End Time Testings

The blessing of the fiery trials

It's amazing the things that YHVH puts on your heart, but they're always preparing us for something that's taking us somewhere, that's making us very much aware of what life is about. That's how the scripture says, through tribulation you will enter the kingdom. There's an element of truth to that because Yeshua said it. And it's greater to some than others. And us being Westerners, we're not very good at tribulations, very good at hardships and tough times, but we might have to toughen up a bit.

We never know. To whatever degree we have to do whatever we have to do and be whatever we have to be. But the objective of all things is to be found faithful and to enter into the reward of the kingdom of heaven at Yeshua's return. Our heart is set upon the second coming and that is where our hope lies. Yeshua is coming back. And it will be in the midst of turmoil and hardship and war and famine and disease and pestilence and hatred and anger.

And everything that we find in scripture and everything that Yehovah is saying to us and leading us into has this objective that he finds people faithful. Will I find faith on the earth when I return? That is, will I find those who truly, truly trust me, who obey me, are living for me, walking with me and being worthy of my return? And they shall be rewarded of the kingdom of heaven. And the only sure way that we will make it to the end of that journey, faithful and strong, is to be under the Father's firm hand of loving discipline that will keep us trusting and true to him.

When things are easy, we fade away. Yehovah doesn't want us to be any different when things are hard or when things are good. Same people, same heartbeat, same commitment, same faithfulness, same sacrifice, same objective, same purpose. And it's so easy just to relax when everything is easy and wonderful and you have no needs and everything is nice and you can enjoy the day. Who needs God? And that's not the thought, but that's how it kind of happens.

You know, everything's just... And all of a sudden, bang! Along comes the enemy. Along comes a trial, a tribulation. Along comes a hardship, a circumstance. Along comes a loss, an opposition. Something comes to shatter that. And you're not ready for it. You're not ready for it. The next thing you know, you're down on the ground and you're getting booted in the head. And you weren't ready for it because you were just too relaxed. Everything's fine. Nothing's going wrong.

Life is good. Got a good job, good family, great weather, promotion. Life is wonderful, isn't it? Labor government's back in. Things couldn't get any better. We are going to be living in utopia. They will solve all the problems. Just relax. And all of a sudden, something goes wrong. Trump gets into power. And he sneezed. And the stock market fell. And people lost thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars. Just like that. It just, wow, caught them by surprise.

That's what life is like. We have to trust him. We have to walk in faith and belief in him knowing that around every corner a danger lurks. Not that we're looking for it. Not that we're worried about it. Not that it's a problem, but it's there. And we have to be ready for it. How are we being ready for it? Because our hearts are always in focus on him. We don't miss the fact that we are a praying people.

That we are a people who put our trust in him. Knowing that everything I've got today could be gone tomorrow, including life. That keeps us always prepared, even though we are filled with an understanding. His will be done in my life, it shall be. So, we must be aware that Father will always have a firm hand of loving discipline on his children's lives. That the rewards are out of this world. And it's worth every effort. And it's the joy, it is the kingdom's joy that is set before us.

It is the focus of our eye. It is the object and the hope of our heart. And we then become the true children of Abraham. His focus was the kingdom that is in heaven. The building that is foundation in the heavenlies. He wasn't looking for something earthly. In everything that he did for YHVH, in the travels of his life, the comings and the goings. And everything that was achieved and accomplished through him and his children. His focus was always the kingdom that is in heaven.

Being established here on earth. He knew his purpose. He knew the objective of YHVH's calling on his life. And he never got enamoured by his richness and his wealth and his servants and his power and his authority. And how people viewed him as someone don't take lightly. We know that he knew why he was there. He was faithful to his call, he was faithful to his God. And his focus was always the building that was being foundation and established in the heavens was being outworked through him and his call to the land of Canaan.

Nothing's changed. So let's read 1 Peter chapter 4 from verse 7. So Peter says, now the end, is that verse 7, of all things is near. So be self-controlled and sober-minded for prayer. Or for the sake of prayer. That's what it means. So be sober, self-controlled for the sake of prayer. Don't ignore it. For the purpose of prayer. Now above all, keep your love for one another constant, for love covers a multitude of sins. I remember saying that to a pastor once and he got really, really angry with me.

