Messianic Viewpoint

Guest (Male): Not long ago, we passed through a presidential election, and the big question then and still is today, what is true news and fake news? What are we led to believe about things like politicians and votings and peace plans and global warming and masks and viruses and vaccines? What is true and what is fake these days? Sometimes as believers, we get caught up in the scriptures and we ask what is true and what might not be true even to our own understanding. We are then commanded to do as the Bereans did, to examine the scriptures and even though the secret things belong to God, the things that are revealed do belong to us and to our children forever.

So let us be patient and perseverant and bring ourselves as empty vessels to learn truth. The most important and responsible thing that we could do as believers is to carry that ultimate truth to others. We must never traffic fake news or false hope. To the Church of Philadelphia, these are the words of him who is holy and he who is true as it says in John 5 and we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding so that we may know him who is true. You know when we want to say something that is true, we say amen, amen at the end of a sentence.

But Yeshua, who is truth, is the only one who can begin the statement with verily, verily or truly, truly. He could make that statement because he is the way, the truth and the life. He is the emet and the source of all truth. So let's keep our search for him and his word, our daily work and rest in that truth. So let's tune in to today's message with Messianic leader Jacques Isaac Gabizon in the Book of Revelation sermon eight, Shalom, Shalom.

Jacques Isaac Gabizon: I remember before becoming a believer, I too, I thought that all Christians were Catholics. And when I became a believer, my family thought that I was going to wear a white collar. However, we as Bible believers cannot be associated with this denomination, with its history and with its teaching. The Catholic Church is very much what Pharisaism was to Israel. I meant this in respect to how people may often blindly follow the leadership without making a deep research on the scriptures themselves. The Catholic Church, as things are going today, seems to be the leading one into the Great Tribulation.

Already we have seen such a great departure not only from its own Vatican stance, but from sound biblical teaching when just a couple of weeks ago, we heard that Pope Francis indicated his support of same-sex civil union. And this man is the head of 1.2 billion Christians. And this was to be expected for this departure from the scriptures began way back. Let me list for you a few of these departures from the truth of the scriptures. It came in and it was there. We can begin with what we can call the sleeping pill of a doctrine on which will give a false sense of security to its adepts, the purgatory.

The one was taken by the way from the apocrypha, mainly from the Book of Maccabees. It was actually a new Jewish idea, but it was not a biblical idea. The Book of Maccabees says that we ought to pray for the dead and so both rabbinical Judaism and Catholics do the same. What is the doctrine of purgatory? You know, it speaks of a place of confinement which is neither heaven or hell, but a place where one goes after death and is there refined for a period of time before he goes to heaven. These, I want to tell you, goes contrary to the concept of redemption and salvation in the scriptures.

There's absolutely nothing like this in the Bible. Salvation is by faith in Yeshua and the decision for accepting this only means to eternal life with God must be made today. When Yeshua spoke of the afterlife, he did. In Luke chapter 16, he described the believers on the one side and the unbelievers on the other side and they were separated by a big gulf. Where's the purgatory? It wasn't there. This is how Jesus describes the afterlife in Luke 16:22. He says, so it was that the beggar died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom, the nice place, right?

And the rich man also died and was buried where? Being in torment in Hades. Okay? Two places after death. Abraham's bosom, which is today, that is what then for the believers because today all believers are taken to heaven right away and the other is torments in Hades. And Jesus insisted, insisted in telling us that there's no passage from one to the other. The words of those who were in Abraham's bosom is cited saying that the ones on the side of Hades, this is what he said to him, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot.

Not those from their past to us. There's no purgatory. Okay? It is as if this conversation happened just to tell us that there is no such thing as purgatory for it is now salvation, now on earth. There's no other chances. This is what we preach. If you believe this, there is a purgatory, then you don't need Jesus. You don't need Yeshua and you don't need salvation. Everyone thinks they're going to heaven and this is a great tragedy. This is also a teaching of rabbinical Judaism. They believe that after death the soul is cleansed for a year and then enters heaven.

