Program 145: Keep the “main thing the main thing”

In a world of ever-increasing stressors, it is important to keep priorities straight.

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: Keep the main thing the main thing

Miles Robey: Priorities. Setting goals. Making sure important things get done on time. It’s all part of “adulting” whether we feel like being an adult or not. Hello, I’m Miles Robey and I want to welcome you to WLC Radio.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German novelist, playwright, poet, critic, scientist and statesman. Many consider him to be the greatest German literary figure of modern times—relatively modern times; he died in 1832. Anyway! He said, quote, “Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least.” 

Well, the other day, Dave Wright made a comment that really intrigued me. He said what preachers and church leaders focus on today is quite different from what the Saviour focused on in his teachings. We didn’t have time then to get into that but it piqued my curiosity. We tend to focus on whatever is highest on our list of priorities. So, Dave, what did you mean by that comment? Do you think our priorities today have … I don’t know, shifted from what the Saviour’s were? And if so, why and what, or how can we shift our priorities back into alignment with Christ’s?

Dave Wright: I really think our focus has shifted, Miles. You talk to any Christian and ask why they’re a Christian and they’ll give you answers like, they love God, they want to go to Heaven, et cetera. Many sermons focus on the “felt needs” of their congregants. And there’s certainly a place for that. After all, if the truth can’t be applied on a practical level in our daily lives, of what use is it?

Miles: You revolutionary, you! You surprise me sometimes, Dave.

Dave: Well, seriously! If a specific truth or doctrine has no practical application, no principle that can benefit you now, what’s the point?

With that being said, though, I think it is important to recognize what Yahushua valued most highly and, from time to time, check ourselves. Are our priorities aligned with his?

Miles: I’ll admit I’ve never really thought about that before, but you’ve got a good point. It reminds me of something Stephen Covey once wrote.

Dave: Stephen Covey? I don’t recognize the name.

Miles: Yeah, he was an American businessman. He wrote a book entitled, well, he wrote a number of books, actually. His most famous and popular book was called The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.

Dave: Oh! I’ve heard of that book. Haven’t read it, but I’ve heard of it.

Miles: It’s a good book. Anyway, one of the things he’d say is “The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.”

Dave: The main—what? Say that again?

Miles: The main thing … is to keep the main thing … the main thing. It’s a clever way to remind yourself to keep your priorities straight and focused.

Dave: I like that. I’m going to remember that. Because we, as Christians need to “keep the main thing the main thing” as well.

Miles: Soooo, let’s talk specifics. From a business perspective, the main thing is the financial bottom line. From an educational perspective, the main thing is knowledge. From a parenting perspective, the main thing is keeping your kids out of jail. I’m joking! I’m joking! It’s raising kids to support you in your old age, isn’t it?

Seriously, though, what’s the “main thing” from a Christian’s perspective?

Dave: Let’s read it! Open a tab to Matthew 6 and read verse 33. There are a number of elements Yahushua focused on in his public ministry which, taken together, are all facets of the main thing but I think Matthew 6:33 lays the foundation the best. Go ahead and read it as soon as you’ve got it.

Miles: All right, it says … quote: “But seek first the kingdom of Yah and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” 

Dave: This is the “main thing” for Christians. This is what must come first in the lives of all who wish to “win the race,” to use Paul’s analogy. The problem is, the devil is aware of what “the main thing” is, too. He’s piled on worries, cares, stressors of every variety to distract us from the main thing.

How many times have you gotten to sleep too late because you don’t want the next day to come? Or, perhaps, your sleep was disrupted because you were worried about something or other. Then, the next morning you’re simply too tired to get up, so you roll over and hit the snooze button, missing time for personal devotions.

Miles: Well, if I’m being strictly honest, more times than I like to admit.

Dave: Same here. And, listen, this isn’t meant to put an added burden on any of our listeners. Yah knows that we are but dust and have physical frailties. My point isn’t to crack a whip and make you feel driven out of bed when you haven’t gotten enough sleep the night before.