Well, his wife did. Really, really angry with me. Some people love exposing people's sins and preaching it and proclaiming it from the pulpit. I mean, about friends, negatively, badly. Sometimes you have to. I mean, I do it all the time. Mega churches out there and pastors doing this and running sheep and they are immoral, immoral, immoral. They have to be proclaimed as evil men. Sometimes you're doing that to your friends unjustly and wrongly. Love covers a multitude of sins.

Be hospitable one to another without grumbling. As each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another. As good stewards of the many-sided favour of Elohim. Whoever speaks, let it be as one speaking the utterances of Elohim. Whoever serves, let it be with the strength that Elohim supplies. So in all things, may Elohim be exalted through Messiah Yeshua. All honour and power to Him forever and ever. Amen. Loved ones, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal taking place among you to test you as though something strange were happening to you.

Instead, rejoice insofar as you share in the sufferings of Messiah so that at the revelation of His coming you may also rejoice and be glad. If you are insulted for the name of Messiah, you are fortunate for the spirit of splendour and of Elohim rests on you. For let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a troublemaker. But if anyone suffers for following Messiah or as Messiah, let him not be ashamed, but let him exalt Elohim in this name.

For the time has come for judgment to begin with the house of Elohim. If judgment begins with us first, what will be the end for those who disobey the good news of Elohim? Now if it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what shall become of the ungodly and the sinner? So then, those who suffer according to God's will, let them trust their souls to a faithful creator while continuing to do good. Whoever would have thought that it was YHVH's will for me to suffer? There you are, there it is.

Just leave that passage up there because I'm going to be referring to that mostly. So here he says in our first verse, he said, now the end of all things is near. If it was then, how much more now? As far as Peter was concerned, this could happen any day, any time. So the end of all things is near, so be self-controlled and sober-minded for the purpose of prayer. So, you know, if you're angry and out of control, you don't feel like praying, do you? So the last thing you want to do, no, keep things in check and that will keep your heart right.

You'll be able to pray much better. The closer we get to the coming of the Messiah, the harder it will be to be faithful. This is the message that's coming through. So, we need to be faithful to Yeshua and the commandments that he came to defend and to live out before us. And the closer we get to the end, the harder it will be to be faithful to the commandments and to the life and the instructions and the teachings of Yeshua.

And it will take prayer to get through the things that the enemy, Satan, the devil, wants to throw at us. Faithful, consistent prayer is essential if we are to become what YHVH wants us to become. Because if we are not faithful and consistent in our prayers, we will be doing things in our own energy. We will be moving forward in our own strength and it will cost us. But prayer opens the doorway to heaven where Ruach HaKadosh brings understanding and guidance and leading and wisdom and direction into our lives.

There is no other way of getting it. We can read scripture and get nothing out of it. We want to be able to read scripture and get something out of it. To get out of it what YHVH wants us to know and understand. And if we are not a people who are consistent and faithful in our prayer life, we will interpret it our way instead of him giving us understanding and interpretation so we can do things his way.

And his way is always about faith and trust in him. Our way is in doing it pragmatically, the best way that works, to get the result that I want. That's how churches function. He is saying, keep your life, yourself, in check and controlled so that you can pray effectively and hear my voice, know my guidance, allow Ruach HaKadosh to speak into your heart from the word so that you will do my will and not yours. It's easy to get it wrong, especially when YHVH is wanting to take us somewhere far, far, far beyond ourselves.

We don't want to try and do that in our own strength. I've seen it happen too many times in people's lives and in the churches they've tried to establish. I won't illustrate that. The spirit of the anti-messiah, according to John, are the false prophets that he calls deceivers. And that spirit, he said, is already among us. The spirit of the anti-messiah is already among us. And he put it down to the false teachers, the false prophets that were circulating in his day 2,000 years ago.

And scripture tells us that the number of them will have multiplied, multiplied exponentially over the centuries to today until they're so far greater than anything that was in their day that we have to be doubly wary than John was. The spirit of the anti-messiah, the anti-Christ, lives among us today in church after church, in teacher after teacher, in false apostle, false prophet, in personified, magnified, multitudinous times. That spirit is among us and which John says we must be aware of.

