WHAT DID THE MESSIAH JESUS DO FOR YOU?

Luke 16:13-16: When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, who do men say that I the Son of man am? And they said; some say that you are John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. He said unto them, but who do you say that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, you are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.

John 6: 67-69: Then Jesus said to the twelve, will you also go away? Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that you are that Messiah, the Son of the living God.

This man who Peter and the disciples realized was the Messiah, the son of the living God was brought into this world by a special creation of Yehovah, his God, and His Father.

As it says in Luke 1: 30-35: And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for you have found favor with God. And, behold, you shall conceive in your womb, and bring forth a son, and shall call his name Jesus – Yehoshua – Yehovah saves. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and Yehovah - God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of his kingdom, there shall be no end.

Note: Luke 1: 67-79: And his (John the Baptist’s father) Zachariah was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying, blessed be Yehovah God of Israel; for he has visited and redeemed His people, and has raised up a Horn of Salvation for us in the house of his servant David; as He Spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets, which have been since the world began: That we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all those that hate us; to perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember is Holy covenant; the oath which He swore to our father Abraham, that He would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve Him without fear, In Holiness and righteousness before Him, all the days of our lives.

And you, child, shall be called the prophet of the Highest: for you shall go before the face of Yehovah to Prepare His ways; to give knowledge of Salvation unto His People by the remission of their sins, through the tender mercy of our God; because of whom the Dayspring from on high has visited us, to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the Shadow of Death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.

Continue Luke 1:30-35: Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered and said unto her, the Holy Spirit shall come upon you, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow you: therefore that holy one which shall be born of you shall be called the Son of God.

Notice: In the genealogy of the lord Jesus in Luke 3:23-38, that Adam is called the son of God, vs. 38: “Who was the son of Enos, who was the son of Seth, who was the son of Adam, who was the son of God."

Now, look at what the apostle Paul says: “1Corithians 15:47: The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the lord from heaven. Paul calls the lord Jesus the second man.

What Paul is referring to is that Jesus was the second man specially created of God, Adam being the first.

Note: Ephesians 1:3-11: Blessed be the God and Father of our lord Jesus the Messiah, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in the Messiah: According as He [Yehovah] has chosen us in him [Jesus] before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having marked us out beforehand unto the adoption of children because of Jesus the Messiah to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, In whom [Jesus] we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace; wherein He has abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; having made known unto us the mystery of His [Yehovah] will, according to His good pleasure which He has purposed in Himself: That in the dispensation of the fullness of times He might gather together in one all things in the Messiah, both of which are in heaven, and which are in earth; even in him [Jesus]: In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being marked out beforehand according to the purpose of Him [Yehovah] who works all things after the counsel of His own will:

Jesus as the lord Messiah that Yehovah has placed at His right-hand carries out  the functions that benefit those who are his.

Peter speaking on the day of Pentecost says to Israel in Acts 2:33: Therefore being exalted at the right hand of God, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he [Jesus] has shed forth this, which you now see and hear. The great outpouring of the Spirit was sent down by the lord Messiah Jesus.

Acts 5:31: Him [Jesus] has God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Savior, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. That includes all who have been grafted into Israel by the power of God’s Spirit [Romans 11:24-28]

Jesus became a sin-offering sacrifice on the stake in order that His God and Father Yehovah could reconcile all humanity to Himself. Those who will complete this reconciliation will come to believe in the one true God Yehovah and in the one whom He sent to bring that message of salvation to the world, the lord Jesus. For as many as receive him [Jesus], to them he gives the power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: [John 1:12] That my friend is the epitome of what the lord Messiah Jesus has done for us.

To realize that we are the sons of the living God Yehovah because of what Jesus has done for us is far above anything this world has to offer.

As sons of the living God, we will get to co-rule and co-inherit with the lord Messiah Jesus, our elder brother, when he returns to sit on the throne of David at Zion and establish his 1,000-year rule. At that time all the blessing of our God and Father has promised Abraham, will be his as the “seed” of Abraham [Galatians 3:16].

How do we receive all these blessings that the lord Jesus has made possible for us to receive? We have to repent and be baptized in his name. Repentance means to be willing to die to self and to walk into the water as crucified with the Messiah Jesus and as such realize that we are bought and paid for, becoming the slaves of our master Jesus. Then when we rise up out of the water we become new creations in the lord Jesus, receiving the power of God’s Spirit which will enable us to keep the creed of the lord Jesus which is to love Yehovah God with all our heart, mind, and being and to learn to love our neighbor as ourselves, doing so as servants - slaves of righteousness. [Mark 12:28-34; Romans 6:18]

God our Father Yehovah is looking for people who will walk in obedience to the faith as members of His called-out Assembly, which is the body of the lord Messiah Jesus. Our God and Father's desire is that His sons and daughters walk before Him in total commitment in accordance to His will which is, to obey the words He gave the lord Jesus to give to us that will enable us to enter into the coming Kingdom of God. He expects us to love our neighbors as ourselves, for in doing so we are loving people who have been created in His image. In loving our neighbors as ourselves we indirectly love God!

One of the great opportunities our God and Father Yehovah has given us because of His beloved uniquely begotten son Jesus is when we were baptized we received the power of His Spirit, His indwelling presence and when that happened we became anointed one's [messiah's] and as anointed one's we become the agents of our God Yehovah and His son the lord Messiah Jesus. As agents of Yehovah and the lord Messiah Jesus, we need to walk worthy of our calling! [Ephesians 4:1; Colossians 1:10; 1 Thessalonians 2:4] As the agents of the lord Jesus we are his ambassadors [2 Corinthians 5:20] As Jesus ambassadors we are to take the good news God gave to him to give to us in order that we can individually and collectively take that message to the world. It is a life giving message for all who receive it!

It would take volumes to write about all that the lord Jesus has done for us. All of us can look for all he has freely given to us as it is all revealed in the word – revelation of God. It’s a lifetime study that will have amazing rewards for all who do so! That study will draw your hearts and minds to be closer to our God and Father Yehovah and His uniquely begotten son Jesus – Yehoshua – Yehovah Delivers.

