We are ready to get started on today’s study, today’s message. For those of you who might not be aware, there is a Feast Day coming up, although we won’t be feasting on that day. It is a Holy Day. The Holy Day is called Yom Kippur. It is not called “Yahm” Kippur. It is “Yome” Kippur.

While I was in Israel, I was talking to an American who had made Aliyah there, and he said, “I can’t quite get the language here. I try to say ‘Yahm Tov’ to somebody and they go, ‘good sea?'” That’s because “yahm” is “sea” and “yome” is “day.”

Anyway, the day is called Yom Kippur. We don’t like to say it the wrong way– the “Sea of Atonement.” But it is the Day of Atonement. Actually and technically in Hebrew, it is “atonements,” Yom Kippurim, because the priest would make atonements on multiple fronts.

He would sprinkle blood on the ark of the covenant and on the path on the way getting there. It is all from the sacrificial goat. He would also lay his hands on the azazel, which is the other goat. He would lay his hands on it and he would confess the sins of Israel.

So the sins of Israel as a body, as a group, would be laid upon the goat, and the goat would be set free into the wilderness.

Some people believe that that goat represents Satan. Other people believe that the goat is a representation of the Messiah who now is away from us. Of course, we will be with him again.

I don’t know. I have a hard time believing it would be Satan because a goat cannot bear our sins. We are responsible for our own sins. Satan can’t bear it for us. That was Yahushua’s job to bear our iniquities. Some of these mysteries will be more so unraveled when the Messiah returns.

One thing we know is that Yahushua did enter the Holy of Holies for us. It is with His own blood He entered. With that we are redeemed.

Actually, the Day of Atonement was the time when the captives were set free. The blast of the ram’s horn, the blast of the trumpet, would mark the Jubilee year. All debts would be cancelled. All the slaves would be set free.

We will be, after the Messiah returns, granted access to the throne room. We will no longer be forced to serve this world or be a part of serving this world. We will focus then on our freedom in Messiah and our access to the Holy of Holies.

It says we will sit at the right hand of Messiah. Yahushua promised those who overcome “will sit at My right hand.”

We have gone over many of these Scriptures in previous broadcasts, but if you missed that, please take a gander at the last few archives, and you can watch videos on those.

Anyway, for those of you who, hopefully, paid attention to the New Moon on the 18th (or the night of the 17th, actually, when it started), that particular evening my family and I… actually, my wife was not feeling real well, but she is doing better now. Thank you for your prayers. She stayed home.

I took the children and we went down to the park there in Ava. Even though we had cloud cover all day, it was overcast the entire day, we prayed, and Yahweh opened up the clouds of heaven for us so that we could see the New Moon on the night of the 17th. HalleluYah for that!

We observed the Feast of Trumpets, and we did a lot of shofar blasts that day. The girls really got into it (my daughters). They are 7 and 8. They really got into it and had a great time. That was really awesome. That was, again, on the 18th, there.

This week, we know on the 27th (which technically will start on the evening, here, of the 26th, when it gets dark), we will begin fasting for Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonements. Yom Kippurim.

Yahushua, we know, enters that throne room. If it wasn’t for His atoning blood, we would come into the throne room and we would defile the holy place in the Holy of Holies in the heavens. Yahushua’s blood atones the heavenly tabernacle, the throne room where Yahweh resides, so that when we enter in that throne room, we will not defile it.

We will be righteous. It is His life that makes us righteous, His blood, because life is in the blood. HalleluYah!

So on this Day of Atonement, here (the evening of the 26th), we are going to afflict our souls, as the Scriptures command, until sundown on the 27th. So, it is evening to evening. That means to fast. This is actually mentioned in Leviticus chapter 23. It says:

Leviticus 23:27 – Also the tenth [day] of this seventh month [shall be] the Day of Atonement. It shall be a holy convocation for you; you shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire to YAHWEH.

We talked about why that is fasting in earlier broadcasts.

Leviticus 23:28 – And you shall do no work on that same day, for it [is] the Day of Atonement, to make atonement for you before YAHWEH your Elohim.

There was actually twenty-seven different things that the High Priest would do to make the necessary atonement for the people, all of them representing Yahushua. We don’t have time to go over those things. We have covered some of those things already.

If you are interested in seeing what those twenty-seven things are, if you go to eliyah.com/dayofatonement.html, we go into that. A little exegesis there on that.

One thing to remember with this observance is that it is a solemn one. I know the Jews call these ten days, between the Feast of Trumpets and the Day of Atonement, the “Days of Awe.” It is a time of reflecting and being prepared for this Day of Atonement, which they regard to be the holiest day of the year.

It doesn’t really say it is the holiest day of the year in the Scriptures, but it is something that we want to observe. It is a day of rest. It says:

Leviticus 23:29 – For any person who is not afflicted [in soul] on that same day shall be cut off from his people.

30 – And any person who does any work on that same day, that person I will destroy from among his people.

31 – You shall do no manner of work; [it shall be] a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.

So, we do not want to be working on that day, do we? Especially if we know we are supposed to observe it, but we refuse. It is one thing to claim ignorance, but we are called to be a repentant people. When we are convicted of something, we want to turn away from the wrong that we are doing.

So this Day of Atonement is a memorial to what the Messiah has done and will do for us when we meet Him in the air. He grants us access to the Holy place by His blood. HalleluYah for that!

So it is a good time to really just focus and contemplate on our own ways and seek to change the things that we are not walking in the complete will of Elohim, any areas of our heart that need to be cleansed. So, we ask ourselves what areas of our lives are we falling short.

And this is the collective sins of the Body of the Messiah, just as the High Priest would confess the sins of Israel. We are Israel through the Messiah. We are Israel. We are the seed of Abraham.