The objective of the beast and the false prophet, and this is not what I'm talking about today but it's what harnesses it, the objective of the beast and the false prophet is to change laws and times and to enforce their ungodly rules upon believers who will only keep Elohim's rules, commandments and Torah. His objective is to destroy anyone and everyone who names the name of Yeshua as their messiah and will keep his commandments and walk in his Torah.

They're the objective of his wrath. He doesn't care about every Christian, every denomination and every church that follows what they're following today because that's what the false prophet and the beast want them to do and so they're doing it. The spirit of the anti-messiah, who instituted Sunday instead of Sabbath? Ask the Catholic Church, they will tell you gladly, openly and with great pride. We did. We did. Nothing in the scriptures tells you to keep Sunday. The whole scripture tells you to keep the Sabbath but we have the right to change it.

God has given us the right to run his kingdom here on earth. We therefore have the right to change it and now we have changed it. That's the spirit of the anti-messiah. Rome, the false prophet coming out of the Vatican whose word is law, whose word cannot be challenged, who is always right because he is the Pope and he works with the beast, the Roman emperor of the day, the Roman emperors of Europe of the day and he says, you shall not observe Passover again.

It's Easter. That was the law. That's the spirit of the anti-Christ. All of Protestantism follows it. He doesn't care about them. They're already a part of his kingdom. It doesn't matter whether you are Protestant, Evangelical, any kind of denomination, charismatic, Evangelical, Pentecostal, whatever you are and if you keep those things, you're one of his. You are already marked with the mark of the beast. Church doesn't like you telling them that. That they walk with the mark of the beast and they don't even know that they're marked with the mark of the beast.

They don't even know that they're wearing the number of his name. They're waiting for some piece of rice to be injected into their skin or some other madness. I grew up in the day when if you had a bank card in your pocket, you had the mark of the beast in your pocket because it had a barcode. All kinds of nonsense which are still believed by multitudes today because of those books by Hal Lindsey and the movies that have been projected in all their rubbish.

The spirit of the Antichrist is among us and the mark of the beast has ravaged the Christian church. So, at the end times, who is the beast in the false prophet after? Scripture tells us over and over again. Revelation tells us. Yeshua tells us. Those who love God, those who keep his commandments, those who walk according to his ways. Daniel said a long, long time ago that when the Antichrist comes, when the beast comes, that his objective will be to change times and laws.

And he's done it. And now he's going to enforce it. The day will come when he will have enough power, authority and control to enforce it. But you know, YHVH has promised to never leave us or forsake us. To stand with us and bring us through every trial and tribulation victoriously. So, there you are. We do not have to worry. We only have to pray. Be faithful and consistent. Be strong in our trust in YHVH and walk with him.

And he said, I'll never fail you. I'll never leave you. I'll be with you in every valley with even just the shadow of death in it. I'll be there. In verse 12 and 13 of the chapter 4, he said, loved ones, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal taking place among you to test you as though something strange were happening to you. Instead, rejoice insofar as you share in the sufferings of Messiah. So, at the revelation of his majestic appearing, second coming, you may also rejoice and be glad.

I know that when those of us that are resurrected and rise into the air, and the others are just standing there looking at it happen, we will rejoice and be glad. But there won't be too much rejoicing and glad by those that are watching and are not part of it. That last verse kind of suggests that if we can't rejoice in our sufferings with Yeshua now, we may not be part of the rejoicing when he comes.

Don't fail the test and walk away. Just because it may get hard, just because there may be some challenge or opposition, just because there may be some who want to take you down instead of help you up, don't walk away. Don't fail the test. Be strong. Stand your ground. And YHVH says, I'll be there with you. Share in the sufferings of the Messiah. I suffered, you suffered. He said, the servant is not above his master. If that's how they treated me, the master, that's how they'll treat you, the servant, because you and I are one and the same.

So, Peter's not leaving us without any misunderstanding of where he's coming from. Why? Because he'd walked the journey along with the other apostles. If we're to be like Yeshua, if we're to preach and teach like Yeshua, if we're to do the miracles and cast out demons like Yeshua, then we will undoubtedly be treated like Yeshua. You would think with all of that, that people would love him, gravitate to him, that the denominational structure of the Pharisees and the Sadducees who were waiting for the King to come and of which there were various sects, denominational structures within their structure, they hated him.

