Weekend Meditation--Grace, Grace!!

Zachariah 4

We are walking in today:  Weekend Meditation--Grace, Grace!!

Witness torah throughout the Bible:  H8451 towrah--law, direction, instruction, direction (human or divine), body of prophetic teaching, instruction in Messianic age, body of priestly direction or instruction, body of legal directives, law, law of the burnt offering, of special law, codes of law, custom, manner, the Deuteronomic or Mosaic Law

 Strong's Number H8451 matches the Hebrew תּוֹרָה (towrah), which occurs 219 times in 213 verses in the Hebrew concordance of the KJV

Nehemiah  8:2 And Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation both of men and women, and all that could hear with understanding, upon the first day of the seventh month.

Torah:  Genesis 26:5; Exodus 13:9, 18:16, 18:20; Levticus 7:37, 11:46; Numbers 15:16; Deuteronomy 4:8, 17:11
Prophets:  Ezra 7:6, 7:10; Nehemiah 8:1, 8:14; Isaiah 2:3, 8:16; Jeremiah 2:8, 18:18; Ezekiel 22:26; Daniel 9:11; Zepheniah 3:4, 7:12; Malchi 4:4
Writings:  Joshua 1:8,  8:31, 8:34; 2 Kings 17:13, 17:34; 2 Chronicles 23:18; Psalms 1:2, 37:31, 119:44; Proverbs 1:8, 4:2

Psalm 40:8 I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.


Zachariah 4 in its entirety key verse 7

Zachariah 4:7
7 Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shouting’s, crying, Grace, grace unto it.


Grace-Grace!

Today El Elyon is speaking to His people regarding their preparation to come into the presence of the King. Even as Esther underwent many months of preparation before she was brought into the presence of the king, so we today are being prepared for our King An important aspect of our preparation is that we must be established in El Elyon’s Grace. To understand Biblical grace, we must first unlearn some of what the theologians are saying. There is no "age of grace," or at least Noah was not aware of this notion. The Bible says Noah found grace in the eyes of the Most High! (See Genesis 6:8.) But let us begin with what most of us understand as 'grace.'

Genesis 6:8
 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.
The Scriptures reveal that there are not one, but two aspects of His Grace — one of which has gone largely unnoticed, but which is a vital part of our preparation.

Whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Rise up and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power upon earth to forgive sins, (he said unto the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy couch, and go into thine house. (Luke 5:23-24)

Two Aspects of El Elyon’s Grace

1) "Thy sins be forgiven thee" [The grace of Mercy and Forgiveness]; and

2) "Rise up and walk" [The grace given to Rise up, and Walk with Yahushua].

Here Yahushua is speaking prophetically of our resurrection life — of our "rising up and walking" in daily, resurrection life with Him. Thus we see in the above passage both aspects of El Elyon's Grace — the grace of His mercy and forgiveness, and the grace He gives us to walk with Him, in His Way.

By Grace Alone

We must first understand that there is no justification apart from the shed Blood of the Lamb of El Elyon, which takes away the sin of the world. Anything good that we would do can not add one whit to our justification. In fact, the Word of the Most High tells us that all our righteousness are as filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6) We must thoroughly learn that our means of justification is not from ourselves — and that Yahushua alone is our righteousness. It was this mystery of "Messiah in you" that the Apostle Paul preached, warning every man, and teaching every man, in all wisdom (Colossians 1:27-29). Indeed it is Paul who tells us (Romans 5:9-10) that, after first having been justified by El Elyon's Blood – that is, having been reconciled by His death, and Born Again – much more to be considered is that we are to be saved by His life — the life of Messiah in you. So we see that the two ideas of Grace-Grace and Messiah in You are intertwined

Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; yea, our God is merciful. (Psalms 116:5)

That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 5:21)

The Seed of Righteousness

The Lord has illustrated many Truths of the Kingdom of the Most High by use of word pictures, or parables, by which many complicated Truths may be seen and understood. Many of the parables Yahushua spoke reveal the two-fold nature of Grace, and of Righteousness. Yahushua plants the seed — the soil does nothing but to receive the seed. In this action of El Elyon’s planting we may clearly see the first aspect of Grace with which we are familiar — the Grace of Forgiveness. Yahushua plants the seed — the soil does nothing but to receive the seed. In this action of The Most High's planting we may clearly see the first aspect of Grace with which we are familiar — the Grace of Forgiveness.