Some issues we see in the Body of the Messiah today are strife between brethren; failures in the home as fathers, mothers, wives, husbands; confusion over festivals. We have some worldliness and immodesty in attitudes and in the way we dress.

There seems to be a lack of zeal sometimes, a lack of love, toward our Christian friends and brothers; a failure to help the poor; some self-centeredness going on with all these riches that we have that are just a stumbling block for us, the spirit of the world.

What I want to do coming up on the night when we begin fasting, for all of us who would be interested in doing this, on this night of the 26th, right here, at 9:00 Eastern time/8:00 Central, just for those on the West Coast, we are going to do a 9:00 meeting here.

We are going to do a broadcast, and the broadcast will basically consist of everyone who is able to, please call in on the conference call phone number. Then we will all gather for a time of prayer together. We have done this the last couple of years.

All of us can connect with each other, talk with each other (listeners of the broadcast hear eachother’s voice, mainly in prayer), petition Yahweh for the forgiveness of sin, and repent as a Body of Messiah and in any areas where we see trouble spots among us. I will lead the initial prayer, and then those who want to add something could do so, also.

I think Yahweh would be pleased with that kind of repentance.

We want to get started on today’s study topic, which is related to this. I have one more Scripture I want to cover, here:

Leviticus 23:32 – It [shall be] to you a sabbath of [solemn] rest, and you shall afflict your souls; on the ninth [day] of the month at evening, from evening to evening, you shall celebrate your sabbath.

So, it is the 27th of September when it is evening time. Because it is on the 10th day of the month, evening to evening (days begin at evening), you shall celebrate your Sabbath. That goes for any Sabbath.

He explains to them when the time begins so that they don’t come in from working outside all day and sit down to have their meal, when it is actually the Day of Atonement, which would have begun already.

We do want to talk today about some areas of repentance, particularly: The Dangers of a Counterfeit Repentance.

You see, there is repentance, and then there is sort of this counterfeit repentance. It looks like repentance. Someone might be bowing down their heads, kneeling before the King, but their repentance is not genuine. Their repentance is not real repentance.

We don’t want to be among those who are guilty of a counterfeit repentance. There is a host of people who would be among us who actually are pretenders, who look like they are repenting, but there is no fruit of that.

We want Yahweh’s Word to go from His mouth to our hearts, which then produces some action to it. That is what we want.

We know that repentance actually is very important, and there is this fake repentance that is very common. In fact, it says in Psalm 78, verse 34 (he is talking about the children of Israel when they came into the land that Yahweh had promised them and how He judged them):

Psalms 78:34 – When He slew them, then they sought Him; And they returned and sought earnestly for Elohim.

35 – Then they remembered that Elohim [was] their rock, And the Most High Elohim their Redeemer.

36 – Nevertheless they flattered Him with their mouth, And they lied to Him with their tongue;

Psalms 78:37 – For their heart was not steadfast with Him, Nor were they faithful in His covenant.

This is kind of an interesting Scripture, here. It says, “They flattered Him.” Oh, they talked about how great He was, but they were lying. Why? Because their heart was not steadfast with Him, and it says, “They were not faithful in His covenant.”

So our repentance can be nothing more than just mere flattery and lies if our repentance does not produce a certain amount of steadfastness and faithfulness to Him.

So we want to make sure we are not one of these. We know that repentance is very important when John the Baptist was talking to those who flattered Yahweh with their lips, but their heart was not really with them. John the Baptist said to them (this was specifically the Pharisees) in Luke 3, chapter 7:

Luke 3:7 – Then he said to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him, Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

8 – Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, `We have Abraham as [our] father.’ For I say to you that Elohim is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.

He was talking about how their repentance was not really genuine. He tells them they need to “bear fruits worthy of repentance.” And they were taking confidence not in the mercies of Yahweh, but they were taking confidence in the fact that they were sons of Abraham.

Luke 3:9 – And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

So they were not bearing the fruits. Yahushua says, “By their fruits you shall know them.” By their fruits.

So these men were taking confidence in flesh, that they were sons of Abraham. So they assumed that since they were descendants of Abraham and were circumcised, therefore they would be saved by the mere fact that they were just descendants of Abraham. But Peter told the descendants of Abraham:

Acts 2:38 – Then Peter said to them, Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Yahushua Messiah for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Repentance is necessary for salvation. We all talk about, “Oh, we are saved by the blood of the Lamb.” “We are saved by Yahushua the Messiah.” “He is the one who saves us.”

But He won’t save us unless we repent. He will not. He’s not passing out salvation like candy. We have to do something in response. We have to receive Him first of all. And we also need true repentance.

Repentance is very, very salvational. In fact, it is extremely important for salvation. Without it, you can forget about grace. There will be no grace without repentance.

In fact, in Matthew 18, verse 15, this is the point where we can decide whether or not someone is even to be among us.

Mat 18:15 – Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother.

16 – But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that`by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.’

17 – And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector.

(Church or congregation.) So at that point He is not really acting as a believer because repentance is THE important attribute. The bearing of fruit is THE important attribute when it comes to whether or not a person is really a believer.

Yahushua spoke a parable:

Luke 13:6 – He also spoke this parable: A certain [man] had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none.

7 – Then he said to the keeper of his vineyard, `Look, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none. Cut it down; why does it use up the ground?’

Luke 13:8 – But he answered and said to him, `Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize [it].

9 – `And if it bears fruit, [well]. But if not, after that you can cut it down.’

So those who are not bearing fruit are given a little measure of grace from Yahweh to see if He can get us to bear fruit. But if we can’t, if we are not really bearing any fruit, then we will be cut out from the Body of the Messiah.

So, on this Day of Atonement, we have to ask ourselves, “What kind of fig tree are we?” What kind of fig tree do we want to be? Are we just taking up the ground or are we bearing fruit? That is an important question for me to ask myself and for you to ask yourselves, and then bearing fruits worthy of repentance.

