The forgotten commandments of Yahshua.
Ask any Christian what the commandments that Yahshua gave us are and ninety nine percent will say, ‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy Elohim with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment.  And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets”, quoting Matt.22:37-40. They do not realise that these two commandments were given by Elohim to Israel in Deut.6:5 and Lev.19:18. This ignorance is because they believe that we are living in the times of ‘grace’ and so the Old Testament is not relevant to them. Preachers these days even tell that the 10 commandments are not relevant anymore because we are living in the times of ‘grace’ ! Their reply is that since Yahshua has forgiven their sins, they need not worry about anything.

But a careful study of the four gospels show us some commandments that Yahshua gave which we conveniently ignore. I will mention a  few of these commandments here.
1. Repent. Matt.4:17 "From that time Yahshua began to preach, saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." The very first commandment He gave us is ‘REPENT’. Messiah began His ministry with a call to repentance. He came into this world where people were living as they liked, without any sense of right or wrong. The priests had long since left their true calling and were only interested in filling their pockets and adding more burdens to the law (Matt.23:13-29). Even today preachers and churches do not talk about sin, it is not politically correct. They talk mainly about miracles and healings. If Yahweh Elohim had wanted people to be in good health, He would have sent a physician, not a Saviour! But he wanted all men to repent of their sins and turn to Him. Without repentance we cannot enjoy the blessing of Elohim.
2. Pray for your enemies. Matt. 5:44. It is easy to love our neighbor. We speak kindly to them, we visit them when they are sick, help them in their troubles, etc. But can we do these to our enemies? To those who continually hate us, speak ill of us, harass and abuse us? Messiah has given us a commandment, ’pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;’ He is telling us what He would be later doing on the cross, pray for them. He prayed for those who were crucifying Him, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do’. Stephen followed this commandment and prayed for his enemies when they were stoning him. We are to pray for them, trusting in the Lord to protect us.

3. Watch and pray always. Luke.21:36. Be continually connected with Elohim. We should watch against every sin, snare, temptation, indulgence, drunkenness, and worldly cares. Pray continually, for fresh supply of grace. Watching and praying go together (Neh.4:9). Anyone who watches will never be caught unawares. We should be regular and constant in our prayer. This is our duty as a Christian that we should pray individually, as a family and also as a church. We should be ready to pray in public, if requested. We are dependent on Elohim for His grace and mercy every moment of our lives. So be always in prayer. It is through prayer that we talk to the Lord.
Be awake, and keep awake, in expectation of the Lord's coming, that we may be in a right frame to receive him, and bid him welcome.

4. Love One Another: John 13:34-35 "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." The disciples knew the OT commandment ‘love thy neighbor as thyself’. We all love each other, family, friends, neighbors, etc. But now Messiah is calling us to go one step higher. Our love should be like the love of Messiah- strong, unfailing, unending, and sacrificing. John.15:13,’Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.’ It was this kind of love that we find among the early disciples. This is the kind of love that Paul tells us in Eph.5:1-2,’ And walk in love, as Messiah also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to Elohim for a sweet smelling savour. This the love through which the world will know us.

This has often been called as the eleventh commandment. We should love our brethren even as the Father loved the Son-in humiliation, sufferings and obedience. We cannot call ourselves His disciples if we do not love one another. Brotherly love is the mark of a Christian. We should be ready to lay down our lives for our brethren.

How do we show or demonstrate this kind of love?  When we gather in the church, we should be happy to see and meet each other. We should show concern for them and visit them and pray for them in their troubles. We should work with other Christians and do such things together. When others abuse us, harass us or cause us harm, we should be ready to forgive them and draw them closer to Messiah.
John.13:35,’By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

5. Take up your Cross and Follow Me: Matt.16:24-25 "Then Yahshua told his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."
What does denying one’s self mean? It means we give up all of our earthly and fleshly ambitions. We must ask what Elohim wants out of our lives and do as He has asked. David wanted to build a temple for Elohim, but it was not Elohim’s wish that David should do it because he was a man of war (). So David refrained from building the temple. When self is in conflict with Elohim’s desires, we must yield to His ways.

Since we cannot literally follow Messiah to the cross, we can do so by imitating his life. To follow Messiah we live and act as He lived : simply, holily, reverently, always seeking Elohim’s will for our lives and being honest before all men. Taking up your cross means giving up the false riches and pleasures of this world to gain eternal life.
6. Go and Make Disciples: Matt.28:18-20 "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." I call this a commandment and not just some piece of advice. This is the last commandment which Messiah gave us before He ascended upto heaven and the one we all, as Christians, MUST obey, if we truly love Yahshua Mesiah.                                                                

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