They hated him. He was too popular. His message was too strong for their faults and they didn't like the way he interpreted their Torah. So, the kingdom in verse 16 will be ours. If anyone suffers as a Messianic, let him not be ashamed, but let him exalt Elohim as a carrier of that name. It's not what it says there, but that's what it means if you interpret it correctly. It says Christians, which is just the church taking over the Word of God, putting words in there that make them look good.

It doesn't matter which denomination you go to and it doesn't matter what doctrines that they have that are different from ours. We all believe in the same Jesus. We all believe in the same heaven. We all believe in the same hell. So, if we're different on a lot of other things, it doesn't really matter. We are all gospel-oriented people and that's the majority view. So, we need to be keepers of that name. We need to be understanding of, if anyone suffers, as a follower of Messiah.

And as I said last week or the week before, and many times probably before, the word translated Christian is the Greek word christianos and it's in the plural, it is a word that means little messiahs. Followers of Messiah. Those who are like their Messiah. Those who walk as the Messiah, the one they call the Messiah, this sect, the people of that way who are of the sect of the Messiah, Yeshua. And let him exalt Elohim as carriers of that name.

Not just believing in the name, I believe in the name of Jesus, I believe in the name of Yeshua. No, it's saying much, much more than that. If anyone suffers as someone who is obedient and is exactly like their Messiah, Yeshua, because a disciple mirrors the Master. He talks like his Master, he believes what his Master tells him. He acts and behaves and goes and does and comes exactly as their Master says. They become just like their Master.

They're a disciple, a true disciple, they sit at his feet and they honour, respect, follow and obey whatever the Master asks of them. That's a true disciple. Something different is not a true disciple, it's not a true shepherd. So, if anyone suffers, not as a Christian, if anyone suffers as messiahs, one who belongs to the Messiah, don't be ashamed, let him exalt Elohim as carriers of that name. Not ashamed of that name, because the name carries the message.

The name embodies the message. Everything Yeshua taught, every command he said to keep, every sacrifice he asked to make, he said, we like that. That is a carrier of the name. That is a believer, one who trusts it. That is one who takes on that name, becomes one with that name. That name becomes their name. You cannot tell the difference. People of the day, when they were so upset and challenged and angry with the disciples and wondered how that they had this authority and ability to answer, respond to everything that was thrown at them.

When they were taken before the courts, when they were whipped and beaten and imprisoned, they spoke with such power and authority like Stephen did, that it made them angrier and angrier. And they said, these are unlearned men. They know nothing about Torah. They've never been through our schools. They've never been taught in our yeshivas. They do not know the scriptures like we do. They're not even one of our students. They're just fishermen. And then they realised they have been with Yeshua.

They could not tell the difference. Their message was the same. Their authority was the same. Their power was the same. Their boldness was the same. Their courage was no different. They feared nothing. And they realised what they were dealing with. Yehovah is saying the same thing for today. That's the kind of people that he needs to front his kingdom in the earth. We are a people, we have to be a people who are true to the name, true to the character, the nature, the message of who Yeshua was.

True to his teachings and the life that he lived, regardless of the cost, regardless of the cost. That's what he's looking for. We are only sharing in the sufferings of Messiah to whatever degree we have to. And you and I don't know what degree that is. There are plenty of others in other parts of the world who are suffering to a far greater degree than we will ever suffer. We only have to suffer to the degree that happens to be our lot in this part of the world as we serve Yeshua.

Will it get worse? Yes, it will get worse. Are there more and more anti-Semitics in the world and in our cities? Yes. Are there more and more people that hate the Jews every day? Yes. Because of the Gaza war? Because of a lot of other things? Yes. We will get tainted with that brush. We just have to say, Father, whatever the cost, that's the journey. Through to your name, through to your people, and we will rise victorious at the sound of the shofar and the second coming.

So, he says here in these verses, that is an honour and a cause for rejoicing. Now, doesn't that put a total different picture to suffering? That's an honour, to suffer that in his name, just like he did for his father. It's a cause for rejoicing and the disciples did rejoice because they suffered for his name. It says, it proves true that we are honoured by Yehovah as being true disciples to his son. And our suffering says, Father loves us, cares about us, is looking after us, protecting us, but above all of that, he is empowering and anointing us to do what Yeshua did.

