Program 113: The Gospel: Good news! Not good advice.

The gospel does not tell us what to do in order to earn salvation. Rather, it announces what has already been done on our behalf!

Welcome to WLC Radio, a subsidiary of World’s Last Chance Ministries, an online ministry dedicated to learning how to live in constant readiness for the Savior's return.

For two thousand years, believers of every generation have longed to be the last generation. Contrary to popular belief, though, Christ did not give believers “signs of the times” to watch for. Instead, he repeatedly warned that his coming would take even the faithful by surprise. Yahushua urgently warned believers to be ready because, he said, “The Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” [Matthew 24:44]

WLC Radio: Teaching minds and preparing hearts for Christ's sudden return.

* * *Part 1: (Miles & Dave)

Miles Robey: Hello and welcome to World’s Last Chance Radio. I’m your host, Miles Robey.

Dave Wright: And I’m Dave Wright. Thank you for making us a part of your day.

Miles: If you’ve joined us before, you know that at WLC we prefer to use the personal name of the Creator which is Yahuwah, or Yah. You might also hear “el” or “elohim.” These are Hebrew titles which refer to the Father.

Dave: The name of the son is Yahushua, or, more commonly, Yahshua. You can hear the Father’s name in the name of the son, can’t you?

Miles: Yeah. I like that about Biblical names. They had so much more meaning. Listen for Yah’s name in the following Bible names:

Hezekiah, which means “strength of Yah.”

Jeremiah means “Whom Yah has appointed.”

Anaiah means “Yah has answered.”

Dave: Very meaningful. Yahushua means “Yah’s salvation.” The Saviour’s name itself says what his mission was as the Messiah: he was, literally, Yahuwah’s salvation.

Miles: We’re going to talk about that today. The complete salvation that is available through Yah’s gift of redemption. It’s good news!

Dave: It is. But I think, more often than not, we get it twisted around in our brains into something that it’s not. We tend to view the gospel as advice, rather than good news.

Miles: What do you mean?

Dave: Well, let me give you an example to illustrate. Good Will Hunting is an American drama that was released in 1997. It’s the story of a poor, young janitor named Will who is a math genius. When Will appears in court for assaulting a police officer, the judge agrees to defer prosecution if Will: A) starts counseling sessions with a therapist; and, B) studies advanced mathematics with a well-respected professor.

Well, Will had a really abusive upbringing and though he starts his sessions with the therapist, he’s suspicious, angry … closed off. He doesn’t want to talk.

Probably one of the most emotional scenes in the entire movie is where Will tells the therapist about the abuse he’d received growing up. The therapist tells him, “It’s not your fault.”

Will kind of shrugs it off with a casual, “I know.”

The therapist repeats it: “It’s not your fault.” He keeps repeating this to Will over and over and over again, until the words finally start to sink in. Will’s emotions range from flippant agreement, to suspicion, violent anger, and finally heartbroken, desperately hopeful acceptance. He starts crying. It’s a really moving scene.

Miles: It sounds like it. How does this tie into the gospel, though? I mean, other than the obvious, that it’s not Will’s fault?

Dave: It’s how Will responds to the good news of the therapist. He’s been carrying around all this baggage, blaming himself. When the therapist tells him it’s not his fault, it’s good news!

… But Will doesn’t believe it. He can’t. He can’t get his mind around the fact that he can relinquish this heavy emotional burden. That it’s not his fault; never was. And this therapist, a man he has come to respect, is telling the truth: that it’s not his fault.

I see Christians doing that with the gospel.

Miles: In what way?

Dave: The gospel is good news!! In fact, the very word “gospel” is defined as “a good or joyful message.” It’s something to rejoice about! The entire gospel message is summed up in John 3:16: “For Yah so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

Miles: Romans 6:23 is another verse that captures the entirety of the good news of the gospel. It says: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of Yah is eternal life through Yahushua, Christ our Lord.”

Dave: That’s a good one, too. The gift of Yah is forgiveness of sin and a life that measures with the life of Yah. That’s good news! Christians should be the happiest people on earth! We should be so filled with joy, we can’t contain it. And yet, what do sermons, and Christian publications focus on? This wonderful, outstanding good news that Yah has provided this incredible, all-encompassing gift and all we have to do is receive it?