There's nothing like this in the Tanakh. What this doctrine teaches is don't worry, be happy, you'll be refined. This is what is being taught today to 1.2 billion Christian and 15 million Jews. It's time we yell the truth. Another heresy from the Catholic Church that stems from early on and is still believed today is baptismal regeneration. That is a person is saved by baptism. Okay? But salvation is by faith. It's all over the Tanakh. It's all over the Old Testament. Another false doctrine is that of confession. Confession where sins are confessed to a priest who then declares absolution of those sins.

This is so foreign to the scriptures. Nowhere are we told to confess our sin to a priest at the temple, for instance, but to God only. Should you have offended or committed an injustice against someone, you should be going to the offended party to repair the fault. But not to a priest for no man can absolve you of the sin, neither can any man absolve himself. Another heresy is what they did to a nice Jewish girl, Mary or Miriam, as the Greek has it, but it's always Miriam in the New Testament. They elevated her as the mother of God and made her like a deity.

Okay? The Church of Rome declares that she was caught up in heaven without dying and crowned her as the queen of heaven. What is this? And yet another destructive and evil heresy. Okay? And this is what I want to put emphasis on. This is like history of the church from a Jewish perspective. It is the barring of Israel and her people from God. This is what we call replacement theology where the church thinks that they are the new Israel, the new Jews and as a consequence persecuted, oppressed and even opened the way to great pogroms and Holocaust of the Jews.

This is not a light matter, by the way. And the Catholic Church today did not change their stand toward Israel. They didn't change their theology. They still believe they are the new Israel. They do. Even though they say, oh, we love Israel. No. You don't. And I truly believe that this belief will be at the core of a great antisemitism during the time of the great tribulation where the prophet Zechariah says that two-thirds of the Jews will die. That Jeremiah speaks of Jacob's trouble. These are false teachings which are behind Laodicea. In all of these five points, do you see the common thread?

Common thread, the true mercy, grace and righteousness and judgments of God are obscured. And Jesus is no more the Yeshua that we find in the Gospel. But these things need to be put in their proper light for while they hold the scriptures in their hand and confess the practice of another Jesus. The Jewish community needs to know that this is not true biblical Messianism. Laodicea does not represent God. You know, I remember reading about Nahmanides, which I've mentioned many times. The one in in 1263 who was called to debate and defend Judaism against Catholicism. It's about the disputation of Barcelona.

This man was a great Bible commentator. In fact, I use his commentary very often. He is the one who recognized and accepted the physical appearance of God in the Tanakh. And when he was asked to debate, he was forced to look at the Messianic prophecies and we know that he had to go through these Messianic prophecies and he had to defend them. But how did he reason out the great gulf between the Catholic Church and the scriptures? He surely could not see the Christ of the Bible and the Christ they were preaching. He once wrote, by the way, he says the largest part of the church worship was monopolized by the devotion to the virgin mother, prayers to the saints and kneeling before their relics.

This is unbiblical. The Messiah and the scriptures could not be the Messiah they preach. How in the world would one who is familiar with the word of God turn to this religion? But it is not only the Catholic Church who is on this road. Let me tell you that many Protestants follow behind and more so today. I see them following the downward path. Church history speaks volume about the Protestant Reformation and while there are many good things, by the way, it was very much a continuation of the Catholic doctrines. Yeshua says to Sardis, Sardis who reflects the Reformation movement so well, he says be watchful and strengthen the things which remain that are ready to die for I have not found your works completed before God.

Though they broke away from the Catholic, the Roman Catholic Church and while many great things were done, Protestantism did not go that far. When I speak of Reformation, by the way, what names comes to your mind? Luther. But this man carried over in his treaties many destructive doctrines of the Catholic Church. He so elevated in history that we may be surprised to hear actually what he said. If one reads through the 95 theses to see what kind of Reformation he brought about, one will be sorely disappointed. It seemed that this man complained about the sale of indulgences, which in the Catholic Church is a way to reduce the amount of punishment one needs to undergo for sins.