And if they weren't willing to suffer for his name, they would have never, ever been empowered for his name because they would have drew back, shut the doors and hid themselves like they did. He brought them out of the closet, took them into Shavuot and empowered them. And because they were willing to suffer as he suffered, not knowing what that suffering would be, as Yeshua walks Peter down the beach, he says, Peter, this is how you're going to die.

This is what's going to happen to you at the end. Peter turns around and says, well, what about him? Yeshua said, don't you worry about him, it's none of your business. If he doesn't suffer like you, it doesn't matter. If he lives longer than you, it doesn't matter. My will for you is different from my will for him. You will die soon, he will die late. Because I've got a different purpose and use for him than for you.

You'll walk the same journey until you're gone, but his will continue. We can't tell how God is going to use each one of us, to what degree for how long. We all have to have the same commitment, the same passion, the same drive to be faithful to Yeshua so that he will empower us and anoint us to function like he did. And if we're not willing to pay the price and to suffer the cost, he will never give us the power or the anointing.

Our Shavuot will never come if we shrink back. That's a powerful message from a man who knew what he was talking about. He was telling his people that message not long before he was put to death. He is preaching this from a Roman prison and Nero puts him to death, along with the others of his day. He says, that's my honour, my reward will be great. That is my rejoicing. Wow, that's a man to follow. YHVH made him the leader of the pack because of the tenacity and strength and courage and conviction of his heart.

So he says, a man who's talking from experience, I don't think it's strange if these testings and trials come upon us. These things are just the testing of our faith and the strengthening of our stand. If we don't have these testings, we will never become strong in the midst of trial and difficulty. A tree will never grow big and tall and strong unless it is tested in the winds, it has to have the winter winds to become strong.

A tree with no winter, a tree with no wind, a tree with nothing that comes against it, never, never is strong like a tree that is. It's part of the culture of our world and YHVH put in place. It's the same for us. It is those things that test us, that make us strong for YHVH. He says in verse 14, If you are insulted for the name of Messiah, you are fortunate. You know that word fortunate? Peter said it with an understanding far stronger than ours.

And that word for fortunate is translated by Strong's as meaning supremely blessed, blissfully elated. That's not what fortunate says to me. But here it's translated as, If you are insulted, bashed up and beaten for the name of Messiah, you are supremely blessed, blissfully elated. It's not how I would have reacted. For the spirit of honour and Elohim rests on you. The greater the cost, the greater the honour. The greater the opposition that you stand against for his name, to establish his kingdom, the greater the honour, the greater the reward.

Isn't that encouraging? Rejoice in that, rejoice in that. Don't let it distract, cause you to run away and hide. No, be in the front line. Stand true and strong for YHVH. Any insult or opposition are indicators of how blessed we are. That's a good way of looking at it. In verse 19 he says, So then, those who suffer according to Elohim's will, let them trust their souls to a faithful creator while continuing to do good. Don't back off.

Suffering according to his will. Yeshua has said, to one degree or another there will always be some pain, some cost, some sacrifice, goings and comings and misunderstandings and oppositions and just general sacrifices in our life's choices. I'd rather be doing this than this. That's not YHVH's will. He wants you to do this and not that. And we have to make a choice. Get rid of this, sell that, go to this city, not that city. Don't go where you want to go to do something for me.

Ask me if that's my will. Don't say I'm going to go to that city and buy and sell and do this and that. I'll send you where I want to send you. I might send you to the toughest place on the planet, not the best one that looks good to you. Whatever his will is, that's what we have to do and what we have to be a part of. So, it means that we are trusting our souls, our lives, to a faithful creator and we will not stop doing good, serving his purpose and his wealth.

In verse 17 he says, For the time has come for judgment to begin with the house of God. If judgment begins with us first, what will be the end for those who disobey the good news of God? We use this scripture often to reflect upon the Christian church who's got it all wrong and are doing wicked and evil things, immoral and unjust things. That's fine, that's a proper application because judgment will come to anyone that says, I'm yours and we do this in your name and we build this great edifice for you and Notre Dame comes down in a great fire and they can't see God's hand of judgment in any of it whatsoever and big mega church leaders of our Pentecostal kind in Australia fall and they can't see anything of the judgments of God in it whatsoever.