You know, not all people who appear to repent actually are accepted by Yahweh. Not all who go to the so called alter are really accepted by Him.

Consider the example of Esau. In Hebrew 12, verse 14, it says:

Hebrews 12:14 – Pursue peace with all [people], and holiness, without which no one will see YAHWEH:

15 – looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of Elohim; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled;

It is possible to fall short of His grace. Some people are just bitter. They are bitter at everyone. They are bitter at Yahweh, so they won’t really yield their hearts toward Him. They are bitter at other people in their life. He says:

Hebrews 12:16 – lest there [be] any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright.

See, Esau did not value the blessing of Yahweh. And so, his mindset was, “If I die, what good would the birthright be to me?” He didn’t think about his children. He didn’t think about having the heritage that Yahweh would honor. And so, he was just thinking about himself. And so, it says:

Hebrews 12:17 – For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears.

That is very interesting. He looked for repentance. He sought for it, but he couldn’t find it. He found no place for it, though he looked for it. Kind of a scary thing to think about.

He sought it diligently with tears. And he could not find repentance. Why? Why was Esau rejected so badly? It is important. Let’s take a look at Esau.

Genesis 27:30 – Now it happened, as soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had scarcely gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting.

31 – He also had made savory food, and brought it to his father, and said to his father, Let my father arise and eat of his son’s game, that your soul may bless me.

32 – And his father Isaac said to him, Who [are] you? So he said, I [am] your son, your firstborn, Esau.

Genesis 27:33 – Then Isaac trembled exceedingly, and said, Who? Where [is] the one who hunted game and brought [it] to me? I ate all [of it] before you came, and I have blessed him — [and] indeed he shall be blessed.

34 – When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with an exceedingly great and bitter cry, and said to his father, Bless me — me also, O my father!

35 – But he said, Your brother came with deceit and has taken away your blessing.

Interesting.

Genesis 27:36 – And [Esau] said, Is he not rightly named Jacob? For he has supplanted me these two times. He took away my birthright, and now look, he has taken away my blessing! And he said, Have you not reserved a blessing for me?

37 – Then Isaac answered and said to Esau, Indeed I have made him your master, and all his brethren I have given to him as servants; with grain and wine I have sustained him. What shall I do now for you, my son?

Genesis 27:38 – And Esau said to his father, Have you only one blessing, my father? Bless me — me also, O my father! And Esau lifted up his voice and wept.

You know, we read in Romans 9, verse 13:

Romans 9:13 – As it is written, Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.

14 – What shall we say then? [Is there] unrighteousness with Elohim? Certainly not!

15 – For He says to Moses, I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.

Romans 9:16 – So then [it is] not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of Elohim who shows mercy.

These are kind of scary verses. I mean, how do we have assurance of salvation when it is just of Elohim whom He chooses to have mercy? He chose to have hatred for Esau. Can we look and can we understand why He had such a dislike for Esau?

If you examine the book of Genesis, you will find that Esau didn’t value the blessing of Yahweh, number one. He said, “What good will this blessing be to me if I die?” And number two, he didn’t value his children, obviously. Number two, he was taking foreign women that were not really believers.

They were the daughters of Heth that grieved his parents. They were heathen woman. So his children were going to be unbelievers. He seemed to be kind of fleshly minded because when you read later about Esau, after he got blessed with the riches and everything, he was satisfied. He seemed to accept it.

I think Jacob saw that, and that is why when he approached Esau, he handed him gifts– “Here, you can have all this.” “Take all this.” “Take everything.” And Esau was saying, “Well, I have enough. I have enough.”

So Jacob understood there was something about the heart of Esau that was not spiritually minded. It was not heavenly focused. It was “this world” minded, fleshly focused. So, the choices he was making was reflecting that. And some of the comments Esau was making were reflecting that.

And so, because Esau did not value the blessing and the heritage of Yahweh, he was rejected.

Now, you will notice in Scripture, it seems to be a pattern that the firstborn does not end up getting the blessing. We see that with Jacob and Esau. The firstborn did not get the blessing. And even Jacob’s children. It was Joseph who got the blessing. And of David’s children, it was Solomon who was chosen.

That is just a recurring pattern and maybe a fulfillment of the fact that Adam, being the firstborn of Yahweh, the one who was the original son of Elohim, did not get the blessing. It was the second Adam who got the blessing. So, it seems to be a recurring pattern throughout the Scriptures.

Another person whose repentance was not accepted was King Saul.

1Samuel 15:24 – Then Saul said to Samuel, I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of YAHWEH and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice.

25 – Now therefore, please pardon my sin, and return with me, that I may worship YAHWEH.

26 – But Samuel said to Saul, I will not return with you, for you have rejected the word of YAHWEH, and YAHWEH has rejected you from being king over Israel.

1Samuel 15:27 – And as Samuel turned around to go away, [Saul] seized the edge of his robe, and it tore.

28 – So Samuel said to him, YAHWEH has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today, and has given it to a neighbor of yours, [who is] better than you.

1Samuel 15:29 – And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor relent. For He [is] not a man, that He should relent.

30 – Then he said, I have sinned; [yet] honor me now, please, before the elders of my people and before Israel, and return with me, that I may worship YAHWEH your Elohim.

31 – So Samuel turned back after Saul, and Saul worshiped YAHWEH.

Now what I want you to notice here is, Saul acted like he had repented. He said, “I have sinned.” He acknowledged, he accepted, his sin. But look what he says– “Yet, honor me now, please, before the elders of my people and before Israel.” He wanted the honor that came from man. And that was the whole reason he made the mistake to begin with.

