LAST GREAT DAY - 2003

Fred Coulter - October 18, 2003

Greetings, brethren. Welcome to the Last Great Day. The Feast of Tabernacles finished yesterday, and there is one more day, and there’s a great reason for this day. And this is really a great day in fulfilling the plan of God and accomplishing what He started in the beginning. And as you know the whole theme of this feast has been “The Beginning and the Ending.” And we’re going to see that repeated again here in the Last Great Day. As a matter of fact what we’re going to do when we go to Leviticus 23, so let’s turn there, we are going to see that we have progressed through the holy days all the way through Leviticus 23. So we began at the beginning of Leviticus 23, which talks about the Sabbath, then which relates clear back to the very beginning when God created the Sabbath. And now we’re coming down through, we’ve gone through the Feast of Tabernacles and now we’re coming down to the Last Great Day. And tremendous meaning that is associated with this and it answers most of the key questions and difficulties that people have about human life, death, suffering, and what is God doing about it, and why hasn’t He done something about it, etc.

Now let’s go to Leviticus 23, and let’s pick it up here once again in verse 34. So we’ll just review a little bit here. “Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles…” Now we’ve already finished that. And that’s for seven days. “On the first day shall be an holy convocation [we’ve done that]... Seven days [we’ve done that]…on the eighth day shall be an holy convocation…and ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: it is a solemn assembly; and ye shall do no servile work therein” (Lev. 23: 34-36). And we’re going to see that this day pictures the greatest work of God that He will have ever done in dealing with human beings.

Then he goes on and tells a little bit more about it again in verse 39. It says, “Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in the fruit of the land, ye shall keep a feast unto the LORD seven days: on the first day shall be a Sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a Sabbath.” And so today is a Sabbath day, and this year when it falls in the sequence that it has it falls on a regular Sabbath, just like the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles fell on a regular Sabbath, the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles falls on a Sabbath, which then is the Last Great Day. And it’s included in the phrase Feast of Tabernacles. That’s why God has to reiterate that there is the eighth day.

Now as you know we always take up an offering on the holy day, and we follow the command of God to do so, and you all know the scriptures. I don’t have to go through and tell you what kind of attitude you ought to have, or what kind of diligence you ought to have, or what kind of generosity you ought to have. You should know that. And besides it’s between you and God, and God judges the heart and the intent anyway. So we will go ahead and we will pause and will take up the offering, just realizing that in whatever you do God has promised to give you sufficiency in all things.

(Pause)

Now John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Or that is, may have everlasting life. And of course the Greek there means in believing that it is a continuous ongoing belief. It is not just an acknowledgment of a fact that God loves the world, or an acknowledgement of the fact that God sent Jesus Christ. It is a deep abiding belief into Christ on a continuous ongoing basis. Because, as Jesus said, “Many will say, ‘Lord, Lord, we’ve done this, we’ve done that.’” And Jesus will say, “I never knew you.” But the question is, if God loves the world, which He does, and it says that He does, why are there so many difficulties and problems in the world? Why do we have so much sickness, disease, and death, and sin, and wretchedness that is just sweeping the world today? Well it’s quite a thing, isn’t it?

Well, the way we understand this is we go back to the beginning, just like we have done all the way through the feast. And the reason that there has to be the Last Great Day is because what was done at the beginning, and what God has done since then. Now we know what happened when Adam and Eve ate of the fruit, ate of the tree of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And of course this tells us, and always remember this, not all good comes from God. The good of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is that good which Satan promulgates, which looks good to human beings. All true good comes from God. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil has good and evil mixed together. And that resulted in their dying. And God gave them the sentence that, “You are dust, and unto dust you shall return.” And then right at the beginning what do we have? We have the first murder, don’t we? And it’s continued ever since, hasn’t it? And Cain killed Abel. And Abel was a preacher of righteousness. Well if God loved Abel why didn’t He stop Abel from being killed? See, a lot of people blame God for evil. Evil comes because of the choice of human beings, first by eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And it comes secondly from Satan the devil, whom Adam and Eve made their god by obeying him instead of the true God. So now we’re stuck with the problem that Satan the devil is the god of this world. And Satan the devil is the one who has caused all these problems and difficulties because he has deceived the whole world. Now we’re living also in a time, that we are told by Jesus Himself, that as it was in the days of Noah so shall it be in the days of the coming of the Son of man. And we are living in truly an evil time.