THE JEWISH LAW OF AGENCY

Jesus said to the Pharisee’s “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30). What was he indicating to the Pharisees?

If we read what he said to them in the previous verses (vs. 24-25) we will see Jesus referring to himself as acting under the Jewish Law of Agency regarding his words and work.

John 10:24-25: Then came the Jews round about him, and said unto him, how long do you make us to doubt? If you be the Messiah, tell us plainly. Jesus answered them, I told you, and you believed not: the works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness of me.

Now we hear from Jesus' own mouth that the works he does is in the Father’s name. In other words, he is acting as the agent sent by his God and his Father.

Notice: John 14:10: Believe you not that I am in the Father and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwells in me, he does the works.

Again, we see that the words that he speaks are not of himself, but the Father that indwells him; He does the works – working through His chosen agent, the Messiah Jesus.

More: Whoever believes in me does not believe in me only, but in the One who sent me. The one who looks at me is seeing the One who sent me… whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say. (John 12:44-45, 50)

Now according to the Jewish Law of Agency, the agent fully represents the one on whose behalf they are acting, so that the two are identified as one and the same person.

The Jewish Law of Agency is expressed by these words, “a person’s agent is regarded as the person himself.” And that is why Jesus told the Pharisees, “I and the Father are one”.

The reason they started to throw rocks at him for saying that is because they rejected any idea of him being the Messiah.

Now the question that we as disciples of the lord Messiah should ask ourselves is when we go forth preaching and publishing the message Yehovah our God gave to Jesus to give to us are we acting as his agents? The answer is yes!

Notice: 2 Corinthians 5:20: Now then we are ambassadors for the Messiah, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in the Messiah’s stead, be you reconciled to God.

Here Paul is saying that we as ambassadors of the Messiah are also acting on behalf of our God in beseeching people to be reconciled to God! So when we are acting as one’s who have been sent forth as ambassadors of the Messiah Jesus we are also acting not only as his agents but also as agents of his Father and our Father Yehovah.

So that being said do we truly realize that when we speak forth the good news (gospel) message that our God Yehovah gave to Jesus to be preached to the world, we are acting as agents of the lord Jesus, so that what we say, is as if he were saying it, according to the Jewish Law of Agency!

Now we all understand that we cannot properly act as the agents of the lord Messiah properly without being enabled to do so by the indwelling power of the Spirit of our God and Father and of the lord Jesus in us.

We draw upon the indwelling power of our God Yehovah and our Messiah Jesus to carry out what they have commissioned us to do.

Note: John 14:20: At that day you shall know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. That day began on the day of Pentecost for Jesus disciples, and for all that are in him to this day! 

Note: John 14:23: If a man loves me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

What an awesome responsibility has been given to us to act as the agents of our God and Father Yehovah and the lord Messiah Jesus.

Now the words that Paul spoke have deep meaning for us now:

1 Thessalonians 2:2: That you would walk worthy of God, who has called you unto His kingdom and glory.

Indeed, and to walk worthy of our calling requires the enabling power of our God Yehovah working in us and through us.

YEHOVAH RAISES UP HIS PEOPLE

One of God’s names in scripture is Yehovah-Nissi. It means the God who provides, who is a banner, who lifts ups, who exalts. It’s an interesting combination of meanings all together in one word.

This Hebrew word "nissi" is used in Jewish weddings. When the bride and groom are at their wedding party, all of the guests make the couple sit in two chairs; then they lift the chairs up and walk around the room, carrying the bride and groom. That action of lifting up was called nissi.

I think it’s a powerful picture because marriage is a kind of lifting up and great exaltation. I [Bruce Lyon] have been married 38 years, and it’s a wonderful blessing, but it’s also a test.

We don’t really want God to test us; we don’t want to go through dry seasons where we feel alone and away from his presence. We don’t want to go through the test of having to move to difficult places, the test of friends hurting our hearts, the test of family difficulties, the test of financial difficulties, the tests in church or ministry.

When Paul was talking about some of the tests in his life, he said:

“Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles… danger from false brothers. And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches” (2 Corinthians 11:24-26,28, ESV).

Why is he saying this? What’s the point of this?

Paul provides the answer in the next chapter:

“For the sake of the Messiah, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10).

There’s a reason for God’s tests. He tests us in the area we love most. Every test you’re going through is not God’s desire to push you back or keep you in your place; it’s God’s desire to bring you "nissi," to bring you to a new place, to elevate your faith, and have you worship him as Yehovah Elohim, the God who lifts us up.

Written by Gary Wilkerson, and edited by Bruce Lyon

THE EIGHT ATTRIBUTES OF YEHOVAH

Exodus 34:5-7: Yehovah descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of Yehovah. Yehovah passed before him and proclaimed, “Yehovah, Yehovah, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”

Moses had asked God, “Please show me your glory” (Exodus 33:18). Yehovah replied that although Moses could not see His face, He would have His glory pass by him and proclaim His name [Yehovah]. When the time came, Yehovah proclaimed His name twice and then listed out His eight attributes.

1. Merciful
2. Gracious
3. Slow to anger
4. Abounding in steadfast love
5. Abounding in faithfulness
6. Keeping steadfast love
7. Forgiving
8. Punishing the guilty

This list is heavily weighted towards kindness and love. Some have said the God of the Old Testament is vengeful and violent, whereas the God of the New Testament is forgiving and kind. Based on that way of thinking, the eight attributes belong in the New Testament; yet, here they are listed in Exodus 34:5-7. Furthermore, we can find plenty of divine judgment in the New Testament from Ananias and Saphira (Acts 5:5, 10) to Herod (Acts 12:23) and to the wrath of God prophesied in Revelation.

When I read Exodus 34:5-7 I read about a God who is merciful, slow to anger, and willing to forgive. A God who is above all loyal for He abounds in steadfast love and faithfulness; two qualities associated with His covenant relationships with His people. He is patient in maintaining His steadfast love through thick and thin towards those who love Him. However, He will not however allow the guilty to go unpunished. In reading Exodus 34:5-7, we learn about who Yehovah is. What a wonderful revelation He has given to us!