We read in 1 Samuel 15, verse 2, it says:

1Samuel 15:2 – Thus says YAHWEH of hosts: `I will punish Amalek [for] what he did to Israel, how he ambushed him on the way when he came up from Egypt.

3 – `Now go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them. But kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’

4 – So Saul gathered the people together and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand foot soldiers and ten thousand men of Judah.

1Samuel 15:7 – And Saul attacked the Amalekites, from Havilah all the way to Shur, which is east of Egypt.

8 – He also took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.

9 – But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all [that was] good, and were unwilling to utterly destroy them. But everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed.

1Samuel 15:10 – Now the word of YAHWEH came to Samuel, saying,

11 – I greatly regret that I have set up Saul [as] king, for he has turned back from following Me, and has not performed My commandments. And it grieved Samuel, and he cried out to YAHWEH all night.

12 – So when Samuel rose early in the morning to meet Saul, it was told Samuel, saying, Saul went to Carmel, and indeed, he set up a monument for himself; and he has gone on around, passed by, and gone down to Gilgal.

He set up a monument for himself. He was getting the glory here. Wasn’t it Yahweh who enabled him to do the things he was doing? Absolutely!

You know, brothers, it seems like a minor infraction in the eyes of some of us. It might seem like a minor infraction that Saul, okay, didn’t actually kill all the best of the animals, and he kept the king alive. And he was going to sacrifice those animals to Yahweh. You see, there is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is death.

But there were other things going on here– Saul setting up a monument for himself, seeking the honor that comes from men, rather than the praise that comes from Elohim.

There are some people who are going to hear some of the things that we have to share regarding the Hebraic Roots, for instance, the Sabbath command, and they won’t keep the command as it is written. Yet, they will do like Saul here. “I have performed the commandment of Yahweh.” No, you haven’t.

“Oh well, Yahweh, He is not such a stickler now-a-days.” “You know, He is the New Testament. He is all about grace.” Now wait a minute. Partial obedience is actually disobedience. Partial obedience is disobedience. And what Saul did here was partial obedience.

We think that we can get away with partial obedience, and it is often for the same reason that people want to partially obey Yahweh today. We are going to find out the reason why he partially obeyed Yahweh.

1Samuel 15:15 – And Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites; for the people spared the best of the sheep and the oxen, to sacrifice to YAHWEH your Elohim; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.

1Samuel 15:16 – Then Samuel said to Saul, Be quiet! And I will tell you what YAHWEH said to me last night. And he said to him, Speak on.

17 – So Samuel said, When you [were] little in your own eyes, [were] you not head of the tribes of Israel? And did not YAHWEH anoint you king over Israel?

See, now he has gotten pride.

1Samuel 15:18 – Now YAHWEH sent you on a mission, and said, `Go, and utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.’

19 – Why then did you not obey the voice of YAHWEH? Why did you swoop down on the spoil, and do evil in the sight of YAHWEH?

1Samuel 15:20 – And Saul said to Samuel, But I have obeyed the voice of YAHWEH, and gone on the mission on which YAHWEH sent me, and brought back Agag king of Amalek; I have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.

“But I have obeyed the voice of Yahweh.” Isn’t this what we often hear today? “Oh, yeah, the Messiah is my Sabbath,” or “I keep the Sabbath on Sunday.”

1Samuel 15:21 – But the people took of the plunder, sheep and oxen, the best of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice to YAHWEH your Elohim in Gilgal.

“They” did it. He decided he would compromise.

1Samuel 15:22 – Then Samuel said: Has YAHWEH [as great] delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, As in obeying the voice of YAHWEH? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, [And] to heed than the fat of rams.

You see, brothers, Yahushua is our sacrifice, but it is better to obey. It is better to obey and not need the sacrifice, isn’t it?

1Samuel 15:23 – For rebellion [is as] the sin of witchcraft, And stubbornness [is as] iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of YAHWEH, He also has rejected you from [being] king.

He is referring to Saul, here, as a rebel. Saul is being stubborn about acknowledging his wrong.

So this is an act of rebellion to just partially obey the voice of Yahweh. Why was Saul partially obeying? Because he feared the people and obeyed their voice. He did what they wanted, rather than what he should have been doing in telling them, “No, we have to do it right.”

And there are going to be (I’m not going to point fingers), but there will be ministers of the Word who will not tell the people to obey the Sabbath as written because they fear the people and obey their voice. They want their Sunday church.

I am not trying to say that everyone who goes to church on Sunday is going to be going to the lake of fire, or anything like that. But when approached with the understanding of the true Sabbath and convicted in the heart to do it, they then choose to obey the people rather than obey the voice of Yahweh, that is bad news.

That is an Esau-kind of lifestyle, where our own interests are the main focus rather than the interest of Elohim.

That is bad news. Now compare Saul.

David’s sin was maybe worse. He killed a man. He committed adultery. Took advantage of the people, his position. But David’s repentance was accepted by Yahweh because his repentance consisted of words like these in Psalm 51:

2 – Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin.

3 – For I acknowledge my transgressions, And my sin [is] always before me.

He acknowledged it.

Psalms 51:4 – Against You, You only, have I sinned, And done [this] evil in Your sight — That You may be found just when You speak, [And] blameless when You judge.

Psalms 51:10 – Create in me a clean heart, O Elohim, And renew a steadfast spirit within me.

11 – Do not cast me away from Your presence, And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.

David was, by and large, far more concerned with his relationship with his heavenly Father being compromised through his sin than he was about what the people thought about him.

And so, if we are just coming to Yahweh with Messiah’s sacrifice, but we are not coming to Him with genuine repentance from the heart, then we are missing it. We are missing it.

Another example of true repentance was the repentance of the prodigal son.

I should mention, too, David understood:

Psalms 51:16 – For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give [it]; You do not delight in burnt offering.

17 – The sacrifices of Elohim [are] a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart — These, O Elohim, You will not despise.

