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DAY 49 - 2001
Fred R. Coulter - May 26, 2001
And greetings brethren. This is the last Sabbath before Pentecost.
This is the seventh Sabbath in counting toward Pentecost, and it’s a very
important day. And it’s something that really ties right in with
Pentecost as one leads to the other. And the thing we need to
understand is this, brethren, God has given the understanding of His plan
through the holy days beginning with the Passover, as we’ve already had.
And then the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And now we come to the Sabbath
before Pentecost. And you know, one of the things that is happening is
that even in the Church of God they are getting tired of the holy days, and
they’re neglecting the holy days. And what’s going to happen, it’s
going to lead too many brethren in a very desperate situation because they
will be dumbed down and not able to know or understand God’s plan, because
even that which they have then will be taken from them.
Now let’s go to 2 Timothy 4 and let’s look at this again. Now I know
we looked at this the last holy day, but I want to go back and look at it
again because this is something that is really powerful. And something
that it just really is necessary for us today to truly understand. Now
there are two messages here. One for the ministers and one for the
brethren. Now let’s read it beginning in verse 1.
Paul writes to Timothy and says, “I charge thee therefore before
God…” So every minister needs to listen. Every minister needs to
perk up his ears and listen and understand that God is going to hold you
accountable for this charge. “…And the Lord Jesus Christ, Who shall
judge the quick and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom; preach the
word…” (2 Tim. 4:1-2). And that’s what needs to be preached. Not
ideas about men. Not ideas about what people think about things, but
actually what the word of God teaches.
Now I got a call from a man just this morning. And he was saying that
last year he went to the Feast of Tabernacles and he didn’t hear one sermon
for eight days about the Feast of Tabernacles. Oh, it’s all about
government. It was all about unity. It was all about those
things. But you see the truth is, unless Christ rules in your heart,
government doesn’t matter at all. And the truth is, if you are not
united spiritually with Christ then all the unity that men can work out is
just so much political garbage, and it’s destined to fail. Because you
see the Psalm says, “The weary builders toil in vain unless the LORD builds
the house.” Now Christ is building a house. Christ is building a
people. Christ is preparing a place for us. And so we need to be
fully prepared. We need to be fully taught. We need to be fully
understanding God’s plan, because I tell you the dark days are coming when
they are going to shut down the truth. And you can rest assure that’s
going to happen. And I’ll tell you how it’s going to affect the
Churches of God. Because they don’t want to be looked at as a cult.
Now I’m going to give a sermon on what is a cult. And because they
don’t want to be thought of as strange. Therefore they’re going to
back down from their preaching, and you wait and see, it’s going to repeat
itself again ala Worldwide Church of God. No doubt about it.
Now let’s continue here. “…Be instant in season, [and] out of
season…”, because unless you preach things in season in the time that they
are to be, God is not going to inspire anyone’s speaking, and they’re not
going to speak about the things in season in the time that it needs to be
said. And then out of season, that’s the rest of the year. But I
tell you what, the holy days are those things which then strengthen us.
The holy days are those things which give us inspiration. And with the
dark days that are coming ahead we need inspiration brethren. We need
the inspiration of God’s Holy Spirit. We need the inspiration of His
Word.
Now notice, sometimes the truth is hard to take. But never the less
that’s what Christ wants us to be sanctified by - the truth.
“…Reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine” (vs. 2).
And those things are very powerful and mighty. Doctrine does separate
and God expects it to. How else are we going to be separated from the
world. We can’t have one foot in the world and one foot in the Church
and expect God’s blessing, can we? That’s pure Laodiceanism. So
as we’re going through this I want you to as the question now. Cause
when we come to verse 3, “For the time will come when they will not endure
sound doctrine…”, and that’s been here for a long time.
I got a phone call the other day from a man who called and said, “Well, do
you believe that Eve had sex with Satan in the Garden of Eden?” And I
said, “No.” I said, “If you believe that this conversation is ended.”
He said, “I believe it.” I said, “This conversation is over.”