So let’s go to Genesis 6. Let’s just review here a little bit and let’s understand something that’s profound and important and helps us to realize why God is doing what He is doing, and then how He’s going to undo the evil. Now you see just like it was in the days of Noah. Let’s read it here, Genesis 6:5. “And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” And that’s exactly where we are in the world today, and what happened because of it then.

Now this is such a profound thing that even God was sorry for making man. Let’s read it. “And it repented the LORD that He had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him at His heart” (vs. 6). Well, why didn’t God then stop it? Why didn’t God then intervene? Well, number one because He’s given us choice, and God will not take away choice. We are free moral agents and He set before us life and good, and death and evil. And He commands us to chose Him and to chose life that we may live. And He set this proposition before all people, all generations down through history.

Now then, what a situation here. God said He’s going to destroy man from off the face of the earth. “…Both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth Me that I have made them. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD” (vs. 7-8). You know the rest of the story. You know that God is more interested in those people who individually will seek Him, and they will find grace in His sight. The rest of the world He’s going to take care of, as we will see, in this Last Great Day. But sure enough what happened with this flood? They all died, didn’t they? Only Noah, his wife, his three sons and their wives escaped.

And then right after the flood, Genesis 11, men started it right back again, didn’t they? So here man had a new beginning right after the flood. So we had the beginning with the creation, we had all the evil that took place, we came up to this point with the flood and the destruction of all human life. God cleansed the earth, covered it with water, and then had the waters recede, removed the flood from the earth, and Noah and his family came out and lo, and behold, almost instantly sin began. Isn’t that amazing? So God knew that it would be this way. That did not deter God’s plan. God has a way to work it out because He is the author of life. He is the giver of life, and He has not done all of this in vain. But what He is going to do is show the vanity of human life under Satan the devil without God, and how regardless of the best intentions of men it leads to the greatest evil. Because men with free choice without the Spirit of God, without the Word of God are not capable of doing good. It’s an utter impossibility because of the nature that human beings have, the nature of the law of sin and death in them, and the nature of good and evil within them. And yet through it all God is going to do a great and a marvelous work. God is going to accomplish what He’s going to accomplish, that He will be glorified.

Now let’s go to Philippians 2 here and let’s see something very important. Because no person, no man, no woman anywhere in any time in history, in any society regardless of religion, regardless of deception, the time is going to come when this will happen. Come to Philippians 2. This is a promise. God said it would be. Written and recorded by the Apostle Paul, Philippians 2. And of course this shows that Jesus Christ is the Savior. And what God had to do in order to rescue mankind from the law of sin and death, to rescue him from his own sins, to rescue him from his own rottenness and death and misery, Christ came. And of course that’s where we begin with the Passover, isn’t it? Yes, indeed. And so He did not do this in vain.

Verse 6, “Who, being in the form of God [or, existing as God], thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made Himself of no reputation [He emptied Himself],…and was made in the likeness of men:…” Now you can read in the Passover book all about the nature that Jesus had, and how He had to overcome the very nature as a human being that He gave to Adam and Eve, which all their progeny had received. So, “…He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” And it says verse 9, “Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name:…” That’s because Jesus succeeded, that’s because Jesus was resurrected from the dead. Now notice verse 10, “…That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:6-11). Now that’s going to happen. It isn’t happening right now but it’s going to happen. How is it going to happen? When is it going to happen? Why is it going to happen? How is God going to make it happen?

Now let’s look at another couple of scriptures, which then are very important in coming to understand this. And we show what God desires. But even with God’s desire He is not going to take away free choice from anyone. He’s not going to make us robots so that we just enter into the kingdom of God just automatically. No, God gave choice because that is the only way that men are going to be able to then, through choice and growth and overcoming and serving and loving God, that they’re going to be able to be in the kingdom of God and live as God. That’s why.

Now here Paul says concerning praying and living in godliness and honesty, 1 Timothy 2:3. “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved,…” Now that is His desire. But is it the desire of every man? That’s the other question. Since God has given free moral agency, He’s not going to take it away. And He’s not going to force salvation upon anyone. If they don’t want salvation, well then we’ll see what happens to them. If they don’t love God then we’ll see what happens to them. If they don’t want to live by God’s way and love Him with all their heart, and mind, and soul, and being then we will see God has a plan to handle that, and it’s related in the Last Great Day. So He would “…have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:3-4).