Notice: In Exodus 34:5-7; Yehovah begins with His name. In fact, He says it twice before listing out His attributes (Exodus 34:6). These two facts demonstrate the importance of His name. Saying it first and repeating it marks it out from all the attributes that follow. Yehovah is God’s name. The importance Yehovah places on His own name makes me all the more zealous to tell people about who my God and Father is in full detail.

Something for us to consider is how often we find echoes of the eight attributes throughout the OT. Rarely are they all listed, but often two or more get mentioned. Moses himself later quoted God’s attributes back to Him in prayer.

Numbers 14:17-20: And now, please let the power of Yehovah be great as you have promised, saying, ‘Yehovah is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but he will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, to the third and the fourth generation.’ Please pardon the iniquity of this people, according to the greatness of your steadfast love, just as you have forgiven these people, from Egypt until now.” Then Yehovah said, “I have pardoned, according to your word.”

The people rebelled again, and God decided He would destroy them all and start over with Moses. In response, Moses stood in the gap between the people and God and boldly petitioned Yehovah to forgive his undeserving people. In the course of praying, Moses mentioned the following attributes:

3 (slow to anger),
4 (abounding in steadfast love),
7 (forgiving),
8 (punishment).

And it worked! Quoting God’s attributes back to God resulted in Him pardoning the people. Now that’s a powerful prayer!

For a similar example, see Nehemiah’s prayer in Nehemiah 9:13-21: You came down also upon mount Sinai, and spoke with them from heaven, and gave them right judgments, and true laws, good statutes, and commandments: And made known unto them your holy Sabbath, and commanded them precepts, statutes, and laws, by the hand of Moses thy servant: And gave them bread from heaven for their hunger, and brought forth water for them out of the rock for their thirst, and promised them that they should go in to possess the land which you had sworn to give them. But they and our fathers dealt proudly, and hardened their necks, and hearkened not to thy commandments, And refused to obey, neither were mindful of your wonders that you did among them; but hardened their necks, and in their rebellion appointed a captain to return to their bondage: but you are a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and forsook them not. Yea, when they had made them a molten calf, and said, This is you God that brought you up out of Egypt, and had wrought great provocations; Yet thou in thy manifold mercies forsook them not in the wilderness: the pillar of the cloud departed not from them by day, to lead them in the way; neither the pillar of fire by night, to show them light, and the way wherein they should go. You gave also your good spirit to instruct them, and withheld not your manna from their mouth, and gave them water for their thirst. Yea, forty years did you sustain them in the wilderness, so that they lacked nothing; their clothes waxed not old, and their feet did not swell.

The psalmists likewise lean on God’s unchanging attributes when they cry out to Him for help (Psalm 86:15; 103:8). We encounter one of the most beautiful elaborations on God’s seventh attribute of forgiveness in the following psalm.

Psalm 103:7-13: He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the people of Israel. Yehovah is merciful and gracious slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He will not always chide, nor will He keep his anger forever. He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us as a father shows compassion to his children, so Yehovah shows compassion to those who fear him.

What an amazing God Yehovah is! Yehovah’s steadfast love stretches to the heavens, and His forgiveness is so thorough that He removes our sins as far as the east is from the west! Yehovah is a compassionate Father who cares for those who fear Him. How can we not love our God Yehovah with all our hearts, minds, strength, with all our being?

Another way we see God’s attributes used is when the prophet Joel invoked them as the reason for the people to repent.

Joel 2:12-14: “Yet even now,” declares Yehovah, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments.” Return to Yehovah your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and He relents over disaster. Who knows whether He will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind Him, a grain offering, and a drink offering for Yehovah your God?

This is a lesson for all of us. No matter how much we may have sinned and fallen away from Yehovah, there’s still hope because Yehovah is merciful, gracious, abundant in love, and very forgiving. His kind nature is reason alone for us to come to Him, especially when we are totally helpless we are to overcome sinfulness without His abounding grace and steadfast love, without His indwelling presence!

Lastly, some thoughts on the eighth attribute: God punishing the wicked to the third and fourth generation. Is this one like a bone caught in your throat? We can easily swallow the other seven, but when we get to the eighth, we cry out, “That’s not fair! How can you punish people’s grandkids for what they did?” Is this really what God is saying here? Is He saying He will punish someone’s innocent grandchildren for what he or she did? Actually, what He said was, “who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation” (Exodus 34:7). Desmond Alexander offers the following insight, which is very helpful.

Because God displays remarkable tolerance towards wrongdoers, divine punishment is only rarely administered immediately after an offense has been committed. Those who are guilty are frequently given an opportunity to repent. However, such patients may be wrongly interpreted as indicating indifference on the part of God. This is clearly not the case, for those who set themselves at odds with God will ultimately reap what they have sown. Although God’s patience may extend for several generations, in the end, his judgment will fall justly upon those who remain intransigent. In such instances, when they have walked in their fathers’ footsteps, the accumulated guilt of a family will fall on later generations.

An important example of this comes in the book of Kings, where the sins of Manasseh are included with those of his descendants when God punishes the people of Judah at the time of the Babylonian exile (cf. 2 Kings 23:26; 24:3). While righteous children are not held accountable for the sins of their parents, there may well be a corporate aspect to the whole process of punishment. In the context of a society that consists largely of multi-generational families, it should be recognized that the beneficiaries of parental wrongdoing are almost always their children. As T. F. Williams suggests, ‘The children are punished according to their solidarity with and participation in the misconduct of their parents (1996: 660).

So, God does not punish the innocent for the guilty. In fact, He made a law against that. Deuteronomy 24:16: Fathers shall not be put to death because of their children, nor shall children be put to death because of their fathers. Each one shall be put to death for his own sin.

What we have in the eighth attribute is the outworking of God’s patience in how He administers justice toward the wicked. If He were quick to anger, He would just take the breath away from the unrighteous when they sinned; an outcome I would not wish for since I’ve sometimes have been unrighteous. So, if He is slow to anger, how can He bring about His judgment? He mercifully waits for a couple of generations to see if a family turns around, but then eventually His cup of wrath fills up, and He pours it out. Still, if some descendant repents and pursues righteousness, “he shall not die for his father’s iniquity” (Ezekiel 18:17). God is both merciful and just, and His way of governing combines both.

