Love the Truth

Wayne Matthews

November 13, 2021

Welcome, everybody.

There is a question I remember asking when I was first called and went to Sabbath services and found out that someone had left the Body of Christ, and over the years I’ve looked at different aspects of this and understanding that there is a reason why somebody leaves the Body of Christ, leaves our fellowship. So, today I want to look at the particular question: Why do people leave the Church of God? Because once a person has God’s holy spirit and we see the truth, it’s somewhat mind-boggling that a person would get to the point where they’d leave the Body of Christ. But it happens and it happens often.

We know that many have left our fellowship, the Church, because of decisions that they’ve made about money or a desire for an unlawful relationship. They’re two aspects of why a person leaves the Body of Christ, and that’s the main reason why. But underpinning that there is something else that goes behind that, about why a person would leave the Body of Christ, even though we understand those two main reasons, which is a human desire, which is that desire to not tithe so that they can have something else, and also to have an unlawful relationship, which is a relationship that God has not ordained. Now, that’s because of a human nature. They’re allowing human nature to draw them away for something that is considered unlawful. God says it’s unlawful.

Some have even used an excuse of leaving. They would say, “Well, it’s a minister.” They will isolate a minister or an elder and say, “Well, this person did that, and therefore, I’m leaving.” Well, it’s just an excuse. They may leave over a ruling of Church government. The Church makes a ruling, and the person says, “Well, I don’t agree with that ruling, and therefore, I’m going to leave. I’m going to leave the Body.” They sound like quite insane reasons but this it the history of mankind being called and going into a relationship with God and then leaving that relationship.

A person may use doctrine, that if a doctrine is adjusted or removed because of new truth they then say, “Well, I disagree with that. I disagree with what is happening in the Church; therefore, I’m going to leave.”

So, there are many things that drive a person to leave the Body, and there is one main reason, which we’re going to cover today. There is also one reason why a person will leave the Church, the Body of Christ, which is listed. Although we have all those other excuses and reasons why people do it, because of desires or lusts or excuses that they put up, there is one main reason why. It’s quite fascinating, really, when you get into this top of why, and we’re going to start by looking at 2 Timothy 4:3, which is Paul writing to Timothy.

2 Timothy 4:3—For the time will come when they… Now, this is somebody that’s in the Body, that’s being called by God and given the opportunity to enter Elohim at this point in time by making right decisions and enduring to the end. That’s what the destination of a person called is, an opportunity to enter Elohim at a point in time.

Well, these people will not endure…will not endure. Now, that word “endure” is “hold oneself against.” Figuratively can be “put up with,” and it really is talking about the truth. A person won’t endure with the truth. They’ll find a reason why not to believe the truth. They won’t forbear, they won’t suffer, they won’t put up with it, in other words, sound doctrine. So, this is one thing, they look at it and they won’t endure with a sound doctrine.

Now, the truth is a sound doctrine and it’s the present truth. But people will use an excuse of saying, “Well, there is ‘this’ and ‘that’ and I don’t believe in ‘this.’” People have left over ordination of women and all the different aspects of why, a minister they disagree with. So, this sound doctrine is a teaching of the Body of Christ, the Church of God.

…but according to their own desires. So, it’s something else they wanted. They’re putting something else before the truth, before what God has revealed to the Church through Joshua the Messiah and an apostle, and they don’t agree with it which really means they don’t agree with God if they understood the fourth truth about government.

…because they have itching ears. Now, this “itching ears” is “a willingness to listen to things spoken against the truth.” “Divergent views” is another way to put it. Now, one would look at it, and I know the history of people in the Body of Christ, that the most important thing that we have, brethren, is our minds, the way we think. That is the most important thing. Therefore, we should do everything possible to protect our minds, what enters the mind.

Now, when a person gets drawn away by something like a different doctrine, a conspiracy theory, it’s dangerous. It’s really, really dangerous. What we’ll find (that the history of the person that leaves), there is a sin involved that they won’t repent of, and therefore, they get cut off from the flow of God’s holy spirit. Then they cannot make sound judgments. Their thinking is polluted.

Now, history shows that a person that wants to go down a particular path of a doctrine or a conspiracy theory, or anything that we may think is opposite to what God has said in the Church, you’ll find that there’s a proclivity for them, the lust, the desire they have to satisfy self. Now, one thing that I have noticed personally is that people that believe a particular thing are drawn to that and they reinforce their view. So, they’ll read materials that reinforce the view they’ve already established. In other words, they confirm their belief and say, “Ah, there, look!”  A person will go on to the internet and look up something to confirm their belief system.

Now, it’s an incredible thing where really, we’ve been called to the truth and we should hold on to that truth (something that God has given us), and everything we do should work towards (in the mind), work towards reaffirming the thing that God has revealed to us, reaffirm the truth. It’s about government, of course, which is a spiritual matter, but people get drawn away by all types of things. So, they’ll reinforce a view.

It’s like a person that may watch, for example, a particular CNN or FOX News, or one of those things. The person of that belief system, if a person is a Republican, for example, just like you could be here, you could be a Liberal. There’s all different types of governments and I know England has different governments and in Europe there’s different types of governments and they’ve got different names. But a person will be drawn to that belief system. So, they will believe that.

Now, when you dig right down into that belief system you will find that there is one aspect of that political party that a person doesn’t agree with. But they don’t talk about it, and they won’t study it. They’ll know it’s wrong, but they’ll just ignore it. But human beings will do that; they’re drawn to a particular thing that reinforces their belief system. To read something contrary, now and again they may do that, but they would talk down about it and say, “Look and see, they’re wrong, obviously,” because of the belief system a person has.

Well, the same thing happens in the Church when it comes to the truth. They have a different view. They’ll read things to support the view that they have just to prove to themselves that what’s being taught is wrong.

For example, a vaccination. People will read what they want to read to prove what they believe is right even though it may be right, may be wrong, could be either way. But the Church has made a ruling on that and that’s the ruling that stands. So, it’s either from God or it’s not. It’s about the present truth.

So, people look at things that will reinforce their view or opinion. They no longer will listen to God. They won’t listen to God’s government which is on this earth at this time. Because people will have something that they really will hang on to. Well, that’s very, very dangerous, brethren, very, very dangerous when a person hangs on to a view of their opinion contrary to something that God has revealed to the Church. It’s very, very dangerous. The history shows, history shows that those people are walking on very dangerous ground.

Verse 4—and they will turn their ears away from the truth. Now, this is the part, the most important part, the present truth, the truth. If we really believe the truth, we believe God. It’s as simple as that.

They will pervert the truth and be turned aside to fables. Now, that word “fables” is “fiction, myth, a lie, or a theory.” So, the mind can be turned away by listening to things.

