JUDGMENT -- THE LAST GREAT DAY

[Rebbe]

Judgment - The Last Great Day!
given by

Dr Les Aron Gosling, Rebbe

CAUTION: BRI Yeshiva notes are not available to the general public. They are not for distribution. They are not for reproduction. The notes may also bear little or no resemblance to the actual recorded BRI Yeshiva lecture. The Festivals of Israel Yeshiva notes will form the bedrock of a forthcoming volume on God's Cosmic Plan for Humanity.

Copyright © BRI 1974, 1995, 2008, 2024

"[The eighth day of Lev 23.39] is deemed a Festival on its own account, distinct from the Feast of Tabernacles" (Dr J.H. Hertz, C.H., Late Chief Rabbi of the British Empire, ed., The Pentateuch and Haftorahs, Hebrew Text; English Translation and Commentary, London, 1961, 524)

Yeshua the Messiah is humanity's only true hope. We can have hope in NO other Name, in no other Way.

When He came to earth almost 2000 years ago, the message He brought with Him carried with it hope for our planet -- hope for our civilisation. He called it "the GOOD NEWS [Gospel] of the KINGDOM of God."

The coming Kingdom or Government of God was all about the rule of God in our lives here and now in order to qualify for the coming world rule of the Messiah over the nations. The second Advent of Messiah triggers the first resurrection (that of the saints) and it is followed immediately by the establishment of a government -- "I saw thrones, and they [the saints] sat upon them" (Rev 20.4). That coming world reign will involve a massive program of RE-EDUCATION in the true values. But Messiah will do much more than simply make essential knowledge available to the remnant of humanity that is left over from the cosmic devastation predicted to hit this world within the next few, final decades of earth's rebellious society. Christ's Messianic rule "with a rod of iron" will also be a time of intensive worldwide education (Isa 25.6,7; 29.10-12; Rom 11.7,8) -- a true education which will "spread over all nations." Not only will the intellectual capacity of mankind be elevated to a more acceptable level, the Lord will destroy the spiritual blindness that has hidden right knowledge from all nations. Every mind will be opened. The dull, dense and self-deceived will have the opportunity, direct from God's holy Spirit, to begin to understand the truth (Isa 32.3,4; 26.9) and thus see dramatic changes begin for the first time to take place in their lives. God will intimately lead His people into The Way of Righteousness.

Peter informs us, "For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?" (1 Pet 4.17). God's judgment is a process, for from the days of the apostle Peter to our time now Messianic believers have been judged, in love and by Grace, during their lives. Messianic believers called by God (Rom 1.7), elected before the creation of the earth (1 Pet 1.2), have been drawn by the Spirit of the Father (Jn 6.44) to serve Yeshua haMashiach as his disciples or students of God's truth. Generally speaking, the world does not have an understanding of the TRUE knowledge of God. It is given to some to understand his Word, but not to others (Mt 13.10,11).

God's people, learning the lessons of life during their present sojourn here as pilgrims, shall have the ability during the Messianic New World Order to materialise out of nowhere in order to prevent crime and criminal activity from occurring (Isa 30.20,21). Law-breakers will be stopped before they get a chance to put into action negative schemes that are plotted in the human heart. During the millennium human beings will be shown their true natures (Isa 32.1,5,6). Indeed, this period of time will be one of enormous productivity and well-being, but it will come at a cost. Human beings will be literally forced to obey God or face the consequences which will be swift and merciless. It shall not take men and women too long to learn the ropes. We Messianic believers will be true servants to humanity at that time, teaching them how to live in complete accord with God's will. Yeshua gave us the prime example of how to live in harmony with the nature of Deity -- even to the point of showing us in resurrected form that a spirit can live the part of a normal human and be capable of serving mortal kind (Jn 21).

Even  though  the  Messianic  Kingdom  of  God  will  be  a  time  of  LAW  and   ORDER  it  will be administered by a new race motivated by the LOVE of God.


THE IMPORTANCE OF THE FINAL ANNUAL SABBATH


At the conclusion of the 1000 year reign of the Family of God over the nations the Dark Lord -- caught in the activity-crushing imprisonment of a black hole for the entire period -- will be reintroduced into the apex of human society. The results of his return to civilisation are entirely predictable. Satan as Satan can only ever be Satan (Rev 20.3,7-10).

