Are God's Holy Days Still Holy?

Well, brethren, it's just 34 days to the beginning of the Feast of Tabernacles. It's coming very quickly, just a little over a month. It's only 28 days until the Day of Atonement. It's only 20 days until the Feast of Trumpets. So, as quickly as time goes by, these Fall Holy Days will be upon us very, very quickly. We do routinely refer to these days as Holy. What does it mean for these days to be Holy? And are they indeed still Holy today?

A lot of people don't think anything's Holy today, I think. We have people who don't even believe in God or believe in Holiness. But the Bible does refer to these days as Holy Days. Why do we continue to keep what some people consider old Jewish days? Will these days be observed during the Millennium? And should we really be keeping them today? What value is there in keeping God's Holy days? We know that in America today, we observe a number of holidays. It's easy to see that the word holiday is closely related to the two words that I've mentioned a few times already.

Holy days. Holy days and holidays. Which should we be keeping? Well, in America, some of our holidays are, of course, Christmas, Valentine's Day, Easter, Halloween. The origins and history of these days actually reveal days that originated from celebrations of pagans, not Christians. In fact, there's a book entitled, Four Thousand Years of Christmas. Christ was here two thousand years ago, roughly, and there's a book that shows Christmas celebrations, the winter solstice or Saturnalia was around long before Christ was ever here.

And yet, we keep Christmas today and we consider it, in many ways, the greatest of all festivals. Of course, Valentine's Day, Easter, and Halloween have similar origins. They're all steeped in pagan practices, often fertility rites, superstitious. Just look it up in any encyclopedia. Go to the World Book or Encyclopedia Britannica for the history of these days and you'll find that they're really not holy days. They are indeed man's days, so perhaps holiday is, you know, it's obviously a take on holy days, but these days really aren't holy at all.

Now, every nation does have patriotic days and we observe certain patriotic days and that's fine. It's good to do that. These special days are reminders of a nation's history. They mark certain important events. In America, some of these days are, for example, Presidents' Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day or the Fourth of July, Labor Day is coming up soon, there's Veterans Day and, of course, Thanksgiving Day, which we all really enjoy a great deal. Also, in the Church of God, we have certain days that we observe, not because of anything national as far as a national holiday, but we observe these days because we find them in the Bible.

And a true Christian really ought to follow the Bible, correct? It is the Word of God. So, these days are important to us because we find them in the Bible. That's the origin of these days. The Bible and the Revelation or inspiration of the Holy Spirit also gives us clear reasons for keeping these days today.

By actually observing these days, we do come to understand God's plan of salvation for mankind. And that's lost on many, many people. You certainly don't find that in keeping the days of this world. Even then, they try to put a Christian overtone on those days.

But can anyone make something holy except God? You know, if God never sanctified it and set it apart in the first place, is man capable of making something holy? Only God can make something holy because only God is truly holy. So, it's important to ask ourselves these questions to consider why we do what we do. The biblical holy days or festivals fall during three seasons of the year. We have the early spring harvest, which is obviously the days of 11 bread with the Passover to begin those days. The late spring harvest, of course, these harvest took place in Israel.

And at the time, the Israelites were God's chosen people. And so, it's understandable. That's where these things would originate. But, of course, God loves us all, and Christ died for every one of us. And we truly are spiritual Israelites today, as we find in the Bible.

If we read the Bible for what it says, we see that. And then there's the early autumn harvest in the land, again, of Israel, which is coming up soon. The themes that these days portray reflect God's spiritual harvest of mankind to eternal life spoken of by Jesus Christ.

Let's go to the New Testament. Let's go to John 4, where Christ speaks of this great harvest.

That is coming upon the earth. John 4, verse 34. John 4, verse 34. Jesus said to them, My food is to do the will of him who sent Me, and to finish his work, to finish his Father's work. Do you not say, There are still four months, and then comes the harvest? Behold, I say to you, Lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest. Speaking of God reaping mankind, beginning with the firstfruits, and that's revealed in, again, God's plan of salvation through the Holy Days, God is now reaping the firstfruits, but there will be a greater harvest to come. And he who reaps receives wages and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. For in this, the saying is true, one sows and another reaps. Verse 38, I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored, others have labored and you have entered into their labors. So Christ came to certainly die for mankind, to pay the penalty for our sins that we might actually be given eternal life. And again, this plan of salvation is revealed in God's Holy Days. And by observing God's Holy Days, we do see his plan for mortal man, how that mortal man may one day attain immortality, that one day man can become like God is, God is immortal. We are not mortal, we certainly do die. And the scriptures show that we can even be cast into the lake of fire, where we would die for eternity, where we would be done, gone, forgotten. But thankfully, God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance, that all should be a part of his family forever. That's what God really wants for us. It's only when we decide that we don't want it for ourselves that we lose out on salvation.