Miles: Hardly. Too often it focuses on the minutia: What is “appropriate apparel” for a godly Christian woman? What should we watch? What shouldn’t we watch? What should we eat? What shouldn’t we eat?

Dave: And the more conservative the Christian, the more that is where you’ll find the focus.

At least, that’s been my experience. I was raised in a very conservative Christian home.

Miles: I know what you’re talking about. My wife and I have a friend who’s from Argentina. She said that there was an elder at her church that used to stand at the front doors, and if a lady came and he thought she wasn’t wearing any hosiery, he’d send her home. He wouldn’t let her enter.

Dave: Are you serious?

Miles: That’s what she says. Anyway, one time a lady visiting from Brazil came to church, and this gentleman was convinced she didn’t have any nylons on. He wouldn’t let her in.

Dave: So what did she do?

Miles laughs: Well, she hiked up her skirt, clear to her waistline to prove she was, in fact, wearing pantyhose. As my Argentine friend rather admiringly explained, “Brazilian ladies can be quite feisty.”

Dave laughs: I guess so!

Miles: But this whole debacle illustrates your point, albeit in a rather extreme way: we get so focused on what other Christians are doing, what they’re wearing, what they’re eating, what they’re not doing (that we think they should be doing), that we take our eyes off of Christ and him crucified.

Dave: And when that happens, we’ve lost our focus, which should be the fact that Yahuwah has provided salvation full and complete for every soul that has ever been born.

See, the gospel doesn’t tell us what to do in order to earn salvation. Rather, it announces what has already been accomplished on our behalf by the gift of Yah's son. That is where our focus needs to remain. Always.

So, let’s talk about this. Turn to Matthew 12 and read verse 31 for us. This is a good place to start and so encouraging!

Miles: Got it. It says, quote: “Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men.”

Dave: “Every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men.” What a powerful piece of good news! It doesn’t matter how low you’ve sunk, it doesn’t matter how many times you’ve failed, the promise is that, now that Yahushua has died for your sins, every sin and blasphemy has been forgiven you.

Miles: Hold on just a second. This isn’t an “all-ness” statement. The exception is blasphemy against the spirit of Yah. Can you expound on that a bit? How do we know that we haven’t committed that unpardonable sin?

Dave: Do you still feel guilty when you do something you know to be wrong? When you’re short with your wife or cross with your kids, does it make you feel bad?

Miles: Well, sure.

Dave: Then you haven’t committed the unpardonable sin yet.

Despite how we refer to it as “the unpardonable sin,” the sin that won’t be forgiven isn’t any specific, single sin. It’s rejecting the drawing of the spirit of Yah, over and over and over to the point that your heart has become so hardened that you can’t hear the gentle promptings of the spirit. That’s what the unpardonable sin is.

Miles: That makes sense. Yahuwah will never force our individual will. So, choosing to exercise our free will to the point that we can’t hear the spirit drawing us anymore … what else is there left for Yah to do?

Dave: It’s not that Yah’s spirit stops drawing. It never stops wooing the individual. But we can sin to the point that there is nothing in our hearts that responds. It is possible to sin to the point that your heart is hardened and not responding.

Miles: Is there any hope for a person who finds himself in that situation? You know, intellectually, that what you’re doing is wrong, but you’ve done it for so long that the sin has lost its sinfulness?

Dave: Of course! I know I quote a lot from Ezekiel 36, but that’s because it explains Yah’s work in our hearts so eloquently. Let’s turn there and read verses 25 to 27. What does that say?

Miles:

I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.

Dave: Notice who’s doing the work here.

Miles: Yahuwah is.

Dave: Yahuwah is! He sprinkles the water so we can be clean. He cleanses us. He takes away … what?

Miles: The heart of stone.

Dave: And gives us a heart of flesh on which He then inscribes His law. HE does this!

Miles: Verse 29 says: “I will deliver you from all your uncleannesses.”