Now verse 5, “For there is one God, and one mediator [Christ is the mediator] between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;…” And so everyone is going to be confronted with Jesus Christ. Now what if they never knew anything about Jesus Christ in their lifetime, how is it that they are going to bow the knee? How is it that they are going to confess with the tongue? Well, we’ll see. God has a plan. Now it also says of Jesus, “…Who gave Himself a ransom for all,…” (vs. 5-6), and so forth.

Let’s come to 2 Peter 3 and let’s see something very important here. 2 Peter 3, where it also talks about that God is not willing that any perish. Again, we need to distinguish the will of God, human choice, and the will of human beings. It was God’s will in the beginning that Adam and Eve eat of the tree of life. And He commanded them not to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, right? Yes. But God gave them the choice to do so. So if God wills this does not mean, as some people have come up with from time to time and it resurfaced itself again. You know every false doctrine and every heresy just kind of runs in a cycle. And sure enough if it hasn’t come up in a while it’s going to come up again. And there are those who are proclaiming that there is going to be universal salvation for all men, and even Satan the devil is going to be saved. Well, the truth of it is that’s from Star Wars number three when Darth Vader is saved. Satan is not going to be saved. We’ve already seen his judgment yesterday, haven’t we?

Ok, so let’s read it here. Let’s come to 2 Peter 3:9, “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise [nor any promise that God has given], as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering [toward us] to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” And repentance also is a choice. When a person makes the choice and admits that they are wrong, then they can come to repentance and God will grant them the gift of continuous repentance as they grow and overcome. So God is not willing that they perish, but are there going to be some that will perish? Yes, indeed. We’re going to see that there are some that will perish. Without a doubt.

Now let’s look at the best intentions – even the best intentions of men. Let’s come to Luke 18. Even living a good life, because you see even all so-called good and sincere people die, don’t they? What’s going to happen to the good and sincere people? Now they may not have been called of God, and we’ll talk about God’s calling here in a little bit, but they’ve lived decent lives. They’ve been much like this certain ruler, the rich man, when he came to Christ.

Now let’s begin here Luke 18:18. The parallel account is in Matthew 19, but let’s read Luke’s account this time. “And a certain ruler asked Him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” Everyone wants to do something. “And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou Me good? none is good, save one, that is, God” (Luke 18:18-19). Now why did Jesus say, if He was God in the flesh, there’s none good except one, and that is God? Because Jesus as a human being, though He was God in the flesh, divested Himself of His glory and power to become a human being. So therefore compared to God the Father, though Jesus was perfect and never sinned, as long as He was in the flesh He could not be called good in the sense that God is good.

Now let’s continue on here. Verse 20, He says, “Thou knowest the commandments,…” Now there are a lot of people who know the commandments. There are a lot of people that understand the commandments and we’re going to read here. Now the Sabbath is also… Remember, and all those who turn here and say, “Well, you know what, Jesus didn’t say we ought to keep the Sabbath.” Well that’s a traditional Protestant argument and what is the answer to that, because He didn’t say the Sabbath there did He? Because He said in another place that He’s Lord of the Sabbath. And besides in Judea and in Galilee what were they? They were a Sabbath keeping society, so this man was already keeping the Sabbath. And he was probably already keeping the holy days the way the Jews kept them and understood them at that time. So Jesus said, “Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother. And he said, All these have I kept from my youth up” (vs. 20-21). And in Matthew’s account the young man said, “What do I lack?”

Now there are a lot of good sincere people out there in the world just like him. Although they’re becoming fewer, and fewer in number as this age is converting into Sodom and Gomorrah. But there are many, a good number who have not committed adultery, or killed, or lied – well everyone lies so you can’t say that. He says shall not bear false witness. That has to do in testimony, not to stand up and give false witness. Honor your father and mother. So then Jesus told him one thing yet that he had to do. And this is true with every human being, you see. When you come to God you have to be willing to do what Jesus says here. So let’s see what that requirement was. And He says, “Here’s what you’re lacking.” “…Sell all that thou hast [now he was rich], and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come follow Me.” So if you’re going to follow God, you’re going to follow Christ, you have to give up everything. And it starts with your own life. And you can’t look at the goods and everything that you have and think that just because God has blessed you with these things that you are in right standing with God. That’s the fatal mistake of Laodiceans, you see. “So when he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for he was very rich” (vs. 22-23). So he kept his riches and turned back on eternal life.