So, he wasn’t like Saul, “Let’s go take these sacrifices. That will make up for our sin.” He understood to obey is better than sacrifice. We need to get our heart right first.

Another example of repentance that was accepted, Yahushua pointed out:

Luke 15:11 – Then He said: A certain man had two sons.

12 – And the younger of them said to [his] father, `Father, give me the portion of goods that falls [to me].’ So he divided to them [his] livelihood.

Here is the “give me” attitude. Give me, give me, give me. He wants to go and waste his possessions with prodigal living.

Luke 15:13 – And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living.

Luke 15:14 – But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want.

15 – Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.

16 – And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him [anything].

Luke 15:17 – But when he came to himself, he said, `How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!

18 – `I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you,

19 – and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.’

Now his attitude is, “Make me like one of your hired servants.” It is not “give me, give me, give me.” He wants to be a true servant of his father. And because of that:

Luke 15:20 – And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.

21 – And the son said to him, `Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

Humbleness and humility.

Luke 15:22 – But the father said to his servants, `Bring out the best robe and put [it] on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on [his] feet.

23 – `And bring the fatted calf here and kill [it], and let us eat and be merry;

24 – `for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ And they began to be merry.

That is genuine repentance. Humility. Acknowledging that we are not worthy to even be called His servants or to be called His children.

So, he would take anything he could get. And that needs to be our attitude. Sometimes we run into circumstances and difficulties and we have challenges as believers.

But you know what? If the only thing Yahweh ever did for us was grant us salvation, put that robe of righteousness on us and give us the joy of salvation, that would be far enough. That would be enough, wouldn’t it?

Now I want to look into the Torah, also, in Genesis 37:26, where Judah was a betrayer of his brother, Joseph. They did not like Joseph getting all the attention from his father.

Genesis 37:26 – So Judah said to his brothers, What profit [is there] if we kill our brother and conceal his blood?

He didn’t want to kill him.

Genesis 37:27 – Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he [is] our brother [and] our flesh. And his brothers listened.

28 – Then Midianite traders passed by; so [the brothers] pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty [shekels] of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt.

As a result of what happened (a little later in Genesis 38), we see that Judah, the guilt of what he suggested, was starting to affect him. We see, here, in Genesis chapter 38, it says:

Genesis 38:1 – It came to pass at that time that Judah departed from his brothers, and visited a certain Adullamite whose name [was] Hirah.

So he left the family. Hirah is a person from the land.

Genesis 38:2 – And Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name [was] Shua, and he married her and went in to her.

So he married a Canaanite woman, a heathen.

Genesis 38:3 – So she conceived and bore a son, and he called his name Er.

Genesis 38:4 – She conceived again and bore a son, and she called his name Onan.

5 – And she conceived yet again and bore a son, and called his name Shelah. He was at Chezib when she bore him.

6 – Then Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, and her name [was] Tamar.

Genesis 38:7 – But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of YAHWEH, and YAHWEH killed him.

Er was wicked in the sight of Yahweh. I guess from marrying the Canaanite woman.

Genesis 38:8 – And Judah said to Onan, Go in to your brother’s wife and marry her, and raise up an heir to your brother.

9 – But Onan knew that the heir would not be his; and it came to pass, when he went in to his brother’s wife, that he emitted on the ground, lest he should give an heir to his brother.

10 – And the thing which he did displeased YAHWEH; therefore He killed him also.

So both of his sons are killed by Yahweh. That is serious judgment. That is serious judgment. Both of his sons were killed by Yahweh because the sons were wicked. He had married Shua, the daughter of a Canaanite.

And so, he was facing the heavy hand of Yahweh’s judgment on his life. So, then he didn’t get married again. And we all know what happened with Tamar.

Anyway, when Joseph went over to the land of Egypt and became governor, or ruler, over the land of Egypt and his 12 brothers came, they did not know who he was. I hope you know the story already. I presume you do.

They did not know who he was. They thought he was just some ruler in Egypt. So, Joseph tested them and took away one of the sons. They came back together, and he was ready to take Benjamin from them permanently.

But then, Judah, the one who had suggested that they sell Joseph into the hands of the Ishmaelites, said:

Genesis 44:18 – Then Judah came near to him and said: O my lord, please let your servant speak a word in my lord’s hearing, and do not let your anger burn against your servant; for you [are] even like Pharaoh.

19 – My lord asked his servants, saying, `Have you a father or a brother?’

Genesis 44:20 – And we said to my lord, `We have a father, an old man, and a child of [his] old age, [who is] young; his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother’s children, and his father loves him.’

21 – Then you said to your servants, `Bring him down to me, that I may set my eyes on him.’

22 – And we said to my lord, `The lad cannot leave his father, for [if] he should leave his father, [his father] would die.’

Genesis 44:23 – But you said to your servants, `Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you shall see my face no more.’

24 – So it was, when we went up to your servant my father, that we told him the words of my lord.

25 – And our father said, `Go back [and] buy us a little food.’

Genesis 44:26 – But we said, `We cannot go down; if our youngest brother is with us, then we will go down; for we may not see the man’s face unless our youngest brother [is] with us.’

27 – Then your servant my father said to us, `You know that my wife bore me two sons;

28 – `and the one went out from me, and I said, Surely he is torn to pieces; and I have not seen him since.

Genesis 44:29 – `But if you take this one also from me, and calamity befalls him, you shall bring down my gray hair with sorrow to the grave.’

30 – Now therefore, when I come to your servant my father, and the lad [is] not with us, since his life is bound up in the lad’s life,

Genesis 44:31 – it will happen, when he sees that the lad [is] not [with us], that he will die. So your servants will bring down the gray hair of your servant our father with sorrow to the grave.

32 – For your servant became surety for the lad to my father, saying, `If I do not bring him [back] to you, then I shall bear the blame before my father forever.’

