NOT to Destroy But to FULFILL ...

ADVENT MEDITATIONS # 2

2016

JESUS CHRIST / Y'SHU+ the M'SHIKHA+

The Law Incarnate

… versus …

[ "Now I'm saved; I can sin all I want to." ]

GOD FORBID!

+  +  +

Think not that I+ am come

to destroy The Law, 

or the Prophets:

I+ am not come 

to destroy,

BUT TO FULFILL.

+

Words of Our LORD 

Matthew 5:17

+  +  +

Our LORD JESUS / Y'SHU+ spoke clearly and plainly about His+ Mission. After His+ great trial of temptation by the devil in chapter 4 of Matthew, HE+ emerged victoriously to establish the Kingdom of GOD on earth.

Leaving Nazareth, HE+ moved beside the Sea of Galilee, to Capernaum in the districts of Zebulan and Naphtali ( Mt. 4:13-17), thus FULFILLING Isaiah 9:1-2.

Nevertheless

the dimness shall not be 

such as was in her vexation,

when at the first 

HE lightly afflicted

the land of Zebulun 

and the land of Naphtali,

and afterward 

did more grievously afflict her

by the way of the sea,

beyond Jordan, 

in Galilee of the nations.

The people that walked in darkness have seen a Great LIGHT+:

they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death,

upon them hath The LIGHT+ shined.

Isaiah 9: 1-2

The LORD JESUS / Y'SHU+ the M'SHIKHA+ preached repentance and called His+ first disciples to Him+ . 

HE+ healed the sick and great crowds from the surrounding areas flocked to HIM+.  HE began teaching them in the Sermon on the Mount, chapter 5.

Think not 

that I+ am come

to destroy The Law, 

or the Prophets:

I+ am not come 

to destroy,

BUT TO FULFILL.

Mt. 5:17

The LORD honored The LAW. 

HE+ spoke often of its abuses and mis-applications by men, but The Law itself HE+ honored. It revealed His+ own Divine Character and the character of His+ Heavenly FATHER. HE+ was in agreement with it.

In fact,

The LORD JESUS / 

Y'SHU+ the M'SHIKHA+

 expanded   

The Law !

As the MESSIAH / M'SHIKHA, HE+ explained how the keeping of The Law was to GO DEEPER than the Jews' observance of it.

The Law was to be kept in the MOTIVES and inside the hidden places of the heart, where no-one could see ... except GOD. 

HE+ explained this when teaching about lusting after another was ALREADY an act of adultery in the eyes of GOD.

GOD'S standard of right vs wrong did not CHANGE at the advent of CHRIST / the M'SHIKHA+. 

The LORD JESUS 

/ Y'SHU+ the M'SHIKHA+ 

came

to restore GOD'S Law

... in Spirit, this time,  

and in Truth.

+  +  +

Let us pray:

Dear Heavenly FATHER,

Hallowed be Thy Name, O HOLY FATHER, and the Name of Thy HOLY SON+ , The LORD JESUS / Y'SHU+ the M'SHIKHA+. 

I thank THEE+ for Thy Law, for giving forth the Divine Standard of Right, for teaching me what is wrong, and that Thy Standard does not change.

I confess , O LORD, that I am ashamed for the times I have hid sins in my heart, thinking no-one could see me. 

Please forgive me and cleanse me by the BLOOD of Thy Precious SON+. Make me pure through-out. Amen. 

+  +  +

In the Name of 

The FATHER,

Who created us;

And HIS HOLY SON+

JESUS / Y'SHU+ ,

Who+ saves us;

And The 

Blessed HOLY SPIRIT 

/ RUACH ha KADOSH,

Who sanctifies us. 

+  +  +

The SIGN of the Cross ... Being Carried !

The PASCHA Preparation Season  

~ ~ ~ Commonly called Lenten Season ~ ~ ~

The SIGN of the CROSS... being carried !

The LORD, our RIGHTEOUSNESS

+  +  +

We have completed the season when most followers of Y'SHU+ the M'SHIKHA have forsaken their normal routines  and stopped --- at one point or another --- to remember His+ Incarnation, around the time of the Roman taxation of the Jews living under the rule of Rome in Israel  ... most likely after the time of the in-gathering of the fall harvest.

Whatever we choose to call it --- "Christmas" or "Advent" or The Incarnation+ Season --- , we simply remember the approximate time of His+ coming to earth, being born as a babe in a humble setting, and donning the human robe of flesh to become the SECOND ADAM+.

It pleased Our FATHER Who art in Heaven to deliver mankind from sin, death, the satan, Sheol, and the grave through Y'SHU+ the M'SHIKHA. 

Thus, HE+ became Incarnate as the SECOND ADAM+ to suffer human death ... but this human death was unlike any other: HE+ rose triumphant, bodily. 

Death had NO dominion over HIM+. Furthermore, neither did the satan because the wicked one could find NO UNRIGHTEOUSNESS in HIM+. Death, then , could not holdHIM+.

In addition to that wondrous fact, The Risen LORD was pleased to bring all the Righteous Dead out of Sheol withHIM+, taking captivity itself captive and moving it 

up... up... up ... 

out of the heart of the earth and into the Paradise of GOD (ALAHA ), which is in Heaven ... that Heaven in which no un-righteousness dwells.

According to Scripture, however , Our Incarnate LORD didsomething else for us when HE+ submitted to the Crucifixion ... something that some followers of Y'SHU+have missed !

Y'SHU+ the M'SHIKHA 

became the LAW INCARNATE+ 

... as precisely as HE+ had become The WORD+ Made Flesh, The Living MILTHA+ of ALAHA , as the Aramaic / Syriac states.