Not long ago it was rather interesting when a particular email came in about certain belief systems that were in the Church, what certain people had a belief system about grounding or walking on the ground. Well, to be realistic I had to look it up to find out what it was all about because never heard of it. Never heard of that term. Never in the history of the Church have I ever heard of that term. Here in Australia, never heard of it, didn’t know anything about it, so, I had to read up a bit about it just to find out why a person would start to think that way. But people will go down that path. So, this is a dangerous area when a person starts to walk away from the truth.

Now, we have 57 Truths and it’s very important that we hold on to those truths because that is our strength. Our strength spiritually is about believing God. We’ve chosen. We’ve been called; we’ve chosen to believe God. Well, now it’s about hanging on. No matter what happens in the Church, what is said, we hang on to the truth. We know this is God’s true Church.

Well, what happens to a person that begins to drift? Well, we’re going to look at some of that.

So, the person will no longer believe the truth. They can no longer see the spirit of a matter. There’s a lot said there. They can no longer see the spirit of a matter. So, a ruling can come out and if a person is not grounded in God, in the truth, in the faith (have God’s holy spirit is another way to put it), if they don’t have God’s holy spirit, they no longer can see the spirit, the reason why the ruling was made. They can’t see the spirit of the matter.

They are no longer under God’s government because they can’t see anymore because they don’t have God’s holy spirit, because they’ve been cut off at some point because of a decision that they have made. They now hold fast to something different.

One of the main reasons people leave God’s Church is because they no longer love the truth. That’s a scripture we’re going to get into. Love here is the word “agape.” Agape is about God’s holy spirit. They no longer can see spiritually. So therefore, if a person can no longer see spiritually or see the spirit of a matter and examining the spirit of why they’re doing what they’re doing, they are cut off from God’s holy spirit, don’t have the spirit. They can’t see it, therefore, there’s going to be a percentage that leave rather quickly because they’re cut off because of an unrepentant sin.

The reason they no longer see the truth or love the truth? Because to be able to see the truth we need God’s holy spirit. To be able to love (well, love is agape), in other words, we need God’s holy spirit. So, to see the truth, believe the truth, live the truth we have to have God’s holy spirit. Without that we can’t see. We can’t see the spirit of the matter. We cannot love the truth. That’s why people leave the Body of Christ. They no longer love the truth, which means they’ve been cut off from God’s holy spirit. They can no longer see it. They can’t see the intent of it, and therefore, they can’t understand it.

So, when a ruling comes out, if they’ve been cut off from God’s holy spirit and a judgment has been made, the spirit of the matter, they can’t see the spirit of the matter. They can’t see what they’re actually doing is against God.

2 Thessalonians 2:9, which is about the Apostasy. The coming of the lawless one, which is the man of sin, is according to the working of Satan. Now, what is the working of Satan? Deception. It’s about deception, a person becoming deceived. So, if we no longer love the truth, we don’t have God’s holy spirit, we’re actually going into more deception. We’re already partly deceived anyway. When we’re in the world we’re deceived, and when we get called there is still deception in our human nature – surprise, surprise.

We don’t see all of our deceptions. We see a lot of them, and we generally start with the first three truths and then we go to the government aspect, which over time we see deeper and deeper. Then we go on with the others and we begin to see the spirit of the matter, we see the truth, we believe the truth (because we have God’s holy spirit), but the moment we get cut off we move back into deception; we deceive, and we are deceived. We are deceived. We choose to be deceived, but we don’t know that, of course.

…with all power, signs, and lying wonders (verse 10), and with all unrighteousness or all unrighteous deception among those who perish. Now, why are they perishing? …because they did not receive the love (the agape) of the truth, that they might be saved. So there is an incredible thing said there because there is a great connection between the love of the truth and being saved. Salvation is about believing God, believing the truth, loving the truth. We know that we have to have God’s holy spirit to love it.

Now, the moment we are cut off we can’t love the truth. Our minds begin to be drawn away in a form of deception until we are deceived. When we get fully deceived we believe that this is not God’s true Church, that we don’t see the truth, we don’t believe the truth. That’s the deception, which is an incredible thing that Satan has that power to deceive and will attack us constantly about deceiving us. So, we have to be careful about sinning because sin, loving the truth, and being saved are all connected.

To love the truth we need God’s holy spirit because the truth is a spiritual matter. So, somebody can read the 57 Truths and say, yes, they believe them. Well, there is a big difference in saying that a person believes them and that they’ve read them, but to understand them, to grip in the mind what it’s really about?

I often think of the first three truths because when I was first called with my wife, back in 1982, the first aspect that we had to come to see really was the Sabbath, and then we moved into tithing, and then we saw there was God’s true Church, and then we began to see in a small way the fourth truth about government. Now, my whole life has been tested about those aspects, would you believe? It’s something that I’m tested at different times about, well, tithing and giving offerings, and a person will be tested in that. There’s been different aspects where I have seen the tests, whether I would stand or not.

There’s been different aspects of the Sabbath that personally I’ve been tested with, whether or not I would see it, understand it, what it’s really all about, what God had to ordain for the benefit of mankind, and whether I really grasp it and where I stand against mankind. I’ve had different tests about the Sabbath, and fortunately today God has got me through those in lots of ways that I saw certain aspects of things and that without God helping me through it I wouldn’t have got through that. But I realized that I was being tested many years later.

I’ve been tested about government, God’s government in the Church. There’s been lots of little things that not until afterwards I’ve stood back and gone, “Oh, hang on a minute, I’ve been tested in this.” I’ve been thankful that I’ve managed to get through those things.

Well, we will all be tested with the truth because Satan is out to deceive. So, the opposite to this truth is the deception – Satan’s way or God’s way. They’re poles apart, but they are areas that if we let down in this truth aspects of the deception will draw closer. That’s logical (in the sense of using that word “logical”). But that’s the point about being in the Body of Christ. It’s about living the truth, taking it into our life and actually living it, implementing it. Which sounds easy but it’s not necessarily that easy.

We will be tested by God in those areas, all of the truth. At some point we come across that we look at and go, “Oh, wow.” For example, the Apostasy, a person gets tested whether or not they really believe the Apostasy. Some have failed that test and gone back into a scattering because they didn’t love the truth that God has revealed.

For example, this scripture that we just read about the love of the truth, they didn’t receive the love of the truth, really is a connection to salvation. So, if a person does not love the truth they cannot be saved. Because really what’s happening there is a person doesn’t love God because God’s word is the truth and they’re connected. So, we can see that.

Verse 11—And for this reason, because they did not love the truth, God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, which is all the lies that Satan has implemented on this earth, the world’s system. Mankind is deceived and they believe lies.

Someone was saying the other day, I remember them saying the saying, “If you’ve seen a politician and their mouth is moving, they’re lying.” Only time they’re not lying is when their mouth is not moving.

If a person does not love the truth they love something else; there is something else that they love more because there is something else they want more. That’s why it has been stated people leave over two main reasons, which is sex and money, because they’re loving something else, they want something else contrary to what God has said.