33 – Now therefore, please let your servant remain instead of the lad as a slave to my lord, and let the lad go up with his brothers.

That is Judah. So, there is repentance. He was willing to take the place of Benjamin and become the slave.

Genesis 44:34 – For how shall I go up to my father if the lad [is] not with me, lest perhaps I see the evil that would come upon my father?

See, he began now to have compassion on his father, Jacob, for the loss of Joseph. Whereas when he suggested trading Joseph to the slave group, he wasn’t thinking about his father, the way his father would be hurt. He was thinking about himself. So, here is repentance.

And it was this, these words, that compelled Joseph. He couldn’t take it anymore. He understood now that Judah was willing to take the place that, basically, he thought Joseph was in, which is a place of slavery, in order to save his brother from being in that same condition.

So his repentance was evident by his actions. By the fruit. He was bearing the fruits of repentance. And with this, Joseph could not restrain himself.

Genesis 45:1 – Then Joseph could not restrain himself before all those who stood by him, and he cried out, Make everyone go out from me! So no one stood with him while Joseph made himself known to his brothers.

You know, brothers and sisters, it is when Judah, it is when the Jewish people, begin to realize what they have done and they start to have compassion on the heavenly Father for their rejection of HIS favorite Son, whom they valued at thirty pieces of silver, that Yahweh will receive them as they mourn for the one they pierced.

And that is a national repentance I long to see. We know it is predicted that they will look upon Him whom they pierced, and they will mourn.

And so, there is a little picture going on here of Judah, after having rejected the favorite son and having sent him away into slavery. We know that Judas Iscariot sold the Messiah for thirty pieces of silvers and delivered Him over to the Gentiles and that Joseph was second-in-command, became highly exalted.

Even the Messiah today is highly exalted and is Second-in-Command to which Yahweh holds the Throne. Joseph was righteous. There is no mention of sin on the part of Joseph, as far as I can think of.

There are some similarities going on here, so we are waiting for that mourning to take place– that national mourning to take place.

There are some examples in Scripture on national repentance. There is Josiah.

2Kings 22:16 – Thus says YAHWEH: `Behold, I will bring calamity on this place and on its inhabitants — all the words of the book which the king of Judah has read —

They had read to him the Book of the Law.

2Kings 22:17 – `because they have forsaken Me and burned incense to other gods, that they might provoke Me to anger with all the works of their hands. Therefore My wrath shall be aroused against this place and shall not be quenched.”

2Kings 22:18 – But as for the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of YAHWEH, in this manner you shall speak to him, `Thus says YAHWEH Elohim of Israel: [Concerning] the words which you have heard —

19 – because your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself before YAHWEH when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they would become a desolation and a curse, and you tore your clothes and wept before Me, I also have heard [you], says YAHWEH.

See, that is what He is looking for– the tender heart. That is what He is looking for. He is looking at the tender heart. True humility, not flattery, but a true repentance from the heart.

Just as Judah was repenting. Just as David was repenting. Not as Esau was repenting. Not as Saul was repenting. But a tender heart and humility before our Elohim.

He (Josiah, the King of Judah) believed those words that Yahweh had spoken. He believed it.

2Kings 22:20 – Surely, therefore, I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace; and your eyes shall not see all the calamity which I will bring on this place.’ So they brought back word to the king.

So, it was not a counterfeit repentance. Unlike Saul. Unlike Esau. It was genuine. And his actions reveal the condition of his heart. If you continue to read, he made major reforms. And then, they had a Feast!

So that is an example of national repentance. Another example is in the book of Jonah:

Jonah 3:5 – So the people of Nineveh believed Elohim, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them.

Jonah had told them about the impending judgment.

Jonah 3:6 – Then word came to the king of Nineveh; and he arose from his throne and laid aside his robe, covered [himself] with sackcloth and sat in ashes.

Jonah 3:7 – And he caused [it] to be proclaimed and published throughout Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; do not let them eat, or drink water.

Complete, total fast. That is our Day-of-Atonement-kind of repentance, isn’t it?

Jonah 3:8 – But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily to Elohim; yes, let every one turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands.

Jonah 3:9 – Who can tell [if] Elohim will turn and relent, and turn away from His fierce anger, so that we may not perish?

10 – Then Elohim saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and Elohim relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it.

So, an example of genuine repentance, even a heathen nation that barely even knows who Yahweh really is. Just barely knows. And they changed direction. And because they changed direction, Yahweh relented.

It is not that He changed His mind about sin, but He saw their works. And because Yahweh saw their fruits of repentance, He turned away from the disaster, which He proclaimed. The same thing He did to Josiah. So, Yahweh wants to see works attached to our repentance.

But He can see the inner workings of our minds. He knows whether or not we truly desire to walk in His ways or not. Even in that moment when we are on our face, He knows already. And the fruits that come out of that will be very evident.

Now, Luke 18, verse 10, we see two examples of men who are praying. One is rejected. The other is accepted.

Luke 18:10 – Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.

11 – The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, `Elohim, I thank You that I am not like other men — extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector.

Huh! He is praying “thus with himself.” Right off the bat, there is the pride.

Luke 18:12 – `I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’

So, he comes to Yahweh bragging on himself.

Luke 18:13 – And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise [his] eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, `Elohim, be merciful to me a sinner!’

14 – I tell you, this man went down to his house justified [rather] than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.

That word “justified” means “to be declared righteous.” So we come to Yahweh in humility, not bragging on our works and our repentance. Even if we have committed awful sins, as this tax collector would have done, we can receive forgiveness if we humble ourselves.

It was the one who despised himself, hitting himself in the chest, crying out to Yahweh to be merciful to him, a sinner.