For, what IS the WORD+  .....

 but the LAW INCARNATE+ ? 

That WORD+ is the LIVING Word+ which became flesh and dwelt among man, full of Grace and Truth.

+  +  +

Yes, the LAW is dead. It does not give us LIFE, nor does The LAW of Moses helps us to obey it.

But wait... it still retains something precious for us. 

It retains GOD'S standard 

of RIGHT vs WRONG. 

Even though Our LORD fulfilled the LAW, HE+ did not change the standard of what GOD considers RIGHT and what GOD considers WRONG !

No, indeed, Our LORD JESUS CHRIST established the LAW.  

So, where did HE+ establish  it ? 

HE+ established the LAW in our hearts !

Let us pray: 

Forgive me LORD, for setting aside Thy+ Holy Word... The Word that was given to me for my perfection, for my understanding of RIGHT vs WRONG. 

Help me to understand where I sin against Thy+ Holiness. Help me to understand Thy+ Ways. 

I humble myself before Thy+ Holy Word, knowing I have fallen short of keeping it hallowed within my heart, that I might not transgress against THEE+. 

Show me Thy+ Standard as I read Thy+ LAW... and Thy+ Standard is JESUS. 

Through Whose+ Holy Name I pray... 

Amen. 

x

Pre-PASSOVER Meditation ~ ~ ~ The Perfect LAW of The LORD

Photo by THE ORDER OF THE GOOD SHEPHERD+

The Invitatory: 

CHRIST the KING+ has suffered for us; 

O Come, Let us Adore HIM+.

Old Testament Lesson: Psalm 19: 7

Scriptures courtesy of Biblegateway.com

The law of the LORD is perfect, 

converting the soul: 

the testimony of the LORD is sure, 

making wise the simple.

QUIETUDE: 

A time to Reflect about the Perfect LAW of The LORD. 

RESPONSE: 

Holy art THOU, 

LORD GOD of our fathers; 

THOU art worthy of praise, 

Holy art THOU. 

Lesson from the Epistles: Hebrews 10:26-27

Scriptures courtesy of Biblegateway.com

For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.

QUIETUDE: A time to repent.

RESPONSE:

LORD JESUS CHRIST, LAMB+ of GOD, 

Who+ taketh away the sin of the world,

have mercy upon us.

LORD JESUS CHRIST, LAMB+ of GOD,

BEARER+ of our sins, 

have mercy upon us.

LORD JESUS CHRIST, LAMB+ of GOD, 

SAVIOR+ of the world,

grant us Thy+ Peace.

AMEN.

The GOSPEL Lesson: Luke 6:46

Scriptures courtesy of Biblegateway.com

The Words of  Our LORD JESUS CHRIST ~ ~ ~ 

And why call ye me, 
LORD, LORD, 

and do not the things 
which I+ say?

+  +  +

The WORD of The LORD.  

THANKS BE TO GOD !

Meditation ~ ~ ~

Yes, The Law of The LORD is indeed perfect. It was perfect when it was given to Moses and perfect when The LORD JESUS CHRIST lived it, as our EXAMPLE+ set before us.

The LAWS were not established to benefit GOD, but for the benefit of man... so he could avoid the destruction besetting the human race from the fall of Adam. 

Nowadays, we cast away those LAWS as "restrictions" upon our modern life-style and we proclaim loud and long that "we can please GOD" by living freely, as we see fit. 

But reading carefully the New Testament, we find that the LAWS done away with by Our LORD were those LAWS dealing with the Blood Sacrifice for sins. 

Furthermore, the reason  the sacrifice LAWS are over is because The LORD JESUS CHRIST fulfilled those requirements for a Blood sacrifice for sins.  

The LAW, itself, is good ~ ~ ~ because by The LAW we gain a concrete knowledge of what constitutes SIN, what actions and behaviors are repulsive to GOD. 

How else would we know which of our actions and behaviors GOD records as our sin ?

Has GOD changed his definition of SIN ?  

Remember this: The LORD said yes to the tithing of little mint and rue and all manner of herbs when he chided the Pharisees ( Luke 11:42 ) for passing over judgment and the love of GOD.  HE+ reminded them NOT to forget the love of GOD and judgment... but to also do what was written in the LAW !

But woe unto you, Pharisees! 

for ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, 

 and pass over judgment and the love of God: 

these ought ye to have done, 

and not to leave the other undone.

The LAW of The LORD, as seen throughout both the Old and New Testaments, is indeed perfect. It shows us what SIN is. 

Let us re-read it to find out what pleases ~ ~ ~ and displeases ~ ~ ~ GOD, and ask The LORD to show us how it applies to our lives today. 

Let us make our amendment of life after conviction falls. Then we will see how the perfect Law of the LORD converts the soul.    

Let us pray: 

Our FATHER Who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy Name and holy art Thy ways. 

O LORD, I have cast aside Thy Words and have done what pleased me; I have substituted society's ways for Thy rules of Holy living. I have not laid Thy ways to heart. 

I repent for casting aside Thy instructions and commands. I repent for thinking they are not important "nowadays," and thinking I could please THEE living my own way, by my own standards, with my own values.  

I repent for not attributing to THY HOLY CHARACTER Thy loving-kindness and tender mercies towards mankind as the reason why THOU didst make those rules. Yes, it was Thy LOVE that determined those LAWS to protect us from the evil within... and the evil without.

Cleanse me, I pray, and grant me a renewed mind to do Thy Will... in all areas... as guided by Thy Holy Word.

This I pray in The Name of  JESUS CHRIST our LORD, The Eternal SON+ and WORD+ of GOD our FATHER, through the Blessed HOLY SPIRIT. 

Amen.