Now, the reason mainly is they don’t see spiritually about those matters. They don’t understand. They don’t see the spirit behind those two things, money and unlawful relationships. But if they really saw it they would flee it. But because they no longer can see spiritually, because they’ve been cut off from the flow of God’s holy spirit, they can’t see, and they can’t see the spirit of the matter.

So often when something is announced, unless a person can see the real spirit of the matter, and they go against that, they’re walking on dangerous ground. If a person does not love the truth they are deluded, they’re deceived. They’re deluded. It’s a delusional thing not to believe God. Where do you start with that? Because if a person doesn’t believe God, Almighty Creator God, and you believe something else, you have to be deluded, surely. That is total delusion. But unfortunately many have been deluded.

If a person does not love the truth, they will end up believing a lie. Now, when I look back in times past the whole system that the Catholic Church has set up is all about a lie. It’s all based on a lie. It’s a deception. There’s been billions of people that have been brought up in that lie—I was one of them—and you don’t realize it’s a lie. You don’t walk around thinking it’s a lie. You believe it’s the truth, but it’s a delusion; it’s a lie.

Verse 12—that they all may be condemned who do not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. So, here we’re talking about someone that has made a freewill choice. They have desired the pleasure that goes with sin. Because there is a temporary pleasure in sin, because it is temporary because if a person continues down that path seeking that pleasure that is in behind that sin, no matter what it is, whether it’s self-gratification or whether it’s about self and whatever it is in regard to pleasing self or making personal choices that magnify the self (pride), it will lead to something. It leads to death. We understand.

The truth is righteousness because God is the one who gives truth. So, the truth is righteousness. It’s how we can become righteous because we believe God. We understand; we’ve heard scriptures on those things.

There is a temporary pleasure in sin because self gains a pleasure. Generally, if it’s not a physical one, it’s something to do with the mind, that it elevates self or lifts self up in the eyes of others.

To not believe God is sin. If we don’t believe the truth that God is giving us, the present truth that is given to us, if we don’t believe it there is sin involved in our life. Sin will cut us off from the flow of God’s holy spirit and at some point we will not be able to believe the truth. It is a dangerous thing to do, to work in an area of being unrepentant.

The purpose of this sermon is to help us to look at how we can love the present truth. We understand the first part of it is we need God’s holy spirit. The reason we are looking at this topic is for the purpose of strengthening our commitment and strength, our love of God’s word.

The title of the sermon is Love the Truth.

1 John 2:18—Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming (and we know there is more than one), even now many antichrists have come, by this we know that it is the last hour. So, we know that we are in the end-time. We are at the last hour because there had been many antichrists. To be anti-Christ, we understand a person had to have been called and have Joshua the Messiah and God the Father dwell in them. Well, when they become anti-Christ, they’re against Christ, what Christ is setting out to achieve—through God the Father, a calling, Christ as the High Priest working with the Body of Christ, the Church, to develop Elohim. So, a person becomes anti-Christ; they won’t allow God and Christ to live and dwell in them, have their minds transformed is another way to put it.

Now, this aspect of anti-Christ, someone becoming anti-Christ is actually being fulfilled before our very eyes because we have seen many leave our fellowship. We have seen many become anti (against) Christ.

I remember one time (it was in another country), and I did mention that certain people had left the fellowship and that a particular person had become anti-Christ. At that time there was another person at the particular service, and they went and told the person who had left the Body and said that I had said that that person was anti-Christ. The person became upset. But that is the truth. If we leave the Body of Christ over whatever it may be, the lack of love of the truth and all the other reasons that people give, which are all connected to lacking the love of the truth or not having the love of the truth. They’re cut off from the flow of God’s holy spirit. A person becomes anti-Christ because they won’t allow Christ and Yahweh Elohim through the power of His holy spirit to live in them so that the mind can be transformed, so that then they can be saved. So, they are anti-Christ. We have to be very careful that we don’t become antichrist.

Verse 19—They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. They’d be here today. But they went out that they might be made manifest (revealed) that none of them were with us. So, they weren’t with us because they have stopped at some point allowing their transformation and they chose to go down the path of a deception or a sin, and therefore, they became anti-Christ. Those that left or have left and will have left—that’s a choice—have not loved the truth.

So, we, brethren, need to grasp hold of this truth. We need to grasp it, we need to read it, and we need to see the spirit behind the truth.

We’ve had sermons about tithing, which is a spiritual matter. Tithes and offerings are a spiritual matter, that we need to see clearly why it’s a spiritual matter, and if we see the spirit of the matter, of tithing, we would be joyous, we would rejoice in tithing. Not the opposite, begrudging.

You know, God doesn’t look at the begrudging tithe, “Oh, I’ve got to tithe because I want to be part of the Body.” It’s wrong thinking. We don’t see the spirit of it. It’s like the Sabbath. If we see the spirit of the Sabbath, what it’s about and why God gave it to us as a great benefit spiritually—not just a physical thing—a great spiritual benefit; if we see the spirit of it all, why God did it, we would rejoice that we’ve been called to see! We would rejoice at the truth about this is God’s true Church, the Church of God. It’s in God’s name. It’s God’s Church. Well, we see that truth; we understand it.

Government. If we understand the truth about government, it’s a spiritual matter. It’s not just a physical matter, it’s a spiritual matter, and it’s about us, how we live towards government, how we respond towards government. God’s government in our life is what it’s really about. It’s about God’s holy spirit. It’s about humility versus pride.

So, there are a lot of incredible things that we should hang on to in the truth. We know we have 57. I’m just going to go to the first four because those four have been burnt in my mind more than others, generally.

Verse 20—But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things. This is not everything, otherwise, we’d be on all the quiz shows and winning them. Now, this is talking about spiritual matters, which is about the truth. We know the truth has been revealed to us. We know of those 57 truths, so we know all of these truths and we see to different degrees the spirit of those truths.

I have not written to you because you do not know the truth. So, that’s what it’s referring to. So, we see that John is writing, saying, “Well, I’m writing this. You know the truth!” We understand the truth and we understand the spirit of the truth, why it’s been given, for our spiritual benefit. We should hold on to that, and the moment we lose grip of the truth we know there’s an issue with regards to the flow of God’s holy spirit.

…but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth. So, when do we take a statement like that? We know (the world doesn’t), we know that Christmas is a lie because it’s not of the truth. We know Easter is a lie because it’s not of the truth. We know that the trinity is a lie because it’s not of the truth. There is one God, Yahweh Elohim. These things we should hold tight to.

You know, the revelation about being, you know, one God, Yahweh Elohim, in 2005, at the Feast of 2005, is an incredible revelation that we should just hold on to, just hold on to so tight and just be so thankful what we see it. Because the spirit of that matter now means we can worship God in spirit and truth. It’s an incredible truth.

Joshua the Messiah rather than the other name. The separation that’s taken place that we are completely separate in our thinking, that we know the true name of God’s Son. The spirit of that, if we see it, it’s a complete separation from the Church that’s scattered. It’s a complete separation from the lies that Satan has allowed to penetrate the world and the Church as it moves from truth progressively to what God reveals to us.