And after I hung up the phone I said to myself, “That is a doctrine that is
3000 years or more old, and why don’t people get a life.” Get a life
in Christ instead of life in their own heresy. They won’t endure sound
doctrine, “…but after their own lusts…”, and that’s all these false
doctrines are all about - lusts. “…The shall heap to themselves
teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears
from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables” (vs. 3-4). And that’s
the whole process that happens and then people soon lose the understanding
of the purpose of God, what He’s working out here on the earth. God is
a God with purpose. God is a God Who is a creator. God has a
plan and He’s carrying it out. And He’s carrying it out according to
the outline of the holy days. There’s a proper time for everything.
Let’s go to the book of Ecclesiastes and let’s see that. There is a
time, and now is the time that we really draw close to God. That we
take advantage of this time, as I said during the Feast of Unleavened Bread
wherever I traveled, that God has given us the whole Bible and we better be
about learning it, and we better be about knowing it. And we better be
about growing in grace and knowledge in the way that God wants us to.
Now here, Ecclesiastes 3:1, “To every thing there is a season, and a
time to every purpose under the heaven…” Now you can mark God’s word
and know that that is true and that it is going to happen. And that’s
why God has His holy days in season. Now, it’s repeated two other
times here in the book of Ecclesiastes. Come over here to verse 16.
“And moveover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, that
wickedness was there…” And isn’t that true? Right in the
highest judgment, the Supreme Courts, wickedness was there. “…And the
place of righteousness, that iniquity was there.” And
what a shame. That should not be. “I said in mine heart, God
shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time for
every purpose and for every work” (vs. 16-17). Now you need to ask the
question, which is this: If I have been called, now is it my time?
The answer is yes. Yes, it is your time.
Now let’s come over here to Romans 8 and let’s see something concerning
what God has done in God’s calling us. And brethren, we really need to
know and understand and apply ourselves in a way that will be proper before
God. God has called you with a purpose. God has called you with
a calling. God has in mind for you an eternal life, a new name. He’s
making a place for you in New Jerusalem. And so brethren, this is all
about what we’re coming up to with the Feast of Pentecost because that is
the day upon which it pictures the first resurrection.
Romans 8:28, “And we know that all things work together for good to them
that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose.”
He has a time, He has a season, He has a purpose. And His purpose is
for you that you be the firstfruits in the Kingdom of God. But God has
given you choice, and you have to exercise that choice. And you have
to do so in such a way that it will be proper and right and beneficial,
because people can make the wrong choices and go the opposite direction if
they choose to. And God will let them do it, because He wants to know
what’s in their heart. He wants to know what is in your heart.
He wants to know because no one’s going to attain to the Kingdom of God
unless God knows what’s in your heart. And of course, please
understand, that God is the heart knowing and the heart judging God.
Now He’s gracious and kind and merciful and longsuffering, and all of those
things are true. But when we have at our fingertips everything right
now in full abundance and proportion, then we need to work and apply
ourselves as firstfruits to be as fruitful as we can in it.
Now let’s come to 2 Timothy 1:8. And here’s what we need to
understand in this day and age. Because in this day and age they’re
doing everything to stifle free speech. They’re doing everything to
get people to conform in a new way of thinking. That’s the whole
purpose of how things are coming about in education, in business, in all the
media. You sit back and you look at it. It is to mold your attitude
and your thinking to conform to the coming One World Government, and One
World Religion. And the truth of God will become very unpopular.
Now you wait until you get the Harmony of the Gospels, which you’ll
get toward the end of June, and you will see right there in why this third
edition was published, that there are forces out there that are trying to
destroy all the knowledge of Christ, all the knowledge of God. They
even say there is no personal God external to us out there in the universe
someplace. And these are the forces that are generating the new
religion. Because the new religion is going to be just a humanistic
thing to control and manipulate people. So therefore the time is going
to come when we’re going to have to stand up for the truth, and we’re going
to have to acknowledge the truth, and say the truth, and proclaim the truth.
“Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His
prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to
the power of God…” And I dare say, we’ve all had our afflictions in it
but nothing like the apostle Paul and Timothy and the others of the apostles
who wrote the New Testament for us. But here’s what he had in his mind
when he was going through these thing and he wrote and encouraged Timothy.
“…Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not
according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which
was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began…” So God has His
plan and His purpose and that’s what He’s working out. And these holy
days are so profound and so important and really so momentous as we come to
each one of them. And yes, we should anticipate them. And yes,
we should approach them as if they’re brand new, because they are.
It’s a new Day of Pentecost. It is a new year. It is a new
harvest, if we could put it that way.
