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FEAST OF TABERNACLES - 2001
Day 4
Fred Coulter - October 5, 2001
Greetings, brethren. This is day four of the Feast of Tabernacles, 2001,
and so here we are right exactly at the halfway point during the Feast of
Tabernacles and the Last Great Day combined. So we’ve been having a
wonderful feast. I hope that you have been. And we’re going to continue in
the theme of the Feast of Tabernacles in the New Testament. You know it’s
really amazing. And just putting together the different sermons, it is
absolutely amazing that people would think that they can preach anything
concerning the Bible, that they can understand or know God in the Bible and
yet reject the Sabbath and holy days, and they really don’t understand
anything, do they? See, because with that they think they’re going to
heaven, and the Bible shows there’s a resurrection. And moreover the Bible
shows there’s more than one resurrection, which we’ll see when we get to day
seven and day eight. And the whole gospel talks about the Kingdom of God and
the return of Christ. So it’s an amazing thing. Not only do we have the
prophecies of the Old Testament, which tell us many things, but then we get
more understanding of it as we come to the New Testament.
Now let’s begin by going back to the book of Daniel. So we’re going to
start back there. And remember that the book of Daniel has to be basically
understood in its time frame and the meaning of all the prophecies there,
especially when we get to the prophecies in Daniel 2, and Daniel 7, and
Daniel 12. You have to basically understand those before you can understand
the book of Revelation, because the book of Revelation is the finishing of
the whole Bible. And in order to understand the book of Revelation…now if
you don’t have our series on Revelation, write for it. It’s an extended
series going through verse by verse the whole book of Revelation. So if you
don’t have it you write for it and go through it and you will see that it
really requires a basic understanding of the whole Bible before you can
really understand about the book of Revelation.
Now let’s go back to Daniel 2, and let’s see where the prophecy was given
by God to Nebuchadnezzar, and then the interpretation of it to Daniel to
tell Nebuchadnezzar. But what we want to do is look at this from the point
of view of that the Kingdom of God is going to be established, and it’s
going to be forever as we’ve seen in Isaiah 9, “of the increase of His
government there is no end”, there will be no end. It will go constantly all
into eternity. Now let’s go to Daniel 2 and let’s look at this and let’s
understand that from this time forward everything that God does relates then
to the Kingdom of God. As a matter of fact we can go clear back, as we saw
yesterday, where Peter said that Christ was received into the heavens until
the time of the restitution of all things. And that is bringing it back to
the condition that it was when Adam and Eve were first created. So that’s
really quite a thing that we can look forward to, and we’re going to have a
part in doing that, as we know.
So let’s just pick it up here in Daniel 2:36 so that we’ll get the full
flow of everything. And it’s very interesting that history from this point,
from the Babylonian kingdom forward is very accurate and very well known.
History going back beyond that is a little difficult and has many more
problems. Ok, now let’s begin in verse 36. “This is the dream;…”
Remember now, Nebuchadnezzar had the dream. He didn’t understand it. He
wouldn’t tell anyone what it was. And all of his star gazers and
prognosticators, and everybody said, “Tell us the dream and we’ll tell you
the meaning.” And he said, “No, I want you to tell me the dream and the
meaning.” And so God revealed it to Daniel.
“This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof
before the king. Thou, O king,
art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom,
power, and strength, and glory.” Now this symbolizes the greatness of man’s
kingdoms. So at the end-time we have Babylon the Great, which then is the
full expression of all the kingdoms, as we find, in the book of Daniel. So
it’s really something. God is the One Who gives it. Understand that. “And
wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls
of the heaven hath He given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over
them all. Thou art this head of gold” (Dan. 2:36-38). So we have this
head of gold, and then silver, and then brass, and then we have legs of
iron, and we have feet of iron and clay.
Verse 39, “And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and
another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.
And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh
in pieces and subdueth all
things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and
bruise. And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters’ clay,
and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided;…”, or that is, diverse, if
we could use a modern term today. It will be diverse. “…But there shall be
in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed
with miry clay. And as the toes of the feet were part of iron,
and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly
[weak, or as the Hebrew is there: brittle, subject to breaking easily]
broken. And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle
themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another,
even as iron is not mixed with clay” (vs. 39-43). So they will build this
whole system of Babylon the Great. It will come together and it will look
like it’s really going to be a great and marvelous thing, but it’s going to
fall apart. And of course we see in the book of Revelation that’s exactly
what happens.