Whether we take it on board and grasp it and live it and implement it into our life, it’s our choice. But God has revealed much to us, brethren, and we should love it, and if we would just hang on to it we will never become antichrist, we will never leave the Body because we love (because of God’s spirit), we love the truth. We just love it; it’s exciting!

We walk around and often see how the world functions, and it’s distressful to watch it in some ways because the foolishness and the insanity of many things that are going on. Often I look at people and think I look forward to the day that they see the truth. There’s no point in trying to give them the truth now because they can’t hear it, they can’t see it. They can’t see the spirit of the matter because they don’t have God’s holy spirit because they’ve not been called to that task of making a decision yet. I have, you have, which is a great blessing.

But it’s difficult to watch. It’s difficult to watch the insanity that’s overtaking the world and what’s going on, and it’s distressing in some ways because sometimes you just sigh and go, “Oh.” It’s going to keep going on. There’s a lot of suffering and it’s going to be difficult, and it’s going to be difficult to watch and it’s going to be difficult to go through, because you realize suffering is going to be involved for everybody in the Body as well. There is different degrees of suffering.

The most important thing that we see, the suffering that’s coming that will impact us, that we keep our eyes on the future. We keep our eyes on the truth. One of the truths about Joshua the Messiah returning on a Pentecost. Oh, we need to hang on to that. We need to hold tight. No matter what deception comes our way, we’re going to hold tight. That’s our strength. The truth is our strength.

Verse 22—Who is a liar, that he who denies that Joshua is the Christ. Now, this is not just the words, this is about denying what the role of Christ was and how now because of Passover and because we’ve been called by God the Father and we’ve received the gift of God’s holy spirit, we now can allow Joshua the Messiah, same mind as God, to live in us, to dwell in us. It’s a choice that we’re going to make.

But if we deny Joshua the Christ in us, living in us, the transformation of the mind, if we deny it and if we don’t work at it, we begin to deny the role that Christ has as the head of the Church, which is to bring many sons to glory. That’s what God’s goal is; that’s what Christ’s goal is.

So, if we deny it, He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. So, this is about not being repentant. If we sin, which we do, our thoughts, our words, and our actions, there’s sin involved in our life. That’s who we are. It’s a hard, long journey to continue to see things, to see the spirit of the matter, to examine motive. “I always do that,” or “I always say that” or “I always do that or that action because it’s ingrained in me like that record with a groove and I need to repent of that.” Repent means change. It’s not about just being, “Oh, I’m sorry again.” This is about making a diligent effort to change the thought, the word, and the action.

It’s hard work, and yes, we slip; there’s many a time we slip. Well, the beauty of it is that we’re in the spirit of the matter, we can see it, that it was wrong, it was against God. Because sin is against God. It’s about the transgression of His law, not man’s law, His law, and therefore, we can repent, we choose to repent. That’s what this life is about, the choice to continue to repent. No matter what happens in our life we continue to repent. We don’t want to be what we are.

Verse 23—Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.

Verse 24—Therefore, let that abide in you, which is the truth, which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father. That’s a beautiful scripture. It’s about how do we abide in God? It’s about believing God, believing the truth, and looking deeper into the spirit of matters in our life and the spirit of the matter in a truth. Announcements that are made that are just doctrinal things or that are spoken, there is a spirit behind it, the spirit of the matter. It’s about love. But there’s a spirit of it.

Therefore, if we don’t grasp it we need to be very careful. If we’re just looking at things on a physical level all the time and not grasping the spirit of why a decision was made, we have problems…we have problems. Therefore, it’s time to stop and grasp hold of the truth and begin to look deeper into each truth, each 57 Truth, the spirit behind it, because God the Father and Joshua the Messiah have given us the spirit of the matter. Because of the power of the holy spirit we can perceive it, we can see it. Don’t expect others to. It’s more about us seeing it.

Verse 25—And this is the promise that He (God the Father) has promised us—eternal life. So, if we could just stop and remember this – and I’m guilty of this too, and don’t remember it all the time – the reason that a person is called is salvation. That salvation is about living with a family in Elohim that we can no longer think sin. This is a staggering thing, that we won’t have “the lusts of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life” anymore, that everything that is done is done because it’s the mind of God, the way God thinks.

We perceive aspects of the way God thinks and He has revealed to us this component that we see. We can see that in Galatians 5:22, I think it is, fruits of the spirit, you know, what we should be bearing out to benefit others. Because that’s God’s mind, it’s about outgoing to the benefit of others. Well, we should be able to grasp that and think, well, this is the way that it’s going to be in my life (that’s my hope), and your life. This is the way it’s going to be and that I’m going to be doing something where I can’t sin. I’m going to be in full unity with my family, everybody. There’ll be no opinions or views or debates or false articles on the internet and all that other stuff. Some is true, some is not. We’ve got to make a ruling but use God’s word as our guide. Well, all that’s gone and then there is Elohim and a Family. How staggering is that going to be?

Then we can take and say, well, that will never cease. That will always be that way, continually, forever (we can’t grasp ‘forever’), but never to sin. Well, roll on that day! That’s what we all desire, never to sin but to be in complete unity with Yahweh Elohim and Joshua the Messiah, to be in complete unity and not to be arguing or having a view or an opinion or whatever, but just be in total unity, to think the same. Glorious thing that we’ve been promised.

Verse 26—These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you. So, here we’re seeing that John is writing saying, well, there are others out there that will try to deceive you. Well, we need to be on guard, brethren, within the Body of Christ and in the world, both. Because where did we come from? We came out from the world to be transformed. Well, everyone is at different levels.

But is there deception amongst brethren within the Church? There has been often – often. And do people get drawn away and leave our fellowship because they are deceived by other brethren because of false doctrines or opinions or views? Yes, it has happened. It can happen to us unless we stay close to God, close to the trunk of the tree, and understand the spirit of all of the truth and the spirit of all the decisions that are made for God’s people.

There are many that are going to try to deceive us and that’s in the world and it can be in the Church. They don’t even realize sometimes they’re doing it. But they’re caught up on a particular path and have a particular view and want to push it. Well, the moment someone starts to want to push a view or an opinion we need to be very careful because that in our minds, we can get drawn away. We have to be very careful and learn to flee those things, learn to stand up for God, stand up for the truth and flee those things.

Verse 27—But the anointing which you have received from Him, talking about God the Father, abides in you, it dwells in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. We don’t need other people’s views and opinions from articles they’ve read. Everything we need, brethren, comes to us from Joshua the Messiah – from God the Father through Joshua the Messiah to an apostle, and he gives it accordingly.

Now, the spirit of those matters is what the issue is. We have to be able to hear the spirit of the matter and then we implement it into our life because it’s the spirit of the matter. Not just a physical thing, it’s a spiritual thing.