Ok, now let’s look at some other scriptures here. Let’s come back to
Jeremiah 51:28. Very interesting. “Prepare against her the
nations with the kings of the Medes, the captains thereof, and all the
rulers thereof, and all the land of his dominion. And the land shall
tremble and sorrow: for every purpose of the LORD shall be performed against
Babylon…” (Jer. 51:28-29).
Now let’s understand something. Every purpose of the Lord concerning
everything in everyplace is going to be accomplished according to the will
of God. Do you believe that? Well if you do then you really will
understand what’s happening here then.
Let’s come to Isaiah 46 and let’s see what else God has to say about His
purpose, about His time, about His plan. Let’s begin in verse 3.
“Hearken unto Me, O house of Jacob…” And of course, we are spiritual
Israel, see. “…And all the remnant of the house of Israel…” And
those brethren who are the faithful ones, scattered though they may be, are
the remnant of the house of Israel, “…which are borne by Me from the
belly, which are carried from the womb: and even to your old age I
am
He;…” So what God is saying here is this: He has called you for a
purpose. He is forming Christ in you, as we saw during the Feast of
Unleavened Bread. And He is with you even to your old age. Now
God will never leave you if you don’t leave Him. “…And even
to hoar hairs [that is the white hairs] will I carry you: I have made
[you], and I will bear [you]; even I will carry, and will deliver you”
(Isa. 46:3-4). So we don’t need to get despondent. We don’t need
to get discouraged. We don’t need to get down. We don’t need to
start looking at other plans or other means, or other devices, or other ways
to try and accomplish God’s plan.
“To whom will ye liken Me, and make Me equal, and compare Me, that
we may be like?” (vs. 5). And that’s what’s happening in this world,
brethren. Oh, yes it is. They are making Christ just like any
other religious prophet or teacher. They’re trying to strip Him away
of His divinity, strip Him away of His Godhead. Strip Him away of His
authority. Strip all the words out of the New Testament and take them
away so you won’t believe them.
“They lavish gold out of the bag, and weigh silver in the balance, and
hire a goldsmith; and he maketh it a god:…” And that’s what we do with
all the works of our hands. We worship the works of our hands.
“…They fall down, yea, they worship [him].” Just exactly like the
Dalai Lama does. “They bear him [that is, they carry him] upon the
shoulder, they carry him, and set him in his place, and he standeth; [and]
from his place shall he not remove:…” (vs. 6-7).
Now let me tell you something. I’ll give you just a little something
to think about. There was once a time an apostle, supposedly an
apostle of God, who traveled around the world. And the King of
Thailand was his close friend. And the King of Thailand’s duty every
year was to go change the clothes on the Buddha, because he was the head of
the Buddha religion. Now let me ask you a question. Do you think
that the apostle Paul would have said nothing about that? Do you think
that the apostle Paul would make friends with someone like that without
telling him to repent and get rid of the idolatry? I say he would call
him to repentance. You see, the Bible says friendship with the world
makes you an enemy of God. See, so here the very same practices that
I’m reading about right here in the scriptures were never even one word
raised against him.
“…Yea,
one shall cry unto him, yet can he not answer, nor save him out of his
trouble. Remember this, and shew yourselves men: bring it again
to mind, O ye transgressors. Remember the former things of old: for I
am
God, and there is none else…” That’s why God’s plan is going to
stand. And it really doesn’t matter if all of the main religious
people in the world, and scholars and teachers and the most intelligent
reject the holy days of God. And yea, if most of the Church of God
ends up rejecting the holy days of God it isn’t going to matter because God
is God, you see. And He’s going to judge. And He has a time, and
He has a purpose, and He has a judgment, you see. There is none else.
“…I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from
the beginning, and from ancient times the things
that are not yet done…” And that’s what the holy days do.
God wants us to know and He’s revealed them through the holy days.
“…My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure…” (vs. 7-10).
And one thing that God likes to have is pleasure in His people because they
love Him, they serve Him, they obey Him, they worship Him, and get to know
Him. And He’s put His Spirit in them so that they can be born of the
resurrection at the return of Jesus Christ. But remember, God’s
counsel is going to stand. No man is going to do anything against God.