Now continuing on verse 44, “And in the days of these kings shall the God
of heaven set up a kingdom…” Now this is the Kingdom that is talked about
all through the New Testament. “…Which shall never be destroyed: and the
kingdom shall not be left to other people…”, we’ll see that it’s going to be
left to the saints. And we also have seen in the series in Hebrews that God
did not leave the world, whereof we are speaking of to the dominion of
angels. So there’s quite a lesson there. “…
But it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall
stand for ever.” And that’s the thing that’s important, brethren. God’s
calling is eternal. God’s plan is forever. And what we are doing now is just
the start. Just the beginning you see, to know, to understand God’s way. To
be educated in God’s word. To live our lives through all the circumstances
that we go through so that Christ in us, we can build the character of God.
And character is what is the important thing. The love of God, the truth of
God, the faith and hope of God. Those are the things in the character that
we need to have so that we can rule in a right and a proper way that we’ll
be able to serve Christ and serve all the people that we teach during the
Millennium, in a way that will help lead them into the Kingdom of God so
that they can have eternal life, you see.
Now verse 45, “Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the
mountain without hands…” Now that stone is Christ. Christ is the chief
corner stone. Christ is the Rock that followed them in the wilderness (1
Cor. 10:4). Christ is the Rock that He said He would build His Church upon
(Matt. 16:18). So here is the stone, was cut out of the mountain without
hands, showing that it was supernatural. Showing that it is what God had
done. Showing that it’s not what man has done at all, even though Christ was
a man, became a man. This is by divine power of God. “…And that it brake in
pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great
God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the
dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.” Now this is
why, brethren, it’s very important for us to understand: God’s word is true.
God’s word cannot be broken. God’s word shows us what these things are going
to be. And down through time, maybe we have misunderstood some of these
things, but nevertheless they are going to take place because God is the One
who holds the timetable and schedule for this. Ok, but the key is that it’s
not going to be left to other people.
Now let’s come to Daniel 7. We’re not going to go through all of Daniel 7,
I want to cover just a couple of parts here so that we know and understand
the things that are going on. Now first of all let’s pick it up here in
verse 8 because this ties in with 2 Thessalonians 2. Now there are a lot of
people who claim and believe that the Beast who is going to rule the world
is the Pope. No, that’s not true. The Beast who is going to rule the world
is going to be the great king of the world. He’s going to be the great
Beast. And as Revelation 13 shows there are two Beasts. One with seven heads
and ten horns, and the other with two horns. So you have state and religion.
And you just watch the news that’s taking place. Politics is getting more
involved in religion, and religion more involved in politics, fulfilling the
prophecies. And then out if it will come the man who will proclaim himself
to be God.
Now let’s pick it up here in verse 8. “I considered the horns, and, behold,
there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three
of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn
were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things.” Just
put in your margin, Revelation 13, and 2 Thessalonians 2.
Now verse 9, “I beheld till the thrones were [placed] cast down…” It says
“cast down”, but “placed down”. Put in your margin there Revelation 20:4,
because thrones were put down and judgment was given to them, and that is
those who were in the first resurrection. “…And the Ancient of days did
sit…” Now this is interesting. There is no reason at all…you just stop and
think about it. Once we are resurrected and meet Christ in the air on the
sea of glass. Once all the things that have taken place on the sea of glass
are accomplished, there is no reason at all for us not to see God the
Father. So it’s interesting that it talks about “the Ancient of days did
sit.” “…Whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head
like the pure wool: his throne was like
the fiery flame, and His wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream
issued and came forth from before Him: thousand thousands ministered unto
Him [you can put in there Revelation 4 and Revelation 5], and ten thousand
times ten thousand stood before Him: the judgment was set, and the books
were opened. I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the
horn spake: I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed,
and given to the burning flame.” Put in there Revelation 19, casting of the
Beast and False Prophet into the lake of fire. “As concerning the rest of
the beasts, they had their dominion taken away: yet their lives were
prolonged for a season and time. I saw in the night visions, and, behold,
one like the Son of man came with the clouds…” Now we’re going to see
that Jesus gave a direct reference to Himself as being the Son of man. Now
notice, “…with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days…” So
here is one of those few places in the Old Testament that shows God the
Father, the Ancient of days, and the Son of man, the One who became Jesus
Christ. “…And they brought Him near before Him. And there was given Him
dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages,
should serve Him: His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which
shall not pass away, and His kingdom that which shall not be
destroyed” (vs. 9-14).
