FEAST OF TABERNACLES – Day 2 – 2004

Fred Coulter – October 1, 2004

Greetings, brethren. Welcome to the Feast of Tabernacles, Day 2, 2004. Today we’re going to ask the question: What do we need to do to prepare to rule and reign with Christ? Perhaps you haven’t thought of it but maybe let’s look at it this way: to do the most important work and the most important job in the entire world. Now we need to think big because the kingdom of God is going to be fantastic and marvelous and great, and we have an active part in it. And that’s why God has called us. And that’s why God has given us the knowledge and understanding that He has. So we are here to be educated, to be trained, to be taught of God. And any teaching that comes has to come from God because it’s through His Holy Spirit, through His Word, and the living that we do. So not only do we have to be trained and educated (which is an ongoing thing so we can be prepared to rule and reign with Christ), but we also, as we will see, have to have the character. Because if there’s any one thing that is missing in this world today, it is character, and especially in the field of politics, and in the field of religion, and in the field of economics. It is all run today by those who are inspired and who, hence whether they know it or not, are agents of Satan the devil.

Now God has called us out of this world so that even though we live in the world we are not a part of the world. And He has separated us, given us His Holy Spirit, and now He’s in the business of training us, of getting us ready. Because know this for sure: God is not going to give the government that He has and the kingdom that He brings to this earth to a bunch of people who know nothing, who do not have character, and who are incompetent. Now that would probably get you a pretty good government job in the world today, but not in the kingdom of God. I mean just look at what’s happened this summer with Bill Clinton running around selling his book. Corrupt, liar, even admits he’s double-minded because he says his life is on two tracks. And so when the bad track goes bad he can dismiss it and say, “Well, you know, that’s just the way that it is, and I’ll get back on the good track.” Well you see, it’s a perfect example of how one is unqualified to serve and rule the people. And that’s why things were so bad when he was President. And it’s just like the proverb says: “When the king is corrupt, all of his counselors are wicked” (Prov. 29:12; 12:5, paraphrased). And so you look back and see what has happened. You can apply that to kings, you can apply that to presidents, you can apply that to leaders of business, you can apply that to friends because it is a living true principle. What God is doing, He is preparing for us. And we are to be prepared. And now we have the time to be prepared. Now we have the time with God’s Word and with the things that we have now to be prepared to serve, to learn, to grow, to be ready so that we be wise rulers.

Now let’s first of all come to John 14. And we’re going to see that there are many things in preparation. All the prophecies that have been given will come to pass in the time that God says. God the Father and Jesus Christ in heaven above are active and they are working. They are working as Jesus said here, John 14:1: “ ‘Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places [mansions]; if it were otherwise, I would have told you. I am going to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again…’ ” (John 14:1-3, FV). And so all of this has to do with the kingdom of God. God is busy working and preparing, so likewise we need to be busy working and preparing. We need to do the things that God wants us to do. We have two very important things that we need to do. We need to prepare through study. We need to prepare through character. And we need to prepare in the ways that are going to help us grow in grace and knowledge.

So let’s look at the example here. Let’s come back to the book of Ezra. Ezra was used of God very mightily, very powerfully. And as a matter of fact, Ezra is the one who is credited with canonizing the whole Old Testament. Because you see, the whole Old Testament was written over a period of many hundreds of years (thousands of years), and then these documents had to be edited and put together, and Ezra was the one that did it. And as you read in the Old Testament it talks about different books which are not in the Old Testament, which God inspired Ezra not to put in there. But he was able to do that, and did that for this very reason. Let’s come here to Ezra 7:10. And this gives us a good example of what we need to do. “For Ezra had prepared his heart…” Now how do you prepare your heart? By prayer, by repentance, and also by study. By loving God. By loving His word. We’ll see all of these things apply. So he “…prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD…” And as we saw yesterday, we ask God to open our eyes to see marvelous things out of His law. “…To seek the law of the LORD and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments.” So Ezra is a good example. He was ready. He was prepared. Yes, God worked with him. Yes, God gave the Holy Spirit to him, obviously so he could do the whole Old Testament for us. And this is the standard that we have today. So he prepared.

Now let’s look at a couple of other things on how we need to prepare. Let’s come to the very first psalm. This has to be our attitude, our lifestyle. Our way of thinking is all summarized here in the very first psalm. And it’s interesting that the Book of Psalms opens with this. We’re going to see it’s going to be character, it’s going to be knowledge, it’s going to be spiritual preparation.

