Orig. posted November 21, 2003
I want you to turn with me to Isaiah, the 61st Chapter, and I want to take maybe a different twist on it tonight…”For the prize that was set before Him, He endured the shame and the pain of the stake”.
He did love us, but that’s not the reason He went to the stake. The reason He went to the stake was because His Father sent Him–required it of Him. And the reason He went to the stake, according to the Scriptures, was the prize that was set before Him; a mighty prize. He had to be obedient to The Father. But let me say this to you: there was a time, there was a time when even Yahshua had a struggle with doing The Father’s Will. There was a time that came where He was going to have to pay the ultimate sacrifice. And He cried in the Garden, He prayed, and He cried, and sweat fell off of Him as great drops of blood. And He cried, “Father! If it be possible, spare me this cup.” (You know–Is there any way I can get out of this?) “Howbeit, Your Will be done.”You see, (blank in tape)
…the flesh, what we call happiness, it’s going to let you down, it’s going to tear you up, and it’s going to carry you straight to Hell. You see, we have a high prize set before us; we’ve got a mighty prize set before us. We know that Almighty Yahveh is, and that He is the rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. And I want to be numbered among the diligent ones; I want to be numbered as somebody who sought Him with everything he had; somebody who gave Him everything he had to give. There are “givers” and “takers” in this world, and we need to learn to be givers–there are enough takers.
Isaiah 61:10: “I will greatly rejoice in Yahveh. My soul shall be joyful in my Echad, for He has clothed me with His garments — with the garments of Salvation; He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as the bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, or as a bride adorns herself with her jewels; for the Earth brings forth its bud, and the garden causes the things that are sown in it in the Spring to spring forth. So Yahveh, Echad, will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all nations. He has clothed us with the garments of Salvation.
Let’s talk about “garments” for a moment. Garments are something we wear. Now, obviously it’s mighty important what garment we wear for what occasion, isn’t it. I mean, the little ladies like to dress up real nice and go out to the proms and so on and so forth, and oh they just dress so properly. I wonder how many dances a boy would get if he came in there with greasy blue jeans and a greasy shirt on. They’d say, “Wait a minute– what’s this dude doing in here dressed like this? He must be out of his mind!”
It’s obvious, isn’t it? Well, it’s just as obvious when you’ve got someone who’s laden with sin inside the Ecclesia among people who are trying to be happy. It’s just as obvious. It’s just like someone coming in with greasy dirty blue jeans on. You can see it, can’t you? If we can see it here, how much better can Father Yahveh see it there? Hm-m? See, that’s the reason He furnished us with a garment, because there is no garment on earth that is good enough or that qualifies us to be in His presence. There’s nobody who makes a garment that neat. Only He can produce that kind of a garment. So we need the proper garment for the proper occasion.
Likewise, you would be just out of place if you went out to an old oily, greasy construction job with a nice $200 suit and tie on. Just out of place. We have to be dressed for the occasion, and the occasion that The Father has called you to be dressed for is Eternity with Him. Come on, people, you are coming into the presence of the Almighty King, the King of Kings. You can’t come before Him in just any kind of garment;
He’s not going to receive you if you’re not properly dressed. If you’re not dressed in righteousness, He’s not going to receive you. If you’re not dressed with a desire to please Him and do all that He has commanded you to do, He’s not going to receive you!
See, I think that’s why we don’t see any more movement of Yahveh–I’m talking about mighty movement of Yahveh–today than we do is because nobody honors Father Yahveh like they ought to; they take him for granted. When we worship Him, it’s not like we’re before the KING OF KINGS! My, my my. He created us — how can we not worship Him? How can we not praise Him? How can we stand and be the odd-ball in the crowd and not be dressed in the Garment of Praise? When the wedding guest came in and he was improperly dressed, what happened? Huh? He was cast out, wasn’t he? We certainly don’t want to be in the cast-out ones, do we? So I think we had better get on the garments of praise. We need to be clothed in righteousness. The righteous acts of the saints ought to be our dress. That is the only proper dress there is to appear before The Father.