Now then let’s come over here to verse 21. “I beheld, and the same horn
made war with the saints, and prevailed against them (Revelation 13); until
the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most
High…” We are going to judge the world. Paul even said in 1 Corinthians 6,
he says, “Know ye not that we are going to judge angels” (1 Cor. 6:3). Now
just what it means to judge angels, I don’t know, but we’ll find out when
we’re spirit beings in the Kingdom of God. But that’s going to be an awesome
task indeed, isn’t it, to judge angels? “…And the time came that the saints
possessed the kingdom” (vs. 22-23). Now as I said yesterday, we are going to
inherit it. We are going to own it. We are going to be the kings and
priests, the teachers, administrators, and all of that for the whole world.
Of course under Christ, under His direction.
Verse 23, “Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon
earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole
earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.” Now that’s Babylon
the Great of Revelation 13, 17, and 18. And it’s going to be a worldwide one
government, as we’ve covered many times before. “And the ten horns out of
this kingdom are ten kings
that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be
diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings” (vs. 23-24). Now,
there are many different interpretations as to what this means, but the one
king, the little king that arises out of him and takes three kings from it.
Now if it’s going to be, as we have seen in the past, as very strong
possibility that there will be ten regions of the world which will be ruled
over by one of these ten lesser kings. Then ten regions are going to be
taken out. Now could that be the nations of Israel divided into thee
sections? Now you just think on that because he is going to take out the
nations of Israel. And God is going to send Israel into captivity, as we
have seen, at the beginning of the Millennium what happens? They come out of
captivity. So it’s very likely that it could be that when it refers to the
end-time.
Now notice verse 25. It picks up where we began in verse 8. “And he shall
speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the
saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws…” And that is
going to happen. As a matter of fact if you get a calendar from Europe,
guess which day is the seventh day over there? Sunday. Now they haven’t
changed the dates. They have just moved Sunday backward to give it the
indication that it’s the seventh day. Now also please understand this, that
all corporation calendars run on the same basis. Saturday they consider the
sixth day, and Sunday they consider the seventh day. That’s why it’s
important, brethren, that we maintain the calculated Hebrew calendar. That
we maintain the understanding of when the Sabbath and holy days are, because
they’re going to try and take it away from us. If they can’t take it away
from us in actual deed by having us give up on the holy days, and
commandments of God, and so join the great world religion, then they’re
going to try and change it to confuse. And those new people who will be
coming along, it will be very confusing to them because it will be said,
“Well, you’re to keep the seventh day.” And they’ll look at their calendar
and say, “Hey, that’s Sunday. Well, I’m going to church on Sunday now, so
you know, I’m keeping the seventh day.” Has the world been deceived? Is it
going to be even more deceived? No doubt about it, absolutely yes.
Now continuing on here, “…and they shall be given into his hand until a
time and times and the dividing of time [which then is 3 ½ years]. But the
judgment shall sit [that is after that. Again put in Revelation 20:4], and
they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto
the end” (vs. 25-26). And that’s why the whole world, as we saw at the
beginning of the feast, has to end up in the condition that it is, because
it’s all got to be destroyed. God is not going to do a patchwork quilt or a
mosaic of putting things together by taking part of this, which was the best
from men, part of that, which was the best over here in this field of men’s
endeavors. He’s going to wipe the slate clean and it’s going to start all
fresh and we’re going to begin on the foundation of Christ.