…and you do not need anyone to teach you, but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide (dwell) in Him. We need to take God’s word and implement it into our life, which means we’ve got to change the way we live.

Only God can give us or give a person the ability to see the truth and to correctly understand the scripture spiritually. Because there is many a scripture that we don’t fully grasp yet. We don’t fully see on a spiritual level or understand them on a spiritual level. Time, and over time we grow, and we see things slightly differently each time, and we realize when we first started out in the Body of Christ that we thought differently. Now we see things a little bit clearer on a spiritual level because God’s working with us to develop a new mind, a transformation of this mind.

The way God reveals truth to the mind is by the power of His holy spirit. So, we can’t see the truth, we can’t see the spirit of the matter without God’s holy spirit. God’s holy spirit is given when a person is called to repentance, which means there’s a desire to change.

I remember being called and the first thing that Chris and myself saw was that there was a need for tithing, would you believe. I remember (I think I mentioned it before), the very first time was that I realized tithing, so I started tithing first and second tithe and went to the Catholic Church and put it in the bowl that was passed around because I didn’t know about the Sabbath at that point.

First thing I saw was tithing and I believed what was being said (then was Mr. Armstrong on the TV channel), and I believed it because God gave me the power to see it. From that point my wife agreed, and we continued. Then it was the Sabbath. Then we realized there was one true Church. I remember my wife wrote a letter away then. Then it was, headquarters was in Queensland, and we were willing to move to Queensland to be where the Church was until we found out that there was a church in Western Australia at the time, which was miles away from where we lived, but that was fine.

But that’s how things start with all of us. We all start to see something and then over time we grow spiritually because we see more, we understand more. I look back and cringe at many of the things that in the first couple of years, the way that I thought or said or did things. I even cringe now of some of the things. There’s a growth that can happen to us all because we believe the truth and see it.

God’s holy spirit is given to a person when they are called to repentance, which is this being called to change, to repent, to change. Now, what do people say repentance is? It’s not just about saying sorry. Repentance means change, which always involves a change of action. From not tithing to tithing. To Sabbath keeping from not Sabbath keeping. To the one true Church. To a government which involves the truth. So, they’re the things that people start with. Then the others follow. Because these beginning ones are a foundation of a conversion.

Then a person is baptized because they see this truth and may have hands laid on them by a true minister of God (God’s Church). Therefore, without God’s holy spirit a person cannot come to understand and see the truth or love the truth. So, without God’s holy spirit a person cannot love the truth. Absolutely impossible. Because God’s spirit is what drives everything to do with the truth. Without God’s holy spirit one can only see scriptures in light of their current false religious understandings and belief.

Now, what is the opposite to the truth. We know that no lie is of the truth. We understand this world is deceived; they’re living a lie. Everybody out there is living a lie to one degree or another, just different lies. Everyone is choosing to believe a particular belief system and they implement it into their life, and they change to a degree on a physical level, now follow a particular path. But they can’t love the truth. Therefore, when we go through that scripture and realize a person cannot love the truth unless God’s holy spirit is involved, therefore, is there any real benefit in us going out and trying to tell people the truth other than what God has appointed as an apostle (that’s his role). But would it be any point of us saying anything at all? Because it’s going to fall on deaf ears because they can’t hear. It’s impossible to hear, and if they heard anything at all they’d think you were crazy, let alone talk about the spirit of the law.

We have been called, brethren, not just to keep the 10 Commandments in the physical level, but to keep the spirit of that component of the law. That’s what we’ve been called to. Well, imagine going up to someone and saying, “We’re keeping the spirit of the law.” “Woo, sure.” But that’s what we’ve been called to do.

So, no lie is of the truth. So, everything out in this world we see is a lie. There’s twists and turns and even if there is an aspect of a truth, like, for example, baptism where somebody may be immersed in water, there’s a component of that that’s not right. Because it’s not genuine repentance, therefore, it’s a lie (if you understand what I’m talking about). Not talking that baptism and immersion is a lie. But it’s the connection. There’s no genuine repentance based on God’s holy spirit. They’re not being baptized to receive the gift of God’s holy spirit. They may go through a process of being immersed and coming up and having other people do different things and lay hands on them and all that, but God’s not involved, therefore, it’s a lie. They’re just living a lie. They don’t know it, but they’re living a lie.

So, no lie is of the truth. We’ve been called to live the truth. We’ve been called to live the truth.

Psalm 119:158—I see treacherous, and am disgusted, because they do not keep Your word. So, the problem in the world is that nobody really listens to God. No one wants to listen to God. They want to go their own way. They have their own lusts, their own desires. Well, here we see that mankind does not keep God’s word because they can’t. They might keep some aspects of a physical component of the law, but they don’t understand the spirit of it.

Consider how I love Your precepts. It’s God’s precepts. They’re not man’s precepts, they’re God’s, God’s instructions. Revive me, O Eternal, according to Your lovingkindness. Now, when a person is revived it’s about God’s holy spirit. It’s the way of changing our thinking.

The entirety of Your word is truth. God can’t lie, God doesn’t lie, so all of His word is the truth. Yet man wants to twist it, to change it to say, “Oh, no, this is done away.” No, that’s all a lie. God’s word is truth so everything in God’s word is truth and to understand it we need God’s holy spirit. Then with that we can then see the spirit of why these things are.

When we look at God’s plan of salvation the spirit behind the law is salvation. God wants to give us something, and the only way to receive this gift from God is if we then choose to see the spirit of the law and then to implement it in our life. We’re going to look at a scripture at the end of this sermon about what God requires of us. We are to live the spirit of the law and in truth. That’s how God wants us to live and that’s how we should live toward God.

As you may see, at the moment, doing this recording at home, it’s always stressful. Not because of giving the sermon, it’s stressful because not really sure whether the electronics are all going to work. We’re getting it set up and hoping that the recording goes well and that it comes out on the SD card and that Audacity works and that it’s recorded and that I can send it away. That’s the most stressful time because if it doesn’t work it means you have to do it again, and it’s never easy giving a sermon twice. The main reason is I never get them the same. It’s impossible to do the same. It’s absolutely impossible for me. So, it is a stressful time when you’ve got to do recordings, and it’s stressful because of that, not because of God’s word. God’s word is exciting and once you get into the sermon I quickly lose myself, as you probably know.

John 17:6—I, talking about Joshua the Messiah saying this, I have manifested Your, talking about God’s name to the men whom You have given me out of the world. This is where we came from. We have been called out of this world by God the Father, placed in the Body of Christ, the Church of God. We’ve been placed here. Same thing has happened to us.

They were Yours, You gave them to me, and they have kept Your word. That’s what our task is, is to keep God’s word, the truth. Now they have known that all things which You have given me are from You. We believe the truth, the present truth that has been given to us was from God. We believe that.

Verse 8—For I have given to them Your words which You have given me; and they have received them and have known surely that I came forth from You; and that they have believed that You sent me. These are all things that were being said to the disciples but the same applies to us.

