Chag Sameach Yom haKippurim kol beit Yisra'el. I welcome you to this qadosh (holy, set-apart) assembly, the Day of Atonements. Fresh in my mind still is the message Yahweh gave me last year, Between Justification and Sanctification, along with the sense of urgency that came with the Ruach (Spirit) that inspired me then. I pray only that I may clearly hear the message that Yahweh would have me share with this Mishpachah along with the Remnant at a whole.

Perhaps it would be helpful and advantageous for those joining us today who are unfamiliar with this sacred moed or appointment that Yahweh calls us to keep each year for me to give a brief summary of its purpose. You'll find this explained in great detail in the 16th chapter of Leviticus if you want to read it privately afterwards. First mention is made of this annual festival in Exodus where we read:

"Once a year Aaron must purify the altar by placing on its horns the blood from the offering made for the atonement for sin. This will be a regular, annual event from generation to generation, for this is Yahweh's supremely qadosh (holy, set-apart) altar" (Ex.30:10, NLT).

Further explanations are given in Leviticus 23:26-32 and Numbers 29:7-77 so we'll look at the first of these:

"Then Yahweh said to Moses, 'Remember that Yom haKippurim (the Day of Atonements) is to be celebrated on the tenth day of this seventh month (following Yom Teruah, the Festival of Trumpets). On that day you must humble yourselves, gather for a sacred assembly, and present offerings to Yahweh by fire. Do no work during that entire day because it is Yom haKippurim, when atonement is made for you (Israel) before Yahweh your Elohim (God), and payment will be made for your [collective] sins [as a nation]. Anyone who does not spend that day in humility will be cut off from the community. And I will destroy anyone among you who does any kind of work on that day. You must do no work at all! This is a permanent law for you, and it must be observed wherever you live. This will be a Sabbath day of total rest for you, and on that day you must humble yourselves. This time of rest and fasting will begin on the evening of the ninth day of the month, from evening to evening you will keep your sabbath" (Lev.23:23-32, NLT/NRSV)

Why are the requirements so strict regarding attendance and doing no work? Because Yom haKippurim foreshadows the day after Yah'shua (Jesus) returns on which He will compell all mankind to assemble for Judgment. Attendance will not be optional. The wicked loathe the coming of this day and are terrified of it (as are Satan and the demons who will be cast into the pit at its conclusion) but they will be forced to present themselves to hear their sentence anyway. In the first instance it will mean exclusion from the Millennial Kingdom and a delayed resurrection both for the disobedient believers and the wicked unbelievers who must wait a thousand years - they must continue to remain as disembodied spirits in Sheol.

For the righteous - the repentant, the submitted, the obedient, the overcomers, those trusting in Yah'shua (Jesus), i.e. the faithfull - this is obviously a joyful convocation because, as the collective nation of Messianic Israel, they will get the Good News of an early resurrection, and may already have done so by this time, and so be vindicated as the Community of the Saved. They will also get their land back, the land promised to Abraham!

This festival is unique inasmuch as it is not from sunrise to sunrise (which is when a biblical day begins and ends) but starts at sunset on the 9th day of the 7th month and ends on sunset of the 10th say of the 7th month.

It was enacted by the Cohen Gadol or High Priest alone, but the whole nation of Israel indicated its interest and participation in it, by resting from all manner of work, by keeping a very strict fast, and by assembling for a 'holy convocation'. In the old Levitical system, Yom haKippurim was the culminating point, the grand climax, and was calculated to leave a lasting impression on the minds of the worshippers. They knew that if Yahweh rejected them as a nation that they were finished therefore they waited with baited breath to see if the Cohen Gadol (High Priest) would emerge alive. If he did, they were vindicated. If not, they were ruined. Likewise, our Eternal Cohen Gadol (High Priest), Yah'shua the Messiah, will go before the Father to obtain His Judgment of the peoples and the world will wait in suspension for the Judgment.

Most of the other sacrifices and purifications in the Levitical system were occasional and personal, but this one was the yearly atonement for the nation as a whole, including the priesthood itself, and the yearly purification of the Sanctuary (that would later become the Temple under Solomon) and its parts from the defilement of the sins of the people in whose midst it stood. It gathered up, as it were, all the separate and individual sacrifices of the year, and restored to the nation the holiness or set-apartness it had lost, in much the same way that the first Messianic Yom haKippurim will gather up all history and all peoples, and restore to those declared righteous their vindication as a community of the elect.