And so if you pay, the punishment will be reduced. By the way, it turned out to be a very lucrative doctrine. They say that today the Vatican Bank has assets of about $8 billion besides all the properties they own. It is a paying proposition that Luther uncovered. Okay? On this one Luther was right on. However, this is a word that is repeated many times through the 95 theses. 40 of the 95 theses deal with indulgences. Okay, that's good. And we seen there that he so much at the Pope that he mentions his name 34 times, throwing at him all kinds of accusation.

However, to name just a few, one can also see that Luther believe in purgatory. And it seems to have been an important doctrine for him for he mentions it 15 times. He also believed the worship of Mary whom he called the mother of God. Furthermore, we won't forget that he is the one who wanted to remove the book of James and the book of Revelation, by the way, that we're studying today from the scriptures and also the book of Esther because it was too Jewish, he said. He also hated that book. Is this the kind of Reformation that we're looking for or that we thought it was, that I thought it was?

You think it was great. But the so-called Reformation went even further in their burying the Jews and Israel. This is what they did. Luther more than any Pope became a great antisemite, even promoting the burning of synagogues and even influencing Hitler to whom he was a mentor apparently in the words of the latter. This is the missing information, the missing link in the church history. Is this Reformation that church history is speaking about? I'm not saying these things with joy. I want to tell you that much, but all this information I believe is crucial in understanding the flow of the church today for the reformed Protestant church followed a similar path than the Catholic one.

It is following this path. Let me give you another fact about the Reformation which really brings out the words of Jesus when he said that their works is incomplete. For instance, you remember Pergamum? Pergamum's mistake was to get married with the state and this time Constantine deemed all citizen Christian a tragedy in history. They repeated the same thing. In Germany, and Scandinavia, the Lutheran Church became a state church. Everybody's born. Okay, you're a Christian. In England, it was the Anglican Church or Church of England that became a state church. In Scotland, the Presbyterian Church became a state church.

In Switzerland, for the most part, the the Calvinist or reformed church became the state church. But was not the purpose of the Reformation to sanctify itself by abstaining from the things of this world and to keep the church separate from the world so that they may bring the good news of the Gospel to the world. The saddest part is that while it began with a healthy separation, it made at 180 degrees. This is what I called the Constantine syndrome. It is also with some believers go back and back and back. It is about always having the desire to be part and parcel with what appears to be history, to be the strongest and most stable footing.

The only stable footing is that of God. We don't see it, but you need faith to see it. And these Reformation churches also carried many destructive doctrines along with them. Furthermore, what do these churches believe? Let me enumerate just a few things. These men dragged with them to this new era of church history that is the Reformation. Take the 28 articles of the Augsburg Confession of Lutherans who also is known as retained in 1530. Article nine says Lutherans believe that baptism is necessary for salvation and that through baptism is offered the grace of God. But isn't this also what the Catholic believe?

How can one say that salvation is by faith and grace and then say that baptism saves? Was not this the error of the previous church that began with Pergamum again who declared everyone and anyone save if they got baptized regardless of their faith in Jesus. We see the same thing reinstituted. Likewise with the Church of England and its 39 articles written also in the 1500s. In its article number two, it says the same as what Lutheran profess. I declared the necessity of baptism for salvation what? And article seven encourages the honoring of the saints and Virgin Mary.

And in article eight, it encourages the invocation of saints that is praying to the dead, something forbidden in the scriptures. God said through Isaiah, should not the people seek their God? Should they seek the dead on behalf of the living? That's Isaiah 8:19. The dead cannot answer you at all. Only God can come to your rescue. And article 10, would you believe, supports the doctrine of purgatory. And as a Jew, what strikes me is that they all carried the replacement theology, the barring of Israel and the people of God. They all did. I never heard this in the history of the church.