My point is that when we trust in Yah, when we give our burdens of stress, worry, and anxiety over to Him, He will carry them for us. We don’t have to get entrapped in Satan’s distractions.

Miles: That’s true. Because the stress is very real.

Dave: Oh, you better believe it is! And the older we get, the more stressful life gets. But if we are aware that this burden of stress and anxiety is being used by Satan to take our eyes off the prize, to distract us from the main thing of seeking Yah’s kingdom, then his entrapments lose their power.

Miles: Paul had something to say about that, too—No. It was Peter. Here. Listen to this. It’s 1 Peter chapter 5, verses 8 to 10. It’s really good. It says:

 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Yahushua, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.

Dave: We can always trust the Father to walk with us every step of the way. He wants to bear our burdens, if we’ll just let go and let Him. And the beautiful thing about the Father is that He knows our limitations. He knows our limitations better than we do! He knows how much we can handle and when it’s all too much.

There’s a really beautiful analogy in the Old Testament that shows us how carefully the Father cares for His children. It’s found in Isaiah, chapter 40, and verse 11. Would you read that for us?

Miles: It says … “He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.”

Dave: It is safe to keep the main thing, the main thing. It’s safe to leave our troubles and problems and stressors with Yahuwah and focus on seeking Him and His kingdom.

Miles: Earlier you said there were several different aspects of the main thing that Yahushua focused on. What are the other elements he focused on in his ministry?

Dave: Well, sharing with others the truths we’ve been privileged to receive should be part of our focus. Turn to Matthew 28 and read verses 19 and 20. This is a very empowering verse because it combines a mission with a promise to enable us to fulfill that mission. Go ahead.

Miles: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Dave: So, we are to make disciples of all nations. Now, this does not mean that we are to denounce anyone. This is where Satan sneaks in and far too many Christians actually end up turning people away from Christianity.

Miles: How so?

Dave: In our desire to “make disciples of all nations,” we often go about it the wrong way. We end up pointing out others’ sins. We denounce them for sins or behaviors or addictions that we ourselves are not guilty of committing (blissfully glossing over those things for which we are guilty) and we call this “warning them.”

And we think this is supposed to show them the love of the Father?

Miles: Well … how are we to make them disciples, then? Pointing out something they’re doing that might cost them eternal life would be a kindness, I’d think. An act of love.

Dave: Not at all! Take, for example, homosexuality. I know I’ve mentioned this before, but it’s a good example because it’s a topic that has destroyed so many homes and has driven people away from Yah.

A young man will, with fear and trembling, reveal to his parents that he’s gay. What has happened far too many times is that the parents will rail and denounce and kick him out of the family home. Often, the church family will side with the parents and shun the individual who is gay.

Some individuals have even been put through “conversion therapy” to try and “cure” them of being gay.

Miles: I don’t think anyone still does that, do they?

Dave: As of 2018, a country in South America—which shall not be named—was still doing that. The point is, individuals for whom Christ died are being driven away from the Saviour because those who should love them the most are revealing anything but love.

Miles: And if Mum or Dad can’t love them or accept them, why should they believe that the heavenly Father will?

Dave: Exactly. Others may not be so obvious about their rejection, but it’s still felt. For example, they’ll say things like, “I love you and I’d love for you to come visit, but not with your partner.” They call it “loving the sinner but hating the sin.”

Miles: And all that happens is the individual feels hated and rejected.

Dave: Something, you’ll recall, Yahushua NEVER did.

Miles: So then, how are we to make disciples of all nations?

Dave: By showing them the love of the Father! Denouncing them for any sin is presumptuously taking on the role of the Holy Spirit. It’s the Holy Spirit’s job to convict of sin. Not yours and certainly not mine. When the spirit of Yah convicts of sin, Yah knows just what approach to take to reach the heart. That’s why Yah has never given us the job of convicting others of sin. We are to draw others to Yah by loving them with the same open, accepting, non-condemning love Yahushua showed prostitutes and publicans.

Another aspect of keeping the main thing the main thing, is to align our prayer requests with Yah’s will and pray that the future Kingdom of Yah may come into existence on the earth.