The peculiarly striking and solemn ritual of Yom haKippurim was understood by the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews (believed by many to have been Paul) and has ever since been viewed by Christians/Messianics, as a foreshadowing and illustration of the atonement wrought by Yah'shua the Messiah (Jesus Christ), through the one sacrifice of Himself, and His entering into the Holy of Holies, there to appear before Elohim (God) the Father on behalf of His people (Heb.4:14; 6:20; 9:11-28) which we will discuss in detail when we come to our study of that book.

My task this morning is to briefly help those who are serious - and I mean deadly serious - about being a part of the Kingdom of Messianic Israel, facing the Judgment with shalom (peace) and simcha (joy), and inheriting the Millennial world to come. This is not for those who just like to 'play theology' or bandy theological terms about in order to appear knowledgeable or sound impressive. I used the word 'deadly' deliberately for we are entering a time - a really, really difficult and challenging time - in which the decisions we make may well determine whether we live or die, and I mean either physically, spiritually, or both.

In a moment I want to soberly discuss with you the spiritual preparations that we all need to be making now. For my part, I am not deviating from the course that Yahweh set me on more than 40 years ago, even though I have faced - and continue to face - enormous challenges to my health, ministry and relationships. I have seen people make radical changes, often on impulse, that have led to disasterous results. One man we know, a brilliant theologically-minded man, has clean lost his mind and is living in cloud-cuckoo land. He has literally lost it. He lives in a psychic make-believe world of pure fantasy.

Only yesterday we received news of someone we knew - once a believer - who is now in prison for theft. Some years before that her husband, and a very good friend of ours, also a believer, took a serious wrong turn and ended up committing suicide. Those of us who knew and loved him still haven't got over that, and I have known a few people who have killed themselves, most of them because of drug-related issues or because a partner betrayed them. It is heart-breaking to see where our ill-conceived choices can lead us.

For the love of Elohim (God), please stay spiritually sober! Please stay on the straight and narrow path! I have known brilliant - really intelligent and knowledgeable - believers who went off the Derech (Way) because they trusted in their brains more than they did in the revelation of the Ruach (Spirit) to their hearts. We all struggle with difficulties - none of us escapes these struggles. This is a very dangerous world but it's safe if we stay firmly with King Yah'shua (Jesus) and His Kingdom. And, please, don't buy into the 'Once Saved, Always Saved' lie...and it is a monstrous lie...because I know people who have shipwrecked their salvation trusting in such doctrines of men.

Testing times are already upon us and the testing will get stronger and stronger but you can come through them victorious and stronger at the other end. And to begin with, you have got to be serious about learning to listen to Yahweh. I have been teaching and preaching this for years now as part of our spiritual preparation for Collapse.

If we are to have any chance of surviving outside the Babylonian system, we must become accustomed to hearing Elohim (God) speaking to us. Pretending or make-believe will not do. Hearing rogue voices from within or without will not work. There are many ways we can hear our Heavenly Father, all of which depend on us being totally sincere. This is not a game, and learning how to do this only when you're in the midst of crisis might not work because like most things, training is important. You need to develop life-long habits.

So let's quickly run through these again:

• 1. Hearing Him speak through the Bible. This is a wonderful source of emet (truth) - what Yahweh wants from us in general. The teachings of Yah'shua (Jesus) are key so if you have a red-letter edition, read and memorise all the teachings of the Saviour first of all! But even these will not minister to us if we are not sincere, if all we want to hear is what is convenient to us, because then the Bible can actually become harmful, or at least our personal version of it. When believers go and distort a text to backup a lie they believe in, the Bible can become very destructive by being used in the wrong way. If, for example, all you want to do is make money, then you'll find passages to twist in order to justify you in that quest. Prosperity teachers do it all the time. (I hear, by the way, that Benny Hinn may be recanting, but I need to confirm that). If we are not sincere about hearing the emet (truth), we will get false revelation through it. Which leads to the importance of;

• 2. Learning Spiritual Discernment. Yah'shua (Jesus) said that in the last days there would be false nevi'im (prophets) and teachers on account of the signs and wonders they would be doing. We see a lot of this going on in the charismatic movement and elsewhere. Now important though having correct doctrine is, discernment does not come through knowing correct doctrine or even correcting false theology! Discernment comes from identifying the spirit that drives or moves people to do what they do. People can have correct theology but be wrongly motivated! There are people who have fantastic theological knowledge, can even read and speak one or more of the biblical languages fluently, who have studied at theological colleges, got doctorates, authored numerous books, made videos and movies, become pastors, rabbis, reverends, bishops, teachers, and so on but who are yet far from Elohim (God) and who end up being false nevi'im (prophets) and teachers because their hearts aren't right: they don't seek to bring people into a right and deep relationship with Yahweh but into mental agreement with their theology.