We now come to the final annual Sabbath given by God to the ancient Israelites in the scheme of Leviticus 23. As we have seen the annual Sabbaths pictured events involving the people of God in Deity's purposes in salvation-history. Indeed, every festival, as well as every offering and service, in the Levitical ceremonies, pointed to God's acts of Redemption on behalf of mankind. And at last we have come to the final annual Sabbath and festival which the Gentile church since the days of Constantine has never really understood. In fact it has correctly been referred to as ...

the HIDDEN festival in ancient Israel's spiritual economy.

While the Feast of Tabernacles (picturing the Messianic rule of Messiah over the nations of the world) was to last a total of seven days (Lev 23.34-36, 39-42) there is found an eighth day attached thereto which was also recognised as a feast day (23.36). In other words the Israelites observed the seven days of festivity in which they rejoiced before the Lord with gladness of heart and soul, eating and drinking their full of that which was afforded them by the agricultural calendar. And on the eighth day they celebrated a Sabbath which eventually was seen to be an extended feast of Tabernacles (pegged tents) although all rabbis saw it as an entirely separate festival called "The Rejoicing of the Law" (Simchath Torah) or "the Eighth Day of Assembly" (Shemini Atzereth) namely "The Feast of Conclusion."

On this day the final verses of Deuteronomy and the first verses of Genesis are read in synagogues to reinforce in the Jewish mind the fact that our salvific God is a God who demands the development of character in His people based on His cyclic venture into man's story (his-story). As far as the Law (Torah = Revelation) of God is concerned there is, like God himself as the " Lawgiver" (James 4.12), neither beginning or end. The Word of God is eternal as God is eternal. This Sabbath is seen to be an end of one cycle and the beginning of another. Thus this eighth day was seen to be "the completion of all festivals" in our present cycle (Rabbi R. Brasch, The Star of David, 37).

The Gospel of John has a great deal of specific information about the activities and teachings of Yeshua relating to the "Last Great Day" of God's Judgment.

 
MASHIACH -- AND THE AVAILABILITY OF THE WATER OF LIFE


"In the Last Day, that Great Day of the feast [of Tabernacles, being the eighth day] Yeshua stood and cried, 'If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink! He that believes on me, as the Scripture has said, Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.' But this spoke he of the Spirit which they that believe on him should receive: for the Spirit was not yet given because that Yeshua was not yet glorified" (Jn 7.37-39).

Interestingly, the Lord takes the opportunity of preaching about salvation on the Last Great Day and thus He defines the quality of meaning which we can now attach to this Sabbath in our interpretation of it.

But, typically, Yeshua goes beyond the parameters of salvation discussion to throw in an aside concerning Scripture. When Yeshua referred to a particular Scripture -- "as THE SCRIPTURE has said, 'Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water'" -- the Jewish people of his day knew exactly and precisely from what Book of Scripture he was quoting. Unfortunately, we today do not! His quotation cannot be found in any text of the Roman Catholic version of the Bible, nor from the limited Protestant versions. It appears that his quotation may come from the Dead Sea Scrolls! There appear to be some hints that this is so. Be this as it may, Yeshua has extended the parameters of our ignorance by revealing that the Scriptures of God extend well beyond the borders of our own present understanding of what constitutes the Canon.

Not only is this the case but Yeshua uses what some theologians and scholars have found to be a "grotesque" analogy! For, Yeshua is referring to the normal bodily function of eliminating waste material in the form of urine -- a lifeless substance. He is saying, much to the horror of scholars, that even His urine is a symbol of the ETERNAL LIFE flowing out from His innermost being. Some may not like the way Yeshua presented this truth, but He is merely being a Jew utilising a Semitism! Once again, the Jewish thoughtform may not be all that acceptable in today's world of false values but these words did come from Our Lord and we should have perhaps a better attitude toward the revelation of His Truth and Word. Remember, God was in Messiah and the words of Yeshua are little different to those He used to describe the self-righteous behaviour of man (given long prior to His human birth). He said "[Israel's] righteousness is as filthy rags" in the beloved KJV! The Hebrew has "soaked, smelly menstrual cloths" in Isaiah 64.6 -- and you WON'T locate the truth of this for corroboration even in Strong's Exhaustive Concordance which also hides the truth of the matter.