Miles: Ohhh! You know, I never really thought of that before, but you’re right. It even appears in the Lord’s Prayer. Matthew 6:10: “Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.”

Dave: Right! It’s important to pray for this. Too often we think, “Well, it’s been prophesied. It will come to pass. I don’t need to ask for it.” But when our prayers align with Yah’s will, He can do more in answer to our prayers than He otherwise could, because remember: He never forces the will. Yah is very polite. He waits for us to ask.

So these are the main things we need to do to keep our focus in the right area:

• Seek first the kingdom of Yah and His righteousness.
• Reveal to others the love of Yah by how we treat them with the same loving-kindness and acceptance Yah showed them.
• And, bring our prayers into alignment with Yah’s will

Miles: Could you say Yahushua is a goal-oriented person? His goal has always been to save sinners through the revelation of Yah’s love?

Dave: Not only is he a goal-oriented person; he’s a one-goal person. Turn to Luke chapter 14. Here, Yahushua is explaining how important it is to keep our focus on the main thing. Read verses 25 to 27, would you please.

Miles:

Now great multitudes went with him. And he turned and said to them, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. And whoever does not bear his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. 

Dave: Christ’s point here is that we are to let nothing come between us and the kingdom of Yah. We are to always put the kingdom of Yah first. That applies in our personal lives, in our careers and, even, in our marriages.

This may sound harsh: you can’t be my disciple unless you hate all your loved ones, but clearly he’s not meaning it literally since he told his followers to love everyone, including their enemies. Again, the point is to put the kingdom of Yah first.

Miles: Well, when you think about it, what can compare in importance to salvation? To spending eternity with Yah? It reminds me of Christ’s insightful question in … well, let me just read it in context. Matthew 16, verses 24 to 26. It says:

Then Yahushua said to his disciples, “If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

Those are some searing questions!

Dave: They are! Cuts right through all the inconsequentials that muddy up our lives and distract our minds from seeking Yah and His kingdom. This is where the Saviour focused his sermons and his parables. Some of his most powerful parables were actually quite short. Turn to Matthew 13 and let’s read some of those parables.

Miles: Which ones?

Dave: Any of them.

Miles: All right, uh, verse 33: “Another parable He spoke to them: “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened.”

Dave: That’s just one verse but it reveals how we are transformed entirely when we keep our focus on Yah’s kingdom and allow His spirit to write His law on our hearts. What’s another one?

Miles: Verse 44: “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.”

Verses 45 and 46 say: “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.”

Dave: Notice how the focal point of every single one of these is on how to obtain the kingdom of Yah.

• You hide Yah’s word in your heart like the woman hid the leavening and divine grace will totally transform your life.
• You discover the riches of the kingdom of Yah and, like the man who found treasure hidden in a field, you give up anything and everything that would stand in the way of obtaining Yah’s kingdom.
• You want to spend eternity in Yah’s kingdom so, like the merchant seeking the pearl of great price, you sacrifice anything that would keep you from obtaining what you desire.

This is keeping the main thing the main thing. It is seeking first the kingdom of Yah and His righteous, knowing that everything else will be added to that one, great treasure.

* * *

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* * *Part 2: Keep the main thing the main thing

Miles: You know, I never really realized it before but you’re right: pastors, church leaders, sermons, spiritual books … they really don’t focus much on seeking the kingdom of Yah and His righteousness. It’s not the focus of their teachings.

Dave: It’s not. The more conservative denominations may have sermons about particular points of doctrine that set their denomination apart; more liberal denominations will, in sermon and publication, seek to meet the “felt needs” of their church members, but really, the focused attention on winning the race, on entering Yah’s kingdom and living with Him forever more, just isn’t what’s being preached about or discussed.

Miles: Why do you suppose that is?

Dave: Well, the devil, of course. It’s like we’ve got some mental fog. Even though the Saviour’s teachings were spoken for the common man, it’s like the words just don’t sink home to our brains.