Job’s example of repentance:

Job 42:5 – I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, But now my eye sees You.

6 – Therefore I abhor [myself], And repent in dust and ashes.

It is those who cry out for mercy and understand how greatly it’s needed. It is those who truly care that they have sinned in the eyes of Yahweh, confessing their wrongs and turning away. It is those who despise themselves and their deeds, as Job abhorred himself, as a publican can beat himself in the chest before Yahweh.

They are the ones who are declared righteous because the Messiah’s blood is able to cover their sins. And so, those of us who have received the Messiah and yet we don’t walk out our repentance:

Hebrews 10:29 – Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of Elohim underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?

We cannot insult the Spirit of grace. Our repentance needs to be genuine, not counterfeit.

2 Corinthians 7:8 talks about the sorrow of the world, just like the sorrow of Esau. When Paul wrote to the Corinthians, they were sorry.

2Corinthians 7:8 – For even if I made you sorry with my letter, I do not regret it; though I did regret it. For I perceive that the same epistle made you sorry, though only for a while.

9 – Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing.

So there is a sorrow of the world, and then there is a sorrow that is led to repentance to a change.

2Corinthians 7:10 – For godly sorrow produces repentance [leading] to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.

There are a lot of people out there, brothers, who are sorry for their sins, but they are not repenting of them.

So we see in these verses a picture of a difference between counterfeit repentance and genuine repentance. Which fig tree are we? Only we can answer that for ourselves.

We know He wants us to have a humble heart, to cry out for mercy, a willingness to change, a decision that the sin will be committed no more, a change in direction.

That doesn’t mean that we are instantly going to be perfected or that the minute we get on our face before Yahweh that we will never sin again, ever again, that it will never happen ever again. No.

If you claim that, if you claim you are sinless after that, you are not hearing the voice of Elohim. The voice of Elohim says in 1 John 1:8:

1John 1:8 – If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

9 – If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us [our] sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

To “confess” means “to agree with.” We acknowledge it. With that confession out of our repentant heart, which should already be present, we turn away from those things.

So no matter where we are in our walk, no matter how far Yahweh may take us in our understanding His will for our lives, there will always be something new about His will that we didn’t realize before that we need to change about ourselves.

We have this evil inclination in us. We didn’t even realize the ugliness that is in our hearts and how much grace we really do need. So, if we want mercy upon us:

Isaiah 55:7 – Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to YAHWEH, And He will have mercy on him; And to our Elohim, For He will abundantly pardon.

That is a promise. He will have mercy He says. He will have mercy on the one who forsakes his way and forsakes the unrighteous thoughts. That is a promise.

And I promise you this, He also wants to help you overcome. He wants to strengthen those legs that hang down. He wants you to be strong in Him. And so, we can call upon Him and receive help– help to be an overcomer.

There are very few things that can demonstrate more of a heart of repentance than, “Yahweh, help me to do Your will. Show us Your will. Show us Your way. And strengthen me to do it. I want to do it. Help me to do it.”

And some of you may feel like you are on a treadmill, and you can’t seem to get ahead. But as long as those legs are moving on that treadmill– I don’t care if you are standing still, I don’t care if you can’t keep up with the treadmill– if those legs are moving, those are legs of repentance.

The thing you do not want to do is jump off the treadmill and lay there like a sow, after having been washed, wallow in the mire.

So we have awesome promises to those who are willing to put Yahweh first, to those who are willing to walk out a repentance. And when I say “repentance,” we are going to learn as we grow and as we do. And as we seek the will of Elohim, we are going to learn more about what that will is.

One of the things that we have learned as believers in the Hebraic Roots is that all unrighteousness is sin.

1John 5:17 – All unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin not [leading] to death.

We have also learned:

1John 3:4 – Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.

That means when the Law says, “Do this,” and we say, “No,” and we don’t do it, then we are walking in transgression. We are walking in sin.

So we can’t just be people who reject the Word of Elohim. We need to be a people who receive the Word of Elohim and let it make the transformation in our hearts.

And there are some people who do not fully grasp that sin is the transgression of the Law. But we do. If you grasp this, then we need to look into His Law, look into the commandments and see where we are sinning. Find out the places where we are sinning.

And when we find out those places that we are sinning, then we, from our hearts, turn away from those sins.

And you know, there is something else that we have to do as recipients of the grace of Elohim. Something else is very important that we do. That is we show mercy to others.

Some people think, “Well, there is the Law, and then there is mercy over here, and they are fighting against eachother.” But the reality is that the Law IS about mercy. In fact, one of the weightier things in the Law is the mercy of Elohim. In Matthew 23:23, Yahushua said:

Matthew 23:23 – Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier [matters] of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.

What are the weightier matters of the Law? Justice, mercy and faith. Go ahead and pay your tithe of mint and anise and cummin, but don’t neglect the weightier matters. He says these you ought to have done without leaving the others undone.

A lot of people point out, “Well, forget about the others.” No, He says do the others, also. But that is not the weightier matters of the Law. Justice, mercy and faith are the weightier matters.

In fact, in the Ten Commandments, Yahweh talks about Him showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Him and keep His commandments, those who are walking out repentance.

But there are others who have a counterfeit repentance.

Isaiah 26:10 – Let grace be shown to the wicked, [Yet] he will not learn righteousness; In the land of uprightness he will deal unjustly, And will not behold the majesty of YAHWEH.

There are some people, you give them grace, you give them grace, you give then grace. It doesn’t matter. They will not learn righteousness. They don’t want righteousness, and so they don’t learn it. They don’t understand that there is righteousness in the Law. The Law is just and holy and good.

Instead, they just rely on the grace part of it, but they will not learn righteousness. All the while, repentance is required from our hearts to even receive that grace to begin with.