Listen, people — The Blood of Yahshua was not an unholy thing! It was not something to be washed in and then go out and live like you had been living. It was a Kadosh thing, it was a holy thing. The Father cleaned you up, the only way you could be cleaned up that would be acceptable to Him — by the Blood of His Precious Lamb! The Lamb of Almighty Yahveh. You were cleansed, and you were made righteous, and “Glory to Yahveh” you need to stay righteous! We need to be walking in that highway–that way of holiness–and we ought to be diligent about staying in that way of holiness, because there is a great prize that is set before us; there is a prize that no man can buy — no money on earth can buy it! It is a prize of admiration from Almighty Yahveh. He is going to admire you. I can’t comprehend that — I can’t comprehend that! But He’s going to REJOICE over you.
Come on — Man! I can’t think of anything any more exciting than to see The Father rejoicing over ME! It just blows my mind–I can’t imagine it–I can’t conceive it, but I know it’s true, because The Word tells me it’s true. And when I get to where I’m feeling like “Hey! This world is just too hard and I’m not having as much fun as I to have, I’m not enjoying myself the way I ought to,” I think about The Father rejoicing over me. Whoa! I don’t start enjoying myself, I get full of joy!
How can you not be full of joy thinking about The Father rejoicing over your walk here on earth? Um-m-m! It’s not going to happen if you are haphazard about it–it’s not going to happen if you are nonchalant about it. You’d better be committed by it, and you’d better be spending time with the Saints–Glory to Yahveh–because I’m going to tell you, whatever you spend time with is what you’re going to look like. If you spend time with sinners, you’re going to look like a sinner. If you spend time with worldly people; you’re going to look like worldly people. If you talk with worldly people all the time, you’re going to talk like worldly people. If you are just around worldly people all the time, you are just going to be worldly. Huh? Come on!
But see, you cannot be in the House of Yahveh with true Saints without some of that rubbing off on you, too! Come on. It’s catching, it’s catching; it’s contagious–you can’t come in here without catching some holiness–that’s just all there is to it–you’re going to get a dose of it. Either that or you’re not going to come back. Because, see, the problem is, when you are around holy people, there’s so much pressure put on you to be holy, isn’t there, because you feel like such a jerk, you feel so dirty. “Father, I don’t want to be dirty, I want to fit right in with Your holiness, I want to fit right in with Your people that You washed in the Blood of Yahshua and who are trying to walk according to Your commandments and Your statutes. It’s time to keep Your Covenant! Father, I want to fit in with them–I don’t want to have to hide my head, and kind of sneak around, because I’m afraid they’re going to find out something about me.”
Come on — you know what I’m talking about, don’t you?
See, it’s got to be our priority — it can’t be our minority — it’s got to be our priority. We cannot let The Father be an afterthought; He has to be our forethought. We can’t moan and groan around about how much fun we’re not having — because there is Joy set before us, and if we’re bent on having fun here, we’re just Hell-bent. If that’s what rules our life here, then The Father is not ruling it. You see, there has to be more to it than just “I’m enjoying this, I’m having fun”. There has to be more to it than that.
Peter danced and shouted after he got beaten and said he was shouting and dancing and praising Yahveh that he was counted worthy to be beaten. Whoa! That’s getting the mind in the right place. Yahveh will accomplish every goal of his; He won’t miss one. Now, there’s only one question about this–there is not a question about whether He will accomplish His goals, or not–there is a question about whether YOU will be involved in accomplishing His goals, or not. You see, we need to be yielded to The Father, because The Father has our well-being at heart. Now, He doesn’t have everybody’s well-being at heart, because there are some people who just totally eschew Yahveh–they don’t want to have any part of Yahveh–they don’t want to have anything to do with Him, and they leave this life not wanting to have anything to do with Him, and guess what–they’re not going to have anything to do with Him. And then there are those who come to Church every Sunday and every Friday night, and they live their life for themselves–they try to live it to enjoy it and have it for themselves.