Dave: That’s good news! And it has all been done! There’s nothing left for you to do. Yah’s not going to force your will, so you do need to accept it, but when it comes right down to doing something to earn it, that’s it! It’s done. Fini. Finished.

Yah doesn’t ask us to pay the price a second time when we accept, by faith, the death of Yahushua on our behalf.

Get your Bible ready. I want to look up some verses. Turn to Colossians 2. Here, Paul is explaining how salvation works, through faith.

Miles: Where do you want me to start?

Dave: Uh … why don’t you start at verse 8?

Miles:

Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. For in him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in him, who is the head of all principality and power.

Dave: It is manmade traditions and philosophies that say you have to focus on what you wear, what you eat, what you do, what you don’t do. But those are distractions of the devil. Scripture says “You are complete in Christ!” Now, right this moment, you are complete in Him.

Go on.

Miles:

In him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, buried with him in baptism, in which you also were raised with him through faith in the working of Yah, who raised him from the dead. And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He [Yah] has made alive together with him [Yahushua], having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it. [Colossians 2:8-15]

Dave: In other words, by faith, Christ’s death is credited to our account. That’s what baptism is. It’s a symbolic death. Then, we are raised out of the waters of baptism to newness of life in Yahushua.

Again, it’s a done deal. Yah has made us “alive together” with Yahushua. So, now, the merits of Yahushua’s sinless life are also credited to our account.

This is good news!

Miles: It’s not advice. It’s not saying: Now that Yahushua has died and forgiven your sins, you need to do This, and That, and The Other to maintain your status of having been saved.

Dave: No! It truly was finished at the cross and now the only thing that matters is how you will answer this question: Are you going to accept it?

* * *

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* * *Part 2: (Miles & Dave)

Dave: I want to talk some more about the “good news” of salvation. As we said before, the gospel is “good news.” It’s not advice about what I should do, or should not do. Instead, news is always about something that has already been done by someone else! So, the “good news” of salvation is that in Yah’s sight, we aren’t sinners.

When Yahushua died on the cross for our sins, he died in our place. This means that our sins have already been made an end of. His death is credited to our account, and we stand before Yah as though we had never sinned.

Miles: I really like that distinction: advice tells you what you should be doing, while news tells you what has been done already.

Dave: This theme is repeated throughout the New Testament, but we’ve been too busy worrying about the specks in the eyes of our brothers and sisters, to accept it.

Miles: And the very act of criticizing the specks in the eyes of our brothers and sisters puts a beam in our own!

Dave: Precisely. Turn to Ephesians, chapter 1, and read verses 3 to 7. I love this passage. It’s incredibly faith inspiring.

Miles: All right … give me just a moment here … Here it is. It says, quote:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Yahushua Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Yahushua Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.

Dave: Did you catch that last phrase? We are “accepted in the Beloved!” Furthermore, what Paul said in verse 3: Yahuwah has “blessed us with every spiritual blessing.” These are gifts!

Miles: That’s a good point. My dictionary has an interesting definition for the word “blessing.” Listen to this. It says, quote: “Among the Jews, [a blessing was] a present; a gift; either because it was attended with kind wishes for the welfare of the giver, or because it was the means of increasing happiness.” Unquote. And that’s really what Yah’s blessings are—they’re gifts!

Dave: That’s right in line with the good news of the gospel: the “good news.” It’s not “good advice.” Again, this brings us back to the point that blessings are things that have already been accomplished for us and are now being bestowed on us. And what better gift can there be than to make us accepted in the Beloved?

Let’s look at some more of this “good news.” Turn to Romans 8 verse 1. If we keep our minds on this good news, we won’t have either the desire or the inclination to find fault with the spiritual walks of others.

Miles: I love this verse. It says, quote: “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Yahushua, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.” Unquote.

Dave: There’s no condemnation! Maybe you’ve been struggling to overcome some secret desire or some hidden sin and, no matter how many times you’ve tried to overcome, you’ve still fallen into sin repeatedly.

Miles: I think we all have areas of our lives like that. Just wait until we’re too tired, or too stressed, and we’re easy prey for Satan’s temptations.