Having forgiven us, Yahushua, by His Grace, plants the seed of His Word, even the Seed of Himself — and thus His righteousness — in our heart. There is nothing the soil must do, except to receive the seed
.
Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the LORD have created it. (Isaiah 45:8)

This pouring down from the skies pictures the Most High planting the seed of His Righteousness — Messiah-in-us — by His Grace. He has imputed His Righteousness to us, by Grace through Faith; and He has placed the Seed of Himself within our heart, that He might dwell within, and mature into a Tree of Righteousness within us. The second thing we see in the above passage is Righteousness that springs up from the earth, even as a plant springs forth from the seed that has been planted in the earth, and eventually bears fruit. This springing up speaks of the life of Yahushua, as the Tree of Life within us, living by His Grace. Notice in the above passage that both the acts of pouring down, and of springing up, are claimed by the Most High to be His own work; and are thus both by His grace — "I the LORD have created it."

And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday. (Psalms 37:6)
Light ("Righteousness") is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart. (Psalms 97:11)
For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Most High will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations. (Isaiah 61:11)
The above passages reveal that the seed is sown for the fruit, and that it is the the Most HIgh who causes righteousness to spring forth and produce the harvest. Thus we see again, that both the sowing of the seed, and the springing forth of the plant, are by Hashem’s Grace alone!


Trees of Righteousness

We must turn our attention to the mature plant — the tree. Now if the seed is called Righteousness, what is the fruit called? And what is the tree called? We know from practical experience that if we want to harvest corn, we must plant corn seeds. Likewise, if we want a harvest of peaches, we must plant peach seeds. The Lord has illustrated this principle to us, and tells us what fruit we can expect from His planting of the Seed of Righteousness:

Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God. (Php 1:11)

And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace. (James 3:18)

Now he that ministereth seed to the sower both minister bread for your food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness... (2Co 9:10)

Thus we see that the Seed of Righteousness that is sown in our heart is to eventually produce the fruit of Righteousness. Our focus now is the tree. Since we know that the Fruit of Righteousness comes from the Seed of Righteousness, what is the tree called? Yahushua tells us:

For every tree is known by his own fruit. (Luke 6:44a)

The fruit the tree will bear is the Fruit of Righteousness — for the tree is known [named] by its fruit.
To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified. (Isa 61:3)

Beloved, the Most High is talking about people that are called trees of Righteousness. He also tells us that these trees are those that He has planted, and established, unlike the tares that have been planted by an enemy (See Matthew 13:24-30). This tree can bee seen in another sense, in the following passage:

The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life (Proverbs 11:30a)

The Fruit of Righteousness

Now if we understand that Messiah within us is the Seed; and Messiah within us is the Tree — then what is the nature of the fruit that Messiah would produce in us? Let's notice the following verses:

He watereth the hills from his chambers: the earth is satisfied with the fruit of thy works. (Psalms 104:13)

Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates. (Proverbs 31:31)

That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; (Colossians 1:10)

This fruit, however, is not produced by man — it is produced by Yahushua Messiah, living within us:

Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God. (Philippians 1:11)

El Elyon’s Goal: The Harvest

Before we home in on our main theme of our being prepared for Messiah, let us first Summarize what we have seen.

1. We have seen that The Most High's goal is that the Seed He plants in our heart should be allowed to sprout, or spring forth, and mature, so that it becomes as a 'Tree of Righteousness, the planting of the the Most High.

2. We have seen the that there is a second aspect of the Most High's grace, and of His righteousness — that of springing up in order to produce fruit.

3. We have seen that The Most High’s purpose for this Tree of Righteousness ("Messiah in you," as the Apostle Paul puts it) is to bear the Fruit of Righteousness — for the tree is known (identified, or named) by its fruit.

4. We might say that El Elyon's purpose and goal is that the Seed of Light is to be sown in our heart, in order to harvest the fruit of Righteousness, which consists of works of righteousness done by the life of Messiah-in-us, living within.

5. We have seen that both righteousness poured out, and righteousness that springs up from the earth, are both claimed by the Most High to be His creation, hence they are both by His grace.