So, Christ preached the gospel of the Kingdom of God. God's Holy Days revealed the good news of God's Kingdom to come. In Matthew chapter 25, Christ spoke of this Kingdom that's to come. Matthew chapter 25.

Matthew chapter 25 verse 31, when the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the holy angels with him. Now, obviously this is speaking of Christ's Second Coming. When he comes, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. He will set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.

And the King will say to those on his right hand, Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. So, this speaks of a plan of salvation that was designed and devised by God and by Christ from the very foundations of the world. Before the material world was created, God had a plan of salvation for mankind.

He wants us to inherit that Kingdom that has been prepared for us from the foundation of the world. And we know in another scripture it says that Christ was slain from the foundations of the world. The plan was to have Christ come and be our Savior. You cannot have salvation without a Savior.

And, of course, Jesus Christ is that Savior. So, there is a plan, and it is revealed in God's holy days. Now, God's autumn holy days, the days that we're going to be keeping in less than a month, in some cases, these days reveal that Christ is, first of all, returning to this earth. That's what the Feast of Trumpets pictures. That Christ is indeed coming back, no matter what people say.

Christ says He's coming back, and He will indeed return. The Day of Atonement pictures a time when Satan will be bound, and that God's kingdom will be established on the earth at that time, and it will be here on the earth for a thousand years, a millennium.

The scripture reveals that Christ will be the king of that kingdom, but there will be firstfruits who will rule and reign with Him. There is an early harvest right now. It's the firstfruits. God is calling Psalm at this time. Actually, the Bible says He's calling many, but very few will be chosen. Many are called, but few are chosen because they don't respond to that call, and then they're not faithful to that call. So only those who are called, chosen, and faithful will be among the firstfruits.

The firstfruits will rule and reign with Christ for a thousand years, after which time the Great White Throne Judgment Period will take place, and all mankind will finally have an opportunity to know God and His truth. Now, the Great White Throne Judgment Period is discussed in Revelation chapter 20, and you can go there later. We're not going to take the time to do that today. After the Great White Throne Judgment Period, then the New Jerusalem will come down from heaven, and God the Father will then dwell among us.

He will be our God, and we will be His people, and we will live forever with Him. So we shall be then free at last, not free from that old slave law, as I've heard some people say, not free from God's holy law, because the Bible reveals that God's law is holy, and just and good. So we're not going to be free from God's law, but we are going to be free from corruption. We're going to be free from dishonor.

We're going to be free from our human weaknesses, our frailties. We're going to be free from Satan, the oppressor. We're going to be free from this corruptible flesh, and we will once in all be free from sin. Those who enter God's kingdom for eternity will not sin. They will be like God. They will become spirit beings, and they will not sin. God is not going to allow those who would go that direction, go that way in His Kingdom. He's not going to allow that. Now, in Revelation chapter 21, let's go there briefly. We'll just read a verse here. Revelation chapter 21 verse 3.

Revelation 21 verse 3, And I heard a loud voice from heaven, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them, and He will be their God. Let's read a couple more verses, or at least one or two here. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away. So there is a time coming which will be totally unlike the time we live in today. It's going to be a true time of peace and happiness and joy for everyone. Observing God's Holy Days helps us to comprehend His Master Plan for us. Step by step, the Holy Days show us our destiny. They speak to why we were created and what God has in store for us. So let's go back to Leviticus chapter 23, where God calls these feasts my feasts. He says these are my feasts. They're not feasts of the Jews. They're my feasts. They're God's feasts. God is the one who designed these feast days, not just for the Jews, but certainly for the Jews, but for all of mankind. Leviticus chapter 23. I know this is a reminder for most of you here. You've heard this many times before, but frankly we can't hear this too much. It's that important. It's important that we begin to focus on these days that we'll be observing why we keep these days, why they are holy, and why they mean so much to us. Leviticus chapter 23. Let's start at the very beginning in verse 1. In the Eternal, the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, the feasts of the Eternal. Again, these are God's feasts. These are the feasts of the Eternal, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations. A holy convocation is simply an assembly that God has sanctified and made holy.

An appointed time that God has set aside. A holy convocation, a commanded assembly. These are my feasts, God says clearly here. These are my feasts. Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest. It is a holy convocation. This is a commanded assembly.

Now, many of us are here today because we know that God commands us to be here. So we take it very seriously, and we fellowship here every Sabbath unless there's some really good reason, some very extenuating reason, like sickness or perhaps a death in the family, something that we might have to do on a rare occasion. Otherwise, we're here because we realize it is a commanded assembly. It is a holy convocation, a time that God has sanctified and made holy for us.

But these are indeed God's feasts.

A solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work on it. It is the Sabbath of the Lord in all of your dwellings. This is God's Sabbath day in all of your dwellings. So when you go home after you leave here, it's still a holy day.