Anyway, apart from Christ's use of offensive language to make God's truth plain and simple to understand (if not to accept) and His defining of Scripture as being beyond the present boundaries of the Catholic and Protestant Bibles, Yeshua tells us that LIVING WATER would flow from OUR innermost beings -- which would have stunned His listeners. And the Bible says He actually cried this out aloud for everyone to hear (Jn 7.37)! He timed the announcement of this message right at the moment the High Priest poured forth the water from the Pool of Siloam, out of a solid gold pitcher, into the basin at the foot of the Altar!

This was done on the Last Great Day -- the eighth day attached to the Feast of Tabernacles, although it was a separate festival altogether -- and it had been poured forth ritually for a number of days preceding the final pouring ceremony on this particular Sabbath that Messiah observed. Yeshua left His message to the very last minute and then announced it with all the power and authority at His command. He stood up and cried out aloud to all and sundry, priest and nobleman, Roman centurion and Zealot revolutionary, tax collector and lowly, squalid prostitute. They all heard Him speak. Yeshua's timing was precise. Indeed, Messiah centres Himself squarely as the ONLY SOURCE of eternal life, of salvation.

"Come unto me, for I am meek and humble" He once said during His personal ministry (Mt 11.28-30). Can we even begin to imagine the reaction of the Jewish leaders when they heard His Messianic call to Israel? What humility, they would have thought! Nay, rather, what unbelievable arrogance, what atrocious conceit, how unChristlike in their eyes was the Son of God! This is why the Dead Sea Scrolls refer to Yeshua as "the arrogant one," "the Scoffer," "the proud one," "the man of the lie," and "the wicked priest." But Yeshua was not in any way religious. Rather,

humility is merely knowing who you are and what you are.

Yeshua was the most meek and humble man who ever lived. He was the very image of God.

Frankly, the Last Great Day and the message of Yeshua cannot be differentiated or separated. Yeshua is the centre of controversy. He was then. He is now. In their angry confusion and in their hostility the Name of Yeshua haMashiach and the Gospel of the Kingdom of God, including the call to salvation in Him alone (Acts 4.12), is reinforced unintentionally into the consciousness of ordinary man by the antagonistic priests -- and into the rich symbolism of the Last Great Day! (Jn 7.40-43)


THE RAISING OF LAZARUS IN A PHYSICAL RESURRECTION -- AND WHAT IT PORTENDS FOR HUMANITY


But Yeshua spoke about the events of the Last Great Day of God's Judgment in another place in the Fourth Gospel. In the raising of His close friend and disciple, Lazarus, from the dead in a physical resurrection Yeshua showed that death could not maintain its icy grip on the dead. [Study the entire chapter of John 11.] There can be little doubt that Yeshua had taken this opportunity to impose on the festival of the Last Great Day the wonderful truth that in the last resurrection period (called in John's Apocalypse "The Great White Throne Judgment") all who have ever lived will hear the voice of the Son of God and will come forth as did His friend Lazarus! There can be no doubt that the last day of Judgment is the theme in this section of Scripture for John clearly tells us that this is the case (Jn 11.24). Yeshua would no doubt have based His theology on an understanding of Ezekiel's vision of the general resurrection of the dead of Israel (Ezek 37.1-10). Now this vision is obviously a figurative prediction of the restoration of the nation of Israel to its original state and condition. But while we readily acknowledge this to be so, the fact remains Ezekiel uses the symbolism of a resurrection back to physical life. Later in the vision of the "dry bones" Ezekiel states in so many words that God's Spirit would give true life to the dead (37.13,14). We cannot escape the underlying thought being here impressed upon us. God will one day raise the dead in a physical resurrection to learn about a salvation in Messiah "in strategic seasons having a unique character of their own" (1 Tim 2.5,6 Greek).

The Bible reveals clearly that the SAME IDENTICAL MESSAGE of Messiah that was heard by contemporary cities during the public ministry of Yeshua will be again heard by the ancient city-states in a future time of judgment (Mt 11.21-27). Even the Queen of Sheba, who was awe struck at the immense wisdom of Solomon, will one day hear the GLAD TIDINGS about Messiah and the salvation He offers mankind (Mt 12.41,42). It was clearly not the Father's will that all men hear and understand the truth and be converted during Christ's ministry (Mk 4.11,12). While the apostle Paul was clearly concerned about the Jewish rejection of their Messiah (Rom 9.1-5) he was confident that God would not permanently dispossess them (Rom 11.1-5) as he makes plain in his same letter to the Romans. After all, it is the Lord who is RESPONSIBLE for blinding the eyes of His people (Rom 11.7-10). They are not PERMITTED or ALLOWED to understand the truth of God's Word in its spiritual intent, unless they are called and converted by Him in His good time. At best they can only grasp at it carnally. It might seem at first a harsh judgment by God to "conclude them in their unbelief" and therefore to negate a salvation to them. But when we really grasp that He does this to the vast majority in order "that he might have mercy upon all" (Rom 11.32) then His grace in this respect begins to make sense. Without the annual Sabbaths of ancient Israel we would not properly attain to the knowledge of the salvific purposes of God for mankind. These days are pregnant with rich meaning.