“And when Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful, He said, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!” (vs. 24). You know, it’s like the man who died (now this is a joke) and he was going to go to heaven, according to the way the world thinks of it, and he kept asking Peter, “Well when I go can I bring some of my gold with me?” He said, “No, no you can’t bring anything with you.” He said, “Well, I want to bring my gold with me.” And he said, “Well, no.” Finally Peter said, “Ok, you can bring one suitcase of gold.” So he gets up there and he’s in line ready to go through St. Peter. And St. Peter let’s everybody else go through including those of Hell’s Angels, and different ones, and they got through the pearly gate. And finally he got up to St. Peter, supposedly, and St. Peter said, “Well what do you have in your suitcase?” And he said, “I have some gold.” “Oh, why did you try and bring pavement here in the first place?” See? (Laughter) Because as we will see they that enter into the kingdom of God and get into new Jerusalem, the streets are going to be paved with gold. So that which people think is important here on earth in this life is not important to God. And so the whole situation here, see.

Now then, “For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” That is, with that attitude. “And they that heard it said, Who then can be saved? And He said, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God” (vs. 25-27). So we have to understand that salvation is an impossible task which only God can do, and that’s why we need the Spirit of God.

Now, there’s another place where it says that God blinded their minds. And in blinding their minds then God cuts them off. And even Jesus said,… Here, let’s go to Luke 10. Let’s read that account right here. Right in Luke 10. Luke 10:23, “And He turned Him [Himself] unto His disciples, and said privately, Blessed are the eyes which see the things that ye see: for I tell you, that many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them” (Luke 10:23-24). And He’s blinded their eyes. They cannot know. And as Paul said we understand them spiritually. They are spiritually discerned comparing spiritual things with spiritual things. And that’s the way that we come to understand it. And so if God has blinded their eyes, and has hidden it from them, and then God does a special thing here too. He says…

Let’s come back here to verse 21. “In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent [or that is, the intelligent], and hast revealed them unto babes: even so, Father; for so it seemed good in Thy sight. All things are delivered to Me of My Father: and no man knoweth who the Son is, but the Father; and who the Father is, but the Son, and He to whom the Son will reveal Him” (vs. 21-22). So here you have a lot of good and sincere people living their lives going down the road of life and God hasn’t revealed Himself to them. And God is the one Who does the choosing. And God is the one Who does it personally.

So why does God exclude all of these other good people? Well, there’s a key? There’s a key. Daniel 12 tells us. Let’s go back there and read it. Let’s go back and read it. Not everyone…it’s not to the wise, it’s not to the swift, it’s not to those who are intelligent, it is not to those who are seeking and trying necessarily, though if someone seeks in sincerity and truth they will find God, no doubt about it. But here even Daniel, who was a prophet of God, and he wanted to know the things, but it wasn’t time to understand them. And he said, Daniel 12:9 the angel told Daniel, “And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.” We’re living in the time of the end. Now here’s a promise. And this is the only reason and the only way that we understand what God is doing. Not because we’re great, not because we’re something that is better than the world. No, but because God has called us and given us His Spirit, and given us His Word, and given us understanding. And that’s what’s important because He’s says, verse 10, “Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand;…” And there is coming that dividing line very clearly now in society and the world. “…But the wise shall understand” (Dan. 12:9-10). Understand not only the prophecies, but understand what God is doing.

Now in order to understand what is going to happen we need to go to the end. So let’s go to the book of Revelation and let’s pick it up here in Revelation 20. And let’s review a couple of verses and than we will see what God is going to do and how God is going to accomplish it, you see. God has a great plan. God is greater than whatever any men have been able to think of Him. Because God said, “Who is the one who has counseled Me?” He counts all nations but just a drop in the bucket, and everything but vanity before Him. And so God is going to undo all the evil, undo all the wrong as we have seen, to begin to undo that. And in order to start the millennium Satan the devil had to be bound. And then he was loosed for a little season. But now something else is going to happen that happens at the end of the thousand years.

