you need to be taught
something, when you need advice, when you need
comfort, when you ask for wisdom, I will instantly
know it, and My Spirit will start teaching you,
and call your attention to the Word of God, and
illuminate those passages. But for this to work,
you need to make sure that you know what I have
said to you, so study My teachings, study the
Word of God, so that My Spirit can bring My teachings
to your memory and instruct you through them.
So, make sure you read the Word of God, and keep
it fresh, so that My Spirit can teach you, applying
these things to your lives and the various situations
and circumstances that you will encounter.
I will
still be with you - not bodily, not physically,
but nevertheless My presence with be with you
from the inside. I will join My Spirit to you,
and live from within you.
And, I
have another parting gift to give you - a new
measure of the peace of God: Peace I leave
with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world
gives do I give to you. The world can only
offer you the temporary absence of conflict, not
the positive state of wholeness and completeness
that I can give you; the kind of peace that goes
to the very depths of the soul, giving one a sense
of well-being, even in the most difficult circumstances.
The peace
that I give you comes from knowing that you are
right with God, that He accepts you, that He is
your Father who loves you, that He will provide
for you, and enable you to live forever, and that
you are eternally safe - that no force in the
universe can separate you from Him, even death,
so that you can trust Him in all situations.
Therefore,
do not let your heart be troubled, nor let
it be fearful. You can control your heart.
If you trust Me, that I have given you My peace,
and therefore you must have it, and if you fill
your mind with this truth, then your heart, your
inner being, doesn’t need to be troubled or fearful.
You can be bold and confident and strong no matter
the situation.
You
heard that I said to you, 'I go away, and I will
come to you.' I said before that I am leaving,
but I am also returning. I know the thought of
My leaving you fills you with sadness, but if
you looked at things from My perspective, and
what is best for Me personally, and if you
loved Me, you would have rejoiced because I go
to the Father, for the Father is greater than
I. I am going to a far better place, the best
place in the universe to be - in the presence
of My God, enjoying My Father’s glory and power
and magnificence. It can be a good thing to be
in the presence of someone who is greater than
you, and My Father is greater than I am - not
in nature, for we share the same nature of God,
but He is greater in position. He is the Father,
and I am the Son. He sits on His throne, and I
have my own throne which is at His right hand.
He issues the command, and I carry out His will
and word. Ah, what a great place to be - so much
better than here in this world that lies under
a curse, polluted by sin. You should be happy
for Me!
Now
I have told you before it happens, so that when
it happens, you may believe. None of the events
that are going to happen very soon are a surprise
to Me. This is all part of the predetermined plan
of God, to bring about your redemption. I am giving
you this advanced warning so that you will know
that I knew all this, including My death - and
your faith in Me will be strengthened, so don’t
get too discouraged!
But time
is very short. I will not speak much more with
you, for the ruler of the world - Satan,
the head of the fallen angels, who runs pretty
much everything on Earth - according his corrupted
and twisted values, is coming, and he has nothing
in Me; I am allowing Myself to be killed by
him, but the reality is that he has no legal right
to put me to death, because I am perfectly innocent,
and I am sinless. I am guilty of no crime, no
wrong-doing, no sin. There is nothing that he
can use against Me.
But,
I am willing giving up My life so that the
world may know that I love the Father, I do exactly
as the Father commanded Me. I am willing to
make the ultimate sacrifice, and this will teach
the world that I fully and completely love the
Father and My death and resurrection will show
to the world that I do exactly what my Father
has commanded Me.
At this
point, Yeshua proposes that they leave the upper
room in Jerusalem, and so He says, “Get up,
let us go from here.”
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