WHY hasn't this knowledge been made available to the churches of this world which lay claim to the torch of a Jewish-Christian heritage? It is no coincidence that the Solomonic work, Ecclesiastes, is given a priority reading on Simchath Torah -- the Last Great Day! Ecclesiastes teaches us that Messiah is our Wisdom. It is a volume pre-eminently focused on the conclusion of all things.

The dead in Messiah are raised at His second Advent in the skies above to meet Yeshua. But 1000 years later the rest of the dead will be raised to mortal, corruptible life just like Lazarus (Rev 20.5). Lazarus was not raised to be SPIRIT, but only flesh, as he was before he died. He lived the rest of his days in a physical, carnal way and died as he had once before. But the rest of humankind who died without ever knowing Yeshua haMashiach since the dawn of time -- somewhere between 70 and 140 BILLION souls -- will be raised before an awesome WHITE THRONE! John describes it as existing somewhere outside our present solar system, perhaps in another dimension of reality, for it is written that before God's face "the earth and the heavens fled away" (Rev 20.11). They were nowhere to be located (same verse). Most Messianic believers FEAR the consequences of this Judgment -- they fear this is an entirely negative, profoundly despairing JUDGMENT OF GOD. Well, it will be despairing for those who actually FAIL to conform to the will of God during this time but it must be insisted on that it is a time during which books are opened for examination -- including "the Book of Life [Gk, lives]" (Rev 20.12).

Brethren,  honestly,  if  the  BOOK  OF  LIFE  is  opened  then  this  MUST  BE YET ANOTHER DAY OF SALVATION, at the very least for some people! Again, the Christian world has been successfully BLINDED regarding the fact that today is not the only day of Christ's salvation! Yet very few seem willing to even consider the evidence the Word of God itself presents! In fact what John sees occurring at the conclusion of this period of trial leading to ultimate salvation for the masses is a third resurrection (20.13,14).

Clearly God is no respecter of persons.

And He only has one way of salvation -- by the merits of Messiah Yeshua Himself.

These facts are basic to Christian understanding, no matter what side of the theological fence we stand. And yet our theology for 1600 years has had the entire world -- even those who have lived and died in gross ignorance of God and His Word -- perishing in the furious flames of Gehenna fire because they never knew of the salvation of Yeshua haMashiach! Multiple billions have never ever heard the "one name under heaven by which men alone can be saved." The little starving African child that died before the missionary could reach him and sprinkle magic water on his forehead -- according to common Christian theology -- now burns eternally in hell torment. Why? Because the missionary got a flat tyre!

What utter nonsense!

God is just. God is gracious. God is good. And the God worshiped and adored and exalted in the literature and publications of The Biblical Research Institute, and in the meetings of the International Messianic Community of Faith (IMCF) is a God who above all else is JUST. His justice is riveted firmly in His GRACE. He is none other than the salvific God of Israel -- the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. This Messianic Community of God ALONE carries the original torch of a Jewish-Christian heritage! And the God we praise is the God of Yeshua haMashiach whom He referred to as "Daddy." There is NO WAY a normal healthy-minded "Daddy" could destroy or torment eternally His own Image, as reflected in the Person of Yeshua haMashiach. It was, after all, Yeshua himself (God residing in human flesh) who said, "Nobody takes my life from me. I lay it down of myself. And I will take it up again!" (Jn 10.17,18). If God expects us today to be saved only through Yeshua haMashiach there is no way that He will expect others of His creatures who have never ever heard of that "one name under heaven" to be saved by some other inferior method.