5. We have seen also in the same passage in Isaiah 45:8 that salvation and righteousness spring up together.

6. We might say also that this Fruit of Righteousness is the 'precious fruit of the earth' for which the husbandman waiteth! (James 5:7.) Likewise, we might say that God's grace is the seed that yields the fruit of obedience, as seen in (Romans 1:5).

Works Produced By Grace

We are told in the letter to the Philippians the following:

"...work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." (Php 2:12b-13)
Again, we must be reminded that it is not our own works that qualify as Fruit of Righteousness; these are mere dead works. The true Fruit of Righteousness is simply the works that Yahushua, as He lives within us, produces on His own initiative, with our cooperation, in obedience to His Word! (Philippians 1:11) Beloved, we must come to the realization that Messiah in you is not only your hope of glory, but is your only hope of glory — and your only hope of obeying, of pleasing and of delighting the Father. It is only Messiah-in-us that can do any of these things, so we must allow Him to produce the fruit of obedience within us!

What Would Yahushua Do?

Beloved, what do you think? If Messiah is living in you, would He obey the Commandments of the Father any less (while living in you today) than He did when He walked on the earth almost 2,000 years ago? Let us remember — Yahushua is the same yesterday, and today, and for ever (Hebrews 13:8) Our New Master has set us free, but we have allowed the old master (Hasatan) to re-shackle us back into bondage, simply because we have not been fully yoked to the New Master. Notice what Yahushua is saying to us today, in our generation:

"...Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition." (Matthew 15:6)

"...laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men...ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition...making the word of God of none effect through your tradition..." (Mark 7:8,9,13)

According to the above Scripture verses, it is Traditions and Doctrines of Men that prevent Messiah Yahushua from fully living out His life of obedience in His people. Just as it was true for the Pharisees in Yahushua day, so it is true for us today. Beloved, we must remember that under the Grace of the New Covenant, we are under no obligation to keep any of the things that please or delight the Father. The only motive for any New Testament action is our love for our Father — and our desire to avoid what Father hates, and to do what pleases Father — and to choose that in which Father delights (Isaiah 66:4).

So it was with Yahushua. You would not have seen Yahushua keeping the Father's Commandments out of a sense of duty or obligation, also called legalism. You would have seen Him, however, doing the mystery of the will of the Father — because he had been instructed by the Law [Torah], and because He loved His Father, and desired to abide by Father's House Rules! (Romans 2:18). Many pastors and Bible teachers tell us today, that because of various and sundry theological reasons, we as Believers today are not supposed to do a particular thing. Many Bible scholars today are teaching that various doctrines or practices are only for a certain group, or a certain era, and not for Today's New Testament Saints in a 'Time' of Grace. To that we should respond in our hearts, "What would Yahushua do?"

Roman 2:18
 And knowest his will, and approvest the things that are more excellent, being instructed out of the law

Messiah In You

Beloved, there are many Doctrines of Men that we have accepted as 'truth' that are actually hindering and preventing "Messiah living within us" from His own obedience to the Father. The Grace of El Elyon is present, waiting to enable us, as soon as our doctrines will allow us to obey. Yet many of us are still living our spiritual life as the disobedient son in the parable of Matthew 21, by not keeping the commandments of the Father. We continue to refuse to keep all His Commandments, simply because we have been taught serious error concerning matters of grace and of the New Covenant. Paul reminds us also that we were reconciled by El Elyon’s death, but much more we are saved by his life (Romans 5:9-10). According to Paul in this passage, our abiding, daily life of walking with Messiah, with "Messiah in us," is much more to be considered, than simply our reconciliation — our forgiveness! Like the Israelites, we have been brought out of Egypt by the Blood of the Lamb of the Most High The Israelites had been brought out, but failed to enter in because of disobedience. Yet we must still enter in to the Promised Land by obedience — by "Messiah in us" living out His own obedience within us! Let us recall this passage:

"...To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:" (Colossians 1:27-28

Thus we see in the above passage "Messiah in us" is our only hope of being presented perfect, and our only hope of [entering into] Glory! For two thousand years the 'Come-out' ministries have ministered the grace of salvation to the Believers. Today there is very small number of 'Enter-in' ministries, who are to locate the very small remnant of Overcomers, and prepare them to overcome, even as did Joshua and Caleb, who alone were able to enter in!

Shema Selah, let us consider this awesome teaching on biblical grace for this weekend meditation!! Facebook LIVE video