Reading: Matthew 28
ASSETS, quite naturally, are greatly valued by people of all faiths, no less by those in the Christian church. We reason, again with perfectly normal human reasoning, that the more assets we have, the more successful we will be in the work of the Most High. So we judge believers by their assets: their talents, their intelligence, their wealth, positions, fame or their beauty etc., falsely assuming that these things are evidence of spiritual blessing. We imagine, again incorrectly, that the success of Yahweh's work depends upon these things; and that without them nothing worthwhile would be accomplished. This is false reasoning. It is natural and human, and we all do it at times - including myself - but it is wrong nonetheless. For the truth is that spiritual progress does not depend upon the above mentioned assets. They are extremely useful to be sure, and humanly speaking we cannot imagine how the church would function without them; but again I repeat: they are not essential to spiritual progress. They are useful tools in the toolbox of the Eternal and we can see Him using them every day in the workshop of salvation. But He is well able to finish His work without them. This is a difficult concept to grasp. And you will really need to force your mind to re-sort its natural order of priorities and jettison your old misconceptions. But it must be done if the church is going to finish the work around the world.
Question: What then is the true essential factor for spiritual progress?
Answer: The presence of Yahweh in one's life.
The heathen believe that there are many Gods: but none of them dwell with mankind. They live up there somewhere - far away from human habitation. According to the heathen, the God's are mighty, but they are distant. They do not live with mankind. You must go to them; but they will not come to you. A well known saying is: 'Even the mountain must go to Mohammed.' In the Bible we read the testimony of the sages of ancient Babylon, they said this:
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Daniel 2:10-11 |
"The Chaldeans answered before the king, and said, There is not a man upon the earth that can shew the king's matter: therefore there is no king, lord, nor ruler, that asked such things at any magician, or astrologer, or Chaldean. And it is a rare thing that the king requireth, and there is none other that can shew it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh." |
The name Emmanuel means 'God is with us.'
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Matthew 1:23 |
"Behold a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God is with us." |
Yahweh's presence is our best asset, the only possession that we really need if meaningful success is our aim; the one asset without which all others are worthless. Let us now examine the Presence of Yahweh in the lives of the great characters of the Bible.
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Abraham |
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Genesis 21:22 |
"... God is with thee in all that thou doest:" |
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Isaac |
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Genesis 26:3,24,28 |
"I will be with you and bless you." |
Notice how that blessings come with Yahweh's presence. Isaac's assets were the result of Yahweh's presence. They were not the reason for his success.
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Jacob |
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Genesis 28:13-20 |
"I am with you." |
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verse 16 |
"The Eternal must be here and I never knew it." |
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Genesis 31:5 |
"... But the God of my father has been with me." |
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Joseph |
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Genesis 39:21 |
"But the Lord was with Joseph and shewed him mercy and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison." |
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Moses |
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Exodus 3:12 |
"And He said: Certainly I will be with thee; ..." |
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Joshua |
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Deuteronomy 31:8 |
"And the Lord, ... He will be with thee." |
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Joshua 6:27 |
"So the Lord was with Joshua and his fame was noised throughout all the countries." |
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Gideon |
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Judges 6:12 |
"... The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valour." |
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Samuel |
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1 Samuel 3:19 |
"And Samuel grew and the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground." |
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David |
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1 Samuel 16:18 |
"... Behold I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, that is cunning in playing, and a mighty valiant man, and a man of war, and prudent in matters, and a comely person, and the Lord is with him." |
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Paul |
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Acts 18:9 |
"Be not afraid but speak ... For I am with thee and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee" |
Yahweh the Almighty God of Israel is not just with chosen individuals. He is not exclusive to the point of rejecting the company of ordinary people like ourselves. He will gladly come and abide with anyone who is willing to welcome Him.
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Isaiah 7:14 |
"His name shall be Emmanuel, which means God is with us." |
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Numbers 23:19-21 |
"... He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perversity in Israel: the Lord his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among them." |
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Revelation 3:20 |
"Lo I stand at the door and knock. If anyone opens the door, I will come in and sup with him and he with me ..." |
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Matthew 28:18-20 |
"... I am with you even to the end of the world." |
In the following verses we can see that the best prayer we can call down on anyone is to pray that God be with them. Consider these passages.
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Romans 16:20 |
"The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you." |
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1 Corinthians 16:23 |
"The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you." |
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2 Corinthians 13:11-14 |
"The God of love and peace shall be with you." |
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Philippians 4:23 |
"The grace of our Saviour Yeshua the Messiah be with you." |
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2 Thessalonians 3:18 |
"The grace of our Saviour Yeshua the Messiah be with you." |
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2 Timothy 4:22 |
"The Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit." |
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Philemon 25 |
"The Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit." |
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Revelation 22:21 |
"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with ALL the saints." |
Once we have been cleansed from sin and made fit to come into Yahweh's presence He will dwell with His people for all time. This is one of the greatest prophecies in all the Bible; treasure it.
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Revelation 21:3 |
"And I heard a loud voice out of the throne saying: Lo God's dwelling place is with men. He will dwell with them." |
These are facts we ignore at our peril.
July 1999
MatanYah Learning Centre, Duiwelskloof, South Africa
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