This building isn't holy. This time is holy.

This convocation, this assembly is holy. And when you leave here and you go home, the Sabbath still remains holy. And how you observe the Sabbath is important.

These are the feasts. We'll go on in verse 4. These are the feasts of the Lord. I think God wants us to know that they're His feasts. No one else's but His.

Holy convocations, which you shall proclaim at their appointed time. So God has sanctified certain times for us to keep these feast days. On the 14th day of the first month at twilight is the Lord's Passover.

And on the 15th day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord. Seven days you must eat unleavened bread.

So that's why we do something that seems so strange to people on the earth today. It seems very, very strange, but it comes right out of the Bible.

An ancient book that God wrote that He inspired to be written.

These are God's words. On the first day you shall have a holy convocation, a commanded assembly. You shall do no customary work on it. You shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord for seven days. Now we do things a little bit differently today under the New Covenant and in the New Testament. We don't have all the sacrifices, the animal sacrifices and things like that. Or this is an offering made by fire. We don't do that today because we know that it typified something better that was to come under the New Covenant. But nevertheless, we keep these days because the time is still holy. The time is still sanctified and set apart. The seventh day shall be a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work on it.

And that's why we supply excused absence forms for those of you who observe these days. So the world will at least see that we're serious about this and that we as a church believe these things. Verse 9, And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the children of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land which I give to you and reap its harvest, you shall bring a sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest. You shall wave the sheaf before the Lord to be accepted on your behalf. On the day after the Sabbath, the priest shall wave it. Again, we know this is symbolic of Jesus Christ, who is our wave-sheaf offering, who laid his life down for us, who sacrificed himself for us. He is the Lamb of God, the Passover Lamb, who laid his life down. He is also the wave-sheaf offering. So, I don't want to take too much time here, but in verse 15, it talks about counting for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath. During the days of Unleavened Bread, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering, seven Sabbaths shall be completed. Count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath. So, it's going to fall on a Sunday every time. Then you shall offer a new grain offering to the Lord.

Verse 18, and you shall offer with the bread seven lambs of the first year. Again, we don't do these offerings because Christ is the ultimate sacrifice, and we understand that. We recognize that.

If we drop down now to verse 23, then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the children of Israel in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a Sabbath rest, a memorial of blowing of trumpets. So, we're going to keep the day of trumpets, or the feast of trumpets, because it is a holy convocation. It's a commanded assembly. You shall do no customary work on it, and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord.

And then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, On the tenth day of this seventh month shall be the day of atonement.

It shall be a holy convocation for you. You shall afflict your souls. Now, we know that this is talking about fasting. We afflict our souls by not eating or drinking on this day.

And you shall do no work on that same day, for it is the day of atonement. It is to make atonement for you before the Lord your God. It says, For any person who is not afflicted in soul on that same day shall be cut off from his people. God took these days seriously. He says in verse 31, It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all of your dwellings.

And then verse 33 begins to talk about the Feast of Tabernacles. Speak to the children of Israel, saying, The fifteenth day of the seventh month shall be the Feast of Tabernacles. For seven days to the Lord. On the first day there shall be a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work on it.

For seven days you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord. Now, for seven days we offer up ourselves at the Feast of Tabernacles. We don't make an offering by fire, but we go to services and we reflect on what God is doing in our lives and what it means to us. And we fellowship with God's people, the entire Feast of Tabernacles. So we do make up an offering in that sense. We leave where we are typically right here in Tulsa. We go away and we keep this feast together.

And we honor God by observing these times and by keeping these days.

In verse 41 it says, You shall keep it as a feast to the Lord for seven days in the year. Now, back in the old days they would stay in tents or booths.

Now we stay in temporary dwellings called motels or condos, things like that, but they're temporary. You know, we stay there during the feast, then we come back home after the feast is over.

Verse 41, You shall keep it as a feast to the Lord for seven days in the year. It shall be a statute forever in your generations. You shall celebrate it in the seventh month and you shall dwell in booths for seven days. All who are native Israelites shall dwell in booths. That your generations may know that I made the children of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God. You know, God delivered them out of Egypt and they had to dwell in tents.

Actually, they end up dwelling in tents for 40 years because of their unfaithfulness to God and their disobedience. They had to wander in the wilderness and stay in tents for 40 years.

So Moses declared to the children of Israel the Feast of the Eternal, the Feast of the Lord.

So again, God says, these are my feasts. Now, there's one particular place in the Bible that shows that Israel, the children of Israel, did stray from keeping God's weekly Sabbath and his annual Sabbath, and that it was largely due to Sabbath breaking and also idolatry.

Those are the two main reasons why the children of Israel were taken captive. First, the house of Israel taken captive in Assyria, and then the house of Judah taken captive later in Babylon.