Psalm 1:1: “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly…” So you’re not mixing the ways of the world, the thoughts of the world the way the world thinks. And that’s why the book that I did a three part series on, The Death of Truth, is so important. Because the way that people think today is so askew, and so (how shall we say) not based on facts but based on emotion, opinion, and innuendos. And we’ve got to get away from that kind of thinking that’s in the world. “…Nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in His law doth he meditate day and night” (Psa. 1:1-2). Now we can take that and we can also apply that to the New Testament, because the New Testament is the new spiritual application of the laws that God gave in the Old Testament. And a lot of people don’t realize that’s why not every law is reiterated again in the New Testament. It doesn’t have to be because Jesus Christ, Who is the Lord of the New Testament, was also Lord of the Old Testament. So He came to show us how to live these things in a spiritual way from the inner part of our hearts. Now notice in doing that: meditating on that means you think on it, you live by it, you act upon it. All of that goes with it, you see.

Now spiritually speaking, here’s what it’s going to do. And also perhaps in many ways physically speaking. But we’re not to look to the physical blessings and say, “Oh we have these physical blessings therefore we must be in right standing with God.” Because you see, that’s the problem that happened in the past, and that’s why the church had to be scattered. Another thing about scattering a church that I thought of here recently, which we need to realize is this: Since the church is like the body of Christ, how does the body keep itself in maintenance and repair? By splitting and dividing the cells and getting rid of that which is waste, toxic, and old. So likewise we can apply that to us spiritually. We have to have, like it is here, “the rivers of water” that’s likened unto the Holy Spirit. And when you have a tree that’s in the desert that’s planted by the rivers of water, it’s green and it produces. And of course when you look to the conclusion of God’s plan we have what? We have the tree of life that bears twelve manner of fruit, and the water comes out from underneath the throne of God, etc. So here we have a fore type of what’s in the New Testament.

Now continuing it says: “…that bringeth forth his fruit in his season…” So we have to bring forth fruit in season and also out of season, but this is a way of saying that it takes time for you to develop the character to produce the fruit. Now you look at any fruit trees – God says (that those trees) the fruit is not ready for consumption until the fifth year. And the older that a tree gets to a certain point, and the older that a vine gets with grapes, the better the fruit and the better the product; and especially with wine, the better the wine. And if you have ever seen vineyards where they have the stalks of the grapes – if they are big and round those are old stock and they produce the best grapes and the best wine. And that’s the way it should be with a lot of us. A lot of us who are old-timers (spiritually speaking), we ought to have a big stalk because we are part of the vineyard of Christ, and Christ says that He is the true vine. And of course, there we get our spirituality from Him. But it produces fruit in it’s season. And now is the time for us in the church of God to really produce the fruits of God to show as evidence. Not to demonstrate to show off. I don’t mean it in that sense at all. But to show that we are prepared, that we are growing, that we are changing, that we are overcoming because we have the greatest calling to rule and reign with Christ that has ever been. So we need to be busy preparing, studying, growing.

Now notice: “…his leaf also shall not wither…” And that’s regardless of what happens. You see that’s why we have the trials that come upon us, to see whether we are going to maintain, whether we are going to be right with God, whether we are going to believe God, trust in God and so forth. “…And whatsoever he doeth shall prosper” (verse 3). And we want that to be, especially spiritually. Now contrast it with the world and here is the dividing line. That’s why there are going to be a lot (as Jesus said) when they come before the judgment seat and they say, “Lord, Lord, haven’t we done many wonderful works in Your name, and haven’t we cast out demons in Your name, and haven’t we prophesied in Your name?” And Jesus will say, “I never knew you, you workers of lawlessness and iniquity” (Matt. 7:22-23, paraphrased). No, of course not. There is a dividing line. And the dividing line for the church is that we need to not be like the world, but that we need to be learning from the things and the events in the world, and in our lives, and so forth.

But notice the dividing line, verse 4: “The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish” (verses 4-6). And that’s what has to happen when the millennium begins – to do away with the ungodly and institute the righteousness of God.

Now let’s come over here to another psalm, Psalm 15. And let’s look at this in the way of character, if we could put it that way. Remember Jesus said that He went to prepare a place. God is preparing. Christ is preparing. And I’m sure the angels are working and preparing too to make sure that all the prophecies are fulfilled in the right way at the right time according to the plan of God. So here is another psalm which shows us how we are to prepare.

Psalm 15:1: “LORD, who shall abide [or that is, dwell] in Thy tabernacle?” Now we have to look forward to something greater than a tabernacle, but that is new Jerusalem. “…Who shall dwell in Thy holy hill?” Which also has reference to taking part in bringing the government of God on the earth. And as we saw yesterday, the government rests on the shoulders of Jesus Christ.