  Yet there are people who are mistaken in a lot of theological areas, but because they are sincere, often turn out to be Yahweh's lost sheep. That's why we absolutely need spiritual discernment. One of the mistakes I have made in the past was being drawn to brilliant people who did not have my interests, or anyone else's, foremost in their hearts. And the issue doesn't have to be theological brilliance. Far too many believers are 'playing the church game' - they're into self-promotion, after popularity, they're disobedient to the mitzvot (commandments), signs and wonders are important to them, and they are highly materialistic.

• 3. Overcoming Fear. The Babylonian world system as well as the devil himself are the two main sources of fear that we have to deal with and overcome, because both use fear to manipulate people into cowering before them. If the Enemy isn't whispering in our ears to stir up our fear, then he is certainly doing so through the media and the political agencies that control it. The first emet (truth) we must take on board in overcoming fear is to understand that life doesn't end here when we die. Losing our lives, or loved ones, are huge fears that most people have. The Book of Revelation tells us:

  "They (the qodeshim, saints, set-apart ones) have conquered (overcome) him (Satan) by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death" (Rev.12:11, ESV)

  In other words, they were willing to give their lives for the Besorah (Gospel). Yah'shua (Jesus) said:

  "...do not fear those who kill the body (basar, flesh) but cannot kill the soul [1] (Heb. nefesh, Gk. psuche). But rather fear Him (Yahweh) who is able to destroy both soul [1] (nefesh, psuche) and body in Gey-Hinnom (Gehenna, hell)" (Matt.10:28, NKJV).

  Overcoming fear will be essential to surviving in the last days, and already is for believers in some parts of the world who face death every day - in Nigeria, Libya, Syria, Iraq and many other places. If we are to resist the devilish world system without resorting to violence then we need to deal with this matter sooner rather than later;

• 4. Living the Gospel Out. The Besorah, Gospel or Good News is not just an intellectual idea, something you passively believe in with your mind. It is a lifestyle that has to be lived out. There's no point talking about loving people when you don't intend to actually love them, or talk about observing the Sabbath when you intend to work on it. Sadly, a lot of believers don't really know what the Gospel is - many, like Calvinists, think the Gospel is simply a system of theology, a set of intellectual propositions like TULIP which you have to accept. Thus to be 'saved' in the Calvinist system you must believe in:

  • T. Total depravity;
  • U. Unconditional election;
  • L. Limited atonement;
  • I. Irresistible Grace; and
  • P. Perseverence of the Saints

  Even if these were true doctrines (which none of them are), they wouldn't be the Gospel. The true Gospel is Yah'shua's (Jesus') Messaage as found in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John [2] consisting of His life and teachings, namely, that we have to live that Gospel. It is never enough to simply know the words the Master spoke. He Himself taught that whoever hears His words but doesn't actually put them into practice is like a man building a house on shifting sands:

  "Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man [3] who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. Now everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall" (Matt.7:24-27, NKJV).

  Please note - and note well - that immediately before this teaching He had condemned those who practiced Torahlessness or lawlessness (Mt.7:23), meaning that the foundation of the Gospel, on which Christ built, is the already revealed Torah lifestyle. In fact, He was rebuking the 'charismatics' of His day who liked to prophesy, cast out demons, and do wonders. To these, who were lawless and did not practice the Gospel, He declared: "I never knew you; depart from Me" (Matt.7:23, NKJV). That's not to say we are never to do these things when called upon Him to do so but that without the Gospel and Torah lifestyle, they are a denial of the Saviour.

  If we are to survive the terrible storms coming our way, or indeed the ones that are already here in many countries where believers are persecuted and killed, we have to have our emunah (faith) built squarely on the Rock, which is Messiah, the Living Torah, and that is done through living Yah'shua's (Jesus') message in the Gospels. And finally,

• 5. Living by Faith. Now that might seem rather obvious but in many ways this can be the hardest of all. What that means in practice is living each day in obedience to Elohim (God) which means you need to be able to discern His will each day and be willing to implement it. Otherwise you're just fumbling around, guessing. Living by emunah (faith) is active, it's dynamic. This is the doing part of 'faith'.