But here Peter says, judgment begins with the house of God and that includes us as well as them. He doesn't exonerate us from YHVH saying judgment comes to this house of God just as much as that house of God. And so the word judgment here means to be tried, to go to law, to decide, to condemn, those kind of meanings. So it's really saying it's time to decide what we stand for. Are we standing for a denomination? Are we standing for a paycheck? Are we standing because I love the job or are we standing because YHVH called us to it and to do it his way, for his purposes? YHVH will always test the heart.

There is a judging on how we stand and how we handle times of trial and challenge and opposition, hard times. He wants to know how we will handle those kind of difficulties and ideals in life. How strong committed will we be in the midst of great difficulty? He wants to know what's in our heart. He wants us to know what is in our heart. He wants to know who he can trust to be who he needs them to be for the purposes of the coming kingdom in a time that's going to get harder and not easier.

Who can I use? Who can I trust? Who will be faithful? Who is the recipient? Who will be the recipients of my power, my authority, my name? Who will I commit it and submit it to and know that they will be faithful to it? That's what he's doing in these times of testing, judging. Not judging in a negative, bad sense, judging in a good, positive sense. Are we faithful to the good news? That's what Peter is saying here.

So then those who, sorry, if judgment begins with us first, what will be the end of those who disobey the good news of Elohim? Are we faithful to the good news? The good news that's found only in Yeshua the Messiah, not in any other name. YHVH is judging the strength and the depth of our faith and our commitment and obedience to Yeshua and the good news found only in his name. That's what he is judging. He is standing as the judge.

He is going to bring us into places of difficulty according to his will so that he can judge where we stand and how we handle things and how well we are obedient to him regardless. That's called judging the situation, judging the character, judging the nature, judging the commitment, judging who we are and what we are like and will be like in the hardest of times. So he will allow us and maybe even put us through some difficult times and challenges and ask you to make decisions that are costly and then he will judge to see how faithful we have been in the midst of that.

Isn't that a wonderful way for a heavenly father to go about something? But that's what Peter is saying here. So judgment is used in the sense of our faith being tested by the fiery trials and in the sense of are we willing to suffer according to Elohim's will. Not my will that yours be done. We say it lots, we sing it lots and then he says I'm going to test it lots. Because words can be easy but he wants to know what's in the heart.

Peter then says that those who disobey the good news, those who are not living according to its conditions and requirements will be in trouble in the end. He said if we're not willing to walk according to the principles of the good news which is the kingdom based on the Torah and Yeshua the king of that kingdom. He says how difficult will it be for the righteous to enter into salvation, that is into my kingdom. He goes on to say if it is hard or with difficulty for the righteous to be saved what will become of the ungodly and the sinner? If we don't make it, how are they going to make it? They won't make it because they don't even know the terms, the conditions and the requirements of that kingdom called salvation.

If we don't show them the way, if we're not with them in the process, they'll never be part of it. The ungodly it seems to me here are those who fail the test of YHVH's trying of their faith in the face of opposition and hardship. If the ungodly, those who are of God being ungodly, not walking in God's ways, truths, Torah, words, commands and will, they're the ungodly. Then he says he's putting them into the same category of the sinner without Yeshua and therefore facing the same results at the second coming, no entrance as the lawless one.

That also equates to those who will not join with us because we're messianics, because we teach the law. Even when they know they should and they're aware of truth in that, YHVH's leading us that way, but nah, what my friends say. The cost will be too great. Yeah, I'm good to be a messianic, but I don't want to be one like you. Too straight, too narrow. Well, that's a problem. I don't want the opposition. Well, there's going to be opposition if you want to be true to the truth of the word and Yeshua the Messiah and who he is.

Now this is what happened to Israel on their wilderness journey. YHVH tested them without water, without bread, with snakes, with scorpions, hostile nations surrounding them and they were their relatives wanting to get rid of them. They failed the test and they weren't allowed into the promised land. That's the same message here. YHVH says, yep, I'm sending you out into the desert and I'm going to make you walk through that hot, dusty desert for three days and you're not going to have any water.

I know you've run out and I know where the water is, but I'm making sure you're not getting there for three days. Then you won't even know it's there because it isn't there and until I make it come out of the rock there won't be any. I want to see what's in your heart. Do you trust me? Do you trust me to bring you into the land of promise as my chosen people? And they didn't. They railed upon him, railed upon Moses and Aaron and whatever and we know they paid the price.