I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given me, that they or for they are Yours. We belong to God the Father. We’ve been placed in the care of Joshua the Messiah, and then we’re placed into the Body of Christ, the Church of God on this earth all for the purpose of being nurtured and believing God so that one day we can learn to love the truth by the power of God’s holy spirit.

Because it does take time. Even though we have God’s spirit we may not necessarily love the truth, the spirit of the matter, the spirit of the truth the way we should. It’s something that we grow in. As we do we then have the opportunity of salvation. We’ve been given over, called, given over to Christ for the purpose of entering salvation. That’s what God the Father and Joshua the Messiah are working at. That’s what God’s apostle is working at, our salvation – giving us truth from God for the purpose that we will grow, overcome self, and then one day we will enter Elohim, we will be saved from this, what we really are.

Verse 10—And all mine are Yours, and Yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, yes, we are, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given me, that they may be one as we are. Now, that’s interesting from the point of view of we can be one—like the day of Atonement, we can be at one—at one with God if we believe the truth and love the truth. If we don’t believe the truth and we don’t love the truth we are not at one with Christ or with God the Father. It’s pretty straight forward, really.

Verse 12—While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name, which is we’re in the name. We are part of the Body of Christ. We are the Church of God. We belong to God. This is God’s Church. It’s exciting! Those whom You gave me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the scripture might be fulfilled. Motive behind it. Judas. We can see there had to be somebody that was going to betray Joshua.

Verse 13—Now, I come to You, God, talking about Christ coming to God, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. So, there is a joy that is connected to the truth. If we just meditate on the truth, any one of the 57 Truths, and just look at the spirit of why that was given, and the joy that comes with it.

When you look at the name “Joshua the Messiah,” and the joy that has been received by the Church (because they love the truth), that that is a joyous thing to see that separation take place and that has been revealed to us. The freedom that we have been given, that part, yet alone one God, Yahweh Elohim. Just incredible things that we can receive, and we can have great joy in rejoicing in these things.

Verse 14—I have given them Your name; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. We’re not of the world, brethren, we believe something completely different. We’re not involved in the world’s things. We shouldn’t be. We don’t desire any of those world things. We shouldn’t. They’re the things we should be cutting off and fleeing. If we turn to the truth, learn to love the truth in a deeper way we will learn to flee these things.

And we’re not of the world. We don’t want anything to do with the world. We want it all over and done with. We want the return of Joshua the Messiah and 144,000 so that the world can be freed from the suffering that it is now enduring under Satan’s rule, under the deception, the lies. It’s horrendous what they’re going through and what mankind is going to have to suffer. Because mankind hasn’t been called to something we have, hence we should be really very thankful, very joyous, rejoicing because of what God has done for us in calling us.

Verse 15—I do not pray that You (God the Father) should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. It’s something that we want. We don’t want Satan or his demons around us. We don’t want anything to do with his deceptions and his lies. We are in this world. We’re not going to be taken out of this world. We’re not going to be taken to a so called “place of safety” where you’re just molly coddled and you’re just there.

I used to believe in a place of safety, as the Church taught a place of safety, and there was a point of time that it was believed that was in Petra, just out of Jordan, and that we would get there. Never really got into, never heard much about how we’d ever get there but anyway. I used to always say, I had a joke because I knew that at that point in time that there would be others above us in the caves up above and we’d be down on the bottom and every morning when they swept out their little cave and the dust fell down that I’d be copping all this dust. I always knew that we’d be at the bottom. We looked forward to being at the bottom and that that’s what was going to happen.

I came to see that no, our protection, our place of safety is God. God can do anything. God can save us from anything, and we should believe that from the point of view if we just look at scripture and we know that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were thrown into a fiery furnace and it was heated up seven times hotter, and they were protected.

Well, we’re the same, brethren. We are God’s people, we belong to the Body of Christ, and whatever is the best thing for us spiritually, that’s what’s going to happen. It may involve some physical suffering but that may be the best thing for us because it’s about a spiritual growth not about a physical protection. It’s about a spiritual growth.

Some of us may suffer more than others. We’ll just have to wait and see. Whatever it is, we will do what God requires us to do. We will hold on to the truth and we will love the truth and we will die in the truth. That’s what our commitment is.

Verse 15—I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that you should keep them from the evil one. We don’t want anything to do with Satan.

Verse 16—They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. We’re not of the world, brethren, we believe the truth and we love the truth. Sanctify them, set them apart, Sanctify them by Your truth, by God the Father’s truth; 57 of them in the Church. There’s many more aspects connected to those truths, as we understand. There is much more.

Your word is truth. So, we are set aside by the word of God because of the logos of God. Because we see it, because we have God’s spirit, and we believe it, and we implement it into our life and we desire to be different, to overcome this human nature that we have.

We are set aside by the truth. God’s word, that’s what sets us aside. That’s why when we change, we change to tithing and giving offerings, from what we would do, stealing from God. We now are not going to steal from God. We’re going to now be Sabbath keepers; the spirit of the Sabbath, we’re going to keep that. We’re now going to yield our desires to God’s government. That’s what we’re going to do. We’re set aside by God’s word and when God’s word is given to us and a direction through His government, that’s what we yield to. We don’t resist it; we don’t fight it and have our own view or opinion. We go, “Oh, okay. I’m in God’s hands. I’m in God’s hands.”

I often think about people worried about different aspects of injections and that and if you read about the apostle Paul one time, and he was bitten by a snake, grabbed it and just threw it away and just kept on going. Venomous snake. So, we need to put a lot of things in perspective. Do we really, really, really believe that we have put our life in God’s hands? Do we really believe that? Do we really believe it? Only the individual can answer that question. Only the individual can answer that question.

As You sent me into the world, I also sent them into the world. Well, we live in the world. The disciples had a different task. They were sent out to proselyte in the sense of preach, not to proselyte to get conversion but to spread the word of God. (Shouldn’t have used that word maybe, the proselyte part, because it’s very protestant.) This is about the word of God, and when you look at the books it’s all about (that have been written), it’s about the word of God. It’s God’s word being given out to mankind and the normal reaction from mankind.

And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified by the truth. So, we’ve been given the truth, brethren, and whether we love it depends on our ability to desire to love it because God’s spirit is available to us, but we’ve got to want God’s spirit to be able to see it, to love it so that we will give up our life, if that’s what is required, because we love the truth. There have been many before us that have had to give up their life as a demonstration of their love for the truth.

Before our calling we all lived a lie. We all lived a lie.

Deuteronomy 4:1—Now, O Israel, this is physical Israel, we are spiritual Israel, listen to the statutes and judgments which I teach you to observe, that you may live, and go in and possess the land which the LORD God of your fathers is giving you. Well, God is desiring to give us something, which is salvation, which is life in Elohim.