So here are the qualifications now. You can write them down. Verse 2: “He that walketh uprightly…” That means walking in the commandments of God, walking in the Spirit of God, doing the things that God wants you to do. “…And worketh righteousness…” Now righteousness then means mercy, justice, forgiveness. And all of those things are equated with righteousness. “…And speaketh the truth in his heart.” Now that’s an important thing. We have to have our deceitful nature changed from within so that we learn to speak the truth from the heart. And because we are going to administer the truth, we are going to administer righteousness, so therefore these things have to be part of our very character.

Verse 3: “He that backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbour, nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour.” Now there is an awful lot here for us. This has to do with neighbor but let’s apply this to brethren. How many churches have been destroyed by backbiting? How many peoples lives have been ruined because of a tongue flapping in the breeze? And how many evil things have been done to brethren within the church, not just your neighbor? And you have to ask the question: “Well why does God allow this to happen?” So that we can see that we need to change. These things are not going to be when we are ruling and reigning with Christ, so we have to learn and grow and overcome now.

Verse 4: “In whose eyes a vile person is contemned [you are not going to put up with evil and vileness]; but he honoureth them that fear the LORD. He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not. He that putteth not out his money to usury, nor taketh reward against the innocent. He that doeth these things shall never be moved” (verses 4-5). In other words that’s how you’re going to be in the kingdom of God. So these here show us some of the character things that we need to do, and, because you cannot have true righteousness and true government that is going to be run in a way that is going to inspire and help people unless it is righteous, unless it is good. Look at any of the governments that we have. Look at any of the presidents that we have. There are varying degrees of good and evil. And those who have a higher degree of good succeed more, able to inspire the people. Those who do not, they may inspire the people to corruptness and so forth. So it’s something that we need to understand that we need to learn.

Ok, now let’s see the whole foundation (the heart and core) of being able to meditate in God’s Word and God’s law and to make it applicable in our lives in the way that God wants. Let’s come to the New Testament to the book of Mark, please.

Now let’s come to Mark 12, and we are going to see the whole basis and foundation of what we have here in meditating in God’s law and His way, and it all has to do with the basis of it. Mark this and know this: law without love is tyranny. Law without love is tyranny. And that’s why when evil dictators get into power and they have laws and they have decrees, it is tyrannical and it kills and there is no mercy. We’re told mercy triumphs over sacrifice. We need to keep that in mind.

Mark 12:28: “And one of the scribes who had come up to Him, after hearing them reasoning together and perceiving that He answered them well, asked Him, ‘Which is the first commandment of all?’ ” Well now, that’s kind of a leading question. But what we need to understand is that Jesus is the first and the last, the Alpha and Omega. And so when you ask “What is the first commandment,” what you really get, you get the statement of what makes all the commandments work.

“Then Jesus answered him, ‘The first of all the commandments is, ‘ “Hear, O Israel…” ’ ” And in this I always like to put my name there because you see, one of the things that we do for Bible study (which is very important), you study the Bible – let the Word of God speak to you personally because these are the Words of God. So if you let it speak to you personally so that you can grow, that you can change, that you can overcome. Don’t study the Bible to see how you can condemn other people, or how right and good that you are. See, as we will see, part of the character that we have is overcoming our human nature as we have already pointed out and shown.

So the first of all commandments is: “ ‘ “Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God is one Lord. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.” ’ This is the first commandment.’ ” (Mark 12:28-30, FV). So what we have to understand and realize is just like the first psalm said, we meditate in God’s law day and night. And what we have here is a full time occupation that God has given us. It’s with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind, and with all our strength. So therefore we are not to have one day we go to church and we learn about God, and the other six days are just ours, nothing to do with God. Now that’s the way much of the world works. Not all of it, but much of the world works.

And the other day I got a letter from a man who said, “Well, where would you Sabbath keepers be without all of us Sunday keepers?” Well, he has a point. But also there is another point to be made. Sunday keepers can have the Word of God and understand a certain amount of it. And as we know, anyone who teaches in sincerity the truth of the Bible, God will make that be a blessing because He stands behind His Word regardless who says it. And as we know from Jeremiah 23 that God said, even if the false prophets that He didn’t sent would make the people stand by His Word, He would honor it. But you see, God has used the Sunday keepers to get the Word out. But let’s go back and analyze something concerning the translation of the New Testament. Who did it? William Tyndale. And everything that they have done has been building their own religion upon what the original Greek was and what William Tyndale did. And yes, God used them to get the Word out, but what has happened in doing that? Well today, there are fifteen million Sabbath keepers around the world. So we need to keep that in mind.