They never entered the promised land. All the men of that generation, thousands of them, died in the desert, never entered the promised land. Forgiven of their sin from time to time, because Moses interceded for them, Abraham said, I'll wipe them out now. Dead. Moses said, no, no, no, no, no, what will the nations around think? You couldn't get them out. He said, okay, I'll forgive them, spare their life, forgive them for their sin, but they're not entering the promised land.

The church misses that message because they don't want to hear it, because of their theology is wrong. Paul said to the believers in Corinth, in 1 Corinthians, he said, but if we examined ourselves, we would not be judged. But when we are judged by YHVH, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned with the world. So, same thing, the same word judged here as judged in Peter, he's using the same word for judged. And so Paul is reminding the Corinthian believers, as they're at their Passover meal, message, period, he said, do not partake of this bread.

Do not partake of this body and of this blood. Unless you have examined yourself. Because you have not examined yourself, many are dead, are sick and dying, because you will not judge yourself. And he said, we would not be judged, but when we are judged by YHVH, because we haven't disciplined ourselves, then we are being disciplined so that we won't be condemned with the world. He said, when I discipline you to try to bring you out of your ungodly ways, he said, I'm sparing you from the discipline and judgements I'm bringing on the world.

That's a loving father, isn't it? The company that you keep, the advice that you give, the boundaries that you set, that's a loving father, applying discipline that tries to bring them into the right place. That's all YHVH is doing with us, his children. And Israel, they failed to examine their hearts and to deal with their stiff-necked attitudes and their idolatrous nature. They would not do it. So YHVH says, I'll try to do it for you. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

We stand or fall on it. Paul also said that if we don't learn from Israel's failures and disobedience, we will follow the same fate, as he told them in 1 Corinthians chapter 10. He said everything that Israel went through was for your learning. He's talking to the forefathers under Moses coming out of Egypt through the Red Sea. Now he's saying, a thousand or two years later, he's saying, that message was for us today. And Paul is saying, that was saying, that message is for us today, it hasn't changed.

So if we don't learn from what Israel failed at, we will go through the same testings and judgements and disciplines. So he says, learn fast, learn fast, because I'm looking for a people who are strong and committed and faithful in all that I lead them into, 2 Peter chapter 3. So I've just used one scripture, Gary, and I'm on to my second one, and I'm just about finished. 2 Peter chapter 3, sorry, yeah, 2 Peter 3 verse 14, if I can find it in this poor light.

Therefore, loved ones, while you are looking for these things, make every effort to be found in Shalom, spotless and blameless before him. Bear in mind that the patience of YHVH means salvation, just as our dearly loved brother Paul also wrote to you with the wisdom given to him. He speaks about these matters in all of his letters. Some things in them are hard to understand, which the ignorant and the unstable twist, as they also do with the rest of the scriptures, to their own destruction.

Since you already know all this, loved ones, be on your guard so that you are not led astray by the error of the lawless and lose your sure footing. He's saying if a people are not preaching Torah and the law as given by YHVH, established in Yeshua, he says you keep away from them. Do not be led astray by them and lose your sure footing. That's sound warning, isn't it? Instead, keep growing in the merciful favour and knowledge of Adonai the Saviour, Yeshua the Messiah.

To him be the honour, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen. Nothing has changed from his day to the second coming. He says may you be true to this word, may you be faithful to Torah, may you be faithful to Messiah, may you be faithful to everything that you are required and asked of to be part of his kingdom. He says to him be the honour and the majesty, the power, the glory, the goodness.

Now, you people I'm talking to and to everyone I'm talking to for the next 2,000 years, the word hasn't changed, the message hasn't changed, nothing has changed in the entirety of scripture. So don't think it's strange, you'll be surprised. When you are attacked for being faithful to Yeshua the Messiah and calling out the lawlessness of those who say they are his but they're not. Peter finishes with a word of encouragement and advice to the elders who shepherd Elohim's flock in perilous times.

And he was in prison in Rome at the time as I mentioned and was finally put to death by Nero. But in 1 Peter 5 we just read from chapter 4 and he goes on into chapter 5 and he says from verse 1, Therefore I appeal to the elders, among you as a fellow elder and witness of Messiah's sufferings and a partaker also of the glory, the honour, the shekinah, the blessing about to be revealed. Shepherd Elohim's flock among you, watch over it, not under compulsion but willingly before Elohim, not for dishonest gain but eagerly.