We have to seek for it. No many raise their fingers about this history of the church. Is it okay to have a Reformation without Israel? That's the question. I don't think that Jesus Christ will agree to this. Yeshua will show us with Philadelphia that it is a matter that was heavy in his heart. However, I do not want to share with you about the true Reformation of the church, one that brought so many to a saving knowledge of the Messiah. Now I do want to do that, by the way. You know, because there is actually a very bright light in this Reformation.

It didn't begin with Luther. The Reformation began way before him. Have you heard of the men Huss? One, that's all? Two, three? That's not much. This is the forgotten link in church history. John Huss was a Czech theologian who lived in the late 1300s, some 150 years before Luther. He also began as a Catholic priest and began to read and believe his Bible and brought about a great revolution in his time. He held opener gathering, teaching that salvation is by faith alone. He was burnt at the stake. There was also John Wycliffe. He questioned the established church right to temporal power and wealth.

He translated, by the way, the first complete Bible. This is great. The Bible is open to the people. He was excommunicated, but he's the one who got the right title of the Morning Star of the Reformation. To mention only these two is enough to us to see where it started. A path that leads, by the way, to the church of Philadelphia. This is where we now begin this section of our final study of the seven churches with Philadelphia, leading us to the next section of things to come. So then let us read about this Reformation church.

Revelation 3:7 to 8. We have just enough time to read these two verses. We'll keep on next week. See what it says. See what Jesus says. And to the messenger of the church of Philadelphia, write, he who is holy, who is true, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens, says this, I know your deeds. Behold, I have put before you an open door which no one can shut because you have a little power and have kept my word and have not denied my name.

Let's first pay attention to the meaning of the word Philadelphia. This word means brotherly love. Right? Philadelphia is found six times the word in the New Testament. It is as if this congregation was the outcome of true and persistent brotherly love based on the law of the Messiah. Do you remember how many times in the law of the Messiah were told to love one another? At least 12 times who are commanded by Yeshua and other writers of the New Testament love one another. I would tell you at the base of a well functioning and spiritually healthy congregation.

I believe this was to have been a vital component of the church of Philadelphia. Love begins among us before we can transport it outside. You might argue that I may make too much out of the meaning of Philadelphia and you might be right, but I don't mind, right? Because I want to jump on any occasion I can where I can stress this important point because it is truth. This is what keeps the congregation together. Following the parables of Matthew 13:46, this church correspond to the parable of the costly pearl which a merchant found and sold all that he had so he could buy the field where it was.

This is a beautiful picture of Yeshua and the love that he has for his bride. And so he gave his life for her. Philadelphia then is truly a gem of a congregation as it marks a true revival in history when so many came to believe at that time. To this group of people, Yeshua is holy and true. These are divine attributes, holiness and truth that are attributed to God only. He is the holy one and the emet. Emet, truth in Hebrew, in Jewish worship. They say that truth is a signet of God, the most holy.

There is one prophecy, by the way, in in Isaiah 10 which speaks of the remnant of Israel to the mighty God. And in the same prophecy it is described as actually the mighty God of truth. It says, I just want to read it to you. Isaiah 10:20 and it shall come to pass in that day that the remnant of Israel would depend on the Lord, the holy one of Israel, the emet, the truth. This is how Yeshua is described here. And notice what he says. He who has the key of David. Aha. What is the key of David?

This is Israel. The remnant of the Jewish people for it is with Philadelphia when they return to the faith of their father Abraham. When the church began to open up the scriptures, this is when they discovered the Yeshua, the holy one and the truth and this is when Israel, the Jewish people began to come back to the scriptures. As Peter who was a Jew was given the key of the kingdom to open it up for the Gentiles. Here the ecclesia composed of the remnant of Israel and of the Gentiles was given the key to open up the door to the Jewish people and they did such a great job.