Miles: Hm. It reminds me of something Isaiah said. I’m looking it up really quick because I want to read it. It’s Isaiah 29, verses 11 to 13. It says:

And the vision of all this has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed. When men give it to one who can read, saying, “Read this,” he says, “I cannot, for it is sealed.” And when they give the book to one who cannot read, saying, “Read this,” he says, “I cannot read.”

And Yahuwah said:
“Because this people draw near with their mouth
    and honor me with their lips,
    while their hearts are far from me,
and their fear of me is a commandment of men learned by rote.”

Dave: That says it well. That’s precisely what has happened. We’ve got to get back to seeking the kingdom of Yah first … and then everything else will be added in, because seeking His kingdom and righteousness, that’s the main thing.

Tom Wright is a New Testament scholar and Pauline theologian. He’s also a bishop in the Church of England. In the late 1990s, he published a book called Jesus and the Victory of God. I have a quote here from it I’d like you to read. It’s very interesting and it highlights just how difficult it is for even the world’s most respected scholars to have a very clear understanding of precisely what the gospel of the kingdom is that we’re supposed to be focusing on. And if you don’t know what it is, how can you focus on it?

Miles: You can’t.

Dave: Go ahead and just read—yeah. Right there.

Miles:

In one sense I have been working on this book on and off for most of my life. Serious thought began, however, when I was invited in 1978 to give a lecture in Cambridge on ‘The Gospel in the Gospels.’ The topic was not just impossibly vast; I did not understand it. I had no real answer, then, to the question of how …[Yahushua's] whole life, not just his death on the cross in isolation, was somehow ‘gospel.’

Dave: That is an amazingly candid statement for a scholar of Wright’s standing to make. He didn’t know what the gospel in the gospels was! So how can you teach it if you don’t know it yourself? Even though he’d been through seminary, he was unprepared. Seminaries teach their denominations’ particular flavor of Christianity—the doctrinal differences that set them apart. They teach church growth methods, and how to minister to the flock, but what they don’t cover is the gospel of the kingdom of Yah.

And why should they? The church creeds rush right past Christ’s teachings as well. They hop from his miraculous birth to his death as though what happened in between isn’t that significant. Remember these words from the Apostles’ Creed? I believe in Jesus Christ “who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and buried …”?

Miles: Yeah. I remember that. You’re right. How come his entire public ministry and his teachings are just rushed right past? I’ve never really noticed it before. How did this happen?? This is serious!

Dave: Well, I think it’s kind of snuck up on us. I would say that Martin Luther holds some responsibility for this. He was a great man who contributed mightily to the cause of truth. But he was also human and made mistakes. A lot of Protestant Christianity today is based on Luther.

The problem was, he didn’t go directly to the words of Christ to find the gospel. Instead, he went to Paul, primarily Romans. You have to admit this is a rather strange way to establish Protestant Christianity!

Miles: I never thought of it before, but you’re right. While Romans 1:17—“the just shall live by faith”—is a powerful truth, Paul’s letters were always addressed to specific people or situations.

Dave: Paul definitely represents Yahushua, but his letters address, as you said, various issues that arose in the early church. To get the pure gospel message, why not go directly to the source? Yahushua.

Miles: When you put it like that, I’ve got to admit that it is odd that Paul is considered the founder of Christianity. He may have been the apostle to the gentiles, but he wasn’t the founder of it. He came into the faith several years after Pentecost.

Dave: But this is a very real phenomenon. So much so that, Bishop Wright, when asked to give a lecture at Cambridge University—

Miles: And you know he had to have been well-respected to receive an invitation like that!

Dave: —And yet, he realized he did not understand the gospel as taught in the gospels themselves! That’s quite a denunciation which he was honest enough to admit. But it wasn’t really his fault. He’d never been taught, not in Sunday school, not in church, not in seminary, about the gospel of Christ as presented in the gospels.

He’s a knowledgeable man and able scholar but even so, even with his realization, he’s only scraped the surface of the truth of the gospel in the gospels.

Miles: Have you read any of his books?

Dave: Yes. And, amazingly, he’s still not all that clear in his writings precisely what the “gospel in the gospels” really is. He also has a few points where he is in error. For example, he believes the “Second Coming” (or Parousia) of Yahushua spoken of the in the gospels happened in 70 CE.