You shall not add to the word which I command you. So, this is something that is a warning here, that when something is given to us through God’s government we have to be very careful not to go adding to it to make it something that it’s not, nor take from it. Now, taking from it means to alter it so that it sounds different or maybe, you know, maybe it’s this way or that way. No, we need to be very careful about the way that we handle the word of God and the directions that are given by His Church.

…that you may keep the commandments of the Eternal your God which I command you. Your eyes have seen what the LORD did in Baal Peor; for the LORD your God has destroyed from among you all the men who followed Baal Peor. Now, this is something about Baal Peor, we understand, the false gods.

We have to be very careful that we’re not setting up something else as an idol, which is a false God, something else that we are serving ahead of Yahweh Elohim, that we’re not trying to alter things, alter the truth, or alter things that are said so that it suits us. Because the end of that will be our destruction, whether it’s physically at this time and potentially spiritually in the end.

But you who held fast to the Eternal your God are alive today, every one of you. That’s a beautiful scripture too, brethren, when we realize that our trust is in God. We trust in God, that we put our trust in God no matter what happens to us. There are many physical things that happen, and we don’t see what God is really doing with us. It’s like a test on the truth. We don’t see, we just sort of live through that. But later on we might see it. Well, here it says, we’ve held fast to God and His word, and therefore, we’re alive today spiritually. So, there are many that are not alive today spiritually because they haven’t held on to the love of the truth.

Surely I have taught you statutes and judgments, just as the LORD your God commanded me, that you should act according to them in the land which you go to possess. Therefore, be careful to observe them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples. This is something that will be fulfilled in us. At the moment we, because of the way we live and what we believe, it is not seen as being wisdom and understanding. But there’s going to come a time where people will say, “Ah ha, boy, were you wise.”

Well, we understand wisdom is about God’s word. God’s word, God is wise, and God gives us the wisdom through the power of His holy spirit. In other words, we believe the word.

…who will hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. There’s going to come a time when the Church of God, those that live on into the Millennium and are then in the communities, they’re going to turn around and say, “Ah, what a great Church this was. Look how wise they were in believing the truth, believing God. Look how wise! Look at the understanding they had. The spirit of law – look at the understanding because they understood the spirit of a matter. They looked at motive and intent; not just the law, the spirit of the law.” That’s the credit that can be given to God’s people because of the power of God’s holy spirit, not take to self but the power of God’s holy spirit.

We all understand that we don’t see, we don’t understand, we don’t have wisdom without God. God gives us all of these things and we should take none of it to our self. It all belongs to God. And how thankful we should be that we see the spirit of the law, the spirit of a matter. If we do see it we should rejoice before God for that very fact and be joyous because it’s an incredible thing because out of the seven billion people there are very few that see the spirit of the law.

For what great nation is there that has God so near to it, as the LORD our God is to us, for whatever reason we may call upon Him? So, we can call on God any time we want to. We are His people. God loves us. God desires to give us something, the issue is us.

And what great nation is there that has such statutes and righteous judgments as are in all His law which I set before you this day? So, all that the truth that we have, all the guidance that we’re given by God’s Church, what a great opportunity we have. One day it’ll be seen for what it really is, an incredible blessing that God has given to His people. But at the moment there are many that have lost this and walked away from it. What a great blessing they had and opportunity they had but walked away because of sin.

Only take heed to yourself, and diligently keep yourself. Great instruction. “Only take heed to yourself,” be careful, “and diligently keep yourself.” Be careful. …lest you forget the things your eyes have seen. We forget the truth, we forget our calling, because it’s dangerous when we do these things. …and lest they depart from your heart (your mind, your thinking) all the days of your life. And teach them to your children and your grandchildren.

This is a time for Israel, but for us we look at it spiritually and say we need to be careful not to forget the things our eyes have seen. Now they were talking about physical things that Israel saw about parting the Red Sea and water coming out of a rock and different things like that, and manna. But for us, brethren, what have our eyes seen? We see the truth. We see it. We’ve got to be careful not to let these things depart from us.

If the opportunity is there and given to us, we should teach our children and our grandchildren if that opportunity is right. There’s a lot said in that because there is a time when we may not have access to be able to do it. But there may be environments and the opportunity to do it but there are lots to weigh up there about whether a person would or wouldn’t.

…especially concerning the day you stood before the LORD your God in Horeb, when the LORD said to me, Gather the people to Me, and I will let them hear your words, that they may learn to fear Me all the days they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children. Now, this was an opportunity we have every Sabbath, brethren, and to hear spiritually. It’s more magnified on the Sabbath, but we can do it during the week, as we know. We can hear all the sermons or listen to sermons again and concentrate on it to grasp more on a spiritual level. That’s something that a person has to do on a physical level and to make that choice.

I’ll just go back. There are a few scriptures I wanted to cover. I haven’t got a far as I had hoped to get. We’ll just go to Joshua 24:14—Now, therefore, fear the Eternal, serve Him in sincerity. So, it’s about being genuine, because sincerity is someone who’s really genuine. It’s not an act. It’s not trying to please others. It’s not trying to be built up. There is no pride involved. It’s somebody who’s really sincere. Now, we have this opportunity because we have God’s spirit.

…and in truth. So, we’re to respect God because the word “fear” is not about being terrified of Him, but it’s about respect God, listen to His word, listen to the directions, instructions that are given to us from God, “and serve Him,” we’re to serve Him in the sense of we are to obey Him and yield to Him, commit our minds and our thinking, and our life to God, in sincerity and in truth, and put away gods which your fathers served on the other side of the river and in Egypt. Serve the Eternal!

Now, we have already put away the idols of our fathers, the past that we had, because we were called. But there may be things there that we’re still putting before God, this idolatry that we have when we sin. We put something else before God and it’s generally our selfishness or the pleasing of self in the mind and pride. But we’re to put those things away, and that’s called repentance. We’ve got to continue to do that our whole life.

Verse 15—And if it seems evil to you to serve the Eternal, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve. We have to choose each day who we’re going to serve. We’re going to believe the truth or we’re not. …whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the river, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Eternal. Well, that’s the decision we have made. If we’re here today we have already made this statement the same as Joshua did, which is, “But as for me and my house, we will serve the Eternal.”

That’s what we’re doing every day. Every day we’ve committed ourselves we’re going to serve the Eternal; we’re not going to raise something else up, and if we do because of habit and this natural carnal mind that we have, we’ve got to repent of that and acknowledge it before God, “I’ve done it again. I don’t want to be like this. I don’t want to do that. I want to serve You and I want to be in Elohim. I want to be in Elohim. I want to never sin again. I want to be able to help other people.” That’s what I want. That’s what we should be praying.

Verse 16—So the people answered and said, Far be it from us that we should forsake the LORD and serve other gods. Now, this is Israel, of course, physical, they didn’t have God’s spirit. …for the Eternal our God is He who brought us and our fathers out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, who did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way that we went and among all the people through whom we passed. So, they were saying, “Well, yes, God has protected us, He called us out of Egypt, and all this wandering that we’ve done and all the lands we’ve been through, God has protected us. Yeah, of course we will serve God.” Well, we know that they couldn’t on a spiritual level.

