December 7, 2014 the great ShahMah Belonging to Yahveh At the end of Matthew chapter 16 ~ Matthew recorded what he heard Jesus say... and Jesus said... “Believe what I am saying to you, that there are men ~ standing here ~ that will not taste death until they see the Son of Man ~ Who comes with His government. And after six days, Jesus took the Rock {Peter} and James, and John his brother ~ and brought them up to a high mountain by themselves. And Jesus was transformed in front of them. And His face shone like the sun. And His clothes became white like light. And Moses and Elijah appeared to them ~ as they were speaking to Him. And Peter {the Rock} answered and said to Jesus, “Master, it is beautiful for us that we should be here. And if You want, we will make three tents here ~ one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” And while he was speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them and there was a voice from the cloud that said, “This is My Son ~ the Beloved ~ in Whom I am well pleased. Listen to Him!” “ShahMah Him!” “And when the disciples heard, they fell on their faces and they were very afraid. And Jesus came to them and touched them and said, “Stand up. You will not be afraid.” And they lifted their eyes, and they saw no one except Jesus Himself, alone.” Some of you are probably familiar with what the Jewish people call the “Great ShahMah”. Its found in Deuteronomy, chapter 6, verse 4... “ShahMah Israel, Yahveh ElloHeynu, Yahveh ehad!” ShahMah means “Listen” ~ ShahMah ~ Pay attention! Hear; Give heed! “Listen intently wherever “God rules” (IsraEl) ~ Yahveh (ElloHeynu)the Gods of us(Plural) Yahveh is (ehad) united into One!” This is the great central statement of Judaism ~ the “Great ShahMah!” The great “Pay Attention!” And here in Matthew chapter 17, verse 5... we have the New Testament equivalent. It doesnt negate the “Great ShahMah” of Deuteronomy chapter 6... but it stands in all of the same glory and importance ~ right along side of it ~equal to the ShahMah of Deuteronomy. Pay Attention, wherever God rules! If thats you ~ Listen Intently to what Jesus says! The Voice from outside of creation ~ speaks into creation ~ this Jesus, is My beloved Son. Listen Intently to whatever He says! Matthew chapter 17, verse 5 ~ up on the high mountain ~ This should be the “Great ShahMah” of everything that calls itself Christian. It should reign over action and attitude, and precept, and habit, and tradition, and teaching. Everything in the Old Testament should be processed through what Jesus said. We shouldnt make anything out of what Paul wrote, until weve processed it through what Jesus said ~ nothing out of church history and polity and teaching and tradition ~ until we have processed it through what Jesus said. We should make nothing of what we consider our personal Christianity, until weve processed it through what Jesus said. If you remember way back when we started considering Matthews testimony together ~ you might remember that the first four weeks, I started each sermon with this “Great ShahMah” in Matthew chapter 17. When we got into the “Sermon on the Mount” I pointed out ~ for weeks ~ that Jesus is recorded as saying “Believe (or “Trust”) what I am saying to you.” 29 times in Matthew alone. Five times in the “Sermon on the Mount” alone... like an addendum to the “Great ShahMah” God couldnt be more obvious in making this huge emphasis. Yahveh the Father ~ Pay Attention to what My Son says! Yahveh the Son ~ Believe; Trust; Stake your life; on what I am saying to you! Underline, or highlight, what God said in Matthew chapter 17, verse 5 ~ write “ShahMah” in the margin next to it ~ go to the front of your Bible (On that first white page) and write Matthew 17: 5 ~ “Pay Attention to what Jesus says” and then process everything else, on the following pages, through what Jesus said. When I sat down to write this sermon, I was excited to go over the next passage after this, starting with verse 14. I found truth there, that blessed me. And Im looking forward to sharing it with you. I hope itll bless you as well. Because I had hammered this first part of Matthew chapter 17 so much, back when we started Matthew, I was going to leave it alone... But... Last week I read an article on new religions that included this quote... “Hollywood is an industry focused on manufacturing deities, persona to be both revered and reviled, just to make a buck, like every religion in the history of the world has done.” Yeah ~ but not Christianity! ~~~ Oh yeah, Jude wrote about people using Jesus to “make a buck” way back in the first generation of Christians ~ and gullible Christians were making it profitable to be prophets even then. And yeah ~ Peter addressed it in that first generation, and so did Paul ~ and I guess, if the writer of that article knew anything about the history of Christianity... I could see how he would include what he considers “Christianity” into his statement. “... manufacturing deities.. just to make a buck, like every religion in the history of the world has done.” Power, Prestige, Profit. I wonder if the evolution of the English word “Profit” has any connection to the English word “Prophet”? After I read this article, I drove up to the office and sat down at my desk ~ depressed ~ and opened up my Bible to the next passage to preach on... and there ~ right in front of me ~ was the “Great ShahMah” of Matthew 17. “Listen to Him.” “... just to make a buck, like every religion in the history of the world has done.” Every religion in the world except... the one that originates from of listening to Him. Trusting Him ~ following this One ~ is tailor made to make you a martyr, not a buck. Trusting Him is tailor made to make you a prophet, not a profit. Theres something here, that is so much more than make-believe ~ so much more than “manufacturing deities”. Forgetting church, and church history, and church dogma, church gurus, church polity, church politics, and church property... listening to Jesus... paying attention to Jesus... knowing Who He is and what His path is... is more likely to cause you to have no pillow ~ than its likely to cause you to have two pillows... “Scarred” not “Starred”. And anybody who tells you differently is selling something. Have you bought into that other something? You better listen to Him. We better listen to Him ~ pay attention to Him ~ get our tradition, and thinking, and dogma, and precepts, and habits, and priorities, and concepts of success ~ straight from Him. ShahMah; wherever God rules. Does that include you? Does He rule you? Or do you rule you. We better listen to Him. Next SONday, God willing, Im going to speak on Matthew 17, starting with verse 14, and listen to what Jesus was teaching in this next teachable moment... “And when they came to the crowds, a man came to Him and knelt on his knees and said to Him, “Master, show love to me. My son ~ who is son of a housetop (“Lunatic” in the Greek) ~ has become sick. For many times he has fallen into the fire and into water. And I brought him to Your disciples, and they were not able to heal him.” Jesus answered and said, “O trustless and twisted generation. Until when will I be with you? Until when will I endure you? Bring him here to me!” Jesus rebuked the demon, and it went out from him, and the boy was healed from that moment. Then the disciples came near Jesus ~ Himself alone ~ and they said to Him, “Why were we not able to heal him?” Jesus said to them, “Because of your lack of trust. Believe (Trust) what I am saying to you ~ that if there was in you, the trusting of a mustard seed ~ you could say to this mountain, Move from here. and it would move. Nothing would be too difficult for you. But this kind doesnt go out except by fasting and by prayer.” Next SONday I want to share with you what I saw in that passage that blessed me so much. ~ Until then ~ God bless you with TRUTH and with the ability to pay attention to what He is saying ~ along with the ability to make God inspired application ~ with the ability to walk down His path with Him, no matter how out of the norm it might get. And I hope that as you search for truth, youll find Jesus ~ and in Jesus youll find ~ conviction, challenge, purpose, direction, equipping, sanity, family, tradition, comfort, trust, Shalom ~ all based firmly on whats true ~ whats real ~ on Whos Real The Master ~ Jesus Christ ~ because youve “Listened to Him”.
Posted on: Sun, 07 Dec 2014 06:26:52 +0000
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