Those who are raised to physical life during the Great White Throne Judgment period, illustrated by the Last Great Day as the concluding festival in God's panoramic pageant of annual Sabbaths, will have their first ever opportunity of accepting Messiah as their Saviour -- and they will work out their lives, by the out-working of the holy Spirit within, according to God's complete satisfaction. There IS good news in the Gospel Message of Messiah as Saviour of the world -- but very few are even aware of it, let alone preach it for the encouragement of others! Roman Catholic and Protestant religious arguments to the contrary, reveal the kind of character of the false God they worship.

Roman Catholics insist on a ceremonial-works-for-salvation-demanding-stooge  manipulated by the Devil.

Most Protestants have sworn allegiance to an Arminian imposter.

Left-over "die-hard" Calvinists have sworn the same allegiance to a God who double-deals in a double election.

And the Eastern Orthodox priests have never heard of justification. It is alien to their theology. 

But the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel is making a come-back.

The countdown for His "manifestation," "revealing" or "unveiling" has already begun.

But what then of those John records as finally failing to play the game God's way?

What of those few souls so incorrigible that they die in the lake of fire and sulphur?

If we read the text carefully John seems to tell us that death is annulled at this point for if death and the grave are cast into the lake of fire (figuratively speaking) then anyone remaining dead after the death of death will be living proof that the state of death will not have been in fact abolished at all. Paul would certainly not agree to a theology of this kind (1 Cor 15.55). "Our Saviour Yeshua haMashiach, who has abolished [the state of] death and has brought life and incorruption to light through the Gospel" (2 Tim 1.10). Yeshua haMashiach died on the cross for the sins of the whole world. Through His resurrection He revealed to the entire world that He is more than a conqueror over the grave, and over death.

Messiah has not abolished death for Messianic believers, and not death for the world. It is the actual state of death that Messiah overcame and conquered. Any other doctrine concerning spiritual death is inconsistent with biblical revelation and is an insult to the grace of God as openly demonstrated in the cross. That hades (a term which includes the grave) and death (the death state) are swallowed up in victory is the signal hallelujah chorus of John's Apocalypse (Rev 20.14). They are both "consumed" in the lake of fire. Wrote a confidant Paul, "O death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory?" (1 Cor 15.55).

Clearly John, and Paul particularly, couldn't write such things if they did not believe in an ultimate universal salvation, through Messiah, to the Father (Eph 1.8-11; Phil 2.8-11; Col 1.18-21). After all, any one of us can take a stroll to the nearest cemetery and see for ourselves that the effects of the reign of sin and death are still very much a pain for the eyesight and the heart.

Paul viewed the destruction of death as an eschatological event. John the apostle saw the event in the very same way. The rule, reign and control of its multitudinous victims by the death state must culminate in a broad, all encompassing vivification.

Teeming billions, saved by Grace, in God's Way -- the cross.

In God's special time -- "strategic seasons [time periods in the future] having a unique character of their own" (1 Tim 2.6 Greek).

For, Yeshua must reign until all His enemies, all that oppose Him are placed beneath His feet (1 Cor 15.25,26) and thus brought into His salvific subjection.

As the unknown writer of Hebrews puts it, "You [God] have placed the universe under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing not put under him. But NOW we see not yet the universe put under him. But we see Yeshua...crowned with glory and honour: that he by THE KINDNESS OF GOD should taste death for EVERY man" (Heb 2.8,9).


THE BURDEN OF PROOF


Messiah is the first Order to be made spiritually alive in a resurrection from the dead. Messianic believers -- FIRSTfruits -- converted from the festival day of Pentecost to the second Advent are the second Order to be made spiritually alive by a resurrection from the dead. The rest (all of mankind who have ever lived since Adam and Eve started the whole salvation process) will constitute the third Order to be made alive through a general resurrection. They will of necessity arise from their graves "when he shall have annulled all rule and authority and power." Just prior to this, or in conjunction with it, death and the grave are cast into the Lake of Fire which act neutralises and abolishes (one might say, homoeopathically) the poison of mortality that was released on mankind in the Garden of Eden at the instigation of the Dark Lord. It is at this stage that God will be all in all, not all in some (1 Cor 15.28).

"Wherefore God also has highly exalted him [Messiah], and given him the name which is above every name: that in the name of Yeshua every knee should bow, of things in the heavens, and things in the earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Yeshua haMashiach is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Phil 2.9-11).