Dave: And when that happens, oh, the guilt! You start feeling like you can’t come to Yah and ask for His forgiveness yet again. Then Satan creeps in to suggest that you shouldn’t return and ask for forgiveness until you’ve made yourself better.

Miles: That’s impossible! We can’t make ourselves better.

Dave: No, but when we’ve fallen again and again and again, it’s easy to feel so ashamed that we stay away from the one thing that can help us: Yahuwah. He doesn’t condemn us! No matter how many times you’ve repented, only to fall again, He doesn’t condemn.

What did Yahushua tell the woman caught in adultery?

Miles: “Neither do I condemn you.” [John 8:11]

Dave: He doesn’t condemn us! That’s a gift, and that’s good news.

Miles: I know what you mean about feeling like we have to stay away from Yah until we can, somehow, “prove” how sorry we are by stopping sinning. But that’s just ridiculous. There’s no way any of us can make ourselves better away from Him!

Dave: Acceptance is such an incredible gift.

Miles: One verse that really encourages me when Satan is tempting me to think I’ve fallen too far to return is Psalm 103, verse 14. It says: “For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.”

I think too often we’re far harder on ourselves than Yahuwah is, and we’re certainly harder on others. By putting others down, judging and criticizing them, we make ourselves look better in our own eyes; but that’s not necessary because Yah already knows our weakness and sinfulness. He “remembers that we are dust.”

Dave: That’s a great passage; it’s so full of hope. Why don’t you read more of it? Start at verse 8 and read through verse 17. And if any of you listening ever get feeling like you’ve fallen too far to return, or that your sins are keeping you away from Yah, this passage is for you. Psalm 103. Mark it in your Bibles.

Miles?

Miles: Uh . . . it says, quote:

Yahuwah is merciful and gracious,
Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.
He will not always strive with us,
Nor will He keep His anger forever.
He has not dealt with us according to our sins,
Nor punished us according to our iniquities.

For as the heavens are high above the earth,
So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him;
As far as the east is from the west,
So far has He removed our transgressions from us.
As a father pities his children,
So Yahuwah pities those who fear Him.
For He knows our frame;
He remembers that we are dust.

As for man, his days are like grass;
As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.
For the wind passes over it, and it is gone,
And its place remembers it no more.
But the mercy of Yahuwah is from everlasting to everlasting
On those who fear Him,
And His righteousness to children’s children.

Dave: If you feel you’ve fallen too far to return, recognize that as a lie of Satan. Yahuwah wants you to come to Him, right now, just as you are. That is the “good news” of salvation.

Miles: There’s another passage that’s like that. Give me just a moment to find it here …

It’s in Micah, chapter 6 … no. Chapter 7, verses 18 and 19. Listen to this. It says:

Who is a God like You,
Pardoning iniquity
And passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage?

He does not retain His anger forever,
Because He delights in mercy.
He will again have compassion on us,
And will subdue our iniquities.

You will cast all our sins
Into the depths of the sea.

Dave: And when He casts them into the depths of the sea, He puts up a sign that says, “No fishing!”

All that Yahuwah requires of us for salvation, everything, down to the most minute detail, has already been accomplished in the person of His son, Yahushua.

We know that Yahushua’s death covers our sins past. And Christians the world over sing hymns about Yah’s forgiveness, and “power in the blood.” And that’s certainly good news. But that’s not all.

The merits of Yahushua’s blood do cover our sins and we stand before Yah as though we’d never sinned. But the merits of His sinless life are also credited to our account. So when Yah looks at us, He sees lives of perfect obedience.

Miles: That’s what Paul meant in Ephesians 6, verse 1, when he said that we are “accepted in the beloved.”

Dave: Exactly! Christ’s perfection of character is credited to our account in this present moment! His perfect obedience is … copied and pasted, if you will, to our account.

The point I want everyone to remember is simply this: you don’t have to try and reconcile yourself to Yah. He’s already done that for you!

Let’s take a look at Romans 5. Would you turn there and read verses 6 to 11? This spells it out beautifully.

Miles:

For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But Yah demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to Yah through the death of His son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not only that, but we also rejoice in Yah through our Lord Yahushua Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.