And let me tell you something: The Word says if you try to save your life, you’re going to lose it! But if you give your life, if you let your life be spent for Him here on Earth, you’re going to save it. Now, that’s encouraging to me. Whenever The Word just jumps up on me with both feet and all the claws dug in, it’s good for me to know that, hey! If I endure this; if I endure this to the end, I am going to be in The Father’s house, and He’s going to rejoice over me, and somehow or another, the importance of what all is going on at that time diminishes, and I’m not near as badly excited about enjoying my life and saving my life as I was. How can you be when we are talking about the Creator of Heaven and earth rejoicing over you? If you will commit yourself to Him, and walk in His righteousness, He will accomplish every goal that He starts. He’s not going to be defeated; He’s a stranger to defeat; He knows no failure; He will accomplish His oath.
Praise will burst forth among the Nations–you believe that?–Praise will burst forth among the Nations! It has burst forth among the Nations, hasn’t it? Back when Moshe (Moses) walked the Earth, back when Joshua was on the Earth, it was not heard of that the heathen would praise Yahveh; it was unheard of that the nations would praise Yahveh, but today it’s not unheard of–today it’s the standard, we do praise Yahveh–we know– thank You! — that the Father said that the Nations will know that Yahveh is Elohanu. That’s good to me. That makes me have comfort, that makes me have confidence that He didn’t leave me here by myself. I would be destitute this evening, I would be as depressed as I could be if I knew there was an Elohanu, and I couldn’t get there. Wouldn’t that be depressing!?
“Thank you, Father,” that He made a way for me to get there; that He made a way for the Nations to get there; that He made a way for the Gentiles to come into His Israel. How dare we shrug it off and act like it’s no big thing. What an insult to Almighty Yahveh to go on and live our way, even though He gave us deliverance, even though He washed us in The Blood of Yahshua. We get washed in the Blood of Yahshua and live like we have not been touched with it–what an insult to Him! Oh, people, it is no small thing that you have been let into the Kingdom ofAlmighty Yahveh. It is a miracle; it is a movement of Almighty Yahveh, because you were separated; there was no hope for you! Somebody, stand up and shout “Praise Yahveh!” Somebody stand up and shout, because He made a way for us! He made a way for us! Yes He did–He made a way for us–we had no hope, and He made a way.
Thank You, Father! Thank You, Father! He made a way. And I guarantee you, anything on this earth is nothing compared to what He made a way for you to have! Um-m-m-m! Yahveh will accomplish every goal He set out. Not only will the Ten Commandments be in the Courthouse, but they will be in everybody’s heart, and they will not be grievous to them. Oh man, can you imagine living in a population where every being was keeping the Commandments… Whoa! Can you imagine how wonderful that would be?—Nobody would ever lie to you! No one would ever steal from you! Nobody would ever cheat you! Nobody would ever hurt you, nobody would ever curse you. Oh My! What a wonderful place that must be. HalleluYah! Thank You, Father! I want to be there! I want to go there! I want Glory to fall down all around me and take me to Glory. Oh HalleluYah!
I want to be There, I want to go there; I want The Father to rejoice over me. I don’t want some small rejoicing — I want a Big one! I mean, if He just lets me in There, that would be enough, but He said He is going to Rejoice Over Me, that I’m going to make Him happy. Um-m-m-m. Nobody will say, “It’s a violation of my rights to have The Ten Commandments” up there. Hmm? Nobody’s going to argue with Yahveh and say, “You’re infringing upon my rights!” Can I say something to you tonight? You ain’t got no rights! You’re a child of the King — that means you obey — that’s right — you have the right to obey, and He has all authority and all justice, fairness, and honor to do with you as He will, for you belong to Him! How can we say, “Well, that’s not fair!”?
Somebody told me in the hospital the other day that they got mad at Him, (well they said “God”– but Yahveh). How do you do that? How do you get mad at Yahveh, when He is the Creator of Heaven and Earth, He created you, you belong to Him, He has the right to do with you as He will. He has the right to put you through whatever tribulation He wants to put you through to bring forth whatever thing He is trying to bring forth in you. How do we know what He is trying to do with us?