So where do we find this? These are scriptures that you should know where they are. You should be able to go there and find them. You should be able to turn there right now. In fact, go ahead and turn there in your Bible.

Probably not everyone can turn there. Some of you haven't been around as long as others.

Some of us that have been around a long time may not remember this. It's a little obscure to some degree, but it's very, very important scripture. There's really no other scripture like it in the Bible, to this degree anyway. It's found in Ezekiel 20.

Ezekiel 20.

It's a very important part of history, and why the children of Israel went into captivity, why God was so displeased with them that His chosen people had to be taken captive by their enemies because they refused to keep God's Sabbath holy.

And they worshiped other gods. God is a jealous God in the right sense. He knows that He's the only true God, and we should worship Him, and only then will we be happy.

Otherwise, we reap some very bad consequences.

So in Ezekiel 20, beginning in verse 12, notice what God says here, to the children of Israel through the prophet Ezekiel.

Verse 12 of chapter 20, the book of Ezekiel, Moreover, I also gave them my Sabbath to be a sign between them and me that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them. You know, God is the one that sanctifies us. He sets us apart. He calls us. He opens our minds to His truth and His way of life. So He sanctifies us.

So I gave them my Sabbath. And notice it's plural here. It's not talking just about the weekly Sabbath. It's also talking about the annual Sabbath that we saw in Exodus when we turned to Leviticus, I'm sorry, Leviticus 23, where it shows all of the Holy Days as well as the Sabbath, the weekly Sabbath. So I gave you my Sabbath to be a sign between them and me. That's really how we know we are truly God's people when we keep this sign. I mean, also the Scripture tells us in the New Testament that we have to have the Spirit of God dwelling in us, or we are not Christ. So that's obviously essential as well, that God's Spirit must be dwelling in us. But nevertheless, we should also be observing this sign that shows that we are God's people.

It will be a sign between them and me that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them.

Yet the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness. They did not walk in my statutes. They despised my judgments, which if a man does, he shall live by them. In Exodus 20, God gave His Ten Commandments, and then He gave many judgments along with that. And they refused to keep the statutes, the judgments, and the commandments. He says, they despised my judgments, which if a man does, he shall live by them. They will be blessed if they keep those judgments. And they greatly defiled my Sabbath. God says they defiled my Sabbath.

In Isaiah 58, another very, very important scripture, it shows that they trampled all over the Sabbath.

They put their feet all over the Sabbath day, trampling the Sabbath day, because they did not observe it. They did not honor God on this day, and God was extremely displeased.

And He says here, they greatly defiled my Sabbath. Then I said I would pour out my fury on them in the wilderness to consume them. That's how serious God took the profaning of His Sabbath days. But I acted for my namesake that it should not be profaned before the Gentiles, in whose sight I had brought them out. So in other words, God didn't want the whole world to think that there was a big problem with God.

The problem was with the people that God had called out, the children of Israel, they just would not respond and do what God wanted them to do. And so He had to punish them. Just as a good parent would punish a child for their own good, so that they might learn to behave themselves and be a better person.

So I acted for my namesake that it should not be profaned before the Gentiles, in whose sight I had brought them out. So I also raised my hand in an oath to them in the wilderness that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them, a land flowing with milk and honey. He didn't do it right away. He made them suffer in the wilderness for forty years. Now, eventually they were allowed to go into the Promised Land, but not initially.

So I also raised my hand in an oath in the wilderness that I would not bring them into the Promised Land, a land flowing with milk and honey, the glory of all lands, because they despised my judgments and did not walk in my statutes, but profaned my Sabbaths, for their heart went after their idols.

Nevertheless, my eye spared them from destruction. I did not make an end of them in the wilderness, so God didn't totally destroy them. But I said to their children in the wilderness, do not walk in the statutes of your fathers, nor observe their judgments, nor defile yourselves with their idols, because their fathers had come out of pagan practices.

I am the Lord your God. Walk in my statutes, keep my judgments, and do them. By the way, God's Holy Days are considered statutes as well. They are statutes to be kept. Hallow my Sabbaths, and they shall be a sign between me and you, that you may know that I am the Lord your God.

Notwithstanding, the children rebelled against me. They did not walk in my statutes. They were not careful to observe my judgments. Again, if a man does, he will live by them. In other words, they will be blessed for keeping them, but they profaned my Sabbaths, and I said I would pour out my fury on them and fulfill my anger against them in the wilderness. Nevertheless, I withdrew my hand and acted for my name's sake. God repeats this because he wants us to get it.

He repeats it. He wants it to sink in.

That it should not be profaned in the sight of the Gentiles. I raise my hand in an oath to those in the wilderness that I would scatter them among the Gentiles and disperse them throughout all the countries, because they had not executed my judgments, but had despised my statutes, they had profaned my Sabbaths, and their eyes were fixed on their fathers' idols. Therefore, I also gave them up to statutes that were not good, and judgments by which they could not live, and I pronounced them unclean.