We should memorize God’s eight attributes, so we will always have in our minds that Yehovah is merciful, gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love, abounding in faithfulness, keeping love, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin; yet, He will by no means clear the guilty. This is Yehovah’s self-disclosure. The saints of old acknowledged these attributes and used them in their prayers and in their preaching.

Let us follow the example of the lord Messiah Jesus who was the outshining of Yehovah’s glory and attributes. He showed to all the people he met an example of how they were to love their neighbors as themselves and in doing so loving Yehovah. He was commissioned by his God and Father Yehovah to show all people the way, the truth, the life, and the wisdom of Yehovah’s plan for our salvation. He is now seated at the right hand of his God and Father Yehovahm a light that leads us to become totally committed to loving Yehovah will all our heart, mind, and strength and to submit to Yehovah’s Kingship in our lives.

That’s what Matthew means what he says in Matthew 6:33: … seek you first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

It is because of the lord Jesus' sin-offering sacrifice on the stake that we have been reconciled to his God and Father Yehovah. Realizing all that the lord Jesus has done for us as the greatest servant of all, should we not do all we can to follow in his steps according to the godly example he has given us to follow! If we do the rewards will be amazing indeed, now and in the future.

YEHOVAH'S FAITHFULNESS IS OUR STRENGTH

One of the most important verses in all of scripture is found in Peter’s first epistle where the apostle speaks of the necessity of having our faith tested:

“That the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to be praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus the Messiah” (1 Peter 1:7, NKJV).

The Greek word used for trials here means “examining or testing with difficulties and adversities.” This passage suggests that Yehovah our God is saying, “Your faith is precious to me, more precious than all the wealth of this world that will one day perish.

In these last days, when the enemy sends all manner of evil against you, I want you to be able to stand strong with unshakable faith.”

Peter says: “Yehovah our God knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment” (2 Peter 2:9). The Greek word here that is used for temptation means “putting to proof adversities.” Clearly, Yehovah our God does not want to keep us in our trials. Why would he be interested in keeping us in the midst of temptation and affliction? He doesn’t get any glory from testing his children but He does get glory from the results of our testings!

There is only one way to escape our trials, and that is by passing the test. Think about it. When you were in school, how did you finally escape? You passed the final exam. If you didn’t pass, you were sent back to class.

That was the case with ancient Israel. When God brought them to the Red Sea, he was testing his people, trying them, proving them. He brought them to the very brink of destruction, surrounding them by mountains on two sides, a sea on another and an approaching enemy on the other.

Yes, Yehovah put Israel in that circumstance expecting a certain reaction. He wanted his people to acknowledge their helplessness. He wanted to hear them say, “We remember how God delivered us from the plagues. We remember how he brought us out of the furnace of affliction where we made bricks without straw and had no rest. God delivered us then, and he will do it again! Let us rejoice in his faithfulness. He is God, and he has given us promises he will keep. He will protect us from every enemy who comes against us.”

Such faith is a sweet-smelling incense/fragrance to God

Brothers and sisters, we are indeed living in the last days. The end of this age is very near. We are all going to be tested and tried more and more as the end approaches, especially as we go through the coming tribulation that will have an effect around the world. We are already seeing the results of climate change that is affecting people around the world and this is only the beginning of Woe! We all need to ask for our God and Father Yehovah to enable us by His Spirit to have the strength and power to be able to hold fast to the end of our lives or this age! Without His help and amazing grace we are completely helpless to be able to withstand what is coming.

May our God and Father Yehovah be our strong tower and our sure defense, our rearguard and guiding light as we walk on the narrow path through this sin-sick world toward entrance into His soon-coming Kingdom.

May we inculcate the words He spoke to Zerubbabel: "Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, says Yehovah of hosts." Also the words He spoke to the Apostle Paul: My grace is sufficient for you: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.

And Paul's reflection: Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of the Messiah may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for the Messiah’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong. (2 Corinthians 12:9,10)

Psalm 18:2: Yehovah is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.

Psalm 62:7: In Yehovah is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in Yehovah.

Isaiah 12:2:  Behold, Yehovah is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD YEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also has become my salvation.

Written By David Wilkerson (1931-2011) and edited by Bruce Lyon

HOW LONG WAS JESUS IN THE TOMB?

Try as you might, it is impossible to fit three days and three nights between a late Friday burial and a Sunday morning resurrection. The Good Friday -Easter Sunday tradition simply isn’t true or biblical.

About one billion Protestants and another billion Catholics believe that Jesus the Messiah was crucified and entombed on a Friday afternoon; “Good Friday” and raised to life again at daybreak on “Easter Sunday” morning, a day and a half later.

Note: When we compare this to what Jesus himself said about how long he would be entombed, we find a major contradiction

How long did Jesus say he would be in the grave?

“For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matthew 12:40).

The context in which Jesus the Messiah said these words is important. The scribes and Pharisees were demanding a miraculous sign from him to prove that he was indeed the long-awaited Messiah. “But he answered and said to them:

‘An evil and adulterous generation seek after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah’” (verse 39).

This was the only sign Jesus gave that he was the promised Messiah:

“For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (emphasis added throughout).

Traditional timing doesn’t add up

The Gospels are clear that Jesus died and his body was hurriedly placed in the tomb late in the afternoon, just before sundown when a Sabbath began (John 19:30-42).

The traditional “Good Friday-Easter Sunday” timing is from Friday sundown to Saturday sundown is one night and one day. Saturday night to Sunday daybreak is another night, giving us two nights and one day.

So where do we get another night and two days to equal the three days and three nights Jesus said He would be in the tomb?

This is definitely a problem

Most theologians and religious scholars try to work around it by arguing that any part of a day or night counts as a day or night. Thus, they say, the final few minutes of that Friday afternoon were the first day, all day Saturday was the second day, and the first few minutes of Sunday morning were the third day.

The trouble is, it doesn’t work. This only adds up to three days and two nights, not three days and three nights.

Note: John 20:1 tells us that “on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb.”