Miles: Well, that’s awkward! Making Yahushua and Paul mean different things by “Parousia.”

For those who don’t know this word, Parousia is a fairly common Greek word which means arrival or presence. What a way to muddle the situation still further!

Dave: That’s not all. You know C. S. Lewis?

Miles: Yeah? Well … I don’t know him know him seeing as he died in 1963. He was a writer and theologian, taught at both Oxford and Cambridge. He was a lay theologian, too, wasn’t he?

Dave: Yes, in fact his books have Christian theological themes to them. According to C. S. Lewis, Yahushua himself was not a preacher of the gospel!

Miles: What?? Are you serious? Why would he think that?

Dave: He says the gospel is not in the gospels. I know. I know. It’s shocking. But it helps us identify just what the “main thing” is that has caused confusion in Christendom. I’ve got a quote here I want you to read. It’s from Lewis’s Letters to Young Churches. Again, it’s very shocking, but we need to know just what has shaped this vast ignorance of the gospel of Yahuwah as seen in the gospels.

Go ahead and read the paragraph that has the red asterisk.

Miles: Okay, it says, quote:

The epistles are for the most part the earliest Christian documents we possess. The Gospels come later. The Gospels are not ‘the gospel,’ the statement of the Christian belief. They are written for those who had already been converted, who had already accepted “the gospel.” They leave out many of the complications (that is the theology) because they are intended for readers who have already been instructed in it. In that sense the epistles are more primitive and more central than the Gospels — though not of course than the great events which the Gospels recount. God’ s act (the Incarnation, the Crucifixion, and the Resurrection) comes first: the earliest theological analysis of it comes in the epistles; then, when the generation who had known the Lord was dying out, the Gospels were composed to provide for believers a record of the great Act and of some of the Lord’s sayings.

Unquote. Amazing. Simply amazing.

Dave: It’s this sort of reasoning, by a widely-read author, that has shaped Christendom’s knowledge—or lack thereof—about the gospel of Christ as presented in the gospels by Christ himself.

Miles: “The gospels are not the Gospel.” What an incredible statement to make.

Dave: But you can see how wide-spread the problem is when respected scholars can’t explain what it is, either! So much knowledge and understanding has been lost. It’s so sad.

Here’s another statement by Luther. It’s even more shocking. Basically, Luther is picking what sources he wants to use in the Bible: all of Paul’s writings and the gospel of John. That’s it. Go ahead.

Miles: All right, it says, quote: “John’s Gospel is the one, tender, true chief Gospel, far, far to be preferred to the other three and placed high above them.”

Wow! This is Luther saying this??

Dave: Yes, it is. Keep reading.

Miles: Uh … quote:

John’s Gospel is the one, tender, true chief Gospel, far, far to be preferred to the other three and placed high above them. So, too, the Epistles of St. Paul and St. Peter far surpass the other three Gospels — Matthew, Mark, and Luke. … In a word, St. John’s Gospel and his first Epistle.

St. Paul’s Epistles, especially Romans, Galatians and Ephesians, and St. Peter’s first Epistle are the books that show you Christ and teach you all that is necessary and good for you to know, even though you were never to see or hear any other book or doctrine. Therefore St. James’ Epistle is really an epistle of straw, compared to them; for it has nothing of the nature of the Gospel about it.

Dave: Did you catch what he called the book of James?

Miles: Yeah! An epistle of straw. You know, I’ve heard of people cherry-picking individual verses in the Bible. But this is tossing out entire books!

Dave: I know! It’s shocking. Historian G. F. Moore points out that Luther definitely assessed some books of the Bible as of more worth than others. Basically, he did what popes and prelates had always done: instead of accepting Scripture as a whole as the word of Yah, he judged a book’s importance based on how closely it adhered to his cherished doctrine of justification by faith. Basically, Luther replaced the papal dogmatic system with his own dogmatic system of assessment.

Miles: So what do we do about this?