Now let’s read it right here. Let’s begin in Revelation 20:5. “But the rest of the dead…” Now who are the rest of the dead? Well the only ones who are resurrected are those who have the Spirit of God today, and those who have had the Spirit of God down through history, as we’ve seen and covered by the Feast of Pentecost. They will be in the first resurrection. And the rest of the dead don’t live until after the thousand years are finished. That’s what it says. “…The rest of the dead live not again…” Now what does this tell us? They already lived once. Here we have live again. “…Until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.” That is, those who were in the first resurrection. “Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection on such the second death hath no power,…” (Rev. 20:5-6).

Ok, now I want you to put this together. Live again, meaning they’ve already lived once. Now we have second death, which means that you can die the second time. There are those who can die the second time. This does not give universal salvation, does it? And “…on such the second death [that is, those who are in the first resurrection] hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.” Now then, there was a foretaste of the second resurrection. And there was a reason and a purpose for it. Now we’re going to see here in just a minute exactly how that took place.

Let’s come to Matthew 27. And the question was recently asked, “Well what happened to those people who were resurrected after Jesus was resurrected?” Well, we’ll answer the question here. And why were they resurrected? Some people want to know, “Well did they go to heaven with Christ?” Well, no because it tells us in 1 Corinthians 15 that those who are Christ’s will not be resurrected until when? He returns. So let’s read it here, Matthew 27:52. Now why did God do this? Verse 52, “And the graves were opened [that is when the veil in the temple was rent and the earthquake took place]; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose [that is, they came back to physical life], and came out of the graves after His resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many” (Matt. 27:52-53). Now that would have been an astounding thing. You know, just these two little verses tells us quite a fantastic thing happened, didn’t it? And I’ve often wondered what their relatives thought when they went in and said, “Look here I am, I’m alive.” “But we buried you,” you know, however long ago. This shows that if they die once they can be resurrected to a second physical life. Now these people are actually going to die a natural second death because as Jesus said they were sleeping. So they’re going to die.

Now a very interesting thing. You know the whole account about Lazarus so we won’t go through that. But why did Christ resurrect Lazarus? And why did these people become resurrected here? The answer is simple. The Holy Spirit was not yet given and they had not had a complete opportunity for salvation before they died. So they were resurrected back to a physical life so they could have an opportunity for salvation.

Now, just as a side note. Very interesting, they have discovered a graveyard on the mount of Olives, and that’s where they found the bones of Peter. But they also found…they didn’t find the bones of Peter rather but the ossuary which supposedly had the bones of Peter in it. And it’s probably true. And they also found three others, among many. And on these ossuaries were the names: Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. So Lazarus was resurrected so then he could receive the begettal of the Holy Spirit for eternal life when God gave the Spirit on Pentecost. Now maybe Lazarus was also one of the one hundred twenty, as we read about the one hundred twenty in Acts 1. Now this tells us what God is going to do with those who have died. And He’s going to give them an opportunity for salvation.

Now let’s come back to the book of Revelation 20 again and let’s see what this time is called. And let’s see what is going to happen, and let’s look at the other prophecies in the Bible to understand exactly how God is going to work all of this out. And it’s going to be a fantastic thing. And that’s why this is called the Last Great Day. It is great, because we are going to see that God is going to undo all evil, all wrong, all murders, all accidental deaths, all sickness, all disease, every fruit that has come upon mankind from living his own way cut off from God, living under the sway of Satan the devil. That’s why the last thing that takes place at the end of the Feast of Tabernacles, or at the end of the millennium, is that Satan is judged and cast into the lake of fire, because the people who are going to be resurrected now at the end of the thousand years will have already lived one life under Satan the devil. And so they’re not going to live another life under Satan the devil. This is down to the final judgment, you see. This is down to an opportunity for salvation. They’ve been blinded and deceived once so God is not going to put them through it. And also these are those who have been cut off, who have not understood God’s way though many of them may have been good and sincere people, though many of them may have been evil and wretched and rotten and the worst kind of person that possibly could be. Now if they have not committed the unpardonable sin, as we will see, then they will be resurrected in this resurrection.

Now let’s pick it up here, Revelation 20:11. “And I saw a great white throne, and Him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead [that is, all the rest of the dead], small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works” (Rev. 21:11-12). Well now, we need to talk about this for just a minute. If God blinded them and gave them over to sin, if they are judged by the works that they had in their first physical life they would not be having an opportunity for salvation because the wages of sin is death. So how is this going to work? How do we understand this? How is God going to accomplish it? Ok, let’s look at some other scriptures and let’s see about this. Let’s see how it’s going to happen, what God is going to do.