So God was, again, very displeased with them, and they paid a price for their disobedience. Now, let's drop down to verse 43.

Same chapter, Ezekiel 20, verse 43. And there you shall remember your ways and all your doings in which you were defiled, and you shall loathe yourselves in your own sight because of all the evils that you have committed. Now, the children of Israel did come to loathe themselves, but not until they were taken captive.

Not until they were taken captive. Not until they suffered a great deal that they loathed themselves for breaking God's commandments, for committing idolatry, and for breaking his Sabbath days.

And all the Ten Commandments as well.

Verse 44, Then you shall know that I am the Lord when I have dealt with you for my name's sake, not according to your wicked ways, nor according to your corrupt doings, O house of Israel, says the Lord God. So history tells us that God did do exactly what he said here in the book of Ezekiel. He punished them for their sins, and a remnant did return to the land of Israel. Some who had repented to some degree, and they went back and they started at least keeping the Sabbath days. And even in Israel today, you have some, the Jews, some of them, most of them don't keep the Sabbath properly anyway, the vast majority of them, but there is at least a semblance of observing the Sabbath and the annual Holy Days, even in Israel today.

So this is the history that we find in the Bible. Now let's go into the New Testament and consider God's Holy Days in the New Testament. Does God want us to continue to keep these days that were well established in the Old Testament? Does he want us to keep them today? So let's be honest with ourselves and let's consider this. Let's try to be logical about this, and let's ask ourselves, could it be that God wants us to keep these days today? Luke 2, verse 41.

His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover.

This is Jesus' parents. They were Jews. They kept the Feast of the Passover. They went up to Jerusalem every year. And when he was 12 years old, they went up to Jerusalem according to the custom of the Feast. And when they had finished the days, as they returned, the boy Jesus lingered behind in Jerusalem. Joseph and his mother did not know it. But we know that he was actually in the temple, as it says in verse 46. He'd been in the temple in the midst of the teachers. He was both listening to them. He was also asking them questions. And all who heard him in verse 47, it says they were astonished at his understanding and his answers. They were amazed.

And it was because, obviously, Christ had great understanding. He was the Son of God. He was keeping the annual Holy Days, along with his parents.

He kept them from a child, as a child. Now, in John 2, again, we see that Jesus kept the Holy Days, also as an adult.

As he grew older, he continued to keep the Holy Days.

John 2.

Verse 23, Now, when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs which he did. So his ministry had begun. He was 30-plus years old.

He was keeping the feast. Jesus did not commit himself to them, because he knew all men.

And had no need that anyone should testify of man, for he knew what was in man. Christ came in the flesh. He understood the lots of the flesh. He understood the problems of mankind.

In verse 45 of chapter 4, John 4.45, So when he came to Galilee, the Galileans received him, having seen all the things that he did in Jerusalem at the feast, for they also had gone to the feast. So Christ was keeping the feast of tabernacles. He was observing the last great day. He had kept the feast of trumpets, the day of atonement. In John chapter 7, verse 1, After these things, Jesus walked in Galilee, for he did not want to walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill him.

Now, the Jews' feast of tabernacles was at hand. Now, again, it refers to it here as the Jews' feast of tabernacles. But we know that these are God's feasts. These are God's holy days. God's the one that established them. God's the one that sanctified them and set them apart.

And by the way, Abraham also kept these days. I believe he kept those days because Genesis 26.5 said that Abraham obeyed my voice, kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws. So, Abraham, there's indication that Abraham kept these holy days long before the nation of Israel was established.

And Abraham was keeping God's commandments before the law was given on Sinai.

So, there is a precedence here that Abraham kept these days as well. And Christ was of the seed of Abraham.

He was keeping these days. If we go to chapter 7, verse 10, but when his brothers had gone up, then he also went up to the feast.

Again, Christ was observing the feast in verse 14.

About the middle of the feast, Jesus went up into the temple and he taught during the feast.

And then in verse 37, On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.

He who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.

But this he spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in him would receive.

So, the Holy Spirit was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified. But we know that the Holy Spirit was given on the Day of Pentecost to those Jews who had assembled, to the followers of Christ, and not just Jews, but anyone, perhaps no doubt a few Gentiles as well, that were there on that Day of Pentecost.

The Holy Spirit was poured out upon them. And the New Testament Church began, and we'll see that they also kept these days, after Christ was crucified, after he had already died.

If these days were nailed to the cross, then why were they still keeping them, after Christ was already dead, long after Christ was dead?

So, Jesus kept these Holy Days as an adult.