Come over here to Isaiah 48:1. “Hear ye this, O house of Jacob, which
are called by the name of Israel [we are called by the name of the Father],
and are come forth out of the waters of Judah, which swear by the name of
the LORD, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in
righteousness.” No, too many ideas of men. Too many sins
allowed. “For they call themselves of the holy city, and stay
themselves upon the God of Israel; The LORD of hosts is His name. I
have declared the former things from the beginning; and they went forth out
of My mouth, and I shewed them; I did them suddenly…” Now, we
need to understand something brethren, God, when He gets ready to do
something - it’s going to happen suddenly. And it will be quick.
Not only that. If we are not prepared now before the day of battle,
when the day of battle comes it will be too late. “…And they came to
pass. Because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck
is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass…” Now isn’t that something that God
has to deal with such carnality and stubbornness? And I’ve seen this
in the Church of God. I’ve seen this with people with their own ways.
“I have even from the beginning declared it to thee; before it came
to pass I shewed it to thee: lest thou shouldst say, Mine idol hath
done them, and my graven image, and my molten image, hath commanded them”
(Isa. 48:1-6).
Now let’s look at something here. Let’s look at the strangeness of
what we have. Let’s go back to Revelation 3 and let’s look at the
strangeness that we have of the stubbornness today. Now we’ll come
back to Isaiah 48 here in just a minute, but let’s go to Revelation 3.
And Revelation 3 is the epitome, with the Laodiceans, of the age that we are
living in today. And I don’t think that unless we really admit we are
Laodiceans that we are going to really get it. I have never yet seen
anyone who proclaims himself to be a Philadelphian, to be a Philadelphian.
And most of the Laodiceans like to claim that because then that takes a big
responsibility off of them. Well, you see, the claims of men, and the
reality of truth, and the judgment of God are different things.
Here, Revelation 3:14. “And unto the angel of the church of the
Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true
witness, the beginning [that is the beginner] of the creation of God; I know
thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot…” Now that’s the kind of
stubbornness that we have today. Just kind of “Well, we won’t commit
ourselves, and you know the truth is just really prejudicial, you know”.
And if someone brings out something of correction, “Well, you know, I know
that guy. He’s really hard-headed.” Whatever the epitaph may be,
God says, “I would thou wert cold or hot” (Rev. 3:14-15). Don’t have
one foot in the world and one foot in the Church. You can all the way
right with Christ and be hot, or you’re going out into the world and you’re
going to have your own things come upon you.
“So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will
[vomit] spue thee out of My mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and
increased with goods, and have need of nothing…” Now brethren, there
has never been an age in which mankind has lived that this is not more true
than today. We have more goods. We’ve been gadgetized with
everything. Even what we’re doing right now in making this video is
part of the goods and gadgets that we have. But you see, we’re trying
to put it into a purpose that will serve God. “…And knowedst not that
thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked…” (vs.
16-17). And isn’t that the way it is with the ho-hum Church’s of God?
They don’t see. They don’t know. They don’t understand.
They have no love, they have no joy, they have not happiness. And
haven’t we all experienced this?
Well, God tells us to repent. God says, “…I counsel thee to buy of Me
gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that
thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not
appear; and anoint thine eyes with eye-salve…”, a little spiritual eye-salve
up here. You know it’s just like a woman who recently had a cataract
removed. “Wow,” she said. “I didn’t know what I was missing.”
Likewise, let’s get those spiritual cataracts off our eyes, and let’s really
see the truth. So He says, “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten:
be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door, and
knock…” Christ has got to come back into us. “…If any man hear
My voice, and open the door, I will come in to Him, and will sup with Him,
and he with Me” (vs. 18-20).
Now God wants to fellowship with His people. But that fellowship is
going to be His way. So what we need to do (let’s come back here to
Isaiah 48), is get rid of our idols, because you see all the goods that the
Laodiceans have out there are idols before God. No different than
idols of silver or graven images, or molten images. Now let’s come
back here to Isaiah 48:6.
“Thou hast heard, see all this; and will not ye declare it?”
In other words if we hear the word of God and we see all these things taking
place, shall we not declare it? “I have shewed thee new things from
this time, even hidden things, and thou didst not know them.” Because
God has brought you into His confidence to give you the understanding of His
holy days and His plan and purpose. “They are created now, and not
from the beginning; even before the day when thou heardest them not; lest
thou shouldest say, Behold, I knew them” (Isa. 48:6). No. That’s
why God closes the understanding to the Bible to people so that He can call
them and open their eyes and give them understanding so they will know and
realize that this has come from God, and it hasn’t come from them.