But there is no real lasting glory for the Father -- who set the entire plan of redemption, reconciliation and salvation into operation according to His own purpose, intent, design and salvific will -- if this final adoration described by Paul has to be wrenched out of stubborn hostility. The word translated into English as "bow" is the Greek kampto found in the Scriptures only in the writings of Paul. It literally means to "bow in religious veneration." "For this cause I bow my knees [in worship] unto the Father," writes the apostle (Eph 3.14). In contrast Paul uses sunkampto signifying "to bend down by compulsory force" (See Rom 11.10). "Confess" is exomologeo -- to praise or acclaim "from the heart freely, or openly." This same word is used by Matthew and Luke to express the glad spirit of Yeshua when He said, "I thank thee Father, Lord of heaven and earth" (Mt 11.25; Lk 10.21). According to Paul, who realised our liberty and freedom can only be authentically expressed within the will of God, the entire universe shall bow the knee in worship and praise to the Lord in the same humility that exemplified the character of Paul himself and that witnessed to the very nature of Yeshua. This worship and praise, this bowing of the knee and open, free acclaim is to be the one perfect utterance that will fill the universe as it is swallowed up completely in the unity that is God.

We say to those who ridicule and mock the plan of salvation -- as it has been outlined in the teachings of this Messianic lecturer who has based his Salvific theology on the scheduled events of the festivals of ancient Israel and who has been SAVED BY THE GRACE OF YEHOVAH -- to disprove the teaching that ...

Yeshua haMashiach represents the Passover Lamb.

We challenge them to show that leaven was not looked upon as a type of sin ...

that on Pentecost the Spirit of God was not given ...

that there were not two harvests in Israel's agricultural cycle -- an early spring firstfruits harvest and a "latter rain" harvest further on in the year ...

that Yeshua haMashiach will not return at the blowing of the last trump, that the saints of God will not be resurrected ...

that the Azazel goat was not selected to be a type of Satan (or at the least a demonic power), that the Dark Lord will not be bound by the hand of an angel and cast out from civilisation for 1000 years ...

and that there will not be a general resurrection of the dead following the Millennium.

Can the (a) churches of this world, the (b) churches of the Devil, and (c) the churches of Messiah (there are some still loyal to the truth they have been given) DISPROVE the facts we have presented in over four decades of lectures, most of which are constellating around the Lord Yeshua as IMAGED in the agricultural festival system of Israel ? Where is the evidence that any of it is in error? The burden of proof resides with those who disagree with our stand.

Paul tells us that the annual Sabbaths are "shadows of THINGS to come" -- they are NOT foreshadows of Messiah himself. If they were they would have been FULFILLED by Messiah in the flesh 2000 years ago when He died and rose again. But Paul says, about thirty years AFTER the cross event and the establishment of the Messianic Community, that they were "shadows of things TO COME" (Col 2.16,17). If this is so, then they are yet to be fulfilled. Even the Passover -- which Messiah fulfilled -- has not been outworked in the lives of the entire world. If it had been totally fulfilled why did Messiah institute the emblems of unleavened bread and fermented wine (symbolising His broken body and shed blood given for the LIFE of the WORLD) and instruct His talmidim to continue observing it (Lk 22.19; 1 Cor 11.24,25)?

THE APOSTLE PAUL -- A PATTERN FOR GRACE

The belief that God saves collectively is nothing more than a Satanic ploy to render the Gospel ineffective. It is an attempt to discourage the workers of Messiah in their teaching of reconciliation.

Yeshua is personal Saviour because He saves us personally.

Yeshua is not a collectivist failure.

"On Paul's journey, as he neared Damascus, a light from heaven suddenly blazed around him, and he fell to the ground. Then he heard a voice speaking to him: 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?' 'Who are you, Lord?' he asked. 'I am Yeshua whom you are persecuting,' was the reply. 'But now stand up and go into the city and there you will be told what you must do'" (Acts 9.3-6).

Horne comments, "Before his conversion, Paul was a man of great intellectual attainment. He was a staunch Jew in both his religious opinions and his moral habits (Acts 26.4,5; Gal 1.14; Phil 3.4-6). He was a violent, sincere persecutor of the Christian Church. Paul had 'a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge' (Rom 10.2 ASV; cf Acts 26.9; Phil 3.6; 1 Tim 1.13). There were several preternatural accompaniments to Paul's regeneration. These were: the light from heaven, 'far brighter than the sun' (Acts 26.13 Phillips); the voice from heaven; and Paul's blindness, which was miraculously cured (9.17-18). It should be clearly understood that these striking circumstances were useful is arresting Paul's attention and in impressing on his conscience his spiritual need - but it was the truth itself, the simple truth as it is Jesus, which effected Paul's conversion. His conversion was brought about by the communication of the truth through the vision and voice of the Saviour and the ministry of Ananias, made effective in the heart by the demonstration of the Spirit" (Charles M. Horne, Salvation, 1971, 67,68).