Dave: We tackle it head on. We go back to Christ’s teaching and, with humble hearts, seek to learn the truth as it is in Him.

Hebrews actually contains a warning, but we’ve ignored it for too long. Go to Hebrews chapter 2 and read the first four verses for us. What does that say.

Miles: I’ve almost got it … here we go. It says:

Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away. For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard him, God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will?

Dave: There you go. That’s the main thing. Yahushua was the first preacher of the gospel in the New Testament.

C. S. Lewis and Martin Luther both were mistaken. So, to know the gospel, we need to go to the source, and that’s Yahushua and his teachings as recorded in the gospels.

Miles: I know we’re almost out of time, but we’ve spent this whole time talking about the gospel. Before we close this segment of our program, can you put into words precisely what the gospel message is?

Dave: Well, to put it succinctly, the good news of the gospel is that the Father’s original plan for the creation of the world and mankind—the same plan that was disrupted by Satan’s rebellion and the fall of Adam and Eve—will finally reach its fulfillment. Yahuwah will move the New Jerusalem, the seat of the divine government, down to the earth made new where He will live and reign forever with all who have accepted His gift of salvation and restoration through faith in the redeeming merits of Yahushua.

That is the gospel message. It’s what Yahushua talked about the most. John reiterated it beautifully in John 3:16 & 17: “For Yah so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. For Yah did not send His son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved.”

* * *

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* * *Daily Mailbag

Miles: All right! You’ve got mail!

Dave: So, where is today’s question coming from? I always enjoy seeing where our listeners are from around the world.

Miles: Well, let’s see if you can guess. I’ve got my trivia hat on. Let’s see if you can give me the correct answer. Our question is coming from the country where the world’s first stock exchange was invented back in 1602. Where is it?

Dave: Uuuuh … 1602? I’m going to say that’s either Italy or Portugal. Maybe … the city of London? So, England?

Miles: Three guesses annnnd … three wrong answers!

Dave: Spain? They were into a lot of commerce.

Miles: Nope! You know, when you hit rock bottom, you really should quit digging.

Dave: Well, where is it then?

Miles: The Netherlands! The world’s first stock market was invented to fund the Dutch East India company.

Dave: Really! Yeah, I wouldn’t have guessed that. Interesting.

Miles: Meese Dekker from Tilburg in the Netherlands has got a great question. We’ve had a number of programs on the humanity of Christ as opposed to what we’ve seen is the pagan doctrine of a triune godhead.

Meese writes: “I’ve been listening to your programs and watching your videos about the trinity and full humanity of Yahushua on YouTube. You make a very compelling case. One thing I have not seen you address, though, is Yahushua’s statement that before Abraham was, he existed. How do you reconcile that with the other evidence that says Yahushua did not have a pre-existence prior to his conception?”

Dave: Hmm. That is a great question. Thanks, Meese for asking it. We should have addressed that before now, so I’m glad to have the chance to address it.

Let’s take a moment to read the passage Meese is asking about in context.

Miles: Yeah, I’m looking that up. I think it’s in … yeah, here we go. John 8. Looks like the Pharisees were being their typical argumentative selves, trying to provoke Yahushua into an argument. And, of course, being Yahushua, they couldn’t do it.

Let’s see … uh, verse 56 Yahushua is saying:

Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.”

Then the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?”

Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.” [John 8:56-58]

Dave: A lot of people believe that Yahushua here is claiming divinity—

Miles: Yeah, I always thought that’s what he was doing here. The “I AM” being, of course, the tetragrammaton for the divine name of Yahuwah.

Dave: Yes, but if that were the case, that’s how it would have been written in the original, but it’s not. Christ was likely speaking in Aramaic. John was written in Greek. But every Jew knew the Hebrew tetragrammaton and that’s not what was written.

Furthermore, Yahushua wouldn’t have claimed divinity anyway, because he repeatedly stated that only Yahuwah was the one true God. Could you open a tab to John 5 and read verses 43 and 44, please? This is just one of a number of places where Yahushua was emphasizing Yahuwah’s oneness, the pure monotheism that Yahuwah is the only God.