Now notice verse 27. I want you to understand you’re calling as pictured by
the Feast of Tabernacles. “And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness
of the kingdom [which is the whole world, as we saw yesterday that Abraham
knew that he was going to be heir of the world] under the whole heaven,
shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom
is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey Him.”
Now, let’s come to the New Testament. Let’s see that the whole thing of the
preaching of the gospel of the Kingdom of God, or the Kingdom of Heaven as
Matthew writes it, is based upon these very prophecies here. Now let’s come
to 2 Thessalonians and then we’ll get to the book of Matthew next. But
here’s what Paul wrote. The epistle of 2 Thessalonians was the second
epistle that he wrote. The first one was 1 Thessalonians. And the second one
came right after that.
Let’s begin in 2 Thessalonians 1:1. “Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus,
unto the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus
Christ.” Now you see that ties right back in with Daniel 7 about the Ancient
of Days and the Son of man, correct? Yes. “Grace unto you, and peace, from
God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We are bound to thank God always
for you, brethren, as it is [proper] meet, because that your faith groweth
exceedingly, and the [love] charity of every one of you all toward each
other aboundeth” (2 Thess. 1:1-3). And of course you know, brethren, that’s
the important thing. If we don’t love God and love each other, you know we
need to understand something. Pretty much all bets are off in being in the
Kingdom of God. You need to understand that. So that’s why we need to always
put the love of God first, loving each other, and serving the brethren.
Verse 4, “So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your
patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye
endure…” Now if you go back and read in the book of Acts what happened there
in Thessalonia, boy, they had riots. The Jews were coming after them big
time. Verse 5, “Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment
of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye
also suffer.” Now we have to be counted worthy, but notice how the
worthiness is counted. Not only by the love of God and loving each other,
but also the worthiness is counted because of the things that they suffered.
“Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation
to them that trouble you.” (vs. 6). Now that’s how you can love your
enemies. You put them into God’s hands and you say, “God you know what to do
with them.” Let your judgment be that you decided upon them. And you get
your feelings and you get your emotions out of it. You see, because you can
become so carnal and concentrated in trying to work things out yourself that
you forget to put it in God’s hands. And I can tell you this from
experience, God knows how to take care of the enemy. Without a doubt, He
knows how to take care of it.
“And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be
revealed from heaven with His mighty angels [so here we have the second
return of Christ, coming of the Kingdom of God], in flaming fire taking
vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our
Lord Jesus Christ:…” Quite a statement you see. Here we have the Kingdom of
God and we know that the Feast of Tabernacles pictures the fulfilling of the
Kingdom of God on earth, so again this ties right in with the prophecies
going back to the book of Daniel. Now notice, “…who shall be punished with
everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of
his power;…” (vs. 7-9). Now this goes right on in to the lake of fire, which
then is past the Millennium. So you see here it’s all together. It is
amazing.
I do not know how Protestants can believe in the return of Christ and not
believe in Trumpets, Atonement, and the Feast of Tabernacles and the Last
Great Day, because all of those come in a package together in the fall. It’s
amazing but they do. But you see, what they have is going to be taken from
them. And what knowledge they understood will be diminished and removed
because it’s going to come down to two ways: Either you repent and you are
right with God, or you’re going right into the world. No two ways about it.
It is going to be one or the other. And you wait and see, that has been
happening, it will continue to happen, and it’s going to be the profound
difference that is going to separate true Christians from the phony
Christians and the false brethren, and the false ministers.
Now let’s go on. “…And from the glory of His power; when He shall come to
be glorified in His saints, and to be admired in all them that believe
(because our testimony among you was believed) in that day. Wherefore also
we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy…” Now who makes
you worthy? God the Father does with Christ in you by His Holy Spirit. “…Of
this calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of His goodness,
and the work of faith with power: that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may
be glorified in you, and ye in Him, according to the grace of our God and
the Lord Jesus Christ” (vs. 10-12). So that’s quite a wonderful but short
chapter, which has every one of the ingredients of God’s holy days in there.