The case of Paul is most interesting in that it reveals that God intervened in his life in a dramatic way, although from Paul's own words he had been separated to the Lord, in reality, from the time of his birth (Gal 1.15). He later came to understand that each of us who have accepted Yeshua as Lord at this time have been elected in the creative mind of Infinite Intelligence since before the beginning of the world. We were accepted in Messiah (Eph 1.6) as well as being chosen in Him (Eph 1.4).

In order to emphasise God's love and grace in the salvation process and experience, Paul gave us a heart-warming message of assurance that he himself (and Paul did consider that he was the worst of sinners - 1 Tim 1.15) was SAVED BY GRACE in order that "Yeshua haMashiach might show forth all long-suffering, FOR A PATTERN to them who should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting" (1 Tim 1.15,16).

The apostle Paul's salvation experience was a PATTERN of how God works with each of us. All of us experience, to one degree or another, a mighty intervention by the Lord God in the same way as God intervened in Paul's own life. Messiah is introduced to each of us in God's good time. All the world (and this includes all who have ever lived) will one day meet Mashiach in a personal way, and on a personal basis. We are drawn to the Messiah in our own individual way, according to our lot and circumstances in life. Each person who has ever lived will be given, according to God's grace, that wonderful moment for the attainment of Life. We must all face a vision, a voice, a power, in some sort of unique personal manner, on our own Damascus Road.

The Lord, we are reliably informed, is not a respecter of persons. If this is the case, and I trust it is, then God's salvation is the revelation of Yeshua haMashiach on the human heart by Grace! All who have ever lived will one day have an opportunity to experience such a salvation. While there are a myriad of variations and methods by which conversions take place, there remains only one way to salvation, through the Creator and the One Mediator, Yeshua haMashiach.

The Gospel, if it is anything, is a declaration that it is God who saves us. God elects us. God chooses us. God calls us. God even gives us His Spirit to repent and to believe.

And some of us think smugly that we have worked in cooperative union in making our decision for Messiah! It would be funny were it not so ludicrous. The salvation event was worked out on the cross almost 2000 years past. Salvation is 100% God-focused, God-oriented, God-centred. Salvation does not depend on man's actions (good or bad) nor on man's thoughts, volition's, intentions, feelings, or "decisions."

What we ought to be doing is being appreciative of the pattern or blue-print of GOD given to us by the apostle Paul.


MESSIANIC GOSPEL WILL BE PROMULGATED BY CONVERTED JEWS


The Gentile churches of the world are presently in decline and the Messianic congregations are now rising up all over the earth and in the State of Israel. This was predicted by Paul in his letter to the Romans and by the apostle John in his Apocalypse.

Jews are finding their Mashiach!

God is starting to remove the "blinkers" from Hebrew eyes, and the Jewish people are beginning to be "grafted back in" to their own "Olive Tree" (Rom 11.15-24). Truly, the Jewish people speak today every language of the nations of the earth, but they are mute as far as taking the Gospel of their Messiah to the world. They are seemingly self-contained in their stubbornness and ignorance. This has been due primarily to the treatment they have received at the hands of their Gentile "Christian" brethren who supposedly believe in the same God. Persecution for almost 2000 years at the hand of the Constantinian church, vicious pogroms in czarist Russia and concentration camps created, instituted and controlled by the modern Assyrians in this century have left their toll. And apart from these factors the Jews are still obedient to the command of Hadrian not to proselytise.

May the day come soon when the Lord Yeshua will miraculously loosen the tongue of His servant Israel concerning the Gospel of the Kingdom so that "Fulfilled" Jews will go forth in the power and the authority of the Son of Man into the far reaches of our planet, motivated by a Love shed abroad in their hearts by the holy Spirit.

A day of salvation is coming for all who have never heard the Gospel.

We have heard.

We belong to God's Kingdom. Let us now learn to become what we already are.

And that to the praise and glory of God.