Dave: This is an important passage. It spells out that the gift of salvation, the reconciliation that has already been accomplished, includes having Christ’s sinless life credited to our accounts, too.

Miles: It’s not like we stand before Yah with our sins covered but nothing more; our life-records blank and empty of any good deeds. Yahushua’s life of selfless service is applied to our accounts as well.

Dave: You’ve got it. This is why Yahuwah urges us, “Be ye reconciled.” He’s offering something, not demanding something.

Again, the gospel isn’t telling us what to do in order to earn salvation. It’s announcing what has already been accomplished on our behalf by the gift of Yah’s son!

Once we grasp this concept, we’ll quit comparing ourselves to others and keep our eyes fixed on Christ, the author and finisher of our faith.

Miles: I’ve noticed, speaking for myself, this realization has a softening effect on our hearts. When we quit viewing Yah as this stern disciplinarian shaking His finger at us, and we start viewing Him instead as a loving Father, arms open wide, eyes soft with love, it breaks our stony, rebellious hearts! We feel grateful beyond words. Our faith is then strengthened to grasp ahold of the gift He’s offering.

Dave: The plan of salvation is more than the plan of redemption. The plan of redemption rescues us from sin. The plan of salvation restores in us the divine image that was lost at the fall of Adam.

When we accept this gift, Yahuwah frees us from guilt! He breaks the power of sin over us.

Miles: Are you preaching perfection?

Dave: Not human perfection, no. We still have sinful bodies that are subject to the accumulated effects of 6,000 years of sin. But I am preaching Christ’s perfection. His perfection is ours and it’s all a free gift. The work is Yah’s and we receive it by faith.

I’d like to close with a promise found in Jeremiah 31. Jeremiah 31, verses 31 to 34. Would you read that for us, please.

Miles:

Behold, the days are coming, says Yahuwah, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah—not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says Yahuwah. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says Yahuwah: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says Yahuwah. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”

Dave: Now let me ask you, Miles: If Yah doesn’t remember something, does it even exist?

Miles: Nope! If it doesn’t exist in the mind of Yah, it doesn’t exist anywhere.

Dave: Neither do our sins, and that is the gift of salvation, and the “good news” of what has already been done!

* * *

You are listening to World's Last Chance Radio.

WLC Radio: Teaching minds and preparing hearts for Christ's sudden return.

* * *Advertisement* * *Daily Mailbag (Miles & Dave)

Miles: The question from our Daily Mailbag today is coming from Libya. I think this is our first question from Libya, isn’t it?

Dave: I think it is. Did you know that the Libyan government provides free homes or apartments to all newly-married couples?

Miles: Seriously? What a great perk! Wish they’d do that here!

Okay. Hamza from Bayda, Libya has a question. He says, quote: “I’ve been listening with interest to your programs about the nature of Yahushua and how he did not have pre-existence prior to his birth. I’m finding this a bit confusing. If he were a created being, how then can he be our Saviour?”

Dave: Thank you for your question, Hamza. I can see why you’re confused but your confusion stems from a misunderstanding. Yahushua was not created.

It is true that he was not divine, nor did he have a pre-existence prior to his birth. These are left-overs from the error of the trinity.

Miles: I’m just going to insert really quickly—for those of you who haven’t had a chance to study this out yet, the doctrine of the trinity comes from ancient heathenism. It came in much later and was not originally part of apostolic Christian doctrine. You can study it out some more on our website. We’ve got some articles on the subject.

It’s worth studying out because this error is very widespread, but can be easily disproven from Scripture.

Go ahead, Dave. I just wanted to put that out there. Everyone needs to study this topic for themselves.

Dave: No, that’s fine. That’s good. You’re right: everyone needs to know the truth, because the error of the trinity doctrine brings in a lot of other errors as well. And that is what is contributing to Hamza’s confusion.

Again, Yahushua was not divine, but that doesn’t mean he was created. He was exactly what Scripture says he was: begotten.

Miles: That’s true. Over and over Scripture refers to him as “the only begotten son of Yah.”

So, that being the case, is it appropriate to refer to Yahushua as the Saviour?

Dave: Sure! He did, after all, live a perfect life. He surrendered himself fully to his Father’s will. He laid down his life for us. He is our Saviour.