Miles: Okay, it says: “I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not receive me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive. How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God?”

Dave: Yahuwah, Christ says emphatically, is “the only God.” He’s not going to contradict himself and turn around and claim divinity for himself just three chapters later!

Miles: Doesn’t seem like it. So what’s he really saying then?

Dave: He’s saying the exact same “I am” or “I am he” that he said in John 4:26.

Miles: All right. Give me just a second to look that up …

Oh! This is his conversation with the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well. Starting in verse 25, it says:

The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When he comes, he will tell us all things.”

Yahushua said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”

Dave: Grammatically, this has been rearranged to sound better in English. A direct translation from the Greek, however, is: “I am he speaking to you.”

Again, it’s not the tetragrammaton that even the Samaritan woman would have recognized. He’s not claiming divinity here. He’s simply saying, in ungrammatical modern vernacular, “Hey! It’s me.”

It’s the exact same Greek words in both: #1473, ĕgō, which is the personal pronoun “I.” And #1510, ĕimi which is the Greek equivalent of the verb of being “am.”

Miles: So, there’s no hidden meaning here. It would be the same usage I would use if I wanted to say “I AM Miles. I AM a man. I AM a father.”

Dave: Right. Yahushua is simply saying “I am the Messiah.” The Samaritan woman was talking about when Messiah comes and Yahushua pipes up with I am the Messiah. It’s the same point he was making to the Pharisees a few chapters later.

Miles: Okay, I’m not seeing that.

Dave: In context, he’s simply saying “I am the Messiah promised from before Abraham. I am he, the promised one.” He’s not going to contradict his many repeated statements that only Yahuwah is God.

He could just have easily have said, “Before Abraham was, I was crucified.”

Miles: Huh? You’ve lost me.

Dave: That’s because it’s a very Jewish way of speaking. We get confused when it’s translated into English. Read Revelation 13 verse 8. You’ll see what I mean.

Miles: Okay, uh … “All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.”

Dave: The Israelites’ way of viewing time was different from ours. Similar to a rower in a boat, backing into the future. So, while it sounds odd to us, it was a very Jewish way of speaking that Yahushua’s audience understood. When he told the Pharisees, “before Abraham was, I am,” he was saying in the vernacular of the culture, “I am the Messiah prophesied before Abraham existed.”

Miles: Interesting. Huh! Thanks for explaining that. All right. Thanks for sending us these great questions. I enjoy getting them as I learn a lot, too.

If you’ve got questions or comments you’d like Dave to answer, just go to our website at WorldsLastChance.com and click on Contact Us. We enjoy hearing from you.

* * *Daily Promise

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

When Annie Davies was just a baby, her father, Richard, broke his back in a mining accident. To help support the family, Mrs. Davies took in lodgers and opened a tiny shop selling fruit and sweets, but life was still a struggle.

While Richard and Hannah Davies were poor, they were very cultured people. Richard was a musician as well as a poet. He composed a number of hymns and anthems, as well as a cantata. He taught his children music and history, encouraging his daughters to develop good singing voices. Both parents were dedicated Christians as well. Years later, their youngest son, David would recall, quote: “Religion and culture were daily bread.”

The Davies encouraged their children to read the Bible through, offering a reward for success, despite the family’s financial difficulties. In addition to family worships where the Bible was read, the children were expected to learn Scripture passages by heart.

When Annie was only a teenager, a young preacher by the name of Evan Roberts came to her village. He brought a stirring message of hope, focusing on the wonder of a life wholly committed to Yah. Annie was late to the meeting and, admittedly, quite bored. After the meeting closed, Annie was deeply troubled. She realized in a whole new way how much of a sinner she was and she longed for her heart to be right with Yah. There was a second meeting scheduled for that evening, and Annie couldn’t wait for it to begin. During the meeting, Annie’s heart broke as she heard of the wonderful love of Yah for sinners. As her tears flowed, she gave her heart to Yah in a whole new way.