Did you catch the problem here? John tells us it was still dark when Mary went to the tomb on the first day of the week t[hat for Jews began at sundown], and found it empty. Jesus was already resurrected well before daybreak, in fact just before the weekly Sabbath sundown. Thus he wasn’t in the tomb any of the daylight portions of Sunday, so daytime Sunday cannot be counted as a day.

That leaves us with, at most, part of a day on Friday, all of Friday night, a whole daylight portion on Saturday, and Saturday night. That totals one full day and part of another, and one full night and most of another; still a full day and a full night short of the time Jesus said He would be in the tomb.

Clearly, something doesn’t add up

Either Jesus misspoke about the length of time He would be in the tomb, or the “Good Friday–Easter Sunday” timing is wrong according to the scriptures.

Obviously, both cannot be true. So which one is right?

The key to understanding the timing of Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection lies in understanding God’s timetable for counting when days begin and end, as well as the timing of His biblical festivals during the spring of the year when these events took place.

We first need to realize that God doesn’t begin and end days at midnight as we do. Genesis 1:5 tells us quite plainly that God counts a day as beginning with the evening (the night portion) and ending at the next evening; “So the evening [nighttime] and the morning [daylight] were the first day.” God repeats this formula for the entire six days of creation.

In Leviticus 23, where God lists all of His holy Sabbaths and festivals, He makes it clear that they are to be observed “from evening to evening” (Leviticus 23:32); in other words, from sunset to sunset, when the sun went down and the evening began.

This is why Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, followers of Jesus, hurriedly placed his body in Joseph’s nearby tomb just before sundown (John 19:39-42). A Sabbath was beginning at sundown (John 19:31), when work would have to cease.

Two kinds of Sabbaths cause confusion

As John tells us in John 19:31: “Therefore, because it was the Preparation Day, that the bodies [of those crucified] should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken [to hasten death], and that they might be taken away.”

In the Jewish culture of that time, the chores of cooking and housecleaning were done on the day before a Sabbath to avoid working on God’s designated day of rest. Thus the day before the Sabbath was commonly called “the preparation day.” Clearly, the day on which the Messiah Jesus was crucified and his body placed in the tomb was the day immediately preceding a Sabbath.

The question is, which Sabbath, weekly or annual?

Most people assume John is speaking of the regular weekly Sabbath day, observed from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset. From John’s clear statement here, most people assume Jesus died and was buried on a Friday; thus the traditional belief is that Jesus was crucified and died on “Good Friday.”

Most people have no idea that the Bible talks about two kinds of Sabbath days; the normal weekly Sabbath day that falls on the seventh day of the week, and seven annual Sabbaths days, listed in Leviticus 23 and mentioned in various passages throughout the Bible, that could fall on any day of the week.

Because traditional Christianity does not keep the annual or weekly Sabbaths they have failed to recognize what the Gospels plainly tell us about when Jesus the Messiah was crucified and resurrected.

Most people fail to note that John explicitly tells us that the Sabbath that began at sundown immediately before Jesus was buried in the tomb was one of those annual Sabbath days. Notice in John 19:31 his explanation that “that Sabbath was a high day” A “high day” being a term used to differentiate the seven annual Sabbaths from the regular weekly Sabbath days.

So what was this “high day” that immediately followed Jesus Christ’s hurried entombment?

The Gospels tell us that on the evening before Jesus was crucified, he kept the Passover with his disciples (Matthew 26:19-20; Mark 14:16-17; Luke 22:13-15).

Leviticus 23, which lists God’s festivals, tells us that on the day after the 14th of Nisan, a separate festival, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, begins (Leviticus 23:5-6). The first day of this Feast is “a holy convocation” on the 15th of Nisan on which “no customary work” is to be done (Leviticus 23:7).

This day is the first of God’s annual Sabbaths. This is the “high day” of which John wrote. Several Bible commentaries, encyclopedias, and dictionaries note that John is referring to an annual Sabbath here rather than the regular weekly Sabbath day.

Passover [the 14^th day of Nisan] begins at sundown and ends the following day at sundown when this annual Sabbath began. Jesus kept the Passover with His disciples, then was arrested later that night. After daybreak the next day He was questioned before Pontius Pilate, crucified on the afternoon of the 14^th of Nisan, then hurriedly entombed just before the sunset when the “high day [the 15^th of Nisan],” the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, began.

Leviticus 23 tells us the order and timing of these days, and the Gospels confirm the order of events as they unfolded.

Jesus was crucified on Wednesday afternoon [the 14^th of Nisan in 31 A.D.].

Several computer software programs exist that enable us to calculate when the Passover and God’s other festivals fall in any given year. Those programs show that in A.D. 31, the year of these events, the Passover meal was eaten on our Tuesday night and Wednesday sundown marked the beginning of the high day – the 15^th of Nisan,” the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

Jesus, then, was crucified on Wednesday morning around 9 A.M. and died around 3 P.M. in the afternoon and buried before sundown on Wednesday afternoon.

Try as you might, it is impossible to fit three days and three nights between a late Friday burial and a Sunday morning resurrection. The Good Friday -Easter Sunday tradition simply cannot be proved from the scriptures.

Can we find further proof of this in the Gospels? Yes, indeed we can!

Let’s turn to a seldom-noticed detail in Mark 16:1: “Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him.”

In that time, if the body of a loved one was placed in a tomb rather than being buried directly in the ground, friends and family would commonly place aromatic spices in the tomb alongside the body to reduce the smell as the remains decayed.

Since Jesus’ body was placed in the tomb just before that high-day Sabbath began, the women had no time to buy those spices before the Sabbath. Also, they could not have purchased them on the Sabbath day, as shops were closed. Thus, Mark says, they bought the spices after the “high day Sabbath” had passed.

But notice another revealing detail in Luke 23:55-56: “And the women who had come with the Messiah from Galilee followed after, and they observed the tomb and how His body was laid. Then they returned and prepared spices and fragrant oils. And they rested on the Sabbath [the 15^th of Nisan, a “high day” Sabbath] according to the commandment.”

Do you see a problem here?

Mark clearly states that the women bought the spices after the Sabbath [the 15^th of Nisan] - “when the Sabbath was past.” Luke tells us that the women prepared the spices and fragrant oils, after which “they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment.”