But what we must never forget is that, through it all, our ultimate Saviour is Yahuwah. Do you remember what Abraham told Isaac when Isaac asked where was the lamb for the burnt offering?

Miles: “God will provide the lamb”?

Dave: Yes, but specifically, reading it word-for-word from Genesis 22, verse 8, it says, quote: “My son, Elohim will provide … Himself … a lamb.” In other words, Yahuwah is the one that provided the lamb that taketh away the sins of the world. Ultimately, Yah Himself is our Saviour.

Take a look at Psalm 74, verse 12. What does that say?

Miles: Uh … it says … “For Elohim is my King of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth.”

Dave: Mary was even more blunt. In Luke 1, we read her song of rejoicing after she was told she would bear the Messiah. In verses 46 and 47, she says: “My soul doth magnify Yahuwah, And my spirit hath rejoiced in Elohim my Saviour.”

Now turn to 2 Samuel 22, and read verse 47. This is a psalm of David’s which he sang after yet another battle with Philistine giants. He’s acknowledging Yah’s might and power. What does it say?

Miles: “Yahuwah liveth; and blessed be my rock; and exalted be the God of the rock of my salvation.”

Dave: So, again, ultimately Yahuwah is our Saviour. Yahushua was fully human, but he was sinless like Adam before the fall, and he was begotten. “The only begotten son of Yah.”

Miles: Hmmm. That’s good. That’s an important distinction we tend to overlook.

All right! Question Number Next: Paola in Málaga, Spain sent in a question.

Dave: Hmmm. Never heard of Málaga.

Miles: Really? It’s got almost a million people in it and it’s one of the oldest cities on earth. It was founded almost 3,000 years ago.

Dave: Huh! I did not know that. So, what’s Paola’s question?

Miles: She says: “I’ve been told that Yah limits Satan’s power. To be honest, looking at the world around us, sometimes it doesn’t seem that way at all. Is it true that Yah does indeed limit the devil’s power and, if so, in what ways does He do it?”

Dave: That’s a fair question.

Miles: I thought so. And if we can recognize the times Yahuwah is holding Satan in check, it can increase our faith to keep holding on. So, speaking specifically, what are some ways Yah limit’s the devil’s power?

Dave: Let’s start by taking a look at an interesting passage in 2 Corinthians, chapter 4. Read verses 3 and 4, would you please?

Miles: It says, quote: “But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of Yah, should shine on them.”

Unquote. Okaaaay … how does this address the question?

Dave: Scripture says that Satan is the god of this earth. As the god of this world, he has blinded the minds of unbelievers. By contrast, Ephesians 2 draws a strong comparison between believers and non-believers.

Turn to Ephesians 2 and read verses 1 to 6. This tells one of the ways Yah limits Satan’s power.

Miles: All right … almost have it … Here we go. It says:

And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.

But Yah, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Yahushua.

Dave: We all start out “dead in trespasses.” When we’re dead in trespasses, Satan blinds our minds to the truth of Yah’s love for us. But Yahuwah doesn’t give up. He makes us alive! Just as He resurrected Yahushua, He also resurrects to new life all who have, by faith, died with Yahushua. Then, He recreates our minds and desires and we are raised to new life by faith in the merits of Yahushua. This is the biggest way Yah limits the power of Satan.

Miles: So, basically, we’ve got an invisible enemy that works either invisibly on minds, or visibly through people, but he can only go so far.

Dave: Exactly.

Miles: Why do you think everyone today is so vulnerable to satanic influence? Because they are! You look around the world today and it doesn’t matter what your religious beliefs are—or are not—it seems that the whole world is very vulnerable to Satan’s influence.

Dave: Well, you have to remember that a lot of people don’t believe the devil exists. Consequently, they don’t really view him as a threat. If you think the devil is just some Christian fairytale designed to scare children, you’re not going to take the threat seriously.

Miles: Yeah, if you can see the threat, it’s easier to fight. If it’s invisible, it’s easy to deny a threat exists at all.

Dave: But what did Paul tell the Ephesians in Ephesians 6:12?