The instruction that we have in 1 John 2, let's read it in 1 John 2, because it is instruction that God gives us as God's people, here in the New Testament. 1 John 2, verse 6, He who says, He abides in Him. Anyone who says He's a Christian, and abides in Christ, ought Himself also to walk, just as He walks.

Now, Christ clearly kept these Holy Days. That is the example that He set for us.

Instead, we keep man's holidays that are steeped in pagan religion, that are steeped in pagan practices, instead of God's Holy Days. Why is that?

Frankly, it's because Satan really has deceived the whole world, and he's used religion to deceive much of the world, because many ministers are not true and faithful to God's Word. They don't teach what's really in the Bible.

He who says He abides in Him, ought Himself also to walk, just as He walked. We also should be observing these Holy Days as Christ did.

Now, although admittedly, Paul's writings are sometimes difficult to understand, Paul does have some very explicit statements and actions that contradict any notion that he taught Gentiles that they ought not observe God's Holy Days. Some people say that these Holy Days are fine for the Jews, but the Gentiles don't have to keep them.

But Paul kept them, and Paul taught the Gentiles to keep these days, long after Christ had died. In 1 Corinthians 11, Paul lays out a principle here. 1 Corinthians 11, he says, Imitate me or follow me as I imitate Christ.

Imitate me just as I also imitate Christ.

Follow me as I follow Christ.

2 Corinthians 11, he says, I praise you, brethren, that you remember me in all things, and you keep the traditions just as I delivered them to you. Now, this was written to the church at Corinth, which was largely a Gentile church. It was not a Jewish church. It was mostly a Gentile church in Greece, in Corinth.

Wasn't in the land of Israel. It was in Greece. In Acts 18, Paul says, I must by all means keep this coming feast. Again, this is long after Christ had died.

This is probably somewhere in the mid-50s AD.

Acts 18, verse 21.

Paul says, I must by all means keep this coming feast in Jerusalem.

But I will return again to you, God willing, and he sailed from Ephesus. So he was going to keep the feast in Jerusalem.

That's the example that Paul said. He says, follow me as I follow Christ. Christ kept these days. Paul kept these days. We should be keeping these days.

In 1 Corinthians 5, verses 6 and 7, again, we see the days of Unleavened Bread were being kept. 1 Corinthians 5, verses 6 and 7.

Paul says to this church again at Corinth. This is a Gentile church. He says, your glorying is not good because they had accepted into their fellowship someone who was blatantly sinning, who was committing sexual immorality, and who was committing sexual immorality, and who was committing sexual immorality, and God was not pleased with that. He says, your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? If you bring leaven or sin into the congregation in such a blatant way, it is going to have an effect.

It will water down God's truth and God's way of life.

So your glorying is not good. Therefore, purge out the old leaven that you may be a new lump since you truly are unleavened, for indeed Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us.

Therefore, let us keep the feast. Let us observe the feast, is what Paul is saying here, to these Gentiles. Let us observe the feast. Let us keep it, not with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. And Christ was indeed the unleavened bread that came down from heaven. We're to follow His example. So Paul clearly was keeping these days, and he was teaching Gentiles to keep these days.

In Acts 20, okay, if that's not enough proof, there's more.

Acts 20, let's go there.

Acts 20, verse 6, Acts 20, but we sailed away from Philippi after the days of unleavened bread. So they had observed the days of unleavened bread, and then they sailed away from the church at the Philippian church at Philippi. And again, a Gentile church, we sailed away from Philippi after the days of unleavened bread, and in five days we joined them at Troas, where we stayed for seven days.

Then if we go to verse 16 of the same chapter, for Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus so that he would not have to spend time in Asia, for he was hurrying to be at Jerusalem, if possible, on the day of Pentecost, because he wanted to observe the day of Pentecost in Jerusalem.

Now, that seems reasonably clear that he was keeping the feast of Pentecost, and he wanted to get there so he could observe it and keep it on the appointed day.

Now, 1 Corinthians 16, verse 8, again shows that Paul kept the day of Pentecost.

He says, But I will tarry in Ephesus until Pentecost. This is a different time. I will tarry. I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost to observe the day of Pentecost.

That's in 1 Corinthians 16, verse 8.

And then in Acts 27, we'll go back to Acts 27, where we see that he was keeping the day of atonement as well.

Acts 27, verse 9.

Now, when much time had been spent and sailing was now dangerous because the fast, okay, the fast is referring to the day of atonement because that's the day that they fasted. So clearly, this was the day of atonement. And he's acknowledging that they still were observing these days.

Because the fast was already over, Paul advised them.

Now, in Colossians, in the book of Colossians, and this was around 60 AD. It's almost 30 years after Christ had died and was resurrected, of course.

Colossians 2.

If these days should not have been kept after Christ's death, then why were they being observed?

If we don't keep them today, why?