So they bought the spices after the Sabbath, and then they prepared the spices before resting on the Sabbath. This is a clear contradiction between these two Gospel accounts - unless two Sabbaths were involved!

Indeed when we understand that two different Sabbaths are mentioned, the problem goes away

Mark tells us that after the “high day” Sabbath, which began Wednesday evening at sundown and ended Thursday evening at sundown, the women bought the spices to anoint Jesus’ body. Luke then tells us that the women prepared the spices; activity which would have taken place on Friday; and that afterward “they rested on the Sabbath [the normal weekly Sabbath day, observed Friday sunset to Saturday sunset] according to the commandment.”

By comparing details in both accounts, we can clearly see that two different Sabbaths are mentioned along with a workday in between.

The first Sabbath was a “high day”; the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which fell on a Thursday. The second was the weekly seventh-day Sabbath.

The original Greek in which the Gospels were written also plainly tells us that two Sabbath days were involved in these accounts.

In Matthew 28:1, where Matthew writes that the women went to the tomb “after the Sabbath,” the word Sabbath here is actually plural and should be translated “Sabbaths.” Bible versions such as Alfred Marshall’s Interlinear Greek-English New Testament, Green’s Literal Translation Young’s Literal Translation, and Ferrar Fenton’s Translation make this clear.

When was Jesus resurrected?

We have seen, then, that Jesus the Messiah was crucified and entombed on a Wednesday, just before an annual Sabbath [15^th of Nisan] began; not the weekly Sabbath.

So when was He resurrected?

John 20:1, as noted earlier, tells us that “on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb.” The sun had not yet risen; “it was dark,” John tells us when Mary found the tomb empty.

John 20:1 ¶  The first day of the week came Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulcher, and sees the stone taken away from the sepulcher. Then she runs, and comes to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and says unto them, They have taken away the lord out of the sepulcher, and we know not where they have laid him. Peter, therefore, went forth, and that other disciple, and came to the sepulcher.  So they ran both together: and the other disciple did outrun Peter, and came first to the sepulcher. And he stooping down, and looking in, saw the linen clothes lying; yet went he not in. Then comes Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulcher, and sees the linen clothes lie,  and the napkin, that was about his head, not lying with the linen cloths, but wrapped together in a place by itself. Then went in also that other disciple, which came first to the sepulcher, and he saw and believed. For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead. Then the disciples went away again unto their own home.

But Mary stood [didn't go but stayed after Peter and John had gone]  next to the sepulcher weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulcher, and sees two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. And they say unto her, Woman, why are you weeping? She said unto them, Because they have taken away my lord, and I know not where they have laid him. And when she had thus said, she turned herself around and saw Jesus standing, and didn't know that it was Jesus [because it was dark]. Jesus said to her, Woman, why are you weeping? who are you seeking? She, supposing him to be the gardener, said unto him, Sir, if you have taken him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away. Jesus said to her, Mary. She turned herself, and said unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master. Jesus said unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.

Obviously, then, Jesus was not resurrected at sunrise on Sunday morning. Actually, he had risen just before sundown on Saturday.

So when did this take place? The answer is plain if we simply read the Gospels, and Jesus the Messiah’s own words, and accept them for what they say.

“For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth,” said Jesus (Matthew 12:40).

As we have proven, Jesus was entombed; placed “in the heart of the earth” just before sundown on a Wednesday [the 14^th of Nisan]. All we have to do is count forward. One day and one night bring us to Thursday at sundown. Another day and night bring us to Friday at sundown. A third day and night bring us to Saturday toward sundown.

According to Jesus Christ’s own words, He would have been resurrected three days and nights after He was entombed, at around the same time; close to sunset.

Does this fit with the Scriptures?

Yes, as we have seen, he had already risen and the tomb was empty when Mary arrived “while it was still dark” [probably an hour or two after Saturday sundown] on what the Jews refer to as the first day of the week, which begins at sundown or what we call Saturday night.

While no one was around to witness His resurrection (which took place inside a sealed tomb watched over by armed guards), Jesus the Messiah’s own words and the details recorded in the Gospels show that it had to have happened three days and three nights after His burial, near sunset toward the end of the weekly Sabbath.

Try as you might, it is impossible to fit three days and three nights between a late Friday burial and a Sunday morning resurrection. The Good Friday - Easter Sunday tradition simply cannot be proved from the scriptural record.

However, when we look at all the details recorded in the Gospels and compare them with Jesus’ own words, we can understand the truth; and it matches perfectly.

The words of the angel of God, who so startled the women at the empty tomb are proven true: “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said” (Matthew 28:5-6, New International Version).

Let’s not cling to the traditions of men and ideas that aren’t supported by the word of God.

Addition and Subtraction: Passover dates 26 A.D to 34 A.D.

26 A.D.	Fri.    Mar. 22, 0*	Sat.   Apr.    6,  7 a.m.	Sun.    Apr.   7	Mon.   Apr.  8	Sun.   Apr.  21
27 A.D.	Sun.  Mar. 23, 6 a.m.	Wed. Mar. 26,  7 p.m.**	Fri. Mar. 28	Sat.    Mar. 29	Fri. Apr. 11
28 A.D.	Mon.  Mar. 22, noon	Tues. Apr. 13,   2 p.m.	Wed.   Apr.  14	Thurs. Apr.15	Wed.   Apr. 28
29 A.D.	Tues. Mar. 22,  6 p.m.	Sat.   Apr.   2,   7 p.m.**	Mon.    Apr.    4	Tues.  Apr.   5	Mon.    Apr. 18
30 A.D.	Wed. Mar. 22,  0*	Wed. Mar. 22,  8 p.m.***	Fri. Mar.  24	Sat.    Mar. 25	Fri. Apr.   7
31 A.D.	Fri.    Mar. 23,  5 a.m.	Tues. Apr.  10,  2 p.m.	Wed.   Apr.   11	Thurs. Apr.12	Wed.   Apr.  25
32 A.D.	Sat.   Mar. 22, 11 a.m.	Sat.  Mar.  29, 10 p.m.**	Mon. Mar.     31	Tues.  Apr. 1	Mon.    Apr.  14
33 A.D.	Sun.  Mar. 22,  5 p.m.	Fri.   Apr.  17,   9 p.m.**	Sun.  Apr.      19	Mon.   Apr. 20	Sun.     May    3
34 A.D.	Mon. Mar. 22,11 p.m.	Wed. Apr.   7,   2 p.m.	Thurs. Apr.     8	Fri.     Apr.   9	Thurs. Apr.  22