  Funnily enough yesterday I had someone rattling off Protestantism's favourite Scripture (as though it were the beginning and end of the Gospel, which it is to some people), in response to this very topic...and, of course, it was in the King James Version:

  "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast" (Eph.2:8-9, KJV).

  This was in response to a caption I had posted online showing Noah's Ark which said, 'Faith Alone Didn't Save Noah - He Also Had to Build the Ark' which then quoted James 2:20,26, "Faith without works is dead".
  

  Of course, different kinds of 'works' are being referenced here; the Pauline kind speaks of the emunah (faith) in Messiah which alone saves or delivers us from sin (we can never earn our salvation by doing good works); and the 'works' spoken of by James are those which are the consequence of being saved in the Pauline way by grace - undeserved loving-kindness through emunah (faith). Noah was saved from physical death by drowning because he went ahead, by faith, and built an ark. We in our turn, through living the Gospel through our works, evidence the kind of Pauline salvation mentioned in Ephesians 2:8-9. The point being, you can't separate the two if you actually have the opportunity to live the Gospel, which the repentant thief on the cross did not but which he would have lived out had he not been executed.

  Really all I am saying is this (and people do, sometimes deliberately, I sometimes feel, misunderstsand me over this time and time again): The Gospel isn't a doctrine, teaching or dogma whereby you can simply declare, 'I live by faith because I say I live by faith'. Rattling off Ephesians 2:8-9 and then just leaving at that, because of a prayer [3] you may have said years ago at 'conversion', doesn't mean you are forever saved and 'that's that'. Parroting one Pauline passage is not the badge of authentication of your savedness. Your savedness is demonstrated in the way you live and if you're not living the way Yah'shua (Jesus) taught in the Gospels, then maybe you need to do some serious praying and Scripture Study and ascertain whether you are still saved or whether you were ever saved in the first place. Seriously. And if not, repent!

  So, I repeat, the Gospel is a way of life - a lifestyle - it's something you practice every day. It's something that has to be lived. Thus, when we speak of living faith (as opposed to 'dead faith', which is what the demons have:

  "Even the demons believe -- and tremble!" (James 2:19,NKJV)

  what we mean is that if we're doing Yahweh's will, then Yahweh Himself will take care of all our needs. Recall Yah'shua (Jesus) teaching that we're not to worry about food, drink and clothes as unbelievers do because Yahweh already knows our needs even before we ask Him for help (Lk.12:22-30). Rather, all we have to do is this:

  "But seek the kingdom of Elohim (God), and all these things shall be added to you. Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom" (Luke 12:30-32, NKJV) [4].

  What, then, does the Saviour tell us is our first priority? The Kingdom! Do that and everything we need will automatically flow to us provided we faithfully get and carry out our daily instructions from Heaven.

What has all of this got to do with the Mark of the Beast and our being enabled or empowered to reject it? We're told what is going to happen and it has already started:

"He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name" (Rev.13:16-17, NKJV).

Understand clearly that at some point, probably in the not-too-distant future, you're not going to be able to set up businesses in the world let alone buy anything because by then we will live in a fully electronic, cashless society, meaning that we will be 100 per cent dependent on banks to transact any sort of business, whether buying or selling, which will mean the government will have the power to close down our accounts at a whim. The only people believers will be able to trade with will be other believers who have not sold their souls to the system and received the Mark of the Beast. In this very small market they will either have to barter or trade in precious metals like gold and silver. This state of affairs will exist for a minimum of 3½ to 7 years. Only those who live by emunah (faith) - which, like Noah building the ark - means building self-sustaining communities (or 'cities of refuge'). But, as important if not actually more important, is that these communities must be built and sustained by revelation, and they must be supernaturally protected otherwise they would not have any sort of hope of surviving, not in the high-tech world we live in now, not with Artificial Intelligence on the rise and not the rapid demonisation of society through ever increasing rebellion and wickedness resulting in the saturation of this planet with occult powers. ONLY THOSE WHO LIVE BY PRO-ACTIVE FAITH - OBEDIENT FAITH - WILL BE ABLE TO RESIST GETTING THE MARK OF THE BEAST AND SURVIVING. The rest will either lose their souls or be killed. It's that simple.

It means, brother and sisters, that we are not only going to have to live outside the Babylonian economic system at some point but that we must learn how to do it...now. The coming Judgment & Collapse (not, I repeat, the Great Trobulation or the Second Coming yet) will be our wake-up call.