Miles: Uhhh … I don’t know! Let me look it up.

Oh, yeah. This text. It says, quote: “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” Unquote.

Dave: The threat is very real, but it is only discerned by the eye of faith. Go ahead and read verse 13.

Miles: “Therefore take up the whole armor of Yah, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”

Dave: The armor of Yah is itself a gift. It gives us the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, and the shield of faith. All of these are gifts of divine grace! “Grace” is defined as unmerited, or undeserved, favor. In each of these gifts, Yahuwah is limiting Satan’s power.

Miles: One way I’ve seen that Yah limits Satan’s power is by shining more truth on the world. Satan has a multitude of lies, but Yah just keeps pouring out more and more truth.

Dave: I know that, when bad things happen, we want to point to specifics of how Yah saves people’s lives, restores them to health, bails them out of emergencies—and don’t get me wrong: Yah definitely does all of this and more.

But the biggest ways He limits the power of evil is by breaking Satan’s power over the individual.

The message to the Laodiceans is for us: we are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked. We’re in need of everything. And yet what is Yah’s invitation?

Miles: “I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see.”

Dave: When we accept the invitation to purchase gold refined in the fire, which is Christ’s faith that has been tried to the uttermost; when we receive the white garments of Yahushua’s righteousness, which allows us to stand before Yah as though we’d never sinned; when we accept the eye salve, which is the gift of spiritual discernment, Satan’s power isn’t just limited. It’s broken. And this will affect every area of our lives, including such temporal concerns as our jobs, our livelihood, our health: basically, anything and everything from which we need protection from Satan’s power.

Miles: What a wonderful God we serve!

If you have a question, we’d like to hear from you, too. Just go to WorldsLastChance.com and click on Contact Us. We always enjoy hearing from our listeners around the world. And I personally enjoy it because I learn a lot from your questions, too! So, send us a message: “Contact Us” on WorldsLastChance.com.

* * *Daily Promise

Hello! This is Elise O’Brien with today’s daily promise from Yah’s word.

Holly Pugsley had just given birth to her second child, a little girl. Her son was two years old, and, while a busy time, it should have been a very happy time. However, when her daughter was just five weeks old, her husband decided to leave her.

Wherever Holly went, people complimented her on her beautiful baby, commenting on how big she was and what a big eater she must be. Holly, though, sensed that something was wrong. She made an appointment with a new pediatrician.

After the exam, he shocked her with a devastating question. He asked: “Is there any history of muscle disease in your family?”

Holly was given a referral to a pediatric neurologist … and so began the rounds of doctor after doctor; specialist after specialist. They saw geneticists, digestive doctors, endocrinologists, physical therapists, speech therapists, and still more neurologists. For two years, Holly sought answers but there were none.

No one could say what was wrong, but they all said it was highly unlikely her little girl would ever learn to walk or even sit up.

Finally, one day, it was just too much. Holly decided she was through. She was through looking for answers; she was through dragging her baby to doctor after doctor, putting the little girl through test after test, none of which ever gave them answers. That was it. She was finished.

So, sitting in her car in yet another doctor’s parking lot, she decided to do something new. She made the choice to completely trust Yahuwah with her little girl. She would give the entire painful, stressful situation over to Him, and trust in Him, regardless of the outcome.

She bowed her head in prayer: “Father,” she said, “I give you my little girl. Please love her and heal her. Let your will be done because I can’t do this on my own.”

Within days, the child began showing improvement. Then she learned to sit! Within just six weeks, her little girl had learned to stand with assistance. A month later, she could stand on her own. By the time she was four, she had caught up developmentally with other children her age. Today, as an energetic 10-year old, she rides horses and outruns her brothers.

Holly says, quote: “Of the many doctors who have seen her, none can explain it using medical logic. Instead, they reach for words of faith and call her their ‘miracle baby.’ And it’s true. It’s a God thing! Once I let go of my earthly desire to control things and gave it to [Yah], He showed me how powerful He is. Once I stepped back, He stepped in.” Unquote.

If you are feeling overwhelmed by life’s problems, turn it over to your Heavenly Father who loves you.