Some historians place Herod's death at 4 B.C. which means that Jesus would have been born 6 B.C. if that is so then the year he died would be 28 A.D. The math calculation: 6 B.C. - 1 for the change over from 1 B.C. to 1 A.D. = 5 B.C. - 33 [Jesus was 33 years old when he died] = 28 A.D. plus 2,000 years = 2028 as the end of this age. Notice from the above Jewish Passover Calendar that the Passover in 28 A.D. was on Wednesday [April 28]

Recently a lot of historians have placed the death of Herod at 1 B.C. which means Jesus was born 3 B.C. So let's do the math: 3 B.C. -1 for the change over from 1 B.C. to 1 A.D. = 2 B.C. - 33 [Jesus age when he died]  = 31 A.D. plus 2,000 years = 2031 as the end of this age. Notice that according to the Jewish Calendar that the Passover in 31 A.D. was on Wednesday [April 25]

I have chosen 2031 as the date for the end of this age, and subtract 7 years from that time and we will probably be witnessing a treaty [the covenant of death] being signed between the nation of Israel and the leader of the 10 Muslim nations that surround Israel. 31/2 years after the treaty, the leader of the 10 nations [the Beast Power] will break the treaty and invade Israel which will be the beginning of the great tribulation, which will last to almost the end of this age. My calculations are based on a day = 1,000 years.

YEHOVAH PROVIDES A WAY OF ESCAPE FROM TEMPTATION

The Spirit of Yehovah indwells those that are His, and the power of Yehovah works on their behalf even when they are tempted. We know this because Paul clearly states in his letter to the Corinthian congregation, “No temptation has come your way that is too hard for flesh and blood to bear. For God can be trusted not to allow you to suffer any temptation beyond your powers of endurance. He will see to it that every temptation has a way out so that it will never be impossible for you to bear it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13, Phillips).

We live in a culture today that doesn’t comprehend that the Messiah Jesus offers a way to overcome temptation. They don't understand that the lord Jesus was crucified to become a sin-offering sacrifice in order that they could be reconciled to his God and his Father Yehovah by that sacrifice!

This world offers many ways that one can escape fleshly temptations, but only Jesus acting as the agent commissioned by Yehovah can provide the way to resist temptations. The Messiah Jesus clearly states, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life” (John 14:6).

Just as an aside: We are to follow Jesus' example and show people the way to obtain salvation - deliverance, bring them to understand the truth of God's plan that leads to age upon age lasting life in the ages to come!

Yehovah says that He will provide, as His shows in the life of Abraham His called-out servant. Let's read through Genesis 22:1-14:

Yehovah tested Abraham and called to him, “Abraham!”“Yes, here I am!” he answered. Yehovah said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I will show you.”

Note: Is Isaac a type of the lord Jesus the Messiah who became a sin-offering sacrifice, a burnt offering sacrifice for us.

Early the next morning Abraham saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut the wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place that Yehovah had told him about. Two days later Abraham saw the place in the distance.

Then Abraham said to his servants, “You stay here with the donkey while the boy and I go over there. We’ll worship. After that, we will come back to you.”

Notice this example of a faith believing in deliverance from a trial:

Yehovah commanded Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac on the mountain He would show him, yet he says to his servants that after he goes up to that mountain, he and his son will come back!

Then Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and gave it to his son Isaac. Abraham carried the burning coals and the knife. The two of them went on together.

Notice: Abraham takes burning coals with him in order to be able to sacrifice his son on an altar as a burnt offering. Can you imagine taking your son up on a mountain in order to tie him up on a pile of wood in order to burn him up, cremate him? Yet Abraham doesn't hesitate for one second. He was totally committed to faithfully obeying his God Yehovah, believing Yehovah would provide a way for him and his son to go back down the mountain. Did Abraham believe that if he killed his son that Yehovah would bring him back to life, resurrect him? I think he did.

Isaac spoke up and said, “Father?” Yes, Son?” Abraham answered. Isaac asked, “We have the burning coals and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” Abraham answered, “God will provide a lamb for the burnt offering, Son.”

Notice: Is this statement a reference to a type of Jesus the Lamb of God?

The two of them went on together. When they came to the place that Yehovah had told him about, Abraham built the altar and arranged the wood on it. Then he tied up his son Isaac [who submitted to him doing so, even as Jesus submitted to the will of his Father to become a sin-offering sacrifice] and laid him on top of the wood on the altar.

Next, Abraham picked up the knife and took it in his hand to sacrifice his son. But the Angel of Yehovah called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham! Abraham!”  “Yes?” he answered. “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear Yehovah, 

because you did not refuse to give me your son, your only son.”

When Abraham looked around, he saw a ram behind him caught by its horns in a bush. So Abraham took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering in place of his son [even as Jesus, as the lamb of God, became a sin offering sacrifice, a burnt offering for us, in place of us].

Abraham named that place Yehovah Will Provide. It is still said today, “On the mountain of Yehovah it will be provided.”

This was the same place where Solomon would build the temple of Yehovah, where God provided a place for his people to meet with him.

When we finally admit, “My way of doing things doesn't work. My way is not the right one,” and in faith obedience totally commit to following Yehovah’s way, we will have His powerful provision working in us to be able to overcome any temptation/test/trial.

Yehovah provides the indwelling life-enabling power we need as His servants/slaves to live according to His love and righteousness in all we say and do. When we do so in faith obedience we will be enabled by His indwelling presence to overcome every temptation, test, or trial that comes our way. Then we can pray that the mountain - temptation, trial, will be cast into the sea and it will be gone. (Matthew 21:21)

WHAT ARE WE, AS WE SERVE THE LIVING GOD YEHOVAH?

