Shabbat Word
29/02/2010
Shabbat shalom!
Psalm 15:1-6
15:1) A Psalm of David.
15:2) Yahuah, who shall dwell in your sanctuary?
Who shall live on your holy hill?
15:3) He who walks blamelessly does what is right,
And speaks truth in his heart;
15:4) He who does not slander with his tongue,
Nor does evil to his friend,
Nor casts slurs against his fellow man;
15:5) In whose eyes a vile man is despised,
But who honours those who fear Yahuah;
He who keeps an oath even when it hurts, and does not change;
15:6) He who does not lend out his money for usury,
Nor takes a bribe against the innocent.
He who does these things shall never be shaken.
A Word
The Only Non-recyclable Commodity
In my living room there was a blue wall clock. At least, I called it blue. Men generally see colours in primary (red, blue, yellow), secondary (orange, purple, green) and tones (light, medium, dark) and black and white. Women (again, in general) see a multitude of colours, tints and hues. This may be due to the woman’s need to detect when food is going bad. My wife calls the clock duck egg blue.
I digress; another topic for another day.
During the day, the clock was not noticeable. However, if I got up in the night, then clock seemed to have a very loud tick. I know that the sound does not vary throughout the day, but it is more noticeable in the quiet hours. Especially if I am trying to sleep! Each second passes with a loud TICK, the next second with a loud TOCK and time moves inexorably onwards. Some people say that there was no beginning of time and there will be no end of time, but this is in a metaphysical sense. For a person, there was a definite beginning and there will be a definite end. At FGA we believe that a life begins at conception and not at some arbitrary time during the gestation period.
Time (as we know it) will end when a person dies. For those who have not accepted Yahuah’s salvation in Messiah Yahusha as their personal Saviour there will be an eternity of punishment. For Believers, there will be an eternity of peace.
“He spoke a parable to them, saying, ‘The ground of a certain rich man brought forth abundantly. He reasoned within himself, saying, ‘What will I do, because I do not have room to store my crops?’ He said, ‘This is what I will do. I will pull down my barns, and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. I will tell my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years. Take your ease, eat, drink, be merry.’ But Yahuah said to him, ‘You foolish one, tonight your soul is required of you. The things which you have prepared — whose will they be?’”(Luke 12: 16-20).
When the Master told this parable of the Rich Fool, He was warning of taking life for granted. The Rich Fool did not, could not nor would not consider that his life would be called into account. That is like the vast majority of people today. They make plans for some future date, but sadly tragedy intervenes. Many advertisements warn people to make sure that they have a current will, just in case a person dies without one in force. This is fine for those left behind, but what about the person who dies? What provision have they made for their eternal state? What provision have you made for your eternal state?
Scripture clears states that all people will sin and that there will be a penalty to pay and that a life will be demanded from us. That was the whole purpose of the life and death of the Saviour, Messiah Yahusha. To ‘believe on Messiah Yahusha’ is to accept that, as sinners, there is nothing we can do to remove the punishment that is required as the life is not perfect. However, the life of Messiah Yahusha was perfect in obedience to Father. Messiah gave up His perfect life and it was accepted by Father as the substitutionary sacrifice to remove all the sins of those who believe or accept this perfect sacrifice on their behalf. It was His life that took upon Himself the punishment due to all sinners. If only the sinner seeks forgiveness, turns away from their old life of sin and accepts the new life offered by Messiah.
This new life in Messiah is available to all but is conditional to the person accepting Messiah prior to their death. Even if it is done with the last breath and is genuine repentance and acceptance, the eternal punishment awaiting sinners is removed and replaced by eternal peace.
In the Parable of El`azar (Lazarus) and the Rich Man (Luke 16:19-31), the Master tells us of the plight of a rich man who ended up in Hell. In torment, he must have wished to be able to turn the clock back. This is not possible. The time you take to read this message can never be repeated. It is gone forever. So it is in life and there is no way back. In spite of movies such as Groundhog Day, The Time Machine etc., time is not cyclic and it cannot be re-used. Therefore, it is vital that all the time we have in this life, is utilised to the uttermost.
Make no mistake! There is a place called Hell. A place of darkness and torment, but Mankind was never meant to end up there. The redemption plan of Father was in place before Creation and Hell was made for the Satan and its followers. Not for Man. However, those who have not accepted the substitute death of Messiah will end up in Hell. Believers, who have accepted Messiah Yahusha as their Saviour will end up in Heaven. The decision is yours!