In fact, this is another time when 250,000 Jews came to believe that is they came back to their roots. Finally, after 1700 years that they were completely in darkness. We don't know the history of Jewish believers during the time of the Catholic Church except one, two, three. I don't know. After all, did anyone think that a Reformation and a true revival of the church could be done without Israel? We will look further into these things next week which will carry us right into chapter four where we see the church raptured and in heaven and sitting on thrones just as Yeshua promised.

We will see them wearing golden crowns just as Yeshua promised and wearing white garment of salvation just as Yeshua guaranteed they would. I'm very excited, by the way, for next week's study as we see Israel back on the map again. Now to conclude, I would like to bring back to mind this story of the old man who just learned to read then decided to begin the reading of the Book of Revelation. What a great book to start and to finish with, one that speaks about the victory of our Lord and the great peace and hope hidden parts on the believer's heart.

I believe that the last thing our Messiah wanted for us, as we're going to speak of wars and and all these things, is to be disturbed and overwhelmed by the events of this world, by the news, especially today. News about rumors of wars, news about the climate change, about the virus which they can beat, by the way. He himself told us and this is an important verse. John 14:27. Peace I leave with you. My peace I give you, not as the world gives do I give to you. Let your heart not be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

There's a great spiritual battle being waged, I believe, right now in the world. They are incessant attack on the congregation and the values of the scriptures. But so what, really? So what? If Jesus, if Yeshua is with us, who can be against us? The first thing is that amen. Our eyes should be always focused on the Lord as we go through to the time of the Rapture. Remember Peter. I just want to bring you that story. Did you know that he walked on the water too? He did. He was on a boat when he saw Yeshua walking in the water and asked him and he said to him, Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.

That was bold, by the way, from Peter to say. And Peter did go on the water and walked on its surface, but it did not last long. Listen to what the word says about him. But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid and he began to sink. He cried out saying, Lord, save me. From being very courageous, he became very scared because why? He lost sight of Yeshua even though he was right in front of him, by the way. He he was at arms reach. Okay? Because the next verse it says that Jesus stretched out his hand and he lifted him up.

He was right here. While the wind is boisterous and things around us may go crazy, there's no reason why we should fall. If we keep our eyes again focused on Yeshua, we too can walk over all kinds of tribulations. Not the great tribulation, we won't be there. And we remember that the believer is seen as the one who overcomes, right? Seven times Jesus repeated these words, once for each of the churches of Revelation. Overcoming gives you the sense that one is aware of the ongoing battle against the word of God and against our minds. He is the one who realizes and fights it.

Amen. Let's bow our head and pray. Our Lord, our light, our father, we have seen through you you you word that you are full of compassion and so patient with with each one of us. Grant that our hearts might understand, might know, hear, learn, teach, serve and do fulfill in love all the teachings that that we have acquired today from your word. Open our eyes with your love, bind our hearts to your commandments and bring together our hearts in love and in all of your name so that we may never be a reproach to anyone because we trust in your holy name.

That is great and wonderful. Let us rejoice and be glad because of your salvation. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen.

Guest (Male): Shalom Ariel is a daily radio program emphasizing the Jewish perspective of scripture. God is not through dealing with Israel, nor will he renege any of the promises he has made to her. Our teacher for this program, Jacques Isaac Gabizon, is a Messianic Jewish believer and Messianic leader at Beth Ariel congregation right here in Montreal. If you've been encouraged by the messages, we'd love to hear from you. Give us a call at 1 888 685 5902 or you may write us at info at Beth Ariel, b e t h a r i e l all one word .

c a. You are also welcome to join us for our Saturday morning services. We are located at 6297 Monkland Boulevard, corner of Madison in NDG. The message is given in English, but we do offer simultaneous translation into French and Russian. Services begin at 11:00 a.m. We have Shabbat school for children of all ages up to and including teens. You may also download audio messages from our website at Beth Ariel . c a and enjoy other in-depth teaching from Jacques Isaac. If you would like to sign up for informative newsletters, log on to our website and add your name to our email list.

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