And the LORD drove out from before us all the peoples, including the Amorites who dwelt in the land. We also will serve the Eternal, for He is our God. Now, on a spiritual level we have to realize that we are wanting to drive out all of the things that are before us that are wrong, that are lies. We’re going to drive it out of our mind, and we look to God to do that. Because God did it here, and that’s what we want. We want God to continue to reveal to us our sin so that we can repent and drive those things out. Yes, we want to serve Yahweh Elohim.

Brethren, God through Christ has given His people the truth. If we hold on to the truth we can endure all things that are ahead of us, everything, no matter what it is as long as we hold on to the truth, learning to love the truth more and more and the spirit of the law.

We are required by God to love the truth that He has placed in His Church and even sacrifice our physical life for that truth. Now, not just talking about sacrificing one’s life to death but as we sacrifice our life by repentance we deny our self, and therefore, we are sacrificing our selfishness, we’re sacrificing ourselves because we love God, we want the truth, we want to live God’s way, and if it requires a physical loss of life for the sake of the truth that’s what’s required.

Obedience to God’s word is a demonstration that we love the truth. I want to read that again because it’s about what we do. It’s not about what we say, and we might read the truths, but it’s about the way we live. Obedience to God’s word is a demonstration that we love the truth. Because if we love the truth, with God’s holy spirit we will sacrifice our selfishness to live the truth.

John 4:23, there are a few scriptures here. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers, which we are, will worship the Father in spirit and truth. There are two things involved here. “In spirit” because it’s a spiritual matter, because we’ve been called to live a life on a spiritual level. “And truth.” It’s the way God desires to be worshipped. Not by Sunday worship and all those other things, no, it’s about living the truth, putting it into our life.

…for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. So, it’s the demonstration. We implement God’s word into our life, that’s the demonstration. That’s what God is seeking, for us to demonstrate that we love His word, that we love Him.

Verse 24—God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and truth.

Psalm 51:6—Behold, You (Yahweh Elohim) desire truth in the inward parts, because it’s about the intent. So, that’s what God desires of us. He wants to see what we intend to do. What is our motive, in other words, why we do what we do? Well, we love God, therefore we tithe, we give offerings, and we keep the Sabbath. We yield to God’s government. We believe the other things that have been mentioned in the 57 Truths. We believe them. We’ve lived them. We implement them into our life.

For example, you know the change of the word Joshua, to the real name Joshua the Messiah, Joshua the Christ. Well, a demonstration of that, that we live it, would be that when we finish our prayer we ask it in the name of Joshua the Messiah, not as we used to do. That’s a demonstration of that we’re wanting to live the truth, we believe it, we believe God and what He’s put in the Church. We pray to the one true God Yahweh Elohim. That’s the demonstration that we believe that truth.

You (Yahweh Elohim) desire truth in the inward parts, and in the hidden part, the mind, the thinking, You will make me to know wisdom. What is wisdom? The word of God, the way God thinks. Wisdom is God’s thinking. By the power of His holy spirit we can think like God. It’s a wonderful thing.

The present truth is what we believe at a point in time. So, there’s been many from Abraham all the way though where things have been revealed to them progressively and they believed God, and that was accounted to them as righteousness. Therefore, we believe God, we believe the 57 Truths, it will be given to us, attributed to us as righteousness. We are righteous if we believe God and live the truth, implement it into our life.

1 Samuel 12:20-25. This is about Saul being made a king, where they had rejected God over them and Samuel was upset. Well, really what it is, is we want God to rule in our life. That’s what it really is. Here is the opposite being happened to a physical nation.

1 Samuel 12:20—Then Samuel said to the people, Do not fear. You have done all this wickedness, this evil. It was evil to reject God and say you wanted a human king over you. When you know the truth who would want a carnal natural minded person over them? Really! We all want God over us, true? Through His Church we want God over us. We want our direction and His laws in our life. We want God over us. We want God. We don’t want any human involved at all because we know the natural carnal mind.

Do not fear. You have done all this wickedness, because it was, yet do not turn aside from following the Eternal, but serve the Eternal with all your heart. So, even though this was going to happen they have a choice to make. Which they couldn’t on a spiritual level, but physically, they could have done some of these things.

Verse 24—And do not turn aside; for then you would go after empty things. I love that. Empty things. Because anything we put before God is an empty thing. It’s temporary. It’s not going to last. It’s empty. It’s foolishness. …which cannot profit or deliver, for they are nothing. That’s true. So, anybody that may not desire to tithe or give offerings or keep the Sabbath, pursuing an empty foolish thing that’s going to perish. Everyone is going to die and the whatever they’ve been allowed to use by God is going to be used by somebody else. So, what’s the point of pursuing those physical things at the expense of a relationship with God. It doesn’t make any sense but that’s the human mind. They are nothing. It’s empty profit; doesn’t deliver, doesn’t help, doesn’t support, can’t protect you. None of that physical stuff can, but God can.

For the Eternal will not forsake His people, for His great name’s sake, because it has pleased the Eternal to make you His people. So, we’ve been called to carry God’s name and everything we do we need to be on guard that we are protecting and not blaspheming God’s name by words or actions. We are His people and God loves us. We are His people and He’s given us the truth. We’ve just got to hold on to it, love it, and hold on to it.

Verse 23—Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Eternal by ceasing to pray for you. We, brethren, need to support each other by praying for each other. We desire the best for everybody. At this point in time the brotherhood, the Body of Christ, those that have been called by God are our fellowship – our true fellowship because it’s spiritual. …for I will teach you the good and right way.

Verse 24—Only fear the Eternal, and serve Him in truth with all your heart, which is the mind. We’ve got to make sure we do it on a spiritual level by the spirit of the matter. …for consider what great things He has done for you. What has God done for us? Well, firstly, we have life. And being called, what a great thing God has done for us, to give us this opportunity.

Verse 25—But if you still do wickedly, you shall be swept away, both you and your king. Look at that, it was on a physical level. Look at it spiritually. “For you will be swept away.” If we’re not going to hang on to the truth and love the truth and we’re going to believe a lie and go off in deception and leave the Body of Christ we are being swept away, and an opportunity to enter Elohim. That’s God’s decision. “Both you,” the person, “and your king.” Well, who’s the king there? Who’s the king that’s going to be swept away. Well, it’s all about deception, lie, and a king of this earth at the moment, Satan. Satan. So, he will be swept away in a point of time too because he’s going to have an end.

So, brethren, we have been called to love the truth. It’s an exciting thing if we can grasp what God has given us and what He’s sacrificed to give us the truth. We’re special to Him, we’re special, we’ve been set aside by the truth. Now it’s our choice whether or not we want to love the truth, and we’ve got that power to love the truth because we have God’s holy spirit.