Let’s understand this: it is a fulltime thing. In other words, “in your heart” you have no room for any other god. “In your soul” (that is in your body) you take care of your body, you follow the laws that God has given for it and you try and keep it in the best shape you can. And “with all your mind” so the heart and mind go together here that you are thinking on the Word of God, meditating on the Word of God and so forth, “with all your strength.” This is the first commandment.

“ ‘And the second is like this: ‘ “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” ’ ” (verse 31, FV). These are going to be the things that we will use to help bring in the kingdom of God to this world. Because as we saw yesterday “the law shall go forth from Zion.” And the law shall go forth in love for those who love God; go forth in power and destruction for those who will not love God and submit to Him, because the judgment of God is going to be coming.

Now then for us today (and here’s the big challenge for us today), Jesus said we are to love each other as He loved us. And that is the big challenge for us within the churches of God. And as we have shown and pointed out before: you must have the love, the forbearance, the patience, the kindness that comes from God’s Spirit in order to love each other as Christ has loved us. So that’s another part of it.

Then the fourth part of love, which Jesus said. He said, “You have heard it said in past time that you shall hate your enemy and love your neighbor. But I say to you, love your enemies, do good to those who despise you, and hate you, and persecute you, and speak all manner of evil against you unjustly.” And He says, “Great is your reward in the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5:43-45, paraphrased). So you see, those are the parameters of the character that we need to build. And that’s going to qualify us to be in the kingdom of God through the power of God’s Holy Spirit.

Now along with this comes the next thing that we need to do. We need to seek. Let’s come here to Hebrews 11:6. There’s a very important and profound thing. It has to be done by faith. We’ll back up a few verses here to Hebrews 11:1, and then we’ll work up to verse 6. Now this is important for us to realize. What we have here brethren, is this, is that the Word of God gives us the guide - tells us what to do. The Holy Spirit gives us the power of how to do it. And with that power of God’s Holy Spirit comes the fruits of God’s Holy Spirit, which are love, and joy, and peace, and faith, and longsuffering, and kindness, and goodness, and gentleness, and meekness. But the three are faith, hope and love. And as I’ve said before, we are to walk in faith, we are to believe in hope, and we are to live in love.           

Now Hebrews 11 tells us about faith. And it is part of the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is the substance, the power that God gives to us. So this is why Paul writes it this way. Hebrews 11:1 (FV): “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the conviction of things not seen.” We have to have that conviction. We have to believe in hope and know that Christ is going to do it. We have to have the faith that God will perform it. And this is what sustains us. You know it says in one of the Proverbs that “if you faint in the day of adversity, you have little strength” (Prov. 24:10, paraphrased). Now faith is what is to sustain us.

Verse 2: “For by this kind of faith the elders obtained a good report. By faith we understand that the worlds were created by the word of God, so that the things that are seen were made from things that are invisible” (verses 2-3, FV). And true to this day, very profound and tremendous scientific statement. Because you see even those who deal in the finite of examining the creation also understand this, though they don’t have faith in God. Because you see, through this God is manifested to them.

Now let’s come here to verse 6. “Now without faith it is impossible to please God.” So our seeking and approaching God has to be in faith and belief. “For it is mandatory for the one who comes to God to believe that He exists…” And if you believe that He exists then you believe that His word is true; and you believe that all of His laws and commandments are right, and just, and good; and you believe that you are to meditate in it day and night. Then you are going to be pleasing God. Now notice what He says: “…and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” So if we love God and seek Him this way… And guess when our reward is coming? When Christ returns. So that He can say, “Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Lord.” And it lists out the rewards. And what is it? Ruling over cities, right? Yes. Ruling over countries. Bringing judgment. You see, God has laid out for us great and fantastic things to accomplish His will, and to be prepared to rule in the kingdom of God.