We are to serve our God and Father Yehovah with a bountiful cheerful spirit. We experience joy and peace of mind in whatever we do for Him. We as priests serve and take care of our brothers and sisters, who are members of the body of the Messiah Jesus, the called out Assembly of Yehovah?

We have been called to take the message that Yehovah gave to His uniquely begotten son Jesus His anointed one to give to us. The message of the soon-coming Kingdom [Kingship] of Yehovah and all that message of hope entails!

Our God and Father Yehovah has given us all the resources we need to carry out what he wants us to do. He has given us by His indwelling Spirit, strength, ability, wisdom, and His all-encompassing love! We have a reservoir of power within to draw upon as we walk on the path He wants to walk upon through this sin-sick world reaching out to others to pull them out of the fire into His wonderful light. This being true there ought to be absolutely nothing that can hold us back from accomplishing His will for us.

He has shown you, O man, what is good: and what does Yehovah require of you, but to do justly, and to love goodness, and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:8)

For God will not forget your work, and the love which you have shown to His name, having ministered to the saints (holy ones)…. (Hebrews 6:10)

No one has seen God at any time: if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us. (1 John 4:12)

…. God is love. (1 John 4:8)

Brothers and sisters do we realize what we are as a result of our God and our Father’s amazing grace?

Notice:

2 Corinthians 6: 16, 18: … you are the temple of the living God; as God has said, I will dwell in them, and walk-in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

And I will be a Father unto you, and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord [Yehovah] Almighty.

Galatians 4:4-7: When the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the Law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because you are sons; God has sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore you are no more a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through the Messiah.

Philippians 2:12-16: …. Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you both to will and to do His good pleasure. Do all things without murmuring or disputing: That you may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom you shine as lights in the world; holding forth the word of life….

1 John 3:1-2: Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knows us not because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God. It does not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. Wow!

Ephesians 2:19: Now, therefore, you are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints (holy ones), and members of the household of God;

Galatians 6:10: As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.

We indeed have the opportunity to do good to all men by bringing the good news message to them as ambassadors of the Messiah Jesus.

2 Corinthians 5:20-21; 6:1-2: Now then we are ambassadors for the Messiah, as though God did beseech you by us: we ask you in the Messiah’s stead, be you reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that you receive not the grace of God in vain. (For he says, I have heard you in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I scoured you: behold,  NOW is the accepted time; behold, NOW IS THE DAY OF SALVATION.)

Conclusion:

We know that Yehovah is love and as His sons, we are to reflect His love in all we do and say. We are the temple of the living God because His powerful Spirit indwells us. We are the sons of Yehovah by the Spirit of adoption and as such have been placed as sons and daughters in His household. As we read Roman chapter 11, we see that we have been grafted into the Israel of God of which the Messiah Jesus is the representative man. We know that in the Messiah we are new creations, members of the New Humanity Yehovah has been creating since Adam. We are priests of Yehovah (Revelation 1:6; 5:10).

This is what we are in the lord Messiah Jesus and as God is Love and Jesus was the outshining of the nature of Yehovah, so as new creations, in the Messiah, we ought to be the outshining of his love, as his ambassadors toward all people. That love will enable us to reach out to all men and women with the message of salvation - deliverance that will be backed up by the Spirit of Yehovah and the Messiah in us as we speak to them!

DEALING WITH OUR FEARS

We have to learn to fight our own battles if we want to become mature believers. You can’t depend on someone else for your deliverance. Perhaps you have a prayer warrior friend you can call and say, “I’ve got a battle before me. Will you pray for me?".

Now that is scriptural, but it is not your God and your Father's complete will for you. Yehovah wants you to become a warrior! He wants you to be able to stand up against the rulers of the darkness of this world.

Note: For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. (Ephesians 6:12)

Note: When Israel was being oppressed by their enemies, God promised Gideon, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man” (Judges 6:16, NKJV). God told Gideon, “I have sent you; I will be with you.”

Notice: Judges 6:11-16: Then the angel of Yehovah came and sat under the pistachio tree in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite. His son Gideon was threshing wheat in the winepress, in order to hide it from the Midianites. The angel of Yehovah appeared to him and said to him: “You valiant hero! Yehovah is with you!” “Excuse me, sir,” answered Gideon, “but if Yehovah is with us, then why is all this happening to us? And where are all his miracles our ancestors told us about when they said,  Didn't Yehovah bring us up from Egypt?’ But now, Yehovah has abandoned us and handed us over to the Midianites.” Yehovah [the angel acting as Yehovah's agent] turned to him and said, “Go in this strength of yours and save Israel from the hands of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?” But Gideon answered him, “Forgive me, Yehovah, but with what am I to save Israel? For my family is the poorest in Menasheh, and I’m the youngest person in my father’s house!” Yehovah [the angel acting as Yehovah's agent] said to him, “Because I will be with you, you will strike down Midyan as easily as if they were just one man.”

Things will begin to change the moment you are fully persuaded that God is with you.

Like Gideon, you may be fearful and wonder, “How can I fight? I’m weak and inexperienced.” Remember what God told Gideon:

“Go in this might of yours” (Judges 6:14). “What might?” you ask. Gideon’s might was bound up in coming to believe, to have faith in God’s promise to him:

“Surely I will be with you.”

Beloved, those same words, “I am with you”, is your strength! You will receive strength being enabled by the indwelling Spirit of Yehovah to carry out and do whatever He commissions you to do!

We know that we as His priests have been commissioned to preach the good news message that Jesus preached to the nations!

Note: Grace be unto you, and peace, from Him [Yehovah], who is, and who was, and who is to come; and from the seven angels which are before His throne; And from Jesus the Messiah, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, And has made us kings and priests unto his God and his Father; to Him [Yehovah] be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. (Revelations 1:4-6)

Jesus told his disciples after his resurrection from among the dead: "repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem". (Luke 24:47)

When they received the power from on high that Jesus sent down on the Day of Pentecost they went forth from that time preaching the message he gave them to all the nations beginning at Jerusalem. They did so knowing that the lord Jesus was with them every step of the way, even as he is with us every step of the way as we carry the message he received from his God and his Father to give to us to take to the nations! This is what we have been commissioned to do.

When we do so we are "Yehovah's valiant warriors" acting as His agents.