Psalm 55 verse 22 invites: “Cast your burden on Yahuwah, and He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved.”

We have been given great and precious promises. Go and start claiming!

* * *Part 3: (Miles & Dave)

Miles: I have to say, Dave, I was really blessed by today’s discussion. A lot of our radio programs, as well as our articles on the website, deal with prophecy.

I grew up hearing about it because my mum really loved the prophecies and would teach them to us kids.

The thing was, I always found it a bit frightening, to be honest. So many bad things were to happen; so many people killed. And even though, today, my understanding of prophecy has grown in the last few years, prophecy still presents some rather dark days.

Dave: It’s frightening to a lot of people. And how could it be otherwise? We’re talking about the end of the world, after all!

Miles: Right. But you said something earlier that brings this topic full circle for me. You said: The gospel doesn’t tell us what to do in order to earn salvation. Rather, it announces what has already been accomplished on our behalf by the gift of Yah's son.

Dave: That’s right.

Miles: Now, with that understanding, the days ahead just aren’t as frightening any more. It reminds me of one of my favorite passages of Scripture. Romans 8, verses 31 and 32 says, quote: “What then shall we say to these things? If Yahuwah is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall He not with him also freely give us all things?”

Dave: Amen.

Miles: This is the gospel, right here! When we accept that we have been justified already, that literally everything we need in order to be saved has already been provided for us, and all we need to do is accept it by faith, there’s no room for fear!

Dave: This knowledge, the realization of the depth of Yahuwah’s love for you, individually, gives your faith an immovable anchor to cling to. So, you’re right: whether you’re talking about forgiveness for sins past, victory over current temptations, or physical or spiritual danger in the days ahead, you can trust Yahuwah to get you through.

He wouldn’t sacrifice His own son, He wouldn’t put into operation this entire, costly plan of redemption if He weren’t willing to do what it takes to get you through.

Miles agrees: That’s the thought that has been circling my head today.

We don’t have to be afraid with Yah on our side! We don’t have to be afraid of being killed. We don’t even have to be afraid of Satan’s delusions.

When we accept the gift of Yah’s salvation, we have His protection: physical, and even more importantly, spiritual. The days ahead are dark, but we don’t have to fear with Yah watching over us.

Dave: Do you still have your Bible open to Romans 8? Why don’t you read the rest of that passage?

Miles: All right. I’m going to start up a little earlier in the chapter. Uh, starting at verse 26. It says:

Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of Yah. And we know that all things work together for good to those who love Yah, to those who are the called according to His purpose. [Romans 8:26-28]

Dave: This is beautiful! If you sense your need, if you want Yah’s help but you’re struggling to even put it into words, Yah’s spirit is right there. Even in those circumstances, you don’t need to fear. Your heavenly Father will even give His spirit to help you pray for what you need!

Now comes the very crux of the issue. Keep reading. This is what we all need to remember.

Miles:

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall He not with him also freely give us all things?

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? … Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of Yah which is in Christ Yahushua our Lord. [Romans 8:31-32, 35, 37-39]

Dave: Whatever you need, Yahuwah will provide. The treasures of heaven are available to all who accept the gift of salvation. So don’t wait! Turn to the Father and accept salvation today. He’s waiting with arms wide open to accept all who come to Him.

Miles: John 6:37 is a promise we can all claim. It says: “Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.” So come to Yahuwah! He’s got what it takes to get you through.

Please join us again tomorrow, and until then, remember: Yahuwah loves you . . . and He is safe to trust!

* * *

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This program and past episodes of WLC Radio are available for downloading on our website. They're great for sharing with friends and for use in Bible studies! They're also an excellent resource for those worshipping Yahuwah alone at home. To listen to previously aired programs, visit our website at WorldsLastChance.com. Click on the WLC Radio icon displayed on our homepage.

In his teachings and parables, the Savior gave no “signs of the times” to watch for. Instead, the thrust of his message was constant … vigilance. Join us again tomorrow for another truth-filled message as we explore various topics focused on the Savior's return and how to live in constant readiness to welcome him warmly when he comes.

WLC Radio: Teaching minds and preparing hearts for Christ's sudden return.