Now, I am not saying, brothers, that those who do not yet recognize that sin is the transgression of the Law that they are goners, they are history, they are not saved, because they might be blinded to something. Even as I could be blinded to something. Even as you could be blinded to something. They are blinded to something.

We are all really in the same boat if you think about it. We may not understand the fullness of the will of Elohim. I harp on this because there is a major, major error, a major lie that has been handed down to us by our fathers. A major lie is denominationalism. “Unless you do like I do, you are not saved.”

That is not where Yahweh is at. He is all about the heart. In fact, Yahushua says, as I have shared before:

John 9:40 – Then [some] of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these words, and said to Him, Are we blind also?

41 – Yahushua said to them, If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, `We see.’ Therefore your sin remains.

If you really were blind, you would have no sin. But now you say, “We see.” That is denominations. They say, “We see.” “We see. Come to us.” Danger! Danger! Danger!

That is pride: “We are the seeing ones.” So, for me, brothers, I am not going to claim I see everything. There are some things I may not see.

So, we do not want to be among those who think they see everything, and yet they don’t. See, Yahweh has more to teach us individually, even about our own hearts, that we might not see right now.

But we learn through Scripture that the true people of Elohim have both repentance and the faith of Messiah. And repentance and the faith of Messiah is evident in Revelation 14:12.

Revelation 14:12 – Here is the patience of the saints; here [are] those who keep the commandments of Elohim and the faith of Yahushua.

You know, we find two religions in this verse, I like to say. There are two religions. Two faiths. There is Judaism, placing the emphasis on the commandments of Elohim, and then not really receiving the Messiah.

Then there is Christianity, which puts emphasis on the faith of Yahushua, but they don’t accept the commandments of Elohim. They say they are abolished or done away with.

But the saints are those who keep the commandments of Elohim AND the faith of Yahushua. We need that “AND,” don’t we? We need both.

Can we find truth in this, the faith of Yahushua and the commandments of Elohim? I think we can. And so, we cleave to both– repentance and the faith in the Messiah.

The truth is not found in either religion. They both got one part of it. So what we need to do is walk that narrow road between the both of them, minus the baggage of the traditions, because traditions are pretty much what keep people from changing.

So, Yahweh gives us commands, teaching us how to love eachother, teaching us how to love Him, and He also gives us His Son who redeems us for those times that we failed to love.

And so, once we receive forgiveness of our sins, we are not now free to go disobey again because that is why Messiah came in the first place, because we did disobey.

We can’t cheapen the grace of Elohim. We can’t cheapen the blood of the Messiah by treating it as some “get-out-of-hell-free” card. We can’t treat Yahweh as a vending machine– up goes the prayer, down comes the forgiveness– and assume that will work.

It didn’t work with Saul, with Esau, with the Pharisees, and many others. It didn’t work. Yahushua did not come to this earth to be tortured to the point of death just so we could turn around and purposely, rebelliously break those same commandments that he came to redeem us for having broken in the first place.

He came so He could redeem us for past sins and be given the power to overcome any future potential sins, that we might look and act as He did, as true sons and daughters of Elohim. He came to thwart the Devil’s schemes and works, that we might once again walk in that image of Elohim.

And so, we show our thanksgiving to Him by hungering and thirsting for righteousness and by granting mercy to those who need it.

Matthew 5:6 – Blessed [are] those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled.

7 – Blessed [are] the merciful, For they shall obtain mercy.

And this Day of Atonement, we can remember:

Hebrews 4:15 – For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all [points] tempted as [we are, yet] without sin.

16 – Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

He wants to help us overcome. First we get the mercy through the righteousness of Yahweh and the Messiah, but we also get help. We also get strength from Him. He knows what it is like to be tempted. And so, it says:

Revelation 22:14 – Blessed [are] those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city.

Let’s bear forth the fruits of doing His commandments. Let’s not fail to keep this Day of Atonement as Yahweh has commanded us. Let’s say within our hearts, “What a blessed reminder the Day of Atonement is, of what my Savior has done for me.”

You know, the world has its so-called holidays. Christians have their so-called holidays, reflecting on the birth of the Messiah and the resurrection of the Messiah. But we have Holy Days already. We don’t have to invent them and convert some pagan festival into a Christian one. We have Holy Days. True Holy Days.

We have Passover that demonstrates that Messiah is our Passover Lamb. We have the Feast of Unleavened demonstrating our cleansing that we receive on our bodies through the blood and body of Messiah. We have Pentecost commemorating the giving of the Torah and the Holy Spirit. We have the Festival of Tabernacles commemorating the Messiah’s return.

Now we have the Day of Atonement. The One who entered the throne room for us that we might enter that throne room and not defile it and come boldly to that throne of grace and receive help and mercy in our times of need.

Aren’t these all really about Him? Aren’t they really about Him? If they are about Him, let’s memorialize the things that He is doing and will do. And let’s keep these Days as He commanded us.

And in the areas that we fall short, let’s fall on our knees before Yahweh. If you have to get the sackcloth out and the ashes, whatever, truly walk out your repentance. And pray for the strength for Him to give you to bear the fruits worthy of that repentance. We can’t do it without Him. We need Him. Let’s confess it. We can’t do it without Him.

So let’s reckon ourselves as dead, but Yahushua being alive in us. And if He is alive in us, we will be just like Him. As it says:

John 8:29 – And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him.

That is the Father in heaven. Who sent Him is with Him. You know that we, too, are not alone because Yahushua said:

Matthew 28:19 – Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

20 –

This is what He has commanded us. And so, my brothers and sisters, let’s seek to do those things that please Him, recognizing that we need to lay down our own lives and put the Messiah on the throne of our hearts in every decision we make in our lives.

And by that, make the conscious choice to bear the fruits of genuine repentance and not a counterfeit one.

May Yahweh bless you as you do so, and may Yahweh truly have mercy on us all.