What’s going to happen to you next week, Clancy? If we don’t know what’s going to happen to us next week, how are we going to know how to be prepared this week? If we don’t know what’s going to happen to us next month, how do we know what kind of tribulation we need today?
See, some of us need a heavy tribulation, because we’re going to have a tough time to go through, and The Father needs to put some toughness in us, and the longer you’re in the fire, the more tempered you get. Come on. So we need to be strong. If you’ve been in the fire a long time, and you just wonder when you are ever going to get out, don’t worry about it — The Father knows what He is doing! He’s building a tool just like He wants it and you have nothing to do with it except to stay in there and honor Him and Glorify His Name while you are in the fire. Oh, don’t be crawling out of the fire — He’ll pull you out when it’s time to come out. We need to understand, that there’s a rejoicing waiting somewhere — there’s a rejoicing! Oh HalleluYah. Nobody is going to say; “Those Ten Commandments are a violation of my rights”. . . they aren’t going to say that! They aren’t going to be telling The Father, “You weren’t fair to me!” They aren’t going to get their face off the floor to even look Him in the eye — that’s how it’s going to be. I tell you what — I know what it means to be in fear and trembling — I know what it means. If the Father was to fill this place up with His Ruarch ha Kodesh right now; I’m talking about His Glory, you want to know something, every man, woman, and child would have their face on the floor, trying to get their face through the carpet, trying to get through to the wood. They wouldn’t be standing up there, saying, “Well, I’m Your Saint, I’m Your Believer, and I’m washed in the Blood of Yahshua, and I just want to stand here and praise You.
“Un-uh. It’s not going to happen — you can’t stand in that kind of power and be boldly prideful and arrogant; full of everything that people are full of in the Assemblies today — and it’s not necessarily the RuHarch ha Kodesh I’m talking about. Everybody will be trying to serve The Father; everybody will be trying to please Him. Oh, what a world that would be!
Isaiah 62:3-5, 8: (Paraphrased) “You shall also be”–now you shall be–He didn’t say you were going to have a–“crown of Glory in the Hand of Yahveh; a royal diadem in The Hand of our Elohanum! And you shall no longer be termed “Forsaken,” nor shall your land any more be termed Desolate, but you shall be called Hephzibah and your land Beulah, for Yahveh delights in you, and your land shall be married. For as a young man marries a virgin, so shall your sons marry you; and the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your Elohanu rejoice over you. Ummm-m. Now who would not look forward and plan for that? Only a fool would throw that away; only a fool would throw it in the dirt and trample on it; only a fool would give up and say,”There’s no way I can do that, why I might just as well just quit.”
Listen–I don’t care what it takes, you need to get there — and that’s not always enjoyable, is it. Sometimes there are some heavy sacrifices that have to be made; sometimes there are some hard things that have to be given up, so that you can live for Him, pleasing Him, but you shall no longer be called forsaken.
Oh, listen to me, if you are in this room this day and you are of the Gentile blood and you are of the Gentile culture, you were called “forsaken”, you were called “left out”; you were alienated from Yahveh because of the harshness of your speech and the coarseness of your ways and the false gods that you worshipped; but oh listen, He said, “You will no longer be called forsaken.” Oh, Hallelujah! Oh, He said, “Because you have turned to Me, and you have sought Me, and because you have said, ‘I want to please You’, I have filled you with the Ruarch HaKodesh, and I have enabled you, and you shall no longer be called “forsaken”; you shall no longer be called “left out.” Brother, you can’t be left out if you are full of the Ruarch HaKodesh, you cannot be left out–you cannot be left out, if you seek Him, you cannot be left out, if you desire to please Him above all.
Oh, let me tell you something, it’s worth it, my dear people, it’s worth it to please Him; it’s worth it to sacrifice the flesh today–it’s worth it, that we might please Him, and that we might be called, “Blest,” “Glorious,” “A child of The King.”
Oh, HalleluYah; O HalleluYah! You shall be called Hephzibah. Yahveh loves you and your land. We just don’t think about that all the time, do we? We think about what we do for Him; we think about sometimes how much He infringes so much upon our lives (come on, you know what I’m talking about); but we don’t think about the fact that He no longer calls us forsaken, that there’s no longer a wall between us and Him, that we cannot get past.