Colossians 2. Why is it that people don't observe these days? Because you can't find anywhere in the Bible that says these days ought not be kept. In fact, you can go through the Bible and find ample proof, as we are today, that these are days that are still in effect. These are days that still should be observed. Colossians 2.8 Beware, lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.

Colossians 2.8 Now we want to go to verse 11.

In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ, buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith, in the working of God who raised Him from the dead. And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us. Now, the law of God was never against us. In fact, the Scriptures tell us repeatedly that God's law is holy and just and good. It's a good thing not to murder one another, is it not?

It's a good thing not to lie to each other. It's a good thing not to commit adultery on your mate. These are all good things. God's law was never against us. It's always been for us.

So He's saying that it was our dead of sin that was nailed to the cross. Because all of us are sinners, we have sinned against God, we've fallen short of His glory. That's what was nailed to the cross. Our sins were nailed to the cross. We are forgiven through the sacrifice of Christ.

It says in verse 16, So let no one judge you or call you into question in food or in drink or regarding a festival, which is speaking of the feast days, or a new moon or the Sabbath. They are a shadow of things to come.

Yes, they point to what's coming. Christ is coming back to establish the government and the kingdom of God. These days reveal God's master plan.

So they are a shadow of what is yet to come. These days, the kingdom of God will be established for all eternity.

These days show us the plan of salvation. First of all, the Passover, where Christ is clearly the Passover Lamb who died for us. The Days of Unleavened Bread, which picture putting sin out of our lives, becoming unleaven, becoming like Christ, learning what love is all about. The Day of Pentecost, which pictures the giving of God's Spirit, and the Holy Spirit dwelling in us, that's a part of the plan. You have to repent of your sins, accept Christ as your Savior, and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. So the Day of Pentecost ties in beautifully with God's master plan.

And then, of course, the Feast of Trumpets, picturing Christ's return.

The Day of Atonement, picturing the binding of Satan. And also, again, that Christ is our atoning sacrifice.

And then the Feast of Tabernacles, which pictures the Millennial reign of Christ, the Kingdom of God, to be established on the earth for a thousand years.

And then that last great day, that great white throne judgment period, when all people will have an opportunity to know God, from least to greatest, from east to west, all people will come to know the Lord, and God's law will go forth out of Zion.

So, clearly, these were Gentile Christians who were keeping God's Holy Days.

In Zechariah chapter 14, it also clearly shows that these days will be kept during the Millennium. After Christ returns, these days will also be kept.

So, Christ is going to re-establish the Feast of Tabernacles for all people on earth.

Christ is going to reveal this truth to all people, and they will be expected to come up and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. Zechariah chapter 14.

Zechariah chapter 14.

Verse 16, And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left, of all the nations which came against Jerusalem, is speaking of those who come before Jerusalem in the last days. The book of Revelation reveals that there will be a great battle of Armageddon fought around Jerusalem or near Jerusalem.

So, all of the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of Hosts, and to keep, to observe the Feast of Tabernacles. So, this is clearly prophetic. This is not something that's yet taken place.

Christ has not yet been established as the King of Kings, which means He will be the King over all the firstfruits who will rule with Him as kings and priests. This hasn't happened yet.

When it does happen, then Christ will expect everyone to come up and keep the Feast of Tabernacles. And it shall be that whichever of the families of the earth do not come up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of Hosts, on them there will be no rain. So, there will be drought, famine conditions upon any nation or upon any peoples who will not keep the Feast of Tabernacles at that time.

If the family of Egypt will not come up and enter in, they shall have no rain. They shall receive the plague with which the Lord strikes the nations who do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.

In that day holiness to the Lord shall be engraved on the bells of the horses, the pots in the Lord's house shall be like the bulls.

I'm sorry, I skipped over verse 19. This shall be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not come up to observe or to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. So, that's going to happen in the millennium. When Christ returns, all people will be expected to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. So, again, my question is, if we're going to keep the Feast of Tabernacles in the millennium when Christ returns, why would we not be observing it today?

If we call ourselves Christian, and if we understand these things, and if God has opened our minds to understand what's written in the Bible, then why would we not observe these days?

Well, the fact is that we would, and we are going to, right?

Yes, there are people on the earth today who do keep God's festivals. They keep God's holiness.

There aren't many, but there are a few. And it's a wonderful thing to have that understanding, to have that truth.

Thank God that He has revealed these things to us, that these are days that we ought to be keeping. And when we do, we have a closer relationship with God. We understand what God is doing more fully.

Now, in Nehemiah chapter 8, it tells us that we should rejoice as we keep the feasts of the Eternal. Nehemiah chapter 8.

Let's go back. Now, you know, Ezra and Nehemiah occurred after the captivity in Babylon. These were people who wanted to start obeying God.

They started keeping the Sabbath again.