We have the calling, which then means that there was baptism, that they
understood about the Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Looking
forward to being in the Kingdom of God, so that means Pentecost and the
resurrection. Looking forward to the second return of Jesus Christ, Feast of
Trumpets. Being at-one with God, Day of Atonement. And now ruling with Him,
Feast of Tabernacles. All right there in that one chapter, you see. The New
Testament is intrinsically bound around the meaning of the holy days, even
though it doesn’t state the holy days in every instance. That’s why it’s
important to know the meaning of the holy days so when you read and study
these things you’ll know that it has reverence to them and comes from them.
Ok, now let’s go to the book of Matthew. We’ll look at certain scriptures
in Matthew. Now Matthew calls the Kingdom of God the Kingdom of Heaven
because it is the kingdom which comes from heaven, which Christ brings with
Him. Now let’s come here to Matthew 4:23. “And Jesus went about all Galilee,
teaching in their synagogues, and preaching [now notice] the gospel of the
kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among
the people.” Now what is the Gospel of the Kingdom? Well, the Gospel of the
Kingdom is: Christ is the King. He ascended up to heaven and He is coming
back. He prepared the way for the saints by preaching the gospel. And it’s
called the Gospel of the Kingdom. Now if you’re going to preach the Gospel
of the Kingdom then you have to preach all the holy days that go with it.
Now let’s come over here to chapter 5 and let’s look at some examples here.
Now verse 1, “And seeing the multitudes, He went up into a mountain: and
when He was set, His disciples came unto Him: and He opened His mouth, and
taught them, saying, Blessed
are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matt.
5:1-3). That’s part of the gospel. When He says, “Theirs is the kingdom of
heaven”, He’s saying they’re going to inherit it.
Now notice, then He talks about all the experiences that we will go
through. “Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.” Now that
means that they are going to inherit it right along with Abraham. And that
means that they are Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise. Now
you see this is fantastic how all this comes together. “Blessed are
they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be
filled” (vs. 4-6). And brethren, let me just say something here right now.
Now is the time to hunger and thirst. Now is the time when you have the full
word of God available to you. Now is the time to study, to pray, to really
work, to apply yourself. Because the time is going to come when that’s not
going to be available for you to do.
Now I’ve been saying for several years I need to bring a sermon on the
underground church. But I’ve got an article written by a man who was a
Sabbath-keeper in the Soviet Union. And he was a prisoner and put into
prison 30 feet under the ground. And he never saw the light of day for 3
years. Now let me tell you, if you find yourself in a circumstance like that
you’re not going to have a Bible, you’re not going to be able to read. But
you better have it right up here in your mind so that when you’re praying,
and that’s about all you can do in that situation, is just pray and talk to
God in your mind, quietly, silently, because if you said anything the guards
would come in and beat you up, see. So now’s the time to hunger and thirst
after righteousness and be filled now. Don’t wait for sometime down the road
thinking that it’s going to be worked out.
Now let’s go on. “Blessed
are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.” Remember that every time
you want mercy. Have you been merciful? “Blessed are the pure in
heart: for they shall see God.” Now you can’t see God unless you’re a spirit
being, which means this then is teaching about the resurrection, correct?
Yes. “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the
children of God.” And that’s the right kind of peace making. This kind of
peace making is making peace with God and then peace with each other. This
is not talking about Ambassadors and politics going around working treaties
and bringing people together, so called peacemakers. No. True peace making
is turning people to repent to God. Receiving God’s Holy Spirit. Be at peace
with God and then be at peace with one another. “Blessed are they
which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of
heaven” (vs. 7-10). Now that’s a tremendous thing. Notice all the way
through here the Kingdom of Heaven.
Let’s come over here and let’s read verse 19. “Whosoever therefore shall
break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be
called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach
them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” So there
we go. Kingdom of Heaven, the Kingdom of God. All of these things going on.
It’s amazing isn’t it? Yes.
Now let’s come over here to Matthew 6:13. It says this is our daily prayer.
Notice, “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil…”, or the
evil one. And it’s absolutely true brethren. When you understand how
absolutely this world has been deceived and is in the control of Satan the
devil, and those that serve him, then you will understand why that second
goat for Azazel for the Day of Atonement, has to be Satan the devil to
remove the author of sin. And he is the one who has been responsible for
inspiring all of these things to take place. Was he not the one who deceived
Eve into sinning? Yes. “…Deliver us from [the evil one]: For Thine is the
kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever.” So there we have the
Kingdom again.