And your land shall be called Beulah. “Beulah Land, oh, Beulah Land, sweetBeulah Land”. What are you wanting tonight? Do you want happiness? Do you want to enjoy yourself? Is that what you want–is that what you are living for? If you are, you are in a damnable state! But even more than that, you’ve got Almighty Yahveh to live for, and you’ve got everlasting joy in front of you; you’ve got everlasting fulfillment in front of you. Come on. Oh, I’m not playing — it’s serious, people — it’s serious. I’m not playing tonight–it is serious. Has to be the right mindset, we have to have the mindset that we are going to please Him, no matter what it costs us. If it costs us our life, we’re going to please Him. Come on. And, brothers and sisters, there are plenty of them that it did cost them their life.
Matter of fact, when you read in The Word, the word “witness,” (and the word is “Martuse”) “testifies of The Truth unto death.” Hmm? What’s happened to us? We’ve let the Greeks bring us a philosophy of thought in here where we just fulfill the flesh and we’ll still “make it”– I don’t think so — that’s not the Scripture, and that’s not what the Scripture says. Listen, you’ve got to give up something to get something! And if you hold on to your sin, and you hold on to the lust in your life, you are not going to get anything that The Father has.
You’ve got to give it up in order to get Eternity. I’m not trying to discourage anyone, but I’m going to tell you, if you go to Hell, you are going to Hell on your own, and I’m not going to help you get there, and I’m sure not going to make you feel good about it on the way.
Father Yahveh will rejoice with you. We will be in righteousness and fellowship, without anything to hinder us. There won’t be anybody who’ll get upset “because you didn’t speak to me Sunday,” “So what’s your problem–you think you’re better than I am?” there won’t be any of that. There will just be love, and peace, and joy, — righteousness. No unholy thought will come into your mind, because nothing that defiles will enter therein. Can you even imagine it? I can’t. I told The Father the other day “I can’t comprehend it; I cannot in my mind conceive a Holy, Just Elohanu, even as He is, bringing me, drawing me to His Son? Man, I was despicable before, and I know I had to be, yet He drew me. I wonder why He did that. Could it be that He knew the one He forgave the most would be the one that would love Him the most? I think He did. See, I don’t look around and say, “Well, what do I have to do today, Yahveh?” Hey, if He wants me to go scrub out the bathrooms and the commode, that’s fine. That’s the best thing I can do today; if He wants me to do it, that’s alright–I don’t have any problem with that. I’d even wash the dishes if He told me to. I know that’s a stretch for the faithful.
I think this is the blessed thing He said–of all the blessed things we talked about: “You shall be a crown of glory.” Um-m-m.
Isaiah 62:3: “You shall also be a crown of glory in the hand of Yahveh.”
Come on. Can you imagine Him picking you up in His hand? Holding you in His hand, and admiring you as a crown of Glory! My little old pea brain cannot comprehend that! But I sure am excited about it–because He said it, and if He said it, it has to be true! So, whenever I get all upset about the Father having too hard job for me to do, whoa, Wait a minute, what about that crown of Glory He said I was going to be? I think I want to be that, don’t you? Tell me again. I said, I think I want to be that, don’t you? I cannot imagine–maybe that’s why He said the mind couldn’t conceive the things He has in store for us. I can’t conceive His holding me in His hand and saying I’m His crown of Glory!
And you think life’s too hard for you? Oh, let me tell you something — You haven’t got the vision yet! You think The Father requires too much of you? Let me tell you something — you haven’t got the vision yet. You haven’t seen the prize He has for you. You have not seen the Glory that’s waiting on you if you will serve Him and be obedient to Him. Oh, listen, let me tell you something — if you get a beating every day, it wouldn’t affect you –if you got the vision.
But see, you have to get the vision — you have to have your face turned to him like flint, neither turn to the left nor to the right. But you’ve got to know what is in store for you. But you shall be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah; for Yahveh delights in you, and your land shall be married. We shall be a Crown of Glory in Yahveh’s hand, no longer termed “forsaken”. Your land will no longer to be termed “desolate.” You shall be called Hephzi-bah, and your landBeulah Land. It shall be a land of promise, it shall be a land of prosperity, and The Father delights in you. Now how much better can it be than that?