When the meeting was over, the local minister turned to her and invited her to sing. She stood up and sang:

Here is love, vast as the ocean,
loving-kindness as the flood,
when the Prince of Life, our Ransom,
shed for us His precious blood.
Who His love will not remember?
Who can cease to sing His praise?
He can never be forgotten
throughout heav'n's eternal days.

On the mount of crucifixion
fountains opened deep and wide;
through the floodgates of God's mercy
flowed a vast and gracious tide.
Grace and love, like mighty rivers,
poured incessant from above,
and heav'n's peace and perfect justice
kissed a guilty world in love.

Annie couldn’t keep singing. She was crying too hard, but so was everyone else in the audience. Afterward, Annie spoke to Evan Roberts, sharing her desire to use her gifts for Yahuwah. He encouraged her to pray about it after which she and her sister joined his evangelistic crusade. This was but the beginning of a great revival that would sweep through Wales. Over 100,000 people gave their hearts to Yah and missionaries were sent all around the world, bringing the good news of Yahuwah’s love and forgiveness. And wherever the message spread, so did the song that became known as the love song of the Welsh revival. The spirit of Yah used the singing of one young teenager to press the message of salvation home to hearts everywhere.

If you want to work for Yah, know that He has a special work that only you can do. You don’t have to travel to a foreign country. You have a sphere of influence right where you are. If it is in your heart to work for Yah, He will use you for His honor and glory.

Hebrews 13:20 and 21.

Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Yahushua, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may He work in us what is pleasing to Him, through Yahushua Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

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

* * *Part 3: Keeping the main thing the main thing

Dave: Today’s world is like a pressure cooker. The stress is increasing from every side and it’s very easy to get distracted from the most important things in life which, for a Christian, is the main thing: seeking first Yahuwah’s kingdom.

Miles: I’ve been told—I’ve never tried it and don’t want to—but I’ve been told that if you drop a frog in a boiling pot of water it will immediately hop out. Scalded, maybe, but otherwise unharmed. However, if you put a frog in a cold pot of water and slowly increase the heat, the frog will stay there until he dies.

Dave: That’s a perfect analogy of all the increasing pressures in our modern world. There’s stress and pressures from the political realm, from new and increased dangers to our health, trying to earn a living—

Miles: Not to mention the difficulties encountered as you take up your cross and follow Christ.

Dave: Right. And the devil’s hand is on the control knob. He keeps turning up the heat. It’s imperative that, through all this increasing intensity we keep our eyes focused on the main thing: seeking Yah and His kingdom.

Miles: We’ve talked about the importance of doing that. But, practically speaking now, how do we do that? How do we keep our focus on the main thing?

Dave: By reminding ourselves of the promises of Yah. His word is faithful. He will never break His word to us. At the start of our program, you read Matthew 6:33. If you’ve still got that tab open, I’d like you to go back and read it again, but this time read it in context. Yahushua knew that the secret to not be distracted from the main thing was to have confidence in the Father’s ability to protect and take care of us. And he said as much. Let’s read it. Matthew 6, verses 25 to 34.

Miles: Uh …

Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?

So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if Yah so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things—

Dave: Now. Here’s the important part.

Miles: “But seek first the kingdom of Yah and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”

Dave: We don’t need to worry about tomorrow. We don’t need to worry about politics or pandemics. It’s only going to get worse.

Miles: Way to give a pep talk, Dave! Real encouraging there.

Dave: No, but it is encouraging. Turn to Matthew 24 and read verses 6 to 8. This speaks to your point.

Miles: All right, uh:

And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.

Dave: Luke 21 verse 28 says: “And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.”

We don’t need to be afraid of the days ahead. We don’t need to fear politics or pandemics or even death itself. We simply need to make sure that the main thing we keep our focus on is the main thing: Yah’s kingdom of righteousness. We mustn’t get distracted from making that our first priority. With Paul, we need to “press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of Yah in Christ Yahushua.” [Philippians 3:14]

Miles: Amen. And the way we do that, folks, is by getting to know Yahuwah for ourselves. Not what our preachers tell us. Not what a book describes, but on a personal level for ourselves. Then, with Paul, we can say, “For I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.” [2 Timothy 1:12]

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.