Now come over here to Matthew 6:33. “But seek ye first the kingdom of God…”
Now how many times have we heard that? What are you seeking then? You are
seeking that which is pictured by the Feast of Tabernacles. “…And His
righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” Now you stop
and think, how many things are going to be added to us when we are
resurrected and spirit beings, and we’re given our responsibilities wherever
it may be. And we’re going to see a little bit later on some of these other
things. Now the book of Matthew, as a matter of fact all the gospels are
just full, just full of the Kingdom of God. And the Kingdom of God is
pictured by the Feast of Tabernacles.
Now let’s continue on. Let’s come to Mark 8. So it’s amazing. How can
people study the Bible and pretend to know the word of God and yet not keep
the holy days of God. Oh, they can get a little there, they can get a little
there, they can get some platitudes, they can get some understanding, but
they don’t have the true knowledge so therefore they don’t have true
understanding.
Now let’s pick it up here in Mark 8:34. “And when He had called the people
unto Him with His disciples also, He said unto them, Whosoever will come
after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For
whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his
life for My sake and the gospel’s [sake], the same shall save it.” Now that
shows what we need to be doing. It talks about being worthy to be in the
Kingdom. That’s part of it, isn’t it? “For what shall it profit a man, if he
shall gain the whole world, and lose his own [life] soul? Or what shall a
man give in exchange for his [life] soul? Whosoever therefore shall be
ashamed of Me and of My words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of
him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when He cometh in the glory of His
Father with the holy angels” (Mark 8:34-38). Now we just read about that in
Daniel 7 didn’t we? Look how all of this comes together.
And brethren, let me just encourage you. Never let anyone minimize the
feasts of God to you, or begin to leverage against you in such a way that
you doubt God. That you doubt that we ought to keep the feasts of God. See,
because God gives us knowledge and understanding and wisdom and truth, and
the closeness to Him. Now remember when it talks about those of the church
of Philadelphia. Now there still have to be Philadelphians somewhere. Now
I’m not saying that we’re Philadelphians, but we can certainly learn from
that lesson that we faithfully and patiently kept the word of God. That’s
what’s important.
Let’s come over here to Mark 10:28. Now everyone wants to know what are
they going to get in the Kingdom. We’re going to be like Christ is, but I
wonder what we’re really going to look like. I wonder what it’s going to be
if we could step in front of a mirror…somehow, you know, you have to see
yourself. I wonder what it’s going to be like to be a spirit being and to
see yourself that way. And what kind of clothes that we will wear. I know
that we’re going to have white garments that are like linen. But it also
says that they are brilliant and bright white. So even the garments will be
glorious.
Now verse 28, “Then Peter began to say unto Him, Lo, we have left all, and
have followed Thee.” Now see, we have to give up everything. “And Jesus
answered and said, Verily I say unto you, there is no man that hath left
house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children,
or lands, for My sake, and the gospel’s, but he shall receive an hundredfold
now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and
children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal
life.” So there it is. There again we have all the holy days involved, don’t
we? Quite a thing, isn’t it?
Now let’s go to the book of Luke. And what you might want to do is take
your new Harmony Of The Gospels
and go through and study these scriptures and then you’ll get all the
parallels across as you go from scripture to scripture. Now Luke 9:1, “Then
He called His twelve disciples together, and gave them power and authority
over all devils, and to cure diseases. And He sent them to preach the
Kingdom of God, and to heal the sick” (Luke 9:1-2). Now when you preach the
Kingdom of God, unless you know and understand about the holy days you’re
not going to be able to preach about the Kingdom of God. Now today there are
people who believe that the Roman Catholic Church is the Kingdom of God.
There are people who believe that they can set up the Kingdom of God here
now. But as we saw yesterday flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of
God. And Jesus also said, “My Kingdom is not of this world.” So you see the
impossibility of it. So I want you to understand the greatness of what it is
of the blessing of being able to keep the feasts of God and how important
the Feast of Tabernacles is and how it’s just all tied together and woven
intrinsically into the gospel that Christ and the apostles preached.
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