If, like the Rich Fool, you are called into account tonight, where will you end up? What will be our eternal destination? Upon whose shoulders will the punishment land; yours or your Saviour Messiah Yahusha.
Please do not even wait for tonight.
Right now, is the time to make that decision and you can rest assured that Father in Heaven is waiting eagerly to hear from you.
If only we could turn back time as easily as my wife’s duck egg blue clock. We cannot. Therefore we must look ahead and prepare ourselves….now!
Ameyn
Halleluyah!
Father, we thank you for the power of your Word and that Word was made flesh in Messiah Yahusha so that in believing in His Life, Death and Resurrection we may have eternal life with you.
If you want to accept Father’s offer of salvation through Messiah Yahusha, you need to ask Him in prayer along these lines. Use your own words but they must be genuine as Father knows our very hearts and nothing is hidden from Him.
“Father, I am a sinner who needs forgiveness through your Son, Messiah Yahusha. Please forgive me of all my past sins as I accept that, Messiah Yahusha my Saviour, has taken upon Himself my punishment. By your Spirit, help me to live a life worthy of His sacrifice. Thank you, Father, for making this way back to you.”
Ameyn.
Remember, the Judge looks into your heart, mind and future.
In other words, when you say a Believer’s prayer you had better mean it.
If you have honestly said such a prayer as this, and truly renounced the sin in your life and accepted Father’s salvation through Messiah Yahusha, then please drop us an e-mail at FGA to let us know. This not only builds up our faith, it offers an opportunity to prayfully support you. Even if you have Believing friends or family, we at FGA would be privileged to pray for you. Please contact us at ezra710@firstgenerationassembly.com. Having believed and prayed, now please find a local faith-based church to attend. Drop FGA an e-mail so that we can rejoice with you and pray and support you over the coming weeks.
If you have sincerely called out to Father for forgiveness, then eternal life is assured. No more question marks on your eternal life, only a full stop. Salvation does not take away the day-to-day questions of life, nor is it a short-cut away from trials or tribulations. Nevertheless, knowing your eternal life is secure, any temporary trial can be overcome by looking at the completed work of Messiah Yahusha.
Nevertheless, knowing your eternal life is secure, any temporary trial can be overcome by looking at the completed work of Messiah Yahusha.
All blessings to you.
“Joy comes to a man with the reply of his mouth.
How good is a word at the right time!” (Prov. 15:23).
Breaking Matzah
Our Saviour welcomes all His Family to join in this memorial. If you have accepted Messiah Yahusha as your Master and Saviour please take the next few moments to seek Father and to ensure that all is right between Him and you and between you and your Brothers and Sisters. If not, please put this right before continuing.
If you have not yet accepted Him into your life, then we encourage you to seek Him while it is still possible, as time is running out. When He returns or if you pass away then it will be too late. Please do not partake of the matzah and wine as in doing so, it gives thanks for the broken body (matzah) and shed blood (wine) for and a witness of salvation.
On the night of the Master’s betrayal, He took the matzah, blessed it and broke it saying ‘This is my Body broken for you; take and eat it as a memorial to Me.’
Bless the matzah saying: Blessed are you, O Yahuah our `Elohiym, King of the Universe, who brings forth matzah from the earth.
Break and eat the matzah (sharing it if within a group setting):
After the meal He took the Cup, blessed it saying ‘This is my Blood poured out for you for the remission of sins; take and drink it as a memorial to me.’
Bless the wine saying: Blessed are you, O Yahuah our `Elohiym, King of the Universe, who creates the fruit of the vine.
Drink the wine (sharing it if within a group setting):
Thanksgiving prayer: Blessed are you, O Yahuah our `Elohiym, King of the universe, who gives us, in Yahusha, all that we will ever need. In your lovingkindness and mercy, you rebuild broken lives. You bless us, in Yahusha, with a perfect blessing. Ameyn.
Please note the up-and-coming special days.
25/03/2020 – Rosh Chodesh 1st. New Moon.
Father willing, we will meet again next Shabbat.
“Y’varekh’kha Yahuah v’yishmerekha,
Ya’er Yahuah panav eleikha vichunekka,
Yissa Yahuah panav eleikha v’yasem l’kha shalom.”
(May Yahuah bless you and keep you)
(May Yahuah make His face to shine upon you and show you His favour)
(May Yahuah lift up His face toward you and give you peace.).
First Generation Assembly 