Don't lord it over those apportioned to you but become examples to the flock. When the chief shepherd appears, Yeshua, you will receive the unfair unfading crown of honour. Likewise you younger ones submit yourselves to the elders and all of you clothe yourselves with humility toward one another. For Elohim opposes the proud but he gives favour to the humble or mercies to the humble. Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of Elohim so that he may lift you up at the appropriate time.

There's always an appropriate time. If we're faithful and true to the word, he will lift us up, elevate, release and utilise our callings. Cast all your worries on him for he cares for you. So stay alert, watch out. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion searching for someone to devour. It's in the context of what we've been talking about. Stand up against him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being laid out upon your brothers and sisters throughout the world.

So he's saying Satan will come like a roaring lion through other people, through circumstances and situations, through governments and laws and regulations and everything else. He will come at you like a roaring lion because he doesn't want you to achieve the things that we've been talking about. Be aware, stand up to him. Don't let him fool you into backing down and cowering down and saying God is not with us. Move forward, move on, trust him. He will always break open the right doors and close the wrong doors and give you the victory.

No matter how hard it may appear to be. After you have suffered a little while, thank you Peter. I'm talking to the elders. The Elohim of all favour who has called you into his eternal glory in Messiah will himself restore, support, strengthen and establish you. That is encouraging, that is great, that is something he's proved and tested. Even while he's in prison and about to die at the end of what YHVH is saying, the end of your ministry period.

And he's saying you're here, that YHVH will restore, support, strengthen and establish you. All power to him forever. Amen. Through Silvanus, whom I consider a faithful brother, I have written to you briefly encouraging and testifying that this is the true goodness of Elohim. Stand firm in it. Messiah's community in Babylon, that's interesting isn't it. He uses this word that just, he doesn't want to say Rome is a bad, bad, bad people. And Nero is an evil, evil, evil king.

So he gives them their biblical term, Babylon. Babylon. I'm in bondage to Babylon. But all the believers here in Babylon, Rome, where the beast, the false prophet comes from, Europe. He said all the brothers and the sisters in Babylon chosen together with you sends you greetings. So does my son Mark. Greet one another with a kiss of love. Shalom to you all who are in Messiah. Amen. It's kind of like an epitaph, the last message we hear from Peter.

And it's one to strengthen and encourage us to continue the fight that YHVH placed him in charge of for that era in history and time. And here we are today saying, Father, the journey's not finished. The kingdom hasn't come. The trumpet hasn't blown. Yeshua's not here. John's message has to be fulfilled. The book of Revelation has to find its place in history. And we are part of that place in history. And so this is the kind of advice that we need as we enter in to this point in our history.

When Peter said, from now to eternity, that's my message. Amen. Amen. Amen. Father, we thank you for your disciples, your apostles. We thank you, Father, for the power of your word. We thank you, Father, for the courage and the joy and the understanding and the wisdom that it gives us. We thank you, Father, for those that have travelled the journey ahead of us. We thank you, Father, that we are not forging new roads. We're walking on the road that's already proclaimed and forged.

Father, we're just another signpost on that road. And we give you thanks and praise that you've chosen to reveal your will to us and to open up the doors of your kingdom and to say, walk with me in it, bring others with you. As Daniel said, wise are those who bring people into salvation. So, Father, we thank you that we are willing to walk this journey. We are wanting to fulfil your purpose and calling for our lives.

Father, we're wanting to do the work that you've called us to do. We want to establish people in every place you send us every place you send us who will be beacons of light to their communities, their area in this nation. And may, Father, you bless it and honour it in ways that we can only dream of. So, thank you, Father, for this Shabbat. Thank you, Father, for this fellowship community. Thank you, Father, for the things that you're doing in us, with us, for us.

We thank you, Father, that we are here to do whatever you ask us to do. We want to do your will. We want to see your kingdom come. We want to see your name lifted high and exalted. We want to see your miracles, your power, your provisions. We want to see your name lifted in all its greatness. As YHVH-Yireh, as YHVH-Nissi, as YHVH El Shaddai. Father, we want you to reveal yourself through us in amazing and marvellous ways.

Amen.