And so, in Nehemiah chapter 8, Nehemiah chapter 8, they began to keep these days again.

And God was very pleased that they were starting to observe these days. Notice that in Nehemiah chapter 8 verse 9. And Nehemiah, who was the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people, said to all the people, This day is holy to the Lord your God. Do not mourn nor weep, for all the people wept when they heard the words of the law, because God's law was found. It was again taught to the people.

Then He said to them, Go your way and eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared. For this day is holy to our Lord. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.

So the Levites quieted all the people, saying, Be still, for the day is holy. Do not be grieved. And all the people went their way to eat and drink, to send portions and rejoice greatly, because they understood the words that were declared to them. They understood God's truth and His instruction. Now, on the second day, the heads of the fathers' houses of all the people, with the priests and the Levites, were gathered to Ezra the scribe, in order to understand the words of the law. And they found written in the law, which the Lord had commanded by Moses, that the children of Israel should dwell in booths during the Feast of the Seventh Month, and that they should announce and proclaim in all their cities and in Jerusalem, saying, Go out to the mountain and bring olive branches, branches of oil trees, myrtle branches, palm branches, branches of leafy trees to make booths as it is written. So they began to keep the Feast of Tabernacles, is what it's saying here.

It says in verse 17, So the whole assembly of those who had returned from the captivity made temporary dwellings or booths, and they sat under the booths, for since the days of Joshua the son of Nun, until that day the children of Israel had not done so. So they had strayed greatly from God's law, from the time of Joshua to that very time they had not been keeping the Feast of Tabernacles.

And there was very great gladness, there was great joy in the land. Also, day by day, from the first day until the last day, he read from the book of the law of God, and they kept the Feast seven days, and on the eighth day there was a sacred assembly, according to the prescribed manner. So when people come to a knowledge of the truth, they should start observing it. Just like the children of Israel here, who had lost sight of God's commandments regarding the Holy Days, once they got the book of the law, and they read it again, and they were instructed in it, they did begin to keep those Holy Days. Now, unfortunately, they were not real faithful about that, and they didn't stay faithful in keeping those days. And so, you know, we understand that. They lost their way in the world. And in fact, the Jews have been persecuted more than any other nation because of their unfaithfulness and disobedience to God and to having a huge part and having crucified the Savior of the world.

It's not that there are any worse people. They're human beings. They fell short, but God still loves them. It still says they're the apple of His eye, and they will be exalted again when Christ returns, those people who are descended from Abraham. Because Abraham was a faithful man. He was the father of the faithful. So God has a special place for them. Now, in 2 Corinthians chapter 5, and we'll conclude with this verse, 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 7.

2 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 7. For we walk by faith and not by sight. Now, the whole world is not keeping these days. If you look by sight, if you go by sight, you're not going to keep these days because the vast majority of the world doesn't do it.

They're not going in this direction.

So if you go the way of the world, you won't keep these days.

But if you walk by faith, if you believe in God and you trust Him, and you see what's written in His Word, and He speaks to you, He speaks to your heart, He speaks to your mind, then you will begin to observe these days.

These days will mean something to you. The light will go on.

God will open His truth to you, to your understanding, and you will begin to walk by faith and not by sight. Because, brethren, we are to be children of faith.

We are children of Abraham. Abraham was the father of the faithful.

We need to walk by faith and not by sight. Brethren, it is important that we keep these days that we talked about today, from the Old Testament to the New Testament to the Millennium.

These days will be kept. They've been observed. God wants us to keep them. Observing these days will strengthen your faith in their importance today.

Now, God's weekly Sabbath and His annual Sabbath are a tremendous blessing.

I've been observing these days for 40 years now, for a long time.

Right around 40 years.

Some of you have kept them for 50 years, or longer.

They are a tremendous blessing. God's annual Sabbath reveals to us, more clearly, God's wonderful plan of salvation. We know God isn't done with us. As we keep these days, we know that they will come to fulfillment. Christ will return as a feast of trumpets' pictures.

God's government will be established. Satan will be bound.

Christ will rule on the earth for a thousand years.

And then there will be a great white throne judgment period when all people will be resurrected. We'll have an opportunity to know the truth.

These days are indeed holy. They are sanctified. They are set apart for a holy purpose and a holy design.

Jesus Christ Himself observed these days.

Christ's disciples observed these days, long after Christ was crucified, long after He had died. It is important that we, too, continue to keep observing these annual reminders of God's love and God's concern for us.

God has a master plan and He's working it out right now on the earth.

Not many are chosen these days because very few will humble themselves and surrender themselves to God and begin living by every word of God. God's annual holy days are a part of what we're supposed to be doing. So, brethren, let's look forward to the next month, next month and a half, as we lead up to God's holy days and as we observe these days. Let's keep them faithfully.

Let's keep them faithfully and let's be pleasing to God.