You may well be wondering why I am talking about this, especially at Yom haKippurim. Simply, because this is a Day of Judgment. It's not the day this year because Yah'shua (Jesus) didn't come back at Yom Teruah this time round. However, this doesn't mean that other things aren't happening. This is also high satanic holiday season, right the way up to Halloween at the end of October, and those believers who are awake should already be praying against all the junk that is being thrown at us through the psychic airwaves. The demonic realm is building up to a frenzy currently. The Remnant must learn how to do deliverance and know how to fight back. This is all part of our necessary prepping. So know your Satanic Calendar and get a head start on the Enemy for he is assuredly after you and will make mischief if you are not walking in Christ as you should! Offence is the best defence. We have to fight for our loved ones who do not know Messiah or who are weak.

We will conclude this afternoon at 5 pm. I look forward to seeing you then.

Endnotes

[1] The Hebrew word nefesh (or nephesh) and Greek psuche (psyche) is a notoriously difficult word to translate but usually means the whole being - see The Bible Teaching on 'Soul'. Annihilationists, those who believe in eternal torture and universalists interpret this passage very differently. The point is one of contrast - the damage man is able to do is tiny compared to what will happen to the person who refuses to repent and falls into the hands of the living Elohim (God) (Heb.10:31).
[2] And, it might possibly be argued, a few places in Acts and Revelation where the resurrected Yah'shua (Jesus) personally and directly speaks in a theophany: Acts 1:4,7-8; 9:4-5,10-12,15-16; 11:16; 18:9-10; 20:35; 21:7-10,18,21; 23:11; 26:14-18; Revelation 1:8,11,17-19; 2:1-29; 3:1-22; 22:7,12-13,16,20
[3] Notice that the Torah is equated with wisdom (Deuteronomy 4:5-6; Psalm 111:10; Proverbs 2:6). Therefore a wise man walks in obedience to Torah
[4] See, The Kingdom of Elohim (God) in the Gospel of Mark

O Yahweh, Elohim of our fathers! Let our prayers come before You, through Yah'shua our Deliverer, and do not hide Yourself from our supplication. What shall we say to You who dwell on High? You know all things, both hidden and revealed. You search our hearts and thoughts. Nothing is hidden from Your sight. We are not so arrogant nor hardened to say, 'We are righteous and have not sinned.' For truly we have sinned. We have turned away from the good mitzvot (commandments) You have given us. You are righteous and true in all Your ways, but we have done evil in Your sight. Thank You, our Heavenly Father, and Elohim of our fathers, that You forgive all our sins, pardon all our iniquities, sanctify the altar of our heart, bless and sanctify the quodesh (holy, set-apart) places in our homes and assemblies, sanctify your leaders in Messianic Israel, both the husband-fathers and the cohenim (priests), and grant atonement for all our transgressions through the blood of Yah'shua the Messiah.

For it is written: "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness". 'Return O Israel to Yahweh-Elohim, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity. Take words with you and return to Yahweh. Say to Him, "Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously, that we may present the fruit of our lips."'

We repent for the sin we committed in Your sight by:

• sinning wilfully, and for the sin we committed in ignorance.
• slander, and for the sin of lashon hara or gossip.
• neglecting our responsibilities, and for the sin of selfishness.
• indulging evil thoughts, and for the sin of lust.
• being lukewarm, and for the sin of not loving You with all our hearts and souls.
• not hungering and thirsting for righteousness, and for the sin of not being poor in spirit.
• not being merciful, and for the sin of withholding when we could have given.
• speaking foolish words, and for the sin of not controlling our tongues.
• not loving our neighbours, and for the sin of not blessing our enemies.
• not turning the other cheek, and for the sin of practising our righteousness before men.
• being proud, and for the sin of lack of zeal.

For the sin we committed in Your sight by:

• not walking as Yah'shua walked, and for the sin of not being filled with Your Ruach.
• loving the world, and for the sin of loving the things in the world.
• putting other things before You, and for the sin of idolatry.
• not praying at all times, and for the sin of not being thankful.
• not being quick to forgive, and for the sin of holding resentments.
• not going the second mile, and for the sin of impatience.
• not doing unto others as we would have them do unto us, and for the sin of greed.
• being anxious about the things of this life, and for the sin of not trusting You to provide for all of our needs.
• setting our minds on the things below, and for the sin of not setting our minds on things above.

(Final blowing of the ram's horn)

I hereby declare Yom haKippurim at an end, in Yah'shua's Name. Amen!