“Yea, thou heardest not; yea, thou knewest not; yea, from that time that
thine ear was not opened: for I knew that thou wouldest deal very
treacherously, and wast called a transgressor from the womb” (vs. 8).
So therefore God says He defers His anger, and so forth. But He says,
verse 12, “Hearken unto Me, O Jacob and Israel, My called; I am He; I
am the first, I also am the last.” And we’ll see that in
the book of Revelation. That’s referring to Jesus Christ.
Now all the things that we learned concerning the holy days, beginning with
Israel, and all the things that happened with them are examples for us to
the intent that we do not do the same things. Now let’s go back and
let’s rehearse, and let’s bring us forward from the Passover up to
Pentecost. Let’s go back to the book of Exodus. We know that God
started out His plan and purpose with Israel with the Passover, and then He
led them out of the land of Egypt beginning with the Feast of Unleavened
Bread. And then they took their journey. And that journey is
much like our life after God calls us. Because you see, before God
called us first there was the Passover Who was Christ. And then God
has called us and has led us, and we are walking in the world just like the
children of Israel, we’re walking in the wilderness for 40 years. And
we have to look to God for everything because we have nothing that we didn’t
receive. God fought their battles for them, brought them through the
Red Sea, brought them over to where they could have fresh water at the
waters of Meribah.
Now let’s come to Exodus 16, and Exodus 16 is a very important chapter
because it tells us an awful lot. It tells us about the manna.
It tells us about the Sabbath day. And it shows that God desires us to
keep the Sabbath day and that He’s going to specially feed us on the Sabbath
day just like He fed the children of Israel. Now you know the story.
It was on the Sabbath day that they came and complained.
Exodus 16:2, “And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured
against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness: and the children of Israel said
unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of
Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to
the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this
whole assembly with hunger.” Now you see they were really accusing
God. “Then said the LORD unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from
heaven…” God is going to take care of them…but His way. Key
important lesson for us in everything: God will take care of us, but
His way.
So then He told them, “You’re going to have the manna. You can go out
every day. And you have to go out before the heat of the day and you
can get one omer per person. And you bring it back, and that will be
your bread.” Which we see in another section of scriptures is angel
food. So what the children of Israel did, they ate angel food for 40
years. Now when they kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread in the
wilderness that’s what the bread was made out of. And you can’t get
any more pure unleavened bread than manna.
Now it was kind of sweet and tasted like coriander seed and so then the
children of Israel went out in the morning and they got it. And God
had specific instructions. One, only get what you need day by day.
Now I want you to think about that in relationship to the daily prayer.
“Give us this day our daily bread.” You see, the parallels carry over
into the New Testament as well.
Now if they got more than one omer per person, it bread worms and it stank.
Couldn’t keep it over. So they were to gather the manna six days of
the week. Now I want you to understand that this manna continued all
the way until the time that they got into the promised land. And it
ceased on the 16th day of the first month. Now, the manna
was given on the 16th day of the second month here, but let’s
understand the 16th day is the self-same day that the manna came,
the manna stopped. Now you think on that for a while. Now back
to this. You know also the rest of the story. God said, “You go
out and you gather twice as much on the sixth day and you keep it over and
it won’t breed worms and stink. But I don’t want you going out on the
Sabbath to try and gather manna.
Now let’s pick it up right here in Exodus 16:25. “And Moses said, Eat
that to day; for to day is a sabbath unto the LORD…” Now, since
the manna did not breed worms and stink there was another miracle that God
performed. Let’s understand something concerning that spiritually for
us. The Sabbath day is for us to be miraculously fed the word of God
with God’s Spirit given to us to give us understanding. That’s what
the Sabbath day is for. It’s not for our pleasure. It’s not for
our business. It’s not for our politics. It’s not for command
and control. It’s for fellowship with God the Father and Jesus Christ,
and then we are fed by the word of God, the pure word of God which doesn’t
breed worms and stink. See, that’s what the Sabbath day is for.
It says, “…ye shall not find it in the field. Six days ye shall
gather it; but on the seventh day, which is the sabbath, in it there
shall be none. And it came to pass, that there went out some
of the people on the seventh day for to gather, and they found none” (vs.