You know, Sister May could tell us about it tonight. She could tell us about it, and I think if she had the ability to come back and talk to us tonight, she would tell us, ” I don’t care what you have to go through, it’s worth it! Don’t miss it! Don’t let anything turn you from Him, because He’s worth it! Don’t let anything turn you from Him. He’s worth it.” We shall be a crown of Glory in Yah’s hands, no longer termed “forsaken,” no longer termed “desolate,” We shall be called Hephzi-bah; our land will be called Beulah Land, and Father Yahveh will delight in us. Wow! Doesn’t that excite you?
I like it when my wife delights in me — every once in a while that happens–but to have The Father delight in me–man!
Isaiah 62:6: “I have set watchmen on your walls, oh,Jerusalem; they shall not hold their peace day or night. You who make mention of Yahveh, do not keep silent and give him no rest until He establishes, until He makes,Jerusalem praise in the Earth. And we look at all the battle that is going on forJerusalem right now; well look at all the hard feelings and all the animosity that’s going toward that little old country. Why does everybody wantJerusalem? Because they want to make Yahveh out to be a liar! If that city, if that country, does not come back to what it’s supposed to be, then Yahveh is a counterfeit, isn’t He? But let me tell you something–nobody is going to stop it–there is nobody who’s going to stop it. Oh, one day He is going to come in, He’s going to walk throughJerusalem, and the blood is going to flow to the horses’ bridal in the valley. And know the only hope that’s going to be for you is if you are called “Hephzibah,” if you’re called “Precious,” if you’re called “Righteous.”
You who make mention of Yahveh, do not keep silent–somebody’s going to hear, somebody’s going to listen. Oh, listen, it’s time you quit running around dragging your head like it’s a horrible thing, an unmerciful task to serve Yahveh. It is a JOY! It’s kind of like working every week–we don’t enjoy the work near as much as we enjoy the paycheck, do we? Same principle. Ye who make mention of Yahveh, do not keep silent.
He’s counting on you to declare His praises and His Glory. He’s counting on you to declare what a blessing it is to be considered one of His. Don’t quit now! Don’t keep silent. Don’t let the Devil discourage you… I don’t care what comes against you; do not let the Devil discourage you, do not let him tell you, “You’re not going to make it, so just quit.” “If I’m not going to make it, why do you want me to quit?” He never worked for you before, why is he trying to help you out now? He’s not trying to help you out — he’s trying to rob you of your Glory!
Proclaim boldly the Goodness of Yahveh! Until either you go home, or He comes for you. Make no excuses–Father Yahveh has given you something to do and you know it. I don’t care who you are, you know what He has for you to do, because He doesn’t leave you without excuse. Are you doing it? Are you serving Him the way He wants you to serve? Or are you still trying to have fun? Are you still trying to hold on and live your life for this world, and the joys of this world? If you do, He’s not going to call you blessed; He’s not going to call you that. If you do, He’s not going to rejoice over you. I want that more than anything in this world. I want it more than anything. And that rejoicing is “exceedingly!” That’s like we call the “holy roller” — he’d be dancing, jumping, shouting, and singing.
I can’t imagine that. Can you conceive it — can you conceive it? I can’t conceive that He would be so excited about having me there with Him, because I’d be so excited, oh man, I’d be so excited, I can’t even comprehend it! Man, we’ve got glory to go to Glory in! That’s pretty good, ain’t it! Yeah! Got Glory to go to glory in — you don’t need to look like the rest of the world — you don’t need to act like the rest of the world–you’re not in this world–you’re different — if you’ve been touched by the hand of Almighty Yahveh, you’re different! You don’t need to talk like it, you don’t need to walk like it, and you don’t need to act like it, because you are far superior to that–not you, yourself, but what He has put in you. Now we ought to walk like He told us to walk, we ought to be like He told us to be, don’t you think?