Now let’s look here in the book of Luke since we’re in the New Testament, and let’s see how we do this on a day to day basis. Because this is something that we do every single day. Now you see, that’s why we need the weekly Sabbath to inspire us and to uplift us. And that’s part of God’s educational program to teach us and train us and prepare us to enter into the kingdom of God. And likewise all the feasts of God that He gives to us, they all prepare us and we are to be inspired with it. But on a day to day basis here’s what we are to do. Let’s come here to Luke 12:22: “And He said to His disciples, ‘Because of this, I tell you, do not be anxious about your life…’ ” He just got done with the parable of the man who said, “Oh boy, look at all I have. I’m going to build new barns and I’m going to store it up, and I’m going to say to my soul, ‘Soul, just enjoy everything.’ ” And God says, “You fool. Your soul is required of you tonight. And then what are you going to do with everything you’ve stored up?” (Luke 12:16-20, paraphrased). So then He says: “ ‘Because of this, I tell you, do not be anxious about your life…’ ” See, you have to seek (as we’ll see here in just a bit) the kingdom of God first. “ ‘…What you shall eat; nor about your body, what you shall put on. The life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing.’ ” (verses 22-23, FV). See we need to understand that. And if we have faith in God, living in His way; meditating in His laws day and night; loving Him with all our heart, and mind, and soul, and being, don’t you think that God is going to provide for you? Of course. Because you love Him and He loves you. And you are trusting in Him to provide. You are seeking Him and He says that if you seek Him with a true heart, you’re going to be rewarded. So Jesus is saying the same thing here.

Verse 23: “ ‘The life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing. Consider the ravens [you look at any of the birds that are out there in the world in what is called the first heaven]; for they do not sow, nor reap; neither have they a storehouse or granary; but God feeds them. Of how much greater value are you than the birds?’ ” Now look if God does that for them. Then He asks the question: “ ‘And which one of you, by taking careful thought, has the power to add one cubit to his stature?’ ” (verses 23-25, FV). And of course many people are trying to do that. All you have to do to understand that is true is go to two stores. Number one: your supermarket, and you just look at all of the magazines that are there posted on your way out. Who’s it geared to more than anything else? Women. Now let’s take a hit on the men. Go to any body building supplement store, or what they call “power-max” store, where you can get all the things to build the muscles. So then you have men who are infatuated with their bodies to get them bigger and stronger and so forth. That’s not to say it’s wrong to take care of your body and build it up. Of course it’s right. But you look at some of these weightlifting freaks with all of these muscles and everything. If you don’t believe me, when it comes time to serf the channels and you don’t know what to watch and they have a body building contest on, well you just go and click on that and watch that and just see how much vanity that is. And they’re all trying to get bigger. And they’re all trying to get stronger. And when they work out in the gym they’ve got all these mirrors so they can look at their poses and look at their muscles and all of this is vanity. So if you can add a few inches on your bicep, what big deal is that?

Verse 26: “ ‘Therefore, if you do not have the power to do even the least [Now that tells you how much power God has and He’s going to give us, right?], why are you anxious about the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow; they do not labor, nor do they spin; but I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory was adorned like one of these. But if God so adorns the grass that today is in the field, and tomorrow is cast into an oven, how much more shall He clothe you, O you of little faith?’ ” (verses 26-28, FV). And of course we are told to be thankful with food and raiment. Let’s ask the question: Remember Imelda Marcos, wife of the former president of the Philippines? When they finally got through all of the corruption, and she had this great huge closet, and closet, after closet, after closet of dresses, and dresses, and dresses, and dresses, and over 3000 pairs of shoes. But the truth is, she could only wear one pair at a time, and only wear one dress at a time. But did that not show an obsessive passion for the physical things? Yes, it does. God says don’t be that way.

Verse 29. Let’s look at it. It gets even a little more closer to physical life and living and so forth. “ ‘Then do not be seeking what you shall eat or what you shall drink, and do not be anxious.’ ” In other words, if you tend to your business and do what God wants, He’s going to bless you regardless in it, and you will have enough to eat and so forth. Verse 30: “ ‘For all the nations of the world seek after these things; and your Father knows that you have need of these things. But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you’ ” (verses 29-31, FV). Not only in this life but also in the life to come. And as it says there in Matthew 6, it says: “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness” (Matt. 6:33, paraphrased). See, those things then are what qualify us. But being motivated by the Holy Spirit of God it’s actually God in us who is qualifying for us. So that’s a tremendous thing to know and understand.

Now notice what else He says here. He says, continuing on verse 32: “ ‘Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father delights in giving you the kingdom.’ ” So it’s going to be a tremendous day. That day of resurrection on the Day of Pentecost and then coming back to this earth to destroy all the armies of Satan, and the beast, and the false prophet; and to have Satan bound by that strong angel; and to begin to rule and reign with Christ is a tremendous and marvelous thing. And it’s God’s delight to give the kingdom to us. Why? Because He knows that we are going to do it right. He knows that we, as spirit beings, are now going to have the power and the capacity because we have also developed and built the character that God wants us to have, and that we will be able to rule and reign with Christ and able to carry out the plan of God, and able to bring peace to this world. So this is a tremendous thing that God has given us, and this is all part of God’s plan in preparing us, you see. And we are part of that preparation.