25-27). Now you know, think of it. God was right there.
They saw the pillar of cloud by day, the fire by night. There was
Moses and Aaron there. They told them exactly what it would be, but do
you think that people would really listen and get it? No. Some
of them still went out. Let’s ask ourselves a question: Do we
really get it? Or are we playing games with ourselves? Or are we
playing games with God? Remember, there is a time and there is a
purpose for everything according to God’s judgment as well.
Verse 28, “And the LORD said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep My
commandments and My laws?” See, now the law that God gave concerning
the manna they were breaking. “See, for the LORD hath given you the
sabbath…” Brethren, the greatest thing we need to understand is this.
The Sabbath day is a gift from God. And let’s also understand this
concerning the Sabbath day. Not only is it a gift from God, but a gift
comes from His grace. And contrary to what Protestants accuse us of
doing because we keep the Sabbath, that we are trying to earn salvation.
No way. Only God can give it as a gift through His grace. But He
also gave the Sabbath as His gift through His grace so that we could learn
and grow in grace and knowledge and understanding. God gave us the
Sabbath for the spiritual benefit, not only the physical benefits that we
have, but the spiritual benefit so that we can grow in grace and knowledge.
“…Therefore He giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days; abide ye
every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.
So the people rested on the seventh day” (vs. 28-29). And “rested”
there is “they sabbathized”, sabbotizo
on the seventh day. Now that’s how important it is. That’s how
important it was for them.
Ok, let’s continue the journey now. Let’s come over to chapter 19.
The children of Israel came into the area of Mt. Sinai on the same day of
the week, being a Thursday, that they left Egypt, which was beginning
Wednesday night on into Thursday. And then this leads up to Pentecost.
And Pentecost was the day upon which God gave the Ten Commandments. So
there are quite a few profound and important lessons for us to know and to
understand about the things that are here.
Now the most important thing to understand is this. Let’s begin right
here in Exodus 19:5. “Now therefore, if ye will obey My voice indeed…”
Let’s stop right here and ask the question: Are we obeying the voice
of God? And the voice of God is contained right here in the
scriptures. Everything here is what God has spoken and what God has
inspired to be written. So if you want to know what God has said, read
the Bible, it will tell you.
He says, “…if ye will obey My voice indeed, and keep My covenant…”
Now let’s apply this to us with the New Covenant. Will we obey the
voice of Jesus Christ? And Jesus said that the very words that He
spoke are going to judge us. “…And keep My covenant…” And the
covenant that we have in the New Testament is what? The covenant with
the body and the blood of Jesus Christ. And we need to keep that
covenant and keep that covenant in faith, and keep that covenant with zeal,
and keep that covenant in newness all the time. He says, “…then…”.
Now I want you to circle the two words. Have you got a pen? Do
it. Circle it, “if” and “then”. Now there are a lot of if
and then’s in the Bible see [laughter]. “If you love Me, keep My
commandments”, Jesus said. “…Then ye shall be a peculaiar treasure
unto Me above people: for all the earth is mine: and ye shall be unto
Me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation.” So then He said, “These
are the words. You take it down and tell the children of Israel these
words and let’s get their answer.” Well they said yes.
Now hold your place here because we’ll come back, but let’s come to 1 Peter
2 and let’s understand what God has called us to. And let’s understand
that our spiritual calling is going to fulfill this for the whole world when
we are in the Kingdom of God as kings and priests. Let’s understand
that.
Now 1 Peter 2:9, “But ye are a chosen generation…” God has
called you. God called the children of Israel out of Egypt. He’s
called us out of the world. He gave them their law. He gives us
His Spirit so we can keep His law. “…Ye are a chosen
generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people…” So
now we are the ones who are fulfilling what God proposed in the letter of
the law to the children of Israel. Now we are fulfilling that in the
spirit. We are not yet that nation of priests but when Christ returns
we will be. “…That ye should shew forth the praises of Him Who hath
called you out of darkness into His marvellous light: which in time past
were
not a people, but are now [called] the people of God: which had not
obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.” And so brethren, see the
parallel there. I want you to get that with the Old Covenant and the
New Covenant. With them coming to Mt. Sinai, and then we’ll see a
little later with us coming to Mt. Zion in heaven above.
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